Abraham Lincoln Defends

William Dungey - ‘Black Bill'

Vs.

“Black Laws” - 1855

Among ten original Abraham Lincoln documents discovered last summer in the DeWitt County
Courthouse at Illinois, is a ‘bond’ for costs in William Dungey vs. Joseph Spencer. Written but not
signed by Abraham Lincoln, the ‘bond’ was part of an interesting slander case. Family disputes that
degenerated into slanderous, name-calling feuds frequently appeared in antebellum Illinois circuit
courts. Such cases reflected the intent of American slander law to safeguard an individual's good
reputation in the community against petty character assassination. Abraham Lincoln realized the
value of reputation, and declared in his first printed political speech that, "Everyman is said to have
his peculiar ambition... I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow
men..."

One unique slander case Abraham Lincoln argued at the DeWitt County Circuit Court, Clinton,
Illinois, in the May and October 1855 terms involved much more than a defamation of character, and
suggested that Huck Finn's friend Jim might have reconsidered his plan of escape to freedom: "I
reck'n'd at by fo' in the mawnin' I'd. . .slip in, jis b'fo daylight, en swim asho' en take to de woods on
de Illinois side."

In August of 1851, William Dungey, a dark-skinned young man of Portuguese descent, married a
European woman, - Joseph Spencer's sister. A family quarrel ensued, which became so bitter that in
January 1855, Joseph Spencer, a European, claimed throughout the community that his brother-in-
law, "Black Bill," was a Negro.

Since 1819, Illinois State laws permitted quasi-slavery and restricted the immigration of free
blacks into the state. As other northern states passed personal liberty laws granting additional rights to
free blacks, Illinois State toughened its stance against them. The 1848 Illinois State Constitution

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required the General Assembly to "pass such laws as will effectively prohibit “free persons of color”
from immigrating to and settling in this state. . . ." Those prohibitions against human rights were
passed as the "Black Laws" and went into force on February 12th 1853, the same date of the future
Emancipator's (Lincoln’s) forty-fourth birthday.

William Dungey faced losing not only his reputation, but his marriage; his property; and his right
to remain in Illinois. Section 10 of the 1853 Black Laws stated that, "Every person who shall have
one-fourth negro blood shall be deemed a mulatto." William Dungey retained Abraham Lincoln to
quash the possibility that he might be judged a "negro" and therefore suffer the severe penalties under
the 1853 “Black Laws Act”.

Abraham Lincoln filed his declaration charging Joseph Spencer with slander on April 17, 1855,
and sought $1,000 in damages. A game of legal chess occurred during the first hearing in May.
Joseph Spencer's attorneys, Clifton H. Moore and Lawrence Weldon, (also Europeans) filed a
demurrer to Abraham Lincoln's declaration, asserting that his charges were insufficient in law. Judge
David Davis agreed that two of Abraham Lincoln's three charges were faulty. The case was continued
and Abraham Lincoln was allowed to amend the declaration. At the next term of court, October 1855,
the Dungey case was argued
before a jury.

According to Joseph
Spencer’s attorney Lawrence
Weldon, Abraham Lincoln's
talents as a trial lawyer were
evident in his argument for
William Dungey. Lawrence
Weldon stated that Abraham
Lincoln questioned Joseph
Spencer's character by
demonstrating how Joseph
Spencer went from house to
house "gabbing" that William
Dungey was a "nigger."
Attorney, Lawrence Weldon
emphasized that Abraham
Lincoln's tone and
pronunciation had a "curious
touch of the ludicrous. . .
which, instead of detracting,
seemed to add to the effect."

Abraham Lincoln further

undermined Joseph Spencer by using humor to persuade the jury that there was reasonable doubt
regarding William Dungey's race. The attorney, Lawrence Weldon recalled Abraham Lincoln's
statement:

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 "My client is not a Negro, though it is a crime to be a Negro--no crime to be born with a black
skin. But my client is not a Negro. His skin may not be as white as ours, but I say he is not a
Negro, though he may be a Moore." - Abraham Lincoln

"Mr. Lincoln," interrupted Judge Davis, scarcely able to restrain a smile, "you mean a Moor -
(M-o-o-r) not Moore, (M-o-o-r-e)."

"Well, your Honor, Moor - (M-o-o-r) not Clifton H. Moore," replied Mr. Lincoln, with a sweep
of his long arm toward the table where Moore and I sat.

"I say my client may be a Moor, but he is not a Negro." - Abraham Lincoln

Though the account may be apocryphal, attorney Lawrence Weldon's recollection was
characteristic of Abraham Lincoln's style.

Abraham Lincoln then demolished the defendant's witnesses' testimony. Attorneys Clifton H.
Moore and Lawrence Weldon had secured several depositions from residents in Giles County,
Tennessee, the Dungey family home. These witnesses stated that they had personally known the
family, and that the white community had regarded the Dungeys as "negro," or of "mixed blood."
Under cross examination, Abraham Lincoln argued that the testimony was hearsay as the witnesses
admitted none of them lived within 30 miles of the William Dungey residence.

On October 18, 1855, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and granted William Dungey $600 in
damages plus court costs of $137.50. Abraham Lincoln charged a $25 fee, which Lawrence Weldon
considered minimal.

To avoid an appeal to the Illinois State Supreme Court, Abraham Lincoln persuaded William
Dungey to remit $400 of the judgment in return for the defendant releasing "all errors which may
exist in the court record. . ." Under Illinois State law, the defendant could not appeal the verdict, but
could appeal only on errors of procedure or evidence. Abraham Lincoln had taught Joseph Spencer an
expensive lesson in domestic relations. - Copyright, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Springfield, Illinois - 1992

Note: Legal and Lawful Analysis on Status and Estate and other Ancillary Supports

The reader, researcher or scholar is advised to review the foregoing synopsis of the William Dungey
slander case of 1855 with keen considerations about the realities and facts that in law and in legal process,
one’s ‘Status’ also determines one’s standing in relationship to one’s ‘Estate’. Thus, as in this case, the
spurious tags, brands, and nom-de-guerre, such as ‘Black’ and ‘Negro’ (being pejorative and ‘status’ -
compromising nom-de-guerre and misnomers) had, can, and will, create serious and debilitating social and
economic repercussions in relationship to William Dungey’s ‘Estate’. Such a damaged reputation would place
all of his present and future Hereditaments at risk and subject to ‘Escheat’. Keep in mind that the European /
Roman / Colonial ‘Unam Sanctam’ Bulla and the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ conquest policies are operative and
in effect upon the Lands and the Aboriginal, natural peoples of North America. These and other supporting
Bullas were imposed upon peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Therefore, one must be aware of the
Inquisition Acts and Edicts of the past and thus, be more cognizant of the social, economic, and political acts,

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actions and politics of the present: A Nom de guerre is in its most literal meaning and application, “a war
name; a pseudonym”.

Status: Is the standing, the state, or the condition of the person; it relates to the legal relation of the
individual to the rest of the community. Status relates to the rights, the duties, the capacities, and to the
incapacities which determine a person to a given class. It is a legal personal relationship, not temporary in its
nature, nor terminable at the mere will of the parties, with which third parties and the state are concerned.
And while the term, ‘Status’ implies relation it is not a mere relation. Status also means, Estate, because
‘Status’ signifies the condition or the circumstances in which one stands with regard to his property.
- Ancient and Modern Jurisprudence: – Henry Campbell Black’s Law Dictionary: Fourth Edition

Estate: Is the interest which any one has in lands, or in any other subject or property. An Estate in lands,
tenements, and Hereditaments signifies such interest as the Tenant has therein. In this sense, “Estate” is
constantly used in conveyances in connection with the words “right,” “title,” and “interest,” and is, in a great
degree, synonymous with all of them. - Ancient and Modern Jurisprudence: – Henry Campbell Black’s Law Dictionary: Fourth Edition

Hereditaments: Are things capable of being inherited, be it corporeal or incorporeal. That includes all
things real, personal, or mixed, and including not only lands and everything therein, but also heirlooms, and
certain furniture which by custom, may descend to the Heir together with the land. At ‘Common Law’
Corporeal Hereditaments were and are physical objects, comprehended under the term, ‘Land’ and were said
to lie in livery; while Incorporeal Hereditaments existed only in contemplation of law, and were said to lie in
grant and were affiliated with chattel interests. Hereditaments also includes a few rights unconnected with
land, but is generally used as the widest expression for real property of all kinds, and is therefore employed in
conveyance after the words ‘Lands’ and ‘Tenements’ to include everything of the nature of realty which they
do not cover. - Ancient and Modern Jurisprudence: – Henry Campbell Black’s Law Dictionary: Fourth Edition

Descent and Descendability: In matters of operation of law and of rights, ‘Descent’ in its
broadest sense signifies an inheritance cast upon any one who is deemed capable of receiving it,
whether ‘Heir’ at ‘Common Law’ or not. Thus, ‘Descent’ may occur by hereditary succession or by
succession to the ownership of an ‘Estate’ by ‘Inheritance’ or by any act of law. Descent is
distinguished from ‘Purchase’. Title by ‘Descendability’ relates to the operation of ‘Descent’ in
matters of an ‘Estate’ or ‘Inheritance’ being capable of being passed, inherited, or transmitted by
devise, spoken of ‘Estates, Titles, Offices, and other property. A natural person or ‘Heir’ (deemed
not ‘In Propria Persona’ nor held as competent by operation of law) may be considered ‘Non-
heritable’ and incapable of ‘Descendability’. In controversial or disputed or contested issues of
‘Descendability’ the birthright – stealing practices of ‘Branding’ and the removing of consanguine
attributes, names, and titles, (by operation of law or by fraud) can create descendability obstructions
for any one otherwise deemed as an ‘Heir’ or as one capable of ‘Descendability’. Nom-de-guerre
(war names) or common ‘Brands’ applied to, or imposed upon defeated or enslaved Moors by
European Colonists at North America, were commonly used as strategies for stealing or confiscating
‘Estates’ and ‘Inheritances’. The William Dungey slander case of 1855 (as an example) was a prime
incident of an attempt of such common Escheat practices invoked by Europeans and Barristers at
North America, and used against the natural peoples of the Land.

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 Escheat: In ‘Feudal Law’ Escheat is an obstruction of the natural course of descent, and the
consequent determination of the tenure, by some unforeseen contingency, in which case the land
naturally reverts back, by some kind of reversion, to the original grantor or lord of the fee. Escheat is
the casual descent, in the nature of forfeiture, of lands and tenements within the manor, to a lord,
either on failure of issue of the tenant dying, seized or on account of the felony of such tenant. In
American law, Escheat signifies a reversion of property to the ‘State’ in consequence of a want of any
individual competent to inherit. The ‘State’ is deemed to occupy the place and hold the rights of the
feudal lord. The word, Escheat, under the jurisdiction of the United States exercising civil plenary
powers on the land at North America, merely indicates the preferable right of the ‘State’ to an
‘Estate’ left vacant, and without there being any one in existence able to make claim thereto.

Realty: Is a brief term used to apply to real property; and also for anything which partakes of the
nature of real property.

Feudal Law: Is the body of jurisprudence relating to feuds; it is the real-property law of the
Feudal System. It is the law anciently regulating the property relations of lord and vassal, and the
creation, incidents, and transmission of feudal estates.

Civiliter Mortuus: Is a law term that applies to one who is held as being ‘civilly dead’; dead in
the view of the law. It is the condition of one who has lost his civil rights and capacities, and is
accounted dead in law. ‘Civiliter Mortuus’ is the negative status which stands in stark opposition to
‘In Full Life’, which means, “continuing in both physical and civil existence; that is, neither actually
dead nor Civiliter Mortuus”.

Etymology of the word, ‘Black’

Black: The word, ‘Black’ is an adjective; and is of Middle English (ME) origin. Linguistically and
Grammatically, Middle English places the word, ‘Black’ between the years, 1100 to 1500. As a means of
measuring the passage of time, this equates to the timelines of the 12 th to the 16th Centuries. Scholars and other
literate people, who possess the capacity to read, associate the Middle English linguistic timeline by way of the
Julian calendar in the Common Era. In the history of European culture, this period of time is considered the
‘High Middle Ages’ and is also called, the ‘Age of Cistercians’. Cistercians are members of a monastic order
which was founded by St. Robert of Molesme in the year 1098 at Citeaux, France, under an austere
Benedictine rule.

The etymology of the word, Black is Middle English (ME); and Middle English is derived from the Old
English (OE) word, Blac which linguistically places it from the language of the English people from the time
of the earliest documents in the seventh (7th) century to about eleven hundred (1100). Both of these English
words, Black and Blac, are derived from Bhel. Thus, ‘Black’ originates from ‘Bhel’. The origin and true
meaning of the word, Bhel is: to shine; to flash; burn; shining white; and various bright colors. 1. Beluga,
from Russian belyi, white. 2. Phalarope, from Greek, phalaros, having a white spot.

Bhel is a suffixed variant form of ‘Bhel-wo’ - blue, derived from Old French, Bleu, Blue; derived from
Germanic, Bhle-waz, blue. Bhel has various extended Germanic forms such as, Bleach, derived from Old
English, ‘Blaikjan’ which means ‘to make white’. Bleak, from Old Norse, Bleikr, which means ‘shining, and

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white’; and is derived from the Germanic, Blaikaz, which means ‘shining, and white, et cetera’. Important
derivatives of Bhel are, blue, bleach, bleak, blaze, blemish, blind, blend, blond, blank, blanket, blush, black,
flagrant, and flame.

Etymology: noun: in plural form, etymologies [Middle English ethimologie, from Latin etymologia from
Greek, from etymon + -logia – logy]. Etymology is the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by
tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its
transmission from one language to another; by analyzing it into its component parts; by identifying its cognates
in other languages; or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language.
Etymon is the literal meaning of a word according to its origin; from etymos meaning, ‘true’. Etymology is
basic to elementary grammar and is vital to fundamental reading skills.

Primal and important for the reader, researcher or scholar to acknowledge and to realize is the deliberate
and strategic misplacement of, or misusages of words; and to also recognize the social engineering and
pejorative, nom-de-guerre and prima facie applications of the tags, brands, and misnomer usages of the
English words, black and negro, et cetera. Note that such wrongful and depreciatory misusages as were
demonstrated in the William Dungey slander suit case of 1855 were not without negative intent. The principle
argument related to the spurious usages of these words (falsely applied as identities) and placed upon the
Aboriginal natural peoples (Moors). Such violations constitute arbitrary acts of denationalization;
statelessness; wardship tenures, and create a condition of non - descendability and thus, would justify Escheat
by the State by operation of law; establishing a lack of heritability. The slander trespasses and torts initiated by
Joseph Spencer against the good standing of William Dungey, was meant to injure and to damage his status.
Therefore, the lawsuit and declaration in the William Dungey slander case, as filed by Abraham Lincoln, was
well – grounded in law; and necessary, as a remedy in law, to secure the rights of Estate for his client,
William Dungey.

History and the public record shows that the William Dungey slander suit was litigated and concluded on
October 16th of 1855 and that Abraham Lincoln was the lawyer defending Dungey’s honor and Estate.
However, one must also remember that this important slander case was also litigated five (5) years before
Lincoln held the office of President for the ‘united States of America’ – November 6th 1860. Another
important fact to know and to remember is this: Abraham Lincoln was a key player in the issuance of, and the
signing of General Order 100 known as the ‘Lieber Code’; and that Abraham Lincoln was the last de jure
(Constitutional holder of Office) President of and for the Republic. All succeeding Presidents of the United
States thereafter, were, and are operating and functioning in a de facto status.

The defense of William Dungey and his Estate (by Abraham Lincoln, the lawyer) prior to his holding of the
Presidential Office, did not sit well with many Europeans occupying North America. The later initiatives
which gave incentive to the Lincoln’s executive actions while acting as President for the united States and
related to the ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ of 1862 (though modified twice by a disgruntled Congress) were
influential in the growing practice of Abraham Lincoln being called, “Africanus the First”. Consider and
analyze the (later to be established and deliberately undermined) ‘Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands’ – 1865, noting the ‘Forty Acres and Mule’ subject matters and associated attempts at
restorations. Contrary to justice, the birthright – stealing and ‘Escheat’ issues at North America continues.
Courtesy of ‘Moors Order of the Roundtable’