involved. An example occurred in the case
of Rhame _vs_. Ferguson and Dangerfield, decided by the South Carolina
Court of Appeals in 1839 in connection with a statute enacted by the
legislature of that state in 1800 restricting manumissions and prescribing
that any slaves illegally set free might be seized by any person as
derelicts. George Broad of St. John's Parish, Berkeley County, had died
without blood relatives in 1836, bequeathing fourteen slaves and their
progeny to his neighbor Dangerfield "in trust nevertheless and for this
purpose only that the said John R. Dangerfield, his executors and assigns
do permit and suffer the said slaves ... to apply and appropriate
their time and labor to their own proper use and behoof, without the
intermeddling or interference of any person or persons whomsoever further
than may be necessary for their protection under the laws of this state";
and bequeathing also to Dangerfield all his other property in trust for the
use of these negroes and their descendants forever. These provisions were
being duly followed when on a December morning in 1837 Rebecca Rhame, the
remarried widow of Broad's late brother-in-law, descended upon the Broad
plantation in a buggy with John J. Singletary whom she had employed for the
occasion under power of attorney. Finding no white person at the residence,
Singletary ordered the negroes into the yard and told them they were seized
in Mrs. Rhame's behalf and must go with him to Charleston. At this juncture
Dangerfield, the trustee, came up and demanded Singletary's authority,
whereupon the latter showed him his power of attorney and read him the laws
under which he was proceeding. Dangerfield, seeking delay, said it would be
a pity to drag the negroes through the mud, and sent a boy to bring his
own wagon for them. While this vehicle was being awaited Colonel James
Ferguson, a dignitary of the neighborhood who had evidently been secretly
sent for by Dangerfield, galloped up, glanced over the power of attorney,
branded the whole affair as a cheat, and told Dangerfield to order
Singletary off the premises, driving him away with a whip if necessary, and
to shoot if the conspirators should bring reinforcements. "After giving
this advice, which he did apparently under great excitement, Ferguson rode
off." Singletary then said that for his part he had not come to take or
lose life; and he and his employer departed. Mrs. Rhame then sued Ferguson
and Dangerfield t