Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1844-06-08

who was against the first Bank, afterwards
sanctioned The second u. s.. Bank, which
makes thirteen of Tie trainers Of the Constitu.
tiUn for the coustituIiOnality and expedieney
Of Il U. y. Bank, and only five against il, OH
either constitutional or other grounds.
l-
or Tho following letter, we hope, will sci
at rest the bugbear that bas been creating
such 4 fuss In the newspapers for some time
relative TO the undersigned gentleman, having
sud a free German woman as a slave:
TO THE, PUBLIC.
Several Of the newspapers of the city bav.
Ing commented upon a suit pending IN the
District Court, brought by A woman calling
herself Sally Miller against l.. Belmonti and
myself, in which said woman ciaitns 10 be free,
II has become necessary for NC to state some
facts, which may prevent the forming a hasiy
and'erroneoua opinion upon The subject. This
would have been done at an earlier date, but
my absence from The city for several weeks
past has prevented an ear ier notice Of these
publications. The circumstances which have
given rise 10 this suit seem, as far 40 fan
learn, to be the following !-On the 9th March,
1918, a large number Of German emigranfs sf.
rived ia three vessels al Now Orleans among
them was a man named Miller, a shoemaker,
who had three Clildreh-two girls and b boy.
Shortly after his arrival in New Orleans, This
Miller il satd to have left the city FIR Att8ka-
pas with bic children, and the witnesses say
that they heard some time after thii Miller
was dead and hta son drowned. 6G the Two
daughters the Witnesses iopl sjEif entirely
until tho last year, when they cay !54t hay
recognized hor in the person Of The plalutIff ~
this suit, by her resemblance 10 The family aud
by certain moles found On her person. TW,
Of tho witnesses, one of whom nursed the
child Of Miller In her infancy and was It's god.
mother, swear positively 10 its age--that it
was two years and two months old when 1t
left AIsace in 1917, and about three years old
when they arrived in New Orleans in March,
1918. The woman Bridget, sometimes called
Mary Bridget, and in this case naming herself
Sally Miller, was brought from Mobtleto New
Orleans in the summer OF 1892 by a man nam
ed Anthony Williams, and offered for sale an
a lnulattress and slave being unable to sell
her, he left The girl with me 10 be sold, aud
received from me an advance of one hundred
dollars, IL DO reimbursed on her sale, The
power Of attorney given by VILLAINS IS dated
in August, 1922, and is Witnessed by George
Pollock and Cornelius Hurst, both wall known
citizens Of New Orleans. In the month Of
February, 1898, ~ the agent Of Williams, ]
sold the girl TO my mother, by act before Car.
lille Pollock, N. p, and the power Of attorney
from Williams aud bis receipt of one hundred
dollars were annexed 10 The act of sale. and
have ever since remained deposited in the of
Era as 1aiI p,ttnrt tyhnpO fbny taav aiitl ha
seen. From that time she remained in the
house of my mother, as a domestic servant,
and, with the exception Of one or two months
in 1887, she has remained constantly in New
Orleans. In 1888 che was sold to Beltnonte,
and until the past year (so,nc 8 or III months
ago) / never heard Of any claim Of freedom
having been made by her, nor have | ever had
any reason 20 believe, or even suspect, that
she was other than a mulatto. had never
seen or heard Of her until she was left with
me by Williams. As to my having taken her
as a redemptioner, | can say that / have never
in my life had d German-man, woman or
child-bound to me, either as redempiioner or
apprentice. For the last thirly-six years !
have been well known as a resident Of New
Orleans. / think the position ! have ever oc-
is such that no person who has ever
known me can believe that | could be capable,
knowingly, of attempting 10 convert a whine
apprentice into a slave for life. But, apart
from this, | will refer to some facts which seem
10 contradict The supposed identity ofthe plain.
tiff with the German girl. The age Of the
German girl being proved positively TO have
been three years il 1918, she must have been
seven in 1922. But in the power Of attorney
from Williams, and in the act Of sale TO my
mother, the age Of the girl Bridget is stated to
be IL years.
There are a great number Of persons in the
city intimate with the family of my mother,
who have known the girl Bridget from the
she came into my. possession, and whs
are ready 10 depose that her appearance and
size at that time Indicated an age of about
twelve or thirteen years. The difference in
appearance at that period Of life is entirely too
great TO permit any intelligent person to mis-
take a child OF sevcn for one of twelve years
of age. But apart from this, other flcts will
be shown upon The trial which will furnish
conclusive evidence that the plaintiff was nos
less than twelve in 1922 / have also i1qui-
red # many persons ofthe highest respecta-
billy, intimate with my mother and myself.
who have kHowB the girl from the uma
she came iato m? Possession, whether she
spoke with a German accent. and they say,
v ithout exception, that they never observed
my such accent, nor cad any ofthem presume
or believe from her appearance that she was
nther than j light quaFteroon. Alter the evil
has been taken in court, a more full
statement can be made, and | think the fact
will be conelnsiveiy shown will destroy the
presumption Of freedom, which seems to have
arisen from an accidental resemblance. / have
mentioned these facts, not with the view IT
giving rise 10 a newspaper controversy, but
My in self defenre. would have been per.
willing TO leave the whole matter to The
courts, whose province 1t is To decide after
the testimony on both des out as
numerous publications in the papers have re.
the rather romantic pfeiensiona OF the
IN a manner to<gis e rise 10 injurious
nputatio1s upon my character, ! feel compel
to state the facts, so far al least az IL IN.
luce the public to suspend any further api1.
on until a full investigation has been had.
JOHN F. MrLLKR
The following lou hing incident we clip
rom the New York Mirror
AN AFFECTING lEcIDENr.-An eminent
lergyman one evening became the subject
+ conversation, and a wonder was expressed