Title: Petition of George Washington Young, 21 May 1862
Date: May 21, 1862
Source Text: A microfilm reproduction of the original document held at the National Archives and Records Administration, Microcopy 520, Reel 3. The original document is held in the Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, 1775–1978, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 217.6.5. Within the National Archives' Archival Description Catalog, see ARC Identifier 4644616 / MLR Number A1 347 (http://arcweb.archives.gov).
Civil War Washington ID: cww.00345
TEI/XML: cww.00345.xml
PETITION.
To the Commissioners under the act of Congress approved the 16th of April, 1862, entitled "An act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia."
Your Petitioner, George Washington
Young of Washington
City in the District of
Columbia by this his
petition in writing, represents and states, that he is a person loyal to the United States,
who, at the time of the passage of the said act of Congress, held a claim to
service or labor against sixty eight persons of African descent of the names
of
respectively hereinafter mentioned for and
during the lives of the said several persons
for and during the life of said and that by said act of Congress said
several persons were
was discharged and freed of and from all claim of your petitioner to
such service or labor; that at the time of said discharge said several persons were
was of the age of
of the respective ages. and of the personal
description following:(1)
| Name & Sex | Description | Value |
| 1 Walter Bell—Male | Was about fifty years of age of a dark color; healthy; about five feet ten inches in height—he is healthy and a field hand | $600.00/00 |
| 2 Beckie Bell—Female | Was about forty five years of age; of a black color; about five feet three inches in height and is [paralysed?] | No Value |
| 3 Louisa Bell Female | Was about twenty five years of age; of a black color; about five feet in height and is healthy and a first rate house servant | $1000 00/00 |
| 4 Nannie Bell Female | Was about twenty one years of age; of a black color; about five feet three inches in height stout strong and healthy and good cook, washer & ironer | $1000 00/00 |
| 5 Aloysius Bell—Male | Was about seventeen years of age; of a black color, about five feet five inches in height. He is strong healthy and a field hand | $1200 00/00 |
| 6 Joanna Bell Female | Was about fifteen years of age; of a black color, about five feet two inches in height. She is stout, strong healthy and a field hand | $900 00/00 |
| 7 Crissina Bell Female | Was about thirteen years of age; of a black color; about four feet ten inches in height—and is strong and healthy | $800 00/00 |
| 8 Elizabeth Bell—Female | Was about eleven years of age; of a black color about four feet six inches in height—Healthy | $600 00/00 |
| 9 Margaret Bell Female | Was about nine years of age; of a black color; healthy | $500 00/00 |
| 10 Francis Bell—Male | Was about four years of age; of a black color; Healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 11 Margery Sims Female | Was about forty five years of age; about five feet three inches in height of a black color and strong and healthy and a field hand | $600 00/00 |
| 12 William Sims—Male | Was about twenty one years of age; of a black color; about five feet eight inches in height. He is strong and healthy and my carriage driver and hostler | $1200 00/00 |
| 13 Clement Sims—Male | Was about nineteen years of age; of a black color; about five feet ten inches in height—and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $1200 00/00 |
| 14 Sally Sims Female | Was about seventeen years of age, of a dark color; about five feet four inches in height and is strong and healthy and a valuable house servant & cook | $1000 00/00 |
| Name & Sex | Description | Value |
| 15 Henrietta Sims Female | Was about fifteen years of age, of a black color, about five feel two inches in height. She is strong and healthy and a field hand | $900 00/00 |
| 16 Mary Sims Female | Was about fifteen years of age; of a black color, about five feet one inch in height and is strong and healthy & a field hand— | $900 00/00 |
| 17 Marion Sims Female | Was about thirteen years of age, of a black color; about five feet in height and is healthy and a Field hand | $800 00/00 |
| 18 Anna Maria Sims Female | Was about eleven years of age, of a black color and is scrofulous Height will be given if required. | $500 00/00 |
| 19 Martha Sims Female | Was about nine years of age; of a black color; and is supposed to be consumptive | $200 00/00 |
| 20 Charity Sims Female | Was about seven years of age, of a black color; and is healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 21 Joseph Sims Male | Was about five years of age; of a black color and is healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 22 Mary Bruce Female | Was about twenty eight years of age; of a mulatto color about five feet six inches in height and is tall, healthy and a field hand | $1000 00/00 |
| 23 Dick Bruce Male | Was about twelve years of age, of a dark color Height will be given if required | $700 00/00 |
| 24 Sam Bruce Male | Was about four years of age; of a mulatto color and is healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 25 Betsy Bruce Female | Was about two years of age and of a mulatto color and is healthy | $200 00/00 |
| 26 Sally Bruce Female | Was about three month of age | $50 00/00 |
| 27 Annie Bruce Female | Was about thirty five years of age, of a black color, about five feet three inches in height and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $700 00/00 |
| 28 Jane Bruce Female | Was about fourteen years of age, of a black color, about four feet ten inches in height and is healthy and a Field hand | $800 00/00 |
| Name & Sex | Description | Value |
| 29 Rozen Bruce Male | Was about ten years of age; of a black color and is healthy | $800 00/00 |
| 30 Lewis Bruce Male | Was about six years of age; of a black color and is healthy | $500 00/00 |
| 31 Joseph Bruce Male | Was about three years of age, of a black color and healthy | $200 00/00 |
| 32 Mary Stuart Female | Was about forty years of age; of a dark mulatto color; about five feet three inches in height and is a valuable nurse and house servant and healthy | $600 00/00 |
| 33 Julia Stuart Female | Was about sixteen years of age, of a mulatto color, about five feet ten inches in height and is a field hand and hard of hearing | $800 00/00 |
| 34 Anna Stuart Female | Was about fourteen years of age, of a bright mulatto color; about four feet ten inches in height and is healthy and a valuable house servant and Nurse | $800 00/00 |
| 35 Margaret Stuart Female | Was about twelve years of age; of a bright mulatto color; about four feet nine inches in height and a healthy and valuable house maid | $700 00/00 |
| 36 Hamlet Stuart Male | Was about ten years of age; of a bright mulatto color and is healthy, smart and a valuable house boy | $700 00/00 |
| 37 Barney Covington Male | Was about fifty five years of age; of a dark color about five feet eleven inches in height and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $500 00/00 |
| 38 Ellen Covington the elder Female | Was about fifty years of age; of a black color; about five feet in height and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $300 00/00 |
| 39 John Covington Male | Was about fifteen years of age; black color and deformed | No value. |
| 40 Elias Covington Female | Was about thirteen years of age; of a black color; about five feet two inches in height and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $800 00/00 |
| Name & Sex | Description | Value |
| 41 Ellen Covington the younger Female | Was about nine years of age; of a black color and healthy | $500 00/00 |
| 42 George Gordon Male | Was about sixty years of age; of a black color; about five feet six inches in height and in delicate health He is a Field hand | $100 00/00 |
| 43 Lucy Gordon Female | Was about forty eight years of age; of a black color; about five feet three inches in height and is stout, strong healthy and a Field hand | $500 00/00 |
| 44 Clement Gordon Male | Was about twelve years of age, of a black color, about four feet in height and a Field hand and healthy | $700 00/00 |
| 45 Vincent Gordon Male | Was about ten years of age; of a black color; and is healthy | $600 00/00 |
| 46 Jane Gordon Female | Was about eight years of age; of a black color and is healthy | $500 00/00 |
| 47 Jerry Gordon Male | Was about seventy years of age; of a black color; about six feet in height and is healthy | $50 00/00 |
| 48 Phil Dines Male | Was about thirty eight years of age; of a black color; about five feet eight inches in height and is strong and healthy and a field hand | $900 00/00 |
| 49 Frank Stoddard Male | Was about forty eight years of age; of a black color; about five feet six inches in height and strong healthy and a Field hand | $600 00/00 |
| 50 Portus Sims Male | Was about fifty five years of age; of a mulatto color; about five feet eight inches in height and a Field hand but his health was not very good | $300 00/00 |
| 51 Charlotte Sims Female | Was about fifty two years of age; of a black color; about five feet three inches in height and healthy. She is a cook | $300 00/00 |
| 52 Elias Sims Male | Was about fifteen years of age; of a black color; about five feet four inches in height and is strong and healthy and a Field hand | $900 00/00 |
| 53 Daniel Sims Male | Was about thirteen years of age; of a black color about five feet ten inches in height and strong and healthy and a field hand | $800 00/00 |
| Name & Sex | Description | Value |
| 54 Peter Graham Male | Was about seventy five years of age; of a dark color; about five fee eight inches in height and healthy and a Field hand and Blacksmith | $50 00/00 |
| 55 Charity Graham Female | Was about forty two years of age; of a dark color; about five feet three inches in height and is stout, strong and healthy and a Field hand | $600 00/00 |
| 56 Joanna Graham Female | Was about fifteen years of age; of a black color; about five feet in height and is strong healthy and a Field hand | $900 00/00 |
| 57 Robert Graham Male | Was about eleven years of age; of a black color and healthy and a Field boy | $700 00/00 |
| 58 Charley Graham Male | Was about nine years of age; of a black color Healthy. | $500 00/00 |
| 59 Eliza Graham Female | Was about seven years of age and healthy. Black | $400 00/00 |
| 60 Beckie Graham Female | Was about five years of age; of a dark color and healthy | $300 00/00 |
| 61 Lucy Graham Female | Was about three years of age; of a dark color Healthy. | $200 00/00 |
| 62 Agnes Fletcher Female | Was about thirty six years of age; of a mulatto color; about five feet six inches in height and healthy and a Field hand | $700 00/00 |
| 63 Henry Fletcher Male | Was about fifteen years of age; about five feet ten inches in height; and healthy and a Field hand | $1000 00/00 |
| 64 Notley Fletcher Male | Was about twelve years of age; of a black color and has temporary scrofula in the leg Height give if required | $500 00/00 |
| 65 Beckie Fletcher Female | Was about ten years of age; of a black color and healthy | $500 00/00 |
| 66 Eliza Fletcher Female | Was about eight years of age; of a black color and healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 67 William Fletcher Male | Was about six years of age; of a black color and healthy | $400 00/00 |
| 68 Baby Fletcher | Was about eight months of age and healthy Black. | $50 00/00 |
Your Petitioner has omitted to state that the size of all of said sixty eight persons who are under the age of ten years, owing to the difficulty in getting them, they being dispersed in different places. Your Petitioner hopes that it will not be necessary to have said sizes but if it is he will endeavor to get them.
Your Petitioner further states that he acquired his claim to the aforesaid service or labor of said sixty eight persons respectively in manner following:—
About twenty years ago he purchased the hereinbefore named Walter Bell from Notley Maddox of Prince Georges County in the State of Maryland, and the hereinbefore named Margery Sims from Mrs. Barbara S. Young of Washington County in said District of Columbia, but your Petitioner does not remember the prices paid by him in either case.
The aforenamed Beckie Bell; Lucy Gordon; Frank Stoddard; Protus Sims; Mary Stuart; Peter Graham; and Charity Graham were inherited by your Petitioner from his father Nicholas Young
Your Petitioners claim to the service or labor of said Barney Covington; Ellen Covington; George Gordon; Jerry Gordon and Charlotte Sims was acquired by him in right of his wife Mrs. Henrietta Young.
The said Louisa Bell; Nannie
Bell; Aloysius Bell; Joanna
Bell; Crissina Bell; Elizabeth
Bell and Frances Bell are the children of
the said Beckie Bell, and were all born while said
Beckie Bell was held to said service or labor for life
by your Petitioner; Said William Sims; Clement
Sims; Sally Sims; Henrietta
Sims; Mary Sims; Marion
Sims; Anna Maria Sims; Martha
Sims; Charity Sims; and Joseph
Sims are the children of said Margery Sims,
and were born while said Margery Sims was held to service
or labor for life by your Petitioner. Said John Covington;
Elias Covington and Ellen
Covington the younger, are children of said Ellen
Covington the elder, and were born while the said Ellen
Covington the elder was held to service or labor for life by your
said Petitioner. Said Clement Gordon; Vincent
Gordon; Jane Gordon and Jerry
Gordon are the children of said Lucy Gordon,
and were all born while 
said
Lucy Gordon was held to service or labor for life by
your Petitioner. Said Elias Sims and Daniel
Sims are the children of said Charlotte
Sims, and were both born while said Charlotte
Sims was held to service or labor for life by your Petitioner.
Joanna Graham; Robert Graham;
Charley Graham; Eliza Graham;
Beckie Graham and Lucy Graham are
children of the said Peter and Charity
Graham, and were all born while said Peter
and Charity Graham were held to service or labor for life
by your Petitioner. Said Mary Bruce is the daughter of said
Ellen Covington the elder, and was born while her said
mother was held to said service or labor for life by your Petitioner. Said
Dick Bruce, Sam Bruce,
Betsey Bruce and Sally Bruce are
the children of the said Mary Bruce, and were born while
the said Mary Bruce was held to service or labor for life
by your Petitioner. Said Annie Bruce is the daughter of
Harriet Boarman a person of African descent as
aforesaid who was inherited by your Petitioner from his said father, and has
since died; and said Annie Bruce was born while her mother
was held to said service or labor by your Petitioner: Said Jane
Bruce, Rozen Bruce, Lewis
Bruce and Joseph Bruce are the children of
the said Annie Bruce and were born while the said
Annie Bruce was held to said service and labor for life
by your Petitioner. Said Julia Stuart, Anna
Stuart, Margaret Stuart and Hamlet
Stuart are children of said Mary Stuart, and
were born while said Mary Stuart was held to said service
or labor for life by your Petitioner. Said Phil Dines was
either born in your Petitioners family of a mother, whose name is not
recollected, held to service or labor by your Petitioner, or your Petitioners
claim to the service or labor for life of said Phil Dines
was acquired by your Petitioner in right of his said wife. Your Petitioners
claim to the said service or labor of said Agnes Fletcher
was acquired in right of his said wife; and said Henry
Fletcher, Notley Fletcher, Beckie
Fletcher, Eliza Fletcher, William
Fletcher
and the infant
Fletcher are the children of the said Agnes
Fletcher, and were born while said Agnes
Fletcher was held to said service or labor for life by your
Petitioner.
That on or about the eighteenth day of March last, the hereinbefore named William Sims, Aloysius Bell and Clement Sims ran away and absconded from your Petitioner; but he believes that they were at the time of their discharge under the aforesaid act of Congress, and that they now are, within the District of Columbia.
Your Petitioner refers to J. Fenwick Young and John Carroll Brent, citizens of the District of Columbia, as witnesses to substantiate the facts set forth in the foregoing petition.
Your Petitioner states that his claim to the service or labor of said sixty eight persons was, at the time of said discharge therefrom, of the respective values hereinbefore named opposite to their respective names, amounting in the aggregate to Thirty nine thousand Six hundred dollars in money
Your Petitioner avers that he knows of no mental, moral, or bodily infirmity or defects in said sixty eight persons or any of them, which impair the value of his claim to such service or labor, other than such as are hereinbefore stated, and he believes none other to exist.
In my petition submitted to you on 21st May last,—I find that one of the children of Agnes Fletcher was erroneously called Eliza. The true name is Margaret:—that Anna Virginia, another child of Agnes Fletcher, was altogether omitted. She is eight years old, and was before you on the 14th Instant.—and that the age of Beckie, another child of Agnes Fletcher, was erroneously stated to be ten years. Her age is but three years.
I respectfully request that this correction may be filed with the Petition, as a part thereof:—and also add that "Mary Catharine" is ascertained to be the name of the infant child of Agnes Fletcher, to whom no name is given in the Petition
George W. Young
That your petitioner acquired claim to the aforesaid service or labor of
said in manner following:(2)
That your petitioner's claim to the service or labor of said was, at the
time of said discharge therefrom, of the value of dollars in
money.(3)
Your petitioner hereby declares that he bears true and faithful allegiance to the Government of the United States, and that he has not borne arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid or comfort thereto.
And your petitioner further states and alleges, that he has not brought said sixty eight persons
or any of them into the District of Columbia
since the passage of said act of Congress; and that, at the time of the passage
thereof, said sixty eight persons were
was held to service or labor therein under and by virtue of your
petitioner's claim to such service or labor.
Your petitioner further states and alleges, that his said claim to the service or labor of said sixty eight persons of any of them does not originate in or by virtue of any transfer heretofore made by any person who has in any manner aided or sustained the present rebellion against the Government of the United States.
And your petitioner prays the said Commissioners to investigate and determine the validity of his said claim to the service or labor of said sixty eight persons herein above set forth; and if the same be found to be valid, that they appraise and apportion the value of said claim in money, and report the same to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, in conformity to the provisions of said act of Congress.
George Washington Young
[Form of the Oath for the Verification of the Petition.]
Washington County, ss.
I, Geo W Young being duly sworn, do depose and say, that all the several matters and things which are set forth and stated in the foregoing petition, as of my own knowledge, are true in substance and in fact; and that all the several other matters and things therein set forth and stated, as from the information of others, I believe to be true in substance and in fact.
George Washington Young
Sworn to and subscribed before me this twentieth day of May A. D. 1862.
Geo Mattingly JP
George Washington Young
under the Act of Congress approved 16th April 1862 entitled "An Act for the release of certain persons held to service or labor in the District of Columbia"—
Note (1.)-- Here describe the person, so as to identify him or her; and if there be more than one slave, describe each one separately.
Note (2.)-- Here state how the claim was acquired, when, from whom, and for what price or consideration; and, if held under any written evidence of title, make exhibit thereof, or refer to the public record where the same may be found.
Note (3.)-- Here state such facts, if any there be, touching the value of the petitioner's claim to the service or labor of the person, as may enhance the same, and also such facts, if any, touching the moral, mental, and bodily infirmities or defects of said person, as impair the value of the petitioner's claim to such service or labor, and conclude such statement with an averment that the petitioner knows of no other infirmities or defects of said person which impair the value of petitioner's claim to such service or labor, and that he believes none other to exist. If the petitioner specify no such infirmity or defect, then his statement touching the value of his claim should conclude with an averment that he has no knowledge of any such infirmity or defect.
