Dinah Cox Research Paper

Born in Roanoke, Virginia, Dinah Cox was the slave of John Randolph. She was a mother, lived to be one hundred and five years old, and had an extraordinary memory. Cox was freed of her slavery in 1833, when Randolph passed. In Randolph’s passing he freed his slaves and apologized to all of them. Everyone called Cox Aunt Dinah. She was sort of a leader to her people. Some land was purchased for slaves to live on by Randolph. As the slaves prepared for the move, Cox stated her desire to stay. She had work knitting and quilting and didn't wish to quit. The slaves left their homes singing, "Don't weep, don't cry, I shall never turn back anymore." White people came to ridicule but ended up crying because the song was so moving. The elderly and child rode by wagon while others walked. The group made up of over three hundred slaves, took a boat to New Bremen were they were welcomed with aggression. These who’ve already settled the land armed up to stop the slaves from settling on land that was purchased for them. This surely made the slaves feel unwanted anywhere. Despaired the group settled in Ohio. The land that was purchased for them was sold and resold. It is said to be some of the best farm land, but the slaves only collected fair to Ohio. This unjustifiable act brings to question where the rest of the money went. The descendants of the slaves attempted to retrieve their ancestors’ fair portion of the property in 1917. The case was taken to the Supreme Court were the present owners won. The outcome of the verdict was in favor of the current land owners due to statutes of limitation. Lucky for the case, Cox carefully protected her manumission papers. Going from slave to free, Dinah Cox certainly lived a hard life. With these events Cox has learned the value of freedom.