SLAVERY IN COURT. TENNESSEE. Lawsuit comprising 17 manuscript documents concerning the case of a young slave named Phebe, about 14 years of age, 'laboring under a virulent gonorrhea.' Multi-page documents, average-size folio; paper overall evenly toned; 10 of the most important pages are transcribed. should be seen. Tennessee, 1848-1852
a remarkably complex, but well-documented case, cited on page 202 of Emma Inman Williams' "Historic Madison" (Jackson, TN, 1946). The basis of this suit by William Turner was the claim that a young slave Phebe, when 'swapped' to Mr. Anderson for another young slave named Dianna (sic), was warranted to be in good health. Her new owner soon discovered that she was suffering from an acute case of gonorrhea. It is alleged that this should have been disclosed by the owner before the sale. It seems implicit that both of these young women were being used as concubines. More interestingly, the sellers, Messrs. Anderson and Fussell, were accompanied by a Negro trader named Johnson. The entire transaction was further complicated by the fact that it was not clear who the responsible owner was in the first place, and the other slave girl, Dianna, was apparently taken off to Mississippi by Anderson. The case was finally resolved in 1852, when the court ordered the defendants to pay Turner $300 plus court costs.
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