Diana Cephas

Delahay settled in Naples, Illinois in July 1839 and hired Diana out to Ross Hughes for months at a time, collecting her wages.

[1] On October 22, 1840, attorney Francis B. Murdoch submitted two petitions in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County on behalf of Diana Cephas and two-year-old Josiah.

McConnell's lawyers Myron Leslie and Roswell M. Field brought forward witnesses claiming that Diana was a runaway slave.

[1] By claiming that Diana had run away to Illinois, Leslie and Field could argue that she had to be returned to her rightful owner under the Federal Fugitive Slave Law.

[5] Diana Cephas's victory in court came soon after the Polly Wash and Lucy Berry won their freedom suits, also in St.