Amand Pfister (1752 - 1835)

Born 5 Feb 1752 in Alsace, France

Husband of Maria Josephine (Ris) Pfister — married 5 Feb 1795 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 30 Nov 1835 at age 83 in Mobile, Alabama

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Biography

Amand Pfister was born in 1752 in Alsace, France - as noted on his gravestone in Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama.

He was an emigre from France, and later, the revolutionary era in Saint-Domingue (Haiti). Amand arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania sometime before 1795 with many of his compatriots and it was his contacts there that inspired the the Pfisters to leave the Bahama Islands for Alabama about 1818. (Daughter Augusta Elizabeth Pfister, in fact, married Nicolas Basile Meslier, Philadelphian colonist and agent of the French Emigrants Association, at Christ Church, Nassau in 1813.)

Amand married Maria Josephine Rys or Ris 5 February 1795 in Philadelphia. They resided there until 1800-1801 when the Pfisters moved to New Providence, Bahamas. They had children - all but three born and baptized in Nassau, Bahamas - Aimee Maria Catherine, Augusta Elizabeth, Amand Daniel, Amanda Susannah, Amand Philip, Amantilda Maria Augustine, Amandteus Stevens, Amantinette Maria, Amantine Rebecca Barbara, Amasilia Augusta, and Ameda Robert Pfister.

The Pfisters bought an interest in the land that the U.S. Congress allocated in Alabama to Domingan/French exiles in 1817 as part of the Vine and Olive Colony centered around Demopolis. Amand planted vines and also became proprietor of a hotel in the new town. As it became clear that neither wine nor olives were suited to the climate, many grantees dispersed. Amand and his family moved to Mobile. The cotton planters in the Colony flourished.

Amand Pfister died 30 November 1835 - in the 84th year of his age - in Mobile, Alabama. He is buried with his daughter and son-in-law. He wrote a will 22 May 1832.

Sources

Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia Vol. 24, No. 2 (JUNE, 1913), pp. 140-161.

Christ Church, Nassau, Bahamas Birth and Baptism Records, 1801 - 1816.

Pennsylvania, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1800-1962 for A Pfister M425 - Philadelphia, 1800-1882, 006, 11 June 1804.

Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1813-1834 Bahamas, 1822, page 154. "Return of two slaves. Robert Taylor, attorney of Amand Pfister (and son-in-law), who is not present in these islands."

History of Alabama, Chapter XLV, by Albert James Pickett.

Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 for Amand P Pfister, Montgomery, Index Will Records, Vol 1-11, 1920-1932.

Find A Grave Memorial # 79871398. Magnolia Cemetery, Mobile, Alabama.

GARDIEN, KENT. "The Domingan Kettle: Philadelphian-Emigre Planters in Alabama." In National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 76:3 (Sept. 1988), pp. 177-187.

Original Will Records (Mobile County, Alabama), Ca. 1813-1961; Index, 1813-1957; Author: Alabama. Orphans' Court (Mobile County); Probate Place: Mobile, Alabama. Pigeon Hole No 401, Files 1-94, 1813-1957, 1832.

Edward John Raser, Our Raser Family, Descendants of Johannes Roser of Scharzenau, Germany, who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1726/7, 2011.