Louisiana -- History -- 19th century

Scope and Contents This collection contains four diaries from Abner Phelps. Phelps was a clerk of the city court for Lafayette, a suburb of New Orleans that was annexed in 1852. Phelps' diaries contain brief accounts of his daily life, and typical entries include his activities, moods, and the weather. The diaries cover the years from 1837-1849. Phelps frequently mentioned the diseases that famously plagued New Orleans, discussing yellow fever deaths in 1843 and 1846, and cholera in 1848. In May 1846, Phelps...

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This is a collection of letters from Adolphe Avenel, New Orleans, primarily from members of his family in France. Most are of personal nature. Of special interest is one letter from his mother describing recent events in the Revolution in France (June 30, 1848). Among other correspondents are: Victor Martin, France; A. Lecomte, Mandeville; and Jules Grégoire, San Francisco. There are also a few letters to his daughter, Marie Avenel, from relatives in France.

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The collection consists of nine letters from Captain Barnard and Lt. Pierre G.T. Beauregard of the Army Corps of Engineers to Colin J. McRae concerning the delivery of bricks for the building of Fort Livingston. The fort was located on Grand Terre and was one of the defensive structures guarding the city of New Orleans.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of papers of Benedict family members in the United States, from the early nineteenth century until the late twentieth century.  Included are school and personal papers, correspondence, home recipes and remedies, land ownership papers, photographs, certificates and diplomas including an 1879 pharmacy diploma from the University of Louisiana, an 1890 Tulane Law School commencement program, invitations, financial papers, clippings, maps, a small painting on wood,...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of personal and family papers of the Leathers, Claiborne, and allied families, predominantly relating to the life and career of the Mississippi River steamboat owner and pilot, Capt. T. P. Leathers. Included are handwritten and typed correspondence, biographical information, genealogical research notes, typed transcriptions of wills, printed death notices, photographs including two elaborately framed daguerrotype portraits, Boston Club and New Orleans Carnival...

Scope and Contents The papers consist of business correspondence, some personal correspondence, bills, receipts, leases, legal papers, appraisals, and other fiscal documents of Charles E. Alter of New Orleans. Alter had significant real estate holdings in New Orleans and an interest in several plantations like Skaggs Plantation (later known as Victoria Plantation), Ormond Plantation, Australia Plantation and others. Documents related to Dr. Alter's real estate and court cases over this real estate are included...

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This collection consists of correspondence of Charles Erasmus Kennon (1839-1878) to his wife, Susan Kent Kennon (1848-1922); his older sister, Elizabeth Almeria Kennon; his mother, Nancy Nelson Kennon; and others.  Also included are other documents of the Kennon family of Louisiana as well as poems, a map of the Battle of Shiloh (1862), and special military orders (1865).

Scope and Contents The collection consists of family correspondence, legal documents, bills and receipts. Most of the correspondence consists of personal letters concerning family affairs, written to Ambroise Alexandre Chesnier Duchesne, in Louisiana, or to his son, Léon, in Natchez, from relatives in France and French Algeria. There are also a number of letters written by A.W. Smith from Aurora, Illinois, to his mother, Mrs. Charles A. Smith. Among the documents in a copy of the marriage contract of François...

Scope and Contents The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, financial records, scrapbooks, and other papers documenting the Cross Keys Plantation of Tensas Parish, Louisiana, as well as the papers of the Watson, McCall, and Cook families. The records and papers include correspondence detailing plantation life during most of the 19th century, letters revealing the life of a soldier during the Civil War, correspondence from United States soldiers at home and abroad during World Wars I and II, 19th...

Scope and Contents Alexandre DeClouet's received personal letters make up this collection. These letters are from his father, Alexandre DeClouet, and his mother, Louise de St. Clair DeClouet (lived in St. Martinville, Louisiana), his sister Blanche (attended a convent at Grand Coteau), and other family members. The letters were written while many of the family members were in college. The city called St. Martinville, in South Central Louisiana, was known as St. Martinsville during this era. Letters also...

Scope and Contents The collection contains correspondence, business papers, photographs, clippings, spoken audio recordings, souvenir albums, diplomas and other personal documents of members of Denègre and other related families, including the Gayle, Baldwin, Bayne and Jones families. There is also genealogical research, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings and other documents of various branches of the Denègre family. Much of the research presented in the 2008 accretion was compiled by George...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of handwritten legal documents relating to the settlement of the estate of Louisiana sugar planter Jean Noel Destrehan and his wife, Celeste Robin Delogny Destrehan. Each item has a transcription, a translation from French into English, and/or a summary. Included are a will, financial statements, and legal decisions. Other individuals named in the documents include: Nicholas Noel Destrehan, Louise Odille Destrehan and her husband Pierre Edmond Foucher, René...

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This collection consists of handwritten and typed personal and professional correspondence, printed biographical material, photographs, post cards, calling cards, invitations, telegrams, poems, political pamphlets, legal and financial papers, newspaper clippings, and other documents relating to the life of Don A. Pardee.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of personal papers of the Ferguson, Breeden, and other allied families in Louisiana and Mississippi. Included are handwritten family correspondence, extensive genealogical and biographical information, notes, invitations and other items of social ephemera, a poem, military documents including an 1865 prisoner-of-war parole document and oath of allegiance of Robert R. Breeden, a marriage license, Opelousas Parish land deeds and other real estate transactions,...

Scope and Contents This collection contains an eclectic assortment of records from numerous Masonic lodges of Louisiana, primarily in New Orleans, and other states. The main lodges included in this collection are French-speaking lodges such as Persévérance no. 4, Concorde no. 3, Le Foyer Maçonnique no. 44., as well as the English-speaking Friends of Harmony no. 58, and some Spanish-speaking lodges such as Silencio no. 9. Included in this collection are minutes, guest books, correspondence, accounting and dues...

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This collection consists of handwritten business and personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, charts, drawings, and printed business papers, relating to the life and career of G. T. Beauregard. Some letters bear postmarks and seals. Includes engineering correspondence of Beauregard concerning his work on Fort McHenry, Fort Pike and the Mississippi River.

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This collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, scrapbooks, diaries, clippings, local history and family histories of George Purnell Whittington, historian and author, of Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Included are G.P. Whittington's correspondence with noted historians such as Grace King and Herbert E. Bolton. Also included is copies of correspondence of William C.C. Claiborne, Edward Livingston, and Josiah Stoddard Johnston, as well as the letters and diary of John Sibley.

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This collection consists of diaries and other personal papers of Gustave Arvilien Breaux (1828-1910) of southern Louisiana. Included are two handwritten diaries (1859; 1863-1864), correspondence, financial documents, and newspaper clippings. Col. Breaux's writings relate to his work as a lawyer, social and political topics, and later describe experiences and events surrounding the Civil War era. Mention is made of Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of personal and family papers relating to the Harrison and Hoffman families of Louisiana and Maryland. It includes handwritten family correspondence, predominantly letters written by Dr. John Hoffman Harrison (1808-1849) to his wife, Elizabeth Baer Harrison (d. 1848 or 1849). Included also are funeral notices, newspaper clippings, a handwritten memorial resolution, biographical and genealogical information, financial documents and business correspondence. Individuals...

Scope and Contents This collection includes letters written to and by members of the Harrison family. Two of these letters are to Hiram Harrison from St. Alexander Pinkham, U.S.N., and the rest were written to Hiram's son, Alexander Harrison from Richard Harrison (Mississippi House of Representatives), John P. Bleeker, and Henry S. Browne. Some of the letters concern Alexander Harrison's position as collector of internal revenue of New Orleans. There is also a compilation of acts passed by the New Orleans City...

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The Hebert-Kirkland family papers contains deeds for land, slave sales documents, inventories, succession suits, marriage contracts, mortgages, receipts, bills and other papers of the Hébert and Kirkland families. The earliest documents are from Alexia Hébert and Jean-Baptiste Hébert. Several items concern the Catholic Church in West Baton Rouge. The collection also contains broadsides in French and English about controversy between T.P. Vaughan and Louis Elkin.

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In this collection, there are eight letters dated 1861-1862 from Nicholas Herron to Anne McCarthy, New Orleans, describing camp life with the Confederate Army at Camp Moore, Fairfax, Virginia, Camp Carondelet, and other sites. The remainder of the correspondence consists chiefly of letters to Stella Herron from "M.W.", "Cousin Sue", and "Bella" about family affairs. There are also sketches and postcards in the collection.

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Record books of Dr. James Damaré of Convent Landing, St. James Parish, Louisiana. The small unbound volume contains a less complete retail record from 1870, with inventory. The bound volume includes records in French of retail sales kept by day and customer from 1857 to 1859 and pasted wholesale receipts of Dr. Damaré's purchases, both medical and sundry, from 1868. He bought and sold everything from sealing wax to laudanum.

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This collection contains the Civil War diary of Lt. John M. Galbraith of the Washington Artillery, family correspondence, newspaper clippings and other items. The diary describes camp life, meetings with relatives, and includes a roster of soldiers. Galbraith was wounded at the Battle of Drewry's Bluff on May 16, 1864, and died on September 19, 1864.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of personal and military papers of Joseph Ellison and family members in New Orleans, La. Included are handwritten correspondence, military and legal papers, financial documents, real estate and tax papers, calling cards and other items of social ephemera, photographs, Confederate bonds, personalized Carnival ephemera such as items relating to the krewes of Comus and Momus, a scrapbook, newspaper clippings and other printed items. Included are Ellison's three military...

Scope and Contents The collection consists of land surveys by G. Dunbar, C. Trudeau, J. Loveball, J. Fairlamb, and C. Bolling, all of whom were early surveyors of various districts of Louisiana. These districts include Natchez, Galvez-Town, Baton Rouge, Metairie, Feliciana, and others. Most of the land applications were produced during the regimes of governors Miró and Carondolet. In 1803 one application for land to the Spanish authorities was denied because of the transfer of the Louisiana Territory from the...

Scope and Contents This collection consists of papers of the Lemann family of Donaldsonville, Louisiana. In addition, there are records of the Lemann Company, B. Lemann & Brothers, and related agricultural and other businesses, including Donaldsonville Ice Company, Belle Terre Incorporated, Ascension Hook & Ladder Company, Palo Alto Company, and Hotel Donaldson Company. Materials in the collection consist of legal documents, correspondence, journals, financial statements, ledger books, invoices,...

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This collection consists of correspondence, commissions, diaries, photographs, clippings, currency, stocks, legal documents, certificates, a wallet, biographical information, and other items relating to Confederate Brigadier General Meriwether Jeff Thompson, and other members of the Thompson family of Missouri and Louisiana. Included are handwritten secret codes used by the Confederate Army.

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Items in this collection were dismounted from a Mailhes family scrapbook.  Families mentioned include Estalote, Hebert, Krauss, Weber, and Mouledous. The collection contains birth, baptismal, and marriage records, clippings, obituaries, prayers, a postcard, and portrait photographs created in Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana.  Handwritten genealogical charts are included that describe the ancestry of both sides of Mona Mailhes' family.

Scope and Contents This collection consists of certificates, photographs, post cards, a telegram, typed and handwritten correspondence, manuscript poetry, clippings, printed material and legal documents relating to the Merrick and Jones families.Biographical Note: Prominent family members' papers in this collection include: Edwin Thomas Merrick (1808-1897), appointed Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1855; Joseph Jones (1833-1896), Civil War physician; and Joseph Merrick Jones...