"Lucy Ann Delaney"(April 26,1828)

Was an African American author,former,slave,and activist,notable for 1891 narrative From her

1891 narrative From the Darkness Cometh the Light,or Struggle for Freedom.This is the only first-person account of a "freedom suit"  and one of the few post Emancipation published slave narratives. The memoir recounts her mama Polly Berry's legal battles in St.Louis Missouri for her own and daughter's case.Perry attracted the support of Edward Bates,a prominent Whing politician and judge,and the future US Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln.He argued the case of Lucy Berry in court and won in February 1844.Their cases were two of 301 freedom suits filed in St.Louis from 1814-1860.Discovered in the late 20th century,the case files are held by the Missouri Historical Society and searchable in an online database.For decades little was known of Lucy beyond her memoir,in the late 20 century she and her mama suits were discovered among case files for 301 freedom suits St.Louis from 1814-1860.Related material is available online in a searchable database created by the St.Louis Circuit Court Historical Project,in collaboration with Washington University.Scholars have done research into censuses and other historic material related to Lucy memoir o document the facts.Born into slavery in St.Louis,Missouri.Lucy was the daughter of slaves Polly Berry and a Mulatto daddy {whose name she did not note}.Lucy said Polly Berry had been born free in Illinois,where she was known as Polly Crockett,but was kidnapped as a child by slave catchers and sold into slavery in Missiouri.(in her reedom suit,Polly Berry deposed that she was held  as a slave in Wayne County,Kentucky by Joseph Crockett,and was brought by him to Illinois.There they stayed for several weeks while he hired her out for domestic work.As Illinois was free state,Joseph was supposed to lose his his right to slave property by staying there,and Polly could have been freed.It was on this basis that she could have been freed.It was on this basis that she was later awarded freedom,as witnesses were found to testify as to her having been held illegally as a slave in Illinois.,)Polly was sold to Major Taylor Berry of St.Louis,from whom she took her surname she used.Polly married another f the Berry slaves,and they had two daughters,Nancy & Lucy Ann.When Lucy wrote memoir later in life,he remembered the Major and his wife Fanny as kind slaveholders.After the major died in a duel,Fanny married Robert Wash ,a lawyer later appointed as a Missouri State Supreme Court Judge.When Fanny died,the Berry lave Family's fortunes changed.Major Berry's will had called for freeing his slaves after he and Fanny's deaths,Judge Wash sold Lucy Ann's father to a plantation down the Mississippi River in the Deep South.Polly Berry concerned for the safety of her daughters,and determined hey should escape.Lucy Ann's older sister Nancy slipped away while  with a daughter of the family,Marry Berry Coxe,and her new husband on their honeymoon in the North.Nancy left them at Niagara Falls,took the ferry across the river,and safely reached Canada and a friend of her mama's.After having a conflict with in 1839,Polly was sold to Joseph A. Magean,she escaped three months later.Polly made it to Chicago,and was captured by slave catchers.They return to Joseph and slavery in St.Louis.On returning, Polly Berry (also known as Polly Wash after her previous master) sued for freedom in the Circuit Court in the case known as Polly Wash v,Joseph A.Magehan in October 1839.When her suit was finally heard in 1843,her attorney Harris Sproat was able to convince a jury of her free birth and kidnapping as a child,Polly was freed.She remained in St.Louis to Continue her separate effort to secure her daughter Lucy Ann Berry's freedom,for which she had filled suit in 1842,shorty after Lucy fled her master.By 1842,Lucy Ann was working for Martha Berry Mitchell,another of the Berry daughters.They had conflict Because Lucy inexperience at heavy domestic tasks,including laundry.Martha decided to sell her,and her husband David D.Mitchell arranged the sale.The day before she was to leave,Lucy escaped and hid at the house of her mama's.That week, Polly Wash filed suit in the Circuit Court in St.Louis for Lucy freedom,as " next friend to the minor girl."Since her own case had been settled Polly was still considered a slave with no legal standing,but under the slave law,Polly could  bring suit The law provided a slave with the status of a "poor person," with a court-appointed counsel.When the court determined the case had grounds.Lucy's memoir suggests that mama's attorney suggested her strategy of filing separate suits for her and her daughter,to prevent a jury's worrying about taking too much property from one slaveholder.The case was prepared primarily by Francis Butter Murdock,who litigated nearly one third of the freedom suits filed in St.Louis from 1840-1847.Francis had served as the Alton,Illinois district attorney,and prosecuted the murder of the printer Elijah Loveyoy by anti-abolitionists.Polly also attracted the support of Edward Bates;a prominent Whig politician and judge,he argued Lucy's case in court.Edward later served as the US Attorney General under President Abraham Lincoln.While waiting for trial,Lucy was remanded to the jail,where she was held for more than 17 months without being hired out,which was customary to offset expense and earn money for money slaves' masters.In February 1844 the the went went to trial.By then her mama's case was settled, and Polly was declared free.In addition,Polly,had affidavits from people who knew she and her daughter.Judge Robert Wash (Fanny Berry Wash's widower and Polly's previous master) testified that Lucy was definitely Polly Berry Wash's child.The jury believed the case for freedom had been proved,and the judge announced Lucy Ann Berry free.She approximately 14 years old.Lucy & Polly lived in St.Louis after gaining their freedom.They had to get certificates as free African Americans and deal with other restrictions of the time.They worked together as seamstresses.In 1845,Lucy married steamboat worker Frederick Turner,with whom she settled in Quincy Illinois,and Polly lived with them.Frederick died soon after in a boiler explosion on the The Edward Bates.(named for the lawyer who had helped secure Lucy's freedom two years before.)Polly Wash moved and Lucy moved back to St.Louis.In 1849 Lucy met Zachariah Delaney.They were married for the rest of their lives,and her mama lived with them.The couple had four children,two did not survive infancy;the remaining children,a son & daughter,both died in their early twenties.