Litchfield enquirer., 1859-06-23
TWO DAUGHTERS HANDICAPPED
 BY THEIR FATHER.
From the Cleveland Leader.

From the Cleveland Leader.
 ] In the summer of 1857, James Oldham,
 free white citizen" of Coahoma county, Mis- sissippi, left his plantation near Friar's Point,
 with his two beautiful daughters one of whom is now 12 aud the other Is years of age, for Oberln, Ohio, whither he came for the double purpose of emancipatng and educating the girls, for they were his slaves He was ac- relative, who came to assist in locating the daughters in their new condition.
 At Memphis, the younger daughter, Cyre- na, having been the pet of the family, and preferring the known ease of her sunny home to the fancied trials and the dreaded restraints of school, could not be persuaded to come | any further on the journey, and her kind fath- CT was induced to- permit her to return to the {! plantation, while the balance of the party came on and arrived at Obern in August. The next day after their arrival Mir. Old ham was attacked with the typhoid dysentery, and was soon reduced to critical condition, in which he fingered some three weeks and di- ed. Having forEcd an acquaintance with Dr. R. l.. Req, of Oxford, Butler Co.,, Ohio and having great confidence in his skill as physi- clan, at Mir. Oldham's request, the Doctor came to his bedside, watched over him until death ended his sufferings, and then accompa- ned his mortal remains back to his desolate home in Mississippi.
 When Mr. Oldham became convinced that he must die, lis concern for the freedom of his youngest daughter was intense. The eldest, Emeline, was with him in Ohio, and was there fore free hut the younger, by lingering amid the loved scenes of her childhood, was exposed to be inventoried amoug the other chattels of the estate, and sold at high price, because of her light complexion, her beautiful ringlets and her graceful form, and the dying father knew it, and bitter anguish stuug his soul. He knew, too that the laws of Mississippi forbid emancipation within her borders, aud further, that he could not by his will make her free to be sent out of the State, nor could he will her in trust to another for the purpose of making her free, neither yet could he sell her to any one for that purpose. Thus was the dying parent beeagured on every hand by the monstrous cruelty of the law, hedging up as it docs, every way by which he might secure freedom to his child and thus save her from a dreadful fate. In this strait he applied to Hon. Philemon Bliss, of E.yria, for counsel, whose clear head and warm heart was soon enlisted in what would seem the hopeless task of enabling wealthy father to free his own child from eternal slavery.
 A will was soon executed, in which the facts of the parents earnest wish were clearly set forth aud by the terms of which the daugh- ters were made free, and the sum of four thou sand dollars bequeathed for their support and education, and the noble Dr. Req was ap- pointed executor of the will.
 If was also prOyidnl thai fho uho1a of tha above sum should be expended, if necessary, to secure the freedom of the youngest girl, should an attempt be made to prevent it by the heirs, under the laws of Mississippi, which wise provision, with the energy and tirmness of Dr. Req, proved more than match for slaveholding cupidity and slavchclding law, as is shown in the fact that both Emelne and Cyrena are now safe in Oberlin, where their wants will be supplied and their education pro- vided for under the direction of Dr. Req.
 But all this has not been accomplished with out severe struggle, every point being warm. ly contested by greedy heirs and wicked laws ] on the one side, and the determined Doctor and righteousness on the other. For time it seemed almost certain that the cormorants would succeed, and that the money as well as the liberty of Cyrena would be lost {; indeed, so sure were they of success that the helrs old Doctor Req a bold defiance.
 At length point was decided by the Su- preme Court of Mississippi in a case involving some important ones in this. and the contro- versy was brought to close by comprom- ise, in which Dr. Req secured the freedom of the girl and three thousand dollars of the mo ney.
 A few days ago Dr. Req might have been seen leaving the plantation of the late James Oldham in a large canoe fleighted with his precious charge, the tender Cyrena, an unwil- ling exile from her childhood's home, and ma kiug his devious way for nine miles through re- gently cut gorges and eddying currents made by the turbid waters of the Mississippi back to Friar's Point, where he embarked for the purpose of reinstating these sisters in Ober- lin, the very place chosen for them by the dy ing, honest shareholder, where they can become free, virtuous and intelligent women.