Free Women of Color In Spanish Colonial New Orleans, 1768-1803

Research by Keia WegnerMentor Dr. Seth Meisel

Purpose: My paper examined the economic and social mobility of free women of color in Spanish colonial New Orleans through an analysis of notarial documents, wills, acts, and marriage records. These records showed how free women of color’s relationships with white, upper class males, affected their children and later generations through patterns of economic and social mobility and wealth.

New Orleans Population by Status and Sex, 1771-1805 Whites Free Blacks SlavesYear M F Total Sex Ratio M F Total Sex Ratio M F Total Sex Ratio

1771 --- --- 1,803 --- --- --- 97 --- --- --- 1,227 ---1777 1,104 632 1,736 175 101 214 315 47 518 633 1,151 821788 1,310 1,060 2,370 124 233 587 820 40 956 1,175 2,131 81 1791 1,474 912 2,386 162 324 538 862 60 871 918 1,789 95 1805 1,901 1,650 3,551 115 324 942 1,566 66 1,338 1,767 3,105 76

Sources: For 1771: Kinnaird, Spain in the Mississippi Valley, 2:196; for 1777: “Padron general de todos los individuos de la provincia de Luisiana,” AGI PC 2351, 12 May 1777; for 1788: “Resumen general del padron hecho en la provincial de la Luisiana, distrito de la Movila y plaza de Panzacola,” AGI PC 1425, 1788; for 1791 Census; for 1805: Flannery, New Orleáns in 1805. (From Kimberly S. Hanger, Bounded Lives, Bounded Places: Free Black Society in Colonial New Orleáns, 1769-1803. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997, pg. 22).

Average Price for Manumission (in Pesos Fuertes) by Decade and Slave’s Sex, New Orleans

Decade Females N Males N

1771-1779 254 97 270 57

1780-1789 419 166 507 101

1790-1799 355 244 328 136

1800-1803 359 131 385 101

All Years 347 638 373 395Source: Notarial Records (From Kimberly S. Hanger, Bounded Lives, Bounded Places: Free Black Society in Colonial New Orleáns, 1769-1803. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997, pg. 31).

•Depending on the language of a sale or manumission and the price, one can infer if there was some sort of unique bond between a white gentleman and a free woman of color. For example, in one notarial record I found from 1774, a Don Juan manumitted his slave named Maria Luiza for 250 pesos and 8 reales. This price was average for the time period and the manumission record does not contain frivolous language about her “loving care” and “special bonds” as some others do.

•In 1799, Fanchon Montreuil (from the family tree) bought a female slave for 150 pesos when the average price was around 383 pesos. In 1771, Maria Chateaulin bought a 13 year old female slave for 140 pesos when the average price was 197 pesos. In 1797, Margarita Castanedo (also in the family tree) was given a female slave as a gift, when the average price was 244 pesos. Two out of the four women are known to have had intimate relationships with white gentleman; these relationships in turn benefited them economically.Sources: Notaries Juan Bautista Garic and Carlos Ximenez. Averages from Hanger, Bounded Lives, Bounded Places, pg. 78.

The first woman, Maria Juana Prudhome benefited from two relationships with white males. The second one seemed to prove more fruitful since Don Juan Antonio Lugar named his two natural daughters from Prudhome his heirs and also gave half the value of his house to her daughter from her first relationship, Margarita.

A Big Thanks To:

The Undergraduate Research Center and University of Wisconsin Whitewater for allowing me this opportunity and sending me to New Orleans for my research, Dr. Seth Meisel, The New Orleans Notarial Archives Staff, Kali Wegner & Joseph Cull

Mr. Prudhome (White) Angelica Forest (Morena Libre)

Maria Juana Prudhome (Parda)Joseph Cabaret (Pardo Libre)

Carlos Decoudreaux* (Cuarteron) Margarita Castanedo* (Cuarterona)

Anonymous Male (White) Don Juan Antonio Lugar (White)

Rita (Cuarterona) Petrona (Cuarterona)

Mariana (Cuarterona)

Margarita Castanedo (Cuarterona)

Anonymous Partner (White) Fanchoneta Decoudreaux (Parda Libre)

Carlos (Cuarteron)Catalina (Cuarterona) Maria Francisca (Cuarterona)

Don Luis Dauqueminil de Moran (White)

Prudhome Family Tree

Decoudreaux Family Tree

Luison Mandeville (Parda)

Don Louis Declouet (White)

Don Jose Lopez de la Pena (White)

Dona Clara (Cuarterona/White)

Francisco Durand (Pardo Libre)

Mr. Mandeville (White) Maria Juana (India Mestiza Libre)

Mandeville Family Tree

Naneta Cadis (Parda) Pedro Bailly (Pardo Libre)

Don Pedro Cadis (White)

Susana (?)Francisco Rancontre (White)

Fanchon Montreuil (Morena Libre)

Montreuil Family Tree

KEY

Married

Child

Liaison

Her daughter, Margarita Castanedo married a free man of color named Carlos Decoudreaux with connections to white society as well. His sister’s relationship with Don Luis Dauqueminil de Morant allowed him to be a godfather to many of his “nieces and nephews” and also stood as a guarantor for a loan one of Maria Francisca’s sisters used to help her tavern.

Luison Mandeville (Brouner) was also a woman who benefited from liaisons with white gentleman. She later (like Prudhome) married a free man of color (Francisco Durand) and into the marriage brought “…a plot of land and a house with a separate kitchen in New Orleans, much furniture, personal clothing, and five slaves”. Her and her husband also benefited from the fictive kin ties of her godmother, Naneta Chabert.

Finally, Fanchon Montreuil left behind a large estate for her family to inherit (As did her daughter Naneta). Fanchon “… possessed an estate valued at 10,459 pesos….five slaves, one slave that was promised freedom, a house and lot in New Orleans, two plantations along Bayou Road, livestock, furniture, and household goods…”. Sources: Notaries Juan Bautista Garic and Carlos Ximenez. Hanger, Bounded Lives, Bounded Places pgs. 53, 76, 93, 97, 106, 85, 94, 82, 107

Family Benefits From Relations with White Males

Large Inheritances From Free Women of Color

Excerpts From Notarial Books of Juan Bautista Garic