The Maryland Province's enslaved community in Louisiana, and their descendants

Letter from James Van de Velde, S.J. to Thomas Mulledy, S.J., March 28, 1848

Van de Velde laments that the religious instruction of the slaves sold to Henry Johnson has been neglected and urges Rev. Mulledy to provide funds to build a chapel for them.

Bill of sale from the heirs of Jesse Batey to Washington Barrow, January 18, 1853

The heirs of Jesse Batey sold a plantation and slaves, including many of the Maryland Jesuit slaves, in January 1853. This is a copy of the bill of sale, which was included as evidence in an 1866 court case in Louisiana, Samuel Batey et al. v. Widow…

Bill of sale for land and people from Washington Barrow to William Patrick and Joseph B. Woolfolk, February 4, 1856

Washington Barrow sells the persons he had purchased from Jesse Batey to William Patrick and Joseph Woolfolk in 1856. Those sold included people whom Batey had purchased from Rev. Thomas Mulledy in 1838.

Bill of sale for land and 138 people from William Patrick and Joseph Woolfolk to Emily Sparks, widow of Austin Woolfolk, July 16, 1859

William Patrick and Joseph Woolfolk sell land and 138 persons purchased from Washington Barrow to Emily Sparks, widow of Austin Woolfolk, July 16, 1859. Many of these people had been sold from Rev. Thomas Mulledy, S.J., to Jesse Batey, and then from…

Advertisement for Barrow & Armstrong Succession Sale, Southern Sentinel, February 23, 1856

A newspaper advertisement in the Southern Sentinel, February 23, 1856, publishing the terms of the sale of the estate of John S. Barrow and his wife, Margaret Amstrong. Barrow had purchased the plantation and slaves from the heirs of Jesse Batey, and…

West Oak and Chatham plantations, from P.A. Champomier, Statement of the Sugar Crop Made in Louisiana in 1860-1861...

P.A. Champomier published an annual record of the sugar crop in Louisiana. This edition, for 1860-1861, lists the two plantations to which the Maryland Jesuit's enslaved community were sold in 1838, West Oak and Chatham. By 1861, Jesse Batey's West…

Henry Johnson's sales of enslaved persons, 1844-1851

After being sold to Henry Johnson in 1838 by the Maryland Jesuits, part of the enslaved community were sold again by Johnson, who ran into financial difficulty. Johnson sold a half share of his property to Philip Barton Key in 1844, who then…

Agreement with Freedmen of Chatham Plantation in Ascension Parish, La., February 2, 1865

This document records an agreement between John R. Thompson, the owner of Chatham Plantation, and the freedmen on the plantation, including people who had been sold to Henry Johnson (the former owner of Chatham) by the Maryland Jesuits in 1838, and…

Final Pay Roll, Chatham Plantation, Ascension Parish, La., December 31, 1865

This document from the Freedmen's Bureau is a record of the wages paid to the freed people on John R. Thompson's Chatham Plantation in Ascension Parish in 1865. The freed people included former enslaved people of the Maryland Jesuits who had been…

Mrs. Emily Woolfolk contract with employees at West Oak plantation in Iberville Parish, La., April 12, 1864

Mrs. Emily Woolfolk, the owner of West Oak plantation in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, contracts with her ex-slave "employees" for 1864. Many of the people listed in this contract had been sold to Jesse Batey (the former owner of West Oak) by the…