Thomas v. Beckman

Henry H. Thomas, of Estill county,- Ky, having.carried to Louisiana, a colored man named Ben Reed, claimed by him as his slave,- and who had there escaped from his custody, employed Frederick Beckman, a Commission-Merchant in New Orleans, to reclaim and sell the fugitive, and on the 23rd of May, 1826, gave to him the following written authority: “Should he (Beckman,) be “able to get in possession of my mulatto slave Ben, “I give him full power to sell him at auction on the best “terms, without (authority) to guaranty his character ex- “ cept the title.”

During the year 1826, Beckman found Ben,…