Description
Former Slave Gets $5000, Award on $80,000 Claim - Sarah Duncan, 81-Year-Old Negro, Settles Suit Against Banker's Estate - - A settlement for $5000 has been made in the $80,000 suit of Sarah Duncan, 81-year-old former slave, now of St. Joseph, Missouri, against the estate of Henry Clay Duncan, banker and cattle breeder of Osborn, Missouri.
His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan, executrix of the estate and defendant in the suit, lives with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Waller Edwards, at 7114 Maryland Avenue, University City. The suit was dismissed Wednesday in the DeKalb County Circuit Court.
The plaintiff, whose mother was a slave in the old Duncan home of Maple Hill Farm, near Osborn, sued for lifetime wages, asserting she had a verbal agreement with her old master. She remained in his household until his death in 1925, when his widow came to St. Louis to live.
The plaintiff also was brought to St. Louis after her suit had been filed at St. Joseph and an attempt was made to settle it then. Later a jury gave her a judgment of $24,000, but the verdict was set aside and a new trial ordered. Duncan left an estate estimated at about $750,000.Date(s) of Creation
4/20/1928
