Adam Craig v. Mary Butler
Maryland. Court of Appeals - Annapolis (Md.)Claim for Freedom Made
Descent from Free White WomanOutcome
Judgment for Petitioner November 19, 1787
Appealed by Defendant November 19, 1787
Related Documents
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Summons of Adam Craig (April 12, 1784)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Court Record of William and Mary Butler v. Richard Boarman (May 22, 1784)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Depositions filed in William Lazarus Butler v. William Knott (May 27, 1786)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Bond (November 15, 1787)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Transcript from General Court of the Western Shore (November 19, 1787)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Defendant's Bill of Exceptions (November 19, 1787)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Transcript from General Court of the Western Shore (November 19, 1787)
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Petition of Tracy Butler et al.
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Defendant's Bill of Exceptions
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. J. A. Thomas to Thomas B. Hodgskin
- Mary Butler v. Adam Craig. Judgment in Mary Butler v. Nathaniel Ewing
Related Cases
- Abigail Butler v. Henrietta Plowden
- Abraham Butler v. Elizabeth Ridgate
- Agnes Butler v. Rachel Boarman
- Agnes Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Anna Butler, Moses Butler, Frank Butler v. John DeButts
- Anne Butler v. John Keech
- Anne Butler v. John Lucas
- Anne Butler v. Mary Shervin
- Anthony Butler v. Mary Shervin
- Augustus Butler v. William Thomas
- Benjamin Butler, Stephen Butler, Samuel Butler, Nell Butler, Hopey Butler, Jenny Butler, Nancy Butler, and Milly Butler v. Henrietta Plowden
- Bridgett Butler v. Richard Bennett Mitchell
- Charity Butler v. Joseph Thompson
- Charles Butler v. John Thomas
- Chloe Butler v. Nicholas L. Sewall
- Clare Butler, Charley Butler, Matthew Butler, & Lewis Butler v. Jane Boarman
- Clement Butler v. Henry Pyke
- Clement Butler v. Henry Spalding
- Clement Butler v. Jezreel Penn
- Clement Butler v. Leonard Boarman
- Edward Butler v. John Keech
- Eleanor Butler v. Joseph Gardiner
- Eleanor Butler v. Nicholas Peers
- Eleanor Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Electius Butler v. Bennett Posey
- Elizabeth Butler v. Elizabeth McWilliams
- Elizabeth Butler v. Henry Hill
- Elizabeth Butler v. Joseph Simmes
- Fanny Butler v. Rinaldo Johnson
- Giles Butler v. John Somerville
- Henny Butler v. Charles Carroll
- Henny Butler v. Edward Hamilton
- Henny Butler v. Henry Hill
- Henny Butler v. Thomas Clagett
- Henny Butler, Joseph Butler, Jane Butler, & Nase Butler v. James Fenwick
- Henrietta Butler v. Edward Hamilton
- Henrietta Butler v. Edward Smith
- Henrietta Butler v. Edward Smoot
- Henrietta Butler v. Williamson King
- Ignatius Butler v. John Ford
- Ignatius Butler v. Joseph Sims
- Ignatius Butler v. William Craik
- Ignatius Butler v. Zephaniah Franklin
- Jacob Butler v. Eleanor Taney
- James Butler v. James Arnold
- Jane Butler v. John Lancaster
- Jane Butler v. Joseph Sims
- Jane Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Jerrard Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Joanna Butler v. Mary Boarman
- John Butler v. Henry Garner
- Josias Butler v. James Neale
- Katy Butler v. Henry Hill
- Lectius Butler v. Ralph Jamistone
- Letty Butler v. Ann Digges
- Lewis Butler v. John Laidler
- Lucy Butler v. Benedict Wheeler
- Lydia Butler v. James Carrico
- Lydia Butler v. Nicholas Swingle
- Lymus Butler v. Henry Hill
- Mary Anne Butler v. Joshua Turby
- Mary Butler v. Rinaldo Johnson
- Mary Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Milley Butler v. Robert Sinnett
- Milly Butler v. Henry Neale
- Molly Butler v. Francis Plowden
- Nase Butler v. Henry Hill
- Nase Butler v. Ignatius Gardiner
- Rachel Butler v. Benjamin Posey
- Ralph Butler v. John Lucas
- Rebecca Butler v. Mary Shervin
- Rebecca Butler v. Robert Lawson
- Samuel Butler v. Josias Hancock
- Samuel Butler v. William Bond
- Samuel Butler, Flora Butler, and Tracey Butler v. Adam Craig
- Sarah Butler v. Henry Carrico
- Sarah Butler v. Henry Sothoron
- Sarah Butler v. Henry Sothoron
- Sarah Butler v. Jezreel Penn
- Stephen Butler v. Charles Carroll
- Teresa Butler v. Eleanor Bradford
- Thomas Butler v. Bennett Posey
- Thomas Butler v. Jezreel Penn
- William Butler and Mary Butler v. Richard Boarman
- William Butler v. John Keech
- William Butler v. John Laidler
- William Butler v. Joseph Edelen
- William Butler v. Joseph Neale
- William Butler v. Samuel Bond
People
Plaintiff(s):
Defendant(s):
Attorney for Plaintiff(s):
Attorney for Defendant(s):
Participants:
- Abell
- Abell, Samuel, Jr.
- Baltimore, Charles Calvert, Lord, 1637-1715
- Baltimore, Frederick Calvert, Baron, 1731-1771
- Beach, Thomas
- Beall, John
- Boarman, Francis
- Boarman, George
- Boarman, Gerrard
- Boarman, Ignatius
- Boarman, John Baptist
- Boarman, Richard
- Boarman, William
- Bond, Thomas
- Bond, Zach
- Bordley, J. B. (John Beale), 1727-1804
- Bowling, Thomas
- Bowling, William
- Bradford, Henry
- Branson, John
- Brookes, Baker
- Brookes, Clear
- Brookes, James
- Brookes, Leonard
- Brookes, Richard
- Broom, John Hooper
- Butler, Agnes
- Butler, Ally
- Butler, Catharine
- Butler, Eleanor
- Butler, Elizabeth
- Butler, Jack
- Butler, Jenny
- Butler, John
- Butler, Mary
- Butler, Mary
- Butler, Mary
- Butler, Mary
- Butler, Matthew
- Butler, Moll
- Butler, Nace
- Butler, Nan
- Butler, Nan
- Butler, Ned
- Butler, Pegg
- Butler, Sarah
- Butler, Tracy
- Butler, William
- Butler, William Lazarus
- Charles
- Chase, Jeremiah Townley, 1748-1828
- Clapham, John
- Craig, Adam
- Crossen, Mary
- Darnall
- Davis, Allen
- Dent, George
- Doynes
- Eagling, Edward
- Edelen, Edward
- Edelen, Richard
- Edwards
- Ewing, Nathaniel
- Ghiselin, Reverdy
- Goldsborough, Robert, 1740-1798
- Haddock
- Hall, John
- Hanson, Alexander Contee, 1749-1806
- Harrison, Robert Hanson, 1745-1790
- Hayward, William
- Hepburne, John
- Hodgkin, Thomas B.
- Hodskin, Ann
- Howard, Jane
- Hulbert
- Jameson, Benjamin
- Jameson, Joseph
- Jenifer, Daniel of St. Thomas, 1723-1790
- Jennings, Thomas
- Johnson, Thomas, 1732-1819
- Jordan, Jeremiah
- Kerrick, James
- Knott, William
- Lee, Philip Thomas
- Leeds, John
- Love, Samuel, Sr.
- McPherson, William
- Merrick, Thomas D.
- Neale, Billy
- Neale, Wilfred
- Piles, Joseph
- Plowden, Edmund
- Poesy, Elizabeth
- Proctor, Jane
- Redhead
- Reeder, John, Jr.
- Ruthom
- Sanders, Pomphrey John
- Short, Ann
- Simpson, William
- Smith, John Jordan
- Soot, Nathaniel
- Spalding
- Steward, David
- Suit, Nathaniel
- Thomas, J. A.
- Thompson, Joseph
- Warren, Elizabeth
- Watkin, Leonard
- Whitehorn, Ann
- Wilaman, Cornelius
- Winter, John
- Witham
- Yates
Summary
The Butler family was the one of the largest free black and enslaved families in Maryland. More than 150 eventually sued for freedom. Their claim in each case was that their ancestor Eleanor "Irish Nell" Butler was a free white woman.
The Butlers began suing for freedom in the colonial courts before the American Revolution. At issue were the provisions of a 1664 act that penalized any free woman who married an enslaved man with lifetime enslavement and the enslavement of her children. Eleanor Butler married Charles, an enslaved man, in 1681 before the 1664 act was repealed. Her children were born after its repeal. The Butlers argued that they were free under its provisions.
In 1770, William and Mary Butler sued Richard Boarman on these grounds, and the provincial court decided initially in their favor and released them from bondage. But on appeal before the highest court in the colony, Boarman's attorneys argued that Eleanor and her children were property, and property could not be taken away by legislation "ex post facto" unless specifically stated in the act of assembly. The colonial court reversed the lower court's judgment, and the Butlers remained enslaved.
After the Revolution, the Butlers renewed their freedom suit arguing that the 1664 act was highly penal and therefore unjust. Twenty-six-year-old Mary Butler filed one of the family's first freedom petitions in 1783 against Adam Craig. Her case came before the General Court in 1787. Butler's attorney Jeremiah Townley Chase, who would later become the Chief Judge of the court, argued that the previous judgment in the colonial court was nonbinding. He introduced testimony, much of it hearsay, from white witnesses who stated that Eleanor Butler had never been convicted of marrying an enslaved man and, therefore, that the 1664 act could not have been applied to her or her children. The jury in the General Court agreed and ruled that Mary Butler was the descendant of a free white woman. The court ordered that she be immediately released from slavery.
Craig appealed the case to the High Court of Appeals. The hearing took place in June 1791. Unlike the earlier colonial high court, the justices affirmed Mary Butler's freedom. Just a few months later at the next term of the General Court in October 1791, the Queens and Mahoneys sued for freedom. More families followed.
Thirty-five-years-old, Mary Butler was free and in subsequent freedom suits, took the stand as a witness to document the family's genealogy and claim to freedom.