Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcom X, Rosa Parks, and Barrack Obama - These names frequently come to mind when we think about black history facts in the United States; but what about John Casor? Many people have never heard of him, but his story should be known to everyone who cares about American history.
Quote:
Anthony Johnson vs Robert Parker
During the late 1640s, Johnson moved with his family to Northampton County on Virginia's Eastern Shore, where he acquired property on Pungoteague Creek and began raising livestock. He was the first African landowner in the colony. By July 1651, he had brought his holdings, which he referred to in a court record as myne owne ground, to 250 acres (100 ha), then a considerable tract by eastern shore standards. He was prosperous enough to import five indentured servants of his own and was granted an additional 250 acres (100 ha) as "headrights".
In 1653 John Casor, a Black man employed by Johnson, said that he had been imported as a "seaven or eight yeares" indentured servant and that after attempting to reclaim his indenture, he had been told by Johnson that he didn't have one. According to the court documents, Casor demanded his freedom, and "Anthony Johnson was in a feare. Upon this his sonne in lawe, his wife and his two sonnes perswaded the said Anthony Johnson to sett the said John Casor free." Casor went to work for Robert Parker, a White colonist who, along with his brother George, later testified that they knew Casor had an indenture. One commentator said that Johnson may have feared losing his headrights land if the case went to court.
Anthony Johnson brought suit in Northampton County court against Robert Parker in 1654 for detaining his "Negro servant, John Casor," saying "Hee never did see any [indenture] but that hee had ye Negro for his life". In the case of Johnson vs Parker, the court of Northampton County upheld Johnson's right to hold Casor as a slave, saying in its ruling of 8 March 1655:
This daye Anthony Johnson negro made his complaint to the court against mr. Robert Parker and declared that hee deteyneth his servant John Casor negro under the pretence that said negro was a free man. The court seriously consideringe and maturely weighing the premisses, doe fynde that the saide Mr. Robert Parker most unjustly keepeth the said Negro from Anthony Johnson his master ... It is therefore the Judgement of the Court and ordered That the said John Casor Negro forthwith returne unto the service of the said master Anthony Johnson, And that Mr. Robert Parker make payment of all charges in the suit
In 1665 Anthony Johnson and his wife Mary, his son John and his wife Susanna, and their slave John Casor moved to Somerset County, Maryland. Casor remained Johnson's slave for the rest of his life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Casor
Quote:
Although it was Anthony Johnson's court case against John Casor that established the legal status of slavery in Virginia, it is difficult to identify him as the 'first' slaveholder in the state as indentured servants were, in effect slaves for the term of their contract. Johnson was the first to hold servants who were legally slaves for life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Johnson_(colonist)
May 07, 2011 @ 12:28:12
