After the Napoleonic wars, a new German government and famine would cause many southern Germans to migrate to other places. In 1817, the Mullers and nine hundred others booked passage aboard a Russian ship bound for Philadelphia. To their surprise, the migration worker had taken off with their money, leaving them stranded in Amsterdam. The Dutch government decided to put them on a ship and send them to the United States, but rather them go to Philadelphia, they were headed for New Orleans. New Orleans was a dirty city, with many blacks, in the middle of a swamp. The city was not the only problem. Only about three hundred of the nine hundred had survived. Sally’s mother and baby brother died on the journey. There were Germans in New Orleans from previous migrations so they were not alone once they got to the city. But there was still a problem, the captain of the ship expected a second fee from the passengers even though he had been paid by the Dutch government. He would sell the Mullers into “indentured servitude.” While sailing to their new home in south central Louisiana, Sally’s brother and father were killed. This left Sally and her sister as orphans. Sally and her sister would disappear.

Sally disappeared from the records as well as from her family. She surfaced four years later when she was sold to John Fitz Miller. He was a rich businessman from Philadelphia who owned two saw mills, a sugar mill, and a rum distillery in New Orleans. While in his service from 1822 to 1838, she bore three children. In1838, she was sold to Louis Belmonti.

Sally would sue Louis Belmonti and John Fitz Miller after she was discovered by her German friends. Christian Roselius, former attorney general of the state of Louisiana and former dead of the University of Louisiana, would represent her. John R. Grymes, a former state legislator, would represent Belmonti and Miller. Several of her family members and people aboard the ship identified her as the missing Sally Muller. A woman who had taken care of her identified two birthmarks on the girl that appeared on her body. Two doctors examined her and said they had been there since birth. Other witnesses that met her after being with Miller testified that the girl had spoken German. Witnesses for the defense stated that she was of mix race and had no German accent. Another woman claimed that she delivered her children and never saw any birthmarks. There were inconsistent testimonies about the girls age that were dismissed. The judge sided with Miller and Belmonti over the girls age, heritage, lack of credible witnesses, and no ties between Miller and the purchase of a German girl in 1818.

Sally Muller would appeal to the State Supreme Court. Her attorney argued that if she was not Salome Muller, “then who was?” He said that because of the publicity of the case, someone would have come forward as the real girl already. The evidence of resemblance and birthmarks was presented again. He also claimed that she had to be white since most white people believed she was white. Evidence of her age that coincided with Salome Muller was presented. Her birth certificate had been retrieved from Germany. Witnesses that delivered her first child agreed that it was in 1827 or 1828. Muller’s attorney presented evidence that Miller’s records were contradictory. Also, supposedly Belmonti was overheard saying that the girl was white. It was pointed out that in the case of Adelle vs. Beauregard of 1810 “persons of mixed racial background were presumed free.” A prominent New Orleans general, John Lawson Lewis, described the woman “as white as most persons.” Newspapers proclaimed her as a white woman. The Supreme Court sided with Sally Muller and declared her a free white woman.

This was not over however. In 1848, John Fitz Miller sued Sally Muller for fraud. His case would be dismissed because his accusations could not be proven. Miller appealed to the Supreme Court but lost there too. Miller claimed his reputation had been ruined. Miller and his mother were accused of “holding a white woman in bondage.” All the same questions came up again. They said he had evidence of ownership but no proof of her being a slave. They clarified the term “person of color” as any multiracial person.

The ability of a slave to suit for freedom was unique to Louisiana because of an old Spanish law that remained. If a slave own their freedom, it was because they appeared to be of white ancestry. Many other questions about what happened to her as a child and why was she ever considered black arose. It was also apparent that whites did not care about white slavery in Louisiana. Immigrant, prisoners, and children could potentially become slaves. It was noted that a person becomes black when society accepts them as black. Because her owner said she was, it was accepted.

WORKS CITED

Carriker, Robert M. and Mary Farmer-Kaiser. Optimism, Struggle, and Growth: Readings on an Expanding American. Vol 1. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2001.