The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1812-05-01

Mr.. Jefferson irfers from various cireun, stances
HAT this must haze been l, OF by permission from
The government. Bertrand G,a'icr pr0ce:d died to
sell the lots OF his ne" ts1.NDourg, an. parCie,ariy
hc sod the whole range next the r:vcr.t Suei.
dec's for these lots have been produced dies.
crbcs then, ms hacienda frente al ro,' Fronting
the river himself ON all OCCASIONS declared
that he had sold his lots faisant face feuve"
Whatever extent then towscls the river had passed
to hiu,untcr such expressions, passed by him to tue
purchasers o. the front lots " IL the wurds face
an leuye, gave Inn cniy the road and levec. he
BY the same words gave them fart!.erif TO the
water edge, then lac sold 10 the water edge aiso,
and having parted with all his right riparian
possesser, could transmit to those claiming
unn'r hin by subsequent lille, as the plant IA
does"
| Mr.. J. proceeds with his narrative
In 1877, Bertrand Graver died intestate aud
| at tiis epoch we must introduce what
constitutes the sole Object OF the existing Reach ~
contest. Opposite to the habitaton B'..,,.e
plantation Of b. Grsyer, the faux
bourg Ste. Marie, the beach of the river,
called in thst county Battare, of ordinary breadth
within memory, has sensbly increased, by deposits
oil earth, during the annual floods, OF the river,
lDerb. xix. ill in the year 1906, it was found to
extend in breadth AT low tide, from ICE to 2T yards
oil our measure, from the water edge into tie III
'er--and from about feet height, where it abuts
against the bank, declining to the water edge. See
Pe'ietier's plan annexed. Thiery xvii. While ui-
covered, winch is from August january inclu-
sive, 1t has served Quai tor lang and unas'ing
| goods, slowing away lumber and hrewood, and has
iurn'shcd all the earth for building the city, and
raising ts streets and courts essential in that ooZy
soil. nerb. ii. While covered, which is curing the
other 9 months OF the year, from February to July
inclusive, Lv, S. Poydras 20 81. s3.j II is the
port ore!i the small craft u the RIVER aud espcc
ally Tor the boats Of the upper country, which, in
the season o. high water, land or lie no where
else IN the neighbpurhood OF the city. During this
period they anchor on it's bottom, moor toits
bank 1t is then IKE every other beach, the bed OF
tte rirer one half the year, and Quai the other
halt distinguished from those Of tldewaters, by be-
ms subject to annual, instead OF semiarnal ebb
and Hood. In this beach ssoal, with the bank to
, which 1t is adjacent, if Bertrand Grayier claimed
any right, riparian proprietor Of the habitauon
he had certainly meant convey that right 70 the
purchasers ofthe front lots, by the term frcnte al
r'o' fronting the river, reservig expressly, as we
nave seen, from one purchaser OF SO lots, right to
take earth, from the beach, for his brekkilns. AS
ne died without children, the inheritance belonged
TO John Gravier, ard other brothers and sisters
whom he had left in Faance, OF their representa-
! tIves eo-heirs. ..
" BY the civil law, if an heir accepts the inheri
tance, ne i, considered, not merely as the repre-
sentative, but as containing tie person OF the ances
Tor himself, is a,swerable or all his debts, aud cut
iW all his property, as well his own, what he had
.lYewly acquired by ti,c inheritance. Time, there
I'VE, wss allow ed hiTn Inform himself of the
i uNon OF the estate and de5ts, during which it
"aAcons,dered AZ hacreditas jacens, vested in
bodS 1t he declined taking the inheritance sim
4 Ply y heir, he allowed to take it us purcha-
H.. i .
ser DIN their language, IS heir which the benefit of
linventSy-whereupon an inventory anu apprsise
'nent y II took place, aud he had the preemptoB
| * the appraised value. HI VAS then liable to no
more de4s than the amount Il the appraisement (; *
Ii there WIRE surplus OF the appraised value
and above Ne debts, it his, il single heir
lnriuoncd\ anong tie eo-hdirs, pa,oeners, 1T
there were more than one. Brown. civ. law, 1.
2lS. 500. KA;m's law tracts, 800 Gibbons c. ~
i53. Bertrand Gravier is understood to have left
France indebtSl and insolvent-and John Gravier,
therefore, ethS kaowiug, &C. ignorant OF the a
:. mount OF the deats, chose on behalf or perhaps in
detiaud of the c,heirs, to decline the inheritance,
ana To take the Estate purchaser by invento-
y ry and appraisemSnt 1t inyentored and ap-
praised In the in%ntory is placed single article
ct lands, in these ws are placed in the in vento-
ry the lands of disqualification, whose extent can
not be calculated Immediately, on account of his
having sold many lots but MIR. n. Gravier informs
Us that IT'S bounds go 10 the forks of the bayou,
cnifiIns to the titles Aud in the apprasenient al
50 there put this Jingle article of lands, thus
nescilbed about thirteenarpents of land, of which
pe iaO,tauon rs estimated, jnciudng the garden, of
M''eh The most useful parts taken off in the front,
the residue consisting OF the ipwest part, wit that
discerning back TO the bayou the side being sold TO
navarro, one Percy, and the negro Zamba, u por-
ton OF which, &c estimated at 100 d. the front "a
i cfe,With all the depth, which makes 2470 d.. Then
iohows the adjudication, Which aliufees to John
Hraver the effects, real cstaN moveables and
saves sohEch base been ivenfoyisd as belonging to
the estate OF his deceased brother bertrand Gavier
exc report. g. 10 We see then that no lands were
inVentOried but the thirteen arpentsn front COM
posing the habitatien. And it is npassibe that that
term should be meant to nclIule the beach of the
rver,eut oil from it by the Intervention the whole
tauNbodIg OF seven ranges of sguarcs--n that thew
should not have used obvious expression If
the idea OF the beach had been in their minds No
body could consider these two parcels distant and
hIsJoine.l rs they were, being one pavcel oulv
one habitstion. No man having two farms, or two
tracts OF land, separated by the lands of Sthers
would expect that by devsingor conveying one the
other would pass also. Ia fact, at that time ne-
ther John Grarier nor any else, considered the
neh" .s e!.yy i::'. & tic
and In the ADVERTISEMENT, they estimate the front
arpentS, (tat is, fronting the fauXbOurg,) Nth
all their depth to the bayou, at 100 Dollars The
front arpent contemplating clearly only what Was
between the fauxbOurg and BAYOU. Accordingly
Fernandez, acting for the Dcpostor General, the
/ legal officer III those cases, that he TOOK
charge and possession of all the estate according to
the inventory which had been made from the 3Stb
OF June to the 9Th of July 1907, that in that in.
iNchtory, the battdre mentioned or heard
Of as property OF Grayier, in charge OF the de.
postor, aud that, on delivering the estate to John
| Grayier the batture never spoken of. 1t is G.
quaily certain tst had there been an idea that tey
were smuggling ,bc batture away, through these pro-
1 ecediDSs, The citizens of New Orleans would not
have been 50 silent, the Governor the Cabiido
and other Spanish authorities passive, when 40
active on ali former occasions respecting the battur,
and that had the bature been under the view OF
the appraisers instead Of estimating it at 2i7O dol.
lars, conjcntly with other thirteen arpcnts very
diiierent sum must have been named. The batturc
alone is now estimated at hall mil lion of Dollars
But the truth Is, that neither John GravieT nor
any one else, nj day, considered it but as pub
| lic property. And for years ensuing he never
| manifested one symptom of ownership; until Mr..
Ciungston's arrival there from New-York, will,