Fabled Confederate ranger (1833–1916) whose guerrilla band specialized in attacking and disrupting Union supply lines. He earned the nickname “The Gray Ghost” for his clandestine and highly effective attack tactics. ADS, signed “Jno. S. Mosby p.q.,” three pages on two adjoining lightly-lined sheets, 8 x 10, no date. Legal brief to the Honorable Judge of the Circuit Court of Washington County. Mosby details the case of Alexander Morgan [referred to as “your orator” meaning plaintiff] who entered into an agreement with James Morgan to exchange a house lot in the town of Bristol for two lots in the town of Goodson. According to the orator, he advanced $600 and house keys to James Morgan and requested the title to the two lots in Goodson. Some months passed and the orator paid another $60 for improvements to the property in Goodson, still without title. Alexander [the orator] then discovered that James Morgan had conveyed the lots in Goodson to his brother, Madison Morgan. This case, based on docketing dates, begins in 1859 and attorney Mosby pleads for settlement and restitution in 1872. The brief concludes, “Your orator charges that the deed from J. W. Morgan to M. T. Morgan was fraudulent & without consideration and that Madison T. Morgan had full knowledge of all your orator’s rights to the property at the time of & long before the conveyance was made to him - all of the foregoing acts of J. W. Morgan & M.T. Morgan your orator charges to be fraudulent & contrary to Equity and good conscience…Your orator prays that the lien …on said property be enforced & a payment of the six hundred dollars & interest also for the amount of the improvements made by him be decreased by a sale of the two lots on which his lien …attaches and also all such other relief as the circumstances of the case may require.” In very good condition, with edge wear and creasing, scattered toning, a bit heavier to folds, several small areas of paper loss, and scattered creasing and wrinkling. R&R COA.
