In 1806, James Brooks died, bequeathing his daughter and son-in-law, Mary and William Wilson, a slave named Peggy and her increase, including a daughter named Winny, during their lives. Upon the death of Mary and William Wilson, Winny was to revert to his granddaughter, Elizabeth Wilson, and "to her & her heirs & assignees forever." In subsequent years, Winny had nine children, including six boys. About 1836, Elizabeth Wilson, now Elizabeth Mills, charges that William Wilson has placed several of the slaves in the possession of his sons and son-in-law, who claim a "reversionary" interest in them. In fact, William and Lewis Wilson have sold several of the slaves. Winny, for her part, has been sold to a slave speculator, but she "escaped & is now in the woods." Elizabeth Mills and her children seek to prevent Wilson from selling the slaves still in his family's possession.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
