Livingston v. Ackeston
New York Supreme Court
On error 'from the C. P. of Columbia. The action below was assumpsit for work and labor by Ackeston against Livingston ; and the verdict and judgment was for the plaintiff, on the facts stated in a bill of exceptions, upon which the writ of error was founded. Those facts were, that Ackeston, a black man, worked for Livingston from the spring of 1819 till. June, 1820, when he sold him to one Benn.
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On error 'from the C. P. of Columbia. The action below was assumpsit for work and labor by Ackeston against Livingston ; and the verdict and judgment was for the plaintiff, on the facts stated in a bill of exceptions, upon which the writ of error was founded. Those facts were, that Ackeston, a black man, worked for Livingston from the spring of 1819 till. June, 1820, when he sold him to one Benn. That Livingston had bought him of one Ham, as a slave or servant, at $200; and that he was to serve till he was 28 years old. That he became dissatisfied, and procured Benn to purchase him of…
1Opinion of the Court
Curia, per Sutherland, J.
The plaintiff, upon the evidence in the case, must be considered as having been a freeman, during the period he was in the service of the defendant. But the defendant purchased him as a slave in perfect good faith, for a large and valuable consideration. The plaintiff supposed himself to have been a slave; and at his own request, was sold by the defendant to a person whom the plaintiff had induced and procured to purchase him. There is no pretence of an express promise on the part of the defendant, to pay the plaintiff for his services; and the question is, whether,…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Cook v. HustedNew York Supreme Court · 1815
3Cited by9 opinions
- Woods v. AyresMichigan Supreme Court · 1878
- McCarthy v. . Mayor, Etc., of N.Y.New York Court of Appeals · 1884
- Wyley v. BullSupreme Court of Kansas · 1889
- Smith v. JohnsonSupreme Court of Iowa · 1876
- Bond v. CorbettSupreme Court of Minnesota · 1858
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