The heirs of John King accuse Robert King and Elisha Sharp of "combining and confederating together to cheat and defraud your orators ... of their just and vested right in remainder to" a slave named Amy and her three children. John King bequeathed a life estate in Amy's mother, Nan, to his widow, Mary, specifying that their children receive Nan's "increase" after Mary's death. The petitioners declare that "the Negro woman Nan in said will mentioned bore many children after the death of the Testator, so as to produce a sufficient Number to satisfy all the specific devises of Negroes in said will Mentioned." Notwithstanding the will's stipulation, Robert King sold Amy and her family to Sharp as if he "had an absolute estate in said negroes." The petitioners now assert that Mary King's death in 1840 gave them the "immediate right to the possession of said Negroes," which they are unable to do because Sharp has "concealed" the slaves since his fraudulent purchase in 1834. They seek the return of the enslaved family, including any other children Amy may have borne. In the event that Sharp has sold the slaves, they seek an account of "their full value."
Result: Granted; appealed.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
