Eliza Garner claims two slaves as the only heir of her sister Martha R. Garner, who died intestate in 1832. Martha Garner owned a slave named William, who worked in Charleston as a drayman, mainly for Andrew Milne. More than ten years ago, William persuaded Milne to buy his wife and child from Daniel Stearns and to let William repurchase them at cost. She avers that "William accumulated money by his skill and industry and was able in the course of a few years to purchase and drive about town six or seven drays" and to purchase his family, but he "seldom or never" paid Martha Garner any money for his wages. William "forfeited his life in the insurrection in 1822," and William's wife died about 1833, leaving two children, Sarah and William. Garner claims the children, arguing that William bought his family with money that he should have paid to her sister and that "the property of the slave vested in her sister: the owner of the slave." However, Andrew Milne also claims them, because the bill of sale from him to William has disappeared. Garner fears that Milne will dispose of the slaves, who are in his possession. She asks for an injunction to prevent Milne from selling or otherwise disposing of Sarah and William until the court rules on her claim.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
