Cornelius Hawkins court testimony, ca. 1892

Cornelius Hawkins court testimony, ca. 1892

West Oak plantation; Freedmen; Cotton

Testimony of Cornelius Hawkins in the 1893 case of Beatty et. al. v. Hawkins et. al. (45 La. Ann). Hawkins testifies that he had rented land to grow cotton at West Oak from Glenn Peake since 1871.

Louisiana Supreme Court

Georgetown Slavery Archive

1893

Adam Rothman, Molly Mitchell, Elsa Barraza Mendoza.

Manuscript

English

Court records

GSA84

Neely Hawkins:

            Sworn says :-

   I have lived on the West Oaks plantation and have rented the lands on the place from Mr. Peak, since the year 1871:-

   I paid Mr. Peak ¼ of all the cotton raised on the place, every year for the Rent. I never paid him any rent for corn land on the place and no one else ever paid him anything for the Rent of the corn land. We have never made a good crop of corn on the Plantation since 1871. We have made on average 30 bales of Cotton every year on the place since 1871.- Mr. Peake never built any houses on the place, never built any fences, and never did any ditching. The only thing that he ever furnished was 8- Bunches (or spools) of wire for fencing. 

Court records