| Mary Ann Ernst, widow of Ferdinand Ernst, sued the administrators of his estate over a dispute concerning Ferdinand Ernst's debts to the State Bank of Illinois. The circuit court ruled for Mary Ann Ernst, and the administrators appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. The Court affirmed the legislature's 1828 law releasing Ferdinand Ernst's estate, directing proceeds from land sales to Mary Ann Ernst. The administrators, challenging the law's validity, sold lands on credit. The court found the state had the authority to order sales. The circuit court's decree was partly affirmed, with $742.88 granted to the complainant, and partly reversed in regard to excluding $105 from specific land sales. |