of Louisiana was rooted in the traditions of the land's previous colonial overlords and many lawyers spoke one of the two languages but not English. Dred Scott v. Sandford precedent In the early 1830s, a Louisiana family went to France with their young slave girl, Josephine Louise. When the family returned home, the slave girl's mother filed a freedom suit to obtain a declaration of immediate emancipation as a result of the girl being transported to a country that did not recognize the institution of slavery. The 1835 case, Marie Louise v. Marot (1836) was heard by the Louisiana state district court and appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Court held that a slave who is taken to a territory prohibitive of slavery cannot be again reduced to slavery on returning to a territory allowing of slavery. Mathews, speaking for the court, stated that "[b]eing free for one moment...it was not in the power of her former owner to reduce her again to slavery." 21 years later, his precedent was relied upon by US Supreme Court Justice John McLean, who dissented from the court's Dred Scott ruling that a slave was a piece of property that could by transported by his owner from a Southern state into a territory that forbade slavery without losing his slave status. Six of 8 justices did not abide by the precedent in what has been considered the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court. Legacy and honors Mathews died in St. Francisville on November 14, 1836, and was buried at Grace Episcopal Church. He left a very large fortune at his death, and his will was successfully attacked; one of its dispositions being annulled by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Louisiana Historical Association celebrated the Centenary of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1922 and at that time Mathews was remembered as, "short, rotund, placid, even-tempered, and genial, with a touch of humor and pleasantry in his intercourse with men and on the bench. His disposition crops out in his opinions which, moreover, are fine specimens of taste and learning." Mathews, Louisiana, is named in his honor. See also A Discourse on the Life and Character of the Hon. George Mathews References External links 1774 births 1836 deaths People from Augusta County, Virginia People from St. Francisville, Louisiana American planters Chief Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court United States territorial judges Freedom suits