William Shull charges that trustee John J. Kinsler has fraudulently laid claim to a female slave named Mariah and her three children Robert, Urvin, and George. In 1845 Shull's neighbors and friends collected $500 so that Shull could purchase a slave to assist him in the care of five children, who are characterized as "natural idiots." In his capacity as trustee of this fund, Kinsler purchased twelve- or thirteen-year-old Mariah from Jesse Drafts and delivered her to the petitioner. In 1860 Kinsler urged Shull to transfer ownership of these four slaves to the petitioner's several children. Shull agreed and signed a blank sheet of paper in the presence two witnesses, expecting that the defendant would later outline the details of the transfer of these slaves on the same paper. Instead, Kinsler prepared a bill of sale on this paper, transferring the ownership of Mariah and her children to him. Moreover, since Kinsler has claimed these slaves with this false bill of sale, he has prepared a deed in which he has given Mariah and her children to his great niece, Minnie C. Wells. William Shull requests that the court nullify both the false bill of sale between himself and John J. Kinsler and the deed between Kinsler and Minnie C. Wells
Result: Granted pro confesso; continued.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
