The heirs of Benjamin Hawkins and Spire M. Hagerty seek income from the hire of slaves belonging to Hawkins's estate. They allege that Hagerty misappropriated the services of the slaves for his own use during his lifetime. Rebecca Hagerty, widow of both Hawkins and Hagerty, and Louisa Scott, Hawkins's daughter and Hagerty's ward until he died, inherited considerable land and slaves from Benjamin Hawkins. After marrying Rebecca, Spire Hagerty successfully petitioned to become administrator of Hawkins's estate on behalf of Rebecca and Louisa. During his eleven-year administration, he failed to properly account for the use and hire of slaves in the estate. The petitioners argue that Hagerty's sole account, submitted in 1849, was false and fraudulent in that he represented that the labor and services of the slaves "was not worth to him more than their clothing food & taxes." Depositions from Hagerty's neighbors reveal considerable information about slave management in Nacogdoches County during the late 1830s and '40s, including an explanation of the difference between "Indian negroes" and those raised by whites. The Hawkinses were members of the Creek Nation.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Nacogdoches County Courthouse, Nacogdoches, Texas
