Robin Holmes was the plaintiff in an 1852 court case to free his enslaved children in the Oregon Territory.
[1] In 1843, Ford, who was 2400 dollars in debt, mortgaged Robin and Polly Holmes and five of their six children.
[1] Based on dates recorded by the Fords, Eliza, the oldest of the three, would have been twelve years old.
[1] Mary Jane, Harriet, and Celi Ann, Holmes's three remaining daughters, were also brought along.
[1] The case, Holmes v. Ford, was brought before the Oregon Territorial Supreme Court on July 13, 1853, and the children were awarded to their parents[3] after a fourteen-month trial.