Bertie  COUNTY  NC  COURT  Ruffin, Starkey & Catherine  vs Exec of John Ruffin  Spring Term 1849

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State of North Carolina Bertie County

In Equity  Spring Term 1849

The affadavit of Starkey Ruffin & Catherine Ruffin

Starkey Ruffin and Catherine Ruffin [his sister]
make oath that heretofore to wit at Spring Term 1847
a petition was filed against them by Lewis Thompson
and William Bishop executors of John Ruffin, dec'd
setting forth among other things that certain land
which belonged to the heirs at law of one Thomas
Ruffin dec' had been sold under the order of the
Court of Equity of Bertie County, at the ? of the
said John Ruffin and others and that the said lands
were purchased by the said John Ruffin and the
purchase money paid unto the office of the Master ?
that before the sale these affiants being two of the
five children of Henry Ruffin, who was a brother of
Thomas Ruffin, by  ? conveyed their interest in the
said lands to the said John Ruffin, that Henry and
Robert, their brothers had not been heard of for
many years, and are dead, and praying that the
shares of said Henry and Robert might be paid over
by the Martin? to the said Executors of the said
John, as having been conveyed to their ? by these
said dead.

Copies of the said petition were served upon these
affiants, they admit shortly before Spring Term 1848
of this court.

Being ignorant of their rights and in very indigent
circumstances they paid no attention to the matter
supposing that the said  recpt had been so drawn as
to convey whatever claim they might have to the
shares of the said Henry & Robert, although they
only intended to sell their own individual shares
and they were not until lately apprised by the fact
that such in the opinion of Counsel, John Ruffin,
John R, John Ruffin Esq was not the case, but that
the said deeds plainly and  inpuply ? in  their  ?
declare that only "one fifth of one undivided fifth"
is conveyed and that the claim of the plaintiff to
the said money is unfounded, and these affiants
therefor pray that the order per c?? against them
may be set aside and that they may be allowed to  ?
this petition.  

Starkey Ruffin (x) Catherine Ruffin (x)

W.E. Yates, John W. Whitehead?

Sworn to subscribed before me May 12, Feb 1849 SJ
Web, Ck in E.

Thos P. Devereaux Esq State of North Carolina These
affiants further state that upon examination, they
are informed by their Counsel that the petition for
the sale of lands referred to in the plaintiff's
petition now pending , was filed at the Spring Term
1841 by their testator? the late John Ruffin and
that the ? for sale of the said land was made at the
Fall Term following and that in the said petition
the said John Ruffin claims only one fifth of one
fifth as purchased from each of  your petitions and
further states that one fifth of one fifth of the
same belonged to their brothers Henry and Robert
Ruffin which they now claim as having passed to them
under assignments made by these affiants & their
brother John. They further state that they are
informed by their Counsel that during this progress
and ponderance of the said original petition in this
Court it was referred to the Mastu to report what
their shares of the said Henry & Robert Ruffin, in
the purchase money of the said lands amounted to and
the Mastu made.... (rest is missing)



SOURCE: Personal papers of William Bishop. Thank you
to his daughter, Virginia Street for sharing this
paper.