CELIA, A SLAVE

CELIA, A SLAVE

Celia, a slave, was probably born in Missouri in 1836. No documentation of her birth date,
birthplace, or parentage exists.

Her recorded history begins in the summer of 1850 when she was purchased by Robert Newsom, of Fulton Township, Calloway County, Missouri; at the time of the transaction she was about fourteen years old. Celia’s recorded history ends five and a half
years later when she was tried and hanged for the murder of her owner; she was nineteen years old and the mother of at least two children at the
time of her death.Her final resting place and the
fate of her children are unknown.
The circumstances of Celia’s short life – and
the events that led to her hanging – illustrate the
realities of slave life in the South and the per-
sonal choices the institution of SLAVERY forced
upon slaves and slaveholders. The course and
outcome of Celia’s trial were influenced by indi-
viduals and a court system that were trying to
reconcile the personal consequences of slavery
with existing moral codes, politics, and econom-
ics – at a time when nationwide struggles over
the same issues were increasingly heated and
often violent.
By 1850, when knowledge of Celia begins,
Missouri had already been at the center of the
national slavery debate for more than a quarter
of a century. The U.S. Congress had confronted
the dilemma presented by the existence of slav-
ery in a free society in 1819 when Missouri peti-
tioned for statehood. Angry and emotional
debates considered whether a territory should
be asked to abandon slavery as a condition of
statehood. Congress preempted the debate by
passing the Missouri Compromise, under which
it preserved the nation’s balance by admitting
Maine as a free state in 1820 and Missouri as a
slave state in 1821. The Missouri Compromise
also drew a line between North and South by
limiting the expansion of slavery in the Louisiana Territory to areas south of Missouri.
During this volatile time, Newsom left Virginia
and brought his wife and children to the
Missouri Territory. In the fall of 1822,with statehood
granted and slavery assured for his new
home, Newsom settled in southern Calloway
County. Hard work and slave labor made him a
prosperous farmer—and Calloway County went
on to become a large slave-holding county.
Because many core issues of the slave debate
were unresolved by the Missouri Compromise,
leaders on both sides of the issue knew that it
was only a matter of time before the nation’s
expansion would force another confrontation.
That confrontation came in 1850 when Congress
found itself waging a battle over the expansion
of slavery in territories gained as a result of
the Mexican War. Northern politicians wanted
to stop the expansion of slavery and assure the
admission of California to the Union as a free
state. Their Southern counterparts did not want
slavery prohibited in territories for which
Southern soldiers had fought and died. Missouri,
with roughly equal numbers of citizens
supporting each side of the issue, was as deeply
divided as the nation.
The residents of agriculture-based, slaveholding
Calloway County—including Newsom—
probably favored the pro-slavery rhetoric
and politics described in the papers of the day.
The 1850 census for Calloway County, which
shows that Newsom owned five male slaves, supports
this assumption, as does Newsom’s decision
to purchase Celia even while the
controversy over slavery was escalating to its
ultimate conclusion—civil war.
In all likelihood, however, Newsom did not
purchase Celia as a political statement. His reasons
for buying Celia were much more personal.
Newsom’s wife had died in 1849. Following her
death, his household comprised a widowed
daughter named Virginia Waynescot; her children,
James Coffee Waynescot, Amelia Waynescot,
and Thomas Waynescot; and an
unmarried daughter, Mary Newsom. Two sons,
Harry Newsom and David Newsom, were married
and living nearby.
When Newsom went to purchase Celia, outward
appearances suggested that he was looking
for a domestic servant to assist his daughters
with cooking and household work. Subsequent
trial testimony and transcripts indicate otherwise.
At any rate, in the spring of 1850 Newsom
traveled by wagon to Audrain County, a day’s
ride to the north of his home, to buy his new
slave. On the return trip, Newsom raped the
young girl and established the true nature of her
future role in the Newsom household.
Over the next four years Celia’s life revolved
around her role as Newsom’s conjugal partner.
He provided her with a brick cabin near the
main house and other material possessions indicating
both her status and his affection for her.
He visited her often and he was most likely the
father of her first two children.
The kind of relationship Newsom had with
Celia was fairly widespread in the South but seldom
acknowledged or publicly condoned.
Given the daily rhythms and routines of rural
life in 1850 Missouri, Newsom’s adult daughters
were most likely aware of their father’s intimate
relationship with Celia; because of their economic
dependence on their father they also
likely did not make an issue of his relationship
with the slave. Though not much is known
about the details of Celia’s interaction with
members of the Newsom household, one author
concluded from court documents that she must
have been a disturbing presence on the Newsom
farm.
By 1854, Celia had tired of Newsom’s attentions
and begun a forbidden relationship with a
Newsom slave named George. Sometime in
early 1855 George started staying in Celia’s cabin
when Newsom was not there. Within months,
Celia was pregnant and uncertain of the child’s
father. George, believing the child to be his, pressured
Celia to end her physical relationship with
their owner. Newsom, believing the child to be
his, and unaware of Celia’s intimate friendship
with George, saw no reason to change the established
pattern of their relationship.
Caught in the middle, Celia was forced to
make a choice that would eventually cost her her
life. At some point in June of 1855, Celia made
an attempt to satisfy George’s demands and to
stop Newsom’s sexual advances by appealing to
Newsom’s daughters. She threatened to hurt
Newsom if he did not stop forcing his attentions
on her while she was ill (court documents indicate
that the early stages of Celia’s third pregnancy
were difficult, causing her to be sick much
of the time). It is not known if his daughters
spoke to Newsom on Celia’s behalf but it is clear
that Newsom’s sexual demands on her did not
stop. On Saturday, June 23, Celia confronted her
master directly, asking him to leave her alone.
He ignored her request and told her he would
visit her cabin that evening.
Newsom went to Celia’s cabin later that
evening and was never seen again.When he did
not appear for breakfast on Sunday morning his
children and neighbors began to search for him
and to question the slaves. A statement from
Celia’s lover, George, led the family to suspect
her involvement in Newsom’s disappearance.
George told the search party that they were not
likely to find anything unless they searched near
Celia’s cabin.
Celia initially denied any involvement in
Newsom’s disappearance. But worn down by
questioning, she finally confessed to his murder.
She admitted that Newsom had come to her
cabin the night before. She described how she
struck him twice with a large stick to stop his
advances. Realizing she had killed him, she
decided to burn his body in the fireplace to
cover her crime. She buried the bones that did
not burn under the hearth and she enlisted the
help of Newsom’s own grandson, James Coffee
Waynescot, to carry the ashes out of the cabin on
Sunday morning. A buckle and buttons
retrieved from the ashes and bone fragments
found under the hearth confirmed her story.
On Monday, June 25, State v. Celia, a Slave,
Celia File No. 4496, began. Two local justices, D.
M. Whyte and Isaac P. Howe, and a jury of six
men—George Thomas, Daniel Robinson, John
Wells, Simpson Hyton, George Brown, and John
Carrington—considered an AFFIDAVIT filed by
David Newsom accusing Celia of murder. They
found PROBABLE CAUSE to charge her with murder
and she was arrested and taken to the Fulton
County jail. An October trial date was set and
Judge William Augustus Hall was named to preside.
Newspaper accounts of the murder at the
Newsom farm fueled local fears by reporting
that the crime was committed without sufficient
cause (no mention was made of Celia’s intimate
relationship with the victim or her reasons for
attacking him). These fears, along with Celia’s
physical condition and the belief that her two
children were in the cabin at the time of the
murder, led the community to believe that Celia
did not commit the crime on her own.
Acts of violence by slaves and the possibility
of conspiracy and organized slave rebellion were
very much on the minds of Calloway County
residents in the spring of 1855. A free-slave conflict
in neighboring Kansas Territory had moved
from debate to bloodshed. Passage of the
KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT, which called for “popular
sovereignty” in the territories, along with a
threatened repeal of the Missouri Compromise,
made Kansas Territory a national battleground.
Northern activists channeled antislavery settlers
into the territory hoping they would eventually
vote against slavery. Slaves themselves were
encouraged to commit violent acts as a means of
asserting their rights and winning their freedom.
Missouri residents poured across the
Kansas-Missouri border to antagonize Northern
settlers, support pro-slavery residents, and keep
the slaves in submission.
With supporters on both sides of the slavery
issue watching the proceedings, Judge Hall was
under pressure to see that Celia received credible
representation at her trial. On August 16 he
appointed John Jameson and his associates to
defend her. Jameson was a popular citizen in
Fulton Township. He was a slave owner but he
was not personally involved in the ongoing slavery
debates. He had practiced law in the community
for three decades and had represented
Missouri for three terms in the U.S. Congress.
With political savvy and a reputation as an
excellent trial lawyer, Jameson was acceptable to
those on both sides of the conflict.
On October 9 Celia entered the Calloway
County Courthouse for trial. After dealing with
numerous preliminary and procedural matters,
including jury selection, Celia’s attorneys
entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of murdering
Newsom. Like the inquest jury, Celia’s
trial jury was made up of male residents of the
county: all were married and had children, all
but one were farmers, about half were slave
owners, and none were as prosperous as Newsom.
Though certainly not Celia’s peers, they
were as good a jury as could be expected for the
time.
The next day testimony began. The prosecution
stressed the facts of the case and reminded
the jury that Celia had confessed to the murder.
The defense focused on Celia’s sexual
exploitation and the motive for her actions.
Jameson argued that Celia was entitled, by law,
to use DEADLY FORCE to protect herself from
rape, regardless of her previous sexual relationship
with the victim. His argument was unconventional
and bold because it was based on a
Missouri statute that had been created to protect
white women; in most of the South sexual
assault on a slave was considered TRESPASS, and
owners could not be accused of trespass on their
own property.
After concluding their arguments, both sides
were allowed to propose jury instructions for
Judge Hall’s consideration. Jameson requested
several instructions that would have allowed
Celia to be acquitted if the jury found from the
evidence that she had killed Newsom in an effort
to prevent his sexual advances. The prosecution
objected to Jameson’s instructions and Hall ultimately
refused to deliver them to the jury.
Denied any grounds for acquitting her, the jury
found Celia guilty of murder.
On October 11 Celia’s attorneys filed a
motion to set aside the jury verdict and grant a
new trial. Judge Hall’s prejudicial rulings and his
refusal to issue critical jury instructions were
cited as grounds for the motion. On October 13
Hall denied the defense motion and Celia was
sentenced to death by hanging on November 16.
This execution date may have been set to allow
for delivery of Celia’s expected child; under Missouri
law a pregnant woman could not be executed.
Court records indicate she delivered a
stillborn baby while in custody.
After the sentencing, Judge Hall was asked to
issue a stay of execution while Celia’s case was
appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court. He
refused. Though no record of the appeals document
exists, Jameson probably included many of
the same arguments and issues outlined in his
motion for a new trial. By early November the
Missouri Supreme Court had not considered the
appeal. When it looked as though Celia would
be executed before her appeal was heard, her
supporters took drastic measures. On the night
of November 11 she was helped to “escape” from
jail. She was not returned to custody until after
her original execution date had passed. Upon
her return a new execution date of December 21
was set.
On December 6 Jameson wrote a letter to
Judge Abiel Leonard asking the Missouri
Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution until
the case could be heard. On December 14 the
court ruled that it found no probable cause for
an appeal. Accordingly, the stay of execution was
refused. Celia’s fate was sealed by the same court
that had earlier exhibited its pro-slavery leanings
in the famous Dred Scott decision, in which a
majority of the court ruled that a slave remained
a slave—even if he traveled and lived in free territory
(DRED SCOTT V. SANDFORD, 60 U.S. (19
How.) 393, 15 L. Ed. 691 [1857]).
The Missouri Supreme Court’s ruling in
Celia’s case was filed in the circuit court of Calloway
County on December 18. On the afternoon
of Friday, December 21, Celia was hanged
for the murder of Newsom. In a final statement,
she repeated her story: she had acted alone, she
had struck Newsom to stop his advances, and
she had not intended to kill him. Unable, or
unwilling, to challenge the underlying beliefs
and behaviors that allowed slavery to exist,Missouri’s
pre–Civil War supreme court failed to
extend the protection of an existing law to a
slave.
FURTHER READINGS
1850 federal census for Calloway County, Missouri, including
slave and agricultural schedules. Dakota/Wescott
Library and Minnesota Historical Society.
McLaurin, Melton A. 1991. Celia, A Slave: A True Story.
Athens, Ga.: Univ. of Georgia Press; and New York:
Avon Books.