The children of the late George W. Rutledge charge that the persons administering his estate have "mismanaged in a most shameless and reckless manner as regard many of the important parts of the business." They report that their father left "a large and valuable estate, both real and personal consisting of lands, negroes fine horses and other valuable stock ... amounting to a sum of between twenty five and thirty thousand dollars." They allege that the administrators and administratrix have conducted two sales of part of the personal property, including slaves and horses, whereby they "have become purchasers, directly or indirectly, and ... have been guilty of a violation of their duties and behaved in a manner which has been very injurious to the rights of complts." In particular, they relate that Reuben, an estate slave, was "swapped off ... for another negro that was sold & by this means the said slave Reuben brot only $400 a sum greatly below his value as he can now be sold even in the depressed state of the market for negroes at $600 in cash." The petitioners request that "said defts be decreed to pay over to complainants whatever sum ... may be deemed just for thier mismanagement of the said estate."
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
