File contains documents relating to the court cases of Pierre v. Gabriel S. Chouteau and Mary Charlotte v. Gabriel S. Chouteau, which were heard in St. Louis, Missouri, and the resulting examinations of prominent Montreal judges James Reid, Samuel Gale, and William Badgley. The file notably contains investigative research on the legality of slavery in Canada under French rule and subsequent British rule, with a particular focus on the transition of laws and customs between the two periods during the 1760s-1790s. Documents relate to Griffin's role as counsel for the plaintiffs in Montreal during these examinations and include notes on legal history and precedent; incoming correspondence; drafts of outgoing correspondence; draft memos; questionnaires completed by Samuel Gale, James Reid, and William Badgley; copies of historical legal documents and correspondence relating to the history of slavery in Canada; summaries of evidence on the subject of slavery in Canada; the deposition of Samuel Wentworth Monk; newspaper clippings regarding the cases; and other documents. The majority of incoming correspondence is from Alexander J.P. Garesche, a St. Louis attorney and counsel for the plaintiff in Mary Charlotte v. Gabriel S. Chouteau. Other notable correspondents include Alexander P. Field, David N. Hall, Richard Alexander Tucker, the office of the Governor General, William Badgley, Christopher Dunkin, James Reid, Samuel Gale, and Jacques Viger.
