Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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| John W. B. Dent's Response |
Joseph Tilley } In the Probate & Common Pleas Court
against Court of Greene Co., Mo
John Dent May Term, 1865
The Defendant comes and defends the wrong & injury, when & where to, and denies being indebted to to the Plaintiff in the manner and form as stated in his Petition and says that the said Plaintiff is justly indebted to the Defendant in the sum of one hundred and thirty two dollars as per account here with filed, wherefore he prays judgement.
John M B Dent
John Dent Plaintiff in the above entitled cause makes his oath and says the matters and things as stated he believes to be true. John M B Dent
So, John Dent claims he doesn't owe my 4th Great Grandfather, Joseph Tilley, but that Joseph actually owes him $132.00. The first thing I thought of are the stories I've read or seen in Post Slave era films where the sharecroppers get stiffed by the land owners after working hard from sunrise to sunset, only to be told they actually owe money for food, medicine, shoes, or the wife's bloomers. Then I realized that Joseph mentioned he was only recently freed and that I have no evidence to guess what type of relationship the two men had. Below is the account filed by John M B Dent to show why he thought Joseph actually owed him money:
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| John M B Dent's Account |
1864 March
Joseph Tilley to John M.B. Dent
To hawling & moving Self & A Ch. ( I think this means A Charge of:)
Family & Personal Effects 50.00
from Washington Co., Ark
(Months) (Cost)
" Boarding Wife 8 mo c 10$ 80.00
Per Month
" Boarding Child
Charlotte 8 mo c 10$ 80.00
Per Month
" Boarding Mariah 4 mo c 10$ 40.00
" boy Frank 4 mo c 10$ 40.00
" boy Ned 4 mo c 10$ 40.00
$330.00
Clothing & Money for 10.00
$340.00
James Thompson aquit for Jno MB Dent makes oath and says that the above account is just and tru to the best of his knowledge and belief.
J. Thompson
Sworn to and subscribed
May 13th 1865
John W. Lisenby CLK
Wait... So this is where I scratched my head and decided something was fishy. This account is suppose to be from 1864, but submitted to the court on May 13, 1865. John Dent claims Joseph owes him $340.00. By May 22nd, his statement states that he is owed $132.00. So either Joseph, while still a slave or immediately after being free, somehow paid John about $208.00 between March 1864- May 1865, leaving a balance of $132.00, if John's account is true....
Remember from part 1, that Joseph is suing John Dent for $208.00. Is Joseph suing for money he previously paid to John Dent? If so, where would he get that kind of money as a slave? He states he is poor with a large family and recently freed in his claim against Dent. Perhaps John forged this account and lied about being owed all together?
Another question mark this left me fumbling with was that John Dent remained in Washington. Co, Arkansas. He was apparently still there at the time of this case, and the subpoenas for the witnesses were all his neighbors who remained in Arkansas too. John Dent states in his account he moved Joseph and his family from Washington Co. Arkansas. To where? Why would he pay for Joseph to move his family to Springfield, Greene Co. Missouri a year before slavery was over or immediately after? Funny how one discovery leads to 100 more new questions...I may never know exactly what was going on between John & Joseph, but I'll be sure to keep looking....
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