Tarlton and Nancy Murphy petition to protect Nancy's right to a slave named Bett, who was given to Nancy in fulfillment of her late father's "dying request" that his father make her "an object of his bounty." Nancy "was raised and educated by David Sims Sr. and by him regarded as the illegitimate daughter of his deceased Son William Sims." "In persuance of" his son's request, the elder Sims conveyed Bett to Nancy for her sole and separate use. Shortly thereafter, Tarlton and Nancy married, against David Sims's wishes. Following the "legal advice" of neighbors, the couple arranged to make Bett subject to the provisions of a trust estate administered by Able Pope. Pope later left the state "never to return." Jesse Maybin & Co. has recently obtained a judgment against Tarlton Murphy, and the sheriff threatens to seize Bett and to sell her to satisfy the debt. The petitioners ask the court to enjoin the sale and request that Thomas Henderson be appointed trustee in Able Pope's stead.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
