Charles Dorsino Leblanc charges that Chalinet, a free woman of color, harbored and concealed his slave, Mary, for one hundred and eight days on the plantation of Benjamin Poydras. Leblanc claims that Chalinet resides on Poydras's plantation and “is considered the mistress” in Poydras’s absence. Leblanc adds that the Poydras plantation has become a "place of refuge to runaway negroes and particularly those usually Called 'Poydras negroes.'" He alleges that he has “amicably” approached Chalinet and proposed a compromise, but she has rejected his offer “with scorn and contempt.” He therefore seeks $108 for the loss of Mary’s services and $392 to compensate him for the “vexation & mortification” he had to suffer because of Chalinet’s “unjustifiable conduct.” We learn from several related petitions that Mary, also known as Marie Vitrac, had once belonged to the late Julien Poydras who, in his last will and testament, had stipulated that each one of his plantations only be sold with the slaves working on it, and that the purchaser be bound not to sell the slaves separately from the plantation and to free all of them twenty-five years from the date of the first sale following his death. A number of years later, several purchasers of the Poydras plantations violated the conditions of sale and Julien's nephew, Benjamin Poydras de la Lande, initiated a number of suits to protect the interest of some of the slaves, among whom Marie Vitrac [PAR # 20883528, 20883594, 20883609, and 20883937]..
Result: Rejected.
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Repository: Pointe Coupee Parish Courthouse, New Roads, Louisiana
