Christina Booner Brown, the widow of Horatio Nelson Brown, avows that the late James Harper was entrusted with $2,500 as part of her 1829 marriage settlement. The said settlement allowed Harper "to hold" said sum, "until it might be invested," paying the petitioner an annual 7% on the same. In 1832, the court decreed that a portion of the fund be invested in the purchase of two “negro tradesmen;” the bill of sale was made in Harper’s name as trustee. Brown charges that Harper neither paid interest on her investment nor accounted for the hire of the slaves. He also never made good on his promise to better invest the balance of the funds. Eager to recover her investment, including the principal, interest, and the slaves, the petitioner wants to ensure that said fund and slaves are not attached to Harper’s estate and thus subject to payment of his debts. She also seeks the status of “special creditor” by virtue of Harper’s trusteeship of her property. Brown claims that B. C. Pressley, the administrator of Harper's estate, has refused her request for a settlement. She therefore prays that Pressley be compelled to make a full account of her money and to deliver the slaves and all papers relating to her trust estate to an officer of the court.
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
