Charles Mahoney v. John Ashton. Deposition of Howard Duvall
Howard Duvall of PG County aged sixty seven years & upwards being sworn on the holy Evangely of Almighty God deposeth & saith that he knows Charles the petitioner & has known him ever since he was a child, & he has known the defendant ever since he lived at the white marsh, the deponent being a near neighbor & living within a mile of said Ashton; that Charles is the son of Eleanor a mulatto woman, who is now free, & lives as he has understood near the head of Severn, [strikethrough] as a servant to Col Rezin Hammond. That he has known Eleanor Mahoney about fifty years & ever since she was a girl, & he knows Sue the mother of Eleanor was since her knew any body, and she lived at Enfield Chase when the deponent first knew her and she then belonged to Charles Carroll esquire now deceased; that Eleanor Mahoney got her freedom by was purchased by Robert Mahoney her husband who set her free; that the deponent never heard whow as the aforesaid Sue's Mother, nor does he know any thing about his Charles's right to freedom. That Patrick also is son of Eleanor aforesaid; Robert, Thomas, James, Bernard Daniel, Joseph are also sons of said Eleanor.
Sworn before to in open court the 23. May 1796 Jno Gwinn Cl