Thomas R. Jennings asks the court to give a "proper construction" of the wills of William C. and Amelia Shields, recently-deceased minor children of the late William Shields. The children were the only heirs to their father's considerable estate, which was managed by their guardian, Anthony W. Johnson. Amelia Shields died in 1849 while visiting her relatives in Pennsylvania. Her will bequeathed half of her property to her brother and the other half to her aunt, Mary Acheson; if William were to die before he reached twenty-one years of age, all of her property would go to Acheson. William died in 1854, one year shy of twenty-one. His will bequeathed two slaves to Martha Moore on the condition that she not sell them and support them "comfortably" for life, and emancipated a slave named Henry with the stipulation that he be "allowed three years to labor," with the proceeds applied "by the Executor, to his removal to Liberia in Africa." As the siblings "owed few debts," Jennings informs the court that "there is no reason why said estates should not be at one settled & disposed of, under said wills." He seeks a distribution of the property "under the sanction of the Court."
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Archives
