Robert Wash (November 29, 1790 – November 30, 1856) served on the Supreme Court of Missouri from September 1825 to May 1837. During his term, the pro-slavery judge, who owned slaves himself, wrote the dissenting opinion on several important freedom suits, including Milly v. Smith, Julia v. McKinney and Marguerite v. Chouteau. However, he did join in the unanimous finding for the plaintiff in the landmark Rachel v. Walker case.
Judge Wash's decision to split up a family of slaves he owned was the impetus for Polly Wash's freedom suit and her daughter Lucy's memoir.
Early life
Wash was born on November 29, 1790, in Louisa County, Virginia. He was the youngest of seven children born to William Wash and Anee Lipscomb Wash(born Anee Kennedy). His parents were wealthy enough to send him to William and Mary College. He graduated in 1808, at the age of 18, spent the following two years studying law, and was admitted to the bar.
In 1810, he settled in St. Louis in the Louisiana Territory (renamed the Missouri Territory when Louisiana joined the Union) and set up a law practice.
Early public service
Acting Governor Frederick Bates appointed Wash to the position of Deputy Attorney General of the Louisiana Territory in November 1811.
During the War of 1812, Wash served as a lieutenant in Alexander McNair's mounted regiment and then as aide de camp on the staff of Benjamin Howard. Wash traveled with Howard on an expedition up the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Peoria as part of a plan to strike the Fox and Sac Indians campaigning with the British. But, as the bulk of fighting was occurring further east, Howard's soldiers saw few of these warriors.
When Missouri gained statehood in 1821 and St. Louis was incorporated, Wash was elected to its first nine-member board of aldermen. During his tenure, Wash worked to promote road structure and related improvements for the city, such as sidewalks and proper road surfacing and grading. He was also active in making upgrades to the harbor and levee. Wash was prescient in his thinking that unless proper dikes were built, the west side of the river channel would eventually be choked with sand bars, a situation that did come to pass.
During his first term, President James Monroe appointed Wash U.S. District Attorney for the district of St. Louis.
Missouri Supreme Court
After the death of Judge Rufus Pettibone, Wash was appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri. Taking his seat in September 1825, Judge Wash performed his duties until his resignation in May 1837. At the time, the state supreme court consisted of only three members. The head of the court was, and is, known by the honorific "Justice," the others by the title "Judge."
A number of notable cases were decided during Judge Wash's term. Many of these were suits in which slaves petitioned for their freedom. At the end of 1824, the Missouri General Assembly passed a law providing a process for enslaved persons to sue for freedom and have some protections in the process. The years between 1824 and 1844 are considered the "golden age" of freedom suits since many slaves won their freedom in these years. Following the Dred Scott decision, in which the "once free, always free" precedent was overturned, very few slaves pressed successful suits.
The following are important cases heard by Judge Wash.
Milly v. Smith (1829)
In 1826, bankrupt, elderly miller David Shipman's creditors seized and sold two of his slaves to satisfy a portion of his debt. Faced with further foreclosure, the Kentucky resident asked his adult nephew, Stephen Smith, to provide security for him. Shipman deeded him the mortgage on his land and other property, then fled to Indiana with his remaining seven slaves. In Jefferson County, he signed manumission papers for them, effectively freeing Milly, her three children and two young men.
The entire group continued on to Illinois where they took up residence in a Quaker community. Shipman told his new neighbors the black persons in his household were free. They later testified the former slaves were permitted to come and go as they pleased.
Meanwhile, Stephen Smith was unhappy with his uncle's departure and his obligation to settle Shipman's debt. Having plans himself to resettle in St. Louis, Smith hoped to discover his uncle's whereabouts and recover the slaves as “portable wealth.”