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William Beazley 1824 Court Records
Frees Some Slaves Upon Their Coming of Age
William Beazley was born in 1761 in Virginia. He died betwen 24 Sep 1824, when he completed his will, and on 3 Oct 1824 when his executor directed three men to appraise his estate. His will was proved on 24 Oct 1824.
There is one item in William's will what is very unusual:
Secondly it is my desire that the following children (who are children of my negro woman Nutly) named Lewis, Job, Joel, Frederick, Eliza, Moriah, and Jane be kept and raised among my children until arrive at age, the boys 21 and the girls 18, at which time they are to be emancipated.
See the complete will.
Lawsuit Against the Estate
In April 1838, twelve years after William Beazley died, the heirs of the estate were sued by executor of the estate. William Major and other individuals had loaned John Coons, Nancy Beazley's husband, about $1,630 (about $39,000 in 2021) from his personal accounts from 1834 to 1836. Coons had failed to pay the notes as agreed. Major bought the other loans and sued Coons. Coons, claimed he was indigent and unable to pay his debts. He had been imprisoned in September 1837. Ellis Beazley, the widow of William Beazley, had died. Nancy and John Coons sought their one-eighth share of the estate. As William Beazley's will directed, her son Thomas Beazley set a date to sell three of the slaves in an apparent attempt to satisfy the claim of John Coons against the estate.
In Murray v. Beazley, William Major and the two other men owed money by Coons filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to block the sale and to instead require their sale to directly pay the debts owed him. They insisted that the proceeds of any sale should be paid them, and not Coons. The court granted the injunction. The Culpepper County Sheriff took possession of the three slaves and hired them out to work. In October, Thomas Beazley sold the three negroes. He paid the debt, including interest, lawyer's fees, and court costs, to Major and the other plaintiffs.
This is the text of the court's final disposition of the law suit:
This sale in relation to the negroes has been confirmed by said Thomas Beazley giving his bond with Danl Threlkeld and David Bradford as his securities for the sum of three hundred and twenty dollars and one cent including cost of suit and is to be distributed at Defts costs. Witness our hand & seal this day 16th day of Aug. 1838. Thomas Beazley
Teste J. D. Lathams c.c.