John Roach seeks to prevent Lewis Wright and Joseph Rutland from collecting a judgment against him pursuant to an execution levied on his property. Roach purchased a slave named Andrew from Wright and Zedekiah Tate for the price of $500 on 19 March 1844. The bill of sale warranted Andrew's soundness of mind and Wright and Tate's title in the slave as guardians of James Tate and Rachael Tate Walden. The slave was not warranted to be sound in body as he was "afflicted with something in the nature of white swelling." Even so, Roach was satisfied with the purchase and Andrew became "a favourite slave ... & is a pretty good shoemaker." Since the purchase, however, Roach has learned that Andrew is one of a group of slaves, who "were due to have their freedom at a certain period" under the will of the late Ignatious Jones. Obviously "unwilling to risk the controversy and run the hazard of losing his money in the event of their success," Roach refuses to resume payments on the purchase. He, therefore, seeks an injunction in this case if Andrew "is by right entitled to his freedom;" if he is not, Roach "prays that the title of the said James J. & Rachael & her husband be divested out of them and vested in him, or in Case the Sale was illegal & that Cannot be legally done, he prays that he may have a decree for the amount he has already paid." By an agreement between the parties, this case "was to abide by the result of the Case of John & others in the Supreme Court so far as the question of freedom was concerned." The chancery court's final decree reveals that the supreme court granted the slaves in the estate of Ignatious Jones their freedom and, therefore, ordered the defendants to compensate Roach in the amount of his purchase money plus interest.
Result: Granted; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
