In the the late 1830s, William G. Mann complained to the Chancery Court in Essex County: Your orator William G. Mann. That his grandfather William Sowell died in ____ intestate leaving a widow Sarah Sowell and two children viz Robert Sowell and Margaret who married Richard Mann. Richard Mann died about 1822 and Margaret died about 1823, leaving your orator and two infant sisters Julia and Margaret Mann. [Essex County, Virginia, Box Chancery No. 39, item 39-L-11.]