Walker Timberlake asks the court to enjoin a judgment obtained against him by the administrators of the estate of the late Lucy Wood. Timberlake explains that he hired Wood's slave, John Crab, at "an increased hire" of forty dollars "for the special purpose of acting or serving in the capacity of a Waterman or boatman." He agreed to pay "over and above the price of common labourers" because of the slave's "reputed skill." Timberlake charges, however, that the slave only made "one or two trips on the river" before taking sick; a physician later advised that remaining on the river "would endanger his health or life." After Timberlake notified Mrs. Wood of the situation, she agreed to "make an abatement in the hire equivalent to the difference in the value of service." Shortly thereafter the slave contracted pulmonary consumption, and died after about five months. Timberlake asserts that the "light work on Land" completed by the slave before his death discharged his obligation, but before her death, Wood assigned Timberlake's note to a third party, who has instituted suit against him on the note.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
