In 1853, in a codicil to his will, John L. Bryan wrote: "I give to my Slaves their Freedom." In 1857, Thomas D. Hogg, executor of Bryan's will following his death, explains that the next of kin insist that the slaves are not entitled to their freedom. He does not wish to disobey the command of the testator but does not know what to do. "The said negro slaves are all ignorant and uneducated," Hogg writes, and it is necessary that "their rights be guarded and protected." Hogg asks the court to determine how the clause should be interpreted and instruct him on how to fulfill his duty as executor with regard to the slaves. Related documents reveal that the slaves were all willing to go to Liberia and were thus freed by a decree of the Supreme Court of North Carolina. Thomas Hogg later reports that "he has heard from them in their home in Liberia" and that he "is gratified that his duty in regard to them is fully and finally discharged."
Result: Granted.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
