During slavery in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Susanne Lavallè FWC (Free Woman of Color) owned plantations, raised bi-racial children and had a “Left-handed marriage” with a White plantation owner named Valery Dauzat.
Bouchard Dit Lavallè
The image above was posted by Cathy Lemoine Sturgell, owner of Louisiana Lineage website, to the Avoyelles Parish Research Facebook page. This is the first time she’d found Louis Bouchard’s dit name used, but not the first time the name Lavallèe had been used for Louis. The dit name is on the marriage record of him and Marie Jeanne Lemoine, parents of Simon Bouchard dit Lavallè, my paternal great-great-great grandfather. Dit means called, so this would be Louis Bouchard called Lavalé.
Lavalè, Lavallèe, Lavallè seemed to have been the first spellings used, before the different versions of Lavallais/Lavalais/Lavalet, Lavalay. etc. came into being. The S on the end of Lavallais is silent. It is French, and it means The Valley.
The first Lavallè that I found in the Courthouse records, when I first began my research, was Susanne Lavallè FWC (Free Woman of Color), my great-great grandaunt. I’d heard her name when I was very young and remembered it, because it was the same as mine. However, I didn’t know how she was related to me. Family folklore was she’d been involved with a White man, who was a Dauzat.
The Research Group
I mentioned in a previous blog, a group on Facebook that shares research about the ancestors of Avoyelles Parish. On that page, there have been discussions about Susanne and the Bouchard dit Lavallè family, because a lot of us share these same ancestors. So, some of the information I will share was shared by other members of the group, especially Ellen Dauzat, Eve Daigrepont Bierniat and Cathy Lemoine Sturgell, owner of the website, Louisiana Lineage.
Most of us don’t get paid for the work we do. So, I feel we should at least get the credit for it whenever possible. I haven’t always noted where I’d gotten my information, because I was researching for my own benefit. I didn’t realize this was important if I was to share it. I’ve spent a lot of time going back, trying to verify things I’ve seen or read. Time that would’ve been saved, if I’d noted where I’d gotten it the first time. So, keep good records of as much as you can. You never know when a detail might become important.
The Will
After finding Susanne in the court records, I found an abstract of a will dated April 1, 1793 for a Mr. Lavallè in the book, [1]History of Avoyelles Parish by Corinne L. Saucier. It named his children as Lucy, Luis, Suzan and Jeanne. I assumed Mr. Lavallè to be Simon Bouchard dit Lavallè or his brother, Louis, because I’d found no other Avoyelles family with that name. Many years later, [2]a copy of the original complete will, was retrieved from a library at the University of Lafayette by Ellen Dauzat. It was translated from French to English by Cathy Lemoine Sturgell. My assumption had been correct. Mr. Lavallè was, indeed, Simon Bouchard dit Lavallè.
The Siblings
This is an excellent example why the original record should be obtained, if possible. The original shone light on several questions, and created others. The children named were Lucy, Louis, Simon and Susanne and named Jeanne as their mother, instead of their sibling. Simon FMC (Free Man of Color) had not been named as a sibling, at all, in the abstract, but was now named in the original will.
There had been a sibling named Juana. Juana is a Spanish name that corresponds with Jeanne. So, there was a sister named Jeanne, who had died by the time of her father’s death. Her [3]baptismal record said she was baptized, conditionally, on February 18, 1791 at fourteen months. She’d been named after her mother, Jeanne.
Her Mother
Before the original will was found and translated, I’d thought that the mother may have been a [4] bi-racial enslaved woman named Lucille, whom Simon Bouchard dit Lavallè had freed on February 12, 1781.
After I’d found [5]Luci and Jeanne’s mother’s name to be Jeanne Ferret on other documents, for a while, I still leaned toward Lucille being the mother of the three other siblings, Louis, Simon and Susanne. The following is my reasoning. A lot of the enslaved were freed, because they were either the child of the slave owner or the mother [6]of his children. Secondly, Simon didn’t have much money, as it was shown in his will, and an enslaved person would have been a valuable asset to hold onto, yet he’d freed her. Why? Additionally, besides Simon’s daughter being named Luci, Susanne named a daughter Lucille. So far, I’ve found none of Susanne’s or Luci’s daughters named Jeanne. Many residents passed names down from generation to generation.
The will says “Jeanne, leures merre”, which means their mother, referring to all the children. It would not have been unusual to refer to a step-mother as mother, if she was performing that role for all of them. This is only one document proof for three of the siblings saying she is the mother. However, there is no document proof for saying Lucille is the mother for any of them. Therefore, until other documents are discovered, I think Jeanne is most likely the mother of all the children, including Susanne.
Early Life
On Susanne’s [7] death record in 1852, it gave her age as 65 years, which put her birthdate in 1787. On the 1850 census, her age is shown as 60, which would put her birthdate in 1790. Hence, I believe she was born between 1787 and 1790. When her father passed away in 1793, she would have been very young, between three and six years old.
Was Susanne Enslaved?
Without getting into an in-depth discussion about Jeanne in this blog, evidence was discovered by Eve Daigrepont Bierniat that Jeanne, who was bi-racial, was enslaved by Joseph Joffrion pére, Simon Bouchard dit Lavallé’s brother-in-law, while she was living with and bearing children for Simon. According to the Code Noir or the [8]Black Code, the child of an enslaved woman is also enslaved. Simon’s will made no mention of anyone being enslaved, Jeanne nor his children. He passed what little property he had onto them. As of yet, I haven’t found any proof of Susanne being enslaved or of her being emancipated.
Left-Handed Marriage
If she was ever enslaved, she was free by August 13, 1812, because an early contract between Susanne and Valery Dauzat, is mentioned in the document, [9]Dissolution De Société, dated December 15, 1828. It speaks about dissolving a “partnership that existed between them since August 13th, 1812, contracted by act under private seal.” An enslaved person could not form a contract. The body of the document is shown in Figure 12 and because of the wording of it, the “partnership” seemed to have been one of a personal nature; that they’d lived together and had property in common. Like a marriage. Only, this was not a legal marriage, because a White person could not marry a bi-racial person.
One of the researchers, Jessica Jones, owner of Reclaimingourancestors.com website, thought this was part of the placage system. Placage contracts were used in New Orleans and reached “its zenith between 1769 and 1803.” “The relationships were recognized among the free people of color as mariages de la main gauche or left-handed marriages.” Even though, this relationship occurred a little pass those dates, there were similarities.
Valery’s other Family
Valery Dauzat had married [10]Ursule Guenard on October 30, 1806 and had children with her. Some researchers believe she may have been deceased by 1811. I have no source for that date or if she was actually deceased.
A Need for Financial Security
I believe the contract was done because their child, Valery Dauzat II, was born about February 1812 and [11]baptized on Nov 8, 1812, the same year of the above-mentioned contract. The baptism was about three months after the contract was signed. This contract would have given her some security for her child.
A daughter, Lucille Dauzat, was baptized in 1820, when she was one year and three months old. Below is a certificate of baptism for her, posted by Ellen Dauzat. The certificate is a little confusing, because it said she was born in 1820 and she was baptized in 1820, but she was one year and three months, when she was baptized. Her birth records were not transcribed and published in the baptism records that were published by the church, so it was very helpful that Ellen was able to obtain it. Lucille’s first cousin, Aimé Joffrion, was her godmother.
A Plantation for Susanne
On January 18, 1820 [12]Valery Dauzat sold a tract of land to Susanne. It contained six arpents front by forty arpents in depth, bounded on the north by the Lands of James Clayton and on the south by the lands of Pierre Normand.
He, also sold her an enslaved woman named Polly, aged about thirty years and ten head of horses, mares and colts and eighty head of horned cattle “for and in consideration of the sum of two thousand eight hundred to be paid by Susan Lavalle, free woman of Colour, … (To wit) Two thousand four hundred and fifty dollars paid in hand… and three hundred and fifty dollars to be paid to his daughter, Artimus Dauzat, whenever she became of age or Emancipated or her heirs or assigns.
It also said, “that he would remain in possession of and have the full enjoyment of the described premises and property during his natural life, but shall not be accountable for any losses it may sustain except through his own negligence and improper management and that the land remain specially mortgaged for the payment of the afore mentioned sum of three hundred and fifty dollars.”
Completing the Initial Bargain
I believe this was the second part of the placage contract. The land sale was putting his land in Susanne’s name. It is unlikely she paid him two thousand eight hundred dollars, given he would be living there with her and would “have the full enjoyment of … during his natural life and not be responsible for any losses,” except under certain circumstances.
He did, however, put a special mortgage on his property in Susanne’s name to his daughter, Artemis, for three hundred fifty dollars. I suppose since he’d given his land to Susanne, he didn’t want to disinherit his daughter.
Her Brother’s Estate
Susanne was the administrator of her brother, Simon Lavallè’s estate when he passed. In that Probate sale, on February 21, 1821,[13]she and Valery Dauzat acquired his plantation, an enslaved sixteen-year-old girl named Polly and various other miscellaneous items. The tract was three arpents front by the ordinary depth of forty arpents. The terms were that one half of the purchase price was to be paid in March 1821 and the balance to be paid in March 1822. Francois Gaspard acquired a Negro boy named Sam, seventeen years of age, for four hundred dollars.
In article one and three, it says “the widow” as the buyer of the plantation and the enslaved girl, Polly. However, Susanne and Valery Dauzat’s marks are made on the document as the purchasers, and as you will see later, Susanne is the one held responsible for paying the mortgages on both. I believe, the auctioneer, assumed Susanne was Simon’s widow, rather than his sister, because her name was Lavallè and because she was acting as the administrator. (See A Cancellation of Mortgage.)
A Cancellation of Mortgage
A cancellation of mortgage was issued to Francois Gaspard on March 27, 1822, on “a Negro boy named Sam, “which he’d purchased at the Probate Sale of Simon Lavallè FMC, the year before. He’d paid off the four-hundred-dollar mortgage and as administrator, it was Susanne’s duty to cancel it.
“Before me, Cornelius Voorhies, Judge in and for the Parish of Avoyelles came John H. Boyer, attorney in fact for Susan Lavalle, administrator of the Estate of Simon Lavalle, deceased, who declared that whereas Francois Gaspard did on the 24th day, February 1821, purchased a Negro boy named Sam for the sum of four hundred”
Financial Woes
Susanne and Valery were already responsible for the two hundred and forty acres she’d received from Valery. Adding the financial responsibility of her brother’s one hundred twenty arpents was probably difficult for them to handle.
She was, evidently, unable to pay the second half of the four hundred dollars and her brother’s land was seized from [14]her on July 6, 1822. John H. Boyer, Susanne’s lawyer in the above Cancellation of Mortgage and the future [15]husband of her niece, Aimé Joffrion, purchased it for the “price of one hundred and one dollars.” At the bottom of the image, [16]the highlighted words, Seymour means Simon, because that’s the way Simon is pronounced in French.
Financial Woes continued
Then, the sixteen-year-old enslaved Polly was, also, seized and sold at a Sheriff sale to John H. Boyer, on August 17, 1822 for three hundred dollars.
A House from Antoine Dauzat
Susanne purchased from [17]Antoine Dauzat on July 20, 1827, a house on one square superficial arpents “by the line which separates the plantation of the seller from that of Mrs. Dauzat’s, his wife, and on the three other sides by the seller, who obligates himself to give the acquirer the road necessary to enjoy this above-said property.” The price of fifty dollars was to be paid in the month of March 1828. The document is in French and was translated by Judy Riffel.
Trouble in the Relationship
The next two documents show Susanne and Valery cancelling their ties with each other and separating their assets. The previous transaction may have been a part of that, with her buying a house from Antoine Dauzat. The next two documents were done one day apart, but the one dated first has the later document number.
Cancellation of Sale
No. 2259, dated December 16, 1828 is a [18]Cancellation of Sale of the transaction in Figure 5. This is the sale of Valery’s two hundred forty arpents plantation that he’d sold to Susanne on January 18, 1820. Susanne acknowledged she’d gotten a reimbursement of the two thousand four hundred and fifty dollars she’d paid him. (I don’t believe the two exchanged any money in either transaction.) No mention is made of the three hundred fifty dollars that she was to pay to his daughter, Artemis Dauzat.
The contract said, “Consequently, the parties obligate themselves, the one and the other, to consider for always the above-said act of sale as null and void.” This document was in French and was translated by Judy Riffel.
Breaking the Ties
The other document is No. 2260, Valery Dauzat et Susanne Lavallèe, Dissolution de Sociètè (Dissolution of Partnership). This contains the phase that makes me believe the contract under private seal in 1812 was a placage contract between a White man and a Free Woman of Color. This contract dissolves the agreement made in 1812.
The following is a translation of the above, done by the Sheldon Roy.
Hereinafter, in these presents, Valéry Dauzat, resident of this parish, for his part, and Susanne Lavallée, also of this parish, the other part.
The above appearing, declare by these presents, [that they] have dissolved the partnership that existed between them since August 13th, 1812, contracted by act under private seal on the aforesaid date of August 13th.
Each of the parties, having helped remove all objects belonging to himself [or herself] in the said Partnership, and the fruits it has produced, have given their reciprocal good and valid [sufficient] release and discharge.
A Connection Remained
It appeared, as though, they were going their separate ways. They may have for a while. Or maybe, they’d decided to be together, but not live together. Whatever was going on between them, they still “kept company” afterwards. Because, they had children together after this Dissolution of Partnership.
The Next Blog
She no longer owns the two large plantations. She may be living on the relatively small property besides Mrs. Antoine Dauzat. However, she is still ambitious. Read about other land deals, business connections and the birth of other children in the next blog.
Sources
[1] Saucier, Corinne L., History of Avoyelles Parish, Appendix c – An Inventory, Translation of Documents in Archives of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana—1783-1812, pages 481 and 482, Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, 1998
[2] Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Avoyelles Parish Colonial Records (digitized) Collection 192, A. Testimony done by Simon Lavallè, A. 1786 to 1807, No. 54, 1 April 1792, https://library.louisiana.edu/collections/collection-129A?fbclid=IwAR1gKw7N_cIJW6j5LXyrQV43MAUTY6lbapJnE7W0K4n3ZtkYir90PzmFLS0
[3] Archdiocese of New Orleans-Sacramental Records, Volume 5, 1791-1795.
[4] De Ville, Winston, Pointe Coupée Documents, 1762-1803: A Calendar of Civil Records for the Province of Louisiana, page 44, Claitor’s Publishing Division, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
[5] The Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, First Book of Confirmations of the Parish of St. Louis of New Orleans, pages 59-63, dated 20 of November 1796, Avoyelles residents provided by Lyle Barbato, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1967
[6] Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo, Africans in Colonial Louisiana, The Pointe Coupee Post: Race Mixture and Freedom at a Frontier Settlement, Enslaved Emancipations are discussed on pages 266-274, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1995
[7] Willie Ducote, Hydropolis Burials 1850-1859 Book II, Funeral Registry, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church of Mansura, Page 7, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
[8] The Laws of Slavery, Article 183, https://www.accessible-archives.com/2011/08/law-of-slavery-in-the-state-of-louisiana
[9] Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, Valery Dauzat to Susanne Lavallé – Dissolution de Sociètè, Conveyance Book F, dated 15 December 1828, Document 2260, pages 105 and 106, Marksville, Louisiana
[10] Southwest Louisiana Records – 1801-1810, Dosat, Valery married Ursule Guenard, page 243, (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, pg. 163), Alexandria Historical and Genealogical Library, Alexandria, Louisiana
[11] Ducote, Alberta, Hydropolis Baptisms – 1807-1824, Book 2 of St. Paul of the Apostle Catholic Church of Mansura, page 24, Avoyelles Publishing Company, Marksville, Louisiana
[12] Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Valery Dauzat to Susan Lavallè, Conveyance Book D, Page 282, Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, Marksville, Louisiana
[13] Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Estate of Simon Lavallè FMC, Cancellation of Mortgage, Avoyelles Parish Archives, Courthouse copy has parts missing, Conveyance Book D, page 319, File 1561, Marksville, Louisiana.
[14] Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff to Jean H. Boyer, Conveyance Book E, page 38, Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, Marksville, Louisiana.
[15] Ancestry.com, Adams County, Mississippi Marriages to 1825, Marriage date – 18 Jul 1825, Aimee Joffrion to J. H. Boyer
[16] How to pronounce Simon in French. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsdSe_v03ok
[17] Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, Antoine Dauzat to Suzanne Lavallais, 20 July 1827, Conveyance Book F, pages 257 and 258, Marksville, Louisiana
[18] Avoyelles Parish Courthouse, Valery Dauzat to Susanne Lavallé – Cancellation of Sale, Conveyance Book F, dated 16 December 1828, Document 2259, pages 104 and 105, Marksville, Louisiana
