O Say Can You See

3.

(C.)

If the Jury believe from the evidence aforesaid that the petitioner Ellen Johnson & her two infant children Phoebe & Ratchel, were in the year 18312 the slaves of Thomas Turner deceased & were living as such in his family in Georgetown, that about that time the said Turner permitted this said Ellen to to leave his house & with her said two children to live with her husband a free man of colour as such said Turners slaves who then lived & kept house in the same town, and that the said Ellen afterwards up to the death of the said Turner with his permission lived with her said husband & worked for herself & children & while so living with her husband & working for herself had three other children the petitioners John, Robert & Louisa. that in the year 1838 the said Turner being about to remove to Fredericktown in Maryland in the exercise of his authority as Master of the said Ellen & her children took possession of the said Phoebe as his slave & carried her with him to Frederick & kept her as his slave in his service until her death. & that about the year 1840, the said Turner hired the girl called Rachel to a resident of Frederick as his slave & gave directions that she should be sent to him at that place, & that the said Rachel was sent to the said Turner & lived there as his hired slave until about the year [strikethrough] 1848 when she came to George Town by permission of the said Turner to visit her family for two weeks. that the said two Girls Phoebe & Rachel were surrendered by the said Ellen to the said Turner who claimed them as his slaves with the out objection. that the said Ellen from time to time up to a recent period while so living with her husband in speaking of Mr Turner recognized him as her Master & owner & entered into an agreement with him to purchase her freedom & that of her two youngest children   dren by paying to him a certain sum of money. & within a year from this time solicited Mr Turner thru Miss Magruder, to permit her said daughter Rachel to hire herself in Georgetown her wages to be received for the use of the Turners in Fredericktown.

The the facts aforesaid, if believed by the Jury from the evidence are sufficient in law to repeal the presumption (stated in the Petitioners' prayer in the Dfts first Bill of exceptions) that the said Turner had at any time manumitted & set free this said Ellen, Phoebe & Rachel or either of them, by deed or otherwise, & that without such presumption, the said Petitioners Ellen John, Robert & Louisa is are not entitled to a verdict in their favour; which instruction as prayed by the Dft the Court gave

To which said instruction the Pet Petitioners except and this their bill of exceptions is signed sealed and ordered to be enrolled this 12th of Decr. 1849.

W. Cranch (seal)
Jas. S. Morsell (seal)
Jas. Dunlop (seal)