James Dunn, a free man of color, presents to the court and the police jury that he is the "true & legal owner" of his wife, a thirty-five-year-old mulatto woman named Maria, and his two children, ten-year-old Oscar and eight-year-old Jane. He further presents that "from motives of affection" and "in consideration of" Maria's "faithful & important services," he is "anxious that they should be permitted to enjoy the blessings of freedom." James Dunn invokes the provisions of an 1831 legislative act governing the movement of people of color into the state and the mode of emancipating slaves to plead for a residency and age waiver that will allow him to emancipate his family. He also asks to be exempt from furnishing a bond.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: New Orleans Public Library, New Orleans, Louisiana
