The children of Little Berry [Littleberry] Bostick seek to protect their remainder interest in a slave named Sarah and her three children. The petitioners explain that their grandfather, William Bostick, left their father a life estate in Sarah and her "increase." Some time after the estate's division, Little Berry "became embarrassed or at least in need of funds" and mortgaged Sarah to Joseph Willis as security for a loan of $360. Little Berry then conveyed Sarah's title to his twenty-two-year-old son, John G. Bostick, "requiring" John to deliver Sarah to Willis. The petitioners assert that said conveyance is a "violation of the plainest provisions of said will" and that John Bostick was "used as in an instrument by said Littleberry Bostick" for Littleberry's profit. They also point out that Willis had "full knowledge of all the facts" and knew he was "defrauding" the minor petitioners out of their rights. Sarah in the meantime has had three children, all of whom are currently in the possession of Willis's widow, Betsey Ann Willis. They ask the court to attach the slaves "in the hands of the sheriff" until they can be returned to them along with compensation for their hire. An 1855 Supreme Court decree, a related document, reveals that title ownership of the four slaves was granted to Mrs. Willis, who had had the slaves in her possession for more than three years prior to the filing of the 1853 petition.
Result: Dismissed; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
