Looking Back, Moving Forward: Documenting the Heritage of African Nova Scotians

Loyalist Samuel Andrews of Tusket River, Yarmouth County, and his sons Samuel and John were tried in 1801 for the murder of 'Jude', an enslaved woman, the previous year. The men claimed that her death was accidental. Medical evidence showed that she had been killed by a blow from a "blunt pointed instrument." A fellow enslaved woman, 'Diana', who referred to Jude as "my sister", testified to having seen John and Samuel Andrews standing beside Jude, each with "a stick about the size of an iron candle stick and of the length of my arm". The jury acquitted the Andrews. Samuel's wife Mary was also indicted but not tried.

Date: 18 January 1801

Reference: Nova Scotia Archives RG 42 Shelburne volume 1 file 4.3