James Kenner, executor of Samuel E. Kenner, seeks to settle his late father's estate. Samuel died in 1844 possessed of slaves, land, crops, and a plantation. His will ordered that his executors "Sell his whole Estate" in order to pay his debts and that the balance be distributed among his heirs. It also "directed that all his Negroes Should be divided Equally amongst all his children." Kenner has learned that the estate is $12,000 in debt. The land and plantation are all that can "be sold for the payment of his Debts," but they are "wholly insufficient for that purpose." Kenner is informed that several of the heirs received advancements in slaves during the testator's lifetime; in addition, a number of heirs have died since the testator, thus necessitating that their shares in the estate be distributed among the survivors. Therefore, the petitioner "is compelled to ask the Court to instruct him out of what portion of the Estate he should first make liable for the debts" and then how to distribute the remainder. In amendments to the petition, he reveals that one of the testator's sons-in-law assigned eleven slaves to him in satisfaction of several judgments. However, the petitioner does not believe that the judgments are settled. He also seeks the court's opinion in this matter.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
