Malinda Ford

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Lloyd Ford was a private in the American Revolutionary War

FORD V. FORD
1846
This significant decision of the Tennessee Supreme Court provides a valuable understanding of the Tennessee judiciary's peculiar relationship with the institution of slavery. The case arose after the death in 1842 of Loyd Ford of Washington County. Ford, a yeoman farmer, owned several slaves whom he regarded with particular affection. He drafted a will that freed the slaves and bequeathed them his real property. Before Ford's death, his children attempted to force him to destroy the will and even offered money for its destruction to the person holding the document for safekeeping. After Ford's death, his slaves presented the will to the Washington County courts for probate. The executors of the will, however, appeared and contested it. A jury found that the will was valid and the contestants appealed.

While the Tennessee Supreme Court remanded the case for retrial on evidentiary grounds, the court's opinion, authored by Justice Nathan Green, affirmed the legal right of the slaves to bring suit to probate the will. Ford's children argued that "the devisees in this case are slaves, and have no rights, either perfect or inchoate, until the will manumitting them shall be proved." Justice Green rejected this argument, which would obviously frustrate Ford's intent. More significantly, however, the court also found the legal rights of Ford's slaves to be worthy of protection. Green wrote: "A slave is not in the condition of a horse or an ox. His liberty is restrained, it is true . . . . But he is made after the image of the Creator. He has mental capacities, and an immortal principle in his nature, that constitute him equal to his owner but for the accidental position in which fortune has placed him. . . . [T]he laws under which he is held as a slave have not and cannot extinguish his high-born nature nor deprive him of his many rights which are inherent in man." (1) On retrial, a jury found in the slaves' favor a second time, and in 1850 they were finally freed and granted the property that Ford had bequeathed them.

Ford v. Ford demonstrated the tensions inherent in a system of civil law grounded on the notion of individual liberty operating in the context of a slaveholding culture. The antebellum Tennessee Supreme Court at least acknowledged the humanity of slaves, treating them as being "in the two-fold character of persons and property." (2) More than the U.S. Supreme Court and many other southern courts, the Tennessee courts, for the most part, acknowledged and protected the legal rights of slaves. The progressive nature of this approach becomes more evident when contrasted with the opinion of U.S. Chief Justice Roger Taney in the Dred Scott case, decided eleven years after Ford v. Ford. In that case, Taney found that, under the U.S. Constitution, even free blacks "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect." (3)

G. Brian Jackson, Nashville

(1) Ford v. Ford, 26 Tenn. (7 Hum.) 92 (1846).

(2) Jones v. Allen, 1 Head 636 (1858).

(3) Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 393 (1857).


Suggested Reading(s): Arthur F. Howington, "Not in the Condition of a Horse or an Ox," Tennessee Historical Quarterly 34 (1975): 249-63.

See Also: NATHAN GREEN; LAW; SLAVERY
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In the book: Fathers of Conscience By Bernie D. Jones

"...Loyd Ford of Washington County, Tennessee made a Will in 1840 directing that "John Ford and other salves" be emancipated and given real property. They were alleged to have been his illegitmte enslaved children"... it does not mention how many children there were.
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Loyd married Mary Ann Wood on 20 Feb 1780 in Saint Paul's Parish, , Baltimore County, Maryland. Mary was born in 1760 in Saint Paul's Parish, , Baltimore County, Maryland; died in 1842 in Washintgon County, , , Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Lloyd married Mary Grant. Mary (daughter of Alexander Grant and Elizabeth Cole) was born on 6 May 1733 in Saint Paul's Parish, , Baltimore County, Maryland; died on 19 Mar 1843 in Washintgon County, , , Tennessee. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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married Leah Price
children:
Mordecai married Ruth Barney
Thomas married Charlotte Cockey
John married Ruhannah Howard
William
Benjamin
Mary married Absalom Barney
Lloyd married Mary Grant
Stephen married Mary___
(Wolfrey)

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Last Will and Testament of THOMAS FORD Senr.
Of Baltimore Co., dated 18 Nov 1748


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In the name of God, Amen, I Thomas Ford, Senr. of Baltimore County, being a lowstate of health but being of perfect mind and memory and calling to mind and duly considering the uncertainty of human life, make this my last will and testament. First and principally, I commit my soul into the Lord; of my blessed Maker, for the (remission) of all my sins; my body, I commit to the earth to be ( ). As to my temporal estate, I bequeath and dispose of it in the following manner.

Imprimas to my son Stephen Ford I bequeath, to him, my negro boy, Danny, and one hundred acres of land, being part of my dwelling plantation where I now live on, to him and his heirs forever, but in case of death, leaving no heirs, lawfully begotten, of his body, to fault to my son Mordica Ford and no more of my estate. Item: to my daughter Mary Barney, one negro named (Hager) and to her daughter (Nancy) our negro boy named Harrey, which they are now possessed with and no more of my estate. Item: to my son John Ford one negro named George which he is now possessed with and no more of my estate.

Item: to my son Mordica, one negro named (Jason) and no more of my estate.

To my son Thomas Forda, whom I constitute and appoint the sole and sole executor of this my last will and testament, bequeath unto him one negro man named Jim and one hundred and one acres of land, to him and his heirs forever. The (reserves) and remainder of my estate to be equally divided. Confirming this to >be my last will and testament; in witness whereof I have put my hand and seal this eighteenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty eight.


Tho fford sen

Signed sealed published and declared by ( ) Testator Thomas FordTo be his last will & testament inpresence of us who inscribe our names in presence of the
D.B.Partridge
John Taylor Senr (his mark)
Ralph Flowers (his mark)

On the cover of this document:
Then came D.Bucklar, ( ) Partridge, Jno Tipton Senior and Ralph Flowers three of the subscribing witnesses to the within mentioned will and each of them made oath on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God they all saw the testator Thomas Ford sign the within will and heard him publish and declare the same to be his last will and testament and at the time of his so doing he was to the best of their apprehensions of sound and ( ) memory and that they all subscribed their names and marks as witnesses to the said will in the presence of the testator and at his request.
Sworn before W.Young
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This gedcom was downloaded from Roots.com or Ancestry.com from the files of Sandra Selph-Hunter. Should you find errors or wish to make new contributions please contact Sandra at her e-mail: sandyspiritwalker@hotmail.com.

Thomas married Leah Price on 1 Jan 1710 in Hollow's Parrish, , , Maryland. Leah (daughter of Mordecai Price and Mary Parsons) was born in 1690 in West River, , Anne Arundel County, Maryland; died between 1760 and 1763 in Baltimore, , Baltimore County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Alexander married Elizabeth Cole. Elizabeth (daughter of John Cole and Johanna Garrett) was born in 1695 in Baltimore, , Baltimore County, Maryland; died in 1773 in Baltimore, , Baltimore County, Maryland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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