Clement Stevens, administrator of the estate of Gen. James Gadsden, asks the court to investigate the sale of ninety-six slaves by Octavus Gadsden in Florida. The slaves belonged to the late Gen. Gadsden; upon his death, the said Octavus applied to Stevens for permission to sell the slaves in Florida. The petitioner agreed to the defendant's proposal, and he promised to provide legal bills of sales for each of the slaves sold. However, "before anything could be done political events prevented the regular sitting of this Court and your Petitioner became actively engaged in the Military Service of the Confederate States, and could not attend to this business." Nevertheless, the said Octavus proceeded with the sales and successfully sold all ninety-six slaves to six different owners for more than $70,000 plus interest. The new owners have requested the promised bills of sale. The petitioner asks the court to investigate the defendants' claim that they successfully sold the slaves for the amounts reported, and, if the court verifies these transactions, then the petitioner requests permission to issue the bills of sale.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
