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Louisiana. Commercial Court (Orleans Parish) Suits relating to the slave mutiny aboard the brig Creole, 1841 [Docket Nos. 4408, 4409, 4410, 4411, 4413, 4414, 4419] 1 carton
Seven lawsuits suits brought against insurance companies by owners of slaves involved in the revolt aboard
the ship
Creole on November 7, 1841:
The Creole, sailing from Richmond, Va. to New Orleans, was seized by the slaves and sailed to
Nassau, where
the slaves not directly involved in the mutiny were freed by British authorities and the Creole was sent
on to New
Orleans.
The insurers of the Creole slaves declined to reimburse the policy holders for their losses, claiming
that the
policies excepted insurrection, suicide, desertion or natural death as causes of recovery. The owners
brought suit against
the insurance companies in Commercial Court in New Orleans.
In addition to the pleadings, transcripts of testimony, and other suit-generated documents, the records also
include
transcripts of testimony taken by British officials in Nassau and lists of slaves aboard the ship. Although
there is no
evidence that any of these cases were consolidated in the lower court, a number of documents bear all
three docket
numbers 4413, 4414, & 4419. These documents are foldered separately.
Most of these cases were appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court. Docket #s 4411 and 4413 were
consolidated on
appeal.
The suits are available on microfilm.
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