A record showing Susanne's grandparents showing the first time dit Lavallé was used

Susanne Lavallé FWC in a Left-Handed Marriage

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, Valery Dauzat.

Read More

The Trials of Ursin Augustin

The Trials of Ursin Augustin

The life of my maternal great-great grandfather, Ursin Augustin, continues as he struggles through the tearing apart of his family while enslaved. After reuniting with them in 1865, he plotted his own destiny, by purchasing a plantation, in a competitive and sometimes, unscrupulous world that he hadn’t been trained for. Legacy means an amount of money or property left to someone in a will. Even though he had to contend with a lawsuit by Dr. Joseph Moncla, his former owner, he continued to fight to secure a legacy for his family. The first part of Ursin’s story has been told in the Parents for Ursin Augustin.

Read More

slave cabin signifying the cabins in where Ursin may have lived.

Parents for Ursin Augustin

A Major Brick Wall has been broken. I believe I’ve identified the parents of Ursin Augustin Sr. and Jean Pierre Augustin Sr., the ancestors of many African-Americans from the Avoyelles Parish area. Information gleaned from Lawsuits was instrumental in accomplishing this goal. Most of the lawsuits concerned property that members of the family acquired and fought to keep. Two White landowners who testified for the Augustin family in one of these lawsuits were Pierre P. Normand and his brother, Alcide H. Normand.

Read More

Enslaved Lady symbolizing Eulalie Jacob standing in cotton fields

Eulalie Jacob-The Cause of a Lawsuit

The enslaved Eulalie Jacob was worth fighting over and Scholastic Normand sued her husband, for control of her. Moreover, the enslaved Jacob from Africa, once owned by Marguerite Wienaire may indeed be Eulalie’s father and the person from whom the African-American Jacob line from Avoyelles Parish descends. Eulalie goes from being an enslaved valuable asset to a free landowner.

Read More

colonial home

Simon in a Dangerous Confrontation

Visiting his Free minor children placed the enslaved Simon's life at risk. The accusations of a white landowner and the strict rules of the Louisiana Black code had the potential of having Simon harmed physically, imprisoned and/or hindered from visiting his children again. Also, discover a family connection between a slave-owner and the enslaved Simon.

Read More