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(CUSTODY FOR CHILDREN AND SLAVES)

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
(CUSTODY FOR CHILDREN AND SLAVES)
A lengthy legal document, 16pp. legal folio, Galveston, Tx., Jan. 15, 1855, regarding a dispute between two men over custody of two children and subsequent control over their substantial estate, which includes slaves, until they reach maturity. The first party, Enos Stone, claims to have been granted guardianship of the children by their last surviving parent, James Spellman, in a Will written a few hours before his death. Theodore Dorset, grandfather of thirteen-year old John Spellman, contests this claim on the grounds that the child lives with him and that he is paying for the child's education. The second child, three year old Charles Newith Spellman, born of a second marriage, is said to be staying with the parents of the now-dead second wife. Dorset also claims that since neither child resides in the county where the suit was brought forth, the court does not have the proper jurisdiction to decide the matter in any case. The judge ruled that the grandparents could retain custody of the children and their property, including the slaves, arguing that Enos Stone pay the court costs, having: "...disqualified himself by improper interference and intermeddling with the estate and property of said minors...". Lacking cover page, with a bit of tearing to first sheet and a rusty area on final page, otherwise very good condition, with complete text.