James J. Powell

Powell was an overseer employed by a Mississippi planter named Catherine S. Daniell to transport 160 Refugeed Slaves from Tensas Parish, Louisiana, to Texas around the time of the fall of Vicksburg in 1863. He subsequently returned with almost all of the enslaved people in December 1865 and sued Daniell for repayment of $2000 with interest that she had promised to pay him for his services. He lost in a lower court but won in his appeal to the Supreme Court.¹ The testimony documents his experiences hiring out slaves and working at Salt Works after settling in Smith County.

Links:

• Records from James J. Powell v. Catherine S. Daniell (23 La. Ann. 289)
• Transcription of case made by Ashley in Spring 2015 for RA Assignments
• Brief summary of the case by schafer1997.