In 1848 William Torrance of Illinois, represented by future US president Abraham Lincoln, filed a defamation suit against Newton Galloway. According to Lincoln’s submission, Galloway had uttered “false, scandalous, malicious and defamatory words” to Aaron Vandeveer and “diverse good and worthy citizens”. Among Galloway’s remarks were claims that Torrance had:
“…caught my old sow and f–ked her as long as he could…”
And:
“…knocked up my old sow and it is now bellying down [heavily pregnant] and will soon have some young bills.”
Torrance and Lincoln demanded $1,000 in damages, however, the case was thrown out and Torrance was ordered to pay costs.
Source: Torrance v. Galloway, 1848, Abraham Lincoln Legal Papers. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.