Twenty-two heirs of the late Henry Koon seek a fair distribution of his estate. Koon died in 1816, and by his will, he left a life estate to his widow consisting of land, livestock, and "all his slaves among whom were two females Rachel and Judy." The will further stipulated that, at the widow's death, the slave Rachel and all her children should go to Koon's daughter Eve; and "to his daughter Elizabeth he gave the said slave Judy without making any disposition of the issue which she might have." The remainder of the estate was ordered to be sold and the proceeds distributed among all his children. Koon's widow has recently died, and the executors took possession of the property. They have sold everything "except the issue of the said slave Judy," who have been "forcibly and violently" taken by Elizabeth's husband, Michael Kibler. The Kiblers believe Koon's will gives them rights to Judy's increase, but the other heirs argue that, if this claim is good, then Elizabeth "would have received under the will as much as all the other children of the testator." In order to create an equal distribution of the estate, the petitioners pray that the Kiblers account to the court for the slaves they have taken and that the court then order a just settlement of the estate's proceeds.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
