Foster Moore joins his wife Mary, the widow of John Wright, in asking the court to compel William Wright, John's brother and the administrator of his estate, to account with them for Mary's share of the estate. Before Wright's death in 1793, he was induced by his brother, "under color of friendship ... and by various artful Insinuations," to mortgage him nine slaves even though John did not owe his brother "one single Farthing." After John died, William persuaded Mary to "come and live near him," where she managed these slaves as well as five children born thereafter. From 1794-1801 William had "the use and benefit of the work and labour" of the slaves, but has not credited the same to the estate. In 1802 Mary remarried, and her new husband joined Wright as co-administrator of the estate. Wright then "drove and forced" the couple off the land, kept the entirety of John's estate for himself, with the exception of one slave, and now pretends the estate is indebted to him. The Moores ask the court to protect Mary's interest in the estate by invalidating the mortgage and ordering William to "deliver up" the estate.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
