On 2 July 1863, Everitt Joyner executed a deed of sale to Richard Casey for a male slave named George. A few days later, however, he filed suit claiming that he was drunk when he signed the deed, and had been drunk for two weeks. Indeed, at age seventy, even when sober he was "feeble and weak in both body and mind" and "scarcely able to transact business." He alleges fraud, seeks the recovery of his slave, and asks that the deed be cancelled. Related testimonies reveal that Everitt Joyner had deeded another slave named Phillis to a Mrs. Woodard during the same period of time. Witnesses testified that it was known that Everitt Joyner was very much attached to his slaves and to eight-year-old George in particular, and that he wanted to find a good home and master for George in the eventuality of his death.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
