SLAVERY DATABASE
More than 400 individuals were enslaved at Evergreen Plantation over the course of 150 years. Many were exceptionally skilled, working as long sawyers, coopers, carpenters, blacksmiths, engineers, seamstresses, and domestics. Some could trace their ancestry back multiple generations to the first slaves brought to the plantation. This diverse community was made up of Africans, the enslaved from the American South, and Creoles of Louisiana.
Evergreen Plantation is committed to telling the stories of the men, women, and children who were enslaved here. After years of in-depth research, we have amassed a vast collection of primary source documents that shed light on the individuals who were purchased and brought here to labor in the sugar cane fields as well as those who were born into slavery in the cabins that still stand today.
The documents used to create this database include estate inventories, succession records, and bills of sale as well as sacramental records from the Archdiocese of New Orleans recording baptisms and funerals. This data provides insight into the enslaved community’s scope of skills, kinship networks, family relationships, and places of origin.
The database is both sophisticated in the quantity and quality of information it contains and simple in its design. It is meant for everyone, from scholars who wish to engage in comparative analysis to individuals searching for their ancestors. The details within the database allow us to read and interpret the past. They bring to life the identities of real people who lived and worked on this specific site. No longer anonymous, the men, women, and children who called Evergreen Plantation home provide a window to the past and enhance the historical narrative. It is in studying their lives that the nuances and complexities of the past can begin to be understood.
This digital archive will serve as a resource for teachers, students, historians, genealogists, and visitors. The research remains ongoing, and the database will be updated as new discoveries are made.
HOW TO SEARCH:
The database is searchable by
*an individual’s name
*occupation
*year of birth
*origin (African tribe, American, or Creole).
You do not have to input all fields. You can choose which field you want to search.
TERMINOLOGY:
NAME:
Most enslaved individuals did not have surnames. Refer to the list of names of those enslaved at Evergreen by clicking on the link below.
OCCUPATION:
You can search for all domestics (house slaves), field hands, or more specialized jobs, such as engineer, cooper, carpenter, etc.
YEAR OF BIRTH:
In the event that a birthdate is unknown, some have been classified in others ways. Examples: born before 1800, young, adult, and child.
PLACE OF ORIGIN:
American origin signifies that the individual was enslaved in one of the Upper Southern states, such as Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Maryland, and was sold south to Louisiana.
Creole indicates that the individual was born in Louisiana. This means that the slave was born in the colony of Louisiana---later the state of Louisiana---spoke French, practiced Catholicism, and embraced Creole cultural norms. It does not indicate race.
RACE
The language and classifications on the original documents have been maintained.
Negro/Negresse = of full African ancestry
Mulatto/Mulatresse = ½ European ancestry, ½ African ancestry
Quadroon = ¾ European ancestry, ¼ African ancestry
Griffe = early usage indicates Native American and African. Later used to designate a child of a mulatto with someone of full African ancestry
Primary Source Documents Used:
Archdiocese of New Orleans, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Baptismal records
Archdiocese of New Orleans, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Funeral records
Sale records from New Orleans Notarial Archives
From St. John the Baptist Parish Probate Records, formerly housed in the parish Clerk of Court office, now being digitized:
1791 Succession, estate of Pierre Becnel, husband of Magdelaine Haydel Becnel, who would inherit Evergreen Plantation
1801 Succession, estate of Christophe Haydel, founder of Evergreen Plantation and Magdelaine’s father.
1830 Succession, estate of Magdelaine Haydel Becnel, who inherited Evergreen from her father and expanded the business into a major plantation enterprise
1835 Inventory taken at the time of Pierre Clidamont Becnel’s ownership (grandson of Magdelaine Haydel Becnel)
1842 Succession, estate of Josephine Lennen Becnel, wife of Lezin Becnel Jr., the eventual owner of Evergreen
1846 Sale of the plantation from Pierre Clidamont Becnel to Lezin Becnel Jr.
1851 Succession, estate of Fanny Baconnais Becnel, wife of Lezin Becnel Jr.
1854 Succession, estate of Pierre Clidamont Becnel
1856 Succession, inventory taken by Lezin Becnel Jr. included in his papers at Tulane University
1858 Partnership formed between brothers Lezin Becnel III and Michel Becnel, sons and heirs of Lezin Becnel Jr., to operate the plantation together