Rev. James H. Elliott requests permission to sell a family of slaves deeded to him and his wife Harriet by her father, Dr. Thomas Fuller in 1850. The petitioner complains that Isaac and his wife Rose and their seven sons are not a profitable investment because "the said negro slaves being chiefly house servants, not used to agricultural purposes, were unproductive, and an incumbrance to Your Petitioner." The petitioner, who is now a widower, argues that he and his children would benefit from the sale of these slaves and the reinvestment of the sale proceeds in bank stock. However, the terms of the deed by which he and his wife acquired the slaves do not permit him to sell the slaves. The petitioner previously tried to sell Rose and Isaac's daughter Molly and their son Charles, but the trustees of the life estate would not permit the sale without the court's permission. In 1855 the court approved the sale of Charles and Molly as well as Molly's two children. The petitioner asks that the court sanction the sale of Rose and Isaac and their sons because the slaves have "become useless."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
