Description:

Indentured Servitude
Jacksonville, IL, May 11, 1840
Biracial Teenaged Girl Bound to Physician and His Wife as an Indentured Servant
MDS

[AFRICAN AMERICAN.] Samuel M. Prosser, Louisa Prosser, Jane Patterson, H. G. Reid, Milton McCormick, Manuscript Document Signed, Indenture of Jane Paterson, May 11, 1840, Jacksonville, Illinois. 2 pp., 7.5" x 12.25". Expected folds; general toning; soiling on folds;

In antebellum Illinois, indentured servitude existed as a form of debt bondage, in which individuals were bound for specific periods to repay a debt. Orphaned minors were also often bound to families until they reached the age of adulthood, 21 for males and 18 for females.

In June 1827, the Illinois General Assembly passed "An Act Concerning Minors, Orphans, and Guardians" that allowed orphans over the age of 14 to select their own guardians and empowered probate courts to appoint guardians for those under the age of 14. In this case, the Morgan County Probate Court bound "mulatto" Jane Patterson, age 16, to Samuel and Louisa Prosser until she reached the age of 18, in July 1842.

In 1841, the Illinois Supreme Court decided in the case of Bailey v. Cromwell that all individuals in Illinois were presumed to be free, regardless of color. It effectively ended indentured servitude in the state for African-American adults. Attorney Abraham Lincoln represented the man who received the African-American woman and her children involved in the case as servants.

Complete Transcript
This Indenture made this eleventh day of May eighteen hundred and forty between Samuel M Prosser and Louisa Prosser of the County of Morgan and state of Illinois of the first part, and Jane Paterson a mulatto girl of the second part witnesseth: That the said Parties of the first part, do hereby covenant and agree to and with the said Jane, and the Justices of the Peace hereinafter named that they will teach and instruct her the said Jane in the arts and duties of a house servant to cook, wash, and spin, also that they will clothe and protect her and will learn her to read, and at the expiration of her time of service, they agree to give to her two new suits of clothes suitable to her condition, also a new Bible.
And the said Jane agrees on her part to serve the said Samuel M Prosser and Louisa Prosser as an apprentice and servant faithfully and obediently until she shall arrive at the age of eighteen years, which will be on the tenth day of May eighteen hundred and forty two.
And it is further expressed and understood by H. G. Reid and Milton M. Cormick two justices of the Peace in and for the County of Morgan and State of Illinois that they approve of said Judicature and they finding the said Jane Patterson to be a poor child, and unable on account of her infancy to take care of and support herself, and she having no parents in this state, they do truly bind the said Jane Patterson to the said Samuel M. and Louisa Prosser, for and during the time of two years, and until she shall arrive at the age of righteous years.
In testimony whereof the said parties to this Indenture have hereto set their hands and seals the date first herein written.
Sam M Prosser {seal}
Louisa Prosser {seal}
her
Jane X Patterson {seal}
mark
H. G. Reid J. P. {seal}
Milton M. Cormick J. P. {seal}

Samuel M. Prosser (ca. 1800-1864) was born in Virginia and became a physician. In 1830, he married Louisa Middleton Simms (1810-1844) in Morgan County, Illinois, and they had at least three children before her death. In 1846, he married Mary Elizabeth Simms (b. 1822), with whom he had at least one child.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.5" x 12.25"
  • Medium: MDS

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