Catherine L. Oeland, widow of the late John Oeland, represents that her husband died intestate earlier in the year, possessed of considerable personal property that consisted of bank stock, livestock, and several slaves. Catherine and her three children, Ann L., John C., and Peter Joseph Oeland, are the intestate’s only heirs. As widow, Catherine is entitled to one third of the estate; her children are entitled to “the ballance in equal proportions.” Administration of the estate is now in the hands of John Winsmith and Elihu P. Smith, who have signaled their intention to sell the property. Catherine contends, however, that to sell the property now would be to her “manifest injury,” because the some of said slaves are young and “rapidly increasing in value” and because the stock is at the moment much “reduced” in value. Furthermore, she claims that the debts against the estate are small and do not warrant such a move. She therefore prays that Winsmith and Smith be enjoined from selling said property and that they be directed to render an account of the estate's value. She also requests that a writ of partition may issue for a division of the property among the said heirs.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
