Isaac Roach, a man of color, writes that he was born of free parents in Philadelphia. As a young man he was employed as a “waiter or servant for hire” by John Davis, whom he accompanied in this capacity to Kentucky. While in Kentucky, however, Davis gambled all of his money away and sold Roach as a slave to William Ward of South Carolina. Roach asserts that, since then, he has been sold numerous times, spending “the best part of his days in all the rigors of Slavery.” For the past seven years Roach has been held by Cestin Rauman [Sosthene Roman]. Rauman at first kept him on a plantation “entirely excluded from the society of those who might or could assist" him in “obtaining his freedom.” Recently, Rauman brought Roach to New Orleans without telling him the “specific purpose.” Roach fears he may be sold again or transported beyond the jurisdiction of this court. He therefore asks the court to be sequestered in the sheriff's custody while he proves his case for freedom.
Result: Denied.
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Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
