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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Picture of Nottoway Plantation home, ca. 1900-1950. 2 items. Location: E:68. Home of John H. Randolph, Bayou Goula, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Picture postcard of Nottoway Plantation, accompanied by an photographic print of the same image. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1331. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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Oaklawn Manor Photograph, fcirca 1900-1940. 1item (28 x 35 cm.). Location: OS:O. Plantation house built by Louisiana Supreme Court Judge Alexander Porter in 1827. The house fell into disrepair after the Civil War. In 1927, steamboat captain C. A.Barbour purchased, restored, and rebuilt the house. Photograph depicting front and side view of Oaklawn Manor, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3268. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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Occupied New Orleans collection, 16 January-14 November, 1864. 7 items. Location: MISC:O. Certificates, receipts, and bills of lading. documenting business activities in occupied New Orleans, including the sale and shipping of corn and cotton and the purchase of groceries and soap. Three receipts and one certificate were issued to A[uguste] Lesseps of St. Clair Plantation in Plaquemines Parish, La. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4863. |
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Oge, John M. Papers, 1838-1939 (bulk 1915-1932). 0.5 linear ft. Location: W:53-54, OS:O. Resident, politician, and planter of Grand Coteau, Louisiana. His political offices included mayor of Grand Coteau, deputy sheriff of St. Landry Parish, and representative in the Louisiana State Legislature. Financial papers relate to the production of agricultural products. Early business correspondence discusses cotton and a property dispute. Personal correspondence from Oge's sons discusses employment, the military, and WWI. Political correspondence reflects the political atmosphere in Louisiana during the early 20th century with letters from the Louisiana governor's office, Huey P. Long, and political allies. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4207. |
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Olcott, Joseph H. Letter, 1844 June 20. 1 item. Location: Misc. Cotton planter on the Red River above Alexandria, Louisiana, in 1860. Letter giving information on the economy of the Red River Valley and on persons in the Alexandria area. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2125. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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Owen, George S. Account books, 1857-1906 (bulk 1874-1896). 36 vols. Location: H:8-9. Postmaster, commission agent, steamboat agent, and general store owner at Pilcher's Point, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana. Shapley Owen was a planter of Owenton Plantation, Bunch's Bend, East Carroll Parish. Collection consisting of volumes relating primarily to Owen's management of the general store at Pilcher's Point but including some records kept by Shapley Owen as a planter of Owenton Plantation. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 332. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Business
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P. A. Giraud & Co. Letter, 1856 March 15. 1 item. Location: Misc:G. Commission merchants located in New Orleans, dealing in molasses and sugar. Edward James Gay, born in Virginia, married Lavinia Hynes. Upon his father-in-law's death, Gay assumed control of Hynes' property in Louisiana and moved there in 1856. Letter from New Orleans by P. A. Giraud and Company to Gay at Hynes Plantation 'near Plaquemine,' Louisiana, details the shipping schedule of molasses and sugar on the Mississippi River between St. Louis and New Orleans. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3313. |
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Palfrey Family Papers, 1776-1918. (bulk 1806-1875). 388 items; 21 vols. Location: 77:89, H:22, Mss.Mf:P, 99. Family of planters, businessmen, politicians, public servants and author. Papers of John Palfrey (1768-1843) relate chiefly to the operation of Forlorn Hope Plantation, education of his sons, War of 1812, and reflect plantation life. Topics include the trade embargo, West Florida Controversy and the capture of Baton Rouge, War of 1812, slavery, cotton and salt production, and banking. Family papers pertain to Civil War battles, plantation economics, Confederate government, and Reconstruction. Papersof William Palfrey concern Ricahoc Plantation and a partnership David Weeks. They also discuss the Clinton and Port Hudson Railroad Company (1841-1842). Some items in French and Spanish. Available (with some omissions) on microfilm 6061 and 5322: University Publications of America Records of Southern Plantations from Emancipation to the Great Migration, Series B, Part 6, Reel 12; Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series I, Part 1, Reels 1-4. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 333, 334, 1409, 1442, 1632, 2076, 2580, 2773, 2857. Referenced in Guides: Religion, Spanish, Politics, Plantations, Transportation, Women, New Orleans in the Civil War, Civil War, Education, Business, Baton Rouge, African Americans, French, German, Literature
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Patrick, R. W. Family Papers, 1803-1918 (bulk 1845-1900). 123 items, 8 ms. vols. Location: E:40, H:10. Deputy clerk of court of Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Personal papers and journal of Reuben Woodworth Patrick; the Civil War diary of his son, Robert D. Patrick; and excerpts from diaries of Patrick's grandson, Jay Nash of Nash Plantation, near Clinton. Earlyapers consist of land deeds of the Patrick family of New York state. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 686, 712. Referenced in Guides: Plantations, Civil War
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Peck, Charles C. See: Charles C. Peck letter. Referenced in Guides: Plantations
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