Petition #21485024
- Smith County, Tennessee. cicra July 1, 1850. - February 1867.
- Court: Chancery
- Salutation: To the Honorable B L Ridley, Chancellor of the 4th Chancery Division of the state of Tennessee presiding at Carthage Tennessee
Abstract
Samuel C. Bridgwater, executor of the estate of Francis Pride, seeks the court's interpretation of Pride's will and instructions for executing it. The executor asserts that Pride's "primary object of Solicitude was the emancipation of his Slaves in Tennessee ... or otherwise to provide for their comfort and happiness in the best manner practicable." Pride's will ordered the emancipation of his slaves if they could remain in Tennessee or move to Illinois. The laws have changed, however, since Pride wrote his will. "The last Tennessee Legislature repealed all laws authorizing the emancipation of slaves upon any other conditions except under the act of 1831, which requires bond and security in double the Value of the slave, that he or she will leave the State immediately." In addition, "the Constitution and laws of the state of Illinois have been so amended or altered as now to prohibit the introduction of free persons of color there to live, or to prohibit their emancipation when carried there as Slaves." Bridgwater asks the court to involve Pride's heirs -- and the slaves, if necessary -- in the case, to interpret the will, and to direct him how to execute its provisions properly. In his will, Pride described one group of his slaves as "one family and the Servants I have commonally kept together as my family." The clerk and master's 1856 report of hires refers to the same group as the "Yellow lot of slaves."
Result: Granted; reviewed and partially reversed; appealed; reversed and remanded.
- Number of petition pages: 3
- Related documents: PAR #21486602; Copy of Will, Francis Pride, 28 December 1847; Answer, John T. Pride, et al., Amelia County, Virginia, 1 January 1851; Answer, Nancy, et al., ca. 26 July 1851; Decree, 10 February 1852; Bill of Review, Nancy, et al., 9 August 1853; Decree, 9 August 1853; Answer, John T. Pride, et al., 10 August 1853; Copy of "An Act to Prevent the Immigration of Free Negroes into the State," General Assembly, Illinois, 12 February 1853; Secretary of State's Certification of Copy, Illinois, 25 May 1853; Answer, Samuel C. Bridgewater, 10 August 1853; Copy of Final Decree, Supreme Court, ca. 23 January 1854; Decree, 14 February 1854; Depositions [including Valuation of Slaves, Estate of Francis Pride, 31 March 1854], John R. James, et al., 1 April 1854; Transcript of Court Record, General, et al. vs. Samuel C. Bridgwater, 24 July 1854--15 February 1855 [including Petition, General, et al., 24 July 1854; Petition, John T. Pride, et al., 16 August 1854; Depositions, W. W. Bailey, et al., 6 and 7 December 1854; Decrees, August Term 1854, 14 and 15 February 1855; Petition, General, et al., 14 February 1855]; Copy of Petition, General, et al., 24 July 1854; Copy of Plea, John T. Pride, et al., 2 October 1854; Transcript of Court Record [pages missing], Samuel C. Bridgwater vs. Heirs of Francis Pride, 1 July 1850--ca. July 1854 [including Interlocutory Decree, ca. July 1854]; Copy of Answer, Samuel C. Bridgwater, 25 November 1854; Copy of Depositions, W. W. Bailey et al., 6 and 7 December 1854; Copy of Petition, General, et al., 14 February 1855; Interlocutory Decree, February Term 1855; Petition, General, et al., Supreme Court, ca. 8 March 1855; Order, Supreme Court, 8 March 1855; Interlocutory Decree, ca. June Term 1855; Decree, Supreme Court, 15 December 1855; Copies of Decree, Supreme Court, 15 December 1855; Decretal Order, 12 February 1856; Executor's Report of Sale, Estate of Francis Pride, 12 February 1856; Interlocutory Decree, ca. June 1856; Executor's Report of Sales, Estate of Francis Pride, 14 August 1856; Decree, 14 August 1856; Clerk and Master's Reports, ca. Sept. 1856; Deposition, William Oliver Maxey, Madison County, Illinois, 27 December 1856; Depositions, William W. Seay, et al., 3 February 1857; Executor's Report of Accounts of Slave Hire and Expenses, Estate of Francis Pride, 4 February 1857; Final Decree, ca. 8 February 1857; Clerk and Master's Report, Estate of Francis Pride, ca. 3 March 1857; Affidavit, Samuel Bridgewater, 11 July 1866; Order, February 1867 [To facilitate research on this complicated case, the petitions filed by the various parties and their related documents have been combined and organized chronologically. All documents reside in TSLA, but are located in two different locations.]
- Pages of related documents: 203
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Citation information
Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
- Records of the Chancery Court, Loose Records [also found in Records of the Supreme Court, Middle Tennessee, Box #111 and #114]
- Microfilm: Reel 5035
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