McClanahan v. Beasley
Court of Appeals of Kentucky
Case 14. APPEAL FROM GARRARD CIRCUIT. Pet. Eq. The appellee had an execution levied upon a negro girl, Martha Jane, as the property of Joseph Hopper, and took the slave out of his possession. Upon the trial of the right of property in the slave, judgment was rendered in favor of the appellee, and the slave ordered to be sold.
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Case 14. APPEAL FROM GARRARD CIRCUIT. Pet. Eq. The appellee had an execution levied upon a negro girl, Martha Jane, as the property of Joseph Hopper, and took the slave out of his possession. Upon the trial of the right of property in the slave, judgment was rendered in favor of the appellee, and the slave ordered to be sold. From that judgment an appeal was taken, and a reversal is asked on the following grounds: 1. The title to the slave has once been adjudicated in a suit between McClanahan, the appellant, and O’Bannon, and found to be in the appellant, McClanahan, (MS. opinion of 1852,)…
1Opinion of the Court
Judge Simpson
delivered the opinion of the court:
The principal question in this case is, can a separate estate in slaves be vested in a married woman by a verbal sale, or must such an estate, in order to be valid, be created by deed or some other instrument of writing ?
As the title to slaves will pass by a verbal sale in the same manner that the title to any other personal property will, it would seem to follow as a necessary consequence that the nature of the estate intended to be vested in the vendee can be as fully defined and determined, by the terms of a verbal sale, as they can be by an…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Blair v. Dade'sCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1848
- Craig v. PayneCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1816