Templet v. Baker

This action is brought to recover of the defendant a slave which plaintiff claims as owner. Under our law, the question is, has the plaintiff a good title to the slave in controversy, and is it better than the defendant’s title ? The defendant claims title to the slave in suit by act of sale executed in Kentucky in favor of the defendant and his partner, made in August, 1841, and possession under his title in Louisiana, until 1844, when the slave ran away. He was taken from jail in 1851 by defendant. He had been lodged in jail as a runaway. The defendant, in December 1851, acquired the…