Amory Kinney

Amory Kinney
Photograph of Amory Kinney
Born(1793-04-13)April 13, 1793[a]
DiedNovember 20, 1859(1859-11-20) (aged 68)[b]
EducationRead law with Samuel Nelson
Occupation(s)Attorney, legislator, judge
Known forLandmark freedom suit State v. Lasselle
Spouses
Hannah Bishop
(m. 1821; died 1831)
Lucy Bishop
(m. 1833, d. by 1852)
Mary Hobart
(m. 1852)

Amory Kinney (April 13, 1793 – November 20, 1859) was an American abolitionist and attorney who represented Polly Strong in the landmark State v. Lasselle case, tried in the Indiana Supreme Court, that freed Strong and set a precedent for other enslaved people in the state of Indiana. The following year, he represented Mary Bateman Clark, an indentured servant, and won her freed at the state Supreme Court. The cases foretold the end of bondservants in Indiana.

He served three terms as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, during which he codified the Indiana statutes and advocated for free schools. He also drafted Terre Haute, Indiana's first ordinances when he sat on the town council. For a few years, he was the publisher of The Western Register in Terre Haute, where he served on the board of trustees for the Terre Haute Public School.
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