O Say Can You See

The following statement of of facts is greed upon by the parties by their Attornies to have the force and effect of a special verdict.

William Carr, under whose will the petitioner claims her freedom, died in the year 1791, having first made and published his last will and testament in due form and law, in which is the following clause "I give and bequeath to my son John Carr, during his natural life, the lands I now live on, after the death of my dear Wife, from the Church branch falling into Quantico Run below the Quarry Hill, including the meadow devised to me from my father, and all the lands purchased by Col Ewell whereon my Grist Mill stands, with my lot in Dumfries purchased of Alexander Doyle, the land purchased of John Berryman, the land purchased of Alexander Scott, Mount Horeb with all the land adjoining purchased of William Bales with negro Lucy and all her Children— Jim, Harry and Viney— I say I give the said recited lands and Negroes to my dear son John Carr during his natural life, and then to his child or children, if any living at his death, if none then to my daughter Betsey Tebbs and my son William Carr, during life, and then to their children to be equally divided. My will and desire is that the negroes bequeathed to my dear Children should remain with my dear Wife, during her life, unless she should marry, in that case my will and desire is, that my slaves should go immediately to those to whom they are devised, and that none of them be sold out of the families to whom they   are devised, if offered for sale by any of them out of the family of my wife, my daughter and my sons, that they be immediately liberated, and I do hereby desire they may be free to all intents and purposes." Nelly Jackson, the Petitioner, is one of Lucy's Children, bequeathed to Jno. Carr, and the testator William Carr was possessed of her at the time of his death. Jno. Carr and William Carr both died without a child or children, whereby the petitioner became the property for life of Betsey Tebbs, the testator's daughter and Betsy Tebbs afterwards Transferred her by bill of sale duly made & executed sold her to Thomas Triplett who had intermarried with her daughter Margaret Tebbs and Thomas Triplitt afterwards, towit in the Month of       in the year 1814, offered the petitioner for Sale to a certain Patrick McIntyre of Leesburg in the County of Loudoun who was not one of William Carr's the testator's family and in no way related to or connected with that family or to or with the family of the testator's wife, his daughter, or his sons. ＋

If upon these facts the law be for the plaintiff, then Judgment is to be rendered for the plaintiff, and if for the defendant, then Judgment is to be rendered for the defendant.

J.D. Simms for plff.

＋ That the said Betsey Tebbs is yet alive and besides the said Margaret the wife of Thomas Triplett has the following children, that is to say the Defdt, a daughter called Polly married to John Spence, another daughter called Nancy married to       Divval, a son called Foushee, a son called Samuel and one called William. all of whom are now alive

That the said Bill of Sale from Betsey Tebbs to Thomas Triplett was intended only to operate as a relinquishment of her life estate in the said slave to him or his wife, but that a [strikethrough] division of the said slaves having with the consent of the said Betsy Tebbs been made amongst her children, the said Bill of Sale was set aside and cancelled destroyed & the said slave Nelly with the consent of the sd Triplett allotted to the Defdt, one of the children of the said Betsey under the will of the said William Carr and is now so held by him. The offer to sell the said slave was made in the state of Virginia in the year 1814. That the said William Carr the Testator under whose will the plf claims resided during his life & at the his death in the Commonwealth of   Virginia, & that his said slaves were held by him within the said state