Enslaved, Indentured, Free

This book presents the stories of four Black women-Mariah, Patsey, Courtney, and Rachel-who were born into slavery and obtained their freedom. At various times, all four women lived at Prairie du Chien, and over a period of five years, their lives intersected. While they lived in the community, each came to know Marianne Labuche, a free Black woman, who likely inspired and influenced their various quests for freedom. Mariah purchased her freedom from her enslaver; Patsey gained her freedom through persistence, after the deaths of her enslavers; and Courtney and Rachel each filed freedom suits and won their cases after moving with their enslavers from Prairie du Chien to Missouri. The legal precedent set in the arguments and decision presented in Courtney's suit was later used by the legal counsel for Dred and Harriet Scott in their petition for freedom. Mary Antoine has carefully reconstructed the women's lives by piecing together bits of information from many sources, including the records of the whitemen and women who enslaved them; legal documents that recorded their births, baptisms, and marriages; requests for pay by the US Army officers who held them in bondage; and documents and transcripts of court cases maintained by the US legal system. By centering the women and their experiences, the book explores the history of slavery in what is now Wisconsin-particularly the fact that slavery persisted here well into the 1800s, despite the fact that it was illegal. Against the odds, these four women found freedom, thanks in part to the community they encountered in Prairie du Chien--