Luke Decker and Slavery: His Cases with Bob and Anthony, 1817-1822

Luke Decker and Slavery: His Cases with Bob and Anthony, 1817-1822 Merrily Pierce" Luke Decker, farmer, judge, and militia officer, owned and traded slaves in the Northwest Territory, Indiana Territory, and the state of Indiana despite laws prohibiting such practices. As a member of the proslavery element in the Old Northwest, Decker encouraged the establishment of slavery in the territory, a plan that nearly succeeded under Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison. By the time Indiana Territory was ready for statehood in 1816, however, settlers against slavery outnumbered those, like Decker, who supported it. The institution was outlawed by the 1816 state Constitution, but slavery did not die out. In Knox County, where Decker resided arid slavery was concentrated, some slave owners continued to hold slaves, believing that the Consti- tution was not retroactive. In July, 1816, barely a month after the Indiana Constitution was written, two of Decker's slaves-Bob, nominally an indentured servant, and Anthony, a slave for life-escaped from his possession and fled to Orange County, a Quaker stronghold in the southern part of the state. Decker pursued his slaves and had them cap- tured. Confronted by the Quaker-influenced court in Paoli, he used all of his influence in his determination to regain possession of the two men. Decker's cases were before the court for five years, from 1817 to 1822. Summaries of the court proceedings in early county histories and in other accounts attest to their importance.' A study of * Merrily Pierce, a former aquatic biologist, is currently serving as a staff aide for transportation, environment, and parks to the chairman of the Board of Super- visors, Fairfax County, Virginia. History of Pike and Dubois Counties, Indiana (Chicago, 18851, 301-302; His- tory of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana (Chicago, 1886), 86; Jacob P. Dunn, Jr., Indiana: A Redemption From Slavery (Boston, 18881, 432; Leander J. Monks, Logan Esarey, and Ernest V. Shockley, eds., Courts and Lawyers of Indiana (3 vols., Indi- anapolis, 1916), I, 64; Gayle Thornbrough and Dorothy Riker, eds., Journals of the General Assembly of Indiana Territory, 1805-1815 (Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. XXXII; Indianapolis, 19501, 965. INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, LXXXV (March, 1989). "'1989,Trustees of Indiana University 32 Indiana Magazine of History these histories and of recently discovered documents related to the cases demonstrates their significance with regard to the history of slavery in early Indiana and corrects numerous misconceptions. Because Decker was a member of the proslavery element in the Old Northwest and because many citizens of Orange County were morally opposed to slavery, the cases also exemplify the battle be- tween the pro- and antislavery forces that divided Indiana Terri- tory politically in its early years. Decker’s attempts to regain possession of Bob and Anthony are among the first proceedings to challenge the legality of both indentured servitude and slavery &er approval of the state Constitution. The lawsuits also demonstrate the legal tactics employed by pro- and antislavery attorneys as they defended the interests of their clients. Further, the cases reflect the decline of the once powerful proslavery element in Indiana. Slavery had existed in the area northwest of the Ohio River almost from the beginning of settlement. The French had intro- duced slaves in their trading centers in the mid-eighteenth century. Following the American Revolution migrants from the South, especially Kentucky and Virginia, brought slaves and a tolerance for slavery with them to the Old Northwest. Many of the pioneers who owned slaves settled in and around Vincennes, the largest French community, and in settlements in the Illinois country.2 To cope with the influx of pioneers Congress acted to organize a government for the burgeoning territory. Virginia was pressed to cede her western lands, including present-day Indiana and Illinois, to the United States government and did so with the Virginia Act of Session on December 20, 1783.3 The Northwest Territory was officially created by the ratification of the Ordinance of 1787. Arti- cle VI of the ordinance stated, “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory. .”4 The ordinance also contained modification of an important clause from the Virginia Act of Session that protected the rights of the French and other 2 For background on slavery and the slavery controversy in the Old Northwest see John D. Barnhart and Dorothy L. Riker, Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period (Indianapolis, 1971), 164, 166, 334-35, 347-48, 352-54, 457-59, passim; Emma Lou Thornbrough, The Negro in Indiana before 1900: A Study of a Minority (Indiana Historical Collections, Vol. XXXVII; Indianapolis, 1957), 1-30; Paul Finkelman, “Slavery and the Northwest Ordinance,” Journal of the Early Republic, VI (Winter, 1986), 343-70. 3 Virginia Act of Session in Charles Kettleborough, Constitution Making in Zn- diana: A Source Book of Constitutional Documents with Historical Introduction and Critical Notes, 1780-1851 (3 vols., Indiana Historical Collections, Vols. I, 11, XVII; Indianapolis, 1916), I, 11-15. Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Article VI, in ibid., 33. See also Robert M. Tay- lor, Jr., ed., The Northwest Ordinance, 1787: A Bicentennial Handbook (Indianapo- lis, 1987), 72-76. Luke Decker and Slavery 33 original inhabitants of the territ01-y.5Those who owned slaves, believing their rights were protected, were angry and confused at Congress’s failure to address the question of existing slavery. A loosely organized proslavery element emerged to eliminate Article VI and legalize slavery in the territory. The Decker family was part of this early migration from the South, and, like many other settlers from the southern states, the Deckers had owned slaves before coming to what is now Indiana. John and Dinah (Kuykendall) Decker, Luke Decker’s parents, had migrated with other Dutch families from New York in the mid- eighteenth century and settled in Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia), where Luke was born about 1760. The family farmed and bought land near the upper reaches of the Potomac River. They also bought slaves. One was a woman named Rachel, whom the family called “Rach.”‘j After the Revolution the Decker clan moved west, settling first in Kentucky, then near Vincennes, Indiana, about 1784. Claiming land near the Duchis River, they began farming in what is now known as Decker Township.7 They brought their slaves with them and may have purchased more along the way. When John Decker died in 1790, he bequeathed four female slaves to his wife and children. Luke Decker inherited all of his father’s lands and tenements and, after the death of his mother, the slave “Ra~h.”~ The clause from the Virginia Act of Session stated, “the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskies, St. Vincents, and the neighbour- ing villages who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties.” Kettleborough, Constitution Making, I, 13. This clause was modified in the Ordinance of 1787 to read: “saving, however to the French and Ca- nadian inhabitants. their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.” Ibid., 27. John Decker purchased a slave named Rachel on two occasions, the second time with his son, Luke Decker. “I, Jeremiah Claypool. , . for g50. have sold to John Decker, a Negro wench named Rachel and her descendants. .” Bill of sale, November 7, 1778, recorded March 14, 1781, Hampshire County, Virginia, Deed Book V, p. 157, Hampshire County Clerk’s Office, Romney, West Virginia. “Jere- miah Claypool.. to John Decker of Ohio County.. and Luke Decker of Hamp- shire Co., Va. for E200 . a certain negro slave named Rachel and her children with their future increase. .” Bill of sale, March 10, 1784. Hampshire County, Vir- ginia, Deed Book V, p. 105, ibid. Records of land purchases, marriages, etc., per- taining to the Decker and Kuykendall families can be found in Clara M. Sage and Laura S. Jones, comps., Early Records of Hampshire Co., Va. (1939; reprint, Baltimore, 1976), and the Hampshire County, Virginia, Deed Books, Hampshire County Clerk’s Office, Romney, West Virginia. 7 The Decker clan included John and Dinah (Kuykendall) Decker; sons Isaac, Joseph, Abraham, Moses, and Luke; three daughters; and members of their own and their children’s families. Information concerning the Decker family, including their early land claims at Vincennes, can be found in Barnhart and Riker, Indiana to 1816, 278-79; American State Papers: Public Lands (serial set 028), I, 85; ibid. (serial set 034), VII, 682-85. 8 Last Will and Testament of John Decker, Albert G. Porter Papers (Indiana Historical Society Library, Indianapolis). In addition to “Rach,” Decker bequeathed “Catz,” “Ann,” and “Phebe,” but he owned male slaves as well. See Harry and others v. Decker and Hopkins, 1 Walker (Miss.) 36 (1818). 34 Indiana Magazine of History Establishing his presence in Vincennes affairs, Decker served as justice of the peace for Knox County, as judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and as an officer in the militia.s He forged ties with members of the French community, probably purchased slaves from them, and traded at posts organized by the French along the Mis- sissippi River and in Louisiana.lo It may have been this association and a desire to continue trading slaves that led him to a position of influence in the effort to eliminate Article VI of the Ordinance of 1787 and to establish slavery in the Northwest, and later Indi- ana, Territory. One of the first acts of the proslavery element in the Old Northwest was to petition Congress for suspension or repeal of Ar- ticle VI.

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