In 1857, Holiday Hayley, a lifelong bachelor, wrote his last will and testament. Freeing a number of his mulatto children, or, in the words of the petitioners, his "illegitimate children" begotten "upon the bodies" of his female slaves, he bequeathed them and Salley, the mother of his children, a tract of land and some money. In 1864, Hayley died. By then, Salley and one of the children, Jayne, had died. Now the "illegitimate children" are free and they seek their legacy by suing the administrator of Hayley's estate.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
