Junius Horsburg, Devisee of James Henderson, Appellant v. Martin Baker and Hannah His Wife, Francis Clark, Robet Boyce, and Peter Mason, For Himself, and As Guardian To Susannah Hamlett
| Decision Date | 01 January 1828 |
| Parties | JUNIUS K. HORSBURG, DEVISEE OF JAMES HENDERSON, APPELLANT, v. MARTIN BAKER AND HANNAH HIS WIFE, FRANCIS CLARK, ROBET BOYCE, AND PETER MASON, FOR HIMSELF, AND AS GUARDIAN TO SUSANNAH R. HAMLETT |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
ON an appeal from the Circuit Court, for the district of Kentucky. The facts and the pleadings in the case, are fully stated in the opinion of the Court.
The cause was argued by Mr. Wickliffe, on the part of the appellants; no counsel appearing for the appellees. The following points were stated in the argument, by Mr. Wickliffe.——
1. The loan made in 1784, and as further evidenced, by the deed of confirmation of 1787, was valid, as between the parties to it; and as Baker and wife are proved, in 1813, to be in possession of the negroes, and of a copy, or the original deed of 1781 is admitted, they are estopped from asserting any title to said slaves, which they may have had prior to that deed.
2. The deed of 1787, having been duly recorded in the proper office, on the 4th of July 1787, was notice to all the world; and the subsequent removal of the slaves out of the state of Virginia, without the knowledge and consent of Hosburg, did not destroy the legal effect of that deed, or convert the loan into an absolute title, in Baker and wife.
3. Baker and wife cannot rely upon the lapse of time, or the length of possession, to defeat the right of Horsburg, and those claiming under them.
4. The Court, in this cause, had jurisdiction upon two grounds; the one, arising from the nature of the contract, and its subject matter; the other, from the peculiar circumstances of the case, the difficulty of proving and identifying the slave Charlotte and her increase, without the aid of a discovery on oath; and the repeated attempts by the defendants, and the just fears of the complainant, that the negroes would be secreted, and removed out of the jurisdiction of the Court.
When Courts of Chancery take jurisdiction upon the ground of discovery, or upon any other ground, they will retain the cause for the purpose of granting full relief.
By the Act of Assembly of Virginia, of 1758, a parol gift of slaves was void. 1 Wash. Rep. 339, 331.
The parties to a trust of real or personal property, may resort to a Court of Equity to avail themselves of its benefits. 1 Mad. Chancery, 446.
Between the cestuy que trust, and his trustee, the statutes of limitation, or lapse of time, are no bar. 1 Mad. 453. 2 Vez. 680.
Baker and wife were trustees of the slave and her issue, for the persons entitled to the reversion of them, under the deed of Alexander Horsburg; and they were not authorized to dispose of them; and the sale made by them, while the suit was pending, was void as to the cestuy que trust. 2 Johns. Chan. Cas. 441. 4 Ibid. 136.
As to jurisdiction in this cause, and it being a case for relief in Chancery. 3 Vez. jun. 71.
Slaves, the property of the wife, vest in the husband without being redeemed into possession. 1 Mar. Rep. 517.
In the year 1813, James Henderson and his wife, filed their bill in the Court of the United States, for the seventh circuit, and district of Kentucky, stating, that Alexander Horsburg, the former husband of the plaintiff, did, by deed, bearing date the 25th day of April, in the year 1787, confirm to Martin Baker, and Hannah his wife, for their lives and the life of the survivor, then residing in the county of Halifax, in Virginia, a negro girl named Charlotte, previously loaned to them; (which deed was recorded,) reserving to himself and his heirs, the reversion of the said slave, and her increase; and prohibiting any alienation of them, under the penalty of forfeiting the loan.
This deed was recorded on the 4th day of July 1787, in the Court of Hustings, for the town of Petersburg; the town in which the said Horsburg resided. The bill further states, that the said Alexander Horsburg departed this life in the year 1798, having first made his last will in writing, whereby he bequeathed the residue of his estate to his wife, who afterwards intermarried with the plaintiff, James Henderson.
The bill proceeds to state, that Martin Baker and wife have removed to Kentucky with the slave Charlotte, and her increase; whom they profess to hold as their absolute property; and that the plaintiffs fear, that they will be secreted, or conveyed out of the state to places unknown. The plaintiffs further allege, that they are unable to prove the identity of the said slaves, and pray that the said Baker and wife may be compelled to discover their number, and names; and may be decreed to give security for their forthcoming, when the life estate should determine.
The Court awarded an injunction, to restrain the defendants from removing Charlotte, and her issue, out of the state.
In May 1814, the plaintiff, James Henderson, filed an amended and supplemental bill, stating the death of his wife, and praying that the suit might be continued in his name. The bill also states, that Baker and wife had sold Charlotte and her increase to Francis Clarke and Robert Boyce; who intend removing them out of the state, and concealing them. It prays that the slaves may be rendered to the plaintiff, and that Clarke and Boyce may be restrained from removing them. The Court extended the injunction to the other defendants. The defendants, Baker and wife, file their answer denying the loan; and insisting that certain friends of the defendant, Hannah, subscribed the sum of forty-three pounds, which was placed in the hands of Alexander Horsburg, to purchase the slave Charlotte for her. They insist on their title, but give a full description of all the descendants of Charlotte.
The defendants, Clarke and Boyce, also deny the right of the complainant.
In 1817, the plaintiff again amended his bill, and charged, that Baker and wife had brought the deed from Horsburg with them into Kentucky, as their title to Charlotte.
In November 1819, Junius K. Horsburg appeared, by his attorney, and leave was given him to file a bill of revival. The bill is filed by the said Horsburg, as the administrator and devisee of James Henderson, and as the heir and only child of Mrs. Henderson, the wife of the said James, and the former wife and devisee of Alexander Horsburg.
The bill recites the previous proceedings in the cause exhibits the will of James Henderson, and his letters of administration, and charges the sale to Boyce and Clarke, since the institution of this suit, who purchased at a low price, with the intention of removing the slaves beyond the jurisdiction of the Court.
In answer to this bill, Baker and wife say, that, in...
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