Mathew G. Gaulden, a resident of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, petitions the court for compensation for an attack upon his slaves that resulted in the death of one slave. Gaulden asserts that Angus McPhaul, with a number or armed men, "attempted with force, and Violence to Seize and carry away a number" of slaves from his wood yard on the Mississippi River in the parish of East Baton Rouge. Gaulden's slaves were so "allarmed and terrified" that five of them attempted to flee to his residence in Mississippi. On their journey, however, "a valuable and favorite negro man" named Albert, who had been "raised" by Gaulden, died on the side of the road. Gaulden complains that the remaining four slaves, Tom, Nace, Daniel, and Pinckney, were "so much injured by the attack and trespass" that "neither of them was in a Condition to do any work or be of any Service for more than one month afterwards." Gaulden prays that the court will order McPhaul to pay him $1,200 for the loss of Albert and an additional $600 for the loss of the labor of his other slaves.
Result: Partially granted; appealed; reversed; partially granted.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
