DeGraphen Read, a minor, by his guardian and next friend, Francis Porter, petitions to protect his rights to the slaves that constitute his mother's dower. When Degraphen's father, James Read, died, the slaves--Charlotte, Harriett and Jacob--were assigned to his widow Elizabeth, who has since married William Forsythe. DeGraphen claims that William "has threatened to sell said negroes & carry them to some distant place in which event your orator will be deprived of his right." DeGraphen argues that when his mother dies, these slaves should revert to him or his heirs. He asks the court to order the defendants not to sell the slaves and to deliver them over to him after Elizabeth's death.
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Repository: Kentucky Division of Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky
