Joseph Mills gave his daughter and new son-in-law a six-year-old "family" slave named Morris as a wedding present in 1825. The son-in-law, Bailey Shumate, took the boy "with reluctance, as he was not desirous of owning slaves at that time." His wife, however, was very fond of the boy, "being a family slave, to whom she was attached" and urged him to keep the youngster. When Mills fell into debt, Shumate contracted to purchase Morris to prevent him from being confiscated by the sheriff. Shumate also purchased from Mills a seventeen-year-old slave named Aggy who had also been "raised in the family." Two of Mills's creditors, executors of the estate of the late Robert Wood, have caused the sheriff to levy on Morris and Aggy, and Shumate now seeks an injunction to halt their sale. Shumate testifies that he "attaches a value to this property as family slaves, for which he could not reasonably expect to be compensated in damages."
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
