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North Carolina, Supreme Court, Morganton : Foster v Woodfin, August 1850 [printed].

Published
Raleigh, North Carolina : North Carolina Supreme Court, 1850.
Physical Description
1 online resource
Additional Creators
Adam Matthew Digital (Firm)
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Summary
Trover for a slave, Lucinda. Both parties claimed under Benjamin Ratcliff, the defendant Woodfin as purchaser at a sheriff's sale under execution and the plaintiff Foster under a conveyance to his wife, who was Ratcliff's daughter. The question was whether the deed to Mrs Foster was bona fide or fraudulent against Benjamin's creditors. Foster produced a bill of sale to his wife dated 1835 but proved in 1847. It purported to have been made in consideration of [dollars] 400, but Foster reported that no money had in fact been paid. Benjamin Ratcliff himself deposed that he had intended Lucinda, who was six years old at the time of the conveyance, as a gift to his daughter. At the time of the conveyance he was not indebted, but later became surety for two of his sons who had judgments obtained against them, leading to the executions at which the defendant Woodfin purchased. Lucinda had continued in Benjamin's possession until 1843, and was then hired to his son to work on his plantation until 1847, when she was seized. During this time she had two children. Witnesses for the defendant deposed that until 1843 Benjamin had held Lucinda as his own property and had never given any indication that he had conveyed title to his daughter. The judge instructed the jury that Benjamin's holding of Lucinda for eight years after the alleged conveyance represented a strong indication of a fraudulent secret trust for himself. The court found for Woodfin and Foster appealed. The Supreme Court upheld the judgment.
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Reproduction Note
Electronic reproduction. Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2007. Digitized from a copy held by the North Carolina State Archives.
Location of Originals
North Carolina State Archives
Copyright Note
Material sourced from the North Carolina State Archives
View MARC record | catkey: 41989937