In an original petition, dated 5 June 1830, Benjamin Montgomery and Wiley Belcher charged that the defendant John Hatfield had refused to accept their payment which would have satisfied the mortgage on the slave Melinda and her six children. Since Hatfield would not relinquish possession of the said slave, the petitioners asked the court, among other things, to require Hatfield "to give security for the forthcoming of said slaves." Now, in a supplemental bill, the petitioners state that the bond of $1000 is insufficient since, they assert, it has been ascertained "that said negro slaves in controversy are worth fully the sum of two thousand dollars." The petitioners point out that Hatfield has "no real estate in Jackson County or in any part of the state of Alabama and that excepting one or two houses of very inferior value, he has no property of any kind whatsoever." They further fear that Hatfield's recent move "to the Bank of the Tennessee River," in the northwestern part of the state, is not "for the only purpose of planting, or farming or carrying on any lucrative occupation, he having rented but about 20 acres of land but with the view of running off said negroes by the facility of the said River should a decree be rendered against him." The petitioners seek an order to require the defendant to give bond with good security or command the sheriff to seize the slaves until a final decree is rendered.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama
