In 1856, Arthur P. Bagby borrowed $400 from Elisha B. Lott, securing the loan with a mortgage on "a certain female slave named Martha." When he failed to pay the loan, Lott sued and obtained a "decree of foreclosure and sale." In 1858, Martha was sold for $775 to Jules Dietsche, who transferred title in an exchange of slaves to Horatio N. Gould and Bernard Kendig. In 1858, Bagby died intestate. Kendig on joint account with Gould sold Martha in New Orleans to John L. Finlay, who resides in Washington County, Mississippi, and "warranted the title of said slave." Gould and Kendig now claim that, since the sale to Finlay, one Franklin K. Beck has filed a suit claiming that he holds an "older mortgage made by said Bagby to him" on Martha. Meanwhile, the petitioners argue, the "right and claim" of Lott was transferred to Theophilus L. Toulmin who received from the court "the amount of the debt due from Bagby to Lott." The complainants sue Theophilus Toulmin, Lloyd Bowers, administrator of the estate of Arthur Bagby, Elisha Lott, and Franklin K. Beck asking that they "be protected and be not made the victims" of legal entanglements.
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Repository: University of South Alabama Archives, Mobile, Alabama
