The heirs of the late James McLaren seek a settlement of his estate. They represent that the said McLaren and James Robb jointly purchased a "mill, machinery and stock and carried on the manufacture of Rice with great success." The petitioners assert that a "valuable portion of the capital consisted of slaves," all of whom were specially trained. In 1851, McLaren executed a last will and testament in which he "directed debts to be paid" through the sale of his personal property; McLaren died the next year, "leaving his widow Sarah Matilda McLaren and your Orators and Oratrixes him surviving." They now charge that Thomas Grange Simons Jr., as executor, "has determined upon a public sale ... of the whole property." The petitioners maintain that Simons has "no right to sell for partition, nor to join in a sale of the whole property." They further purport that it is in their interest "that the mill should be employed by the said Executors" and that the business will not "threaten the solvency of the Estate." The petitioners therefore pray that an account of the estate be taken and that sale of the estate's property be enjoined. They also ask that Simons be replaced by James McLaren, who "will be a Trustee of the will" as soon as he reaches majority.
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
