Plantations
This guide describes manuscript collections documenting plantation society and economy in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections (LLMVC) at LSU. The plantation records and personal papers of planters, factors, merchants, and others whose livelihood came from plantations provide a wealth of documentation supporting research in plantation economy, slavery, and the social history of Southern landholding elites.
The collections described below touch upon all facets of plantation life. They include the papers of tutors, preachers, lawyers, and doctors who provided services to planters. They include the letters of Northerners who visited plantations in the antebellum period and wrote home about them, and those of Union soldiers who marched past plantations and sometimes plundered them. While the majority of collections are from the prewar years, there are substantial holdings on postbellum plantations as well. The sugar and cotton plantation records in LLMVC are among its most noteworthy and famed collections, and among the earliest collections that LSU acquired.
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Gianelloni, Sabin J., Sr. Family Papers, 1780-1997, undated. 7.25 linear ft., 79 v. Location: UU:316-321, 328-329; J;20-21; OS:G. Sugar planter of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Papers consist of correspondence, business papers, personal papers, and printed items relating to the Gianelloni family, the operation of Longwood Plantation, sugar and cane syrup industries, and federal regulations affecting these industries. The correspondence also discusses the political and economic environments in Louisiana and Cuba. Printed items include photographs of field hands and the Longwood Plantation store. For further information, see the online catalog. Mss. 3458, 4279. |
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Gibbs, Joe. Affidavit, 1865 Aug. 29. 1 affidavit. Location: Misc. This affidavit, made in Vicksburg, Miss., by Joe Gibbs, relates the marking for government use of 200 bales of cotton owned by a Dr. Smith, his hiding some of the cotton in the woods at the end of the war, and the burning of his cotton gin the same night. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4401. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Civil War
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Gibson, Randall Lee, 1832-1892. Papers, 1848-1891. 164 items. Location: A:56. Confederate general, New Orleans lawyer, U.S. representative and senator from Louisiana. Early papers reflect student life at Yale University. Civil War papers include orders, general reports, and casualty reports. Letters discuss movements of troops at the Battle of Shiloh and Mobile Bay, Ala. Letter from his sister describes New Orleans in 1861. Later papers consist of business record, mortgages and leases for various plantations. Available on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reel 6. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2402, 2412, 2423. Referenced in Guides: Politics, Plantations, New Orleans to 1861, Women, New Orleans in the Civil War, Civil War, Education
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Gillespie, James A. and family. Papers, 1776-1929 (bulk 1840-1890). 1,530 items, 20 volumes. Location: E:22-24, E:118, G:16, 65:G, OS:G Vault:38. Planter of Hollywood Plantation, Adams County, Mississippi, and Indian Village Plantation, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. Collection includes plantation records, business papers, and correspondence of the Gillespie family and business papers of the Davis family. Papers include slave sales, land deeds, a will, diaries, portraits, maps, sheet music, and fashion publications. Includes some printed items in German. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 6061: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 4, Reels 5-8, or Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series I, Part 3, Reels 13-14. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 669, 695, 1104, 2086. |
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Girod, Joseph. Papers, 1816-1899 (bulk 1830-1880). 588 items, 6 ms. Vols. Location: U:133, G:8. Native of France and planter of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, and nephew of Nicholas Girod, first elected mayor of New Orleans. Joseph Girod's brother, Francois Girod, lived in Paris, France, and New Orleans. Papers include letters from Francois Girod, some of them related to the estate of Nicholas Girod, which provided for the aid of New Orleans orphans of French parentage. Plantation journals (1838-1877) and a letter book (1825-1832) are also included. In French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 838, 853. |
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Gleason, David K. Papers, 1951-1992. 202 linear ft. Location: Ranges 87-90. Commercial photographer of Baton Rouge whose work included photographs of plantation homes along the Mississippi River. Gleason's work appeared in a number of books, including The Great Houses of Natchez (1986) and Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area (1982). Collection includes negatives, working proofs, prints, and notes. Unprocessed. Mss. 4520. |
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Godet, Desire. Papers, 1826-1881. 66 items. Location: U:133. French-speaking cotton planter of Port Barre, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Papers include letters to his parents, brother, and sister in Rouen, France. There are also bills, statements, and receipts from Opelousas merchants and statements of account with A. A. Mouton, Planters' and Merchants Agency. In French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 159. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, French
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Golsan Brothers. Papers, 1845-1876 (bulk 1866-1876). 15,645 items, 102 volumes. Location: UU:199-210, G:8-10, OS:G. New Orleans cotton factors and agents for the DuBois cotton gin, doing business with merchants, and commission firms in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Tennessee, and Texas. Business papers of Golsan Brothers consisting chiefly of bills and receipts for merchandise, printing, and advertising; waybills; invoices for cotton purchased; bank checks; trial balance sheets; telegrams; statements of account; and correspondence. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 501. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, New Orleans to 1861, New Orleans 1866-, Business, African Americans
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Good Hope Plantation: Papers, 1864-1867 (bulk 1865). .5 linear ft. (100 items). Location: U:145. Papers indicate that George Gilson Klapp of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and James D. Waters leased Tyconia Plantation in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, in 1864. Klapp and Waters jointly leased Good Hope and Hermitage plantations during 1865 and 1866. Papers focus largely on the operation and management of Good Hope and Hermitage cotton plantations in Concordia Parish, Louisiana. Legal papers include a plantation lease agreement, mule loans, an arms permit, and labor agreements with freedmen. Financial papers include promissory notes; receipts for goods, services, and taxes; and accounts of merchandise purchased by laborers. Available on microfilm 6061: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 2, Reel 11. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 161. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, African Americans
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Gordon Family papers, 1848-1857. 50 items. Location: Misc:G. Owners of Woodland Plantation in Port Gibson, Mississippi, where they raised cotton. Papers mainly consist of receipts for cotton shipments and invoices for purchases in New Orleans. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4666. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, New Orleans to 1861
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