Johnson City in Washington County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Freed African Americans Win First Inheritance Suit
Photographed by J. J. Prats, May 16, 2025
1. Freed African Americans Win First Inheritance Suit Marker
Erected 2024 by Tennessee Historical Commission.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Historical Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1843.
Location. 36° 25.37′ N, 82° 30.32′ W. Marker is in Johnson City, Tennessee, in Washington County. It is on Bob Jobe Road 0.2 miles west of Ford Creek Road, on the right when traveling west. It is at the entrance to the Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Touch for map.
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Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee and in the Tri-Cities Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, the State of Franklin, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Ford vs. Ford (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fiddlin Charlie Bowman (approx. 1.9 miles away); Buffalo Ridge Church (approx. 3.1 miles away); Double Springs (approx. 3.4 miles away); Keebler-Keefauver Home (approx. 4.2 miles away); Suffering and Survival (approx. 4.8 miles away); Tennessee Veterans Memorial (approx. 4.9 miles away); Great Indian Warrior Trading Path (approx. 5.1 miles away).
Photographed by J. J. Prats, May 16, 2025
2. Freed African Americans Win First Inheritance Suit Marker
Also see . . . Ford v. Ford Case, Sep. 1848 Tennessee Supreme Court. Excerpt
This is an issue of devisavit vel non. A paper was propounded for probate, as the will of Lloyd Ford, in the County Court of Washington county, by Phebe Stewart, as the next friend of the defendants in error, who are persons of color, and were the slaves of the said Lloyd Ford. In the said will there is a bequest to the said slaves of their freedom, and a devise to them of a portion of the testators real estate. ...(Submitted on May 29, 2025.)
The conclusion is that, although until the will is proved, they have no legal evidence that they are free, yet the bequest of freedom in the paper purporting to be a will, confers upon them a right to invoke the action of the proper tribunal, that this evidence of their freedom may be afforded. If this were not so, the right of the owner to emancipate, and the right of the slave to receive his freedom, might be alike frustrated, if the executor named in the will shall refuse to act; a conclusion which would shock humanity, and be an indellible stigma on our jurisprudence.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 29, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 245 times since then and 59 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 29, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
