A Case of Trespass by Force and Arms - the Beating of Reuben
Greenup County was formed by an act of the General Assembly of Kentucky on December 12, 1803, from Mason County. One of the earliest court cases involving an enslaved person took place in the summer of 1806 when Robert "Robin" Johnson (1745-1815), a well-known pioneer who was prominent in social and political circles in Kentucky, filed suit against one Adam Kline for mistreating Reuben, one of his slaves. Anderson Munsell Map (1818) On August 7, 1806, Robert Johnson, the plaintiff, went to the office of John Hockaday, clerk of the Greenup Circuit Court, and filed a writ of capias ad respondendum "against the body of Adam Kline." A writ of capias ad respondum was typically filed when a defendant failed to appear in court to answer a civil action against them. The writ stated, "The Commonwealth of Kentucky to the Sheriff of Greenup County, Greeting and command you to take Adam Kline if he be found within your bailwick and him safely keep so that you have his...