Rodney’s Notes
Court of Quarter Sessions of Delaware, Kent County.
May, 1802.
Indictment. Larceny for stealing $93 . . . gloves, ribbon, etc. from John Adams, Negro.
Vandyke [for the State]. Rodney, Ridgely [for defendant].
John Adams sworn. John Davis and William Adams sworn; also several other witnesses.
Verdict, guilty.
Motion in arrest of judgment by defendant’s counsel on the ground goods charged to have been the property of John Adams, a Negro. One point, a slave can hold no property. Next, that the presumption of law is that every Negro is a slav prima facie. Every person that appears in court with a black complexion is a slave. Case of Collins v. Hall . . . . Sussex. That a free black from Maryland should not be admitted a witness.
Vandyke, Attorney General. 4 Bl.Comm. 375. 2 Bl.Comm. 93. Villains in England had a right to hold property against others, their lords excepted, and slaves may here. Indictment will lie by a person having special property.
Court overruled the objection, and sentenced [defendant] to be whipped with 21 lashes, etc. $400 restitution.
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