Bits of Evidence, No. 340 3 June 1824 Emancipation of Charles Monette Before parish Judge John C. Carr, “Madame Marie Louise Lecomte Porter, having followed the formalities of the law and having an order from the parish judge,” now manumits “Charles, Nègre,” aged about 35. Done at Rivière aux Cannes. Witnesses: Narcisse Prudhomme; Bte. Lecomte.—Natchitoches Parish, La., Conveyance Book 15:74. COMMENT BY ESM: Readers of ISLE OF CANES already know that Charles was born to Coincoin’s daughter Françoise of the plantation of Jean Baptiste Dupré and wife Marie Louise Lecomte. After Dupré’s death, his young widow would marry Charles’s French father, Louis Monet. At the time of that marriage, she sold to him all the enslaved people on the Dupré plantation. As Monet’s widow, Marie Louise later married and buried the Anglo newcomer and Cane River justice of the peace, James F. Porter. As his widow, she would grant freedom to at least two of her Monet husband’s “natural” sons—Charles by Françoise, and Louis Jr. by Françoise’s daughter (who was also named Marie Louise Lecomte). It is likely that the Widow Dupré Monet Porter also manumitted Françoise’s son François Nicolas Monette, who was free by 1835. As for Charles, a carpenter by trade, he would not long enjoy his freedom. When he died, his by-then-free mother was his sole heir. The new FORGOTTEN PEOPLE tells that story. HOW TO CITE: Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Forgotten People,” FACEBOOK (facebook /ForgottenPeopleCaneRiverCreoles : 16 July 2014), “Bits of Evidence, No. 340.”
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 05:10:00 +0000
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