Nancy Murphy's husband Lewis Murphy died intestate in 1803. Included in his estate were four slaves, which the administrator of the estate, John Murphy, has had possession of and has used since. Although she applied to Murphy for her dower in the slaves, John Murphy "would put yr. oratrix off by paying her a small sum of money as part pay for her part of the hire," and only on 17 January 1817 did John Murphy assign the slave James to Nancy as her dower. She asks the court to decree that the defendant "be compelled to pay to your oratrix her one third part of the hire of the afd. slaves," which she claims totals five hundred dollars.
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Repository: Kentucky Division of Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, Kentucky
