Amaron Ledoux, Alphonse Miltenberger, And George O. Hall, Plaintiffs in Error v. John Black

This cause is brought here from the supreme court of Louisiana, by writ of error, under the 25th section of the judiciary act of 1789. The only question presented for our consideration is, which party has the better right to the land in dispute? The defendant, Black, claims title under an entry made in 1808, and a patent founded on the entry, dated in 1810, in the name of General Lafayette, for a thousand acres. The validity of this title as against the United States is not denied; but the plaintiffs claim to have an elder title, by virtue of a concession to Ursino Bouligny, of forty arpens front by forty arpens in depth, dated January 10, 1796, of which the plaintiffs are assignees. They allege that under an act of congress of February, 1813, Bouligny prosecuted his claim to the proper register and receiver, who reported in its favor on the 20th of November, 1816; that their report was confirmed by act of congress, the 11th of May, 1820, and that claim was regularly surveyed by order of the surveyor-general of Louisiana, in 1843, and the survey approved in 1844. To show the point made and decided on these facts, by the supreme court of Louisiana, we give an extract of their opinion, which is found in the record:–– 'Conceding,' (says the court,) 'for the sake of argument, that the claim of the plaintiffs was filed in the land-office in the manner required by law, before the issuing of the patent to General Lafayette; that it has been confirmed by the act of congress of the 11th of May, 1820, and that the confirmation should be made to refer back to the date of the original title, unless that title or a survey made under it by the Spanish surveyor, in compliance with the order of the governor, will enable the court to ascertain the specific boundaries of the land granted, the location of the warrant under which the patent issued to General Lafayette cannot be disturbed. We have uniformly adhered to the rule laid down by our predecessors in the cases of Lefebvre v. Cameau, 11 L. R. 323; Slack v. Orillon, 11 L. R. 587; Lott et al. v. Prudhomme et al. 3 R. R. 293; Metoyer v. Larenaudi ere, 6 R. R. 139.