Phillip E. Vass

- 1832

• Name	Phillip E. Vass
  Gender	Male
  _UID	721D373AA3464BACA3F9556D5F5ADEECC19F
  Died	1832
  Person ID	I1564	Bennett, Harrison, and Herron Families
  Last Modified	15 Jan 2008

  
  

  Father	Phillip Vass,   b. Bef 1753,   d. Aft 1825, Halifax County, Virginia  (Age > 74 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Webb
  Children	7 children
  1. Elizabeth Vass,   d. Yes, date unknown
  2. Phillip E. Vass,   d. 1832
  3. Mary Vass
  4. Sarah L. Vass
  5. Anna Vass
  6. Apphia Vass
  7. James P. Vass
  Family ID	F496	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Named in will of Phillip Vass. Convicted of murder in 1831 and died in penetentiary in 1832. Philip E. Vass published his last will and testament on 8 August 1831, providing for the freedom of Jacob and Mary and “allotted slaves” Sam, Meriwether, Patsey (or Patty), and Matilda. Vass died the next year, but the executor of his estate failed to comply with Vass’s desire to send the slaves to North Carolina because free people of color were denied entry into that state. The executor held the group as slaves for eight years. Finally, Jacob, Mray, and the others brought a suit in forma pauperis in the Circuit Superior Court of Halifax County, Virginia, for their freedom. They were successful. North Carolina, however, denied them entry. Patty Daniel asked to remain in Virginia with her husband, but that request was also denied. The former Vass slaves moved to Ohio. On the eve of the Civil War, Meriwether returned to Halifax County, Virginia. A nephew and niece of Philip Vass claimed that he had “forfeited his claims to freedom” by returning to the South. Being in “indigent circumstances and lawful heirs of Philip Vass,” they asked that he become their slave. Copy of Records of the County Court, Halifax County, Virginia, George B. Ewing and wife vs. Isaac Medley Sr. et al., November 1832, in Petition of Jacob et al. to the North Carolina Legislature, 20 December 1844, Records of the General Assembly, Session Records, Senate Committee Reports, November 1844 – January 1845, box 4, NCDAH; Petition of Patty Daniel to the Virginia General Assembly, 14 December 1842, Legislative Petitions, Halifax County, VSA; Petition of Philip Vass and Emily B. Haden to the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates, 1860, Legislative Petitions, Halifax County, VSA. For relevant statutes, see petition 129 below. (Source: Schweninger, Loren. The Southern Debate Over Slavery, Volume One, Petitions to Southern Legistatures 1778 – 1864. Champaign, Illinois. University of Illinois Press. 2001.) See, Petiton of Jacob et al. to the North Carolina General Assembly, 20 December 1844, Records of the General Assembly, Session Records, NCDAH; Report of the Committee of Propositions and Grievances, 26 December 1844, with Senate Committee Reports, November 1844-January 1845, box 4, NCDAH. Rejected.1 PAR #11284401.