ALLEN W. ONEAL V. JOHN CADE, FRANKLIN CIRCUIT COURT, MISSISSIPPI, OCTOBER TERM, 1832: "ALLEN W. ONEAL BY HIS ATTORNEY COMPLAINS OF JOHN CADE... THE SAID PLAINTIFF AT THE SPECIAL INSTANCE AND REQUEST OF THE SAID DEFENDANT WOULD WITH NINE NEGROES (TO THE BENEFIT OF WHOSE LABOUR THE SAID PLAINTIFF WAS ENTITLED) PICK OUT COTTON FOR THE SAID DEFENDANT." DEFENDANT FAILED TO PAY PLAINTIFF, ALTHOUGH "HE DID WITH NINE NEGROES PICK OUT COTTON FOR THE SAID DEFENDANT FOR THE SPAN OF TWO WEEKS AND THAT HIS WORK AND LABOUR IN PICKING OUT SAID COTTON WAS REASONABLY WORTH THE SUM OF SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS, WHEREBY THE SAID DEFENDANT BECAME INDEBTED TO THE SAID PLAINTIFF...

[Franklin County, MS, 1832. Folio, 7.75" x 12.25". [4] pp, folded, entirely in manuscript. The writing on either side of the first leaf is visible from the other side, but everything is legible. Oneal's Complaint appears on the first two pages and on five lines of page three, where it is signed by his lawyer. A nine-line summary of the case, in different handwriting, is also on page [3]. Page [4] contains defendant's scribbled answer, by his attorney R.W. Webber; an accounting of the costs incurred in the case; a notation of defendant's verdict; attorneys' signatures; and docketing information. Age toned, old folds, several small holes along top fold [loss of a few words]. Signatures of attorneys appear on final page on panel with defendant's answer. Good+.

John Cade [1788-1839] lived in Franklin County. The parties were probably local farmers. Richard W. Webber [c.1798-1843], Cade's lawyer, was born in Virginia and settled in Franklin County. A Whig and State representative, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1830. He was for a time the editor of the Jackson Independent Journal. [JOURNAL OF MISSISSIPPI HISTORY, Vol. 7, Page 148; and Volume 21[-22], Page 34.]. (Inventory #: 31197)