That the said Duty attended to the sales of his pork in person
in the south and received the money arising therefrom principally
in notes of the banks of the state of MississippiMississippi, with
which some time in the mouth of 1837 he returned to
St. LouisSt Louis and immediately thereafter paid the said MississippiMississippi
money amounting to three thousand dollars or upwards to the
said David CoonsDavid Coons at a discount of about 15 per cent, which
will more fully appear by reference to the affidavit of SamuelSamuel
(one of the witnesses to said will) herewith exhibited
marked (B) and prayed to be taken and considered as part
of this bill, which payments, together with the hires of your orators
and oratrices and other money afterwards secured and deposited
in the hands of the said David CoonsDavid Coons , must have extinguished
all the claims of said CoonsCoons for money advanced on account
of pork as aforeaid and probably left a considerable
sum due to this testator at the time of his death. Whether the
said Duty took up his notes at the time he paid the Mississipppi
money as aforesaid or took any receipt for the same or for any
money deposited as aforesaid, your orators and oratrices are
for was our hereinafter stated unable to say. They believe and
therefore charge that he did and that the receipts given
by the said David CoonsDavid Coons for money deposited with him by
the said Duty were destroyed or and the notes made
use of again in the hands of the said David CoonsDavid Coons to establish
claims against the estate of the said Duty after his
death, in the manner following to wit: on the night the said
Duty did and but a short time after he had ceased to breathe
while some of the loaning funds of the deceased and some of
your orators and oratrices were preparing the corpse for being
shrouded a certain George W. CoonsGeorge W Coons , (hereinafter prayed to be made
a defendant to this bill) with a certain HughHugh Gallagher, (the
first the son and both in the employment of the said David CoonsDavid Coons )
came into the room where the corpse was lying and without

inquiring further than to ascertain that the said Duty was
certainly dead, the said George W. CoonsGeorge W Coons ordered one of your
orators PrestonPreston to bring him the trunk containing the papers
and money of the said Duty, which was done, and the said
George W. CoonsGeorge W Coons commenced a hurried search and reading of
the papers and during said examination of them and in
the presence of the said Gallagher, GeorgeGeorge Galloway (then a minor
and nephew of the said Duty and now residing in the state of
MississippiMississippi) James AdamsJames Adams , your orator PrestonPreston and several
of your orators and oratrices, he the said George W. CoonsGeorge W Coons
tore up and [ distroyed ] a number of said papers and took
away others with him. on this being noticed by the said JamesJames Adams
AdamsJames Adams one of the friends of the deceased, who has been
in preparing the body for shrouding,, the said GeorgeGeorge W Coons
W. CoonsGeorge W Coons received from him an indignant against such illegal conduct, to which the said GeoGeorge W Coons : W. CoonsGeorge W Coons
replied that he could not help it, all which will more
fully appear by reference to the affidavits of James AdamsJames Adams
and Thomas G. Follis herewith exhibited marked C and D
and prayed to be taken and considered as park of this bill.

Having this (before any one else could examine or see
the papers of thin testator, prepared the way to commit
an extension found upon the said estate (in continuation
with and for the benefit of his father the said David CoonsDavid Coons )
the said George W. CoonsGeorge W Coons immediately thereafter took out letters
of administration on the estate of the said MiltonMilton
Duty deceased and among the first claims brought forward
and allowed by the county court of St. Louis County
were those of his father the saidDavid CoonsDavid Coons to the amount
of $ 3683.68 1/2. Your orators and oratrices believe
and therefore charge that the pretended claims of the said DavidDavid Coons
CoonsDavid Coons against the estate of this testator are wholly
inequitous and unjust and were cancelled and paid off by the said Duty in his life