Robin Holmes

Robin Holmes was an African American born into slavery who was the plaintiff of a court case in the Oregon Territory concerning slavery prior to the American Civil War.

Robin Holmes was born in Virginia in 1810. He stated that he and his wife, Polly, had been owned by a US Army Major in Missouri for twelve years before they were seized to pay the major's debts.[1] Politician and landowner Nathaniel Ford claimed them as his own slaves, though Holmes would later dispute the legality of the sale.[1]

In 1843, Ford, who was 2400 dollars in debt, mortgaged Robin and Polly Holmes and five of their six children.[1] He regained ownership of Robin Holmes, Polly Holmes, and two of their children.[1] The others- William, Eliza, and Clarisa- he either lost permanently or sold.[1] Based on dates recorded by the Fords, Eliza, the oldest of the three, would have been twelve years old.[1]

On May 14, 1844, the Ford and Holmes families set out for the Oregon Territory.[1] Ford's descendants claimed that Ford was reluctant to bring Robin Holmes along, but was swayed by Holmes's pleas to stay with the Fords.[1] Robin Holmes himself testified that he had been offered freedom in exchange for helping Ford settle in Oregon, an account that Ford did not dispute in his own testimony.[1] Mary Jane, Harriet, and Celi Ann, Holmes's three remaining daughters, were also brought along.[1]

In 1850, Mr. Ford granted freedom to only Robin, Polly, and one of the children, leaving four children enslaved (two children had been born to the couple between 1844 and 1850).[2] One of the children, Harriet, died in 1851.[1] Robin Holmes then sued Nathaniel Ford for his children's freedom in 1852.[1]

The case, Holmes v. Ford, was brought before the Oregon Territorial Supreme Court on July 13, 1853, and the children were awarded to their parents[3] after a fourteen month trial.[2]

References
  1. Gregory., Nokes, R. (2013). Breaking chains : slavery on trial in the Oregon Territory. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. ISBN 9780870717123. OCLC 816318426.
  2. "Oregon Secretary of State: Robin and Polly Holmes". sos.oregon.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  3. "Holmes v. Ford (1853) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
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