The heirs of Alexander Verdun petition for the annulment of land sales made by the deceased to a family of free people of color, whom they allege to be his "illegitimate" children. Melanie Robinet, her husband William Smith, and Marie Zelmire Theriot Robinet, as tutrix of her two minor children, Nicholas and Pierre, represent that they are the “legal” heirs of their uncle, the late Verdun. They allege that, during his lifetime, Verdun made a number of “false pretended and simulated” sales in favor of his seven “bastards” born of a now deceased free woman of color named Marie Gregoire. According to the plaintiffs, the sales were nothing more than disguised donations, made for the sole purpose of defrauding them and circumventing the law. They therefore pray that all “donations & sales” made to the Gregoire children be “cancelled and annulled,” and that the land be “deemed to belong” to them. They further seek $2,000 in damages. The related Supreme Court opinion reveals that Marie Gregoire and her children lived and worked upon Verdun's plantation until Marie's death. Verdun never married.
Result: Granted; appealed.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
