Jacob Sherman Legal Documents

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish material from the Jacob Sherman Legal Documents must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Jacob Sherman Legal Documents, Ms2019-027, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.1 Cubic Feet 1 folder
Creator:
Sherman, Jacob, b. 1781 and Linkous, Burgess Riley, 1827-1902
Abstract:
The Jacob Sherman Legal Documents contain a complaint of Jacob Sherman and the testimony of Burgess R. Linkous regarding the sale of an enslaved person in Western Virginia in 1858.
Language:
Materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Jacob Sherman Legal Documents, Ms2019-027, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The Jacob Sherman Legal Documents contain a complaint of Jacob Sherman and the testimony of Burgess R. Linkous regarding the sale of an enslaved person in Western Virginia in 1858.

The complaint of Jacob Sherman in the circuit court of Pulaski County, Virginia, against Edward H. Kinzer and Burgess Linkous, brings a case for the return of an enslaved woman and several of her children who were fraudulently purchased and sold off without his permission by the two men while he was recuperating from grievous injuries to his body and mind. The complaint is addressed to the Honorable Andrew S. Fulton, judge of the circuit court of Pulaski County, Virginia. The complaint was transcribed by Lynch S. Currin, clerk.

Biographical / historical:

Jacob Sherman was born in 1781. He was a farmer living in District 21 of Pulaski County, Virginia.

Lynch Alexander Currin [1812-1871] was born near Newbern which was then a part of Montgomery County. He was the son of Captain William Currin and Rhoda Charlton, and married Elizabeth Nye Haller in August 1839. He served as Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pulaski County from 1839-1846 and as Clerk from 1846-64.

Andrew Steele Fulton [1800-1884] was a congressman, lawyer and judge from from Waynesboro, Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in 1825, became a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1840 and 1845, became prosecuting attorney of Wythe County Virginia in 1846 and was elected a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives that same year, serving from 1847-1849. He continued practicing law when the term ran out and later was appointed Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and served from 1852-1869.

Edward Hower Kinzer [1831-1866] was the son of George Kinzer [1801-1877], fellow defendant. At the time of his death Edward was living in Nebraska.

Acquisition information:
The Jacob Sherman Legal Documents was purchased by Special Collections in two parts in May 2017 and April 2018.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Jacob Sherman Legal Documents was completed in June 2019.