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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Swift, John. Account books, 1830-1833. 3 vols. Location: G:7. Merchant of Bayou Sara, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Daybooks and ledger include accounts for steamers, plantations, and individuals. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1100.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Transportation, Business

Taliaferro, James G., Letters, 1852-1876. 2 microfilm reels. Location: MSS.MF:T. Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, planter, judge, Secession Convention delegate, associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and newspaper publisher. Letters discuss Taliaferro's involvement with the Secession Convention; politics during the Civil War (1865); Louisiana Supreme Court (1866-1874); Louisiana politics (1861-1874); Mississippi River flood of 1874; fires, cholera, and economic conditions in New Orleans; the visit of the Emperor of Brazil to New Orleans (1876), and plantation operations. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1562.

Referenced in Guides: Politics, Plantations, Civil War, Medicine

Taliaferro, James G. Papers, 1845-1877. 0.2 linear ft. Location: 18:4, OS:T. Planter of Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, Judge, delegate to the Louisiana Secession Convention, Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and newspaper publisher. Papers consist of personal correspondence to and from James G. Taliaferro, business correspondence, and accounts during the Civil War and Reconstruction period in Louisiana. Mss. 5094.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Civil War, Business

Tauzin, Marcelin and family. Papers, 1834-1944 (bulk 1860-1903). 982 items, 10 volumes. Location: A:60-61, J:12, OS:T. Planter of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Collection contains correspondence and business papers of the Tauzin family, including plantation records, correspondence concerning family members and their education, cashbooks, and notebooks. Some letters in French. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 6061: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 2, Reel 15. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 912.

Taylor, Sereno. Papers, 1833-1869 (bulk 1849-1863). 11 items, 12 volumes, 1 microfilm reel, 1 compact disc. Location: A:60, H:20, MSS.MF:T. Baptist minister and educator of Mississippi and Louisiana. Served as head principal of the Silliman Female Collegiate Institute at Clinton, Louisiana, in the early 1850s. The collection consists of papers and personal diaries. Among the papers is a prospectus and lithograph of the Sparta, Georgia, Female Model School (1833); and a prospectus of the Taylor Montgomery Cottage College and Academy, Mississippi. Diaries relate to personal matters, weather conditions, school affairs, religious matters during the period from 1849 until 1863. Volume 12 contains comments on wounded Confederate soldiers in hospitals. Also included are the personal diaries of Henry Kirby (1854) and Mary Emerson Taylor (1859-1860, 1869). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 617.

Referenced in Guides: Religion, Plantations, Women, Civil War, Education

Texada family. Papers, 1856-1999 (bulk 1865-1898). 1 linear foot, 4 oversize folders. Location: 19:9, OS:T. The Texada family, originally from Spain, immigrated to Natchez, Mississippi. In 1864, they moved to Rapides Parish, Louisiana, where they were significant landholders and planters. This collection consists of correspondence and genealogical materials. The genealogical materials include research and notes, newspaper clippings, photographs, copies of vital records, and excerpts from publications relating to the Texada family and the extended family including the Ker, Davidson, Pintard, Landers, Hickman, Luckett, and Peyton families. The bulk of the correspondence is from the Civil War period and is written to Margaret Ker Davidson Texada. The letters are predominately from Charles V. Cosby, her cousin; Joseph Welsh Texada, her husband; and John Pintard Davidson, her father. Mss. 5119.

The Thoroughbred Horse General Morgan, 1872. 1 poster. Location: SF293 .T5 B87 1872 MCAGE. Poster describes the appearance and gives the pedigree of the thoroughbred horse, General Morgan, advertised as a stud horse by Charles F. Burr at a plantation near Opelousas, La. Mss. 3540.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations

Thibaut, James. Account book, 1878-1879. 1 vol. Location: M:20. Commission merchant of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Account book records sugar and molasses sold for various plantations in Louisiana, listing names of plantations and consignees; and contains written reports on the conditions of crops, health, weather, and the Mississippi River. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 421.

Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, Business

Thom, Evelyn. Papers, 1768-2005, undated (bulk 1960-2005). 5.5 linear ft. Location: 119:8-10, OS:T. A local historian and historic preservationist of Baton Rouge, La. Papers consist of photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, genealogical charts, meeting minutes, and publications. Subjects include Baton Rouge history, prominent Baton Rouge individuals and families, and historic preservation and restoration of historic properties in Baton Rouge. Mss. 5079.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Baton Rouge

Thomas Butler Family Photographs and Plantation Journal, 1844-1907, 1952, 1961, undated (bulk:1844-1907). 0.3 linear feet. Location: S:16. The Thomas Butler family were cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, and resided at The Cottage. Collection consists of a plantation journal for Grand Caillou and Le Carpe Plantations, Terrebonne Parish, ca. 1844-1866, and photographs of family members and home interiors. The journal, kept during Thomas Butler and later Richard E. Butler's ownership of the plantations, contains financial accounts and a list of overseers' names (1842-1859), as well as slave registers that record births, deaths, and parents of children. For further information see online catalog. Mss. 4347.

Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, African Americans

Thurston, George N. Family Papers, 1843-1907. 64 items, 3 vols. Location: C:45. Mississippi River steamboat captain for the New Orleans Ice Company, and a sugar planter at Baskerville Plantation, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Papers include personal and business letters related to Thurston's work, and diaries and account books kept by his wife, Mary Thurston, concerning the household and plantation. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1124.

Tibbets, Hiram B. Family Papers, 1830-1857. 25 items. Location: A:4. Planter and physician of Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana. A native of Massachusetts, Tibbetts and his wife corresponded with his brother John C. Tibbetts in Boston and New Hampshire. Letters primarily to John C. Tibbetts deal with planter-slave relations, and plantation and family news. Topics include Christmas festivities; a wedding held in the slave quarters; and the prevalence of cholera. A partial letter (ca. 1850) provides analysis of the political situation in Louisiana and Mississippi following the Compromise of 1850. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 831, 856, 868, 1300, 1352.

Tucker Brothers. Mortgage, 1861. 1 item. Location: Misc.: T. George Washington Tucker joined with Paschal E. Tucker and Sarah L. Tucker Douglas to form a copartnership in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, on Dec. 17, 1859. This mortgage on a sugar plantation in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, includes all plantation property and buildings, including fifty-five slaves who are listed by name and age.  Mss. 5254.

Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, Business, African Americans

Tureaud, Benjamin. Family Papers, 1803-1932 (bulk 1849-1880). 3,332 items 88 vols. Location: E:114-116, J:1-3. Plantation and store owner of Bagatelle, Brule, and Houmas plantations in Ascension and St. James parishes, Louisiana. Business records consist of a check book for Houmas Plantation; a cashbook for B. Tureaud and Company; and a payroll book for Houmas and Brule Plantations. Some items also available on microfilm 6061, Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration. Series B, Selections from the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, Louisiana State University Libraries; pt. 1, Louisiana sugar plantations, reels 3-13. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 427, 560, 794, 811, 1100.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business

Tureaud, Benjamin. Family Papers, 1803-1932 (bulk 1849-1880). 3,332 items, 88 vols. Location: E:114-116, J:1-3, OS:T. Plantation and store owner of Bagatelle, Brule, and Houmas plantations in Ascension and St. James parishes, Louisiana. Papers include plantation records, business records, and correspondence of Benjamin Tureaud and his family. Some records document merchandise sold to African American laborers. Partly in French. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 6061: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 1, Reels 3-13. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 427.

Turnbull, Daniel Family Papers, 1803-1913. (bulk 1832-1871). 74 items. Location: C:96. Daniel Turnbull was a sugar and cotton planter and founder of Rosedown Plantation in West Feliciana Parish. The collection contains correspondence, legal papers, and financial records of the Turnbull family, including Turnbull's daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and James P. Bowman, and concern the operation of family plantations Rosedown and Bayou Grosse Tete, as well as to the family's experiences during the Civil War, the destruction of DeSoto Plantation, and Turnbull's war claims. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4973.

Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, Women, Civil War

Turnbull, Martha. Diary transcription, 1836-1895. 1 transcription (31 pages). Location: Misc:T. Transcription prepared by Charles A. Haines, curator of Rosedown, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Entries in the diary describe the planting and cultivation of the flower and vegetable gardens. Included are an inventory of household goods (page 12; 1864), lists of slaves' names (page 30), and a death register of slaves (page 31). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2375.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Women, African Americans

Turnbull, Sarah, 1831-1914. Diary, 1851. Transcription, 1 item (2 pages). Location: Misc.:T. Wife of James Pirrie Bowman, cotton planter, Rosedown, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Entries describe places visited on a European tour. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2375.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Women

Turnbull-Allain Family Papers, 1784-1941 (bulk 1820-1890). 15 linear ft. Location: C:98-112, OS:T, 99:T. The Turnbull and Allain families were cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana, West Baton Rouge, and Iberville parishes, Louisiana. Papers include correspondence, legal and financial documents, and plantation records. Included are a large number of Braille writings of Helene Allain, some written while she studied and taught at the Louisiana Institute for the Blind in Baton Rouge. Plantation papers include lists of slaves and laborers. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 19-34. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4261.

Turnbull-Bowman family. Papers, 1771-1956 (bulk 1795-1910). 8 microfilm reels; 5.5 linear ft. Location: MSS.MF:T; X:19-23; OS:T. The Turnbull and Bowman families were cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Financial papers, correspondence, legal documents, personal papers, sheet music, printed items, and photographs of members of the Turnbull and Bowman families, cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Some papers of the related Pirrie and Gray families are included. Early documents reflect involvement of members of the Turnbull family in the fur trade in colonial Louisiana. Most papers reflect planting activities. Papers also include the sermons of William R. Bowman (1800-1835), rector of Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville. Some items in Spanish and French. Mss. 4452.

Turnbull-Bowman-Lyons Family Papers, 1797-1955 (bulk 1820-1910). 3.5 linear ft. Location: C:113-115, OS:T. Sugar and cotton planters with properties in West Feliciana Parish, Iberville Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Correspondence, plantation management papers, financial papers, legal documents, personal papers, and printed and graphic materials documenting the lives of members of the Turnbull, Pirrie, Lyons, Bowman, Barrow, Stirling, and Fort families. Correspondence discusses plantation, slave, financial, and social matters, and includes antebellum letters. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 34-38. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4026.

Turner, Edward and family. Papers, 1767-1878 (bulk 1811-1878). 173 items, 1 volume. Location: S:120, OS:T, VAULT:1. Judge and planter of Natchez, Mississippi. Collection includes family correspondence, legal and business papers, plantation documents, poems, photographs, a specimen of currency (1778), and an issue of the newspaper Southern Watch Tower (1843). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1403.

Turner, Edward, 1778-1860. Family Papers, 1767-1878. 173 items, 1 ms. Vol. Location: S:120. Judge and planter of Natchez, Mississippi. Collection includes family correspondence, legal and business papers, plantation documents, poems, photographs, a specimen of currency (1778), and an issue of the newspaper Southern Watch Tower (1843). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1403.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Literature

Tuttle, Isaac O. Letter, 1840. 1 item. Location: Misc.:T. Resident of or visitor to Franklin, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Letter to his cousin Miss Maria E. Seeley, of Fairhaven, Connecticut. Tuttle comments on the social customs of the Southern people, and describes the natural beauty and graciousness of Creole ladies at a plantation ball. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 872.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Women

U. S. Quartermaster Patterson. Letters, 1864-1865. 3 letters. Location: Misc.:U. Quartermaster for the U.S. Army 1st Texas Cavalry during the Civil War. Letters signed “your brother Patterson” tell of duties as U.S quartermaster, the presence of small bands of Confederate troops near Morganza, difficulties in the cotton market, the landscape and local civilians. He describes farmlands and the plantation house occupied by his regiment in West Pascagoula, and he comments on the plantation labor system and freedmen. For further information, see online catalog record. Mss. 5198.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Civil War, African Americans

Uncle Sam Plantation papers, 1805-1914 (bulk 1880-1911). 12.5 linear feet, 183 volumes, 6 microfilm reels. Location: UU:217-228, P:11-13, OS:U, MSS.MF:U. Plantation built by Samuel Fagot of St. James Parish, Louisiana, in the 1840s; it produced sugar cane and was known as Constancia Plantation prior to 1864. The plantation store operated circa 1875-1914. Collection includes business records, correspondence, slave and free labor records, and plantation store records and scrip. Later papers include payroll accounts and labor statistics for Cypress Knee Plantation. Some correspondence in French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 408, 602, 1252.

Referenced in Guides: Sugar, Plantations, Business, African Americans

Union soldier Frank Civil War letter, 1863 April 13. 1 item (4 pages). Location: Misc:A. Union soldier's letter from Baton Rouge to his sister Ann relating details of his present situation and his impression of the local population, of Baton Rouge, and of nearby plantations. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3309.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Civil War, Baton Rouge

United States. Army. Department of the Gulf. Bureau of Free Labor. Rules and Regulations Governing Colored Labor at Work on the Plantations under Control of the U.S. Government. 1863 March 9. 1 item. Location: EPHEMERA SUBGROUP II. Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler instituted the enlistment of former slaves into the Union army and later established a wage-labor system on sugar plantations. General Superintendent of Negro Labor, George H. Hanks, was charged with overseeing that wage-labor rules were observed on working plantations. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4822.

Ventress Brothers account books, 1900-1901. 2 ms. Vols. Location: J:12. Residents of Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. James Alexander Ventress married Sallie Mathews of Greenwood plantation, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where these account books were found.. Ledgers contain accounts for Caledonia, Lake Home, and Longwood plantations of Pointe Coupee Parish. The flyleaves of both volumes bear the inscription "Ventress Brothers, Pointe Coupee Property, Ventress and Fordeche Post Office, "Caledonia," "Lake Home," "Longwood," Interior of Island, etc., Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana." Mss. 910.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business, Natchez, Mississippi

Vincent-David Papers, 1831-1881. 222 items. Location: C: 48. Cotton planters of Pointe Coupee Parish, La. Personal and business papers of Jean Vincent and Jean Baptiste David, of Fausse Rivierre Plantation, consist of financial papers, bills for medical services and correspondence from commission merchants. In French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1203.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business, French, Medicine

Viosca, Percy, Jr. Photograph collection, circa 1920-1960. 904 black and white negatives; 782 gelatin silver prints; 259 resin coated paper prints. Location: 145:56-57. While employed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Percy Viosca documented the coastal Louisiana landscape between 1921 and 1932. He traveled the state for his work that included mosquito control; riparian and marshland studies; flood control; taxonomic work with native Louisiana irises, newts, and snakes; culture of crawfish; and environmental impact of oil refinery practices. The images in this collection document locations on or near the Louisiana coast and a few sites inland. All images refer to water quality, water control, or environmental conditions affecting water quality. Mss. 4948.

W.P.A. Louisiana Historical Records Survey Police Jury Minutes Transcriptions, 1811-1941 206 linear feet on 581 reels. Typed, printed, and handwritten transcriptions of Police Jury minutes and ordinances for 60 of 64 Louisiana parishes. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2984.

Wade, B. Account sheet, 1870. 1 item. Location: Misc.:W. Merchant of Natchez, Mississippi. Statement of account from Wade for T. C. Reddy, Cottage Grove Plantation. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 896.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business, Natchez, Mississippi

Wade, B. Account sheet, 1870. 1 item. Location: Misc.:W. Merchant of Natchez, Miss. Statement showing account of T. C. Reddy of Cottage Grove Plantation with B. Wade. For more information, see online catalog. Mss. 896.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business, Natchez, Mississippi

Wailes, Benjamin L. C. (Benjamin Leonard Covington). Notebook, 1849. 1 vol. Location: M:20. Scientist and planter, chiefly remembered for his interest in soil, rocks, fossils, plants and animal life. Wailes assisted in building collections at Jefferson College, the University of Mississippi, and the Mississippi state capital. List of minerals in the cabinet of Benjamin Wailes. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 186.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Natchez, Mississippi

Wall-Pettibone Family Papers, 1795-1889. 15 items. Location: A:122. John Wall, an early settler in the Spanish district of Natchez, received land granted by the Spanish in 1795. This land became Richland Plantation in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, later owned by Chauncey Pettibone. The papers document the land ownership of the Wall and Pettibone families. Included is the marriage license of Evans S. Wall and Mary L. Pettibone. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3344.

Referenced in Guides: Spanish, Plantations, Natchez, Mississippi

Walsh, Antonio Patrick. Papers, 1789-1826 (bulk 1820-1823). 632 items, 2 vols. Location: A:71-72. Soldier in Europe and colonial Louisiana, and a planter in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Personal and business papers reflecting Walsh's military service and life as a planter. Partly in Spanish. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 887.

Referenced in Guides: Spanish, Plantations

Walsh, Henry Hicky. Papers, 1841-1892, 1941. 9 items. Location: OS:W. Prominent New Orleans lawyer and grandson of Philip Hicky of Hope Estate Plantation, Baton Rouge. Papers consists of correspondence relating to family matters; certificate for land purchased by Armoigene Crochet and Senfroid Chedotale of Assumption Parish, Louisiana (Oct. 6, 1841); academic paper on classical literature (1854); commission from Governor Thomas O. Moore to Walsh for an appointment as 2nd lieutenant of the Pargoud Volunteers, Louisiana Militia (1861); newspaper picture of Hope Plantation; Walsh's diploma from University of Louisiana (1861); and obituary of Henry Hicky Walsh (1892). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1622.

Walworth, Douglas. Family Papers, 1806-1881 (bulk 1850- 1881). 189 items; 10 ms. vols. Location: U:234. 99:W, Misc.: W, O:21. Planter, attorney and Confederate Army captain from Natchez, Mississippi. Alexander Gordon was a Scottish immigrant to New Orleans, Louisiana. Correspondence includes letters from Walworth's parents while he was at Harvard University. His diaries describe his childhood, study and student life, and Confederate military experiences. Civil War papers concern Confederate military administration. Gordon family papers include documents on the estates of James Gordon and his wife, family correspondence, the American naturalization certificate of Alexander Gordon, and Alexander's diary. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 5735: University Publications of America Confederate Military Manuscripts Series B, Reels 20-21. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2471, 2499.

Wartelle, Ferdinand M. Ledger, 1878-1896. 1 vol. (on microfilm). Location: Mss. Mf.:W. Planter of Moundville Plantation, Washington, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Plantation ledger records wages paid to field hands, debts and earnings of tenant farmers, and purchases made by hands or tenants at a plantation store. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2650.

Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business

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