Colonial Indictment by a Jury of 12 Women of an unwed mother whose baby died under unexplained circumstances. North Carolina, 1773 by PFIFER (aka Phifer), Martin - 1773

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 1773. Unbound. Very Good. Holograph document Signed in the text by Martin Pfifer. Approximately 6" x 7.5". Old folds and tiny tears, very good or better. The document summarizes the case of Margaret (Rote) Smith, alleged to have born a child out of wedlock and that she soon asked her employer's slave to bury. The women, who were gathered by "Street Searching" and "Duly Qualified" are listed by name. Signed by the forewoman; the other jury women are listed below in the same hand and they were charged to "Return us your Verdict" in this case of suspicious death. Their verdict was: "We return by our forewoman that Margaret Rote Smith, Servant of William Sipards Does appear to have had a child... & Confessed as follows. That she had a child on the Monday before Jacob Slough was married with Christian Obenshanes Daughter and on Tuesday Night being the night of the wedding she wanted her Master's Negro to bury it he s[ai]d. He would not But took it and Carried it away but where she new not til afterwards the Negro told her he had carried it to Mathias Mitchels Barn." The accused woman was apparently an indentured servant. In the indictment she was afforded some anonymity by being provided with the name "Rote" (a variant on "Roe" or "Doe") but her real name, Smith, was added after the indictment was made. The slave is identified by his race and owner but is otherwise unnamed. We could find no further resolution of the case. Martin Pfifer, the Justice of the Peace, was a Swiss immigrant who first settled in Pennsylvania. In 1756, he moved to Big Cold Water Creek in the mountains of Southwestern North Carolina. There he pioneered a successful farm and became a community leader. His farm was a strategic point during the French and Indian War, and he regularly served in the Colonial Legislature. At his death in 1791 he owned three plantations, large amounts of property, a grist mill, and 18 slaves. An uncommon example of an all-female jury in Colonial America.