Sarah W. Harper, the widow of William H. T. Harper and the guardian of her six minor children, represents that her late husband held fourteen slaves at the time of his death. She further states that "a division of the negroes has been lately made under a decree of the County Court of Dinwiddie, in which seven negroes to wit one man, two women and four children have been assigned to her as dower in said slaves ... and to her children one negro each.” Harper notes that her one married daughter "has removed to the State of Missouri, and her oldest son ... who is now nearly grown, has determined to emigrate to that state himself, and only awaits the result of the present Petition with the hope of carrying his mother and younger brothers and Sisters with him." The petitioner therefore prays "that your honourable body will pass a law authorizing her to remove the slaves which have been assigned to her as Dower in her Husbands Estate, and to carry with her her infant children and their negroes &c to the said State of Missouri without the forfeit of her Dower in said slaves: where situated in a more fertile and plentifull country, and in the vicinity of her elder children and friends, she hopes to be able materially to benefit her younger children, as well as to promote her own, and their happiness and comfort."
Result: Bill drawn.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
