At issue is a dispute over the estate of the late Duncan G. Campbell, formerly of Mississippi and, shortly before his death, of Arkansas. When Campbell died in 1845, his will named his brother Samuel as executor of his last will and testament, and stipulated that his estate, including at least eight slaves, be divided equally among Samuel and his sisters Jane Biggerstaff, Mary Campbell, and Flora Ann Campbell. The will also directed that the "yellow" slave Viney, whom, it is revealed in related documents, Campbell had repeatedly claimed as his daughter, be emancipated when she turned fifteen and given an inheritance of $5,000. The petitioners seek to annul both the bequest and the emancipation clauses of the will. Related documents reveal that, in 1848, a lower court ruled that Samuel Campbell had mismanaged the estate and that he had sold Viney to buyers in Missouri. A guardian ad litem was appointed to retrieve and represent Viney, and Cornelius Campbell, another brother, was named the estate's administrator.
Result: Denied.
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Repository: University of Arkansas at Little Rock, School of Law, Little Rock, Arkansas
