56	SLAVERY & ABOLITION

right to freedom is more important than the right of property'. Quoted in Catterall, pp.4-5.

8.    'Deposition of Mary Craufurd', 17 October 1792, Judgments, pp.8-10; 'Deposition of Eben
Parramore', 12 May 1796, Judgments, pp.17-19; and 'Deposition of John Wheat', 8 April
1794, Judgments, pp. 10-11.

9.    'Deposition of Peter Harbard', 25 May 1792, Judgments, pp.14-15. Harbard was one of
Joice's grandchildren. He had managed to purchase his freedom and was, at the time of his
testimony, 77 years old. Despite his age, he clearly remembered his grandmother say that 'if
she had her just right...she ought to be free and all her children'. See Allan Kulikoff's men-
tion of Harbard in his Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the
Chesapeake, 1680-1800 (Chapel Hill, 1986), pp.360, 383. It is important to note that
Wilmer's version of Joice's history is not necessarily true. For example, there is no defini-
tive proof that Joice was born in Barbados. It is possible that she was of Irish descent like
Eleanor Butler. (See note 1 for reference to Butler v. Craig.) Lacking evidence, Mahoney's
lawyers may have conceded this point since it did not affect the substance of their case.

10. Joice's children include Molly Crane, Tom Crane, John Wood, David Jones, Polly Harbard,
Frank Harbard, Sue Harbard (Mahoney's great-grandmother), and possibly several others.
For further information on Mahoney's genealogy, consult 'Deposition of Henry Davis', 9
October 1793, Judgments, pp.16-17; 'Deposition of Howard Duvall', 23 May 1795,
Judgments, pp. 11-12; and Harris and McHenry, p.63.

11. 'Deposition of Peter Knight', 12 May 1796, Judgments, pp.13-14. Knight claimed that he
had heard this story from the late Edward Clagett. His assertions were later challenged by
Clagett's son. See Kulikoff, pp.390-1; Catterall, p.48.

12. At the time Ashton's lawyers were Philip Barton Key and William Cooke. By the end of
the trial, they also included Luther Martin, John Mason, Robert Goodloe Harper, and Arthur
Shaaf. 'Deposition of Ann Cooke', 17 October 1792, Judgments, pp.20-1; 'Deposition of
Ann Cooke', 28 May 1796, Judgments, pp.22-4; 'Deposition of Nathaniel Talbot', 28 May
1797, Judgments, p.35; and 'Deposition of Nicholas Lowe Darnall', 28 May 1797,
Judgments, pp.33-5.

13. 'Deposition of Henry Davis', 22 May 1797, Judgments, p.31-3; 'Henry Davis's Answers to
(   Interrogatories', 6 May 1797, Judgements, pp.26-7; and 'Deposition of Anne Hundle', 28
May 1797, Judgments, pp.25-6.

14. 'Deposition of Eleanor Carroll', 24 May 1792, Judgments, pp.42-3; 'Deposition of Henry
Hill', 14 April 1792, Judgments, p.46; and 'Deposition of Rev. Digges', 14 April 1792,
Judgments, p.45. Carroll was 86 at the time of her deposition and had died before it was sub-
mitted to the General Court.

15. 'Deposition of John Clagett', 24 October 1797, Judgments, pp.52-3; 'Deposition of Sarah
Ratcliffe', 10 June 1796, Judgments, pp.39-40; 'Deposition of Sarah Ratcliffe', 21 July
1797', Judgments, pp.48-9; 'Deposition of John Lambath', 10 June 1796, Judgments,
pp.41-2; and 'Deposition of John Lambath', 21 July 1797, Judgments, p.50.

16. 'Deposition of John Wheat', 23 October 1792, Judgments, pp.36-9; 'Deposition of Michael
Lowe', 1 July 1797, Judgments, p.43; 'Deposition of James Mullikin', 27 October 1797,
Judgments, pp.51-2; Harris and McHenry, pp.63-4; and Ashton to Smallwood, 19 March
1788, Maryland State Papers (Series A) 6636-66-336, MSA.

17. 'Admittance', Judgments, p.54; 'Special Verdict', Judgments, pp.58-9. See also Harris and
McHenry, pp.63, 210-13. As Luther Martin explained, The special verdict finds facts and
submits to the court the operation of the law upon those facts'.

18. Harris and McHenry, pp.210-14; Judgments, pp.61-2.

19. Ashton's attorneys objected to this ruling. They argued that the special verdict should not be
allowed 'because the petitioner had the same testimony now to support his issue which was
offered to the former jury'. The Court of Appeals eventually agreed. See Harris and
McHenry, p.295.

20. 'List of Servants', Judgments, pp.62-3. Perhaps this document was unearthed by the Court's
commission to London. The commissioners were directed to Joshua Johnson, William
Murdock, Horatio Clagett, and James Brooks, but I have found no evidence of their journey.

21. Harris and McHenry, pp.295-305.   See also Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of