Titus Gregorie and Peter Mathews, free men of color, ask that their contract with Henry Ehricks regarding the purchase of property be enforced. The petitioners state that Hagar Simpson Johnson, a free woman of color, directed in her will that they, as her executors, sell her real estate and distribute the proceeds among her grandchildren and great grandchildren. It further instructed them to apply any surplus from this sale to support “old Tenah.” In 1857 the said Ehricks agreed to buy the land but he has since refused "under various frivalous pretences" to complete his contractual obligations. They therefore ask that Ehricks be compelled to fulfill the terms of their agreement. Related documents reveal that Hagar did not have legal title to the real estate listed in her will. Ehricks learned that she had only a life interest in the land, which she had inherited in 1825 from her late husband, Peter Simpson; he devised a life estate in said property to Hagar and, upon her death, directed his executors to place the property in trust for the benefit of his slave daughter, Maria. His will further directed his executors to purchase Maria from William Simpson and then apply to the state legislature for her manumission. He also stipulated that Hagar would enjoy a life interest in said land only during her widowhood; if she chose to remarry, then she was entitled to only 1/3 of the estate’s value, the remaining 2/3 reserved for Maria’s benefit. The documents reveal that Hagar Simpson later married William Johnson and therefore had no legal title to the property, even though she continued to occupy it for the next 37 years.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
