Robert Thomas v. Henry Pile. Cornelius Barber's Answers to Interrogatories

 

Robert Thomas
vs
Henry Pile

Petition for freedom in the General Court

Cornelius Barber aged seventy nine years being duly sworn made the several answers to answered to the following interrogatories

1st do you know the petitioner in this suit & how long & did you know his Ancestors & how long & have they & each of them always been held & reputed as slaves.

Answer I know the petitioner in this suit & have known him ever since he was a child. I have also known his Ancesters for a number of years & they & each of them have always been held & reputed as slaves.

2d. Did you known or have you generally understood that Mary Curtis had a Mulatto Bastard & who was the reputed father

Answer. I knew and have generally understood that Mary Curtis had a Mulatto Bastard & that a Negro Man commonly called Charles belonging to a certain Thomas Jameson of Charles County was the reputed father.

3d. Was Charles Mingo the reputed Father of said Bastard a slave to whom & was he the song of a Woman called Betty Mingo, or generally so reputed to be? or was he reputed to be of the same family with the petitioner?

Answer Negro Charles the reputed father of said Bastard was a slave to a certain Thomas Jameson of Charles County. I do not know neither did I ever understand he was the son or reputed to be the son of a Woman called Betty Mingo or that he was of the same family of the petitioner.

4th Was Mary Curtis sold as a Servant & to whom for being the Mother of a Bastard Child. was the said Mary Curtis a Woman of good or bad general character & reputation.

Answer Mary Curtis was sold as a Servant by St Mary's County Court to a certain James Swann of St Mary's County for bringing a Mulatto Bastard Child & her general character & reputation was bad.

5th Was Mary Curtis a Woman of general good or bad Moral Character, conduct in life, veracity & Integrity, or was she a Lewd woman who connected herself with Negroes or Slaves.

Answer Mary Curtis was a Woman of general bad moral conduct in life she was a lewd woman who connected herself with Negros & slaves - turn over

 

6th Where was Mrs Pile the Mother of the defendant Born. Where did she live at what time did she die & what was her age.

Answer Mrs Pile the Mother of the Defendant was Born in St Mary's County & that she lived there untill she Married Mr Pile & this de died about about twelve or fifteen years ago & that she was aged between sixty & seventy years of age

7th Where did Mary Curtis reside. did she ever reside in Durham Parish in Charles County or was she acquainted with the Stone family of Durham Parish or their neighbours.

Answer Mary Curtis resided with a certain James Swann of St Mary's County when I first knew her I never heard or understood that she lived in Durham Parish or that she was acquainted with the Stone family of that Parish or their Neighbours.

8th Did Mrs Pile ever live in or was she acquainted with the People of Durham Parish in Charles County. did she know David Stone or his father Thomas Stone or their Neighbours.

Answer Mrs Pile did not that I ever knew or heard of live in Durham Parish in Charles County; neither did I ever know or hear that she was was acquainted with David Stone or his father Thomas Stone or their Neighbours.

Cornelius Barber

Saint Mary's County Sct.

May 10th 1794

Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace for the County aforesaid Cornelious Barber who upon Oath gave the several answers contained in the within Deposition to the Interrogatories there to annexed

Wm. Thomas Junr.

Cornelious Barber

8 sid

Robert Thomas
Entered a
Henry Pile

Depo.

No. 28.

Cornelius Barber's Deposition

Filed 31 Oct. 1794