Free woman of color Elsey Pyatt requests her share of an estate. Pyatt avers that free man Peter Simpson bequeathed his estate to his wife Hagar, a free woman of color, for her widowhood. He requested that his executors keep some money in trust for his daughter Maria, who was still a slave, and that they purchase and emancipate her if possible. If Hagar remarried after his death, her share would decrease while Maria's increased. Pyatt claims that Hagar married a free man of color named Peter Simmons shortly after Simpson died and that Maria died about 1836, still a slave. As a result, Simpson's bequests for Maria are void, and Hagar's portion should decrease. Claiming to be Peter Simpson's niece and only other living relative, Elsey asserts that she is entitled to part of the estate. She asks the court to divide the estate, which includes a house and lot in "Masyckborough adjoining the City of Charleston," between her and Hagar. The answer of Hagar Simpson Simons refutes many of Pyatt's allegations. Among other things, the defendant states that she married William Johnson, a free man of color, after Peter Simpson's death. She also disavows that Simpson had a sister and that Pyatt is therefore a niece.
Result: Granted pro confesso.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
