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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Bienvenu family. Papers, 1779-1907. 143 items. Location: E:19. Planters of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, and New Orleans. Business papers of Alexandre Devince Bienvenu and Pierre Armand Bienvenu largely concern land ownership and sales in the Attakapas region, St. Martin Parish and New Orleans. Collection also includes family letters and genealogical papers. In French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2604. |
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Bills, John H. and family. Papers, 1825-1880 (bulk 1855-1861). 103 items. Location: A:17. Postmaster, merchant, and major of Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee, who also owned a plantation on Bayou Bartholomew, Louisiana. Bills was the father-in-law of Tennessee and Louisiana legislator Horace M. Polk. Personal and business letters discuss lands in Arkansas, dealings with factors, cotton trade, national and Louisiana state politics, the Democratic Party, the Civil War Battle of Shiloh, and slave customs and behavior. Correspondents include Daniel Graham, James Walker, and Horace M. Polk. Additional items consist of statements of accounts, receipts, and bills of lading. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2075. |
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Bisland, John and family. Papers, 1762-1884 (bulk 1800-1859). 1,161 items and 12 manuscript volumes. Location: H:17, OS:B, U:241-242. Scottish immigrant, storekeeper, and planter who came to Adams County, Mississippi, from North Carolina. Collection includes personal and business papers of John Bisland, Sr., and his sons Peter, James, Alexander, John, and William, relating to the establishment and development of Bisland plantations near Natchez, Mississippi, mercantile enterprises, and family and local activities including education and health. Available on microfilm 5322:University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 6-8. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 29. |
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Blanche, Alexander. Papers, 1851-1914 (bulk 1851-1856, 1881-1914). 79 items, 2 volumes. Location: W:48, VAULT:3 OS:B. Cotton planter of Marydale Plantation, Tensas Parish, Louisiana. Antebellum plantation diary contains notes about cotton farming; slave labor and health; weather; medical remedies; and other plantation affairs. Papers consist of correspondence, tax and payroll receipts, account sheets, and receipts for prisoners. Letters to Blanche from S. L. James include information on plantation supplies and prison laborers. Available on microfilm 5322: Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 2, Reel 11, and microfilm 6061: Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series I, Part 3, Reel 14. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3342. |
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Blount, W. M. Account book, 1817-1860. 1 vol. Location: H:14. Record of payment to Blount in settlement of William Pitt Higbee's estate and account. Also recorded are the accounts of Mrs. Amelia Gradinego, Daniel Zeringue, members of the Close family, and others of Petit Bois, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Entries include commodity prices, prices of slaves, taxes, cost of schooling, wages for a laborer, and other expenses incurred by local planters. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 177. |
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Bond, Priscilla Munnikhuysen. Papers, 1858-1908 (bulk 1858-1866). 98 items, 3 volumes, 16 microfiche. Location: B:15, OS:B, MICROFICHE 2729. Resident of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. Collection consists of correspondence, diaries, poems, and photographs. Diaries record Bond's daily activities and observations relating to plantation life, runaway slaves, social activities, hypnotism, and Civil War experiences and thoughts, including participation by African American soldiers. Available on microfilm 5750: America Southern Women and Their Families in the 19th Century: Papers and Diaries Series E, Reel 33. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2155. |
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Boney, Richard K. (Richard Kinsey), 1855-1937. Papers and diaries, 1866-1884. 18 items ( on 1 microfilm reel). Location: Mss.Mf:B. Lawyer and planter of Duckport Plantation, Madison Parish, Louisiana. Diaries record student life at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington; social life in Virginia and Vicksburg, Mississippi; and legal studies at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University), New Orleans. Included are miscellaneous papers and photographs of Boney. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3041. |
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Bonnet Carre Point batture map,1893 March 6. 1 map. Location: Misc.:B. George Grandjean was a U.S. deputy surveyor. A survey map with notes, titled "Batture Subdivision, March 1893," shows a compromise boundary line drawn between Glendale Plantation in St. John the Baptist Parish that was owned by George Sarpy and Hymelia Plantation in St. Charles Parish, owned by Joseph Hymel. The survey is signed by both parties and surveyor George Grandjean. For further information see online catalog. Mss. 5201. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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Bordelon, Leonce P., Diaries, 1876-1931, 2005, 2007. 16 v. Location: J:28. Avoyelles Parish, La., planter. Diaries of Leonce P. Bordelon reflect Louisiana plantation life in rural Avoyelles Parish during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Entries pertain primarily to plantation operations, the effects of climate on those operations, social activities, health and local elections. Some entries in French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4952. |
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Bordelon, Leonce P., Diaries, 1876-1931, 2005. 15 v. Location: J:28. Avoyelles Parish, La., planter. Diaries of Leonce P. Bordelon reflect Louisiana plantation life in rural Avoyelles Parish during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Entries pertain primarily to plantation operations, the effects of climate on those operations, social activities, health and local elections. Some entries in French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4952. |
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Bosley, Hubbard S. Papers, 1825-1947 (1850-1880). 10 linear ft., 39 vols. Location: C:1-5, O:1, 98:B, OS:B, Planter of Red River Parish, Louisiana, son-in-law of William A. Powell of Caddo Parish, Plantation records, business papers, and personal correspondence of Hubbard S. Bosley, William A. Powell and families. Included are materials relating to the Civil War. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 2, Reel 19, and microfilm 6061: Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration. Series B, Part 2, reels 12-13. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 963. |
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Boucry Family Papers, 1814-1884, 1910 (bulk 1830-1884). 6 items, 3 vols. Location: 77:88, Mss. Mf.:B.Sugar planters of Bonne Esperance Plantation, St. James Parish, Louisiana. Papers include record books of Helene Boucry containing financial and genealogical information about the Boucry, Bonnecaze, Webre, and related families. Partly in French. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 1, Reel 8. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 790, 800. |
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Boudreaux, Maximilien E. Family Papers, 1856-1927 (bulk 1866-1905). 0.4 linear ft. (78 items, 15 ms. Vols., 1 printed vol.). Location: E:41. Sugar planter in Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Boudreaux and his son Rene may have practiced tenant farming in the 1890s. Papers pertain largely to the cultivation and sale of sugar cane and the purchase of merchandise, and include correspondence, cashbooks, time books, a letterbook, and a memorandum book containing genealogical information. Some items in French. Available on microfilm 6061: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 3, Reel 15. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1099. |
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Bowling, L. Cotton record book, 1856. 1 vol. Location: M:18. Probably a clerk in a New Orleans cotton factor's office. Record book kept by Bowling lists the number of bales of cotton received, the names of steamers and railroads transporting the cotton, and the places of origin of the cotton. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1351. |
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Bowman, James P. Family papers, 1806-1926. 2615 items; 100 ms. vols., 6 printed vols. Location: B:19-24; J:18-19; OS:B; 98:. Planter of Rosedown Plantation, St. Francisville, Louisiana. Records and papers documenting the administration of Rosedown. Includes papers of William R. Bowman, Episcopal clergyman; and of James P. Bowman, Robert H. Barrow, Eliza Bowman Lyons, Catharine Rucker Turnbull, and Daniel Turnbull. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 8-19. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1372, 1382. |
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Bradford, David, d. ca.1816. Letters, 1798-1805. 25 items [typescripts]. Location: H:16, U:120. Planter and owner of the Myrtles Plantation,West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Photocopies of letters written to David Redick of Pennsylvania relate to the settlement of Bradford's debts, the disposition of his property in Pennsylvania, and economic and political matters in Spanish West Florida. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 855. Referenced in Guides: Politics, Plantations
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Bradford, David, d. ca.1816. Family Papers, 1798-1882 (bulk 1833-1838). 50 items. Location: U:120. Planter of the Myrtles Plantation, Bayou Sara, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Papers include Spanish land grants, surveys, plats, conveyances, appraisals, and mortgages for land owned by David Bradford and family, chiefly in West Feliciana and East Baton Rouge parishes. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 735. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Baton Rouge
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Bragg, Braxton, 1817-1876. Letter, 1856 February 10. 1 item. Location: Misc.:B. Confederate general in command of the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. Letter to Bragg's wife describes Bivouac, a 2000-acre plantation three miles from Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, which he had just purchased. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2025. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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Bragg, Braxton, 1817-1876. Letter, 1856 February 12. 1 item. Location: Misc:B. Confederate general in command of the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. In reply to a request for biographical information from J. Furlong of Brooklyn, N.Y., Bragg discusses the circumstances of his situation as a sugar planter in Louisiana at the beginning of the Civil War, laments the misfortunes of his 125 former slaves, and briefly describes his military career for the Confederate States of America. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2537. |
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Braintree Manufacturing Company. Correspondence, 1844-1845. 7 items. Location: Misc.:B. Company located in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Letters to Jonathon Cushing, agent for the Braintree Manufacturing Company, from Washington Jackson and Company, New Orleans factors. Letters concern the sale and delivery of cotton gins. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1404, 1417. |