In 1838 and 1839, William H. Patterson of Marshall County, Tennessee, incurred a $650- debt to John Mullagin of Alabama. The debt now totals $960.10 and is due, but Patterson has moved to Missouri, and "the ordinary process of the law cannot be served upon him." Andrew Patterson, William's father, died and left William a one-eighth interest in eighteen slaves. The will, executed by James Patterson, ordered that the slaves be divided among the heirs within one year of Andrew's death. Mullagin fears that William and James Patterson are trying to sell their interests before the division "in order to cheat and defraud your orator out of his sd debts." Mullagin has been told that James Patterson has some of William's property, including money. He asks the court to subpoena James Patterson, to enjoin him from giving any of William's property to William or his agents, to attach William's property (including the interest in the slaves), and to award Mullagin his money out of William's money or out of the proceeds of a sale of the slaves.
Result: Partially granted; dismissed.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
