City says claim on Civil War-era loan isn't valid

Tampa city attorneys today will ask the court to throw out a claim that it owes $22.7-million to the family of a man that provided $299.58 worth of ammunition and supplies to the city in 1861.

Joan Kennedy Biddle and her family sued the city last month to collect payment of the loan plus the 8 percent annual interest pledged in a promissory note.

Among other things, the city's motion to dismiss says the claim is barred by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits payment of debts to assist in "rebellion against the United States." The city argues that the debt was issued after President Abraham Lincoln  declared states that seceded from the Union, which included Florida, "in rebellion."

Previous coverage: Tampa sued to collect on 147-year-old promissory note worth millions (March 16)

-- Janet Zink, Times staff writer