In 1822, John Smith of Sumter District, South Carolina, bequeathed his daughter Tabitha the slave Siney to hold during her life and "immediately after her decease, the value of the Said Slave to be Equally divided among the Children of said Tabitha, the issue of her body lawfully begotten forever, Subject to a proviso by which the Shares of his wife and children Should be Equalized." Following her first husband's death, Tabitha married Levin Wright, who became trustee over Siney; the couple then moved to Henry County, Alabama. When Wright died in 1854, Tabitha's trust estate included six slaves, including Siney and her five children, Peggy about thirty-two, Tom about twenty-one years, Jake about sixteen, Maria about eight, and John about five. With Tabitha's permission, Wright's son, Levin A. Wright (the deceased had a number of children from two marriages), sold the slaves for distribution among various heirs, promising shares to John Reynolds of Henry County, Alabama, and Sarah Peobles, of Polk County, Texas, Tabitha's children by her first marriage. Neither Reynolds nor Peobles received their share, however. Now, fearing that Levin A. Wright and others "are preparing & intend to leave the jurisdiction of this Court & carry with them" the profits from the sale of the slaves, they file suit.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Henry County Courthouse, Abbeville, Alabama
