Walter Bennett informs the court that "he was deceived in his expectation of a peaceable, and unmolested enjoyment of the slave he had ... fairly purchased" in 1786 from Abraham Locket. Bennett reports that he purchased Ned "for a valuable consideration," unaware that the slave was part of a trust established some years before for the benefit of Locket's wife Sarah. Now deprived of the slave he had purchased, Bennett brings suit against the Lockets and James Hill, trustee. The petitioner argues that "it was reasonable to suppose that a man who had married a woman possest of slaves, and other personal estate acquired thereby a right to such slaves, and estate" and "our laws recognized the right, and custom, and universal practice made it familiar to all, even to men of the most common capacity." Bennett prays "this Court may compel James Hill to restore the said slave or the worth of him, and his hire."
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
