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86-597: Located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana , Isle Brevelle consists of approximately 18,000 acres of land between the Cane River and Bayou Brevelle (near Montrose). Two major highways in Isle Brevelle include LA 119 and LA 484 . The island is a narrow strip of land some thirty miles in length with three- to four-mile breadth located south of Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is delineated and split by waterways to include

172-493: A 1780 census, there was also a group listed as "indiens sauvages", which Haitian historians believe were the native Arawak and Taino that were known to live in tiny reclusive mountain communities at this point. Jean-Jacques Dessalines , the first ruler of independent Haiti and a leader of the Revolution, talked about people whom he called "Rouges" (reds), or sometimes "Incas" in his letters. When they were spoken about in context of

258-916: A 1802 colonial census. Dessalines did not forget these people and their sacrifices against Spain and now, France. He named the Haitian army "the Incas", "the Army of the Sun" and eventually "the Indigenous Army" in honor of them. He also renamed the island "Haiti", its pre-Columbian name. When slavery was ended in the colony in 1793, by action of the French government following the French Revolution, there were approximately 28,000 anciens libres ("free before") in Saint-Domingue. The term

344-972: A destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail , founded in 2008. Including extensive outbuildings at Magnolia and Oakland plantations, the Cane River Creole National Historical Park interprets the history and culture of the Louisiana Creoles. It is also on the Heritage Trail. Natchitoches Parish was created by the act of April 10, 1805, that divided the Territory of Orleans into 12 parishes , including Orleans , Iberville , Rapides and Natchitoches. The parish boundaries were much larger than now defined, but were gradually reduced as new parishes were organized following population increases in

430-526: A family started collecting local land, which eventually amassed to 6,000 acres. At the center of this collected land was Isle Brevelle (formerly the Brevelle Plantation). During this era and in this location, mulatto people lived similarly to white Southern planters, in large mansions with expensive furniture, and in some cases they held their own slaves. Nicolas Augustin Metoyer's home no longer stands, but

516-551: A family. The successful mulattos often won the hands of the small number of eligible women on the island. With growing resentment, the working-class whites monopolized assembly participation and caused the free people of color to look to France for legislative assistance. The free people of color won a major political battle on May 15, 1791, when the Constituent Assembly in France voted to give full French citizenship to them, on

602-537: A requirement that a newly freed person demonstrate a means of independent support. Masters might free their slaves for a variety of reasons, but the most common was a family relationship between master and slave. Slaves sometimes gained a measure of freedom by purchasing themselves, when allowed to save some portion of earnings if leased out or selling produce. The master determined if one had to pay market or reduced value. In other cases, relatives who were already free and earning money purchased others. Sometimes masters, or

688-515: A white man and the mother of the mixed-race mistress. Supposedly, the young woman of mixed European and African ancestry would attend dances known as "quadroon balls" to meet white gentlemen willing to provide for her and any children she bears from their union. The relationship would end as soon as the man married properly. According to legend, free girls of color were raised by their mothers to become concubines for white men, as they themselves once were. However, evidence suggests that on account of

774-399: Is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana . As of the 2020 census , the population was 37,515. The parish seat and most populous municipality is Natchitoches , the largest by land area is Ashland , and the most density populated area is Campti . The parish was formed in 1805. The Natchitoches, LA Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Natchitoches Parish. This is

860-658: Is a small Creole community located on the banks of the Red River approximately 80 miles southeast of Natchitoches. St. Genevieve is a parish church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alexandria . While railways had changed the commercial nature of agriculture and passenger service throughout the country beginning in the 1830s, the Cane River region was late in attracting the large investments of capital that rail service required. The area did not see rail service until well after

946-528: Is in the service area of Bossier Parish Community College . Parish 31°44′N 93°06′W  /  31.73°N 93.10°W  / 31.73; -93.10 Free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas , free people of color ( French : gens de couleur libres ; Spanish : gente de color libre ) were primarily people of mixed African , European , and Native American descent who were not enslaved. However,

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1032-472: Is named after Jean Baptiste Brevelle II (French: Jean Baptiste Brevel II. ), its earliest settler and the 18th-century explorer and soldier of the Natchitoches Militia. He is the son of Jean Baptiste Brevelle , a Parisian-born trader and explorer, and his Adai Caddo (French: Natao ) Native American wife, Anne Marie des Cadeaux . The baptism of Jean Baptiste Brevelle II is recorded on May 20, 1736 in

1118-687: Is not believed to have been of mixed race. In the United States, many of the African Americans elected as state and local officials during Reconstruction in the South had been free in the South before the Civil War. Other new leaders were educated men of color from the North whose families had long been free and who went to the South to work and help the freedmen. Some were elected to office. Many descendants of

1204-459: The gens de couleur , or free people of color, of the Louisiana area celebrate their culture and heritage through a New Orleans–based Louisiana Creole Research Association (LA Créole). The term "Créole" is not synonymous with "free people of color" or gens de couleur libre , but many members of LA Créole have traced their genealogies through those lines. Today, the (often multiracial) descendants of

1290-737: The 2020 United States census , there were 37,515 people, 14,659 households, and 7,538 families residing in the parish. As of the 2010 United States census , there were 39,566 people living in the parish. As of the census of 2000, there were 39,080 people, 14,263 households, and 9,499 families living in the parish. The population density was 31 people per square mile (12 people/km ). There were 16,890 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (5.4/km ). Of its population in 2010, 54.3% were White , 41.4% Black or African American , 1.0% Native American , 0.3% Asian , 0.9% of some other race and 2.1% of two or more races ; 1.9% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). In 2000, its racial makeup

1376-657: The Adai , Natchitoches , and Hasinai tribes of the Caddo Confederacy. The Cane River National Historical Area has designated a cultural trail, the Isle Brevelle Trail , to highlight the birthplace of Creole culture The Louisiana Creole community is made of descendants of French and Spanish colonials, Africans, Anglo-Americans, and Native Americans of the Caddo Confederacy ( Natchitoches , Adai ). Isle Brevelle

1462-662: The Cane River , Red River , Old River (Natchitoches Parish) , and Bayou Brevelle (named after Jean Baptiste Brevel). Isle Brevelle was considered "the richest cotton-growing portion of the south". Father Yves-Marie LeConiniat, a priest from France, referred to it as an "earthly paradise". Isle Brevelle is a featured destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail with over 60 cultural, religious, architectural, and historically significant African, Native American, and Creole sites including St. Augustine Parish Church , Melrose Plantation , Badin-Roque House and burial sites of Louisiana Creole people and Native Americans of

1548-646: The French language , and they tended to scorn the Haitian Creole language used by slaves. Most gens de couleur libres were reared as Roman Catholic , also part of French culture, and many denounced the Vodoun religion brought with slaves from Africa. Under the ancien régime , despite the provisions of equality nominally established in the Code Noir , the gens de couleur were limited in their freedoms. They did not possess

1634-492: The U.S. Census Bureau , the parish has a total area of 1,299 square miles (3,360 km ), of which 1,252 square miles (3,240 km ) is land and 47 square miles (120 km ) (3.6%) is water. It is the fourth-largest parish by land area in Louisiana. The primary groundwater resources of Natchitoches Parish, from near surface to deepest, include the Red River alluvial, upland terrace, Sparta, and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifers. As of

1720-504: The affranchis were gens de couleur libres ; others were considered freed black slaves. In addition, maroons (runaway slaves) were sometimes able to establish independent small communities and a kind of freedom in the mountains, along with remnants of Haiti's original Taino people. A large group of surviving Native Taino's also supported the Haitian Revolution; they were known as "indiens esclaves" which numbered about 5,000. In

1806-464: The plantations where they or their ancestors had been slaves, and where they had extended family. Masters often used free blacks as plantation managers or overseers, especially if the master had a family relationship with the mixed-race man. In the early 19th century, societies required apprenticeships for free blacks to ensure they developed a means of support. For instance, in North Carolina, "By

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1892-736: The Cane River. There are numerous historically significant cemeteries and Native American burial sites on Isle Brevelle. Natchitoches and Adai Native Americans are buried on the isle including a cemetery near Bayou Brevelle at the old Brevelle Plantation and the St. Augustine Catholic Cemetery. Enslaved persons who died at Bermuda Plantation were buried in a cemetery on Prud’homme property, also near Bayou Brevelle. Some slave burial markers included wrought iron crosses, such as those attributed to Bermuda’s blacksmith, Solomon Williams. Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana Natchitoches Parish ( French : Paroisse des Natchitoches or Les Natchitoches )

1978-644: The City of Natchitoches to Grand Encore, was the Brevelle Station. Oral tradition by the members of the Prud’homme family states that Alphonse I constructed the wood-frame Brevelle Station depot. Alphonse II recalled that “Grandpa Alphonse had built a place there, so they put a side track there [to] pick up cotton, or anything that had to be shipped.” The depot continued to serve as a stop on the Texas and Pacific Railroad until it

2064-473: The Confederate Army later in the war; and it is believed that they were accepted into a predominately white company because of their longstanding acceptance in the community. Many of the free people of color were related to longtime white families in the parish, who acknowledged them. After the war, during Reconstruction and after, there was white violence against freedmen and their sympathizers blacks in

2150-438: The French and Spanish colonists, Africans, and other ethnicities are widely known as Louisiana Creoles . Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal signed Act 276 on 14 June 2013, creating the "prestige" license plate, "I'm Creole", honoring Louisiana Creoles' contributions and heritage. The terms Louisiana "Créole" and " Cajun " have sometimes been confused, as members of each group generally had ancestors who were French-speaking; but

2236-466: The French colony on December 20, 1803. Free men of color had been armed members of the militia for decades during both Spanish and French rule of the colony of Louisiana. They volunteered their services and pledged their loyalty to Claiborne and to their newly adopted country. In early 1804, the new U.S. administration in New Orleans under Governor Claiborne was faced with a dilemma previously unknown in

2322-624: The Isle Brevelle Creoles, “These are people of leisure and many of wealth and means. The Bishop bought us a house with sixty acres of land there.” The Daughters of the Cross expanded to operate 5 schools in Louisiana and relied heavily on donations from wealthy Creole families such as the Prud’homme, Metoyer, and Brevelle's. The Brevelle family with plantations along the Red River at Grand Ecore, Isle Brevelle, and Marksville Brouillette (Avoyelles) provided funds, food, and religious artifacts for both

2408-602: The Presentation School and Saint Joseph's, which their children and those of their workers attended. By 1859 the school listed between 120 and 130 girls. Additional nuns were brought in as enrollment continued to rise. A larger school, Saint Joseph's, and a convent were built closer to St. Augustine Church. The school flourished through 1862, until the effects of the Civil War resulted in a plummeting enrollment; in December 1863,

2494-568: The Spanish Crown (and later by the United States of America after the Louisiana Purchase ) changed the names of the Brevelle family members to reflect the new spelling: Jean Baptiste Brevelle. The Brevelle Plantation grew to become one of the largest plantations in the South producing cotton, tobacco, indigo, lumber, bear grease, cattle, and food crops. Nicolas Augustin Metoyer (1768–1856), was

2580-533: The Spanish, a substantial third class of primarily mixed-race , free people developed. These colonial societies classified mixed-race people in a variety of ways, generally related to visible features and to the proportion of African ancestry. Racial classifications were numerous in Latin America . A freed African slave was known as affranchi ( lit.   ' freed ' ). The term was sometimes meant to include

2666-579: The United States and elsewhere. Some took slaves with them. Others, however, remained to play an influential role in Haitian politics . Free people of color were an important part generally in the history of the Caribbean during the period of slavery and afterward. Initially descendants of French men and African and Indian slaves (and later French men and free women of color), and often marrying within their own mixed-race community, some achieved wealth and power. By

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2752-585: The United States, the integration of the military by incorporating entire units of established "colored" militia. See, e.g., the February 20, 1804 letter from Secretary of War Henry Dearborn to Claiborne, stating that "it would be prudent not to increase the Corps, but to diminish, if it could be done without giving offense." A decade later during the War of 1812, the militia which consisted of free men of color volunteered to join

2838-605: The United States. They achieved more rights than did free people of color or free blacks in the Thirteen Colonies , including serving in the armed militia. After the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory , Creoles in New Orleans and the region worked to integrate the military en masse . William C. C. Claiborne , appointed by Thomas Jefferson as governor of the Territory of Orleans, formally accepted delivery of

2924-491: The aftermath of emancipation and establishing a free labor system. Most planters continued to rely on cotton as a commodity crop, although the market declined, adding to area problems. In the late 19th century, a timber industry developed in some areas. Since the late 20th century, the parish has developed considerable heritage tourism. It also attracts people for fishing and other sports, including spring training on Cane River Lake by several university teams. According to

3010-428: The age of 18 living with them, 45.30% were married couples living together, 17.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.14. In the parish the population was spread out, with 26.00% under

3096-468: The age of 18, 17.90% from 18 to 24, 24.30% from 25 to 44, 19.70% from 45 to 64, and 12.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 90.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.80 males. The median income for a household in the parish was $ 25,722, and the median income for a family was $ 32,816. Males had a median income of $ 29,388 versus $ 19,234 for females. The per capita income for

3182-567: The battle's conclusion. There was relatively little manumission of slaves until after the revolution. Throughout the slave societies of the Americas, some slave owners took advantage of the power relationships to use female slaves sexually; sometimes they had extended relationships of concubinage. However, in the Thirteen Colonies, the children of these relationships were not usually emancipated. South Carolina diarist Mary Chesnut wrote in

3268-464: The center of their residential community in New Orleans was the French Quarter . Many were artisans who owned property and their own businesses. They formed a social category distinct from both whites and slaves, and maintained their own society into the period after United States annexation. Some historians suggest that free people of color made New Orleans the cradle of the civil rights movement in

3354-426: The chapel's designer and builder. As a means of collecting money for the church in earlier times, families of the parish were required to rent pews for their personal use and to donate religious items. Name boxes where attached at the end of each pew which allowed its owner exclusive use, even if the church was full. The blessing of the church was done by Fr. J. B. Blanc on July 19, 1829 under the title of St. Augustine,

3440-470: The church he built, St. Augustine Parish still does. St. Augustine Parish Church (or Isle Brevelle Church) was established as a mission church by Creole Nicolas Augustin Metoyer and other prominent Creole families of Isle Brevelle, St. Augustine is celebrated as the first church in Louisiana to be built by and for free people of color . Augustin's father, Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer had taken him to France in 1801 to visit his homeland. While there Augustin

3526-465: The colony , many colonists took African women as concubines or wives. In the colonial period of French and Spanish rule, men tended to marry later after becoming financially established. Later, when more white families had settled or developed here, some young French men or ethnic French Creoles still took mixed-race women as mistresses, often known as placées . Popular stereotypes portray such unions as formal, financial transactions arranged between

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3612-422: The colony, known as the petits blancs ("small whites"). Because of the freedmen's relative economic success in the region, sometimes related to blood ties to influential whites people, the petits blancs farmers often resented their social standing and worked to keep them shut out of government. Beyond financial incentives, the free coloreds caused the working-class whites further problems in finding women to start

3698-427: The community's piety by the late 18th century, free women of color usually preferred the legitimacy of marriage with other free men of color. In cases where free women of color did enter extramarital relationships with white men, such unions were overwhelmingly lifelong and exclusive. Many of these white men remained legal bachelors for life. This form of interracial cohabitation was often viewed as no different from

3784-475: The condition of having two free parents. The decree was revoked on September 24, 1791, and replaced by a new, more generous decree on April 4, 1792, that gave full French citizenship to all free people, regardless of the color of their skin and the statuses of their parents. This was followed by a proclamation on February 4, 1794, which abolished slavery in French colonies, granting citizenship rights to all, regardless of color. In their competition for power, both

3870-737: The convent was closed, and the nuns were called home to the Avoyelles. In addition to the Daughters of the Cross Presentation School in Avoyelles Parish, the descendants of Isle Brevelle founder were amongst the founding patron families (Brevelle, Ponthier, Bordelon and Lachney) of the St. Genevieve Catholic Church of Brouillette . Their names appear prominently at the entrance of the church and its iconic cemetery with above-ground tombs. Brouillette

3956-464: The economy of slave societies. In most places they worked as artisans and small retail merchants in the towns. In many places, especially in the American South , there were restrictions on people of color owning slaves and agricultural land. But many free blacks lived in the countryside, and some became major slaveholders. In the antebellum years, individual slaves who were freed often stayed on or near

4042-707: The end of the Reconstruction era (after the Civil War). Among the early railroads established in Natchitoches Parish was the Natchitoches Railroad, established in 1887. By 1898, it was operating as the Natchitoches & Red River Valley Railway, which lasted until 1901, when it was incorporated into the larger Texas and Pacific Railway . One of the stops on the 32-mile-long railroad line, which stretched from

4128-407: The enslaved women who were their concubines. Many slave societies allowed masters to free their slaves. As the population of color became larger and the white ruling class felt more threatened by potential instability, they worked through their governments to increase restrictions on manumissions. These usually included taxes, requirements that some socially useful reason be cited for manumission, and

4214-604: The existing church structure by Bishop Van De Van was at a solemn high mass on February 15, 1917 with Fr. J. Baumgartner as its pastor. In 1856, the Daughters of the Cross convent were invited to establish a school on Isle Brevelle called Saint Joseph's School. The nuns had established a convent and school the previous year in Avoyelles Parish named the Presentation School. Mother Superior Hyacinthe LeConniat wrote to her brother of

4300-448: The financial backing of Creole families Metoyer, Brevelle, Guidry, Balthazar and Roques, St. Augustine expanded to found four mission churches in the area: St. Charles Chapel at Bermuda , St. Joseph's Catholic Mission at Bayou Derbonne , St. Anne Chapel at Old River , and St. Anne Church (Spanish Lake) . In 1913 under Bishop Van de Van, the order of Holy Ghost Fathers took charge of the parish and remained until 1990. The dedication of

4386-521: The force mustered by Andrew Jackson in preparation for the Battle of New Orleans , when the British began landing troops outside the city in December 1814 in preparation for an invasion of the city. The battle resulted in a decisive American victory, in which black soldiers played a critical role. However, many black troops who had been promised freedom in exchange for service were forcibly returned to slavery after

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4472-670: The former slaves was essential for the eventual success of the Haitians to expel French influence. The former slaves and the anciens libres still remained segregated in many respects. Their animosity and struggle for power erupted in 1799. The competition between the gens de couleur led by André Rigaud and the black Haitians led by Toussaint Louverture devolved into the War of the Knives . After their loss in that conflict, many wealthy gens de couleur left as refugees to France , Cuba , Puerto Rico ,

4558-510: The free people of color were known as gens de couleur libres , and affranchis . Comparable mixed-race groups became an important part of the populations of the British colony of Jamaica , the Spanish colonies of Santo Domingo , Cuba , Puerto Rico , the Dutch colony of Suriname and the Portuguese colony of Brazil . Free people of color played an important role in the history of New Orleans and

4644-405: The free people of color, but they considered the term pejorative since they had been born free. The term gens de couleur libres ( French: [ʒɑ̃ də kulœʁ libʁ] ("free people of color") was commonly used in France's West Indian colonies prior to the abolition of slavery . It frequently referred to free people of mixed African and European ancestry. In British North America ,

4730-422: The freedmen, who sometimes portrayed themselves to whites as bulwarks against a slave uprising. As property owners, freedmen tended to support distinct lines set between their own class and that of slaves. Also often working as artisans, shopkeepers or landowners, the gens de couleur frequently became quite prosperous, and many prided themselves on their European culture and descent. They were often well-educated in

4816-442: The government, would free slaves without payment as a reward for some notable service; a slave who revealed slave conspiracies for uprisings was sometimes rewarded with freedom. Many people who lived as free within the slave societies did not have formal liberty papers. In some cases, these were refugees, who hid in the towns among free people of color and tried to maintain a low profile. In other cases, they were "living as free" with

4902-473: The heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community, free people of color of mixed-race descent who settled here in the antebellum period . Their descendants continue to be Catholic and many are still French-speaking. The Cane River National Heritage Area includes the parish. Among the numerous significant historic sites in the parish is the St. Augustine Parish (Isle Brevelle) Church ,

4988-497: The late 1830s, then, county courts could apprentice orphans, fatherless or abandoned children, illegitimate children, and free black children whose parents were not employed. However, the number of apprenticeships declined as the number of free blacks increased. In some Southern states after the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831, the legislatures passed laws that forbade the teaching of free blacks or slaves to read and write , which

5074-520: The late 1960s, they have supported the Democratic Party. Most white conservatives have left that party, and affiliated with the Republican Party, as has been obvious in parish results in presidential elections since 2000. These results reflect the demographic breakdown of the parish, where whites comprise a slight majority. The last Democrat to win in Natchitoches Parish at the presidential level

5160-457: The late eighteenth century, most free people of color in Saint-Domingue were native born and part of colored families that had been free for generations. Free people of color were leaders in the French colony of Saint-Domingue , which achieved independence in 1804 as the Republic of Haiti . In Saint-Domingue, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and other French Caribbean colonies before slavery was abolished,

5246-580: The mid-19th century that "like the patriarchs of old our men live all in one house with their wives and their concubines, and the mulattos one sees in every family exactly resemble the white children ..." In some places, especially in the French and Spanish Caribbean and South American slave societies, the ethnic European father might acknowledge the relationship and his children. Some were common-law marriages of affection. Slaveholders were more likely to free their mixed-race children of these relationships than they were to free other slaves. They also sometimes freed

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5332-400: The modern conception of a common-law marriage . As in Saint-Domingue, the free people of color developed as a separate class between the colonial French and Spanish and the mass of black slaves. They often achieved education, practiced artisan trades, and gained some measure of wealth; they spoke French and practiced Catholicism . Many also developed a syncretic Christianity . At one time

5418-419: The mother and/or children under the system of plaçage , or by arranging for an apprenticeship to a trade for their mixed-race children, which provided them a better opportunity to make a skilled living, or by educating sons in France and easing their way into the military. In St. Domingue by the late colonial period, gens de couleur owned about one-third of the land and about one-quarter of the slaves, mostly in

5504-410: The official Texas and Pacific map. However, neither Magnolia nor Oakland took advantage of railroad spur connections to facilitate transport of their goods to market, instead relying on road transport to transshipment points on the rail line or into the city of Natchitoches. Even though less efficient than direct connections to the railroad, this was still much quicker and easier than transporting goods on

5590-460: The oldest Catholic Registry in the Louisiana colony. Jean Baptiste Brevelle II was granted the island by David Pain, the subdelegate at Natchitoches in 1765 for his service to the French and Spanish crowns as a Caddo translator and explorer of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. As the colony changed hands from France to Spain, the spelling of the Brevel surname changed to Brevelle. Records kept by

5676-588: The parish was $ 13,743. About 20.90% of families and 26.50% of the population were below the poverty line , including 32.70% of those under age 18 and 19.00% of those age 65 or over. Until the late 20th century, Natchitoches Parish was reliably Democratic in most competitive elections. But the party affiliations have changed, and like most of the Deep South, have a distinct ethnic and demographic character. Since African Americans achieved certain gains under civil rights legislation and have been enabled to vote again since

5762-400: The patron saint of Augustin Metoyer. At this time, the church was to be a mission of St. Francois of Natchitoches. On March 11, 1856, the mission of St. Augustine at Isle Brevelle was decreed by Bishop Auguste Martin, the 1st Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchitoches , to be a parish in its own right and assigned his brother, Fr. Francois Martin to be its first resident pastor. With

5848-497: The permission of their master, sometimes in return for payment of rent or a share of money they earned by trades. The master never made their freedom official, as in the case of Margaret Morgan , who had been living as a free person in Pennsylvania but was captured in 1837 and sold together with her children under claims that they were still slaves according to the laws of Maryland . Free people of color filled an important niche in

5934-420: The poor whites and free coloreds enlisted the help of slaves. By doing this, the feud helped to disintegrate class discipline and propel the slave population in the colony to seek further inclusion and liberties in society. As the widespread slave rebellion in the north of the island wore on, many free people of color abandoned their earlier distance from the slaves. A growing coalition between the free coloreds and

6020-441: The same rights as Frenchmen, specifically the right to vote . Most supported slavery on the island, at least up to the time of the French Revolution . But they sought equal rights for free people of color, which became an early central issue of the unfolding Haitian Revolution . The primary adversary of the gens de couleur before and into the Haitian Revolution were the working-class white people such as farmers and tradesmen of

6106-441: The slave population. From the view of the white enslaver class in places such as Saint-Domingue or Jamaica, this was a critical function in a society in which the population of slaves on large plantations vastly outnumbered whites. In places where law or social custom permitted it, some free people of color managed to acquire good agricultural land and slaves and become planters themselves. Free blacks owned plantations in almost all

6192-446: The slave societies of the Americas. In the United States, free people of color may have owned the most property in Louisiana, as France and Spain had allowed the territory 's Creole residents more recognition of mixed-race children before its acquisition by the United States. A man who had a relationship with a woman of color often also arranged for a transfer of wealth to her and their children, whether through deed of land and property to

6278-430: The son of Marie Thérèse Coincoin and Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer, and he has been considered the "grandfather" of the community of Isle Brevelle. He was born into slavery and remained in bondage (initially to Don Manuel Antonio de Soto y Bermúdez, and wife Marie des Nieges de St. Denis DeSoto) until 1792, at the age of 24. Around this same time his mother, Marie Thérèse Coincoin was also freed from enslavement and they, as

6364-414: The southern area of New France, both when the area was controlled by the French and Spanish, and after its acquisition by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase . When French settlers and traders first arrived in these colonies, the men frequently took Native American women as their concubines or common-law wives (see Marriage 'à la façon du pays' ). When African slaves were imported to

6450-416: The southern part of the island. When the end of slavery came, the distinction between former free coloreds and former slaves persisted in some societies. Because of advantages in the social capital of education and experience, free people of color often became leaders for the newly freed people. In Saint-Domingue, Toussaint Louverture had gained freedom before he became a leader in the slave rebellion, but he

6536-497: The state. The parishes of Caddo , Claiborne , Bossier , Webster , DeSoto , Bienville , Jackson , Sabine , Red River , Winn , and Grant were eventually formed from Natchitoches' enormous territory. Natchitoches Parish has had fifteen border revisions, making it second only to Ouachita parish in number of boundary revisions. During the antebellum period , numerous large cotton plantations were developed in this area, worked by enslaved African Americans. The parish population

6622-500: The term free Negro was often used to cover the same class of people—those who were legally free and visibly of African descent. By the late 18th century prior to the Haitian Revolution , Saint-Domingue was legally divided into three distinct groups: free whites (who were divided socially between the plantation-class grands blancs and the working-class petits blancs ); freedmen ( affranchis ), and slaves . More than half of

6708-439: The term also applied to people born free who were primarily of black African descent with little mixture. They were a distinct group of free people of color in the French colonies, including Louisiana and in settlements on Caribbean islands , such as Saint-Domingue ( Haiti ), St. Lucia , Dominica , Guadeloupe , and Martinique . In these territories and major cities, particularly New Orleans , and those cities held by

6794-537: The war, he makes mention of cooperation between Africans and Natives in maroon communities that plotted against colonists on the southern peninsula. He also discusses "Incas among his men" showing him secret burial quarters in the Artibonite valley that could be used by rebels as shelter and storage. There were 3,000 known Native peoples (both "esclaves" and "sauvages") living in Haiti in the years before independence, according to

6880-512: Was 57.85% White, 38.43% Black or African American, 1.08% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.92% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races; 1.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. By 2020, its racial makeup was 50.37% non-Hispanic white, 39.6% African American, 0.76% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.8% multiracial, and 3.97% Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2000, there were 14,263 households, out of which 33.00% had children under

6966-471: Was a requirement for having an apprenticeship. There was fear if blacks could read and write, they might start slave revolts and rebellions. Blacks were not allowed to apprentice as an editor or work in a printing press. Despite the restrictions of some apprenticeships, many free blacks benefited from their time as an apprentice. In Caribbean colonies, governments sometimes hired free people of color as rural police to hunt down runaway slaves and keep order among

7052-487: Was destroyed in a fire in 1914. In 1915, the Texas and Pacific Railway Company petitioned the Railroad Commission for permission to discontinue service to the Brevelle Station. It was not until 1927 that the Texas and Pacific Railway constructed its still-extant depot in Natchitoches to service its spur to the city. The spur that connected Natchitoches to the main rail trunk had existed since at least 1903, according to

7138-486: Was majority black and enslaved by the time of the Civil War. There was also a large mixed-race population of free Creoles of color . Among the institutions they founded was the St. Augustine Parish (Isle Brevelle) Church , built in 1829. It is a destination on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail . In May 1861 free men of color in the area known as Isle Brevelle began to organize two militia companies. Other free men of color of Campti and that area enlisted in

7224-917: Was native son of the South, Bill Clinton from Arkansas in 1996, who received 8,296 votes (54.7 percent), compared to Republican Robert J. Dole 's 5,471 ballots (36.1 percent). Ross Perot of the Reform Party attracted 1,053 votes (6.9 percent). Natchitoches Parish School Board operates local public schools. Parish Schools, East Natchitoches Elementary & Middle High School, Fairview Alpha Elementary & Junior High School, Frankie Ray Jackson Sr. Technical Center, Goldonna Elementary & Junior High School, L.P. Vaughn Elementary & Junior High School, Lakeview High School, M.R. Weaver Elementary, Marthaville Elementary & Junior High School, Natchitoches Central High School, Natchitoches Magnet School, NSU Elementary Laboratory School, NSU Middle Laboratory School, and Provencal Elementary & Junior High School. It

7310-458: Was struck by the arrangement of the French villages where community life was centered about the church. Upon his return to the Isle Brevelle and with the help of the Creoles of Isle Brevelle, the first church was constructed in 1803 using their own money and land. Tradition also describes the role of Augustin's brother Louis (founder of the nearby Melrose Plantation , a National Historic Landmark ), as

7396-542: Was used to distinguish those who were already free, compared to those liberated by the general emancipation of 1793. About 16,000 of these anciens libres were gens de couleur libres . Another 12,000 were affranchis , black former slaves who had either purchased their freedom or had been given it by their masters for various reasons. Regardless of their ethnicity, in Saint-Domingue freedmen had been able to own land. Some acquired plantations and owned large numbers of slaves themselves. The slaves were generally not friendly with

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