James L. Scudder asks the court to protect his remainder interest in several slaves until the termination of his mother's life estate in the same. Scudder explains that his grandfather, William O. Whitney, in his 1826 will bequeathed a trust estate in two slaves named John and Susannah to his widow for the benefit of their daughter, Harriet P. Scudder, provided that she afterwards divorce her husband. Scudder's mother accepted the contingency, and after her divorce that took place shortly after the making of the will, the legacy vested in her during her natural life. The petitioner now complains that his mother's second husband, Henry Harrell, his grandmother, and the executors of his grandfather's will allowed John and Susannah to be sold through a succession of illegal maneuvers in order to evade creditors. Both slaves are now in the possession of George Kimbro, the defendant. Susannah is rumored to have had seven children, and Scudder estimates "their probable aggregate value" along with John at $2500. He fears that Kimbro will take said slaves outside the court's jurisdiction. He therefore seeks writs of injunction and attachment in order to secure "that they shall be forthcoming" at his mother's death.
Result: Granted; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
