By the terms of his will, Edmund Townsend left almost his entire fortune, including land, slaves, and other property valued at $543,000, to some of his slaves. The will was contested, declared null and void, and the executors were ordered to sell Townsend's property. The petitioner, Celia Smith, of Lunenburg County, Virginia, born Celia Townsend and Townsend's niece through her mother, seeks a share of the estate and asks that her husband, who "treated her cruelly during the whole of their married life," be denied access to her wealth. He "has frequently struck her with a whip wounding her badly & on one occasion set his dog upon her," she testifies, "and that about the 1st July 1855 he abandoned her & they have not since lived together."
Result: Abated.
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Repository: Huntsville Madison County Public Library Archives
