The Relationship Tied to Broussard Slaves
Éloi-Réné had known Joséphine all of her life, and his family, stretching back 4 generations, had owned Joséphine’s mother’s family. Joséphine was born in 1827, a slave then belonging to Éloi-Réné’s cousin, Pierre BROUSSARD fils, and later to his paternal great-grandmother, Anne BENOÎT, widow of Armand BROUSSARD (Chart 2). Anne owned Joséphine because her mother (Rosalie JEAN-LOUIS) belonged to Armand and Anne.1Éloi-Réné was born at Petite-Anse to Rosémond BROUSSARD and Joséphine Adèle BROUSSARD on 19 Feb 1824. Église Saint-Martin (St. Martinville, La.), now known as St. Martin de Tours Roman Catholic Church, Registre des baptêmes vol 7, #1491. Joséphine was born 5 July 1827, and baptized 6 Aug 1828 under the name Célestine. Her godfather’s name is illegible/indecipherable to me, but her godmother is [Marie Louise] Joséphine LEMELLE – quarteronne libre, her namesake. Joséphine’s baptism identifies her mother as Rosalie – négresse esclave, but we know from her death certificate that Joseph LACY and Rosalie JEAN-LOUIS were her parents. Her baptism also identifies Joséphine as négresse, and indicates her owner to be Pierre BROUSSARD fils. Pierre’s father, by the same name, was a first cousin of Armand BROUSSARD. When Pierre fils died, Rosalie and her 2 toddlers, whose names are not given [but are Joséphine and Jean-Louis III, were inventoried in Pierre fils’s succession. They were adjudicated to the widow of Baptiste BERGÉRON, but are absent from his widow’s estate. They surface in Armand and Anne’s possession by 1831. I have combed through every conveyance and notorial act for St. Martin Parish during those years, and there is no sign of Rosalie. They may have been sold through private act. More research needed to confirm. Église Saint-Martin, Registre des baptêmes de couleur vol 3, p 268. Anne BENOÎT was, in fact, Armand BROUSSARD’s second wife. His first wife, Hélène LANDRY, who he married on 15 July 1777, died shortly after their only child, Joseph dit Josapha BROUSSARD, was born. On 24 May 1775, Armand remarried Anne BENOÎT. Église Saint-François (New Roads, La.), Registre des baptêmes vol 2, part 2, p 116 / vol 4, p 76; St. Martin Parish Court House (St. Martinville, La.), Original Acts vol 1, #25.
It doesn’t end there. Joséphine’s maternal grandparents, Rosette and Jean-Louis fils, both nègres, were Louisiana Creole slaves belonging to Armand and Anne. Jean-Louis fils had come from Armand’s sister and brother-in-law, Isabelle BROUSSARD and Réné TRAHAN. Simon BROUSSARD, a paternal first cousin to Armand and Isabelle, and brother to Pierre BROUSSARD père, purchased Jean-Louis fils’s father, Jean-Louis père, nègre of the Congo nation, before 1790. In 1793, Simon made arrangements to emancipate Jean-Louis père through coartación. Jean-Louis père, who had been born in the Congo, finally gained freedom at age 40 in 1796 after Simon’s death. 2Fils, in this context, means “Jr” or “Junior” (i.e. named for his father who bore the same forename), while père means “Sr” or “Senior.” Neither of the two were identified with those postnominal generational determinants in original records, but I use them here and in genealogy and family history reports to distinguish the two. Rosette, born in 1780, and Jean-Louis fils, both appear in Armand’s possession after his marriage to Anne. Succession of Armand BROUSSARD, dated 24 Feb 1818, St. Martin Court House, Succession #288. Jean-Baptiste BROUSSARD emancipated Jean-Louis père after 23 Sept 1796, when Simon BROUSSARD’s estate was finalized. His value as a slave in Simon’s succession was 400 pesos, and there is mention in the succession that he purchased horses from his deceased master’s estate, and wished to pay for his own liberty. St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts vol 17, #12. Jean-Louis père’s birthplace is mentioned in his death notice. Death of Jean-Louis, native of the Congo, 11 April 1834, age 70, Église Saint-Martin, Régistre des sépultures vol 5, p 38, #15.
Through his masters’ family, Jean-Louis père came to know Isabelle BROUSSARD and Réné TRAHAN’s slave, Vénus, négresse. Réné had purchased Vénus, born in 1759, from Michel JUDICE of the Lafourche-des-Chétimachas Post in 1777. In the sale, appraisers described Vénus as being a négresse “with tribal markings on her stomach.” Not much is known about her before her arrival at the Attakapas that year, but we do know that she bore several children (presumably) for Réné TRAHAN. He provided for the emancipation of Vénus and her 4 mulâtre children in 1790. After freedom, those children used RÉNÉ and SÉNÉGAL as surnames, and they are the genitors of Lafayette, St. Landry and St. Martin Parish families today bearing the surnames RÉNÉ, SÉNÉGAL, JOLIVETTE, GATHE/GOTT/GOSCHE, BONNET and MORRISON. Based on the frequency of Vénus and Réné’s children and grandchildren using the surname SÉNÉGAL, this may point to Vénus’s “tribal” origins as being one of the ethnic groups in the French comptoir along the Sénégal River. While Vénus and her mulâtre children were freed, her son Jean-Louis fils was not, and ended up a slave of Isabelle’s brother, Armand BROUSSARD. Armand and Anne’s daughter-in-law, Anne THIBODEAU, wife of Édouard Armand BROUSSARD, would free Jean-Louis fils, however, in 1846.3Sale of slave, Michel JUDICE, of Lafourche, to Réné TRAHAN, of the Attakapas, 6 Oct 1777, St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts, vendor, vol 1, #74. Manumission of slave, Réné TRAHAN to Vénus, négresse, Marguerite (10), François (5), Alexandre (3), and Marie (1), the latter four mulâtres, St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts vol 8 #46. The conveyor stipulated that Vénus and the 4 children would serve Théodore [BROUSSARD] until the children reached age 20. Baptism of Jean-Louis [fils] – nègre, slave of Réné TRAHAN, son of Vénus, was born 6 Jan 1782, baptized 3 Nov 1782. Baptismal sponsors were Louis TRAHAN and Marguerite BROUSSARD, Église Saint-Martin (St. Martinville, La.), Registre des baptêmes des gens de couleur vol 2, #81. Anne THIBODEAUX to Jean-Louis, nègre, 24 Nov 1846, St. Martin Parish Court House, Conveyance Book 16, pp 81-83, #11065.
References
| 1. | ↑ | Éloi-Réné was born at Petite-Anse to Rosémond BROUSSARD and Joséphine Adèle BROUSSARD on 19 Feb 1824. Église Saint-Martin (St. Martinville, La.), now known as St. Martin de Tours Roman Catholic Church, Registre des baptêmes vol 7, #1491. Joséphine was born 5 July 1827, and baptized 6 Aug 1828 under the name Célestine. Her godfather’s name is illegible/indecipherable to me, but her godmother is [Marie Louise] Joséphine LEMELLE – quarteronne libre, her namesake. Joséphine’s baptism identifies her mother as Rosalie – négresse esclave, but we know from her death certificate that Joseph LACY and Rosalie JEAN-LOUIS were her parents. Her baptism also identifies Joséphine as négresse, and indicates her owner to be Pierre BROUSSARD fils. Pierre’s father, by the same name, was a first cousin of Armand BROUSSARD. When Pierre fils died, Rosalie and her 2 toddlers, whose names are not given [but are Joséphine and Jean-Louis III, were inventoried in Pierre fils’s succession. They were adjudicated to the widow of Baptiste BERGÉRON, but are absent from his widow’s estate. They surface in Armand and Anne’s possession by 1831. I have combed through every conveyance and notorial act for St. Martin Parish during those years, and there is no sign of Rosalie. They may have been sold through private act. More research needed to confirm. Église Saint-Martin, Registre des baptêmes de couleur vol 3, p 268. Anne BENOÎT was, in fact, Armand BROUSSARD’s second wife. His first wife, Hélène LANDRY, who he married on 15 July 1777, died shortly after their only child, Joseph dit Josapha BROUSSARD, was born. On 24 May 1775, Armand remarried Anne BENOÎT. Église Saint-François (New Roads, La.), Registre des baptêmes vol 2, part 2, p 116 / vol 4, p 76; St. Martin Parish Court House (St. Martinville, La.), Original Acts vol 1, #25. |
| 2. | ↑ | Fils, in this context, means “Jr” or “Junior” (i.e. named for his father who bore the same forename), while père means “Sr” or “Senior.” Neither of the two were identified with those postnominal generational determinants in original records, but I use them here and in genealogy and family history reports to distinguish the two. Rosette, born in 1780, and Jean-Louis fils, both appear in Armand’s possession after his marriage to Anne. Succession of Armand BROUSSARD, dated 24 Feb 1818, St. Martin Court House, Succession #288. Jean-Baptiste BROUSSARD emancipated Jean-Louis père after 23 Sept 1796, when Simon BROUSSARD’s estate was finalized. His value as a slave in Simon’s succession was 400 pesos, and there is mention in the succession that he purchased horses from his deceased master’s estate, and wished to pay for his own liberty. St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts vol 17, #12. Jean-Louis père’s birthplace is mentioned in his death notice. Death of Jean-Louis, native of the Congo, 11 April 1834, age 70, Église Saint-Martin, Régistre des sépultures vol 5, p 38, #15. |
| 3. | ↑ | Sale of slave, Michel JUDICE, of Lafourche, to Réné TRAHAN, of the Attakapas, 6 Oct 1777, St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts, vendor, vol 1, #74. Manumission of slave, Réné TRAHAN to Vénus, négresse, Marguerite (10), François (5), Alexandre (3), and Marie (1), the latter four mulâtres, St. Martin Parish Court House, Original Acts vol 8 #46. The conveyor stipulated that Vénus and the 4 children would serve Théodore [BROUSSARD] until the children reached age 20. Baptism of Jean-Louis [fils] – nègre, slave of Réné TRAHAN, son of Vénus, was born 6 Jan 1782, baptized 3 Nov 1782. Baptismal sponsors were Louis TRAHAN and Marguerite BROUSSARD, Église Saint-Martin (St. Martinville, La.), Registre des baptêmes des gens de couleur vol 2, #81. Anne THIBODEAUX to Jean-Louis, nègre, 24 Nov 1846, St. Martin Parish Court House, Conveyance Book 16, pp 81-83, #11065. |
Thank you for sharing your fine work.
Thank you for all of your work
Always good to trace accurate family history informstion!
Dr. Christophe Landry’s research is excellent. Thank you very much for this blog.
It’s so hard to put into words what I’m thinking after reading this work. There is no doubt the institution of slavery was and still is a black eye on our society. But Josephine’s story tugs at the heart strings in a “love conquers all” sort of way. It’s proof that B’s ancestors were making lemonade long before she became famous! Thanks for your time and commitment in making this post!
Great read. Learned about new connections to people I’ve known for years.