Berard v. Berard
Supreme Court of Louisiana
APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT. This is an action in which the plaintiff claims her freedom and that of her children.
Read the full summary
APPEAL FROM THE COURT OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT. This is an action in which the plaintiff claims her freedom and that of her children. She alleges she was born free, in the Island of St. Domingo, which place she left under the care of Marie Jeane Berard, her aunt, and came to New-Orleans, with whom and Marie Louise Berard, her sister, she lived for a long time, and until the death of the former, in 1814. She alleges she took care of Marie Jeane until she died, and gave both sisters (her aunts) her services as one of the family. That after the decease of Marie Jeane, she continued, from…
1Opinion of the CourtMartin, J.
The plaintiff is a person of color, and sues her aunt, Marie Louise Berard, for the purpose of establishing her and her children’s claim to their freedom. The defendant disavowed *158any title to the plaintiff, but averred she belonged to her late sister, Maria Jeane Berard, and that she descended to her sister’s natural children and legal heirs, Celina and Antoine Garidel. These heirs intervened and claimed. the plaintiff and her children as their property, in right of their deceased mother.
A slave cannot stand in judgment for any other purpose than to assert his freedom. He is not even allowed…
2Cited by2 opinions
- Miller v. BelmontiSupreme Court of Louisiana · 1845
- Lewis v. CartwrightSupreme Court of Louisiana · 1844