Robert Lemon, formerly of Scott County, Kentucky, states that, in May 1823, he sold four slaves to his son-in-law, John Spence, in order to protect them from debts. No money passed hands. He reports that Spence moved the slaves to Boone County, Missouri, where he recorded the sale of the slaves, and shortly thereafter he died in September 1823, leaving a widow and two children in Kentucky. Spence's widow Betsy and her brother Andrew became administrators of John Spence's estate. The petitioner avers that he and the Spence family then moved to Boone County, Missouri, where he took possession of three of the slaves. Lemon asserts that Andrew and Betsy Spence "have never regarded the said negroes as the property of or belonging to the estate of John Spence decd. and have not inventoried or pretended to exercise any control whatever over them." However, the petitioner charges that they "refuse to reconvey to your Orator the negroes afsd." The petitioner asks the court to summon Andrew and Betsy Spence to answer the petition and to compel them "to pay to your Orator the prices named in the bill of sale for the negroes afsd. or reconvey to your Orator the negroes afsd."
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City, Missouri
