John Talbert, administrator of the estate of the late Nathaniel T. Rantin, asks that a deed executed by Rantin to Robert Jamieson "be declared and adjudged void." Talbert reports that on 17 August 1841 Rantin conveyed a family of ten slaves to the trust of Jamieson with the stipulation that at his death the slaves should be moved "to the District of Columbia" and manumitted. Talbert charges that the deed is invalid because Rantin was "utterly and totally incapable of making a valid deed ... from excessive use of ardent spirits." He further asserts that Debby, a slave woman with whom Rantin cohabited, had "an unlimited influence and ascendency" over Rantin. For these reasons, the petitioner believes that Debby and her nine children should be considered part of Rantin's estate and sold to satisfy his debts.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
