PAR #: 11684309
Location: Richmond City , VA • Year: 1843

Abstract: In 1836, after having published her will, free woman of color Lucy Slaughter died, leaving the proceeds from the sale of her house and lot to be divided among her three grandchildren--Clara, Dinah, and James. After the executor of the estate, Edmund Anderson, sold the property, Thomas W. West claimed that he had purchased the house. Anderson brought suit against West and won in the Superior Court of Chancery, but West filed an appeal. Meanwhile, the state of Virginia filed a cross bill claiming that Slaughter's grandchildren were slaves, and therefore could not receive the property. The executor admits that the three are slaves, but explains that eighteen or twenty-year-old James, the third legatee, will be freed when he reaches age thirty as stipulated by the will of the late John Pleasants of Powhatan. The executor asks that the proceeds from the sale of the property, about $450, be invested in "some safe Security" for the benefit of James when he obtains his freedom.