203:
23, 1855, when Newsom came to her cabin that night, Celia struck Newsom twice with a large stick, killing him with the second blow. 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. Celia repeatedly denied George's involvement in the planning or execution of the murder, as well as the disposal of the body. After Celia's arrest, George was sold to another family.
233:, the lead defense attorney and himself a slave owner, Nathan Chapman Kouns, and recent law school graduate Isaac M. Boulware. 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. 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.
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four of whom were slave owners; 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.
185:
Celia's living descendants are descended. 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.
156:, 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. Celia was ultimately executed by hanging following a denied appeal in December 1855. Celia's memory was revitalized by civil rights activist
240:
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. Harry Newsom returned Celia to the jail after she escaped. The Callaway Circuit Court ruled against Celia's stay of execution
236:
Judge Hall denied the defense's jury instruction to acquit based on the sexual assault 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. Celia's jury consisted entirely of white male farmers,
202:
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. Celia repeatedly requested, demanded, and threatened Newsom to stop sexually coercing her. On June
184:
Celia had three children, at least one of which was indisputably Robert Newsom's. Sometime during Celia's incarceration, Celia delivered her third child. Earlier historians reported that this child was stillborn. More recent scholarship posits this child was sold following birth and is from whom
295:
Since 2004, Callawegians in Fulton, Missouri, have held a public event commemorating Celia's life on the anniversary of her execution. Celia's commemoration is often used as an opportunity to raise awareness about racism, sexism, domestic violence, and the historical intersection of slavery and
176:
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. However, this purpose may have been masqueraded as acquiring a domestic servant for his daughter Virginia Waynescott or as a same-aged
241:
on
December 18, 1855, as there was no doubt she had killed Robert Newsom, and they judged her motives irrelevant. 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
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While no photographs, 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 and later commissioned
Solomon Thurman in 1990 to create a portrait of Celia.
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Newsom housed Celia separately from his other five slaves, all male, in a cabin close to the main house. 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.
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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.
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archiving family tree information, personal correspondence, and genealogical information on the Newsom family, including some information about Celia's children.
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sexual violence in
America. Both Solomon Thurman and Melton McLaurin, the author of Celia's most popular biography, have attended this event honoring Celia.
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companion for his youngest child Mary Newsom. On the way back to
Callaway County, Newsom sexually assaulted Celia for the first time.
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It is a crime "to take any woman unlawfully against her will and by force, menace or duress, compel her to be defiled."
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The Face of Celia: a Story of the Events, and Research Surrounding My Search for the Face of Celia
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reported on her execution, all without details of her case or motive. Local newspapers like the
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Celia's trial was widely reported on. Papers hundreds of miles away reported on her arrest.
913:"Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Legal Rights & Gov't | PBS"
393:"Slavery and the Making of America . The Slave Experience: Legal Rights & Gov't | PBS"
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and published no mention of the sexual abuse by Newsom or Celia's children by him.
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1097:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. pp. 104–105.
1043:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. pp. 101–102.
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996:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. pp. 90–91.
847:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. pp. 35–39.
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969:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 74.
942:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 12.
874:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 48.
779:"The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Virginia Wainscott"
587:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 25.
555:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 24.
528:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 23.
501:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 20.
371:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 10.
474:. Internet Archive. Athens : University of Georgia Press. p. 9.
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Not much is known of Celia's origins or early childhood. Robert Newsom, a
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803:"The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Jefferson Jones"
716:"The Trial of Celia, A Slave (1855): Trial Testimony of Jefferson Jones"
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repeated the early supposition that Newsom's death was without motive.
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On December 21, 1855, Celia was hanged at 2:30 in the afternoon.
444:"Celia: From the Desk of Margaret Bush Wilson - Bears Repeating"
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included the details of the murder but not her motive.
144:- December 21, 1855) was a slave found guilty of the
1146:(PDF). 14 December 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
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Being convicted of murder for killing her master in
1020:" (PDF) 9 October 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
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188:It is unknown where Celia's remains are interred.
901:. The Library of Congress. Baltimore. p. 76.
831:(PDF). 25 June 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
1018:Proposed Instruction to the Jury by the Defense
220:Missouri statute of 1845, article 2, section 29
213:
649:"Descendants of Celia and Robert Newsom Speak"
8:
1434:19th-century executions by the United States
1295:"'Re-Remembering' for Celia at Fulton event"
746:. 25 June 1855. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
1439:19th-century executions of American people
1214:"Catalogue of Southern Crimes and Horrors"
160:who commissioned a portrait of Celia from
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299:Two plays have been written about Celia:
252:Celia through history and popular culture
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1429:People executed by Missouri by hanging
1424:People convicted of murder by Missouri
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207:State of Missouri vs. Celia, a Slave
192:State of Missouri vs. Celia, a Slave
1409:American people executed for murder
1394:19th-century African-American women
1320:""Celia' author to appear at event"
829:"Sworn Statement of Celia, a Slave"
757:"Trial Testimony of William Powell"
744:"Sworn Statement of William Powell"
198:State of Missouri v. Celia, a Slave
16:Enslaved African American (d. 1855)
1192:Celia, a slave : a true story
895:Trexler, Harrison Anthony (1914).
35:The only known photograph of Celia
14:
1190:McLaurin, Melton Alonza. (1991).
148:of Robert Newsom, her master, in
1444:Executed African-American people
1091:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
1064:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
1037:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
990:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
963:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
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615:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
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522:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
495:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
468:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
365:McLaurin, Melton Alonza (1991).
229:appointed Celia's defense team:
344:, executed by Missouri in 1838.
898:Slavery in Missouri, 1804-1865
327:, executed by Missouri in 1828
1:
1368:Loretta Love Grover's website
274:, all the way in Canada, and
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1419:19th-century American slaves
1273:Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker
1123:Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker
446:. 2014-02-21. Archived from
286:Brunswick Weekly Brunswicker
1454:People enslaved in Missouri
1449:19th-century American women
152:. Her defense team, led by
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1194:. Avon Books. p. 69.
1162:"Hanging a Negress--Celia"
314:(Yale Drama Series), 2015.
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1404:American female murderers
150:Callaway County, Missouri
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666:10.3390/genealogy4020049
305:Song of the Middle River
1414:Executed American women
1269:"Murder of Robt Newsom"
258:William Lloyd Garrison
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303:Pawley, Thomas, III.
227:William Augustus Hall
158:Margaret Bush Wilson
268:Mary Ann Shadd Cary
146:first-degree murder
113:First-degree murder
71:Cause of death
1347:Thurman, Solomon.
1326:. 15 December 2010
1301:. 20 December 2019
1247:Provincial Freeman
1169:The New York Times
277:The New York Times
272:Provincial Freeman
1362:The Celia Project
1249:. 2 February 1856
1223:. 19 October 1855
1171:. 16 January 1856
1125:. 1 December 1855
759:. 10 October 1855
421:famous-trials.com
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