The petitioners allege that their brother, John Smith, has mismanaged Margaret Smith's estate. In particular, they claim that in distributing the estate he has charged his sister Eliza with ownership of a slave named Cephas. The petitioners maintain that their mother Margaret gave the slave to her daughter "as a legacy in lieu of a Girl which had been given her & mentioned in her last Will, but which the Testatrix afterward disposed of in her life time on account of misbehavour." They further charge that John Smith has given them falsified receipts for their respective distributive shares of the estate. The petitioners ask that John Smith be ordered to appear in court and answer their claims. They also ask that he be compelled to render a "true and just" account of his actions as executor.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
