The Courthouse and Enslavement
Oldham County, Oldham County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
The Courthouse and Enslavement. Records related to the enslavement were common. Justice of the Peace William Gatewood was charged for the illegal hire-out of Mahala, mother of Henry Bibb's wife Malinda. Bibb, a famous abolitionist, escaped Gatewood's enslavement & created a colony in Canada for fugitive slaves. (REVERSE) Westport Courthouse. First Court session held here in 1828. In addition to indicting criminals and appointing justices of the peace, the court resolved sales, auctions, and escapes of enslaved people & settled disputes pertaining to slave hire-outs. The court moved to nearby LaGrange in 1838.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
The Westport courthouse, where Oldham County's first court sat in 1828, was as much an instrument of slavery as of ordinary justice, ruling on the sales, hire-outs, and escapes of enslaved people alongside its other business. One case charged Justice of the Peace William Gatewood with illegally hiring out Mahala, whose daughter Malinda was the wife of Henry Bibb—the man Gatewood enslaved. Bibb escaped, became a celebrated abolitionist, and founded a colony in Canada for fugitive slaves; the court itself moved to LaGrange in 1838.
Why it matters
The marker confronts how everyday American courts upheld and administered slavery, while tracing one man's path from bondage to abolitionist leadership.
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Related people
- · Henry Bibb
- · William Gatewood
- · Malinda Bibb
- · Mahala
Themes & tags
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