Gaines Goodwin, administrator of William Hightower's estate, seeks title and bond for a slave placed by Hightower in the possession of James and Sarah Rowser in 1830. He states that, in 1830, Hightower purchased a slave named Mary from the Rowsers in exchange for two hundred dollars and the use of another slave, also named Mary, for the duration of Sarah Rowser's life. When Hightower died, Goodwin reclaimed the term slave, under the mistaken apprehension that Hightower's death ended the agreement. Rowser sued Goodwin and won back the slave. Goodwin now petitions that the Rowsers are preparing to leave the state and he fears that James Rowser, "a man of intemperate habits ... will in all probability sell and dispose of the said slave Mary and her proceeds," making it impossible for Hightower's estate to recover the slave upon Sarah Rowser's death. He therefore asks that the Rowsers be ordered to give good bond for the slave before leaving the state. Goodwin also seeks an inventory and title of the slave.
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Shelby County Archives, Columbiana, Alabama
