Reopening the Case of the Petersburg and Isle of Wight Commonwealth Causes

Robert Lawrence, a white man, accused of beating Patience, an enslaved woman, so severely that she died from the injuries. The depositions describe the gruesome nature of Patience’s injury, as well as the merciless manner in which Robert beat and whipped Patience, exemplifying the true horrors enslaved people experienced at the hands of white people.

Randall Allmond stands charged of stabbing Isaac Ricks, a free Black man working as a blacksmith. Depositions and petitions in the executive papers of Governor John Tyler indicate there was a lingering feud between the two men. The jury finds Randall guilty, sentencing him to one stripe, to be sold into enslavement, and to be removed beyond the limits of the United States. Randall received an 1826 May 23 pardon from Governor John Tyler which still required Randall to remove himself and family beyond the Commonwealth; however, census records and chancery suits indicate that Randall and his family remained in the county.

A free Black man was charged with working with a white partner to forge certificates of emancipation, including his own. Further information about the forgery of these certificates and their recipients can also be found in 1827 October 14: Petersburg Commonwealth Causes: Commonwealth vs Wager Lanier.

William Stringer, a white man, accused and convicted to four years in prison for kidnapping Nancy Scott and her child James Scott, both free people, and then selling James and attempting to sell Nancy into enslavement. Similarly, in 1843 May: Petersburg Commonwealth Causes: Commonwealth vs Alexander R. Price, a white man was sentenced to twenty-one years in prison for kidnapping Nathaniel Easter, the infant child of free Black woman Martha Easter, and selling him into enslavement.

Lilly stood accused of attempting to murder her enslaver’s daughter. However, the only evidence given for this accusation was that she had given the infant a large dose of laudanum, a drug that was a widely used and accepted sleep aid for infants at the time. A similarly dubious accusation was the basis for the case 1849 September: Petersburg Commonwealth Causes: Commonwealth vs Emmeline Butcher (free). A white woman named Elizabeth Eames adamantly insisted that Butcher, a free Black woman whom she had hired for childcare, deliberately murdered Eames’s newborn with an overdose of laudanum. But other witnesses agreed that the overdose had been a clear accident that occurred after Eames had asked for Butcher’s help getting the child to sleep.

A group of white men were charged with suspicion of violence after they were frequently seen spending time in the company of enslaved people. Also notable was 1834: Petersburg Commonwealth Causes: Commonwealth vs Samuel Martin etc., wherein a group of white men were deemed “suspicious persons” because they frequently spent time in the company of free Black men. These two cases reflected fears among white Virginians of abolitionist influence on enslaved people and potential uprisings. These fears had grown increasingly prominent in the years following Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion and Virginia’s subsequent legislative debates regarding the future of slavery in the Commonwealth.

John Lloyd, a white man, was accused of illegally detaining and abusing a free Black man named William Peters. Peters had originally been hired out to Lloyd’s service by the court itself, in order to pay for jail fees that he had accrued while awaiting trial in a separate case. Lloyd refused to allow him to leave after the end of the designated period. The accusers in this case were Peters’ brother and other family members, who petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus on his behalf.

The court accused Augustus Ballard, a white Justice of the Peace, with knowingly failing to enforce the 36th and 37th sections of the 19th chapter of the act concerning public policy. The accusations asserted that Augustus allowed Jacob Butler and Eady Butler, both free Black people, to migrate to Pennsylvania and New York (free states) and then return to the Commonwealth and knowingly give a false judgment in the matter discharging Jacob and Eady from custody. The jury entered a verdict of nolle prosequi. Also see 1851 May: Commonwealth vs Jacob H. Duck.

The court charged John B. Loveland, Caleb C. Loveland, Benjamin Loveland, and James Scott, white crew members of the New Jersey vessel Francis French, with attempting to carry away, harbor, and aid the escape of Anthony, an enslaved man, after an Inspector of Vessels search discovered Anthony aboard the ship. The jury enters a verdict of nolle prosequi after William H. Thompson, a free Black crew member admitted to the charge. (See the UncommonWealth blog post, “Soon the grievance will cease to exist”: chief Inspector of vessels reports, for additional information on this case).

Riddick Butler, a white man, was accused of stating, “that owners have not right of property in their slaves.” While the court deemed the charge as “not a true bill” (made on false information), the unlawfulness of such a statement proves the extent to which Virginia and other southern states went to suppress abolitionist sentiments leading up to the Civil War.

^[1] We chose this as the starting date range so that the documents could be indexed, scanned, and incorporated into the Virginia Untold database which focuses on pre-1865 material. The inclusion of 1866-1867 materials ensured that cases presented to the court before or during the Civil but ended after the conclusion of the war were represented.

^[2] United States Census Bureau “1860 Census: Population of the United States”

^[3] Ibid.

Isle of Wight County Museum “The African-American Experience in Isle of Wight County” 

May 5, 1817 verdict found in Isle of Wight Commonwealth v John W. English. John W. English, a white man, is charged with forging and furnishing Miles, a self-emancipated enslaved man, with free papers under the alias David Johnson.