The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-05-22
LOCAL MATTERS.
Interesting WflI Case I'm the Unitee
st.-ss States (freutt Courf. ~ -.

y 49, - 3 =
) In the Circuit Court of the United States
on the last day of the term Judge Bond
rendered decision In the case Of Timber
lake ivs. TimberIake ct als., dissolving the in
junction, and tdismissipg the bill Of the
complRinants. The case briefly seemed to be
this: Many years ago an old bachelor
named Timberlake and his two maiden sis
tiers each made wills OF the same general
character, giving to the. survivor, or sur
YiYors all of their property, and at the
death of tre ss;x:r iaaS 5nsf YES Oh.
tion between living in Virginia OF, going to
|Iiberia-that is to say, between slavery
aud freedom, and I'm the event Of their
choosing freedom bequeathing to them
large and valuable property and money and
the proceeds oftheir hires. In addition TO the
bequest TO the slaves, q considerable legacy
was given to Miss Lucy q. Seay, which was
dependent In great measure upon the va
lidity Of the previous bequest. In 1860, all
the three testators having died, their heirs
at-law and distributes filed bills in the Cir
cut Court2of Louisa county against the
executors and Miss Seay, charging that the
wills, 80 far as they attempted to emanci-
pate the slaves, were illegal and void under
petent in master to give to his slave an
option by viii between freedom and slavery.
The Circuit Court of Louisa held chat the
wills were valid; from which decision the
heirs-at- law, distributes, appealed to the
Supreme Court of the State, where that
decision was reversed, and the wills held to
be void, in accordance with the celebrated
case of Bailey VS.. Poindexter, and other
cases following that decision. The case
then went back to the Circuit Court of
Louisa, which finally entered adecree di-
recting all the negroes (amounting to about
100 in number) to be sold, together
the several testators aforementioned,
which were included in the wills. The
sale took place in February, 1S61-part
being paid in cash, and the balance
in bonds, which the court refused to allow
the parties to pay during the war, and
upon which judgments have been since OBJ
tained, amounting in the whole TO some
S40, 900 or $50, 600. ss -
The present suit was brought in the Cir
cult Court OF the United States about three
years since by some of the negroes against
the parties to the former suit, and the bill
charged that the complainants We're not
parties to the litigation in the State courts,
and therefore were not bound by the deci-
sions Of the Supreme Court of Virginia,
declaring the said wills to be void pray
ing that under the acts of Congress, and
especially the civil-rights bill, the Uni
ted States Court would take jurisdic-
ton of the case, pass upon said wills,
declare them to be valid, grant to the COM
plainants the large bequests provided for
them by The testators in said wills, and de-
cree them also the value of their hires since
they ought to have been declared to be
free, and praying an injunction to the pro-
ceedings pending in the State court to en-
force the judgments on said bonds and to
distribute the property embraced in said
wills according to the decision OF the Su-
preme Court Of Virginia.
The Injunction, as prayed for, was grant
ed by Judge Underwood, and motion to
dissolve it was elaborately argued before
Chief Justice Chase some two years ago.
He took the papers with him to Washington,'
but never rendered decision. The case
was reargued during the present term be-
fore Judge Bond, who, as above stated, dis
solved the injunction and dismissed the
bill. The ground, it is understood, of the
decision was that the complainants had full
remedy in the State courts, and that the
United States Court had nothing to do with
the matter. Cannon & Courtney for the
negroes, and A. Fl. Sands, James Alfred
Jones, and John Howard for the Timber
lakes. We learn that the negroes, though
not parties to the suit in the State courts,
were ably defended by some of the best
counsel in the State, both before the Cir
cult Court of Louisa and the Court of Ap-
peals, Including Judge VIM. j. Robertson,
VIM. Ii. Maciurland, and Judge William
Green, who were employed by the eXecu-
tors to defend the slaves, in accordance with
the practice in such cases-the law not re-
curing slaves to he parties to such suits,
but making it the duty of the executor to
protect their interest.