In his will, James P. Whedbee directed that one-seventh of his estate should be set aside to resettle most of his slaves to Liberia, or "some other free Colony." He also stipulated that his wife should have full use of his property during her widowhood. Whedbee died in 1852, and his widow, shortly before remarrying, withdrew as executrix, entered her legal dissent, and took her one-third share as provided by law. The appraised value of her share of the slaves amounted to $17,702. In 1854, the executor of the estate sold Whedbee's land for $93,139, his personal asserts, excluding slaves, for $5,169, and established a fund to pay for the transportation and resettlement of slaves. Following the Civil War, the executor claims that he cannot fulfill the testator's wishes because the slaves are now de facto free and the resettlement money will not be used for that purpose. He asks if the funds set aside to resettle the slaves should not go to the "legatees and devisees"? He sues both relatives of the late Whedbee as well as some of his former slaves. In a separate but related petition, several former slaves of the late Whedbee seek the court's assistance in determining what claim they and their families may have to the funds that had been set aside for their resettlement.
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Repository: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina
