West v. . Tilghman
Supreme Court of North Carolina
Appeal from the Superior Court of Law of Craven County, at the Fall Term, 1848, his Honor Judge Settle presiding. The case is as follows: Joseph Watson, by his will, gave his son, Jno. A. B. Watson, after the death of his wife, a negro slave named Reuben, and a negro woman, named Sylva.
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Appeal from the Superior Court of Law of Craven County, at the Fall Term, 1848, his Honor Judge Settle presiding. The case is as follows: Joseph Watson, by his will, gave his son, Jno. A. B. Watson, after the death of his wife, a negro slave named Reuben, and a negro woman, named Sylva. By a subsequent clause, he directs, that at her death, all the property he had lent her, should be equally divided between his son, John and his daughters, Teresa and Susan, with survivor-ship, upon either dying without leaving issue. John died without issue, after his mother’s death, having by deed, conveyed…
1Opinion of the CourtNash, J.
The instruction given to the jury, in substance is, if the facts enumerated did exist, in law, the plaintiffs could not recover. This could not be, we think, unless they had transferred the slave to some other person. It is admitted that the legal title to the slave had been in the plaintiffs ; have they, in any mode known to the law, parted with it ? By the law of this State, all sales of slaves must be in writing, except where delivery accompanies the sale, or it is void, and all gifts must be evidenced by a bill of sale. In neither of these modes, have the plaintiffs parted with their…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Clark v. . MooreSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1900
- Hodges v. . SpicerSupreme Court of North Carolina · 1878