John A. P. Maples and other heirs to the estate of the late Nathan Maples petition the court to regain control of “slaves” now living as free people of color. They explain that, in 1831 and 1840, the late Maples sold two slaves, named Mitty and Sarah, to a free woman of color named Jenny Broxton. Mitty and Sarah were Jenny Broxton's children and they were subsequently emancipated by their mother, who also purchased and emancipated their children. Jenny Broxton and her husband Philip Broxton, both now deceased, had been emancipated by Nathan Maples in 1825 and 1826, respectively. The heirs now claim that the acts of sale were a “sham” and executed at a time when Nathan Maples was “old & infirm in body & mind,” and the emancipations are therefore null and void. They add that Nathan was “over persuaded to execute” the sales to put “his property and slaves and their increase out of the reach of his forced Heirs.” They pray for a decree declaring that Mitty, Sarah, and their children, now numbering fourteen in total, be declared the property of Nathan Maples’s estate and sold. They also ask for the whole family’s sequestration, in the meantime. In a related document, another heir to Nathan's estate testifies that she "never knew of any influences or persuasions on the part of Philip & Jenny to induce her father to do what was wrong."
Result: Granted; appealed; reversed.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
