Robert Thomas v. Elizabeth Magruder. Circuit Court Report
Negro Robert Thomas v. Elizabeth Magruder.
A record copy of a deed of emancipation may be given in evidence by the petitioner, upon trial of a petition for freedom, without producing the original or accounting for its non-production.
Petition for freedom.
On the trial, Mr. Key, for the petitioner, offered in evidence the record of the deed of manumission from Reginald Magruder, recorded in the office of the clerk of this Court.
Mr. Z. C. Lee, objected and called for the original, and proof by the subscribing witnesses.
The Court (Morsell, J., absent,) refused to require Mr. Key to produce the original, and permitted him to use the copy on the record; it having been acknowledged and recorded according to the Act of Maryland, 1796, c. 67, §§ 28, 29.
