State vs. Nathan a slave, October 13th, 1855

File — Box: 1, Folder: 6

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Judge Peter W. Gray papers include extensive handwritten documents on several of Gray’s early Texas district court cases, lectures, speeches, and official documents concerning the creation and organization of the Texas Historical Society. Court cases relate to murder, slavery, counterfeiting, the legal nature of circumstantial evidence and self defense; the notes related to these cases are generally Judge Gray’s direction to juries. The speeches include a speech given by Gray at the Democratic Convention in Austin in 1852 for the nomination of Sam Houston for the presidency.

Dates

Creation: 1841-1870

Creator

From the Collection: Gray, Peter W. (Person)

Access Restriction

This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Access

Stored offsite at the Library Service Center and require 24-hour notice for retrieval. Please contact the Woodson Research Center at 713-348-2586 or woodson@rice.edu for more information.

Extent

From the Collection: 0.50 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

General note

The judge begins “the prisoner though a slave is entitled to a fair and impartial trial as if he were a white citizen”. The slave is accused of killing George Thomason. The jury was to not only assess whether the slave was guilty of murder with malice, but also whether his owner helped him to evade arrest to avoid possibly losing his property. The jury convicted the slave of first degree murder.