MS AMY

MISS AMY "Owners frequently provided that their slaves be freed following their deaths, and bondsmen and bondswomen who benefited by such provisions numbered in the thousands. Some owners stipulated in their wills that blacks whom they deemed loyal and trustworthy should be freed, if not upon the owner's death, at some time in the future . The children, or 'issue,' of female slaves were customarily emancipated at a date in the future , when they reached their majority or some designated age..... "The heirs of South Carolina planter Elijah Wills charged that his will dated 1854, was null and void under the 1841 act that forbade the freeing of slaves, despite the fact that Wills had transported the slaves to Ohio for the purpose of emancipating them. Just as they were landing on the Ohio side of the river, in Cincinnati , Willis died. The heirs attempted to establish the testator's insanity on testimony that he often foundered 'under gloomy depression of spirits--avoiding society on account of his connection with Amy.' A 'dark yellow woman,' Amy had given birth to three of the master's children and had become de facto mistress of the plantation, 'us[ing] saucy and improper language' in the presence of whites and exercising undue influence over the slaveholder--notably she had prevented the sale of the black man who had also fathered three of her children. "Contrary to the judge's instructions, a jury found the will invalid. The court of appeals reversed the lower court 's jury finding and ordered a new trial. However disgusting the court might have found the circumstances of the case, it was clear that the testator's wishes in this case were 'perfectly consistent' with those of a sane person." P.71, 73. "Manumission by Will and Deed," APPEALING FOR LIBERTY: FREEDOM SUITS IN THE SOUTH by Loren Schweninger (2018)