Benjamin Poydras de Lalande, representing himself and seven residents of France, seeks the court's assistance in carrying out the wishes of the late Julien Poydras. Poydras died in 1824, directing by his last will and testament that all his slaves be "considered attached" to his plantations and only sold under specific conditions. Namely, the purchasers should agree to free all the slaves twenty-five years after the date of purchase, allowing those sixty years or over to remain on the plantation without compelling them to work. The slaves should be cared for, treated with humanity, and even paid a $25 dollar annual stipend. In 1825 one of the plantations was sold to two residents of France, the widow Mourain and Mrs. Bonneau, and later partitioned between the two women. Benjamin Poydras alleges that six slaves now belonging to Mrs. Bonneau reached the age of sixty in 1833; yet her agent, Gustave Delamare, has so far refused to pay them the $25 annual stipend. Arguing that the plantation sale price to the two women was discounted for the payment of the annuity, Poydras prays that Mrs. Bonneau and her agent be ordered to pay the estate $900 for the years 1833 through 1838 and to pay each of the six slaves $25 per year "from the 1st January 1839."
Result: Denied; appealed; affirmed.
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Repository: University of New Orleans
