USA > Louisiana > Historical memoirs of Louisiana, from the first settlement of the colony to the departure of Governor O'Reilly in 1770; > Part 26
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22. When any one shall die intestate, and without having empowered another to make a will for him, in the manner hereinbefore explained, if there be no legitimate children, or ascendants, who can inherit, the rela- tions by blood and kindred of the fourth degree shall inherit the whole of the property ; observing that the nearest relations shall inherit of right, and to the exclusion of those who may be further removed, unless the nearest relations shall be brothers of the deceased ; in which case, the children of the other brothers, who shall have died previous to the decease of the per- son intestate, shall take a portion of the whole ; that is to say, that if one brother, and three or four children of another brother, be living, the said children shall be entitled to an equal proportion, or one-half of the property ; and the brother, uncle of the said children, shall inherit the other half, by reason that the nephews succeed by representation of their father, and not in their own right. This rule shall be followed in the division of estates when there may be a greater or less number of heirs ; the foregoing being intended for an example.
23. If the deceased shall have neither ascendants nor descendants capable of inheriting, in the order explained, in the preceding article ; the king shall be his heir, and the property shall be vested in the treasury or royal chamber. .
24. Those who have not legitimate descendants may will in favor of their illegitimate children, although they may have ascendants. It must be understood that by illegitimate children are meant those born of a tree
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girl, to whose marriage with the father of the said children no legal im pediment existed. Those children shall succeed in their own right, to their mother, and shall inherit the whole of their property, whether she may have died intestate, or otherwise, and shall have a preference over the ascendants, in case she shall have no legitimate children, who would otherwise inherit, to the exclusion of the illegitimate children.
25. Illegitimate children of every description shall incontestably suc- ceed to their mother, if she have no legitimate children or descendants, even to the exclusion of her father or other ascendants.
26. The father and mother having legitimate children or descendants, cannot give, by way of maintenance, to their illegitimate children, more than the fifth part of their property; of which proportion they may also dispose for the benefit of their souls, or by a legacy to a stranger ; except- ing from the foregoing, the children of ecclesiastics, or monks, who can- not in any manner inherit from their parents or kindred. nor pretend to anything possessed by them during their lives.
27. A son or daughter, while under the authority of the father, being of competent age, that is to say, the son being fourteen, and the daughter being twelve, may will in the same manner as if they were emancipated from their parent, and may dispose of the third part of their property by succession, donation, or in another manner, unless derived from the father, who shall inherit the remaining two-thirds in the same manner as the mother or other ascendant.
Table of Fees, demandable by Judges, Lawyers, Escribanos, Attorneys, and the other Officers of Justice.
JUDGES .- For a signature containing the baptismal and family name of the judge, four reals in silver dollars of America, as also for the other fees hereafter detailed. They shall put the aforesaid signature to judgments, decrees, warrants, titles, and despatches which they may deliver for another tribunal. They shall exact but two reals in the same money for a signature containing their family name only, and the same for their cipher.
For a sitting of two hours and a half, in cases of inventories, seizures, assessments, public sales, adjudications of real or personal property. proces- verbaux, declarations, examinations, and other acts of justice of whatsoever nature, two ducats, equal to twenty-two reals in milled dollars. For affix- ing the seals, in case of death, one ducat. If a longer time be necessary for the security of the property, the fee may be augmented in proportion to the time that shall be employed. For the opening of a will, and the examination of the seven witnesses, which should precede the opening of the will, forty-eight reals, viz: forty-four for two sittings, and the other
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four for the signatures to the two instruments. They shall receive four ducats per diem while employed in the country, to continue until their return to their own houses ; they shall be decently entertained, and shall be provided with a horse and other things necessary.
ASSESSORS shall have also two ducats for each sitting in the city, and ' four for the country, either with or without commission. They shall charge one real per leaf for revising documents, they paying due attention to the bulk of the same, to the circumstances of the case, and to what may be only a continuation of the usual business.
THE ALCALDE MAYOR PROVINCIAL, AND THE OFFICERS OF THE SAINT HERMANDAD shall receive the same fees as the other royal judges, for their signatures and their sittings.
REGIDORS .- In causes of little importance, which may be brought be- fore the cabildo by appeal, two regidors shall be appointed as commission- ers, conjointly with the judge, who shall have pronounced the previous sentence. In all such cases they shall receive the same fees as the judge for their signatures and sittings.
THE ALGUAZIL MAYOR .- In common executions against debtors, they shall require payment, and if the same be not complied with within seventy-two hours from the moment of the summons, the said debtors shall pay, besides the fees to the judge and the other officers of justice, the tenth to the alguazil mayor, which is five milled dollars for the first hundred dollars, and two and a half dollars for every other hundred dollars; so that if the execution be issued for three hundred dollars, he shall take ten dol- lars for the tenth. He shall not, however, exact the same until the creditor . be satisfied in the sum for which the execution be given.
THE DEPOSITARY GENERAL shall take three per cent. on all sums in specie, which may come into his possession by way of deposit, and the same for plate, jewels, or other personal property which may be deposited with him.
· For real estate, as houses, plantations, and other property yielding reve- nue, he shall take five per cent. upon the said revenue, which shall be his compensation for the management of said property, for receiving the proceeds thereof, and for rendering an account of the same to the tribunal by whom he is appointed, whenever he shall be required thereto. He shall also take five per cent. upon the proceeds of the labor of all slaves in his care, who may not be employed upon the estate.
Whenever bonds or notes shall be deposited with him, he shall take five per cent. upon the sums which he may recover on account of the same.
LAWYERS .- The fees of lawyers shall be settled by another lawyer whom the judge shall appoint : and for every sitting their compensation shall be the same as that of the judges and assessors. But when they may be employed in examining documents in order to assist at a court, they shall be paid separately.
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. ESCRIBANOS shall have fifteen reals for a sitting in the city, and thirty per diem when employed in the country, to be continued until their return to their own houses, and two reals for each leaf of writing, and they shall be furnished with a conveyance, and decently entertained.
For the opening of a will, the examination of the seven witnesses which should precede the same, and legacies to the church, fifty-two reals.
For a copy of a decree or a provision, one real. For an act, two reals. For a notification, citation, or participation, two reals. For a declaration in his own house, six reals; or, if elsewhere, eight reals ; and two reals for cach leaf of writing either in his own house or elsewhere. For a despatch, two reals per leaf, and eight for the commencement and conclusion of the same. For each leaf of an exemplification of an act, one real and three quartillas, and one real for his signature. For duplicates, or copies of documents drawn from his record, two reals per leaf.
For a bill of sale of slaves, twelve reals. For a sale of personal property, which usually contains two leaves, two dollars ; and if the same shall con- tain more on account of the conditions which the parties may wish to be inserted, he may augment in proportion. For a simple bond, eight reals ; for a bond with mortgage, twelve reals; and if there be several mortgages comprised in the said bond, he shall be paid according to the labor and trouble he may have had in drawing up the same. For a receipt. cight reals. For an agreement, according to the number of leaves the same may contain; and if an examination of documents be necessary, the same should be taken into consideration, and the charge should be at least doubled.
For a will containing three or four sheets, four dollars, and augmented in proportion to the number of sheets.
THE RECORDER OF MORTGAGES .- For a certificate relative to a house, plantation, or other real property, eight reals. For a certificate of a slave, from one to the number of eighteen, four reals ; and from that number to one hundred, twelve reals for each certificate. For a certificate of a mort- gage on a vessel, four reals. For recording in the book of mortgages, those given for the security of payments, either for personal property, slaves, or vessels, four reals; and if the same be of an unusual length, eight reals; but when ouly a short note to designate the page in which the mortgage is recorded be required, no charge shall be made.
ATTORNEYS .- For an introductory demand, five reals. For assisting in the city, at an inventory, sale, adjudication, or seizure, twelve reals; for the same in the country, if employed a whole day, three dollars. If, how- ever, the case requires much writing, they shall be paid according to the time that the lawyer may have been employed in drawing up the said case.
THE JUMCIARY CONTADOR .- For every five hours employed in prepar- ing an account for settlement, four ducats, making forty-four reals, observ- ing that five hours shall be accounted a day ; and out of the aforesaid sum
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he shall pay four reals to the escribano for each sheet of twenty-five lines to a page.
' THE ASSESSOR OF COSTS shall be paid one quartilla for each sheet of the documents contained in the cause, the costs of which he shall assess. Four quartillas make a real.
APPRAISERS OF PERSONAL PROPERTY, SLAVES, AND OTHER EFFECTS .- To the exchange broker, for the valuation of furniture, houses, slaves, merchandise, &c., eleven reals, notwithstanding the appraisement may re- quire two hours and a half.
ALARIFS, EXPERTS OF CARPENTRY, AND ASSAYERS OF SILVER .- Alarifs, experts of carpentry, masonry and joinery, shall have a ducat for every thousand dollars of the amount of the appraisement ; and if the same shall exceed four, six, or eight thousand, they shall not demand more than four ducats; but if they be employed in the country, and the appraisement shall not amount to one thousand dollars, they shall have two ducats per diem during the time they may be employed, on account of the distance. If, however, one day only shall be necessary, although the appraisement shall amount to three or four thousand dollars, they shall be paid as if the same had been made in the city; but they shall be furnished with a horse, and shall be decently entertained. The assayer of silver shall have eleven reals for each appraisement. although the articles may be valuable, by reason that little time is required for that purpose.
THE APPRAISERS OF LAND shall have two ducats per diem, and the same when they shall value buildings of little consequence in the country, wood- land, and fields in grain.
SURVEYORS shall have three ducats per diem.
THE ALGUAZILS shall have four reals for a summons to appear, and for a demand of payment. They shall also receive the same sum for obtain- ing documents of every description. They shall have eight reals for arrest- ing and conducting to prison. The sergeant, in this case, shall have the same.
JAIL FEES-The alguazil mayor shall have twelve reals for every free person imprisoned, and eight reals for a slave.
AT NEW-ORLEANS, the £5th November, 1769.
DON ALEXANDER O'REILLY.
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. Don Alexander O' Reilly, Commander of Benfayan, of the order of Alcanta- ra, Inspector-General of Infantry, appointed by special commission, Gover- nor and Cuptain-General of this province of Louisiana.
DIVERS complaints and petitions which have been addressed to us by inhabitants of Opelausas, Attakapas, Natchitoches and other places of this province, joined to the knowledge we have acquired of the local concerns, . culture, and means of the inhabitants, by the visit which we have lately made to the German Coast, Acadian Coast, Iberville, and Pointe Coupée, with the examination we have made of the reports of the inhabitants as- sembled, by our order, in each distriet. having convinced us that the tran- quillity of the said inhabitants, and the progress of cultivation required a new regulation, which should fix the extent of the grants of lands, which shall hereafter be made, as well as the enclosures, eleared lands, road and bridges, which the inhabitants are bound to keep in repair, and to point out the damage by cattle, for which the proprietors shall be responsible. For these causes, and having nothing in view but the public good, and the happiness of every inhabitant, after having advised with persons well . informed in these matters, we have regulated all those objects in the fol- lowing articles :*
1. There shall be granted to each newly arrived family who may wish to establish itself on the borders of the river, six or eight arpents in front, (according to the means of the cultivator,) by forty arpents in depth; in order that it may have the benefit of the cypress wood, which is as neces- sary as it is useful to the inhabitants.
2. The grantees established on the borders of the river shall be held bound to make, within the three first years of possession, levees sufficient for the preservation of the land, and the ditches necessary to carry off the water. They shall, besides, keep the roads in good repair, of the width of at least forty feet between the inner ditch which runs along the levee and · the barrier, with bridges of twelve feet over the ditehes which may eross the roads. The said grantees shall be held bound, within the said term of three years' possession, to clear the whole front of their land to the depth of two arpents; and, in default of fulfilling those conditions, their lands shall revert to the king's domain, to be granted again ; and the judge of each place shall be responsible to the governor for the superintendence of this regulation.
3. The said grants can neither be sold nor alienated by the proprietors, until after three years possession, and until the above mentioned conditions shall have been entirely fulfilled. To guard against every evasion in this respeet, the sales of the said lands cannot be made without a written per- mission from the governor-general, who will not grant it until, on strict inquiry, it shall be found that the conditions above explained have been duly executed.
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4. The points formed by the lands on the Mississippi River, leaving in some places but little depth, there may be granted, in these cases, twelve arpents of front; and, on a supposition that these points should not be ap- plied for by any inhabitant, they shall be distributed to the settlers nearest thereto, in order that the communication of the roads may not be inter- rupted.
. 5. If a tract belonging to minors should remain uncleared, and the levees and the roads should not be kept in repair, the judge of the quarter shall inquire into the cause thereof. If attributable to the guardian, he shall oblige him to conformi promptly to this regulation ; but if arising from want of means in the minors, the judge. after having, by a verbal process, obtained proof thereof, shall report the same to the governor- general, to the end that the said land inay be sold for the benefit of the minors, (a special favor, granted to minors only ;) but if no person shall, within six months, be found, the said land shall be conceded gratis.
. 6. Every inhabitant shall be held bound to enclose, within three years. the whole front of his land which shall be cleared; and for the remainder of his enclosure he will agree with his neighbors, in proportion to his cleared lands and his means.
7. Cattle shall be permitted to go at large, from the eleventh of Novem- ber of one year, to the fifteenth of March of the year following; and at all other times the proprietor shall be responsible for the damage that his cattle may have done to his neighbors. He who shall have suffered the damage may complain to the judge of the district, who, after having satisfied him- self of the truth thereof, shall name experienced men to estimate the value of the same, and shall then order remuneration without delay.
8. No grant in Opelousas, Attakapas, and Natchitoches shall exceed one league in front by one league in depth ; but when the land granted shall not have that depthi, a league and a half in front by half a league in depth may be granted.
9. To obtain in the Opelousas, Attakapas and Natchitoches, a grant of forty-two arpents in front by forty-two arpents in depth, the applicant must make it appear that he is possessor of one hundred head of tame cattle, some horses and sheep, and two slaves to look after them ; a proportion of which shall always be observed for the grants to be made in the said places, but none shall ever be made of greater extent than that declared in the preceding article.
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10. All cattle shall be branded by the proprietors; and those who shall not have branded them at the age of eighteen months cannot thereafter claim any property therein.
11. Nothing being more injurious to the inhabitants than strayed cattle, without the destruction of which tame cattle cannot increase, and the in- habitants will continue to labor under those evils of which they have so often complained to us; and considering that the province is at present
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infested with strayed cattle, we allow to the proprietors until the 1st day of July, of the next year, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and no longer, to collect and kill, for their use, the said strayed cattle; after which time they shall be considered wild, and may be killed by any per- son whomsoever, and no one shall oppose himself thereto. or lay claim to any property therein.
11. All grants shall be made in the name of the king, by the governor- general of the province, who will, at the same time appoint a surveyor to fix the bounds thereof, both in front and depth, in presence of the ordinary. judge of the district, and of two adjoining settlers, who shall be present at the survey. The above mentioned four persons shall sign the proces- verbal which shall be made thereof, and the surveyor shall make three copies of the same : one of which shall be deposited in the office of the escribano of the government and cabildo. and another shall be delivered to the governor-general, and the third to the proprietor, to be annexed to the titles of his grant.
In pursuance of the powers which our lord. the king. (whom God pre- serve) has been pleased to confide to us, by his patent issued at Aranjuez, the 16th of April, 1869. to establish in the military, the police, and in the administration of justice, and his finances, such regulation as should be conducive to his service and the happiness of his subjects in this colony, with the reserve of his majesty's good pleasure, we order and command the governor, judges, cabildo, and all the inhabitants of this province, to conform punctually to all that is required by this regulation.
Given at NEW-ORLEANS, the 18th February, 1770.
DON ALEXANDER O'REILLY.
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