John A. Ramsay, administrator of the estate of the late Dr. John Ramsay, joins Anna L. Fraser, the beneficiary of an estate for whom Dr. Ramsay served as trustee, in asking the court to compel Mary Richardson, widow and executrix of the will of the late Henry Richardson, to render a true account of Henry's estate. The petitioners explain that Henry assigned a $77,000-bond to them to secure the mortgage of 77 slaves in 1820. During his lifetime, he sold many of the mortgaged slaves "from time to time" and applied the proceeds towards the payment of the bond. When Henry died in 1828, he was considerably indebted and still owed $20,702 on the bond. His widow intended to sell 55 slaves in 1836 "with a view to pay the debt due your orators, but the same were not sold." They submit that "the whole of the estate of the said Henry even if it were faithfully administered is totally insufficient to meet the claims upon the same." They state that the Richardsons' marriage settlement secured to Mary property that she owned in common with her siblings, including 24 slaves. They ask that this property be held liable to the payment of Henry's debts, that the court order a final settlement of the estate, and that Mary be required to deliver the unsold mortgaged slaves to them.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
