The 1800s were a tremulous time in our history. From this time period comes the bitter and tragic story of Celia.
The story of Celia began in the summer of 1850. Robert Newsom was a plantation owner from Callaway County, Missouri. He owned an expansive farm with multiple slaves. After the death of his wife, Newsom purchased Celia. At the time, Celia was only fourteen years old.
Shortly after Celia’s purchase, Newsom began to rape her. He would go to her cabin frequently and demand sex from the young girl. Celia was helpless to fend off his advances. Since she was considered Newsom’s ‘property’, she legally had no right to refuse him.
For years, Celia suffered at the hands of Robert Newsom. Celia finally found a small piece of happiness in 1850 when she began a relationship with George, another slave. Celia became pregnant in 1855. The child could have been either Newsom’s or George’s. It was at this point that George found out about Celia’s relationship with Newsom. He accused her of having an affair with Newsom and threatened to “have nothing more to do with her” unless she “quit the old man” ('Celia, a Slave', McLaurin, 1993). This was a major issue for Celia. She had no power to stop Newsom from raping her, but she cared for George and did not want their relationship to end.
Desperate, Celia attempted to speak with Newsom’s daughters, Virginia and Mary. Claiming that she was too ill from her pregnancy to deal with Newsom’s advances, she suggested that she would have to resort to defending herself with force should he try again. Newsom’s daughters ignored Celia’s pleas.
The situation came to a head in June of 1855, when Newsom came to Celia’s cabin to rape her once again. Celia begged Newsom to leave her alone and attempted to get away. When Newsom continued to advance on her, Celia grabbed a nearby stick “about as large as the upper part of a Windsor chair, but not so long” and hit him over the head with it ('Celia, a Slave', McLaurin, 1993). Newsom fell to the ground. Celia then hit him over the head again, killing the slave master.
After murdering the man, Celia faced a terrifying situation. She had killed her master. At the time, this was punishable by death by hanging. In order to hide the evidence, Celia burned Newsom’s body and spread the ashes so that they would not be found.
The next morning, Newsom’s family realized that he was missing. After searching for hours, the family feared the worst. William Powell, the Newsom family’s neighbor, began to question the Newsom family’s slaves. It was George who gave away Celia, stating that the last time Newsom was seen he was making his way to Celia’s cabin. They immediately began to question Celia, who denied any involvement. After continuous pressure from the investigators, Celia admitted to the murder of Robert Newsom.
Celia’s trial began in 1855. Her lawyer, John Jameson, planned to argue that Celia had legally protected herself against her master, citing a Missouri law that said a woman could defend herself against a man if her honor was being threatened. The issue that Jameson faced was convincing the judge that the law applied to slaves, despite being legally considered property.
In the end, Jameson and Celia were unsuccessful in their plea. In November, the judge and jury found Celia to be guilty. She was sentenced to death. Jameson drafted an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, but the appeal was denied. In December of 1855, Celia was marched to the gallows and hung.
The story of Celia is significant because it shows the horrors that African Americans of the time experienced. To Southerners, slaves were simply property. They had no rights and were not on the same level as whites. This ideology had changed within the North around the time of Celia. To many, slavery was immoral and fundamentally wrong. These differences in opinions led to tensions between the North and the South. Shortly after Celia’s death, the Civil War began.