William R. Lenoir, Isaac Lenoir, Richard Young, and his wife, Martha Wright Young, seek a proper division of slaves from an estate. They state that William Wright's 1808 will directed that five slaves be emancipated upon the expiration of certain life estates. However, an 1820 law "prohibited all emancipations of slaves," so Wright effectively died intestate regarding these slaves. His widow Martha received the five slaves. In 1825, she established trusts to convey her interest in the slaves (then twenty in number) to several great-nieces and great-nephews. The petitioners affirm that they are trustees and beneficiaries of those trusts. Noting that Mrs. Wright died in 1828, they report that Sarah Lowe and her husband have taken possession of ten slaves, in whom Sarah has a life estate. The Lowes plan to take the slaves to North Carolina where the petitioners' interest in the slaves "which vests in possession only on the death of the said Sarah is likely to be endangered and may be defeated." They assert that they have asked the Lowes to give security "for the preservation" of their interest in those slaves, but the Lowes refused. In addition, Wright's nephews and other nieces have all died, and the administrators of their estates refuse to acknowledge the petitioners' claims. They also charge that "one Larking Dinkins" has seized ten slaves and refuses to distribute them. The petitioners ask that the Lowes be prevented from removing said slaves and that an order issue requiring the proper division of the slaves among the parties.
Result: Granted pro confesso.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
