John and George Humphries of Mississippi seek to be compensated for the unusual abuse inflicted on their slaves by their overseer, Henry Utz, and for the death of one of them named Ginger Pop. The petitioners represent that Utz “cruelly abused” the slaves under his management. They specifically refer to two slaves, Ginger Pop and another slave named Dave, or David, who received “unusual unnecessary and cruel punishment” resulting in material injury to their worth and occasioning a loss to their owner. They claim that Ginger Pop died as the result of having had his “privates” nailed to a “bedstead” and blows inflicted upon him until he “pulled loose from the post to which he had been pinned by driving an iron tack or nail through his penys.” They seek $5,000 in damages from Utz and trial by jury.
Result: Denied; motion for new trial; refused; appealed; reversed and partially granted.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
