Enslaved African Americans Separated to Support Wife of Drunkard Husband 1816

[SLAVERY.] James Dellet, Manuscript Document Signed, Copy of Order Regarding Division of Slaves, August 12, 1816, [South Carolina]. 2 pp., 8" x 13.25". Short separation on one fold; general toning and staining

The circuit court of Columbia, South Carolina ordered a division of slaves between Llewellen Threewits and his estranged wife. They had married in February 1810, and she brought six enslaved African Americans and about $700 into the marriage. In October 1813, he had conveyed ten slaves to a set of trustees for the use of his wife and their children but reserved a life estate in the slaves. Threewits had "soon after the marriage…became much addicted to intoxication" and frequently abused his wife and forced her to seek refuge with neighbors. She left him to live with neighbors or her family, but twice, "upon his repeated solicitations, and professions of better behaviour," she agreed to return, yet he continued to abuse her, and she finally left him and lived with her mother and other relatives in Edgefield.

Despite signing an oath in August 1814 that he would never drink "any spirituous liquors, or intoxicating liquor," Llewellen Threewits continued to drink to excess. She sued him for maintenance, and the Circuit Court at Columbia, South Carolina, ordered Llewellen Threewits to post a bond "to keep the peace towards the complainant," gave Catharine Threewits free access to their children and care of them when they were ill, and ordered him to propose establishing a fixed fund for the support of his wife and children. It prohibited him from selling or disposing of any of his personal property, including slaves. A court-appointed commissioner reported that Llewellen Threewits owned twelve slaves but had amassed considerable debt and that his estate was not worth what either his or hers was separately when they were married.

Upon considering the report of the commissioner, the circuit judge admitted that "I have considerable difficulty in this case." Admitting that "the past conduct of the defendant leaves little doubt that his property would be wasted, and his family left in beggary, if every thing remained at his disposal," the judge could not justify taking all of Threewits' property from him because "however improper his conduct has been, there is no evidence of such derangement as would justify the taking it wholly out of his hands." He ordered that half of the slaves "comprehended in the deed (regarding number and value and separating families as little as possible)" be turned over to the trustee "for the use and maintenance of Mrs. Threewits, the complainant, and of those children, who, by reason of their tender age, have been properly left in her care & custody" and ordered the trustee Jesse Daniel (1782-1816), who was Catherine's brother, to pay off one-half of the family's debts. The other half of the slaves would remain with Llewellen Threewits for the support of him and the oldest child, and he was to pay the other half of the debts.

The court appointed James Rogers, Benjamin Busby, and Randolph Geiger as commissioners to divide the property. Llewellen Threewits appealed to the Court of Appeals, but in November 1815, the three judges of the Court of Appeals, including Henry W. de Saussure, affirmed the circuit court's decree.

A deed book record from Edgefield County of January 2, 1821, records the transfer of fourteen slaves from Llewellen Threewits to either Catherine Threewits or "Threewits's Trustee," perhaps suggesting that Llewellen Threewits had recently died. The list includes all of the slaves listed in the 1816 division except Judy.

Another deed book record from October 2, 1838, lists Catherine Threewits as the new owner of fifteen slaves, from James Griffin. The list includes Phillis, Plem, Prissey, and Sylvia, who may be the same slaves mentioned in the 1816 division. In that division, Phillis went to Llewellen Threewits, but the other three went to a trustee for the support of Catherine Threewits.

Complete Transcript                                                                                                                                     It is further ordered and Decreed that the defendant do forthwith deliver up to Mr Jesse Daniel a Trustee named in the deed of the 20th of October 1815 [1813] one half of the negroe slaves comprehended in the deed (regarding number and value and separating families as little as possible) for the use and maintenance of Mrs Threewits the complainant and of those children who by reason of their tender age have been properly left in her care & custody: and that the said Trustee shall thereupon pay off one half of the debts stated in the report of the Commissioner. It is further ordered and Decreed that the other half of the said Negroes shall remain in the hands of Mr Llewellyn Threewits the Deft for the use and support of himself and his eldest child which is with his mother unalienable by him to any other purpose & subject only to such debts as really have a legal right to be satisfied out of it and he is directed to pay the other half of the debts reported by the Commissioner. Henry Wm DeSaussure

By consent of the parties James Rogers John Geiger and Randolph Geiger are appointed commissioners to divide the property as above directed with directions to include in the wifes' moiety the negroes which belonged to her before the marriage.
[Certification:] A true copy of the Decretal part of the order in the case of C. Threewits vs. L. W. Threewits
Comr office
August 12th 1816James Dellet
Commissioner / C.D

Catherine Daniel Threewits (ca. 1791-1856) was born in North Carolina as the daughter of William Daniel and Lucretia Bell Daniel. She married Llewellen W. Threewits in 1810, and they had three children, Eleanor Fitzpatrick Threewits (b. 1810), John Llewellen Threewits (1811-1834), and Elizabeth Juliet Threewits (1812-1898).

Llewellen/Llewellin/Llewellyn Williamson Threewits (b. 1789) was born the son of Llewellen Threewits (ca. 1755-1796) and Eleanor Fitzpatrick Threewits. He married Catherine Daniel in February 1810, and they had three children.

Henry William de Saussure (1763-1839) was born in South Carolina to prominent merchant Daniel de Saussure (1736-1798). Henry William de Saussure participated as a teenager with his father in the defense of the city during the 1780 Siege of Charleston. They were captured when the city surrendered, and the son was imprisoned on a prison ship in the harbor, while the father was sent to a prison in St. Augustine, Florida. The British also confiscated his property. After the father and son were released, they moved with the rest of the family to Philadelphia. He attended the College of New Jersey, studied law, and gained admission to the bar in 1784. He married Elizabeth Ford in 1785, and they had twelve children. He returned to South Carolina and established a law practice with his brother-in-law Timothy Ford. President George Washington appointed Federalist De Saussure as the second director of the United States Mint, a position he held for only four months in 1795. He was appointed as a judge of the South Carolina Equity Court, where he wrote and codified much of the state's equity law between 1808 and 1824, when he became chancellor of the Court of Appeals in Equity. He also cosponsored the legislation that established the South Carolina College (University of South Carolina) and served as mayor of Charleston. He opposed the nullification movement of the early 1830s, but his failing health forced him to retire from the bench in 1837.

James Dellet (1788-1848) was born in New Jersey and moved to Columbia, South Carolina with his parents in 1800. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1810, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1813. He served as a Chancellor in Equity, a judicial office, in South Carolina. He moved to the Alabama Territory in 1818, where he continued to practice law. In 1819, he won election to the Alabama House of Representatives and served as its first Speaker. He served again from 1821 to 1822, 1825 to 1826, and 1830 to 1832. An unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1833, he was elected as a Whig in 1838 and represented Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1839 to 1841 and from 1843 to 1845. He owned 53 slaves in 1830 and 132 in 1840. He retired from Congress due to declining health and returned to his cotton plantation in Alabama, where he resumed his law practice, speculated on land, and continued his agricultural pursuits.

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