The heirs of the late John G. Wade represent that by his will he "devised and bequeathed his whole estate to his widow the said Elizabeth Wade for her life, and after her death to his children." They inform the court that "among the said property is a young slave woman named Samuella," who has been hired out by the widow. The petitioners contend that the said slave "has recently become totally ungovernable: has had three different masters during the present year, and has run away from them all & declares that she will live where & only where she chooses." They further charge that Samuella "has [contracted] the worst associations in houses of ill fame, and exhibits a character totally abandoned." Noting that the said slave is currently in jail "for safe keeping" and fearing "that she will escape from the state and become a dead loss to the estate," Wade's heirs "ask the Court to decree her to be sold and the proceeds invested in such manner as the Court may prescribe."
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Repository: Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
