Knox County court record for State of Indiana vs. Walker, 1834

Description:	Folder 4161 in Box 76 of Knox County Circuit Court records at the Knox County Public Library’s McGrady-Brockman House contains five documents in the case of State of Indiana vs. Abraham Walker. On June 26, 1834 the grand jury handed down an indictment on a rape charge for Abraham Walker, a man of color. He was apprehended and paid a bond of $200.00 to secure his appearance in court. The charge was made upon the oath of the alleged victim Sarah Hand. Walker claimed that he could prove he was not guilty, giving the court the names of witnesses (Possibly Mrs. Samuel Miller and Mrs. Garrett Smith) who could testify that they were near Walkers house at the time of the incident and while Mrs. Hand was there, it didn’t sound like she was being raped. They did state that they heard her say she would take some sort of action against the defendant. The document is only slightly legible. There is no evidence in the documents that these witnesses were called into court or ever deposed. The documents included in the folder are the indictment, the summons, the statement of Walker, and two separate verdicts from the jury (no dates on the verdict statements). One document states “not guilty” and the other “guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.
Origin:	1834
Contributor(s):	Walker, Abraham; Hand, Sarah; Miller, Garrett; Smith,Samuel;
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/kcpl/id/47949
Collection:	Knox County Public Library
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Copyright:	No Copyright - United States
Geography:	Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana, United States
Subjects:	Black people -- America -- History African Americans -- History Black people -- History Slave records Slave labor Slavery Slaveholders Enslaved women Enslaved men Slavery -- Law and legislation Indentured servants Indiana -- Northwest Indiana -- History Vincennes (Ind.) Knox County (Ind.)

Further information on this record can be found at its source.