Categories: Free People of Color (FPOC), Genealogy, History, Slavery

Above is an incredible letter that my 3rd-great-grandfather’s brother wrote in French to his brother-in-law, Alphonse Pineaud Jr., in 1889.

At that time, Joseph Landry Jr, a native of St Martinville, lived at Plaisance in St Landry Parish because he had married Adèle Frilot, a daughter of Louis-Hilaire Frilot and Vivante Anne “Manette” Paillet in 1869.¹ Frilot Cove (Anse-aux-Frilot) is named for Louis-Hilaire, and nephews who moved there from La Côte-aux-Puces, now called Patoutville and Grand Marais in Iberia Parish.²

In truth, Alphonse was Joseph’s sister’s brother-in-law, not his own brother-in-law: Clarisse Landry, daughter of Joseph Landry Sr and Aimée de la Houssaye/Laporte – mulâtresse affranchie (emancipated mulatress), married Adolphe Pineaud (Alphonse’s brother), in 1848.³ Adolphe and Alphonse were children of Alphonse Pineaud Sr, a native of Nantes, France, and Armeide Wiltz – mulâtresse libre.⁴

This genealogical background matters because in 1885, Louis Gagné petitioned St Martin Parish courts to probate the estate of François Armand. In it, Gagné claimed to be a creditor of the estate and had an interest in it being settled.⁵

Simultaneously, another estate had opened in St Martin Parish 25 years earlier, and it dragged on through 1889.⁶ That estate was for the late Françoise Armand, free woman of color, who had died some years before 1860. Initially, Françoise’s grandson, Adolphe Pineaud – quarteron libre, petitioned the St Martin Parish Probate Court to name him as administrator of his grandmother Françoise Armand’s estate. He was also interested in the estate as a representative of his deceased mother.

The estate paperwork does not explicitly state it, but Adolphe’s mother, Armeide Wiltz, mulâtresse, was Françoise’s daughter. Instead, it weirdly implies the relationship, possibly because Armeide bore the children out of wedlock for the Frenchman or perhaps because she was a slave when her Pineaud sons were born. I’ve never found Armeide in records as a free person of color, and this could be why. But the estate records do identify the legal heirs to Françoise’s estate, including some of Françoise’s children and some of their representatives:
1. [Armeide Wiltz’s children Alphonse and Adolphe Pineaud]
2. Philippe Wiltz representing himself.
3. Jean Galantin representing his deceased mother Françoise “Fanchon” Wiltz.
4. Julienne Wiltz’s representatives.

In St Landry Parish, Joseph Landry Jr, who penned the letter to Adolphe Pineaud in 1889, did so because he personally knew Julienne Wiltz’s children and grandchildren (Élie Déculus/Lucullus & Albertine Philomène Déculus/Lucullus, wife of Joseph Batin/Bateau), who also lived in St Landry Parish. Élie and Philomène were Julienne Wiltz’s children, but both were deceased by 1889, so their children stood to inherit their mother’s share. This is why their names appear in the letter to the left (the letter in the 1885 succession).⁷

The estate is wild, and it’s very uncommon to see estates open for 20+ years. The heirs fought each other, and the second estate intended to clear a mistaken identity. There was a male named François Armand who lived in Natchitoches Parish, and in September 1888, the St Martin Probate Courts summoned François’s surviving family in Natchitoches to clarify relationships. Natchitoches Parish Deputy Clerk of Court John M. Barlow transferred St Martin’s queries to J. M. B. Tucker, attorney for François’s heirs. In the clerk’s interrogations, he asked:

1. What is your age, where were you born, what was the name of your father and mother?
2. Do you know when your father died and if and where his succession was opened?
3. Please state when your father was married to [your] mother, and if possible, please annex a certificate of their marriage to your answer hereto? [sic]
4. How many heirs your father leave and what are their names and where do they reside?

Tucker responded separately to the St Martin Parish Probate Courts that he served as François Armand’s probate attorney: François only had two heirs, Céleste Armand (wife of Hugh McKenny) and Ambroise Armand. But Tucker said he did not recall ever meeting François himself, but he knew his wife Éloïse Rond well during her lifetime. He drafted proceedings for François’s estate, which he filed in the Natchitoches Parish clerk’s office, and his succession was opened there on 20 October 1854. Tucker included copies in his reply on 18 September.

On the same day, Céleste made her own response. She was 54, born in Natchitoches Parish to François Armand and Éloïse Rond. She did not exactly remember when her father died, but she was about 11 or 12 years old, but he died in Natchitoches Parish. Her parents married about 12 months before her birth. The only two children her parents had include her and Ambroise, and she lived in Natchitoches Parish whereas Ambroise was in New Orleans on Esplanade Avenue. They made no mention of Françoise Armand’s family and after a quick search online, I found François’s family to be consistently identified as White persons. St Martin Parish Deputy Clerk of Court William B. Eastin received the depositions from Barlow and filed them on 21 September. Officials in St Martin Parish clerk’s office knew the French language well and naturally knew that François was a male’s name and Françoise a female’s, but due process had to occur to settle the naming and heirship issue.

On 12 November 1888, the commissioners at the Surveyor General’s Office confirmed that Françoise Armand, a free Negress, claimed “a tract of land containing about fifty superficial arpents, equal to forty two and thirty one hundredth American acres” on 2 June 1796 in St Martin Parish. The land was located in St Martin Parish on the east bank of Bayou Têche “near the Big Woods” [Grand-Bois], and an act of Congress passed on 3 March 1807 officially transferred the land over to the claimant (Françoise). Deputy Surveyor General Charles I. Cabell drew up the plat based on the survey but he misspelled Françoise’s name as “François Armand,” which explains the naming issue (see image below).

Before the interrogations in Natchitoches, the St Martin Parish probate judge had named Adolphe Pineaud the estate’s administrator, as he petitioned for. Then Louis Gagné opposed the estate. Gagné had married Clara Wiltz, a granddaughter of Julienne Wiltz, in 1877, and he had cultivated the land that belonged to Françoise Armand.⁸ In fact, Clara descended from two of Françoise’s children: her mother was Geneviève Cléopha Lucullus, who was Julienne’s daughter. But her father, Joseph Wiltz, was a son of Philippe Wiltz and Caroline-Hortance “Pouponne” Fontenette. In other words, Joseph and Cléopha were 1st cousins.⁹ In the suit, Gagné claimed that the estate owed him money for paying taxes on the land. His declaration explicitly states that the Surveyor General’s Office had misspelled Françoise’s name, but that she was known as Françoise in other legal records.

Since I like to make connections for people, I may as well throw in some quick genealogy here. Pineaud excluded many of Françoise’s living descendants from the list of heirs. She bore at least 8 children named Philippe, Marcel, Moïse, Joseph Nazaire, Charles, Julienne, Armeide, and Françoise “Fanchon.” Joseph publicly claimed some of these children in records.¹⁰ In 1793, Louis-Armand Ducrest and his wife Anne-Marie Wiltz sold Françoise and 5 of her mulâtre children to Anne-Marie’s bachelor brother Joseph Wiltz. The transaction does not include Fanchon, Marcel, or Armeide, and I would need to devote another post to why.¹¹ The next year (1794), Joseph emancipated Françoise.¹² Between 1796 and 1805, Françoise began living on and then claimed the land at Grand-Bois mentioned above. In the US at the time, this was an extraordinary story, but it was much more common in Creole Louisiana.

Françoise died leaving many descendants free and enslaved stretched across Sts Landry and Martin parishes, and by the end of the 19th century, her descendants easily exceeded 100 persons who carried these (and other) surnames:
– Wiltz
– Lucullus/Déculus
– Pineaud
– Auguillard
– Batin/Bateau
– Barras
– Boyd
– Breaux
– Castex
– Chiasson
– Chevalier
– Collins (St Landry)
– Donato
– Esclavon (St Martinville ones, not the St Landry ones)
– Fenwick
– Fontenette
– Fontenot
– Gagné
– Galantin/Gallentine
– Gaubert/Gobert
– Guidry
– Lartigue/Lartiques
– Lemelle
– Louis/Lewis (St Martinville)
– Malveaux
– Mercier (St Martinville ones, not the Lafayette ones)
– Pineaud
– Prudhomme
– Raymond/François
– Renaud (St Martinville, not the St Landry Reynauds)
– St. Julien
– Sémère
– Simon
– Thibodeaux
– Thierry

– Christophe Landry

SOURCES

1. LANDRY, Joseph (Joseph & Aimee DELAHOUSSAYE) m. 27 July 1869 Adele FRILOT (Louis & Amme PAILLET) (Opel. Ch.: v. 2, p. 392). ↩︎
2. PAILLET, Manette f.w.o.c., wid. of Martin DONATO, fils m. 29 Oct. 1832 Louis FRILOT (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. # 52). FRILOT, Louis Hilaire – originally from Atacapas (natural son of Claude FRILOT & Rosette BOUTE) m. 4 Aug. 1812 Marie Louise DONATO – originally from this parish (Martin & Marie Anne DUCHESNE) Wits: PAILLET, DONATO, Claude FRILOT, Jean ALLIN, Baptiste MEULLION, AUZENNE. Fr. Louis BUHOT (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.226).
   
   MEUILLON, Celeste Armantine f.w.o.c. (Antoine Donate & Ann Elizabeth DONATO) m. 7 Feb. 1857 Elcio FRILOT, f.m.o.c. (Antoine & Adelaide FRILOT)(Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #1565). FRILOT, Pierre – quarteron libre (Antoine & Adele OLIVIER – gens de couleur libres) b. 7 April 1829, bt. 12 Nov. 1832 Pats: Claude FRILOT & Rosette BOUTTE; Mats: Magdelaine LACOSTE; Spons: Pierre OLIVIER & Marie Louise FRILOT – gens de couleur libres. Fr. Marcel BORELLA (SM Ch.: v.8, #366).
   
   MEUILLON, Leocadie f.w.o.c. m. 18 July 1861 Pierre FRILOT (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #2231). MEUILLON. Leocadie (Antoine Donate & Anne Elizabeth DONATO) m. 30 July 1861 Pierre FRILOT (Philippe & Emelie FUSELIER) (Opel. Ch.: v. D, # 45). FRILOT, Pierre mul. libre (Charles Philippe & Marie Anelie FUSELIER) b. 14 Feb. 1838 (SM Ch.: v. 8, #1531).
   
   FRILOT, Joseph f.m.o.c. (Philippe & Emelie FUSELIER) m. 24 Jan. 1857 Euphemie FRILOT, f.g.o.c. (Louis & Anne PAILUS) (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #1560). FRILOT, Joseph (Philippe & Emelie FUSELIER) m. 28 Jan. 1857 Euphrosine FRILOT (Louis & Ann —) (Opel. Ch.: v. C-2, #100). FRILOT, Joseph Philippe h.d.c.l. (Philippe Aime & Emelie FUSELIER, g.d.c.l. ) b. 11 May 1836 (SM Ch.: v. 8, #1179). ↩︎
3. LANDRY, Clarisse, f.d.c.l. (Aimie —) m. 3 Jan. 1848 Adolphe PINAU, h.d.c.l. (Armeide WILTZ) (SM Ch.: v. 8, #347).
   
   LANDRY, Clem (Joseph & Aimee LAPORTE) b. 20 Dec. 1842 (SM Ch.: v.8, #2008)
   LANDRY, Joseph (— & Aimee DELAHOUSSAYE) m. 3 April 1861 Elizabeth Semiramis DELAHOUSSAYE (SM Ch.: v. 9, # 322). ↩︎
4. PINAU, Alphonse d. c.l. (Athonise & Marie Louise Angelina LE MERLE, f.d.c.l. ) m. 17 Dec. 1851 Modeste DELAHOUSSAYE, wid. of Fontaine PENN (SM Ch.: v. 9, #14) – this is mis-abstracted. Alphonse, son of Alphonse and Armeide married Marie Louise Angelina Lemelle, widow of François Fortuné de Penne, daughter of Alexandre Lemelle and Modeste de la Houssaye.
   
   LANDRY, Clarisse, f.d.c.l. (Aimie —) m. 3 Jan. 1848 Adolphe PINAU, h.d.c.l. (Armeide WILTZ) (SM Ch.: v. 8, #347).
   
   PINAU, — d. 14 July 1838 (SM Ch.: v. 5, p. 81, # 19). This may be Armeide’s burial entry.
   
   PINAU, Alphonse of Nantes, Dept. de la loir inferiere – France (Achilles Jean Marie & Julienne Francoise BRAHEIX) m. 14 Nov. 1833 Susanne Phelonirse BOUVIER (SM Ch.: v. 7, # 264). PINAU, Alphonse  m. Suzanne BOUVIER In Succ. of Suzanne BOUVIER dated 15 May 1851 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #1292). PINAU, Alphonse  Succ.  dated 31 March 1856 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. # 1525). ↩︎
5. ARMAND, Francois Succ.: 27 Aug. 1885. (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. # 2630). ↩︎
6. ARMAND, Francoise f.w.o.c. Succ. dated 22 Nov. 1860 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #1708). ↩︎
7. BATIN, Joseph m. Philomene LUCULLUS Succ. dated 27 Oct. 1879 (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #4129). LUCULLUS, Albertine m. Joseph BATIN d. 11 Oct. 1879 at age 47 yrs. at Plaisance (Opel. Ch.: v. 2, p. 357). BATIN, Joseph (Francois & Rosalie LEMELLE) m. 12 Feb. 1858 Philomene LUCULLUS (Elie & Julienne VILTS) (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #1707). LUCULUS, Philomene [name added in margin as Philomene Wils LOCULUS] (natural daughter of Julienne WILS) bt. 11 May 1846 at age 17 yrs. Spons: Hypolite BONIN & Carmelite MELANCON. Fr. L. DUFOUR (SM Ch.: v.9, #46).
   
   LUCULLUS, Elie negro slave (Ely & Julienne WILTZ) m. 12 Aug. 1851 Anele B. FONTENOT (Auguste Belair & Edwise BALQUE) (Opel. Ch.: v. A, #31).
   
   ARMAND, Francois Succ.: 27 Aug. 1885. (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. # 2630). ↩︎
8. GAGNE, Louis m. 28 Sept. 1877 Clara WILTZ (SM Ch.: v. 10, # 681).
   
   WILTZ, Joseph f.m.o.c. m. Cleopha LUCULLUS, f.w.o.c. In Succ. of Cleopha LUCULLUS dated 9 Sept. 1854 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. # 1436)
   
   LUCULUS, Genevieve (Elga & Julienne WILT [WILTZ]) bt. 5 May 1842 at age 18 yrs. Spons: Joseph DOMINGEAU & Lucie DOIRON – spouse of Mr. MELANSON. Fr. J.E. MARTIN (SM Ch.: v.8, #1903) ↩︎
9. WILTZ, Joseph – quarteron libre (Philippe – inhabitant au grand Bois & Caroline FONTENETTE) b. 18 Aug. 1818, bt. 4 Jan. 1819  Pats: Joseph WILTZ & Francoise;  Mats: Jacques FONTENETTE & Louise;  Spons: Alexandre WILTZ & Arthemise.  Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #536). ↩︎
10. FRANCOISE – negrite (Francoise – negresse esclave of DUCREST) bt. 24 Nov. 1774 Spons: Baptiste LALONDE & Marie Rose DOZAT. Fr. Louis MARIE (SM Ch.: Folio B-1). Her father apparently was also White, but perhaps not Joseph Wiltz: WILTZ, Charlotte – quarterone libre (Francoise WILTZ, mulatresse libre of this parish) b. 29 Aug. 1811, bt. 27 Oct. 1813 Mats: Francoise, negresse libre; Spons: Moyse WILTZ & Caroline, wife of Philippe WILTZ, mulatre libre. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #1593). Jean Galantin is another child she bore: DECLOUET, Marguerite f.d.c.l. m. 24 April 1848 Jean GALATIN, h.d.c.l. (SM Ct. Hse.: Mar. Bk. 1, # 60).
    
    Philippe’s paternity is in his absent from his marriage to Pouponne, but is present in their son’s 1818 baptism: Caroline Hortense – mulatresse libre (minor daughter of Louise – negresse libre)  m. 23 Feb. 1808 PHILIPPE – mulatre libre (major son of Francoise – negresse libre)  Wits: Honore [ORSO?], Jean Antoine GARRIGON, Alexandre LANDRY, Hyacinthe JACQUET. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.5, #114). WILTZ, Joseph – quarteron libre (Philippe – inhabitant au grand Bois & Caroline FONTENETTE) b. 18 Aug. 1818, bt. 4 Jan. 1819  Pats: Joseph WILTZ & Francoise;  Mats: Jacques FONTENETTE & Louise; Spons: Alexandre WILTZ & Arthemise.  Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #536).
    
    Marcel – mul. esc. a Mr. Armand DUCRE (Francoise – “esc. au meme” [slave of the same]) bt. 19 July 1778 Spons: Francois GREVEMBERT & Catherine WILS. Fr. Louis MARIE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.63). At St. Martinville in 1816 Catherine WISSE, widow of Armand DUCREST, conditionally emancipates Marcel (40), mulâtre, who must serve WISSE’s son-in-law for 10 years after WISSE’s death. Said donation to son-in-law is to repay him for his kindness to WISSE during her illness (Midlo Hall Free Database Line 3703).
    
    Moises – mulato esclavo de Armand DUCRÉ (Francisca – esclava de Armand Ducré), born 15 Sept 1780, baptized 2 Feb 1789. Baptismal sponsors were Juan Luis [Jean-Louis] – negro esclavo and María Teresa [Marie-Thérèse] (SM Ch v 1S 50). WILTZ, Moise – [record has WILS] – homme de couleur libre; died 8 Jan. 1828 at age about 51 years at his home at ile des Cypres; buried 9 Jan. 1828 in the parish cemetery.  Fr. Marcel BORELLA  (SM Ch.: v.4, #1886).
    
    Juliana – negra esclava de Armand DUCRÉ (Francisca), baptized 2 Feb 1789. Baptismal
    sponsors were Marcelo and Mariana Francisca (SM Ch v 1s #52). ↩︎
11. Joseph Wisse purchased from Louis Armand Ducrest and his wife Catherine Wisse, the following slaves: Françoise (38), Moïse (9), Philippe (7), Julie (5), Charles (3), and Naserre (2), for 3,000 pesos (SM Ct Hse Original Acts Book 14 #37).
    
    The 1798 succession of Louis Armand DUCREST at St. Martinville listed the following 11slaves: Jean-Louis (40, nègre), Thérèse (38, négresse), Manon (25, négresse), Émélissert [Mélisœur] (2), Ursule (20, mulâtresse), Suzanne (22, négresse), Prince (1), Pélagie (22, négresse), Hilaire (1, nègre), François (10, mulâtre), Brigite (5, mulâtresse), Marcel (20, mulâtre) (Midlo Hall Slave Database Lines 35968-78).
    
    In 1816 at St. Martinville, Catherine WISSE, widow of Armand DUCREST, donated to Lucie POTIER, her granddaughter, who is unable to pay for said slave, for her many years of service to her grandmother, a slave named Louis (11, mulâtre) valued at $400, along with a bed, armoire and kitchenware; and donated to Charles POTIER, her son-in-law, for services and kindness during her illness a slave named Marcel (40, mulâtre) in recompense under the condition that the slave serve Charles POTIER for a duration of 10 years after WISSE’s death, after which Marcel shall be set free (Conrad Doomsday v 2 pt1 p 36; Midlo Hall Slave Database Lines77593-4).
    
    By 1826, Marcel was free. Félicité Phélonise WILTZ– mulâtresse librewas born 8 Feb1822, baptized8 Jan1829. Baptismal sponsors were Marcel WILS [sic] and Julienne WILS [sic] – gens de couleur libres (SM Chv 7 #2145).  ↩︎
12. Joseph Wisse emancipated Françoise, 21 Jun 1794 (SM Ct Hse Original Acts Book 15 #9). ↩︎