Colston vs Quander

Date: 4 Feb 1867 [unknown]
Location: Fairfax, Virginia, United States
Surnames/tags: Colston Quander

This case ^[1] concerns the probate of land owned by Lewis Quander, a free man of color who died the year prior to Emancipation. His half brother, John Colston, sued his wife, Susan Pierson for the estate.

At the time of Lewis Quander's death in 1864^[1], it was not possible for slaves to legally marry, but marriages under the authority of religious organizations were common, as was cohabitation that met the standards of a common law marriage. Lewis married Susan Pierson in the home of her legal owner in 1842, with an Episcopal minister presiding. The Cohabitation Act, passed by the General Assembly in 1866, later legitimized such marriages and the children of them ^[2], but Mr. Colston, through his lawyer, argued that because the marriage wasn't recognized under the law at the time of Lewis's death and his wife was still a slave, she and their children (also enslaved) were not eligible to inherit.

This case was finally decided in favor of the widow, but by the time it was decided (27 years later, after the cases Stabler vs Quander and Quander vs Quander, listed below), probate fees and other court costs related to the estate had reduced the property to 100 acres, divided between Susan and her children^[1].

Associated cases include:

• Fairfax County (Va.) Chancery Causes,1803-1970, “Deborah Stabler v. Lewis Quander,” 1901, 1901-003, Local Government Records Collection, Fairfax County Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
• Fairfax County (Va.) Chancery Causes,1803-1970, “John Quander v. Susan Quander,” 1881, 1881-028, Local Government Records Collection, Fairfax County Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
• Fairfax County (Va.) Chancery Causes,1803-1970, “James Quander v. Felix Quander,” 1885, 1885-021, Local Government Records Collection, Fairfax County Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
• Fairfax County (Va.) Chancery Causes,1803-1970, “James Quander v. George Smith,” 1896, 1896-006, Local Government Records Collection, Fairfax County Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
• Fairfax County (Va.) Chancery Causes,1803-1970, “Felix Quander v. Jack Quander,” 1889, 1889-021, Local Government Records Collection, Fairfax County Records, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} John H. Colston, Virginia. Circuit Court (4th Circuit), and Susan Quander, Colston vs. Quander ([Alexandria, Va.? : s.n., 1869), http://archive.org/details/colstonvsquander00cols.
2. ↑ "Cohabitation Act of 1866", Encyclopedia of Virginia, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/cohabitation-act-of-1866/.

See Also

• Vaughn, Curtis L, "Freedom is Not Enough: African Americans in Antebellum Fairfax County", Dissertation: George Mason University. pp.206-210. http://mars.gmu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1920/9155/Vaughn_gmu_0883E_10726.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1.