The petitioner is Maria Townes, a minor, who claims that she is a free white woman held as a slave and daily put up for sale in New Orleans by a man named Reed [Reves]. She prays the court that "she may be adjudged to be free" and that Reed be condemned to pay $1,000 in damages for "unjustly" keeping her in detention, plus costs of suit. She also prays the court to order her sequestration by the sheriff until termination of the suit. As a destitute minor, assisted by a curator ad litem, she is asking to be allowed to sue "in forma pauperis." A related document suggests that Maria's mother was a mulatto woman and a slave in Virginia, where Reed had purchased Maria [Original in English and French].
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
