Sally Miller facts for kids

Sally Miller, whose birth name was Salomé Müller, was born around 1814. She was an American woman who became enslaved in the late 1810s. Her story is famous because she went to court in Louisiana to prove she was a free German immigrant. She said she was an indentured servant whose parents were not enslaved. This case became very well-known because it dealt with the idea of "white" slavery. In 1845, the Louisiana Supreme Court decided in her favor, and Sally Miller became a free woman.

Even though the law stated that children followed their mother's legal status at birth, Sally Miller could not free her three surviving children. Later, her former owner, John Fitz Miller, tried to prove she was partly Black and born into slavery. He wanted to clear his name. But the judge ruled in Sally Miller's favor in 1849. His appeal to the State Supreme Court was rejected. Her true identity is still a topic of discussion today.

How Her Story Began

Starting in 1816, many poor Europeans came to the United States. They were escaping bad harvests, wars, and other problems. In 1818, many families from Alsace, a region near Germany, arrived in Louisiana. Among them was Daniel Müller, a shoemaker, his wife, two sons, and two daughters, Dorothea and Salomé. Even though Alsace was part of France, many people there, like the Müllers, spoke German.

Their journey was difficult. They paid to travel to Philadelphia in 1817. But the ship's passengers had been tricked. The Dutch government then arranged for three ships to take them to the U.S., but to New Orleans, not Philadelphia. Daniel Müller's wife and baby son died on the trip. About 600 other people also died. The ship's captain would not let the remaining passengers off without more payment. So, Daniel Müller signed an "indenture" agreement. This meant he and his family would work for several years to pay for their travel.

In March 1818, the surviving Müllers arrived in New Orleans. Their work contracts were reportedly sold to John Fitz Miller. He owned a sugar cane plantation in Attakapas Parish (now St. Martin Parish). A few weeks after the family went to the plantation, friends in New Orleans learned that Daniel Müller and his 10-year-old son Jacob had died. They could not find out what happened to the two young girls, Dorothea, age 8, and Salomé, age 4.

In 1843, a friend of the Müllers, Madame Karl Rouff, was served by an enslaved woman at a cafe in New Orleans. Madame Rouff thought the woman looked like Salomé Müller from her home village. The woman was known as Mary Miller and was owned by Louis Belmonti. Madame Rouff took Mary Miller to the home of Salomé Müller's cousin and godmother, Eva Schuber. Eva and her husband also said the woman was Salomé.

They started a long legal fight to have Mary (later called Sally) Miller recognized as a free European woman. Sally Miller also tried to free her children. She had four children: Lafayette (who died around 1839), Madison, Charles, and Adeline.

Her Fight for Freedom

Sally Miller's German supporters hired a lawyer named Wheelock Samuel Upton. He filed the case on July 24, 1844. The case was called Sally Miller v. Louis Belmonti and John Miller. It was heard in the First District Court of Louisiana. Upton sued both Belmonti and John Fitz Miller, who had first owned Sally Miller. Belmonti was soon removed from the case. People believed he had bought the enslaved woman in 1838 without knowing she might be free.

In the lawsuit, Upton accused John F. Miller of making Sally Miller a slave after her father and older brother died. Fitz Miller did not like this accusation. He used his power to try and stop Sally Miller from gaining freedom. He insisted he had bought her as a slave.

Many different stories and facts were presented during the trial. The arguments showed the racial beliefs of that time. For example, Upton argued that Miller could not be a quartronne (someone with 1/16 Black ancestry). He said, "the Quartronne is idle, reckless and extravagant, this woman is industrious, careful and prudent."

Sally Miller's clear European looks did not guarantee she was free. By this time, many children with mixed ancestry had been born into slavery for generations. Some of these people looked mostly white. In Louisiana, for example, early French settlers often had relationships with enslaved women. Under a law called partus sequitur ventrem (meaning "the child follows the womb"), children born to enslaved mothers were also considered enslaved. This rule had been part of the law since the 1600s.

In New Orleans, many mixed-race women and their children gained freedom or social standing. This happened through a system called plaçage. In this system, French and Spanish colonists often had relationships with free or enslaved women of color. These women often gained freedom, education, or property. New Orleans had many free people of color. They formed their own social class. Their numbers grew in the early 1800s when thousands of free people of color came from Haiti. They were escaping the revolution there. These mixed-race residents, now called Louisiana Creoles, were a group between European-Americans and the large number of mostly Black African slaves.

The Fifth District Court first ruled against Sally Miller. But the next year, in 1845, the State Supreme Court ruled in her favor. Their decision said:

That if a person looks like a white person or an Indian, it is assumed they are free. The person who says they are a slave must prove it.

What Happened Next

The Supreme Court's 1845 decision was not popular in Louisiana. Many enslaved people there had mixed ancestry. The case showed how common mixed-race relationships were, leading to "white" slaves. The ruling was also unpopular across the Southern states. People there saw the abolition movement as a growing threat to their way of life.

In 1846, the Louisiana State Constitutional Convention got rid of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Historians believe this was because of Chief Justice Martin's ruling in the Sally Miller case. When the court was brought back the next day, Chief Justice Francois Xavier Martin and his five colleagues were not reappointed.

After becoming free, Sally Miller asked for her mixed-race children to be freed. She argued they were born to a woman who was legally free. John F. Miller and his supporters kept saying she was not a native European. In a new trial in 1849, John Miller brought new witnesses and documents. He tried to prove that Sally Miller was partly Black and born into slavery. The planter wanted to save his reputation. But he lost. The judge in the Fifth District Court supported the original Supreme Court ruling in 1848. The jury could not agree on a decision (11 were for Sally Miller, one was against). So, the lawyers decided to let the judge decide. John Miller's appeal to the State Supreme Court was rejected in 1849. However, Sally Miller was still unable to free her three children. Reports from the 1850s say she went to California.

The abolitionist Parker Pillsbury wrote in 1853 that "A white skin is no security whatsoever." He meant that even white-looking people were not safe from slavery.

In Books and Stories

• William Wells Brown tells Sally Miller's story in his book Clotel (1853).
• William and Ellen Craft, who were enslaved people who escaped to the North in 1848, included a long quote about the Sally Miller case in their 1860 book, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom.
• George Washington Cable first wrote about Sally Miller in a magazine in 1889. He included it in his book Strange True Stories of Louisiana (1890). Some critics say his story is not fully accurate history. They believe he wanted to entertain, not just share facts.
• John Bailey wrote about Sally Miller in his nonfiction book, The Lost German Slave Girl (2003). Bailey thinks Sally Miller was probably not Salomé Müller. He believes she was a smart and brave enslaved woman who "seized the one chance of liberty that was ever likely to come her way."

See also

• History of slavery in Louisiana
• List of slaves