Commonwealth v. Holloway
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
A Habeas Corpus having been directed to the keeper of the prison of the city and county of Philadelphia, commanding him to produce the body of Eliza, a negro child, together with the cause of her detention, he returned that he held her by virtue of a^ warrant of commitment, issued by Samuel Badger, esq. an associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas, who had committed her, “ as being the daughter “ of Mary, a negro woman, the slave of James Corse, of “ Maryland, and as…
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A Habeas Corpus having been directed to the keeper of the prison of the city and county of Philadelphia, commanding him to produce the body of Eliza, a negro child, together with the cause of her detention, he returned that he held her by virtue of a^ warrant of commitment, issued by Samuel Badger, esq. an associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas, who had committed her, “ as being the daughter “ of Mary, a negro woman, the slave of James Corse, of “ Maryland, and as such, also the slave of the said James.” On the hearing, it appeared that the mother had absconded from her master, and come…
1Opinion of the Court
Tilghman C. J.
The facts in this case are few and undisputed. The mother of Eliza was a slave, the property of James Corse, of Maryland. She absconded from her master, and came to this state, in which, after a residence of about two years, her child, Eliza, was born. The question^, therefore, is, whether birth in Pennsylvania gives freedom to the child of a slave who had absconded from another state, before she became pregnant. This question depends upon the law of Pennsylvania and the constitution of the United States. On the 1st March, IT80, the state of Pennsylvania passed an act “ for the…
2Cited by7 opinions
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- Commonwealth v. AvesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1836
- Berry v. AlsopMississippi Supreme Court · 1871
- Miller v. DwillingSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1826
- Anderson v. PoindexterOhio Supreme Court · 1856
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