Mssrs. Shepherd Brown & Co.
Merchts New Orleans
Luisania [sic]
particular favor of Nathan Rogers]

Mssrs. Brown & McDonogh
Merchants
New Orleans
Mr. Smith]

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MS-147

McDonogh and Payne.

Records, 1801-1803.

John McDonogh arrived in New Orleans in 1800 and William O. Payne followed in 1801. Both men were associates of William Taylor, a prominent merchant in Baltimore. In August, 1801, with capital supplied by Taylor, they formed the firm of McDonogh and Payne to sell goods (including hardware, tableware, dry goods, and groceries) shipped to New Orleans by Taylor. Because of economic uncertainties, among other factors, Payne sold his interest in the company to McDonogh in August, 1802, and left New Orleans to work with the merchant John Forbes. Payne died in 1804.

Following Payne's departure McDonogh, along with Shepherd Brown formed two new businesses, John McDonogh, Jr. and Company, and Shepherd Brown and Company. The former concern carried on the original business of the McDonogh and Payne firm, while Shepherd Brown and Company handled the developing western trade.

The papers consist of 295 manuscript letters, shipping lists, receipts, and orders for goods in thirty-four folders. Within each category the documents have been arranged in chronological order and numbered. Some of the documents are in French or Spanish, and some of these are accompanied by typewritten translations, which have been filed separately and keyed to the originals.

Some of the papers actually relate to the firm of Shepherd Brown and Company. No attempt has been made to remove them to the collection of materials from that firm.

Available on part of one roll of 35mm microfilm, roll #89-234; filed under film call number LN34.

Inventory

MS-147

McDonogh and Payne.

Records, 1801-1803.

Folder 1

Letter, January 25, 1803 [#1-2]

Folder 2

Orders of goods, December 30, 1801-March 24, 1802 [#3-20]

Folder 3

Orders of goods, March 31, 1802-June 3, 1802 [#21-36]

Folder 4

Orders of goods, June 19, 1802-April 4, 1803 [#37-52]

Folder 5

Orders of goods, undated, alphabetically arranged [#53-74]

Folder 6

Payments due, December 8, 1801-February 22, 1802 [#75-92]

Folder 7

Payments due, February 25, 1802-September 16, 1802 [#93-112]

Folder 8

Payments due, November 3, 1802-July 4, 1803 [#113-133]

Folder 9

Payments due, undated, arranged alphabetically [#134-147]

Folder 10

Receipts, August 20, 1801-April 8, 1802 [#148-165]

Folder 11

Receipts, May 7, 1802-September 10, 1802 [#166-184]

Folder 12

Receipts, October 4, 1802-June 4, 1803 [#185-200]

Folder 13

Shipping orders, January 5, 1802-September 26, 1802 [#201-219]

Folder 14

Shipping orders, September 26, 1802-July 11, 1803 [#220-238]

Folder 15

(French and Spanish), Orders of goods, January 20, 1802-July 16, 1802 [#239-248]

Folder 16

(French and Spanish), Orders of goods, July 21, 1802-November 8, 1802 [#249-260]

Folder 17

(French and Spanish), Orders of goods, undated, arranged alphabetically [#261-271]

Folder 18

(French and Spanish), Payments due, January 28, 1802-March 5, 1802 [#272-290]

Folder 19

(French and Spanish), Payments due, March 5, 1802-December 4, 1802 [#291-302]

Folder 20

(French and Spanish), Receipts, October 13, 1801-March 24, 1802 [#303-311]

Folder 21

(French and Spanish), Receipts, April 3, 1802-May 20, 1802 [#312-323]

Folder 22

(French and Spanish), Receipts, July 21, 1802-December 10, 1802 [#324-335]

Folder 23

Translations of orders of goods written in French and Spanish, January 20, 1802-July 16, 1802 [#336-345]

Folder 24

Translations of orders of goods written in French and Spanish, July 21, 1802-November 8, 1802 [#346-354]

Folder 25

Translations of orders of goods written in French and Spanish, undated, filed alphabetically [#355-363]

Folder 26

Translations of payments due written in French and Spanish, January 28, 1802-March 5, 1802 [#364-373]

Folder 27

Translations of payments due written in French and Spanish, March 5, 1802-December 4, 1802 [#374-382]

Folder 28

Translations of receipts written in French and Spanish, October 13, 1801-March 24, 1802 [#383-390]

Folder 29

Translations of receipts written in French and Spanish, April 3, 1802-May 20, 1802 [#391-398]

Folder 30

Translations of receipts written in French and Spanish, July 21, 1802-December 10, 1802 [#399-406]

Folder 31

Miscellaneous untranslated French and Spanish records, November 19, 1801-March 20, 1802 [#407-430]

Folder 32

Miscellaneous untranslated French and Spanish records, April 26, 1802-July 12, 1802 [#431-447]

[NOTE: There is no page 431 in the original]

Folder 33

Miscellaneous untranslated French and Spanish records, July 18, 1802-March 23, 1803 [#448-461]

Folder 34

Miscellaneous untranslated French and Spanish records, undated, not arranged [#462-466]

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MS-149

Freedom papers of New Orleans (La.), 1854-1858.

1 folder

This is an artificial collection made up of various documents that provide evidence of the free status of individual persons in the city of New Orleans during the years 1854-1858. Among the items are certificates from public officials, copies of notarial acts, extracts from the Registers of Free People of Color maintained in the Mayor's Office, extracts from records in the Orleans Parish Conveyance Office, court judgments, and affadavits from private citizens.

Each of these documents at least identifies the free person and makes some reference to the source of his freedom. Some of the items also include additional identification or other information about the individuals. Some of the items give the appearance of actually having been carried as proof of freedom by the named individuals. Others may be record copies retained in the files of the issuing agency.

The documents are available as part of one roll of 35mm microfilm, item 2 of mf #906708 (filed under call number LM650 1854-1869). [NOTE: one slave pass, possibly from this series, was filmed along with records of slave imports; film filed under AA253 1831].

Note: These documents were digitized as part of Louisiana State University's digital collection Free People of Color in Louisiana: Revealing an Unknown Past.
Link here to access the documents.

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MS-150

First Congregational Church (New Orleans, La.)

Marriage records, 1834-1847

3 v.

The First Congregational Church was formed by Reverend Theodore Clapp in 1834. Clapp had originally come to New Orleans from Massachusetts in 1822 as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, but as a result of a disagreement about church doctrine, he was tried for heresy by the Mississippi Presbytery and excommunicated in 1832. Shortly thereafter, he founded the First Congregational Church, taking with him the majority of his former Presbyterian congregation and retaining the use of the church building formerly occupied by that congregation. Located on St. Charles Street, the building had been sold to Judah Touro in 1822 to help pay off accumulated debts; Touro made the building available to the congregation on a 99 year lease. When this building burned in 1851 (beyond the period covered by these records), Touro purchased a small church on St. Charles St. between Julia and Girod Streets and made it available to Dr. Clapp. A new church was completed in 1855. In his Autobiographical Sketches, Dr. Clapp describes the original church:

On the lower floor there were one hundred and eighteen pews. The galleries were spacious, and capable of accommodating about four hundred persons. Both sides of the galleries contained free seats, which were always filled by strangers. On this account, our place of worship was often called the Strangers' Church.

our church was honored by the attendance of the most respectable strangers during the winter season. The pews were always taken by residents of the city, and there were more applicants than could be accommodated. It was a usual saying among my orthodox friends, that the merchants and planters who came to New Orleans during the healthy months to transact business never left the city without going to 'the American theatre, the French opera, and Parson Clapp's church.'

By 1866, it had no permanent pastor and only a few members, and it finally closed during the years following the Civil War. Additional information on Dr. Clapp's church can be found in Parson Clapp of the Strangers' Church of New Orleans, ed. John Duffy, Louisiana State University Studies, Social Science Series No. 7 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1957).

The records are 3 manuscript volumes, beginning in January 1836; earlier volumes have not survived in the Louisiana Division's manuscript collection. In most cases, the records provide the names of bride and groom, witnesses, and the minister who performed the ceremony (inevitably T. Clapp) and the date of the marriage. In other cases, only the names of bride and groom and the date are given. After November 1837, a standard form came into use, providing space for names of bride, groom, witnesses, minister, and date, and after October 1840, a handwritten note or a form is used, signed by a parish judge, indicating that a license was granted; later, the two forms were merged into one. Many of the records not recorded on forms are on scraps of paper apparently cut from other volumes and pasted into the current books.

In 1868, these volumes were subpoenaed as evidence in a law suit in the Sixth District Court. Afterwards, they remained with the records of the Sixth District and, after 1880, the Civil District Court. Eventually, they were transferred to New Orleans' Bureau of Vital Statistics, and in 1972 they became part of the Louisiana Division's manuscript collection. A card index to the records is available in the Louisiana Division. This index was published in New Orleans Genesis in consecutive issues between September 1980 and October 1982 (Vols. 19-21).

The records are available on one roll of 35mm microfilm, roll #900168, filed under film call number mf LN 60.

Inventory

MS-150
1836-1847

First Congregational Church (New Orleans, La.)

Marriage records, 1836-1847

v. 1 1836-1840

v. 2 1840-1843

v. 3 1843-1847

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MS-151

New Orleans passenger lists, 1851.

12 folders

Manuscript lists of passengers arriving at the port of New Orleans during April and May of 1851. Other copies of most of these lists exist in the passenger list records filmed by the National Archives. Lists for two vessels are not included on those microfilms: Schooner Union, from San Juan de Nicaragua (April 20, 1851) and Bark Cora, from Richmond (May 9, 1851).

These lists may have been deposited in the Mayor's Office in accordance with some unidentified local ordinance. One of them indeed is marked "Mayor's Office."

The Genealogical Society of Utah has filmed these passenger lists as part of one roll of 35mm microfilm, roll #0906709. One copy is available under call number AA253 1831; a second is filed under call number LM650 1854.

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MS-300

Van Pelt, Oelreich and Co.

Letterbook, 1837-1838.

1 v.

A general forwarding and commission business of New Orleans, founded in 1836 by Peter G. Van Pelt and Bernhard Oelreich. Following setbacks caused in part by the Panic of 1837, the partnership was dissolved and Oelreich formed a new business, F. Schwank and Co. For additional information on the firms, see Parish Court #9852, Bernhard Oelreich vs. his creditors and the creditors of Van Pelt, Oelreich, and Co.

Manuscript volume, in English and German, containing copies of letters sent to customers in various U.S. cities, Havana, and Hamburg by members of the firms. They describe the difficulties that it faced during the business panic, as well as the everyday conduct of business.

Available as item 1 on microfilm roll #90-122, filed under call number LN37.

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MS-301

Caire, Louis Thimele, ca. 1795-1850.

Ledger, 1827-1833.

1 vol.

Notary public of New Orleans, 1826-1850.

Manuscript ledger (in French) of accounts with clients, showing services rendered, costs of services, and records of payments.

See also the notarial acts of Louis T. Caire, Orleans Parish Notarial Archives, 421 Loyola Ave., New Orleans, La., 70112.

Available as item 2 of mf roll #90-122, filed under call number LN37.

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MS-302

Jefferson Debating Society of New Orleans.

Record book, 1855-1862.

1 v.

Originally organized in 1849, the Society adopted a new constitution on September 14, 1855. According to that charter membership was by election and open to persons over the age of twenty "against whom there is no objection." The officers of the Society included a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and critic. The duties of the last-named individual were "to present a criticism at every regular meeting, to examine, read, and deliver to the secretary for preservation the contents of the 'Jeffersonian Oracle'". The group met weekly in regular session and also in public session on February 22 (the anniversary of its original founding). The second meeting in the months of May, August, and November was also public.

At each regular meeting a question was chosen for debate at the next session. The president appointed individuals to open the coming debate, to read an essay, and to present a recitation. The president was also to keep a book in which the constitution, by-laws, membership roll, and a record of questions and appointments were all to be recorded. Four committees served the organization: Propositions (to examine candidates for membership and report on same); Books (to examine the Treasurer's records); Questions (to report at each meeting six questions for future debate); and Absences (to report on the attendance of members). At the meeting of December 29, 1855 the membership voted to change the name of the organization to the Southern Literary Society. Prominent members of the organization included Judges Thomas Wharton Collens and Albert G. Brice.

Manuscript volume including a copy of the constitution and by-laws, membership roster, and minutes of the Society. The minutes are fairly regularly recorded through early 1856 and then only sporadically until August, 1860. Included in the minutes are procedural details (who was present, who was fined for not abiding by the by-laws, etc.), as well as references to the topics of the essay, recitation, and debates, often with some indication of the outcome of the latter. No real effort is made to summarize, much less transcribe, the various debates. The last minutes are for the meeting of January 18, 1862, at which session the debate was on the question, "the article of the constitution establishing universal suffrage should be maintained." Also included in the volume is a manuscript "catalogue of books belonging to the Library of the Southern Literary Society" dated May 1, 1861.

Gift of Mrs. Gayle Aitken,Jr.

Available as item 3 on microfilm roll #90-122, filed under call number LN37.

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MS-303

New Orleans Savings Bank.

Records, 1827-1855.

6 v.

The Louisiana legislature, by act of March 17, 1827, incorporated the New Orleans Savings Bank Society to operate, in essence, a workingmen's bank. The act specified its "laudable purpose of encouraging ... habits of industry and economy, by receiving and investing ... such small sums of money as may be saved from the earnings of tradesmen, mechanics, labourers, servants,and others, throughout the state, thereby assuring the double advantage of security and interest..."

The Bank was to receive deposits from the above-mentioned classes, to invest them in stocks, loans, or in other manners, and to repay the sums, with interest, to the depositors on demand. Its officers included a president, two vice-presidents, and twelve trustees who together formed a Board of Managers. The first officers and trustees were named in the act and included such leading citizens as Pierre Derbigny (its first president and the future Governor of the state), Mayor Joseph Roffignac, Martin Gordon, and J.B. Plauche. The Board had the usual corporate powers and the trustees were charged "... to regulate the rate of interest to be allowed to the depositors so that they shall receive a ratable proportion of all the profits of said bank, after deducting therefrom all necessary expenses ..." An annual report to the Legislature was also required by the act.

The Bank, along with the other financial institutions of the city, became a victim of the currency and other problems following the Panic of 1837. It went into liquidation in 1842 and apparently out of existence in 1855 (its books were ordered to be placed in the custody of the city Comptroller in May,1854). A new body, the New Orleans Savings Institution, was incorporated by the Legislature (act of March 15, 1855), but the relationship of this new institution to the earlier bank, if any, is unknown.

Manuscript volumes:

Minute book (1827-1855).

Register of depositors (1827-1843).

Includes signatures or marks of individuals with dates that their initial deposits were made. Includes some organizations, with the name of the responsible officer indicated, and some individuals making deposits for other parties. Many depositors are identified by occupation and/or name of employer, and some by place of birth. The volume also includes copies of letters sent by the Bank, 1835-1851.

Bank statements (1842-1847).

Includes bills receivable, lists of depositors and their account balances, statements of deposits, balance statements, and statements of affairs.

Ledger of depositors' accounts (1837-1853).

Includes for each depositor the account balance, interest payments, deposits, and withdrawals.

Journal of receipts and expenditures (1837-1853).

Includes details of the Bank's business affairs, especially its relationships with other banks.

Cashbook of receipts and expenditures (1842-1853).

Including records of individual deposits and withdrawals.

Transferred to the City Archives Collection by the Board of Liquidation, City Debt, 1979.

Available on three rolls of 35mm microfilm; see the following inventory for roll numbers.

Inventory

MS-303

New Orleans Savings Bank.

Records, 1827-1855.

MS-303-1
Minute book, 1827-1855. [mf roll #90-122, item 4; filed under call number LN37]

MS-303-2
Register of depositors, 1827-1843 [mf roll #90-123, item 1; filed under call number LN40]; [also letterbook, 1835-1851].

MS-303-3
Balance statements, 1842-1847. [mf roll #90-123, item 2; filed under call number LN40]

MS-303-4
Ledger of depositors' accounts, 1837-1853. [mf roll #90-123, item 3; filed under call number LN40]

MS-303-5
Journal of receipts and expenditures, 1837-1853. [mf roll #90- 124, item 1; filed under call number LN41]

MS-303-6
Cash book of receipts and expenditures, 1842-1853. [mf roll #90- 124, item 2; filed under call number LN41]

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MS-304

William Kenner and Co.

Letterbook, 1822-1823.

1 v.

Merchants of New Orleans, La. The firm was established prior to April, 1813 by William Kenner and Richard Clague. The former was a native of Virginia who was in New Orleans by 1801. He owned several plantations and was a partner in the firm of Kenner and Henderson (later Henderson & Co.) with Steven Henderson prior to formation of the present concern. He was the father of Duncan F. Kenner, president of the 1852 state constitutional convention and a member of the Confederate congress. Clague, the father of the Louisiana artist of the same name, was a native of England who came to New Orleans in ca. 1803. A third partner, John Oldham, had joined the firm by 1822. Following Kenner's death in 1824, the firm apparently continued in operation for several years under Clague's management.

Manuscript volume of copies of mostly unsigned letters sent by the firm to various business associates in such cities as Natchez, Baton Rouge, Charleston, Savannah, New York, Philadelphia, Havre, London, and Liverpool. One letter, to Senator James Brown of Louisiana in Washington (dated October 27, 1821), discusses a pirate attack on a vessel carrying property belonging to Brown. Other topics include cotton, sugar, slaves, shipping, markets in general, and the financial condition of the nation. There is very little of a personal nature in these letters.

Available as item #3 on microfilm roll #90-124, filed under call number LN41.

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MS-319

New Orleans Draining Company.

Records,1835-1868

8 v. & 2 folders

Established by act of the Louisiana legislature on March 19, 1835, the Company was to drain, fill, and improve all of the land between the settled portion of the city of New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Capital in the amount of $1 million, divided into 10,000 shares, was authorized by the act, which also provided limits for purchase of stock by the city and state. The affairs of the Company were to be handled by a board of twelve directors, some to be appointed by the governor and some by the mayor, with the remainder to be elected by the stockholders. The Company was to prepare a plan of the lands to be drained and to divide that land into sections. The board was to decide in which order to drain the various sections and landowners were given certain rights of redemption once the lands had been drained. Lands not so redeemed could be purchased by the Company. On completion of drainage in a given section the city was to gain control of, and responsibility for, maintenance of the drainage works.

This charter was expanded on and somewhat simplified by legislative act approved on March 20, 1839. The original charter had been set to expire after twenty years but on March 13, 1855 the Legislature extended its life for an additional two years. Meetings of the Company's Board were held rather infrequently after 1850 and in 1856 it went into receivership, with Christian Roselius acting as receiver. In 1858 the Legislature approved a new system of drainage, dividing the city into drainage districts, each of which was directed by a Board of Commissioners.

The records include manuscript minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee, 1835-1856; financial journals and ledgers, 1835-1860; a book of receipt stubs from stock certificates (with blank and voided certificates), 1835-1847; an inventory book, 1850-1868 (which also includes a couple of records relating to the cost of labor and materials on specific company projects in 1868); an undated "census" of property owners listed by square; and a plan book of the"second section", dated 1852.

The last-named volume, prepared by civil engineer/surveyor Theodore Gillespie, includes copies of plans of individual squares in the section, showing lot subdivisions and names of lot owners, along with accompanying charts showing lot dimensions and valuations. Pasted into the back of the plan book are a copy of the 1835 DePouilly plan of Faubourg Jackson, an undated plan of the cemeteries at Canal Street and present-day City Park Avenue, and a plan (also by Gillespie) of property along Bayou St. John east of Faubourg Jackson.

A number of loose inserts found in the various volumes, but having no apparent relationship to those volumes, have been arranged in two folders at the end of the records.

Available on two rolls of 35mm microfilm, see the following inventory for roll numbers.

Inventory

[mf roll #89-287]

MS-319

New Orleans Draining Company Records.

Minutes, 1835-1856.

Journal of receipts and expenditures, 1835-1860.

Ledgers, 1835-1856.

v. 1 1835-1851

[Note: pp. 59-60 are blank in the original volume]

[mf roll #89-288]

v. 2 1854-1856

Inventory book, 1850-1868.

Receipts from stock certificates, 1836-1849.

Plan book of the Second Section, 1852.

Census of property owners, n.d.

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MS-320

Testamentary Executors of the Estate of John McDonogh.

Records, 1850-1851.

2 v.

John McDonogh, in his will of December 27, 1838, named seventeen individuals to serve as executors of his estate. Eight of these men were from New Orleans (including Christian Roselius, Judah Touro, and A.D. Crossman), six were from Baltimore, and three others represented organizations (including Henry Clay, as president of the American Colonization Society). Following McDonogh's death in 1850, eight of the individuals named in the will qualified as testamentary executors, and of that number four (Roselius, Crossman, F.B. D'Aquin, and W.E. Leverich) "took charge of the estate." These men administered the considerable real estate and other holdings of the McDonogh inheritance until spring, 1853, when the properties were turned over to the commissioners named to manage the holdings.

The records are manuscript volumes. Volume one has printed headings with the title, "Bills receivable of the testamentary executors of the estate of John McDonogh," at the front of the book, with "Bills payable ..." at the rear. The front section appears, however, to have been used to record various types of financial paper held by the estate, including bills, notes, bonds, and warrants. Individual obligations, or series of obligations, are recorded by date of issue, name of drawer and/or endorser, date payable, and the amount of the obligation. In some cases other information (e.g., date of actual payment) is also included. The book appears to have been in use from 1850-1853.

The second volume, dated 1850-1852, is a cash book of receipts and expenditures. Most of the receipts are rents collected on property owned by the estate and leased to various individuals. For each collection is recorded the name of the renter, a description of the property, and the amount paid. An example, from February 21, 1851, reads: "Augustin Coulon, for one month to 15 December, of two, one-story frame houses on the Metairie Road, opposite the Allard Plantation in rear of the First Municipality, $15." On the expenditure side are recorded expenses of administration of the estate and charges for real estate and slaves. Most of these relate to taxes and insurance premiums for the properties held by the estate. An example, from July 5, 1851, reads: "Paid N.C. Folger for clothing for slaves in MacDonogh[ville], $230.50." Another, on May 31, 1851, reads: "Policy #10214 ... on the brick slated building occupied as a bakery, fronting on Commerce St. between Lafayette and Poydras Streets, [insured for] $6,000."

Available on 35mm microfilm roll #89-270, filed under film call number LN36.

Inventory

MS-320-1

Testamentary Executors of the Estate of John McDonogh.

Bills receivable and payable, 1850-1853.

MS-320-2

Testamentary Executors of the Estate of John McDonogh.

Cash book, 1850-1852.

December 2, 1850 - April 30, 1852

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