The widow and children of the late Robert Cate seek to have a bill of sale for the slave Pleasant set aside. They claim that Robert's father, the late William Cate, directed in his will "that a certain negro man named Pleasant ... should be given to his son Robert." They explain that shortly after William wrote his will he "became entirley Delarious, and incompetent to Transact any Kind of bisiness." They further charge that Charles Cate, the brother of the late Robert, persuaded his father "to Give him a Bill of sale to said boy Pleasant mentioned in the will." The petitioners maintain that William executed the will in question "in his proper mind and that He was very Desirous the will should be proven." Widow Matilda Cate states that she has been "left very pore with several small Children" and that "the Fraudulent Conduct of the said Charles ... has tended to the manifest Injury of Your oratrix and all most Ruined her prosperity in a pecuniary point of view." The petitioners therefore ask that the defendants be summoned to answer their charges; that the sheriff of Bradley County take Pleasant into his custody until their case is heard; and that William's "will be Delivered up and proven and Registered as Required by law."
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
