Petition #20882930
- Orleans Parish, Louisiana. November 12, 1829. - March 8, 1830.
- Court: District
- Salutation: To the Honorable the Judge of the District Court in and for the first Judicial District of the State of Louisiana
Abstract
John Merry, a man of color, presents to the court that one André Chexnaider of the "city of New Orleans" is holding him "unlawfully and by violence and by force" in a state of slavery through the acts of his agents, Clayton Tiffin and Louis Menard. Merry explains that he was living in Illinois "in the enjoyment of his natural liberty" when he was arrested as a slave and taken into possession by Tiffin and Menard, two St. Louis merchants. He instituted a suit against the two men and the Missouri Supreme Court decreed him "free from his birth." Notwithstanding the Missouri judicial decision, Chexnaider proceeded to reduce him again to slavery. Merry prays to be "set at Liberty and discharged from all servitude." He also asks the court for $1,000 in damages from Chexnaider. Related documents reveal that although Merry was born free in the state of Illinois after the passage of the Northwest Ordinance, he was kept in slavery and had to purchase his freedom and that of his wife and two children from his owner. However, the owner publicly reneged on his word, kept the money, and sold John into slavery in New Orleans.
Result: Granted; appealed; affirmed.
- Number of petition pages: 2
- Related documents: PAR #21182606; Order, ca. 12 November 1829; Citation [Text in French and English], 12 November 1829; Sheriff's Return, 14 November 1829; Transcript of Court Records from the Missouri Judicial District and Supreme Courts, 30 September 1826-1 August 1829, including: Petition to Circuit Court, St. Louis County, John Merry, 6 September 1826; Declaration, John Merry, 7 October 1826; Bill of Exceptions, March Term 1827; and Deposition, Auguste Trotier, et al., 6 April 1827; Transcript of Court Records from the New Orleans District Court, 30 November 1829-4 January 1830, including: Notarial Act of Sale, John Stevenson, agent of Louis Pinconneaur, to André Chexnaider [Text in French], 13 April 1825; and Judgment, 10 December 1829; Supreme Court Points of Appeal, ca. 5 January 1830; Supreme Court Judgment, ca. 8 March 1830
- Pages of related documents: 23
7 people are documented within petition 20882930
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Citation information
Repository: University of New Orleans
- Supreme Court of Louisiana Collection
Subjects
