Your petitioner, Edwin C. Sebastian, most respectfully represents; That in Virtue of a purchase he has become directly interested as one of the distributors of The Estate of James Caldwell, late of the County aforesaid deceased, -- That the said deceased died possessed and was the owner of three small negro boys named Peter, Willis and George. That the said deceased left no lawful child or legal descendant; That Meeke Caldwell, his widow still survives and resides in the County of St. Francois, who is entitled to one equal half of all the slaves of the deceased at the time of his death; That your petitioner has purchased all the right, title and claim of the said Meeke Caldwell, as aforesaid in and to the said slaves of the said James Caldwell, deceased at the time of his death; -- That your petitoner also has become the purchaser of several other slaves -- that is to say -- the half share of Mathew Caldwell and John Caldwell and Walter Caldwell who were all half brothers, and also Sally King and George King and Annie, his wife, who were both half sisters of said deceased and each entitled to one half share as such -- Thus sisters of said deceased and each entitled to one half share as such -- Thus showing to the Court that your petitioner is legally entitled to one half of the whole in virtue of the purchase from Meeke Caldwell, the said widow, --
And the five half shares derived from the said Mathew, John, and Walter Caldwell, -- Sally King and George King and Annis, his wife, as herein before stated beside some smaller portions to be shown hereafter.
Your petitioner would further shew that the said James Caldwell, deceased at the time of his death left the following named heirs all of whom are entitled with your petitioner to a distributive share of the estate of said deceased, Viz:
John Hempstead, guardian of the heirs of Meeke Hempstead, deceased
The heirs of Andrew Kinkead, decerased, all these are heirs of Mary Kinkead, deceased, who was a full sister of James Caldwell, deceased and jointly entitled to one full share.
"John Conway, Samuel Conway, Joseph Conway, James Conway, Fountain Conway, James Pollock and Ann, his wife, John Hempstead and Lucinda, his wife--these are all heirs of Elizabeth Conway, deceased, who was a half-sister to said James Caldwell, deceased, and entitled to one half share jointly.--
"The several heirs of Ann Byrnside, deceased, (wholse names are unknown) who was a half sister to said James Caldwell, deceased, and they are jointly entitiled to one half share.
"The several heirs of Kinkead Caldwell, deceased, who was a half brother of the said James Caldwell, deceased, and entitled to one half share to be divided among said heirs where known. all these are wholly unknown to your petitioner.
"Also the several heirs of Samuel Caldwell, deceased, who was a half /brother?/ of said James Caldwell, deceased, and entitled to one half share.
"Matthew Caldwell and John Caldwell and Walter Caldwell, who are each a half brother to said James Caldwell, deceased, and Sally King, and Annis, who are both half sisters to said James Caldwell, deceased, and each of them entitled to one half share.
Thus your petitioner would show that by the foregoing statement that there are two whole shares and nine half shares entitiled to distribution. That your petitioner is the owner of one half of the whole in virtue of his purchase of the interest of said Meeke Caldwell, widow as aforesaid of James Caldwell, deceased, and also the share or part belonging to Mathew Caldwell, John Caldwell, and Walter Caldwell and Sally King and Annis King, who are severally entitled to one half share each.
Therefore it is that your petitioner prays this Honorable Court to make an order and decree that the said Negro Boys, Peter, Willis, and George property left by said James Caldwell, deceased, may be sold to the highest bidder, and the proceeds thereof equally divided and distributed with and among the several heirs of said James Caldwell, deceased, herein before named and shown according to their several rights and interests, and according to the laws of the land and the statute in such case made and provided, and your petitioner is with great respect,
Note: Elizabeth Caldwell Conway's descendants have record that her father was Mathew Caldwell who was b. about 1747. He had lived in Culpepper Co., VA.
This Matthew (needs to be documented) apparently had two wives as there are two families:
| FIRST FAMILY | SECOND FAMILY | |||
| James (above) | Mathew | |||
| Mary (who md Andrew Kinkead) | John | |||
| William | Walter | |||
| Sally (md King) | ||||
| Annis (md George King | ||||
| Elizabeth (md Joseph Conway) | ||||
| Ann (md a Byrnside) | ||||
| Kinkead (decd, heirs unknown) | ||||
| Samuel |
This same record gives the descendants of James's brother William: John Caldwell's sons: Ephraim, Joseph and three unnamed sisters.
Andrew Kinkead has married Mary Caldwell and they had children: Samuel, Walter, Mary Ann (who md Thomas Sappington), Meeke who md John Hempstead.
Kinkead Caldwell's children were unknown to the petitioner. If this is the Kinkead who moved to Franklin Co., we would need to find record of descendants who eventually qualified as heirs to James. Perhaps a search of the original jacket would reveal the heirs.
Kinkead of Franklin Co. named his children: William, Andrew King, Mary, Samuel K., John, Robert, Ann, Lucinda, Annis, Virginia Jane, and Kinkead, Jr. The Annis and Andrew King are certainly indicative of this being the same family and that Kinkead was, indeed, a half-brother to James. If the researchers of Elizabeth Caldwell Conway are correct, then Matthew Caldwell of Culpepper, VA is Kinkead's father.
Note that the first listed child in this document is a Mathew. If this document listed them in birth order, eldest to youngest, then Mathew was the eldest and that usually indicates the father's name or the grandfather's name. A search of the probate records of Culpepper Co., VA may yield the needed information.