Twiss v. Martin's Administrators
Twiss v. Martin's Administrators
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
’ This bill is filed against the administrators for. an account, and against the distributees to subject certain negroes to the satisfaction of the claim of complainants, on the ground that the negroes were in fact, or at all events by operation of the third section of the act of 1801, ch. 25, as to creditors, the property of the intestate, and were fraudulently conveyed by him and a certain Young to the defendants in his lifetime. As to this latter branch of the case much testimony has been taken, and one proposition is clearly established in proof, namely, that the possession which the intestate had of the negroes in controversy was as bailee and not as donee; the negroes were lent to him by Young, his father-in-law, and not given. But it is said that they continued for more than five years in the possession of the intestate, and so, by the provisions of the act referred to, were liable to the claims of his creditors. But a great many witnesses state, in general terms, that the negroes were re-possessed by Young once, at least in every two years, and two or three instances of re-delivery and re-possession are specially proved. As a matter of fact, then, we. think it well established that the negroes never continued for the term of five years at any one time in the possession of the borrower. But if this were not so, it is proved that in 1832, when the conveyance to the trustee of the defendants was made by the intestate and Young, the negroes were in the actual possession of Young and had been for some weeks; and if, prior to that time, they had remained for more than five years in the possession of the in-, testate, they would still have continued the property of the
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Twiss v. Martin's Administrators and Distributees
- Status
- Published