Matilda Shell of the parish of St. Tammany, authorized and assisted by her husband, Samuel C. Thompson, seeks to recover her slave, a seventeen-year-old male "griff" or "mulatto" named Man, also known as Columbus, and valued at $1,000. Matilda represents that Man was stolen from her in 1843, taken to Missouri, and reported dead. Matilda has now learned that he is in fact being held in New Orleans by one Eliza Winfree, who claims that he belongs to the estate of her late husband, Dr. Amos Hough. Matilda therefore prays for an order decreeing that she is the slave’s owner and directing Eliza Winfree to return him to her possession. Matilda also seeks to be compensated for the loss of her slave’s hires, at the rate of $20 per month. Finally, she seeks an order directing the sheriff to sequester Man for the duration of the trial. Related testimony reveals that Man also went by the name of Mose or Joseph.
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
