In 1847 John "Keyser" petitioned the Probate Court and wrote "that in the year 1842 one James McKay of St. Charles County died leaving a widow Rosina McKay and one child, an infant two or three years old named_ _ _ Mary McKay and said McKay left as part of his personal property a Negro woman and two children. Said Negro woman has since had three other children, making five in number at this time." John Keiser went on to state that since he had married McKay's widow, as her husband, he was entitled to her one half interest in the Negro slaves. The other half interest of the slaves belonged to Mary McKay and John Keiser was also her guardian since she was a minor child. The court appointed commissioners to value and partition the slave property so that it could be distributed equally between Mary Ann McKay and John Keiser.

In May 1847 the court divided the slaves into 2 lots as follows:

Lot No. 1 Woman Harriet - Girl Eliza $500 150 ____ $650

Lot No. 2 Boy Bill Girl Margreth Infant girls two_____/ $350 200 100 ____ $650

Lot No. 1 was distributed to John Keiser in right of him being the husband of the former Rosina McKay.

Lot No. 2 was distributed to Mary McKay, the minor heir of James McKay under the guardianship of John Keiser.

In a February 1849 inventory of Mary Ann McKay's property, she is the owner of "3 slaves William 10 years old in May, Margreth 7 years old & Elisa 2 years old" Mary McKay also owns the 240 acres of land purchased in 1831 and 40 of those acres are in cultivation.

The probate file confirms and documents that the slave owner of William "Bill" McKay was James M. McKay and William's mother was "Harriet." William was born about 1839 and he had siblings named Margreth or Margaretha and Elisa or Eliza and 2 other unnamed infant girls. Since James M. McKay died in early 1842, Elisa's and the infant girls' father is unknown, but the possible father is John W. Keiser since they are described as being Mulatto and he had possession and the privileges of ownership of Harriet and her children. Nonetheless, they were all property of the James M. McKay estate.

Although a total of 6 slaves were distributed to Mary Ann McKay and John Keiser in the 1847 partition, a county tax receipt dated November 21, 1849 for Negro slaves and real estate shows there are 5 slaves remaining who have a total assessed value of $600. The value of the 240 acres of land is also $600.

By August 1850 when the U.S. Slave Schedule is made, John W. Keizer as guardian for Mary Ann McKay, is the listed owner of 3 remaining slaves. There are personal property sales receipts in the

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