Wickes v. Chew
4 H&J 543 (1819)
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellants, heirs of a deceased slave owner, sought review of the decision of the Court of Chancery (Maryland), which entered a judgment in favor of appellee slaves in their action to record a deed of manumission, which the slaves argued was executed by the deceased slave owner.
OVERVIEW: The slaves brought an action against the heirs of a deceased slave owner, in which the slaves alleged that they had been freed by a deed of manumission from the owner. The slaves sought an order of the chancery court to record the deed of manumission. The chancery court granted the slaves' request. On appeal, the court reversed the judgment of the chancery court. The court held that 1785 Md. Laws ch. 72, § 11 and 1792 Md. Laws ch. 41, § 3, which expanded the jurisdiction of the chancery courts to grant equitable relief for unrecorded deeds, applied only to deeds involving real estate. The statutes were not intended to give new relief in cases where no remedy had previously existed. The court noted that, in order to grant any rights at all, a deed of manumission had to be filed within six months of the date it was executed. The court ruled that the slave owner could have, within those six months, chosen to rescind the deed or simply refused to record it. By failing to do so, the owner left the slaves without any recourse.
Appellate Court Records:
COURT OF APPEALS (Docket, Western Shore) John Wickes v. Araminta Chew, et al., 1819, December Term, case no. 20, MdHR 604 [MSA S414-7, 1/66/14/025].
COURT OF APPEALS (Notes on Arguments, Western Shore) John Wickes v. Araminta Chew, et al., 1819, December Term, case no. 20, pp. 225-233 [MSA S427-6, 1/67/06/012].
Trial Court Records:
CHANCERY COURT (Chancery Papers) Araminta Chew, Letty Chew, Henry Chew, Michael Chew, Frank Chew, Ralph James, Judea James, Henry James, Polly James, and Samuel James. AA. Petition to record manumissions for petitioners, 1816, MdHR 17,898-1005 [MSA S512-1047, 1/36/1/19].
CHANCERY COURT (Chancery Record) Araminta Chew, et al., 1816, Liber 106, p. 486-492, MdHR 17,819-1[MSA S517-123, 1/35/03/013].
Appellate Judges:
John Buchanan;
Richard Tilghman Earle;
John Johnson;
Walter Dorsey
Appellate Attorneys:
Alexander Contee Magruder
(Appellant);
John Stephen (Appellant);
James Boyle (Appellant);
Nicholas Brewer (Appellee)
Trial Court Judge: Chancellor William Kilty
Trial Court Attorneys:
Alexander Contee Magruder (Wickes, et al.);
Nicholas Brewer (Chew)
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