The Spanish colonial notarial archive in New Orleans is one of the most underused biographical record sets in Louisiana genealogy. A four-step method for reading the acts as biographical sources, with free public archive access included.
free women of color
Francisca Montreuil: The Baker Who Bought Her Children Out of Slavery
Francisca Montreuil was a baker in Spanish New Orleans who bought herself and her children out of slavery one signature at a time, then built an estate that crossed into American rule. This is her documented record.
Rose Nicaud of the French Market: The Coffee Woman the Legend Could Not Hold
Rose Nicaud sold coffee in the French Market for forty years. Born enslaved and sold six times, she became a free woman of color named in the city’s own record. This is her full documented story, beyond the legend.
The Deed Before the Eulogy: Henriette Delille, the Free Woman of Color Who Bought Her Institution
In 1850 Henriette Delille, a free woman of color in New Orleans, signed a notarized act of sale and bought the land for the institution she founded. This is her documented record, anchored to the deed.
Titine of Opelousas: The Woman Who Ran the Old Bank Hotel
Celestine Perrault, known as Titine, ran a large hotel in Opelousas for at least a quarter century. Three generations of her family lived under that roof. A Justice of the Peace kept his office there. This is her documented record.
General Order No. 28 and the Women of Occupied New Orleans, May 15, 1862
On May 15, 1862, two weeks into the federal occupation of New Orleans, Major General Benjamin Butler issued General Order No. 28. The order disciplined gestures and ignited a propaganda war. This is the documented record.
Marguerite Scypion: The Louisiana Decree That Outlasted Three Sovereigns
Marguerite Scypion’s freedom argument rested on a 1769 decree by the Spanish Governor of the Province of Louisiana against Indian slavery. Her family fought thirty-one years to make the courts read it as the freedom of every descendant of an Indian woman.