Mary Jane Coachman McKay, Donald L. McKay, and Benjamin A. Coachman, all three residents of South Carolina, seek to recover possession of twenty five slaves and their increase belonging to Mary Jane. The petitioners represent that, when Mary Jane and Donald married in 1836 in South Carolina, Mary Jane’s property was placed in trust as a means to shield it from any casualty or change of fortune in her husband’s affairs. The current trustee is Benjamin A. McKay. The petitioners now claim that all the slaves belonging to the trust estate have been seized and are being held by Benjamin V. Cortes, the sheriff of Natchitoches Parish, and another man named John M. Yancey. The seizure was executed as a result of a suit filed by two New Orleans merchants against one William Hunter in whose possession the slaves were found. The petitioners charge that, when Hunter took possession of the slaves in the state of South Caroline, he knew that they belonged to Mary Jane. The petitioners therefore seek a court order directing Cortes, Yancey, and the two New Orleans merchants, Lambeth and Thompson, to deliver the slaves to Mary Jane. They also ask that Mary Jane’s and Benjamin’s rights to the slaves’ title be recognized.
Result: Partially granted.
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Repository: Natchitoches Parish Courthouse, Natchitoches, Louisiana
