Morganza Plantation, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana
Location: Morganza, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, United States
Contents |
Biography
Morganza Parish, Louisiana, takes its name from Morganza Plantation, the antebellum holding of Charles Morgan (1775-1848), located at the mouth of the Red River in Louisiana.
Charles Morgan (abt.1775-abt.1848) was the son of James Morgan (abt.1734-1784) of Morgan, South Amboy (now Sayreville), New Jersey. James Morgan, Sr was a captain in the Second Regiment of the Middlesex County, New Jersey, militia during the Revolutionary War.[1] Charles Morgan went to Louisiana when he was in his 20s to establish a sugar plantation. By 1809, he had 28 enslaved people on his plantation. Charles Morgan was an early surveyor, political figure and first American sheriff of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana.[2]
In 1818, he returned to South Amboy with $45,000 to invest in an interstate slave trading operation. He organized an illegal slave trading ring together with his brother-in-law Jacob Charles Van Wickle (1770-1854), the husband of Morgan's sister Sarah (Morgan) Van Wickle, and nephew Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865). Jacob Van Wickle exploited his position as Middlesex County Judge of Common Pleas and falsified legal documents to facilitate the shipment of enslaved people from Perth Amboy to Louisiana. The slave trading ring sent over a hundred enslaved people from New Jersey to the Deep South. He was indicted on fifteen criminal counts in New Jersey. By the end of Morgan's life, there were over a hundred enslaved people working on the Morganza plantation.[2]
Colonel Charles Morgan married a local woman, Hyacinthe (Allain) Morgan (1784-1874), and founded the plantation. He owned much land in Pointe Coupee Parish and served on the Louisiana Legislature and the Mississippi River Authority. They had eight children: Marie Francois, Elise, Adele, Aurora who married Dr William R Falconer, Augustine, Charles Jr, Roltus, and James Alfred.[3]
Morganza was the site of a major Union Army encampment during the American Civil War. General Nathaniel Banks built a fort on the banks of the river with the intent of controlling the river northward to Vicksburg. At one point an estimated 40,000 Union troops occupied the area. The largest battle in Pointe Coupee Parish was fought at nearby Stirling Plantation, on September 29, 1863.[4] There are no pictures of the Morgan plantation home; and, as reported in the diary of Aurora Morgan, the house was burned on 1 October 1863 by federal troops. The union troops burned the house after the Battle of Stirling (aka Fordoche Bridge).
Slaves
1820 U.S. Census, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, page 120.[5]
- Charles Morgan: Free White Males: 2 under 10, 4 age 16-26,m 1 age 26-45; Free White Females: 3 under 10, 1 age 16-26; engaged in Agriculture 90; Male Slaves: 18 under 14, 9 age 14-26, 12 age 26-45, 4 age 45+; Female Slaves: 17 under 14, 11 age 14-26, 10 age 26-45, 3 age 45+; Free Colored Persons: none.
1830 U.S. Census, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, page 311.[6]
- Charles Morgan: Free White Males: 1 age 5-10 , 2 age 10-15, 5 age 20-30, 1 age 56-60; Free White Females: 1 age 10-15, 1 age 40-50; Male Slaves: 5 under 10, 10 age 10-24, 34 age 24-36, 1 age 36-55, 5 age 55-100, 1 age 100+; Female Slaves: 4 under 10, 34 age 10-24, 26 age 24-36, 4 age 36-55, 6 age 55-100, 1 over 100, Total 142.
1840 U.S. Census, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana.[7]
- Charles Morgan: Males: 1 age 15-20, 2 age 20-30, 1 age 60-70; Females: 1 under 5,1 age 20-30, 1 age 30-40, 1 age 50-60, 1 age 60-70, 1 age 70-8; Free Colored: none; Slaves: Males: 30 under 10, 18 age 10-24, 26 age 24-36, 18 age 36-55, 9 age 55-100 Females: 26 under 10, 17 age 10-24, 18 age 24-36, 11 age 36-55, 4 age 55-100, Total: 184; engaged in Agriculture 115.
1850 U.S. Census Slave Schedule, Pointe Coupee, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, Charles Morgan with 187 unnamed enslaved persons.[8]
The following are listed on the Louisiana Freedmen's Bureau Office Records, 1865-1872.[9]
Page 11, register no. 57:
- Former owner: A Morgan, Mouth Red River
- Present employer: T T Seabury??, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
- Mary, 22, Female, Field laborer, $5/month
- Martha, 21, Female, Field laborer, $5/month
- Melinda, 38, Female, Field laborer, $5/month
- Ann Morrison, 24, Female, Field laborer, $3/month
- Former owner: A Morgan, Morganzia Plantation
- Present employer: T T Seabury??, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
- Mary, 45, Female, Field laborer, $3/month
- Former owner: Mad Morgan, Morganzia Plantation
- Present employer: T T Seabury??, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
- Albert Moon, 40 Male, Forman, $10/month
Pages 29-30, register no. 422:
- Former owner: Alfred Morgan, Morganzia Plantation, Louisiana
- Present employer: J H Woodruff, St John Baptist Parish, Louisiana
- Stephen Morgan, 30, Male, First class laborer, $10/month
- Jim Morgan, 28, Male, Artzan laborer, $15/month
- Pirie Morgan, 25, Male, Artzan laborer, $15/month
- Charles Morgan, 20, Male, Second class laborer, $8/month
- Henry Morgan, 25, Male, First class laborer, $10/month
- Congo Ben Morgan, 40, Male, Secong class laborer, $8/month
- George Morgan, 70, Male, Third class laborer, $6/month
- Old Stephen Morgan, 80, Male, Third class laborer, $6/month
- Hariet Morgan, 20, Female, Second class laborer $6/month
- Zernice Morgan, 50 Female, First class laborer $8/month
- Sarah Morgan 30, Female, First class laborer $8/month
- Louisa Morgan, 25, Female, First class laborer $8/month
- Rhody Morgan, 35, Female, First class laborer $8/month
- Elizabeth Morgan, 40, Female, First class laborer $8/month
- Morella Morgan, 14, Female, Second class laborer $6/month
- Melvira Morgan, 4 Female, Second class laborer $6/month
- Squire Mason, 40, Male, First class laborer $8/month
- Carelius Morgan, 30, Male, First class laborer, $10/month
- Frederic Morgan, 10, Male
Page 44, Register 631
- Former owner: T H Ellis, Magnolia Plantation
- Present employer: R W Bensie? Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
- Sam Miles, 47, Male, Third class laborer, $5/month
- John Miles, 18, Male, Third class laborer, $5/month
Page 45, Register 641
- Former owner: T H Ellis, Magnolia Plantation
- Present employer: R W Bensie? Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
- Malinda, 25, Female, Third class laborer, $5/month
- Milly Big, 40, Female, Third class laborer, $5/month
- Mahalia, 19, Female, Third class laborer, $5/month
- Maker Mallissey, 22, Female, Third class laborer, $5/month
- Martha, 47, Female, Third class laborer, $5/month
- Matilda, 57, Female, Fourth class laborer, $3/month
- Maria, 59, Female, Fourth class laborer, $3/month
- Mary, 64, Female, Fourth class laborer, $3/month
- Muchul, 89, Female, Fourth class laborer, $3/month
- Mundy, 22, Female, Fourth class laborer, $3/month
Research Notes
See New Jersey Slavery Records, Charles Morgan, for a list of people removed by Charles to Louisiana. The list includes further documentation for the individuals.[2]
Sources
- ↑ Wikipedia: Morganza, Louisiana (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morganza,_Louisiana)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 New Jersey Slavery Records: Charles Morgan:(https://records.njslavery.org/s/doc/item/2110)
- ↑ Morgan Family History, Mss. 1368, 1936, 2015, Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, La
- ↑ History of Morganza, Louisiana: (https://www.morganzala.com/historic-sites)
- ↑ "United States Census, 1820", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLW-LVB : Thu Jul 20 15:17:29 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Morgan, 1820.
- ↑ "United States Census, 1830", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPF-XG5 : Thu Jul 20 23:12:24 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Morgan, 1830.
- ↑ "United States Census, 1840", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHTD-7BC : Thu Jul 20 20:50:56 UTC 2023), Entry for Charles Morgan, 1840.
- ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HR75-ZK3Z : 15 February 2020), Charles Morgan in entry for MM9.1.1/MVZN-X8D:, 1850.
- ↑ Louisiana Freedmen's Bureau Office Records, 1865-1872; Subordinate office (plantation departement) Roll 28, Registers of black persons, undated, vol 7 M-N (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9G2-VGTQ?i=33&cc=2333781)
See also:
- Lost Souls Public Memorial Project; The Van Winkle Slave Ring, 137 African Americans kidnapped into permanent slavery, Middlesex County, New Jersey. [1]
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