In order that we may better understand those ancestors who came from south-west Louisiana it is necessary to give a short historical account of that area.
First, new settlers to Louisiana wanted to find new homes where the advantages of a large city with its ports and other facilities made life easier. Thus, the newcomers settled in New Orleans or along the Mississippi River, the German Coast, Baton Rouge, and Point Coupee.
Additionally, there was a reluctance to move west because of reports that the Attakapas Indians and related tribes practiced cannibalism. Some reports indicated only a ritualistic use of this practice while others indicated a constant and frequent use of human flesh. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
Certainly white hunters, and traders experienced little difficulty with these Indian tribes who eagerly traded with such men as Le Kintrek, Blaupain, Courtableau, and Andre Masse.
Although a few brave pioneers ventured to settle in the area, it was not until a French plan to stretch a chain of forts along the frontier of "Old Mexico" was executed in 1763 did real colonization begin. Good land along the Mississippi River was scarce and the growing cities along its course created a greater demand for food.
Southwest Louisiana promised good grazing land for "bêtes a cornes, "betes cavaline and moutons" (horned animals, horses, and sheep.)
The area produced indigo, tobacco, rice, corn and sweet potatoes. Fishing was also abundant.
The original posts for Opelousas and Attakapas cannot be located but probably existed on or near the present locations of the cities of Opelousas and St. Martinville. The establishment of the posts occurred in 1763, the same year when the Treaty of Fountainbleu ceded the Louisiana Territory to Spain.
Spain took over the government of New Orleans and east Louisiana in 1765 and that of southwest Louisiana in 1769, but continued to use French colonials to govern the latter territory.
The Spanish were less "laissez fair" than the French and immediately began to organize the administration of the territory and to maintain records.
Recensements (censuses) were taken in Opelousas and Attakapas in 1769 and 1771. The census count of 1769 showed 197 white inhabitants in Opelousas. Two year later, the count was 247.
Opelousas, in 1771, showed a count of 92 white males over 14 years of age and 48 white women, 55 boys below the age of 15 and 52 girls of like ages. There were 68 Negro males of all ages, 41 Negro females of all ages, 12 mulattoes and 11 mulatresses of all ages. Only six Indians were counted. Two families of free mulattos are listed but not identified by name.
Attakapas counted 77 adult white men, 56 adult white women, 31 white boys, 33 white girls, 28 Negroes, 18 Negresses and only one mulatto. No free Negroes or people of color are listed.
By 1792 there were 26 free Negro males in Opelousas and 39 at Attakapas.
Another difference in the populations of the two outposts was that Attakapas was predominantly Acadian while Opelousas was overwhelmingly Creole.
The boundaries between the two posts seen to have fluctuated. The Prairie Basse where Sam Fusilier had his land was variously listed as an outpost of Opelousas and as being in Attakapas. Records for many citizens of both villages are found in the papers of Attakapas as well as in those of Opelousas. Any researchers must think of the region as an entity or he will miss vital information.
There were periods of time when these outposts were without a priest and vital ceremonies could not be held. Baptisms and marriages could be postponed or engaged in without benefit of clergy. Some rites were blessed later and thus recorded. Many continued without benefit of clergy and were not entered into the records. Burials could not be delayed and thus left no accounts.
Of significance to our story is the account by Winston De Ville in Opelousas:
A group in Opelousas' population, which has maintained its individuality, is the "free people of color". Unlike the "gens de couleur libres" of New Orleans, many of whom had migrated from the West Indies, these people in Opelousas were ex-slaves set free by grateful masters or mulattoes descended from mixed marriages and declared free by a white father. Also, a former slave often purchased a relative and gave him his freedom. ...
The "people of color" in Opelousas enjoyed almost as much freedom as did the Europeans. They sued and were sued in court. They were, in some cases, buried in the parish cemetery, and were sometimes styled "mister" (Sieur) in official records. They were a distinct component in the post's economic development, many being skilled in specialized tasks.
Almost all were at least as financially affluent as the average white men of the post. Of sixty-one extant marriage contracts drawn at the Opelousas Post between 1766 and 1803, the amount of property owned by the five free Negro couples who contracted marriage compared favorably with the assets of the Europeans or Creoles. The value of property owned by the black group was consistently above that owned by the Acadian population. In fact, the man and woman owning the most property, in total worth, were free people of color.
Educational opportunities at the posts were virtually non-existent. Very wealthy people, of whom there were few, hired tutors for their children. The rest of the people and their offsprings were illiterate. There were no schools or libraries and even the most affluent seldom had books.
The only education provided was the learning of a trade through apprenticeship in various trades necessary for survival in a wilderness outpost.
Even people who were literate when they came to western Louisiana seldom passed their learning to the offsprings. De Ville states:
Although there are no tabulations to guide the researcher, a survey of one typical record group shows that the literacy rate between 1766 and 1803 was higher among the English settlers than the French Colonists and that the Acadians had a lower literacy rate than any other white group. With available records it is impossible to determine accurately the percentage of literacy among free people of color, but an estimate indicates that the rate was high, probably higher than among the Acadians.
Although the Original St. Landry Acts and the Original Acts of Ataquapas provide many insights to the area, much more information exist in the Cuban papers which are the Spanish records of Louisiana. After Spain re-ceded the area to France, the records were transferred to Seville and Cuba. Most of these records have not been microfilmed or translated, but they exist in Seville.
A few legajos may be found in the Library of Congress or university holdings. Each legajo contains thousands of documents. They are written in French, Spanish and, in rare circumstances, in English.
I must acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Al Martin of Pasadena in the translation of many of these documents.
I also must acknowledge and thank my son, Roland Anthony Dumas, Ph.D. for entering the multitude of data into his computer, enduring the myriad corrections and changes and providing me with a clean copy of this record for reproduction.