I continue with the lives of my great grandmother, Unity FWC (Free Woman of Color) and my great-great grandmother, Mally/Milla/Miley/Moilly. Unity had been bestowed the ultimate gift, the gift of freedom. Yet, something about William InRufty’s last will and testament gave me a feeling that there was more, something missing. I hope you will find the search for Unity’s Hidden Legacy interesting.
The previous blog about Unity and Miley, The Emancipation of Unity, goes from their arrival in 1809 in Avoyelles Parish and their sale to William InRufty to the emancipation of Unity and my grandfather, George Lavallè/Lavallais on March 28, 1829. If you haven’t read it, please do so at at the above link. It will help you to understand this part of their stories. George Lavallè/Lavallais’ story can be found at Reclaiming Our Ancestors owned by Jessica.
The Rest of the Stories of Unity and Miley
After her emancipation, Unity continued to live on the plantation and had five more children. Simon Jr. (who I believe is James, because of his age) was born December 29, 1829 and Louisa (Marie Louise) was born May 22, 1832. They were both baptized December 12, 1833. Jackson was born about 1833, Jean Baptiste, about 1836 and Henry Clay about 1841.
The picture in the heading is how her plantation might have looked during cotton picking season. She would have farmed the land and taken care of the animals herself, because her children were still very young in the beginning. It would have been a hard life for a woman alone. Even though the lease (See The Emancipation of Unity) said that “Moilly and Juenc,” InRufty’s two slaves, were to remain with the plantation, the 1830 census shows only her living there with two small children.
Unity died in August of 1842. She would have been only forty-four years old.
Where was Mally/Moilly/Miley?
We know that Moilly, Unity’s mother, was living on the plantation when the will and lease were written, and she’s not living with Unity on the 1830 census. She’s not on the Edwards plantation, either, because there is no slave there aged about sixty. I have not found any records with her name between 1830 and 1850.
However, we do find her living with the Lavallais family on the 1850 census. She got the opportunity to live free, and spend the last years of her life with her grandchildren.
What Property Does Unity FWC Own?
In the last will (See The Emancipation of Unity) and testament of William InRufty, no real estate property was mentioned as being willed to Unity. According to his will, half of InRufty’s property would go to Dr. James A. Watson and the other half to Nancy Edwards, and her sons, Fielding, Hayden and William. Her freedom and other sundry items were willed to Unity.
However, after 1829, most times when her name was mentioned in documents, there was something that would allude to her having property. For example, on the above picture of the baptism records of James and Marie Louise, the notation HP is shown. HP is shown on the church records if the parishioner was a plantation owner. On his petition to be tutor for Unity’s heirs, Lewis Gorton, who was the postmaster at Gorton’s Landing (will explain why that matters later), said she’d “died having some property both real and personal.”
On the Conveyance records of Nancy Edwards to Jermiah H. Cosden, it shows that her land was bounded on the West by lands belonging to Untig (Unity) free woman of color.
Search for the Land
Since her being bequeathed land had not been mentioned in the will, I looked for conveyance documents of her purchasing or leasing land and didn’t find any.
However, I find a conveyance document filed on August 15, 1829, concerning a sheriff’s sale because of a suit brought by George Gorton, one of the witnesses on the InRufty lease, regarding the property of William InRufty, deceased, to Nancy Edwards. This is how the land description is stated:
Containing nine arpents front by forty deep reserving one arpents front by forty deep running through the middle of said tract, …
A Clue Emerges
“Reserving one arpents front by forty deep running through the middle of said tract,” caught my attention. Then further down, after having given the dimensions of the entire plantation as nine arpents front by forty depth, it specifies that the Edwards family are to get four arpents front by forty deep. This would not have been half of the plantation. This would leave a balance of four arpents front by forty arpents deep plus a reserved one arpent front by forty arpents deep.
On another document, regarding the same sheriff sale of land from the Sheriff to N. Edwards, recorded November 22nd, 1831. The same wording is used referring to the suit of George Gorton to “seize the plantation of William Inrufty deceased containing nine arpents front by forty deep reserving one arpents front by forty deep running through the middle of said tract.”
There it was again, with no name or explanation attached, except that it was reserved.
The person who this tract was willed to was unnamed in the documents where this phase occurred. This was the part that was left out of the will. Unity being willed the household furniture, but no place to keep it, had never made sense to me. This forty arpent tract was also a part of Unity’s inheritance.
The Renunciation
What is a Renunciation? According to definitions.uslegal.com, in the context of probate law, renunciations means giving up one’s right to a gift or inheritance.
It appears that George Lavallais/Lavallé, Unity’s son, wanted to sell a portion of the land to Lastie Dauzat, but the land was not in his or his mother’s name. Although other documents were clear that the Edwards family owned four arpents front, the will didn’t say that. The will said they owned half of the plantation. This necessitated the Renunciation document.
On June 20th, 1857, William, Hayden and Fielding Edwards filed a renunciation in favor of the Heirs of Unity f.w.c. Here’s an excerpt:
Personally came and appeared Messieurs William Edwards, Hayden Edwards and Fielding Edwards, who declared that they renounce all their rights, titles, and interest as the only living heirs of William InRufty, deceased in and to a certain tract of land of one arpent front by forty arpents in depth bounded on the north by lands of W. W. Johnson, on the south by public lands, on the east by lands of Titus Normand and on the west by Lastie Dauzat.
This gave legal ownership of the forty arpents to Unity’s children.
The Sale
Once the Renunciation was filed, George sold ten arpents of the forty arpents of land to Lastie Dauzat on the same day. The following is an excerpt from the land sale document, George W. Lavalais, free man to Lastie Dauzat, 20th of June 1857. The document is recorded in French. It was translated by Judy Riffel.
To Mr. Lastie Dauzat, also domiciled in this parish, here present and accepting acquirer for himself and his heirs and assigns. An undivided quarter of a certain tract of land of one arpent frontage by a depth of forty arpents, …inherited it from their mother, Unity, free woman of color.
Finally, after almost thirty years, the tract of land of one arpent frontage by a depth of forty arpents has a name attached to it. Unity, f.c.l.
The Other 4 Arpents Front
Also on June 20th, 1857, Dr. James A. Watson, the author of the will, filed the document Sheriff of Avoyelles To James A. Watson. It was the sheriff’s sale on the other half of the property done because of the suit of George Gordon in 1829, twenty-eight years before. The suit did “seize the plantation of William InRufty deceased containing about nine arpents front by forty arpents deep reserving one arpents front by forty deep running through the middle of said tract…
So there it was again. The no longer mysterious one arpent front by forty deep running through the middle of the 1829 William InRufty tract. With his filing of this document and using those same words, gives credence to my belief that this was Unity’s Hidden Legacy all along. Hidden because it had been left out of the written will.
The Witnesses
Although William InRufty did not seem to have any biological relatives in the area, he made sure he had a number of witnesses to the writing and signing of both his will and the fifteen-year-lease that accompanied it. The will was witnessed by William Harvey, Baptiste Gaspard, Francois Brouillette, William White and George Gorton, and the lease by William Harvey and George Gorton. Also present were Uriah Edwards, Nancy Edwards, Fielding Edwards, Hayden Edwards, William Edwards, as well as the executor, Dr. James A. Watson
Suffice it to say that a town as small as Marksville, with all the witnesses and participants involved, and with the grapevine being strong in small towns, by the time all the participants left, almost everyone in town would have known what was supposed to be on that will. Some of the participates could not read and write, but they all knew what they heard.
That is why the conveyance document by Nancy Edwards said the land next door to hers belonged to Unity, and the church would have shown Unity as a plantation owner.
George Gorton and William Harvey were both former sheriffs, according to Corrinne Saucier’s book, The History of Avoyelles Parish. George Gorton had also purchased Normand’s Landing, according to The Normand Family Book by Mark Joseph Normand. The name was changed to Gorton’s Landing. He was, also, a relative of Lewis Gorton, who applied to be a tutor of Unity’s children, stating that she had real property. Because of his connection to George Gorton, he would have known what happened in that meeting and that Unity was to inherit land, in addition to her freedom.
Reflections
Had it been left out by mistake, or was it by design? We will probably never know.
Another discrepancy was that Unity inherited thirty head of cattle with her brand on the lease and seven head were shown on the will.
The good part is that Unity lived the rest of her life, free on that land, never knowing it was not in her name and the Edwards brothers did the right thing by filing the Renunciation document in favor of the heirs of Unity, f.w.c. in 1857, passing down to them the legacy of their mother.
Thank you for joining me. The next installment will be about Simon, the father of Unity’s children, and Eulalie, his second mate, will follow. A look at an Augustine ancestor will, probably, follow that. Looking forward to having you on this journey.
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