Catharine Stone asserts that Benjamin Hart, administrator of the estate of her late husband, David Washington, has "grossly mismanaged the estate of the said David, and that his conduct throughout was marked with neglect and fraud." She specifically charges Hart with colluding with his securities, William Brooks and William Brown, to defraud the estate. In one instance, Hart "permitted" Brooks to obtain a judgment against the estate, which resulted in a levy and the eventual "Sacrafice" of Washington's slave, Job, at sheriff's sale. Brooks became Job's purchaser, and Hart never accounted for the sale. Stone alleges that Hart later sold four more slaves "under execution in his own name as administrator against the said Samuel Stone," Catharine's present husband. She asks that the court order Hart to account with her for Job's value, as well as his hire from the time of the sale to the present. She also mentions that Hart has left the state and asks that Brooks and Brown be held accountable for the same if Hart cannot be found.
Result: Partially granted pro confesso.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina