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This collection consists of 8 affidavits recorded in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1808. The statements, all provided by slaves, concern events leading up to the stabbing of a slave named Moses in May 1808.

This collection consists of 8 affidavits (16 pages) recorded in Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1808. The statements, provided by slaves named Ben, Peter, Caleb, Martin, Frank, David, Lew, and Jim, concern events leading up to the stabbing of a slave named Moses in May 1808. According to their testimony, Ben and Lew had a financial dispute after a card game, which later led to an altercation between a slave named Surry, who was a relative of Ben, and Moses, who was acquainted with Lew. The slaves who were involved in and who witnessed the incident belonged to several different masters. The affidavits provide detailed information about the men's activities before and during the fight between Surry and Moses.

Additional research about the collection and the context of Surry's murder trial is available in the Manuscripts Division.

This collection is made up of legal documents and court records pertaining to the murder trial of Milton Lester and Sarah Parker in Washington County, Texas, in late 1847. Lester and Parker were accused of killing George Parker, Sarah's husband.

his collection is made up of legal documents and court records pertaining to the murder trial of Milton Lester and Sarah Parker in Washington County, Texas, in late 1847. Lester and Parker were accused of killing George Parker, Sarah's husband. The items are dated August 1847-December 1847. The first item is a formal indictment against Milton Lester and Sarah Ann Parker, accusing Parker of hiring Lester to shoot her husband, with notes about the case dated as late as April 1848. Other items include orders for the county sheriff to arrest Lester and Parker and summons for witnesses, some of which are signed by John B. Dupuy, a justice of the peace. One brief document and a 44-page group of records contain witness testimonies. One item relates the results of an inquisition on the cause of George Parker's death, deemed to be a single bullet to the chest. The final items pertain to the defendants' requests for their trial to take place in Austin County, as they did not believe that a jury of men from Washington County would be impartial.