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Decatur House
Document summoning Henry Clay to court to answer Charlotte Dupuy's petition for freedom.
Credit: National Archives, Washington, DC
[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]
Few people know the story of a brave woman named Charlotte Dupuy who was enslaved in Decatur House, the large brick residence that has stood on Lafayette Square at the corner of H Street and Jackson Place since 1818. In 1829, while living at Decatur House, Dupuy sued her owner, Secretary of State Henry Clay, for her freedom. Charlotte Dupuy, or "Lotty" as she was known, felt that Clay was obligated to uphold an agreement she had with her previous owner to free her and her two children, Charles and Mary Ann. Clay's tenure as the Secretary of State ended before the case was decided, so Clay was instructed by the Circuit Court to leave Dupuy behind in Washington, though he took her husband and children back to Kentucky with him. Charlotte Dupuy continued to live in Decatur House and was employed by the home's next resident, Secretary of State Martin Van Buren.
The Court ultimately ruled against Dupuy and she was forcibly taken to the New Orleans residence of Clay's daughter and, eventually, to Clay's Kentucky estate. In 1840, eleven years after her lawsuit, Henry Clay freed Charlotte Dupuy.
| Enslaved People |
| Title | Description |
|---|
| Andrew Jackson Statue, Lafayette Square | A slave helps craft this statue and the Capitol's statue of freedom... |
| The White House | From slavery to sit-ins.... |
| Dolley Madison's House | A former slave shows charity toward an impoverished First Lady. |
| St John's Church | Free and enslaved African Americans are married and baptized at the President's parish... |
| Weddings at St. John's Church | Selected entries from the St. John's Church marriage register. |
| Daniel Webster's House | A slave plans a daring escape, but has a change of heart... |
| Ewell House | Buying, selling, and resisting. |
| Charlotte Dupuy | Charlotte Dupuy, an enslaved woman who sued her owner Henry Clay for her freedom. |
| Lafayette Square | An enslaved woman buys her freedom and changes the nation's history.... |
| Elizabeth Keckly (1818-1907) | Elizabeth Keckly was born into slavery in 1818. She went on to purchase her own freedom and establish a successful dressmaking business. |
| Frederick Douglass | Revered African American leader. |
| Members of Gadsby's Enslaved Household | A list of their names and ages. |
| Paul Jennings | Paul Jennings |
| Tayloe House | Compensated emancipation, only in DC... |
| Decatur House Slave Quarters | Men, women, and children from two families living together in 900 square feet... |
| Emancipation in the President's Neighborhood, 1850 | Emancipation in the President's Neighborhood, 1850 |
| "Negro Life at the South" | A 1859 painting by Eastman Johnson depicting urban slavery. |
| "Mrs. Madison's Slaves Again" | 1848 Newspaper article about the Madison's slaves. |
| "The Negro Celebration in Washington" | 1866 article and engraving about Emancipation Celebration in Washington, DC and President Johnson's address. |
| President's House Carpenters' Roll from May 1795 | Payment record for carpenters,including five enslaved men, who constructed the President's House. |
| Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. | Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C. |
| Bill of Sale for Charlotte Dupuy to Henry Clay | Bill of Sale for Charlotte Dupuy from James Condon to Henry Clay. |
| Bill of Sale for Paul Jennings from Dolley Madison to Pollard Webb | Document recording Dolley Madison's 1847 sale of Paul Jennings to Pollard Webb. |
| Charlotte Dupuy's Petition | Letter written by Robert Beale on behalf of Charlotte Dupuy petitioning the Judges to summon Henry Clay to court. |
| Decatur House Slave Quarters Floor Plans | Floorplans and architectural drawings of the Decatur House slave quarters. |
| Thomas Greene Bethune [Wiggins], 1849 -1908 | Photograph of blind piano prodigy Thomas Greene Bethune, the first African American artist to perform at the White House. |
| Emancipation in the District of Columbia - List of the Petitions Filed | Government document showing claims paid for emancipated slaves to the former owners. |
| First page of a letter from Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's petition for freedom | Letter written written by Henry Clay to his agent in Washington, Philip Fendall, regarding Charlotte Dupuy's bid for freedom. |
| Gadsby Slave Quarters at Decatur House ca.1937 | Photograph taken by Volkmar Wentzel in 1937 showing the H Street side of the slave quarters at Decatur House. |