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Reference: (A) Mrs. Edwin Lewis
Mrs. Lewis has in her possession the freedom paper of her grandmother, Mary Stonestreet. This paper was issued in Jessmine, Kentucky in 1853, and described Mrs. Stonestreet as a mulatto aged 33 years.
This paper bore Mr. Sering's signature in Madison, Indiana, where it was recorded upon their entering Indiana. The freedom papers bore the Kentucky seal and as long as they were kept, the negroes were not allowed to be sent back into slavery by slave chasers.
Mr. Stonestreet (Mrs. Lewis' grandfather) was a shoemaker by trade and made $500 worth of shoes to buy his freedom. When he married, his wife was given her freedom by her master who was also her father. Their children were thus born free, but had to have freedom papers before they could settle in Indiana. This family settled on State Road 29 near the present site of Bryantsburg.
(This old document is a very prized possession in this family. It is so worn it is in about three pieces.) (A)
Love, Maria Indianapolis, Indiana (Anna Pritchett Indianapolis, Indiana December 8, 1937 Federal Writers' Project of the W.P.A., District #6 Marion County, Indiana)
