Martha Bonneau, widow of Arnoldus Bonneau, seeks a court order to sell eighteen slaves, whom she owned at the couple's 1813 marriage. When they married, the Bonneaus established a trust estate whereby they conveyed Martha's slaves to trustees to be managed for her benefit during the marriage. She now informs the court that she "is herself unable to manage or work the said slaves to any advantage-- that in proportion to their intrinsic value they yield a very inconsiderable income." She further reports that "they are liable to very heavy expences for food clothing Doctors Bill and other contingencies." Her trustees concur that it is "advisable & prudent" to sell the slaves, and one of the trustees, Joseph Palmer, has promised to purchase nine of the slaves at "as large as price for them as any other person;" two of Martha's sons, John and Peter Palmer, are willing to purchase the remaining slaves. She asks the court to sanction the sale so that the proceeds "may be vested by the said Trustees in such way as they might think most secure and likely to bring in a regular income to your oratrix."
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Repository: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
