The Great Gaines Case remains the longest civil litigation in US History. The nearly six decade long court battle involved a wealthy Louisiana politician and merchant’s vast fortune, a hidden marriage and child and property in the heart of New Orleans business district. 

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Episode Sources

• The New Orleans woman who fought the longest court battle in US history, The Historic New Orleans Collection. (Viewed November 2023) https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/new-orleans-woman-who-fought-longest-court-battle-us-history


• Notorious Woman: The Celebrated Case of Myra Clark Gaines by Elizabeth Urban Alexander https://lsupress.org/9780807130247/


• Myra Clark Gaines: The Longest-Running Civil Lawsuit in America. Law Library of Louisiana (Viewed November 2023) https://lasc.libguides.com/c.php?g=560377&p=3854854


• Gaines v. Relf, 53 U.S. 472 (1851). Justia US Supreme Court (Viewed November 2023) https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/53/472/


• The Gaines Case Settled; Some of the Claims to be at Once Paid by the Administrator, New York Times, July 27, 1892


• A man in shadow: the life of Daniel Clark, Tulane University Digital Library. (Viewed November 2023). https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane%3A27489

Episode Music

Theme Song “Dark & Troubled” by Pantherburn. Special thanks to Phillip St Ours for permission for use. Meditation Impromptu One by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons.