State of Ohio vs. Hiram H. Robinson transcript and judgment

Transcript of the proceedings and judgment in "State of Ohio vs H. H. Robinson," during the 1855 case of Rosetta Armstead (sometimes written Armistead), a sixteen year old slave who was brought to Ohio by an agent of her master. As Ohio was a free state, Rosetta sued for her freedom in the Court of Common Pleas at Columbus. The judge in the lower court declared her to be free and the case was then moved to the U.S. Circuit Court in Cincinnati, and presided over by future Justice of the Supreme Court Judge John McClean. During the proceedings, Robinson was jailed in contempt for unlawfully detaining Rosetta following an earlier ruling in Columbus. Rosetta was defended in court by Salmon Chase, who would later become governor of Ohio; Timothy Walker, a prominent lawyer and co-founder of the Cincinnati Law School; and future president Rutherford B. Hayes. According to Hayes' closing argument, and finally ruled so by the judge after a week of deliberation, Rosetta was free upon the master's agent bringing her to the free state of Ohio