Petition #20881522

• Orleans Parish, Louisiana. December 6, 1815. - January 28, 1816.
• Court: District
• Salutation: To the honorable the Judge of the District Court of the first District

Abstract

John Lewis, a man of color, petitions the court to recover his freedom. Lewis claims that Harvey Norton illegally detains him as a slave. Now about the age of thirty-one, Lewis was born of free parents in Jamaica. A sailor on board the "Morning Star," Lewis traveled from Dundee, Scotland to Charleston, South Carolina in 1811. While in Charleston, "he was seduced into the state of Kentucky & there seized & transported" as a slave by Mr. Reed and sold to Norton in Louisiana. Lewis prays for his freedom and "damages for his labour." A decree of the court declares John Lewis free.

Result: Granted.

• Number of petition pages: 2
• Related documents: PARs #20881309, #20881310, #20881729; Order, ca. December 1815; Affidavit, F. L. Turner, 6 December 1815; Deposition, John Kimbel, 13 December 1815; Judgment, 28 January 1816
• Pages of related documents: 3

2 people are documented within petition 20881522

• 1 Enslaved
• 1 Defendant
• 1 Petitioner

Or you may view all people.

Citation information

Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana

• Records of the First Judicial District Court
• Record group: Case Records
• Microfilm: Reel #1A, Louisiana Collection

Subjects

• Sues for freedom (enslaved)
• Ships
• Occupation (FPOC)
• Caribbean Islands, migration from/to
• Kidnapping (FPOC)
• Veterans