Site of Courtney Boudrie Home

Site of Courtney Boudrie Home. . , Courtney was born enslaved circa 1812 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Captain John Spotswood Garland took Courtney from her family when she was about seven and brought her to the Northwest Territory, where slavery was illegal., Courtney served the Captain Garland family for about 12 years, moving with them from Detroit to military posts across the Midwest, including the Second Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien. Here, Courtney had a son named Joseph., In 1831, Garland sold Courtney and Joseph to Alexis Bailly for $450. The Baillys illegally enslaved Courtney for almost five years. When Courtney had her son William in 1835, they claimed him as property as well. Only months later, Bailly sold William and Courtney to Samuel Rayburn in St. Louis, Missouri. Joseph remained enslaved with the Bailly family and later Oliver Faribault until he ran away in the 1840s. , In October 1835, Courtney filed a suit for freedom in St. Louis. She argued that she and William were free because they had lived in “free territory.” The court agreed, and the two gained their freedom in July 1836. The suit acknowledged the illegality of enslavement in the Northwest Territories., As an enslaved person, Courtney did not have a last name. After winning the suit, she took the surname London in honor of an enslaved man in Prairie du Chien., Courtney returned to Prairie du Chien, where she married Benjamin Boudrie. Together they ran a bakery. The couple purchased a farm from Mariah Faschnacht, whom Courtney had befriended while still enslaved. Mariah purchased her own freedom in 1829. After Benjamin died, Courtney married Charles Weidemer. Courtney and her family lived in Prairie du Chien until about 1870.