William B. Bennet, formerly of Liberty County and now of Stewart County, petitioned the Liberty County Superior Court, sitting in equity. Noting that his father Mathew Bennet, of Liberty County, had died intestate in [date/year left blank], leaving a considerable “real and personal estate consisting principally of land and negroes.” Bennet charged that the defendant, William N. Way, also of Liberty County, had obtained letters of administration on the estate on March 2, 1829. Way had allegedly possessed himself of the estate, which Bennet claimed had few or no debts. Bennet added that he himself was then a minor and an only child, and that his mother, Sarah R. Bennet, who had married Joseph S. Baker, making her now Sarah R. Baker, and he were the only heirs.
Bennet claimed that Way had not filed his required annual returns between 1839-1841, inclusive, and that the returns for the preceding years were incorrect “and made up of charges which for the most part have no connection with the said estate.” If these improper charges were purged from the accounts, he added, Way as administrator would end up owing the estate. Further, Way had “badly managed & wasted the said estate having sold the whole of the real estate and a considerable portion of the personal estate without any necessity” and without the Court of Ordinary’s permission. This mismanagement had caused Charlton Hines, who had acted as security for Way on the administrator’s bond, to petition the court to remove him from acting as security for Way as administrator, which was done in May, 1841, by the Court of Ordinary. Way had refused, Bennet said, to put up new security, and the Court had revoked his letters of administration in May 1841..
Bennet noted that he himself had turned 21 on [date left blank] and had applied to William N. Way for accurate accounting of his time as administrator, particularly for an accounting of the original estate and what had become of it, as well as to strike out the improper charges. He had asked as well for his distributive share of the estate, once the accounting had been rectified. However, he said, Way had refused to do so, in confederation with unknown persons, and denied that he owed anything to the estate. Way had also responded that as part of a bill against him by Bennet’s next friend and guardian William Spencer, together with Joseph S. Baker and Sarah R. Baker, the entire matter had been submitted to arbitration and that all parties had agreed to the decision of the arbitrators. Bennet complained that he had not been a party to that bill and could not have been since he was still a minor at the time.
Bennet asked the court to summon Way to answer his charges.
In December 1851, William N. Way gave his answer to the charges before the Liberty County Superior Court, sitting in equity. He relied on the previous arbitration, noting that the complainant’s mother and guardian had participated and agreed to the arbitration. He noted that the arbitrators, who were mutually chosen and agreed upon by the parties, were William Jones, Joseph E. Maxwell, Ezra Stacy, W.Q. Baker, and John M.B. Harden, and that there was a final award that was agreed upon by all the parties without objection and entered into the Court records in 1843. Way submitted as exhibits the documents related to the arbitration, including the final award, which dealt with some accounts, and also the matter of the exchange of land by S. Spencer for part of the Estate of Lambert’s tract, which was regarded as a private transaction between S. Spender and Mrs. Bennet not involving the M. Bennet estate. Upon balancing the accounts, the arbiters awarded $1534.46 to the administrator from the estate.
In its decision, the court noted that under normal circumstances, a minor is bound by decisions participated in by his legal representatives, and said that in order to decide that the previous arbitration was not binding, there must be something different in this case that would support such a decision. After considering all the arguments at length, the court ruled in favor of the defendant (William N. Way).
Source: Superior Court proceedings, Vol. 5, 1842-1855, Liberty County, Georgia, pages 430-458; database with images, “Liberty County Superior Court Proceedings, Vol 5 1842-1855,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3H3-Q5B5 : accessed 8 Feb 2023), Family History Library Film 008628085, item 2 of 2, images 590-604 of 658.