A reward.

by Lisa Y. Henderson

To the Worshipful the Justices of the Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions for the County of Chowan at June Term 1807.

The petition of William T. Muse Sheweth, That your petitioner was a negro slave by the name of George, commonly called George Bonner, by trade a house carpenter and aged fifty five years or thereabouts; that the said negro slave from the time that he became the property of your petitioner, and always before that time as your petitioner has reason to believe has distinguished himself by his willing & faithful discharge of his duty to his master as well as by his honesty & orderly conduct. Your petitioner is therefore desirous to give the said negro slave George his freedom considering it as a reward due to his long and meritorious services and prays this worshipful Court to authorize and aid him in so doing.  And your petitioner &c, Wm. A. Littlejohn Sol’r for Pet’r.

[On the reverse: Prayer granted.]

Miscellaneous Records, Chowan County Records, North Carolina State Archives.

In the 1810 census of Edenton, Chowan County, George Bonner appears as the head of a household of two free people of color.