In 1839, Jane Botton Peak, daughter of John S. Peak, of Dallas County, Alabama, and Arnoldus Bonneau, signed a prenuptial agreement with William H. Bonneau as the trustee. The agreement said that Jane Peak was entitled to certain property free from the debts of her future husband. The property, including six slaves (Lijah, Peter, Joseph, Daphina, William, and Charlotte), would be used for the benefit of husband and wife during their lifetimes, and for their children following their deaths, or if there were no children for the benefit of heirs. When one of the slaves, Joseph, was seized in 1844, and later sold to pay the husband's debts, Jane Bonneau sued, claiming that Joseph was protected by her marriage agreement. The purchaser of Joseph moved to Texas, but the wife continued her case. She obtained a new trustee, who returned to his homeland of Germany before the case went to trial, but when it did go before a judge in 1851, her suit was dismissed.
Result: Dismissed.
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Repository: Dallas County Courthouse, Selma, Alabama
