These transcriptions are derived from original documents held in the New Orleans Notarial Archives. The documents relate to Eulalie Bayeron (femme de couleur libre), who appears in the archival record as a buyer, petitioner, and seller of enslaved people between 1807 and 1827.
For historical analysis and context, see the main page.
Document 1: Sale of the Enslaved Woman Marie (May 17, 1817)
Source: Notarial Act before Marc Lafitte, Notary Public, New Orleans
Marginal Notation
17 Mai 1817 V[en]te d'esclave Par Eulalie Bayeron à J[ea]n Ant[oin]e Bernard
Transcription and Translation
Par devant Marc Lafitte, notaire public commissionné pour la ville & paroisse de la Nouvelle Orléans, second district sénatorial de l'état de la Louisiane, y demeurant, & en présence des témoins ci après nommés & soussignés, fut présentée Eulalie Bayeron, femme de couleur & libre, demeurant en cette ville, laquelle déclare vendre, céder & transporter, comme de fait, elle vend, cède & transporte dès maintenant & à toujours, avec promesse de
garantie, de tous troubles quant à la propriété, des vices & maladies rédhibitoires prévus par la loi, et de toute dette hypothécaire, comme le constate le certificat du Conservateur en cette ville à la date de ce jour,
Au sieur Jean Antoine Bernard, commerçant demeurant en cette ville, ici présent & acceptant, acquérant pour lui ses héritiers ou ayants causes, une négrette nommée Marie, âgée d'environ vingt cinq ans, qui appartient à la venderesse, comme étant celle qu'elle a acquise du sieur Pierre Liquet, par acte au rapport de M[aît]re Michel de Armas, sous la date du deux Septembre mil huit cent quinze.
La présente vente est faite & consentie pour & moyennant la somme de sept cent vingt cinq piastres, que le sieur acquéreur a payé comptant à la venderesse vûe des notaire & témoins soussignés, à la venderesse qui le reconnait & le déclare, et en donne quittance & décharge au dit sieur acquéreur.
Et moyennant ce la venderesse transporte au sieur acquéreur tous les droits de propriété qu'elle a et peut avoir sur la négrette Marie, vendue en ces présentes, pour par le dit sieur acquéreur qui dès ce jour, l'en reconnait en bonne & utile possession, jouir, faire & disposer de la ditte esclave en toute propriété comme d'un bien lui appartenant en vertu de la présente vente, car ainsi & obligeante & promettant &c. dont acte.
Fait & passé à la Nouvelle Orléans, en l'étude le dix sept du mois de Mai, de l'année mil huit cent dix sept & la quarante et unième de l'Indépendance des États Unis d'Amérique, en présence des sieurs Jean Louis François Chabey & Jacques Joly, témoins domiciliés, qui ont signé avec le sieur acquéreur et le notaire public soussignés, après lecture faite, la venderesse interpellée de signer a déclaré ne le pouvoir ne [le?] savoir avoir et fait sa marque ordinaire — un mot raye en un [?] en paraphe ne vaut.
[Signatures:] Anté. e Bernard — [mark of] Eulalie Bayeron ✝ Chabey — M[ar]c Lafitte, not[aire] pub[lic] J[acque]s Joly
Before Marc Lafitte, public notary commissioned for the city and parish of New Orleans, second senatorial district of the state of Louisiana, residing therein, and in the presence of the witnesses hereafter named and undersigned, appeared Eulalie Bayeron, free woman of color, residing in this city, who declares that she sells, cedes, and transfers, as in fact she does sell, cede, and transfer from this moment and forever, with promise of
guarantee against all troubles regarding the property, against the redhibitory vices and illnesses provided for by law, and against all mortgage debts, as attested by the certificate of the Recorder [Conservateur des hypothèques] in this city as of the date of this day,
To the sieur Jean Antoine Bernard, merchant residing in this city, here present and accepting, acquiring for himself, his heirs, or assigns, a young negress named Marie, aged approximately twenty-five years, who belongs to the seller, being the one she acquired from the sieur Pierre Liquet, by act before Maître Michel de Armas, under the date of the second of September, one thousand eight hundred fifteen [September 2, 1815].
The present sale is made and agreed upon for and in consideration of the sum of seven hundred twenty-five piastres [Spanish silver dollars], which the said buyer has paid in cash to the seller, in the sight of the notary and undersigned witnesses, which the seller acknowledges and declares, and gives receipt and discharge to the said buyer.
And in consideration thereof, the seller transfers to the said buyer all the rights of property that she has and may have over the negress Marie, sold in these presents, so that the said buyer, who from this day acknowledges himself to be in good and useful possession thereof, may enjoy, use, and dispose of the said slave in full ownership as a good belonging to him by virtue of the present sale, so it is, and obligating and promising, etc. Done and executed.
Made and passed in New Orleans, in the office, on the seventeenth of the month of May, in the year one thousand eight hundred seventeen [May 17, 1817], and the forty-first of the Independence of the United States of America, in the presence of the sieurs Jean Louis François Chabey and Jacques Joly, domiciled witnesses, who have signed together with the said buyer and the undersigned public notary, after reading was done; the seller, called upon to sign, declared herself unable to do so, not knowing how, and made her ordinary mark — one word struck out [and?] initialed is void.
Contextual Notes
Document type. This is a vente d'esclave (sale of a slave), a standard notarial act executed before a licensed notary with witnesses. Such acts constituted the legal proof of ownership transfer in Louisiana civil law (derived from French and Spanish legal traditions, unlike the common-law systems of most other American states).
Notary. Marc Lafitte, a New Orleans notary. Notarial acts in Louisiana had the force of authenticated legal instruments — they did not require further court validation to be enforceable.
Key terms:
- f.C.L. — femme de Couleur Libre, free woman of color.
- négrette — diminutive/feminine form; used for Marie throughout the act.
- garantie — warranty. The seller warrants that Marie is her property to sell, free of third-party claims and mortgage debts, and without redhibitory defects.
- vice ou maladie rédhibitoire — redhibitory vice or disease. Under Louisiana civil law, a buyer could return a purchased enslaved person within a specified period if they discovered undisclosed defects.
- piastres — Spanish silver dollars, the standard currency. 725 piastres was a significant sum.
The Pierre Liquet connection. The act explicitly states that Eulalie acquired Marie from Pierre Liquet on September 2, 1815, before the notary Michel de Armas.
Signatures. Eulalie signed with a mark rather than a written signature, suggesting she was not literate in the formal sense — though she was clearly capable of navigating the legal system, whether through her attorney Seghers or through other intermediaries.
Document 2: Petition to the City Court Regarding the Seizure of Victor (filed ca. May 31, 1810)
Source: Petition to the Honorable City Court of New Orleans
Transcription and Translation
À l'honorable cour de cité de la Nouvelle Orléans
Eulalie Bayeron, fille de couleur libre, demeurant en cette ville;
Expose humblement;
Que, le 29 du mois d'août de l'année 1807, elle a acheté à S[ain]t Yague de Cuba, du S[ieu]r Dupuis, un nègre bossal nommé Victor, pour le prix de trois cents et cinquante Piastres, qu'elle a payé, au dit Dupuis, ainsi qu'il appert de l'acte de vente, que votre pétitionnaire offre de produire devant cette honorable cour;
Que depuis elle a possédé paisiblement et sans trouble le dit nègre jusqu'au jour de hier 30 mai 1810; mais qu'au dit jour d'hier B. Cénas, Shériff du 1er District de la cour Supérieure de ce territoire, s'est permis de saisir le dit [struck through text] nègre Victor appartenant à votre pétitionnaire, et ce en vertu d'un attachement ou ordre de saisie, obtenu en cette honorable cour par un certain Joseph Gelliés contre un nommé Pierre Liquet, pour une prétendue créance que le dit Gelliés dit lui être dûe par le dit Liquet.
Pourquoi votre pétitionnaire requiert, que le dit S[ieu]r B. Cénas Shériff, soit cité à comparaître à votre audience, pour y être condamné à remettre le dit nègre Victor à votre pétitionnaire, comme sa propriété légitime, et à lui payer les loyers du dit nègre à raison de quatre escalins par jour depuis le jour de la saisie jusqu'à celui de la remise qui en sera faite à votre pétitionnaire, ensemble aux frais de cette instance.
Et vous ferez justice.
[Signed:] Seghers p[ou]r la demanderesse
To the Honorable City Court of New Orleans
Eulalie Bayeron, free girl [or daughter] of color, residing in this city;
Humbly states;
That, on the 29th of the month of August of the year 1807, she purchased at Santiago de Cuba [S[ain]t Yague de Cuba], from the Sieur Dupuis, a bozal negro [i.e., recently arrived from Africa, not yet acculturated] named Victor, for the price of three hundred and fifty Piastres, which she paid to the said Dupuis, as appears from the act of sale, which your petitioner offers to produce before this honorable court;
That since then she has possessed the said negro peacefully and without trouble until yesterday, the 30th of May 1810; but that on said yesterday, B. Cénas, Sheriff of the 1st District of the Superior Court of this territory, took it upon himself to seize the said negro Victor belonging to your petitioner, and this by virtue of an attachment or order of seizure, obtained in this honorable court by a certain Joseph Gelliés against one named Pierre Liquet, for an alleged debt that the said Gelliés claims is owed to him by the said Liquet.
Wherefore your petitioner requests that the said Sieur B. Cénas, Sheriff, be summoned to appear before your court, there to be condemned to return the said negro Victor to your petitioner, as her legitimate property, and to pay her the hire [lost wages/rental value] of the said negro at the rate of four escalins [a small coin; fraction of a piastre] per day from the day of the seizure until the day of the return that shall be made to your petitioner, together with the costs of this proceeding.
And you shall do justice.
[Signed:] Seghers, for the plaintiff [female]
Contextual Notes
Document type. This is a requête (petition) addressed to the city court. Petitions of this type were the standard mechanism for challenging unlawful seizures of property in the Orleans Territory.
Orthography. The original preserves the scrivener's spelling, which reflects early 19th-century Louisiana French conventions:
- Shériff for shérif — a Gallicized rendering of the English word "sheriff"
- bossal for bozal — from the Spanish, meaning an African-born enslaved person not yet acculturated to colonial society
- Piastres — the standard monetary unit in colonial Louisiana, equivalent to the Spanish silver dollar
- escalin — a small coin worth a fraction of a piastre; derived from the Dutch schelling
Key persons:
- Eulalie Bayeron: Free woman of color (fille de couleur libre). The surname appears in variant spellings across documents — D'Ayeron in some versions, Bayeron in the notarial sale.
- Victor: Enslaved man, described as bossal (recently arrived from Africa). Purchased at Santiago de Cuba in 1807.
- Sr Dupuis: Seller of Victor in Santiago de Cuba. No further identification.
- B. Cénas: Blase Cénas, Sheriff of the 1st District of the Superior Court of the Territory of Orleans.
- Joseph Gelliés: Creditor who obtained the writ of attachment against Pierre Liquet's property.
- Pierre Liquet: Debtor. Also appears in Document 1 as the person from whom Eulalie acquired Marie in 1815, and in Document 3 as the owner shipping Francoise in 1827.
- Seghers: Attorney who signed the petition on Eulalie's behalf.
Legal mechanism. The attachement (writ of attachment) was a pre-judgment remedy allowing a creditor to seize a debtor's property before trial. The problem in this case is that Victor belonged to Eulalie, not to Pierre Liquet. The petition alleges that the sheriff wrongly seized Eulalie's property to satisfy Liquet's debt — a third-party claim that the court would need to adjudicate.
Document 3: Manifest of Slaves — Schooner Sémillante (May 29, 1827)
Source: Printed manifest form, District of Mississippi, Port of New Orleans
Printed and sold by Benj. Levy, corner of Chartres and Bienville sts.
Transcription
Manifest of Slaves on board the Schooner Sémillante, of [?] burthen [?] tons, whereof Jn. Lopez is at present Master, bound from the Port of NEW-ORLEANS for the Port of Bay Saint Louis.
| NAMES | SEX | AGE | STATURE (Ft.) | STATURE (In.) | CLASS | SHIPPERS OR OWNERS | RESIDENCE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francoise | Female | 24 | 5 | 1 | Black | Pierre Liquet | New Orleans |
DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI — Port of New-Orleans, the 29th day of May, 1827.
Pierre Liquet, owner of the Slaves named and particularly described in the above Manifest, and J. Lopez, Master of the Schr. Sémillante, do solemnly, sincerely and truly Swear, according to the best of our knowledge and belief, that the persons above described were not imported into the United States since the first day of January, 1808, and that under the laws of the State, they are held to service and labour.
SO HELP ME GOD.
[Signed:] Liquet
Contextual Notes
Form type. This is a standard coastwise slave manifest, required by federal law after 1807. The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves (2 Stat. 426) mandated that any shipment of enslaved people between American ports be accompanied by a manifest certifying that the individuals were not illegally imported.
The 1808 oath. The sworn statement at the bottom is the key legal mechanism. By affirming that Francoise was not imported after January 1, 1808, the shipper and master established the legality of the domestic transaction. The oath makes no inquiry into how Francoise came to be enslaved — only when she entered the United States.
Column analysis:
- NAMES: Only a first name is recorded. Enslaved people were typically denied surnames in official documents.
- CLASS: "Black" in this context refers to skin color classification, not free/enslaved status (which was assumed by the document's nature).
- SHIPPERS or OWNERS: Pierre Liquet of New Orleans — the same Pierre Liquet who appears in Documents 1 and 2.
The Pierre Liquet connection. Liquet appears across all three documents spanning twenty years (1810–1827): as the person from whom Eulalie acquired Marie (1815 sale referenced in Document 1), as the debtor whose creditor caused the seizure of Victor (Document 2, 1810), and as the owner shipping Francoise to Bay Saint Louis (Document 3, 1827).
Glossary of Key Terms
| French Term | English Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| acquéreur | buyer, purchaser | The person acquiring the property in the sale |
| venderesse | female seller | Feminine of vendeur; refers to Eulalie throughout Document 1 |
| négrette | young negress | Diminutive/feminine; used for Marie in Document 1 |
| bossal / bozal | recently arrived African | An enslaved person not yet acculturated to colonial society; from Portuguese boçal |
| piastre | piastre (Spanish silver dollar) | Standard currency in early Louisiana; equivalent to the Spanish peso |
| escalin | escalin | A small coin worth a fraction of a piastre; derived from the Dutch schelling |
| rédhibitoire | redhibitory | Legal term: defects serious enough to void a sale (diseases, vices) |
| Conservateur | Recorder of Mortgages | Official who maintained mortgage/property records |
| attachement / saisie | attachment / seizure | Legal process of seizing property to satisfy a debt |
| ayants causes | assigns, successors | Legal heirs or those who derive rights from another |
Historical Notes
Eulalie Bayeron was a free woman of color (femme de couleur libre) active in New Orleans legal and commercial life in the early 19th century. These documents show her participating in the slave economy both as a buyer (Victor, purchased in Santiago de Cuba in 1807) and a seller (Marie, sold in 1817). She was also willing to assert her property rights in court when her enslaved person was wrongfully seized by the Sheriff.
Pierre Liquet appears across all three documents spanning twenty years (1810–1827): as the person from whom Eulalie acquired Marie (1815 sale referenced in Document 1), as the debtor whose creditor caused the seizure of Victor (Document 2, 1810), and as the owner shipping an enslaved woman named Francoise to Bay Saint Louis (Document 3, 1827).
The petition (Document 2) is notable because Eulalie is asserting that her property (Victor) was wrongfully seized to satisfy someone else's debt (Pierre Liquet's debt to Joseph Gelliés). She purchased Victor in Santiago de Cuba — likely reflecting the movement of enslaved people through Caribbean networks — and is demanding both the return of Victor and compensation for lost labor at four escalins per day.
The 1808 import certification on the manifest (Document 3) reflects the federal prohibition on the international slave trade that took effect January 1, 1808. Shippers were required to swear that enslaved persons being transported were not recently imported from abroad.
Signed by Seghers — likely the attorney Louis Seghers, who practiced in New Orleans during this period, acting as counsel for Eulalie as plaintiff (demanderesse).
Methodology
These transcriptions were prepared from high-resolution digital images of the original documents. The following conventions apply:
- Original spelling and orthography are preserved. The documents reflect early 19th-century Louisiana French and English usage. No corrections have been made to spelling, grammar, or punctuation.
- Illegible passages are marked with [?].
- Abbreviated words are expanded in brackets where the expansion is certain: S[ieu]r = Sieur, M[aît]re = Maître.
- The ship manifest is a combination of printed form text and handwritten entries.
- Conventions:
[?]marks uncertain readings.[...]marks illegible text.[struck through]marks crossed-out text in the original. Editorial notes are in [italics in brackets]. - Translations aim for accuracy over elegance. Legal and technical terms are translated as closely as possible to their English legal equivalents.