When slave and master's wife escaped, law sought both
In the 1840s, a wife who escaped from her husband could be considered as serious a matter as a Black person who escaped slavery and the woman’s character could be portrayed as equally heinous as the person seeking freedom.
Such was the case in 1841 in Georgia, when a notice was printed that slave holders Benjamin Henry and William Roberts were seeking Robert’s wife and a Black man who left with her named Westley (no last name available) from a plantation in Harris County, Ga.
The notice, published in the May 22, 1841 edition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune said that Mary Roberts, a woman “of ill fame” used deception on Feb. 4, 1841 to lure Westley away with the intention of using him both as her servant and husband. The word “husband” was italicized in the newspaper print to add a scandalous emphasis to the matter.
The notice said both slave holder and husband believed that the wife had a previous “connection” with Westley.
The notice said that she had told “many stories of the ill treatment of her husband,” and that she was believed to be “lurking about among the lower class of females in the city of New Orleans.”
Not only was a reward offered for the return and imprisonment of Westley, but also for Ms. Roberts with $200 given if both were captured, or $100 for either one.
Westley was described as about six feet tall and about 175 pounds. He was said to be bow-legged and to be of “considerable smartness.”
Roberts was said to be about 35 years old, dark hair and complexion, about 5-6 with a scar on one of her hands.
The notice says Roberts and Westley were followed to Mobile, Ala., where they may have taken a steamboat to Arkansas. From there they made their way to New Orleans, it was believed.
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