Woman's enterprise., 1922-03-10


Award, recorded in the first volume,
written in 1884, and finally probated
only in 1888. The will, written in
French, begins, "In the name of the
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy
TGhost, amen, l, Pierre Award, being
in sound mind and intellect, but weak
in body, having deeply meditated up
on the uncertainty of this life, do
hereby write this my last will and
testament, first willing my soul to the
care of the Almighty God, Who brot
| it into being, and my body to the
earth whence it came,' etc. The will
was made in favor of the testator's
brother, who lived in Canada. 1t is
interesting to note that, in the proba-
tion there figured certificate signed
by Lord Dorchester, Governor of
Canada. From another standpoint
the will is also interesting, as it shows
in what regard "mulatres libres,"
were held. The testamentary executor
of the Award succession was a free
mulatto.
! The acts of sale-most of them con-
Germ the sale of slaves-deserve no.
tice. If the original is written in
French or English it is invariably
translated into Spanish. The acts
are extremely definite, specifying the
age, sex, parentage, previous history,
etc., of the slave, his shade Of color,
size, and even the tribe to which he
belonged. The members of the Mocon
and Senegal tribes evidently were
looked upon as being the most eff
cient workers, for we find that the
former sold for about $500 usually,
and the latter for about $500 to $500.
Members of some tribes sold for as
little as $500. Usually the contract
of sale specifically provided that the
price should be paid in Spanish milled
, dollars and in no other currency in
circulation in the plaza.
An amusing incident is recorded in
, one Of the volumes devoted to 1903
Alexander Bookter was the alcade Of
St. Helena and caused the arrest Of
Gabriel Burris, whom he sent tc
Grandpre at Baton Rouge. It seems
from the correspondence between thu
alcade and the governor, that the for
mer had given a party in honor Of hi:
7 friends, and to which Burris was mo-
, invited, but to which he came, never
3 theless. Not satisfied with the wa!
things were going, he undertook t.
break up the gathering by "pullinl
the hair, kicking the face and bitinl
}. the finger" of one Of those present
9 So runs Bookter's charge, which h
supports by number Of affdavits a
to the character Of the culprit. On
Of these reads, II know no good i
Gabriel Burris. He owes me seve
}. dollars and will not pay.",1t is in con
nection with this case that Beoa;te
I: returned the governors letter wit
the statement that he did not rea
Spanish, and virtually ordered tina
it be translated before being sen
0 to him. Burris, who was Chocta'
half-breed, upon representation by in
fiuential citizens Of St. Helena tina
he was necessary to keep the Indian
0 from making trouble for the whites
was soon released and the alcade DEP
lrimanded.
Many Of the documents Of import
5 ance bear the signatures of the Span
ish governors of Louisiana. Ga]ve
name appears until 1885, Miro's unit
5 |1790, then Carondelet's. Carondelet'
e name appears on several document
y connected with the administration 9
IS of the SUGGESTIONS of Turnbull an
Joyce, partners in trade, whose ver
lures extended from Mobile to Ns
coedoches, Texas This is the MOI
o important of all the SUGGESTIONS ths
% figure in the records, its asset
amounting to something like $6oo,0o(
o it involved more legal contention tina
any other recorded.
o Among the last recorded instr,
II ments is requisition by Philemo
IS Thomas upon the town for certa1
y provisions. In this he succeeded
n spelling the word "coffee" witho'
J. using a single letter ordinarily use
J. in spelling it. He wrote "kauphy
is The probabilities are that he g
m what he wanted.
h These old records deserve to be pr
'r served for the generations to com
D. but if steps are not taken to tn