Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander
United States. Circuit Court (District of Columbia) - Washington (D.C.)United States. Supreme Court - Washington (D.C.)
United States. Circuit Court (District of Columbia) - Alexandria (Washington, D.C.)
Claim for Freedom Made
ManumissionImportation Violation
Outcome
Special Verdict March 1840
Special Verdict for Defendant April 18, 1840
Appealed by Defendant April 19, 1840
Dismissed January 1843
Case Documents
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Will of Elizabeth Brown (June 7, 1825)
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Petition for Freedom (June 1, 1838)
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Order (April 18, 1840)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Writ of Error (April 19, 1840)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Bond (April 19, 1840)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Summons of Moses Graham (April 19, 1840)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Mandate (February 5, 1841)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Transcript from Circuit Court (February 5, 1841)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Thomas Semmes to Clerk (March 4, 1842)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Richard B. Alexander to Clerk (August 22, 1842)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Judgment (January 11, 1843)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Petition for Writ of Error
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Special Verdict
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Frances Swann's Answers to Interrogatories
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Special Verdict
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Jury Instructions
Related Documents
- Moses Graham v. Richard B. Alexander. Circuit Court Report (March 1840)
- Richard B. Alexander v. Moses Graham. Supreme Court Report (January 1843)
Related Cases
- Christiana Dunbar v. Richard B. Alexander
- Georgiana, Moses, Thomas, & Mary v. Edward Swann
- Rachel Graham v. Francis Swann
People
Plaintiff(s):
Defendant(s):
Attorney for Plaintiff(s):
Attorney for Defendant(s):
Participants:
- Alexander, Frances
- Alexander, Richard B.
- Alexander, William B.
- Barnes, Thomas T.
- Boyle, John
- Brent, Robert J., 1811-1872
- Brent, William Leigh, 1784-1848
- Brent, William, 1774-1848
- Brook, Richard
- Brown, Elizabeth
- Brown, Richard
- Butler, Charles
- Carroll, William Thomas, -1863
- Clarke, Walter
- Coote, Clement T.
- Cranch, William, 1769-1855
- Dermott, John J.
- Dunbar, Christiana
- Dunbar, Milly
- Graham, Ann
- Graham, Moses
- Graham, Rachel
- Hunter, Alexander
- Jenny
- Key, Francis Scott, 1779-1843
- Lowry, George
- Lucinda
- Magruder
- Magruder, Elizabeth
- Magruder, Helen B.
- Magruder, William
- McPherson, Henry H.
- Milly
- Molly
- Moore, Alexander
- Morsell, James Sewall
- Ricards, Philip A.
- Roach, Edward N.
- Semmes, Thomas
- Smith, Anthony
- Smoot, Samuel
- Swann, Edward
- Swann, Frances
- Swann, Mary
- Swann, William T.
- Swann, William Thomas
- Taney, Roger Brooke, 1777-1864
- Taylor, R. I.
- Thompson, Smith, 1768-1843
- Thruston, Buckner, 1763-1845
- Tyler, Charles
- Tyler, Elizabeth
- Tyler, Richard B.
- Tyler, Sarah
- Venus
- Wharton, Charles H. W.
Summary
On June 1, 1838, Moses Graham petitioned for his freedom against Richard B. Alexander. Graham based his petition on the terms of the June 7, 1825 will of Elizabeth Brown which emancipated his mother Milly and "her children," though it did not specifically mention Moses. The Court interpreted the will to include Moses Graham and provided in a March 1840 decision by a jury trial that he should be emancipated at age thirty-one. Richard B. Alexander appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on a writ of error, arguing that under its Act of 1792, chapter 103, section 36, Virginia law specified that emancipation could only be by will or deed, and presumably required the specific naming of the individual to be emancipated. Although Justice Roger B. Taney authorized the writ in January 1840, three years later in January 1843 the Supreme Court dismissed the writ of error, ordering Alexander to pay the costs. The lower court ruling stood and Moses Graham obtained his freedom at age thirty-one.
