Index to Habeas Corpus Records
First Judicial District Court, 1831-1846
District judges were among those empowered to grant writs of habeas corpus. Individuals were allowed to petition a judge for such writs. The petition was to state that the party applying for the writ was imprisoned or otherwise deprived of his liberty. The writ of habeas corpus if effect ordered the imprisoner to bring the imprisoned before the issuing judge who was to then determine whether or not to grant freedom to the imprisoned party.
First Judicial District Court kept a separate docket for habeas corpus matters but it has not survived. It is unclear as to why the records do not begin until 1831. The Habeas Corpus Records end in 1846 when the First Judicial District Court ceased to exist. Use the index below to locate the docket number of individual suit records to request access.
| Docket Number | Name | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | James McGary | 1831 | |
| 5 | James Mitchell | 1833 | Seeking the return of his infant daughter. |
| 13a | Michael Flynn, James Myers, John Fitzgerald, Patrick O'Brian | 1838 | |
| 13b | Spencer Logan | 1838 | A negro boy who once lived in France. |
| 15 | Martin Steib | 1838 | Attempting to have his daughter released from an indecent situation with another individual. |
| 16 | Robert Mitchell | 1838 | |
| 17 | James Cassedy | 1838 | Attempting to secure the release of a boy, of whom he had temporary custordy, from another individual. |
| 18 | D. F. J. Maloy | 1837 | |
| 21 | Thomas Wharton Collens | 1838 | Collens, Deputy Clerk of the U.S. Circuit Court, seeks his release from imprisonment on contempt of court charges stemming from his refusal to turn over records in another matter. |
| 22 | Charles Cora | 1838 | |
| 23 | Felix (fmc) | 1839 | Included is a police report on other free men of color who were arrested for playing cards with white persons and slaves at a grog shop on Gallatin Street. |
| 25 | John Whilberger | 1839 | Seeking the release of his seven year old son from the custordy of Thomas Iler. |
| 26 | Solomon Andrews | 1839 | |
| 27 | Marie Noel alias Nounoute | 1839 | A "quartroon" illegally detained in the Police Jail. |
| 28 | Louis Chabert | 1839 | Seeking the release of his young son who has been placed on a ship bound for France. A copy of the child's French birth record in included. |
| 29 | Anna Marie Alfonse | 1839 | Seeking the release of her young daughter from custody of a St. Bernard Parish couple. Alfonse was the wife of Antonio Cerise. |
| 30 | Leonard C. Barber | 1839 | |
| 31 | Louis D. Fleury | 1840 | Seeking custody of his two young children who are being concealed by their mother who he is in the process of divorcing. |
| 32 | Abraham Colby | 1840 | |
| 37 | Archibald Hotchkiss | 1840 | |
| 38 | Pierre Dastugue | 1840 | |
| 39a | Samuel Scott, Joseph Rogers, Joshua Riddle, James Morgan, Charles Thompson, James Groves, Jonas Malcolm | 1840 | All were branch pilots who were arrested by order of a Plaquemines Parish Justice of the Peace and imprisoned in a barn since no other jail space was available. |
| 39b | Jonas King Murphy | 1840 | For contempt of court. |
| 40 | Brigette Cicet (Widow of Bernard Anglade) | 1840 | Seeking the release of her fifteen year old daughter from custody of her son-in-law in St. John the Baptist Parish. |
| 41 | Charles F. O'Conner | 1840 | |
| 44 | Jack Bowers | 1840 | |
| 49 | Jean Baptiste Roussillon (fmc) | 1840 | Charged as an "incorrigible vagabond and a suspicious man of color." |
| 50 | William Weed | 1840 | |
| 51 | F. A. Weed | 1840 | |
| 52 | Daniel De Putron, Osborn Abbott, Luis Bargasse, Manuel Domingos, John Rathbone, John Tally, Michel Myhan | 1841 | Charged with piracy. |
| 53 | Charles Valles | 1841 | Deserter from a French ship. |
| 74 | Thomas Powell | 1844 | Claiming that he is being held more or less in "debtor's prison." |
| 77 | E. W. Nance | 1844 | Includes testimony on witnesses to Nance's movements in New Orleans. |
| 78a | J. B. Ross | 1845 | Seeking the release of his minor child from a man in Mississippi. |
| 78b | Manuel castein (fmc) | 1845 | Involving a charge of assault and battery brought against Joseph Zamore (fmc). Castein apparently was the victim. Includes statements of witnesses. |
| 80 | Jefferson J. Bryant | 1845 | |
| 81 | Charles K. Wise | 1845 | Seeking the release of his minor daughter from custody of his in-laws. |
| 87 | Pietro Craglick, Mateo Fortunato | 1846 | They were Austrian nationals. |
| 90 | Dermot Jerome Brennan | 1846 | Accused of murder in the state of Mississippi. |
