Celia (slave)

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Celia

| image = Celia Missouri slave.jpeg

| alt =

| caption = The only known photograph of Celia

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{circa}} 1835

| birth_place =

| death_date = December 21, {{Death date and age|1855|1835}}

| death_place = Missouri, U.S.

| death_cause = Execution by hanging

| nationality = American

| conviction = First degree murder

| penalty = Death

| other_names =

| occupation =

| years_active =

| known_for = Being convicted of murder for killing her master in self-defense

| notable_works =

}}

Celia ({{circa|1835}} – December 21, 1855) was a slave found guilty of the first degree murder of Robert Newsom, her master, in Callaway County, Missouri. Her defense team, led by John Jameson, argued an affirmative defense: Celia killed Robert Newsom by accident in self-defense to stop Newsom from raping her, which was a controversial argument at the time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/legal/feature2.html|title=Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Legal Rights & Gov't {{!}} PBS|website=www.thirteen.org|access-date=2020-02-22}} Celia was ultimately executed by hanging following a denied appeal in December 1855.{{Cite web|url=https://famous-trials.com/celia|title=Celia, A Slave|website=famous-trials.com|access-date=2020-02-22}} Celia's memory was revitalized by civil rights activist Margaret Bush Wilson who commissioned a portrait of Celia from Solomon Thurman.

Celia was posthumously pardoned by Governor Mike Parson on December 20, 2024.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Melanie |date=2025-02-15 |title=Celia’s Story: Missouri teen vindicated 175 years later; pardoned for slave owner’s murder thanks to family’s fight for justice |url=https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/02/15/celias-story-missouri-teen-vindicated-175-years-later-pardoned-slave-owners-murder-thanks-familys-fight-justice/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=KMOV |language=en}}

Background

Not much is known of Celia's origins or early childhood. Robert Newsom, a yeoman farmer, acquired approximately 14-year-old Celia, born around 1835, in Audrain County in 1850 to act as his concubine after his wife had died the previous year.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=10|isbn=9780820313528 }} However, this purpose may have been masqueraded as acquiring a domestic servant for his daughter Virginia Waynescott or as a same-aged companion for his youngest child Mary Newsom.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=9|isbn=9780820313528 }} On the way back to Callaway County, Newsom sexually assaulted Celia for the first time.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=20|isbn=9780820313528 }}

Newsom housed Celia separately from his other five slaves, all male, in a cabin close to the main house.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=23|isbn=9780820313528 }} Celia became involved with George, one of Newsom's four adult male slaves, and began sharing this cabin with him by the beginning of 1855.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=24|isbn=9780820313528 }}

Celia had three children, at least one of which was indisputably Robert Newsom's.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=25|isbn=9780820313528 }} Sometime during Celia's incarceration, Celia delivered her third child. Earlier historians reported that this child was stillborn.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=115|isbn=9780820313528 }} More recent scholarship posits this child was sold following birth and is from whom Celia's living descendants are descended.{{Cite journal|last=Wilson-Kleekamp|first=Traci|date=2020-04-14|title=Descendants of Celia and Robert Newsom Speak|journal=Genealogy|language=en|volume=4|issue=2|pages=49|doi=10.3390/genealogy4020049|issn=2313-5778|doi-access=free}} Following her execution, Harry Newsom, one of Robert Newsom's adult sons, may have acquired one of her daughters, because a female enslaved child appears in his household in the 1860 census. According to the probate court of Callaway County, Celia's daughters were sold in the year following her execution.

It is unknown where Celia's remains are interred.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=116|isbn=9780820313528 }}

''State of Missouri vs. Celia, a Slave''

In early 1855, Celia, approximately nineteen, conceived for the third time, and the father of the child was uncertain. At this time, George demanded Celia cut off her relationship with Robert Newsom.{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/jonestranscript.html|title=The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Jefferson Jones|website=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=2020-02-28}} Celia repeatedly requested, demanded, and threatened Newsom to stop sexually coercing her.[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/PowellStatement.pdf "Sworn Statement of William Powell"]. 25 June 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020.{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/powelltranscript.html|title=Trial Testimony of William Powell|date=10 October 1855|access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/wainscotttranscript.html|title=The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Virginia Wainscott|website=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=2020-02-28}} On June 23, 1855, when Newsom came to her cabin that night, Celia struck Newsom twice with a large stick, killing him with the second blow.{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/jonestranscript.html|title=The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Jefferson Jones|website=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=2020-02-28}}[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/CeliaStatement.pdf "Sworn Statement of Celia, a Slave"] (PDF). 25 June 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020. She burned his body in her fireplace while her two children slept through the confrontation. The following day, the search party consisting of the Newsom household and William Powell, a neighboring farmer, questioned first George and then Celia, who after sustained questioning, eventually confessed.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=35–39|isbn=9780820313528 }} Celia repeatedly denied George's involvement in the planning or execution of the murder, as well as the disposal of the body.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=48|isbn=9780820313528 }} After Celia's arrest, George was sold to another family.

State of Missouri vs. Celia, a Slave ran from June 25 to October 10, 1855. Celia's testimony does not appear in the trial records because, at that time in Missouri, slaves were not allowed to testify in their defense if their word disputed a white person's.{{Cite book|last=Trexler|first=Harrison Anthony|url=http://archive.org/details/slaveryinmissour00trex|title=Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865|date=1914|publisher=Baltimore|others=The Library of Congress|pages=76}}

{{Quote box

| quote = It is a crime "to take any woman unlawfully against her will and by force, menace or duress, compel her to be defiled."

| source = Missouri statute of 1845, article 2, section 29{{Cite web|url=https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/legal/feature2.html|title=Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Legal Rights & Gov't {{!}} PBS|website=www.thirteen.org|access-date=2020-02-22}}

| width = 400px

| salign = center

}} Judge William Augustus Hall appointed Celia's defense team: John Jameson, the lead defense attorney and himself a slave owner,{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=12|isbn=9780820313528 }} Nathan Chapman Kouns, and recent law school graduate Isaac M. Boulware.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=74|isbn=9780820313528 }} The defense contended Newsom's death was justifiable homicide and argued that Celia, even though she was a slave, was entitled by Missouri law to use deadly force to defend herself against sexual coercion.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=90–91|isbn=9780820313528 }} The defense based their argument off of the Missouri statute of 1845, which declared "any woman" could be the victim of sexual assault; the defense argued "any woman" included slaves like Celia.

Judge Hall denied the defense's jury instruction to acquit based on the sexual assault"[https://famous-trials.com/images/ftrials/Celia/documents/proposedInstructionsDefense.pdf Proposed Instruction to the Jury by the Defense]" (PDF) 9 October 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020. and denied the jury any ability to acquit on grounds for self-defense or to find Celia justified to ward off her master's sexual advances with force or at all.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=101–102|isbn=9780820313528 }} Celia's jury consisted entirely of white male farmers, four of whom were slave owners;{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=80|isbn=9780820313528 }} they convicted Celia on October 10, 1855. Celia's defense team filed a motion for a retrial based on alleged judicial misconduct by Judge Hall; the judge overruled this motion, and Celia was sentenced on October 13, 1855, to be executed by hanging November 16, 1855. The defense appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, but the judge did not grant a stay of execution.

Celia escaped Callaway Country Jail on November 11; she remained at large until the beginning of December to prevent her death before the Supreme Court could rule on her case.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin|first=Melton Alonza|url=http://archive.org/details/celiaslave00mcla|title=Celia, a slave|date=1991|publisher=Athens : University of Georgia Press|others=Internet Archive|pages=104–105|isbn=9780820313528 }} Harry Newsom returned Celia to the jail after she escaped.{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/crime-clipping-dec-01-1855-1437639/|title=Recovered|date=1 December 1855|work=Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker|access-date=24 April 2020}} The Callaway Circuit Court ruled against Celia's stay of execution on December 18, 1855, as there was no doubt she had killed Robert Newsom, and they judged her motives irrelevant.[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/celia/Stayofexecutiondenial.pdf "Supreme Court Order denying Celia's petition for a stay of execution pending appeal"] (PDF). 14 December 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020. The night before her execution, Celia gave a full confession and once again denied that anyone had helped her, including George. This confession was reported in the Fulton Telegraph and published no mention of the sexual abuse by Newsom or Celia's children by him.

On December 21, 1855, Celia was hanged at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Celia through history and popular culture

Celia's trial was widely reported on. Papers hundreds of miles away reported on her arrest.{{Cite book|last=McLaurin, Melton Alonza.|title=Celia, a slave : a true story|date=1991|publisher=Avon Books|pages=69|oclc=27387138}} William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator repeated the early supposition that Newsom's death was without motive.{{Cite news|url=http://fair-use.org/the-liberator/1855/10/19/the-liberator-25-42.pdf|title=Catalogue of Southern Crimes and Horrors|date=19 October 1855|work=The Liberator|access-date=28 February 2020}} Mary Ann Shadd Cary's Provincial Freeman, all the way in Canada, and The New York Times reported on her execution, all without details of her case or motive.{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1856/01/16/76451883.pdf|title=Hanging a Negress--Celia|date=16 January 1856|work=The New York Times|access-date=28 February 2020}}{{Cite news|url=http://ink.ourdigitalworld.org/viewer/cecil/focus/ink/newspapers/pf/reel1/001541-x0-y0-z1-r0-0-0|title=A Woman Hanged|date=2 February 1856|work=Provincial Freeman|access-date=28 February 2020}} Local newspapers like the Fulton Telegraph and Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker included the details of the murder but not her motive.{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/crime-clipping-jul-07-1855-1437652/|title=Murder of Robt Newsom|date=7 July 1855|work=Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker|access-date=24 April 2020}}

While no contemporary portraits or written descriptions of Celia are known to exist, Margaret Bush Wilson revitalized Celia's memory when she learned about her case in 1940{{Cite web|url=http://wulibraries.typepad.com/bears_repeating/2013/04/celia-from-the-desk-of-margaret-bush-wilson.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221174204/http://wulibraries.typepad.com/bears_repeating/2013/04/celia-from-the-desk-of-margaret-bush-wilson.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-02-21|title=Celia: From the Desk of Margaret Bush Wilson - Bears Repeating|date=2014-02-21|access-date=2020-02-28}} and later commissioned Solomon Thurman in 1990 to create a portrait of Celia.

Since 2004, Callawegians in Fulton, Missouri, have held a public event commemorating Celia's life on the anniversary of her execution.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2019/dec/20/re-remembering-for-celia-at-fulton-event/809035/|title='Re-Remembering' for Celia at Fulton event|website=newstribune.com|date=20 December 2019 |language=en|access-date=2020-02-28}} Celia's commemoration is often used as an opportunity to raise awareness about racism, sexism, domestic violence, and the historical intersection of slavery and sexual violence in America. Both Solomon Thurman and Melton McLaurin, the author of Celia's most popular biography, have attended this event honoring Celia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fultonsun.com/news/news/story/2010/dec/15/celia-author-appear-event/546172/|title="Celia' author to appear at event|website=fultonsun.com|date=15 December 2010 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-18}}

Two plays have been written about Celia:

Pawley, Thomas, III. Song of the Middle River (play), 2003
Seyda, Barbara. Celia, a Slave (Yale Drama Series), 2015.

Following a petition by her descendants, Celia was posthumously pardoned by Governor Mike Parson on December 20, 2024.

References

External links

[https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/celiaproject/ The Celia Project], a collaborative research project dedicated to researching Celia, the history of slavery, and the history of sexual violence.
[http://llggenealogysite.com/getperson.php?personID=I2147&tree=lovegrover Loretta Love Grover's website] archiving family tree information, personal correspondence, and genealogical information on the Newsom family, including some information about Celia's children.

Category:1830s births

Category:1855 deaths

Category:Year of birth uncertain

Category:19th-century African-American women

Category:People from Audrain County, Missouri

Category:American female murderers

Category:American people executed for murder

Category:Executed American women

Category:19th-century American slaves

Category:People convicted of murder by Missouri

Category:People executed by Missouri by hanging

Category:19th-century executions by the United States