Thomas T. Brown charges that James H. Taylor and William J. Taylor mismanaged two different life estates established by his grandfather, John Taylor, for the benefit of Rebecca A. Taylor Brown and her heirs. According to the terms of both trusts, the trustees were authorized to sell, convey, and dispose of trust property as long as the proceeds of these transactions returned to the trust. When Rebecca A. Taylor Brown died in 1858, the petitioner received his inheritance, including seventeen slaves, but he charges that William and James Taylor sold or hired out more than thirty slaves without compensating the trust estate as required. Brown further contends that William and James sold several slaves to P. M. Huson, who sold them in Alabama or Mississippi; the Taylors also sold at least twenty-five slaves to the Nesbit Iron Works, which then transferred some of the slaves "into the hands of the Swedish Iron Company of South Carolina." The petitioner claims that the Swedish Iron Company then sold these slaves "beyond the limits of the state," and he argues that the trust has never been credited for this or any other transactions. Thomas T. Brown asks the court to compel James and William Taylor to give a full account of the trust estate and all these transactions. Moreover, Brown seeks compensation for any slaves sold by the trustees.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
