Elizabeth Moores and Henry L. Moores seek the court's "advice and direction ... as to the rights and power confered upon" Elizabeth by the will of her late husband, William Moores. Elizabeth explains that although she has endeavored to support her "family of helpless females" without the sale of the estate's land and slaves, it has now become necessary to sell some of the estate's real and personal property. She reports that through her "care and attention" she has "nearly quadrupled" the number of the estate's slaves, who have been levied upon to discharge the estate's debts. She charges that these levies are "the acts of a part of the devisees under said will" and that the property left to her "was not liable for said debts beyond the life estate of your oratrix." She avers that "fair and reasonable charges for the boarding clothing schooling &c from the death of their father ... up to the time of their respective marriages would have diminished their respective shares at least an amount equal to the whole debts your oratrix now owes." She asks the court to restrain her creditors from selling the slaves until the court rules on the particulars of their legal title. In the event that the court holds her property liable for the debts, she asks the court to allow her a credit for the "the necessary maintenance and Education of her children."
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
