Margaret Aurelia Porter v. Reuben Reynolds records

Although the case of Margaret Aurelia Porter vs. Reuben Reynolds is relatively obscure, the court case set a dangerous precedent for fugitive state laws and states' rights. In 1810, Margaret Porter - represented by her father, Stephen, because women could not then file suits in a court of law - sued Reuben Reynolds for the return of three fugitive slaves that he was harboring, and she demanded the sum of $1500 in damages for loss of labor and income. This case predated the better-known Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, but its predecessor Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 required that the federal government return fugitive slaves to their owners if they crossed state lines, and any who helped the fugitive slaves could receive a fine of $500 per slave that they helped. Also, the concept of states' rights is addressed in this case. Even though Porter was from the slave state of Maryland, the three slaves, Cesar, George, and Emanuel, escaped to Reynolds' protection in the free state of Pennsylvania; therefore, the Fugitive Slave Law could not apply in a state where slavery did not exist. Further, the government of Maryland could not forcibly remove the slaves because they were under another state's jurisdiction.

This collection consists of fourteen handwritten documents, dated between September 1810 and May 1812, relating to the fugitive slave case of Margaret Aurelia Porter v. Reuben Reynolds. While the ruling on the case cannot be determined from the information in the collection, the documents consist of testimonies, subpoenas, correspondence, and depositions that specifically highlight whether or not Betty, the mother of the three runaways, was enslaved at the time of their births, whether Reynolds offered the three men at the center of this case shelter and protection knowing they were runaway slaves, and if Reynolds threatened any witnesses before and during the trial. The case was judged on the precedent of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, and even though the collection contains a subpoena to appear before the United States Supreme Court, there is no record of a Supreme Court ruling.