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Lincoln Defends "Black Bill'

Among ten original Lincoln documents discovered last summer in the DeWitt County
Courthouse is a bond for costs in William Dungey v. Joseph Spencer. Written but not signed by
Lincoln, it 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 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 1851, William Dungey, a dark-skinned young man of Portuguese descent, married
Joseph Spencer's sister. A family quarrel ensued, which became so bitter that in January 1855,
Spencer claimed throughout the community that his brother-in-law, "Black Bill," was a Negro.

Since 1819, Illinois 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 toughened its stance against them. The 1848 Illinois Constitution 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 were passed as the "Black
Laws" and went into force on February 12, 1853, the future Emancipator's forty-fourth birthday.

William Dungey faced losing not only his reputation, but his marriage, property, and right to
remain in Illinois. Section 10 of the 1853 law 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 act.
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. Spencer's
attorneys, Clifton H. Moore and Lawrence Weldon, filed a demurrer to Lincoln's declaration,
asserting that his charges were insufficient in law. Judge David Davis agreed that two of
Lincoln's three charges were faulty. The case was continued and Lincoln was allowed to amend
the declaration. At the next
term of court, October 1855,
the case was argued before a
jury.

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

Lincoln further undermined

Spencer by using humor to
persuade the jury that there was reasonable doubt regarding Dungey's race. Weldon recalled
Lincoln's statement:

"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." "Mr. Lincoln,"
interrupted Judge Davis, scarcely able to restrain a smile, "you mean a Moor, not
Moore." "Well, your Honor, Moor, not C.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."

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

Lincoln then demolished the defendant's witnesses' testimony. Moore and 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, Lincoln argued
that the testimony was hearsay as the witnesses admitted none of them lived within 30 miles of
the Dungey residence.

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

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

Copyright, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Springfield, Illinois
1992