James Ward Simmons and his wife, Margaret Jenkins Verdier Simmons, seek sanction from the court to sell the property in their trust estate. They represent that, at the time of their marriage in 1846, a “deed of Marriage Settlement” was executed whereby Margaret, a widow, conveyed in trust her 500-acre plantation, livestock, and 45 slaves to her father, Paul Trapier Gervais. The deed stipulated that the income from the plantation would be for James and Margaret’s use and that of their children. James and Margaret now contend that, in spite of Paul Gervais’s best efforts, the property yields a “very inadequate interest on its money value” and that they have decided it would be in their interest to sell it and invest the proceeds in more profitable property. However, they need the court's sanction to proceed because there is no power to sell in the deed of trust and their only child, an interested party, is still a minor. James and Margaret Simmons therefore seek an order of the court empowering Paul Gervais to sell the property on their behalf. To this end, they pray that a subpoena be issued to Paul Gervais and to their infant son, Christopher Gadsden Simmons.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
