The petitioners are a free woman of color named Dauphine and her son named Jean Louis, also known as Bouqui or Bouki. They claim that two free people of color named Paulin Ricard and Marie Louise Ricard Dubuclet are holding Jean Louis "malã fide," i.e., in bad faith, as a slave and receiving the value of his labor, even though he was born free of a free mother and a free grandmother. Dauphine and Jean Louis further explain that, several years ago, they made "amicable demand" for Jean Louis's release from bondage of several people connected to the Ricards, but to no avail. They point out that, since Jean Louis's older brother, Edouard, has been decreed free, so should he be. They therefore ask the court to decree Jean Louis free and to condemn Paulin Ricard and Marie Louise Ricard Dubuclet to pay him $1 per day for the value of his labor and $1,000 in damages. A related document reveals that Jean Louis is actually being held by Marie Louise Ricard and her husband, Augustin Dubuclet. A related petition reveals that Augustin Dubuclet's family descended on one side from a white planter [Original in English and French].
Result: Judgment of non suit; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: Iberville Parish Courthouse, Plaquemine, Louisiana
