Eliza Winston (1830–?) was an enslaved American from Mississippi who was freed from her owners while with them on vacation in Minnesota, a free state. She received a hearing in court via a Freedom suit, where she said she and her late husband had purchased her freedom from a previous owner, but it was not honored. She was freed from her Mississippi owners and possibly aided in getting to Canada, but no definitive account exists for her life afterwards.

Events

In the summer of 1860 Eliza Winston, an enslaved thirty-year-old woman, was taken to

St. Anthony Saint Anthony, Antony, or Antonius most often refers to Anthony of Padua, also known as Saint Anthony of Lisbon, the patron saint of lost things. This name may also refer to: People * Anthony of Antioch (266–302), Martyr under Diocletian. Feast ...

, Minnesota by her owners, Richard and Mary Christmas of

Issaquena County, Mississippi Issaquena County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,406, making it the least populous county in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Its county seat is Mayersville. Wi ...

. During that time it was typical for wealthy southern tourists to escape the yellow fever season by traveling via

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

up the Mississippi River to northern destinations during the summer months. They took domestic slaves as servants. The Christmases traveled with their five-year-old daughter, Norma, and Winston to the Winslow House in St. Anthony, Minnesota, which was a free state. Winston had already determined to seek her freedom there and told her story to Ralph and Emily Grey, who were free black citizens. According to her deposition, she and her late husband had previously purchased her freedom, but Ralph Christmas had purchased her from her previous owner, a Mr. Gholson, and did not honor her emancipation. Minnesota was a free state, and Judge Charles Vandenburgh agreed to hear her case. The judge sent the sheriff to the Winslow House to take Winston into custody, but by then the Christmas family had moved to a country house on Lake Harriet. When the sheriff arrived, the Christmas family at first hid Winston, but did not resist further when she was located. The following day, after a hearing, the judge ruled that Winston was a free woman. The Saint Anthony ''Weekly Express'' opined that the event would damage the tourism trade. That evening, a pro-slavery mob surrounded the Greys' home and demanded that Winston be returned to the Christmases, but with the aid of people in the underground railroad, she was already on her way to Windsor, Ontario Canada, which had abolished slavery, though other accounts of her life exist. According to interpretations of the

Dred Scott case ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; t ...

of 1857, Winston would return to slavery if she returned to a slave state.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winston, Eliza 1830 births Year of death missing 19th-century American slaves Activists for African-American civil rights African-American abolitionists People from Issaquena County, Mississippi History of Minneapolis Freedom suits in the United States 19th-century African-American women

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References