Simeon Fair, executor of the estate of the late David Dewalt, seeks the court's aid in settling the estate, which includes a plantation and seventy-six slaves. Dewalt's will directed that his widow, Rebecca, receive a life estate in seven slaves, a tract of land and sundry other property. When one of his seven children came of age or one of his daughters married, the other sixty-nine slaves were to be equally divided among them, and the remainder of the estate was to be sold, with each of his two sons receiving $1,000 from the proceeds; the balance was to be equally divided among all the children. In the meantime, his plantation was to continue being cultivated as it had been during his lifetime, with the “negroes” remaining attached to the land, and the income to be used for the education and maintenance of his children. The testator stipulated that any surplus income was to be used to purchase “young negroes.” Fair now represents that the oldest child, George G. Dewalt, reached the age of twenty-one in 1840, at which time the slaves were partitioned among the siblings and the rest of the estate sold on his account. Fair is now ready to settle the estate, to be relieved of all liabilities on account of the property, and to be discharged from his administration. He therefore prays that the children be directed to refund from the property delivered to them or to their guardians what is necessary to ensure payment of the estate debts and to pay each other what is required to equalize their individual share from the estate.
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
