William W. and George Pettus seek to restrain their mother, Mary Pettus, their brother, Thomas Newton Pettus, and their brother-in-law, Stephen P. Sutton, from selling and removing slaves from the state. They state that their father, William Pettus, died in 1818, leaving a will that bequeathed to Mary a life estate of eight slaves, as well as sundry other personal property. At Mary’s death or remarriage, the estate was to be equally divided among his six children, with the exception of two slaves, Frank and Betty, who were devised outright to Mary if she remarried. Mary Pettus has never remarried, and the slaves, who now number twenty-three or twenty-four, have remained in her possession until now. Very recently, however, aided and abetted by her son, Thomas Newton Pettus, and son-in-law, Stephen P. Sutton, Mary has sold three of the slaves out the state of South Carolina, and the petitioners fear that she will sell the others as well. They contend that Mary, who is quite aged, is under the influence of the two men, whom they suspect of trying to deprive them of their remainder interest. The petitioners therefore seek an injunction to prevent Mary Pettus from selling any more slaves from her life estate. They also ask that their mother be compelled to present a schedule of the property in the estate and to give bond for the delivery of the remaining slaves and that Thomas Pettus and Stephen Sutton be decreed to give bond for the delivery of the three slaves that have already been sold, upon Mary's death.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
