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Description and Holding Information
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1808, Examination of the U.S. claim … to the Batture
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Examination of the claim of the United States and the pretensions of Edward Livingston, Esq. to the batture in front of the suburb of St. Mary. New
Orleans, printed by Thierry & Co., 1808. [In the old style, f is used for s. The background for the print is somewhat dark. Batture means alluvial
land between a levee and the low water line of a river, subject to frequent flooding and usually considered public land. The Law Library of Louisiana
has a guide, with maps, to this controversy: lasc.libguides.com] The suburb of St. Mary was surveyed in 1788 for Mr. Gravier. In 1796, he included
three streets in the batture, but when anyone attempted to build on the land, the civic authorities removed the buildings; the Spanish always
considered the batture to be public land. When the United States acquired New Orleans in the Louisiana Purchase, a younger Mr. Gravier decided to take
advantage of federal ignorance and filed a claim to the batture. The local authorities would not allow it, so Gravier sued. The first court decision
allowed his claim, but another attorney pointed out that the United States owned the land, so no claim would be allowed. In March of 1807, President
Jefferson directed the local Marshall to take possession of the land, despite the protestations of Mr. Livingston, Gravier's attorney. From p. 6-44, Mr.
Thierry expounded on all the issues in the case, relying heavily on Roman jurisprudence: rivers and streams were public property, were alluvion and
batture the same, the difference between a dike and a levee, who can build one, the difference between rural and urban riverbanks. On p. 45 is the
decision of the Grand Jury that did not support Gravier/Livingston. P. 46-52 were depositions of pertinent people, such as surveyors. Scan 53-54 were
maps, 55-56 showed ownership of certain tracts.
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Title:
Examination of the claim of the United States and of the pretentions of Edward Livingston, Esq. to the batture in front of the suburb St. Mary.
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OCLC Number:
1335715983
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Available Volumes
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