H. SYNOPSIS OF A PROLONGED COURT CASE WHICH INVOLVED THE DAUGHTERS OF WILLIAM M. LAMBETH
(William was the first cousin to Catherine “Kitty” Spence Pitts who was the mother of Ellen Nancy Pitts Allen, my father’s grandmother.)
The following is part of a Louisiana court case involving Fanny and Dora, the daughters of W. M. Lambeth, regarding some of the property they had inherited in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana from their father in 1853. The case is long and complicated so I will only include a brief portion of it. If anyone is interested in reading it in its entirety it can be found at the following website: http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/US/153/153.US.465.278.html. The case took over twenty years to be resolved and in that time the names of the original plaintiffs changed due to marriages, deaths, and acquisitions through foreclosures.
153 U.S. 465, 14 S.Ct. 898, 38 L. Ed.785, Groves et al. V. Sentell et al.
May 14, 1894
This was a bill of interpleader by George W. Sentell against Martha Groves, William J. Groves [the brother and sister of the original plaintiff Rosetta Rhea], and others, From the decree thereon, said Martha Groves and William J. Groves, and Thomas A. Pogue, administrator of Rosetta Rhea, deceased, appealed.
Fanny B. Lambeth and Dora Lambeth, as heirs of their deceased father, were the owners, in equal undivided proportions, of certain parcels of real estate situated in the parish of Avoyelles in Louisiana. Two of these parcels were known, respectively, as the “Leinster Plantation’ and the ‘Lucky Hit Plantation. Fanny B. Lambeth was married in April, 1865, to Christopher M. Randolph [the younger brother of William M. Randolph, the husband of her cousin Mary Pitts Randolph]. The Leinster plantation was leased during 1865, 1866, and 1867 to John Rhea, who died in October, 1867, pending the lease.
On the 15th day of January, 1868, Fanny B. Lambeth, wife of Christopher M. Randolph (whom we shall hereafter refer to as Mrs. Randolph), and Miss Dora Lambeth appeared before Generes, a notary in the parish of Avoyelles, and acknowledged themselves indebted to Mrs. Rosetta Rhea, widow of John Rhea, of Madison county, Ind., in the sum of $8,970.12, which they declared was a balance due by them for the purchase price of certain movable property-mules, cane, implements, etc.-which belonged to Rhea at the time of his death, and which had been placed on the Leinster plantation by him, for use in its cultivation. The act declared that the movable property which they bought belonged to Mrs. Rhea, who was the widow of John Rhea, and as such was, under the laws of Indiana, where Rhea was domiciled, his sole heir, as he died intestate and left no ascendants or descendants. To evidence the indebtedness, Mrs. Randolph, authorized by her husband, and Miss Lambeth, drew their joint note, as follows:
‘$8,970.12. Avoyelles, La.,
‘Leinster Plantation, January 1st, 1868.
‘Two years after date we promise to pay to the order of Mistress Rosetta Rhea, at the Citizen’s Bank of Louisiana, in the city of New Orleans, eight thousand nine hundred and seventy and 12-100 dollars, for value received, with interest at the rate of eight percent. Per annum from date until paid. Not negotiable.
‘Fanny B. Randolph.
‘C.M. Randolph.
‘Dora Lambeth.’
Fanny and Dora secured the promissory note with a mortgage on the Leinster plantation and another property nearby.
I note a few things from the above. First, that in W.M. Lambeth’s Last Will and Testament he stated the following: “To my nieces and nephews Mary, William, George, Belle and Jenny Pitts, children of my Sister, I give the Lucky Hit Plantation”, yet the above stated that Fanny and Dora owned the Lucky Hit. It would be interesting to know why the Pitts children did not possess it. Second, the note would be due on January 1st, 1870. Third, this case shows the reversal of fortune that many wealthy southern families faced after the Civil War. In the 1860 U.S. Census, either jointly or separately, Fanny and Dora were reported to be worth $250,000 in personal and real estate and by 1868 they had to write a promissory note for $8,970.12 which, as the case progressed, they were unable to pay off in the two years allotted.
Fanny’s husband died in September 1868 and Dora married Theodore O. Stark in December of 1868. In 1873 Dora’s husband was named as their “true and lawful attorney in fact”.
By 28 April 1873 the note had only been paid down to $7,577.34 with all interest being paid up to that point. An extension until the 1st of March 1874 for repayment was granted by Mrs. Rhea through her attorney Victor Olivier.
In January of 1873 Fanny and Dora divided their shares in the Leinster plantation equally between themselves. Fanny made payments here and there but had also used the plantation as security for an $8,000 commercial debt owned by Johnson & Goodrich. This mortgage, in June of 1875, was transferred through liquidation to G. W. Sentell & Co.
Before the case was resolved Rosetta Rhea had died and her sister Martha Groves and brother William J. Groves, her beneficiaries, were left to fight G. W. Sentell in court for their share of the money from the forced sale of Fanny’s half of the Leinster plantation. Back and forth it went, suit and countersuit, with a decree by the lower court and then a reversal of the lower court’s decision by the higher court which “rendered in favor of Martha Groves and William J. Groves, directing the payment out of the fund … with interest … and costs of this and the court below.”
Again, I have included this case for the most part because it does show the affects the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War had on individuals in the south.
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