| Summary: | Dispute concerning Marshal Keith's will and his property in Georgia and Alabama. Some 5 years after it had been probated, Vance and his wife, Hibler and his wife, and Tarlton Keith, next of kin of the testatator, queried the will and argued that it was null and void in regard to the provisions it made concerning certain slaves. The wiIl had made provisions that a slave called Ishmail should be freed if that could be accomplished or given to the executors in trust. The will also set out provisions for Ishmail's sisters and other slaves. Three slaves, Alfred, Daniel and Thornton, were bequeathed to the American Colonization Society for the purposes of emancipation so that they could be sent to Liberia. The slaves that were freed were in fact sent to Ohio. A special jury of the Superior Court found for the executors, and Tarlton Keith, one of the litigators withdrew from the process. The others appealed to the Supreme Court, but their silent acquiescence for over 5 years was not looked upon favourably. The judgment of the court below in favour of the executors was upheld. The will was deemed to valid. Lumpkin expressed the State's policy on foreign emancipation in detail.
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