Lenoir County NcArchives Court.....Joel Waters Jr. Et Al, Joel Waters Sr. V. 185- ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Martha M. Marble http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00022.html#0005285 May 21, 2011, 12:06 pm Source: N C Archives Written: 185- #6051 JOEL WATERS, SR vs JOEL WATERS, JR. & OTHERS North Carolina Supreme Court Case found at the NC Archives Lenoir Co. 185-- In Equity Joel Warters Sr. vs Joel Warters Jr., Needham Warters, Everett Elmore and wife Polly [NOTE: Waters and Warters both used in the spelling of the surname] Joel Sr. had a tract of land in Lenoir Co of 154 acres where he resided and also owned 5 Negroes vis Zelpha, Jack, Sal, Jane, and Washington plus personal estate in cattle, horses, utensils etc Joel Jr., Needham, and Polly Elmore are his only children Joel Sr. is in feeble health and being old and not able to handle his affairs and his children knew this and had great influence over the father and were most affectionate they wanted all of his estate transferred to them so they could look after him On 14 Sept 1838, Sr. executed a deed for love and affection he conveyed to sd Needham the Negroes Zilpha and Jack and to Polly Elmore the Negroes Sal and Jane by another deed he conveyed for love and affection the tract of land of 150 acres plus the Negro Washington, mule, horse, cattle and hogs sd Sr. gave his note for the entire estate leaving his destitute Jr. did not pay one farthing and he promised to give the land back but he would not do so and this was fraud Sr has been unable to procure a copy of the deed to Jr. as it has been registered the children have dominated the father and the public is aware of this sd Needham wanted a new deed to purge what he owed his father in which Sr. did keep a life estate or thought he did (NOTE: it appears that Sr. was not literate) all of the deeds were suppose to be subject to a life estate and weren't which means they were fraudulently done since Sr. was now so poor in his old age, he had to marry again as his first wife died many years ago his now wife is the object of hatred by his 3 children as they treat both Sr. and his new wife poorly Sr. wants the deeds cancelled The Negro Sal was blind in one eye Needham's Negro Jack was about 6 years old the land was on the WS of Bear Creek The children said their father had made a bad 2nd marriage and they were having to pay her debts Answer of Joel Waters Jr it was true his father had the land and slaves plus other slaves Charlotte, William and Mary there was another sister, Harriett wife of William Strickland but they removed from the State some time back he knows nothing of the deeds to his siblings he stated that all of the deeds were bona fide he stated that when he married, his father wanted him to build a house on the tract in question so he could be near by so his father gave him a deed retaining a life estate his father also advanced him the Negro Washington then his father started to worry that the original deed was not in order and requested another deed with a note of $1,400 after this, his father realized he did not have enough money to live on and wanted more and asked Jr. to meet with Council Wooten, Shadrack Wooten and Lewis Whitfield to discuss the matter it was then agreed that Jr. would pay the debts of Sr. Jr. denies that his father has been reduced to want but the father has not lived up to his end of the bargain he stated that his father still had land on the WS of Bear Creek plus the Negroes Charlotte, William, and Mary Jr. stated the new wife had taken advantage of Sr. and forced him to sell the above land and slaves against his will There are several notes in the file from people that Joel Sr owed money to There are several depositions but the pages have gotten mixed up over the years and it is unclear exactly who said what Council Wooten deposed that in 1845 or 6 he was called by Sr. to meet him at John Wootens with the def, Jr, Shadrack Wooten and Lewis Whitfield sd Council stated that he considered Sr. a weak man but did not know if the children had taken advantage of it or not Richard W. King, William Fields, Charles Fuller, William Sutton, Jesse Lassiter, Rachel Mills, Barna Wadsworth, Lewis Warters, Polly Waters widow of Joseph Waters, Moses Warters all gave depositions One stated that Joel Jr had gone to Ala. at some point and then returned William Fields stated that Sr. had married Elizabeth simply can't read the last name Jesse Lassiter had known Sr. since 1818 sd Sr. of weak mind and ignorant but honest and hard working he had been married to his last wife for 7 years Hayward Warters drew up the deeds Moses Warters had known Sr. for 30 years Needham Waters said he asked his father to live with him and this was backed up by the deposition of Martha Hill who lived with Needham Waters at the time. Mildred Warters said she had known the family for about 16 or 17 years. This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ncfiles/ File size: 5.4 Kb