Eleanor Dortch seeks to be separated in property from her husband, David Dortch. Eleanor Dortch represents that, upon her 1835 marriage to David, she brought a “valuable Estate” to the marriage, consisting of twenty-two slaves, a tract of land, household and kitchen “furniture,” three horses, cattle, farm equipment, and one hundred and twenty bales of cotton. Her husband has also received $6,000 on her behalf, which represents her inheritance from the estate of Joseph Smith. Since the marriage, she and her husband have acquired additional property, which belongs to the community of marriage. Eleanor now claims that she has been “induced” by her husband to execute several mortgages on her property, including a mortgage to the Clinton & Port Hudson Rail Road and Banking Company. She fears that her husband’s mismanagement of their affairs and his “careless and indifferent” handling of her interests are endangering her separate and “paraphernal” property. Eleanor therefore seeks to be separated in property from David and prays to be granted administration of her property. She seeks to recover both her separate property and her share of the community property.
Result: Granted.
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Repository: East Baton Rouge Parish, Clerk of Court Archives, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
