Mr. Bryan,
Concerning the outcome of Cavitt v. Hutchings that you kindly posted on
4/13/06, I came across the following "one liner" embedded in an estate
settlement
accounting statement submitted to the Knox County Court during its October Term
in 1818 when the Moses Cavett estate was finally settled:
"By this sum paid cost of a suit in equity for securing title to land
$211.80".
So, it appears that the Cavitt family had to pay court costs or "quiet title
money" to the Hutchings family to fully make their challenge go away.
It is also interesting why it took from 1802 until 1818 to settle the Moses
Cavett estate. It turns out that it took that long to collect from Walter King
& Co. for Moses' 1795 sale of 585 acres of land and the iron works/iron mine
located a little south of present day Kingsport in Sullivan County. Moses
Cavett's entire gross estate, prior to expenses, amounted to $3,953.10 2/3.
Ninety percent of the gross estate came from "Debt due the Estate by Walter King,
including $387.45 interest - - - $3,563.24". The "and Company" was
comprised
of John Sevier and his son. As a matter of fact, Moses Cavett's heirs were
not able to settle up with Moses' brothers Richard and Michael for their share
of the Alexander Cavett estate until Walter King & Co. paid for the Sullivan
County property in 1818.
Howard Roach