Mahoney v Ashton

Mahoney v Ashton was a slavery case brought before the General Court of the Western Shore in Annapolis, Maryland in 1791. On October 18, 1791, enslaved man Charles Mahoney filed a petition for freedom before the court against his owner, Father John Ashton, a Roman Catholic priest and former Jesuit.

Mahoney v Ashton
CourtGeneral Court of the Western Shore, Annapolis, Maryland
Full case nameCharles Mahoney -v- John Ashton
Decided1799
Court membership
Judge(s) sittingChief Justice Samuel Chase
Keywords
Slavery, abolition

Mahoney claimed that he was descended from a free woman named Ann Joice, an indentured servant, making him a free man. Mahoney v. Ashton dragged on for twelve years, including three jury trials and two appeal hearings. The result was inconclusive, but on the 4th of May 1804 John Ashton recorded a deed that "forever set free Charles Mahoney.", and agreed to "relinquish and renounce all claim whatever which I have or ever had to him."

The case involved hundreds of participants including many notable members of the Maryland slave-owning gentry, including Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

See also

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.