O Say Can You See

The Petition of Alexander Brent otherwise called Sandy a coloured person humbly complaining sheweth unto your Honors that he is free and of right entitled to his freedom and that being so entitled he on the 24th of September instant filed in the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia for the County of Washington in the District of Columbia his Petition for freedom against Bernard H Buckner and Aris Buckner who claim your Petitioner as their slave Which said Petition is now pending in and before and remains undecided by the said Circuit Court That your Petitioner is now confined in the Jail of the said County of Washington and in the custody of the Marshal of the said District of Columbia as a runaway That your Petitioner is informed and verily believes that the said Bernard H Buckner and Aris Buckner intend to remove your Petitioner from the County and District aforesaid and from under and beyond the Jurisdiction of the said Circuit Court and thereby prevent and interfere with the due administration of Justice and for which purpose the agents of the said Bernard H Buckner and Aris Buckner are now here in the said County of Washington In tender consideration whereof and in as much as your Petitioner is remidless at and by the strict rules of the common law and can only find relief in a court of Equity where matters of this sort are properly cognizable to the end therefore that the Justice Equity and right of the case may be inquired into Your Petitioner prays your Honors to grant unto him the United States most gracious writ of injunction commanding and enjoining the said Bernard H Buckner and Aris Buckner their agents and attorneys from removing your Petitioner from the County and District aforesaid in manner and form aforesaid and also commanding the said Marshal to detain and keep in his custody and not to deliver up to the said Bernard H Buckner and Aris Buckner their agents or attorneys your Petitioner until the further order of this court and such further relief in the premises as his case may require and as in duty bound your Petitioner will ever pray and so forth

John J Dermott
Solr for Petitioner

Personally appeared before me the subscriber a Justice of the Peace for the County aforesaid Alexander Brent the Petitioner in the within and foregoing bill or Petition named and after having the said bill or Petition read and explained to him and the nature obligation and penalties of and attendant on the falsely taking of an oath solemnly made oath that the matters and things stated in the said bill or Petition was are so far as they are stated to be of his own knowledge true and so far as they are stated to be of the knowledge of others he verily believes them to be true Given under my hand this twenty fifth day of September in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty three

B. K. Morsell (Seal)