The children of Nelly Yancy seek to set up their claim to several slaves currently in the possession of Willie Young. The petitioners assert that the slaves in controversy are the children and grandchildren of Cloe, a slave their mother received by a "proper and legal division" of the estate of her late father, Richard Bayne, who died in 1797. Cloe was sold with her daughter, Harriett, at sheriff's sale to satisfy the debts of Nelly's husband, James Yancy. The petitioners claim that at the time of the sale, their mother "remonstrated against" it and that Young, who obtained possession of the slaves after a series of "hurriedly made" ownership transfers, was "fully aware of" Nelly's title. They characterize Young as a "partaker in the fraud" and conjecture that he has "kept his residence concealed" in Anderson County, "an obscure part of the world," in order "to prevent a discovery of the negroes in his possession." They also allege that he has sold Cloe and her daughter, Mary, to a Mr. Woods. They ask the court to compel Young to surrender Cloe's descendants and to account for their hire, which he has "appropriated," and for the value of the slaves he sold.
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Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee
