Pelagie Brown, a woman of color, seeks the protection of the laws from one Ursin Raby, who had her “arrested and lodged in jail” as a runaway slave belonging to him. Brown represents that she was purchased from her previous “mistress,” Mary Walker, by one Branch Walden of Mississippi with the "Special Condition" that he would emancipate her. Brown claims that, by the laws of Louisiana, she is therefore a “Statu liber” entitled to emancipation and protection from Raby’s plan to remove her from the state. She assures the court that Walden will come to New Orleans to emancipate her. She prays that the court will issue a writ of sequestration ordering the sheriff to take possession of her until Walden arrives.
Result: Dismissed; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
