De Montault v. United States

This court again decides, as in 9 Howard, 127, 280, and 10 Howard, 609, that, with respect to the tract of country between the Mississippi and Perdido rivers, south of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, the authorities of Louisiana had no right to make grants of land after the time of signing the treaty, by which it was ceded to Great Britain. That treaty having been signed on the 10th of February, 1763, a grant of land in the above tract of country, issued by the French Governor of Louisiana, on the 11th March, 1763, was void.

This was an appeal from the District Court of the United States for. the Southern District of Alabama. It was a petition presented under the act of 1824, relating to land titles in' Misscrari, as revived and made applicable by the act of 1844, to that part of the State of Alabama, below the thirty-first degree of north latitude. The petition sets forth: “ That your petitioners are the only heirs of the Chevalier Montault de Monterault, who, many years since, departed this life intestate, in the then province, now State, of Louisiana. Your petitioners further allege; that heretofore, to wit, on the third day of January, in the year seventeen hundred and sixty-three, the said Chevalier Montault de Monterault petitioned the then governor of the Colony of Louisiana for the grant of a tract of land lying south of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, and between the rivers Mississippi and Perdido, and within the State of Alabama, bounded by the rivers La Batture, now known as bayou Batee, the Gulf of Mexico, and Fowl River, extending into the interior to the sources of those rivers, and especially that branch of Fowl River, known as the Elwer or Leslay, which, approaching each other, form a tract of land or cul-de-sac. “Your petitioners further allege that, heretofore, to wit, on the eleventh day of March, in the year seventeen hundred and sixty-three, Louis de Kerlerac, then governor of the Colony of Louisiana, and Dennis Nicholas Faucault, performing the functions .of commissary ordonnateur of said province, holding their appointments under the King of France, executed and delivered to the said Chevalier Montault de Monterault, a grant to said tract of land, by virtue of which he possessed it for many years, and used it for the purpose of cultivation, raising horses and cattle, and making tar; and the said Montault de Monterault was, at the time of making said grant, a resident of Louisiana; and said grant is protected by the treaty between the United States and France for the cession of Louisiana. Your petitioners allege that he never aliened the said land, that it belonged to him at the time of his death, and-that it has descended to your petitioners as his legal heirs, and that it contains about forty-five thousand superficial acres. “ Your petitioners allege, that their claim aforesaid has not been submitted to the examination of any of the tribunals which .have been constituted by Jaw for the adjustment of land-titles, nor reported on by such tribunal. Wherefore, your petitioners pray that the validity of their claim aforesaid may be inquired into and decided by the said court; and reserving the right of amending their petition, and of making other persons parties to this proceeding if necessary, they pray that a copy- of this their petition be served on the District Attorney of tne United States for the Southern District of Alabama/ And they further pray, that, after proper proceedings, it may be decreed by this court that the title held by your petitioners to the above-described tract of land is good as against the United States and all persons claiming under them, and that they may be permitted to locate, elsewhere a quantity of land equal to-what the government, of the United States may have sold or granted within the limits of the grant aforesaid to the Chevalier Montault de Monterault; and your petitioners pray for other and further relief, such as the nature of their case may require.” To this petition the District Attorney filed a general demurrer. The District Judge sustained the demurrer, and the petitioners ' brought the case up to this court.