Lydia Benjamin, the widow of Isaac Benjamin, states that Isaac's only heir, his brother Samuel Benjamin, has also died. While Lydia believes that she "is entitled to the estate of her late husband," George Waters, administrator of Samuel's estate, is claiming half of Isaac's estate for Samuel's daughters. Lydia claims that Samuel "was never married to the mother of said daughters, hence they are not heirs." The petitioner asks that Waters be summoned to answer her charges. In his answer, Waters states that it is true that Samuel Benjamin never married Polly, the mother of his children, but "that the same description of marriage was solemnized between them as is universally practiced between negroes in that part of the County."
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, Maryland
