Moses Hodge, a free person of color, seeks to protect his inheritance with the aid of his next friend, Robert Elfe. The petitioner, a minor, represents that Susan Cumbo, his grandmother and a free woman of color, died possessed of a large estate, which included a tract of land, several slaves, and a large amount of livestock. He further reports that "a division was made of her Estate between the said Elias [Cumbo's son] and your Orator and your Orator's share one Hiram Hodge, the putative father of your Orator, took possession of." Moses asserts that said Hiram “has determined to waste and make away with the said negroes and other property so as to deprive your Orator of his just and legal rights.” Describing his father as a "reckless, dissipated and notoriously improvident person,” Moses charges that Hiram has already sold one of the slaves and threatens to remove the remaining slaves to Florida. The petitioner therefore prays that Hiram Hodge "may be restrained from leaving the State" and that he be ordered to make an account of "the particulars of [Cumbo's] Estate and the division thereof." He also asks that "a proper person may be appointed ... to receive, take charge of and manage your Orators share in the said Estate of the said Susan Cumbo his deceased Grandmother."
Result: Granted.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
