John Bentterson dies and wills his property to his wife Frances and their four children. To Frances he wills enslaved man and wife Charles and Clary, and their children Thomas, Frances, Mary, and William. To his son Sidney he wills an enslaved boy named Bright, to daughter Divina Chiles, an enslaved girl named Martha, to daughter Emiline Thomas an enslaved girl named Esther, to son John an enslaved boy named Ervin. He specifies that this inheritance to his daughters goes to them and their heirs only, not their husbands. His will states that after this wife Frances dies, the property that went to her would be distributed equally among the four children. This case is related to a dispute about that distribution.