Conyers v. Bowen

• Decision Date: 31 August 1860
• Parties: CONYERS. vs. BOWEN.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

31 Ga. 382

CONYERS. vs. BOWEN.

Supreme Court of the State of Georgia

AUGUST TERM, 1860.

In Equity, in Coweta Superior Court. Decision by Judge Hammond, at the March Term, 1860.

Francis D. Bowen filed his bill in equity, in the Superior Court of Coweta county, in which he alleged the following facts, to wit:

In the year 1846, or 1847, John Bowen purchased the life-estate of Patsy McCoy, in a negro man by the name of Patrick, a negro woman, by the name of Jenny, a negro boy, by the name of Willis, and a tract of land in the county of Campbell, known as the McCoy place, for which life-estate the said John Bowen agreed to pay to the said Patsy McCoy five hundred and fifty dollars, annually, and that a written contract to that effect was duly executed by the parties, the said John Bowen giving security for the faithful performance of his part of the contract; that pursuant to said contract, the said Patsy McCoy transferred and delivered the said negroes and land to the said John Bowen, who continued in the possession of the same until his death; that, in the year 1852, the negro woman Jenny gave birth to a girl-child, which has been named Patsy, and which was also in the possession of the said John Bowen at the time of his death; that John Bowen was a member of the firm of Bowen & Brothers, against which firm the complainant obtained a judgment in Carroll Superior Court, on the 22d of December, 1854, for the sum of $815.08 principal, and the sum of $194 interest, and the sum of —dollars, for costs, from which judgment a fi. fa. issued on the 12th of January, 1855; that, in July, 1855, the said John Bowen died insolvent, and there has been no administration on his estate, nor is there likely to be; that a short time after the death of the said John Bowen, his widow, Harriet Bowen, who had possession of the written contract aforesaid, either destroyed the same, or delivered it to one Horton, the agent of Patsy McCoy, both of whom reside out of the State of Georgia, and that said Horton, as such agent, took possession of the said land and negroes, through his sub-agents, Bennett H. Conyers, of the county of Cass, Joseph J. Pinson, of the county of Coweta, and William B. Conyers, of the county of Carroll; that said agents have been hiring out said negroes, and renting said land, and receiving the profits, arising therefrom, ever since the death of the said John Bowen; that the destruction or delivery of said contract to Horton by the widow of John Bowen, and the taking possession of said land and negroes by Horton and his said sub-agents, were done for the purpose of defeating the collection of said judgment in favor of the complainant; that complainant has had his said fi. fa. levied upon said negroes, which have been claimed by said Horton and Bennett H. Conyers, as the agents of the said Patsy McCoy, which claims are now pending in Carroll Superior Court; that the complainant believes and charges that these claims have been interposed, and will be kept in Court, if possible, until after the death of Patsy McCoy, who is a very aged lady, so that the said land and negroes may then go to the remaindermen, and the rent of said land, and the hire of said negroes, be...