Ellen Duval hired out her twenty-year-old slave Margaret, valued at $1000 and "of excellent qualities," to pick cotton for Andrew Davidson at a weekly hire of three dollars and fifty cents. The petitioner informs the court that Margaret, while hired to Davidson and under his care and custody, was beaten to death by James M. Morris, "a cruel and passionate man," who was Davidson's overseer. Duval insists that Davidson "became liable for the said misfeazance" of his employee, as well as for the value of the slave, her hire, and "all damages resulting to your petitioner." In a deposition, Curtis Garrett, Duval's son's agent, described arriving at Davidson's plantation to find Mr. Davidson "shedding tears" over Margaret's death. He recounted viewing the body after Davidson had it "hauled to the house" and opined that her death "was caused by a severe beating with a strop." He also reported that the overseer Morris rode off on one of Davidson's mules "to get some persons to hold a jury over her," but Morris never returned to the plantation. Garrett characterized Davidson's view of slave management and punishment in the following way: he "wanted his negroes to be made to mind, but not to be abused."
Result: Granted.
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Repository: Travis County Courthouse, Austin, Texas
