A FASCINATING ARCHIVE FROM A LOUISIANA PLANTER FAMILY WITH STRONG CATHOLIC TIES, INCLUDES DESCRIPTION OF THEIR CIVIL WAR STRUGGLES AND OF THE MEN AND WOMEN THEY ENSLAVED
Under the reign of plunder and lawlessness which prevailed in this parish previous to the advent of the present set of officers, we have lost everything except a few cows and a very few mules …. I have only got twelve thousand dollars for all the cotton I had & the most of it was burned by the Confederates last July…. Honoré Morancy, Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, December 1863
Archive related to the family of Honoré Perigny Morancy (1795–1881), an exile from the Haitian Revolution whose prosperous Louisiana plantation lay within sight of Federal forces at the devastating 1863 Battle of Milliken’s Bend. This collection of approximately 60 items includes family correspondence, early photography, and ephemera.
The highlight of the group is undoubtedly a magnificent half-plate ambrotype featuring the striking image of an elegantly attired African American woman seated alongside a young white child, ca. 1855–1860. This portrait likely depicts the Morancy family’s “Mammy Jane” or Matilda Butler, an enslaved black woman who bore at least one child to Honoré Morancy. Other notable items include Civil War–dated letters describing the destruction of the Morancy family’s Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana plantation, civil unrest in New Orleans, and wartime and Reconstruction-era references to the Morancy family’s enslaved laborers.
Locations represented include “Milliken’s Bend,” “Shelby County, KY,” “Convent of the Sacred Heart,” “St. Louis,” and “Dublin [Ireland]”; ca. 1820s–1940s (bulk 1860s–1880s).
Located approximately 15 miles above Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, Milliken’s Bend was a small community in Madison Parish, Louisiana. The town’s proximity to major centers of commerce such as New Orleans, Natchez, and Vicksburg aided its growth, and placed it within easy reach of important markets for the corn and cotton crops grown by the slaves of Milliken’s Bend plantation owners. Among the prosperous plantation owners in Milliken’s Bend at the onset of the Civil War were Honoré Morancy and his brother-in-law Philip Maher (1812-1872), married to sisters Eliza Jane Lowry Morancy (1803-1884) and Caroline Lowry Maher (1811-1872).
Generations of Morancys claimed ancestry from the family Montmorency, a line of French nobility, who were said to have been forced to flee their home country during the French Revolution, ultimately settling in present-day Haiti. Other sources suggest Honoré Morancy’s ancestors can be traced to Marie-Galante, Guadeloupe, as early as the 1740s. Regardless of the family’s origins, Honoré Morancy’s fate was most certainly tied to events in the island nation of Saint-Domingue, where his father and uncle were killed when Haitian freedmen and enslaved laborers began the insurrection that would lead to Haitian independence. Young Honoré and two siblings were rescued from the island, purportedly by a slave or nurse, and then smuggled on board a ship out of the country to the United States. Upon reaching the U.S., Morancy and his brother Emilius Morancy came initially under the guardianship of Charles Carroll (1737-1832) of Maryland, the only Catholic Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Honoré was well-educated and served as a professor of French, Greek, and Latin in Natchez, Mississippi, prior to marrying Eliza Lowry in 1818. The couple eventually settled in Milliken’s Bend, and Morancy soon amassed considerable wealth in the form of land and enslaved men, women, and children. On the eve of the Civil War, the 1860 U.S. Federal Census slave schedules show that H.P. Morancy enslaved 164 individuals.
The approximately 40 letters/documents in the collection span decades and generations of Morancy family members, but are particularly strong with regard to the effects of the Civil War on the Morancy family and their fortunes. The June 1863 Battle of Milliken’s Bend, famed in part because of the battlefield heroism of the African Brigade, was a small but savage engagement fought on the west bank of the Mississippi River within close proximity to the Morancy plantation. By early 1863, Milliken’s Bend had become one of several staging areas for the Union Army as Grant prepared for the Vicksburg Campaign. As Honoré and Eliza Morancy’s seven (7) war-date letters indicate, the conflict was devastating to their home and economic security. The war also impacted their enslaved laborers, as many apparently fled to the freedom of Union lines, though a few seemingly stayed with the Morancy family throughout the war. One woman, “Mammy Jane,” is referenced frequently in family correspondence and appears to have been viewed as a beloved member of the family both during and after the war.
In a powerful letter, undated but likely the spring of 1862, Eliza writes to her daughter Caroline, painting a vivid portrait of tumultuous times at the plantation, as the family faces military threat, natural disasters, political unrest, and family illness. The letter reads, in small part: “Peyton [enslaved man] thinks a carriage cannot go out even now. The water is rising yet. We hear to-day that it has fallen 3 inches at the Lake and is at a stand here.... The levee at Young's Point gave way several days ago and the water is rising in the field now, near the church. Dr. Buckner’s levee was partly cut a night or two ago - this would be indeed be a misfortune to all of us if it should take place again… You may have seen the Governor’s proclamation to burn the cotton. Your Pa says he has no legal right to do this as the Legislature did not pass the act — but public opinion will sustain him. I hear that Mr. Jones of Compromise will guard his with arms and will shoot down any man who attempts to do it….Perhaps now the French and English will soon come to buy and we can sell it to them. Your Pa says that his crop at the present prices will bring $70,000, and this is too much a sacrifice unless it is absolutely necessary….” Eliza then continues discussing the surrender of Forts Jackson and Philip and the fear of guerrilla warfare and pillaging. She goes on to describe the news from New Orleans: “I am told that eight persons were killed and several wounded in New Orleans for showing sympathy with the Union army by hurraying for Lincoln. I suppose some poor ignorant people who might have done it without much reflection, for no one who reflected a moment would have been so foolish. Mrs. Jones told Cory that the city was like a Bedlam — people running about, women and children crying, and the destruction of property immense. Molasses, sugar, bacon destroyed — and this too when the city is nearly destitute of provisions. The people of Vicksburg are not much better. All that can go have gone out into the country….” Eliza continues with references to a number of individuals who appear to be enslaved, including Peyton, Henry, Jane, and Rose, and mentions the forcible impression of “Negro men” into Confederate service to make fortifications.
Just prior to the Battle of Milliken’s Bend, Eliza was sent by Honoré to her home state of Kentucky to stay with friends and family. She writes to Caroline in May 1863: “Your pa insists on my going to Kentucky…Your pa promises to go up in a week or two….Mr. Fontane promises to stay with him and Jane too. I have consented…I prefer to wait for him but he will not let me do so – O’ darling how I wish you were with me & think you could come….Your Pa stays to dispose of his cotton as it is our only resource and he can sell it to a citizen or Englishman. I am distressed to think of the horrid state of affairs. I hear that as soon as practicable 70,000 Federals are going to Monroe & I suffer greatly in anticipation.”
Writing in December 1863, six months after the Battle of Milliken’s Bend, Honoré tells his children: “…I have returned again to my house with our furniture from Stockland, as I could no longer remain there on account of robbers who were some time ago infesting the country. I am at present very quiet here and am treated with marked kindness and civility by the [Union] officers here as well as by Genl [John P.] Hawkins who commands the district. He is cousin of A. D. Hawkins [H. Morancy’s son-in-law]…. Under the reign of plunder and lawlessness which prevailed in this parish previous to the advent of the present set of officers, we have lost everything except a few cows and a very few mules. Louis, if you had any cotton left for the gin, it has all been stolen….I have only got twelve thousand dollars for all the cotton I had & the most of it was burned by the Confederates last July….If there was any means among you to purchase cotton and the Confederate agents would not seize it, it would be a good thing….” He concludes with a note from “Jane,” who “wishes to be remembered by all of you and wishes particularly to send her love and respects to Caroline and wants very much to see the baby.”
Jane is referenced again, and with great affection, in Eliza’s letter of 18 June [1864], to her daughter Caroline. “Write often, my darling, and give me particulars. First of yourself and father and dear little one, of dear Vie and family, of Jane and Rosa. I can never forget them and their kindness to you and my dear husband. Let me know what servants are on the place of those belonging to us, if Chatham has been heard of, what things were stolen at Stockland…Give my best love and a kiss to your dear father, to Victoria and her family. Give my love to Jane and also to Rosa who has been so faithful to you.”
Beyond the events of the Civil War, the family’s association with the Roman Catholic Church is another striking characteristic of the archive. Catholics constituted a significant minority in the Confederate population, but most of the South was Protestant. The Morancy family letters paint a portrait of a family deeply rooted in Catholic lay life and spirituality. Southern Louisiana was predominantly Catholic due to its French and Spanish heritage, and Catholic families like the Morancys held significant wealth and influence in the region. The family’s letters, and their ties to New Orleans, Catholic boarding schools, and male and female religious figures, provide a rare glimpse into 19th-century Southern Louisiana Catholicism.
While there is just one letter from Honoré Morancy in the collection, the archive features more prominently the correspondence of his wife Eliza. Six letters in the archive were written by Eliza, five of which are addressed to her daughter Caroline. Seven additional letters are addressed to Eliza, sent by various friends and family members. Honoré and Eliza’s daughter, Caroline Morancy Hawkins (1833-1922), authored at least two letters in the archive. Additional correspondents in the collection include, in part: Caroline Lowry Maher (1811-1872), the sister of Eliza Lowry Morancy, as well as second-generation Morancy descendants such as Edward Preston Hawkins (1856-1881) and Francis J. Hawkins (1875-1939), sons of Caroline Morancy Hawkins. The preponderance of letters associated with Caroline and descendants of the Hawkins line suggests that the archive likely descended through Caroline Morancy Hawkins and her children.
Most notable among the 15 images in the collection is undoubtedly the half-plate ambrotype of the unidentified African American woman and child, ca 1855-1860. A relievo ambrotype, the image features its two subjects at the forefront and a rural scene of trees with an apparent structure in background, creating a three-dimensional effect. The African American woman is seated with her face in profile, wearing an elegant patterned dress, artfully arranged hairstyle, and jewelry shown with a hint of gold tinting. Her hand supports the back of a young child seated in a high chair and wearing a white dress tinted with delicate pink and green blooms. The image is housed in a leatherette case (heavily worn with a detached cover).
The identity of the woman and child cannot be definitively determined. It was not uncommon for Southern slaveholding and Reconstruction-era families to photograph an enslaved caretaker or “mammy” with a young charge. Given “Mammy Jane’s” seemingly important role within the Morancy family, it is certainly possible that the woman shown in this image is “Jane” seated alongside a child who would likely be a grandchild of Honoré and Eliza Morancy. Alternatively, some present-day descendants of the Morancy family believe the woman pictured in the ambrotype may be Matilda Butler (ca 1820s – ?), an African American woman who had at least one child by Honoré Morancy. A YouTube interview with two Morancy descendants indicates that Matilda Butler was a seamstress who, according to a plantation ledger (not reviewed), was paid for her work. If true, this unusual arrangement may have allowed Matilda Butler to purchase her freedom and to marry Thomas Butler, the adopted father of her son with Honoré Morancy. As a seamstress, conceivably Matilda Butler may have had access to clothing and accessories of a finer quality, as appear to be worn by the woman pictured in this image. Seemingly less likely, though, is the possibility that an image of Matilda might accompany a Morancy family archive descended through Eliza and Caroline Morancy Hawkins. Additional research might well shed light on the identity of these sitters.
The remaining photography in the collection is a mix of identified and unidentified images. Identified images include: a CDV portrait of a young boy, seated with his hat in hand, backmark of “S.F. Brown, Photographer, Versailles, KY,” manuscript identification on verso “Emilius Morancy Jr.”; a CDV portrait of a young man, seated with his arms crossed and wearing a hat, no backmark, manuscript identification on verso “Honorius Morancy”; and a CDV portrait of a man wearing religious robes and a large cross, backmark of “Gurney, Photographic Artist, Natchez, Miss,” and manuscript inscription “To my Friend Preston Hawkins / Natchez, May 26th 1876 / Bro. Sympharianth.”
Unidentified cased images include: a sixth plate daguerreotype featuring a bust portrait of a young man, mat stamped at lower left ‘Webster,” in half leatherette case; a quarter plate daguerreotype of finely dressed young woman, wearing a necklace of large double-strand pearls at her neck, photographer etched on the plate “J.W. Stancliff (John Wells Stancliff, 1813-1891)/ Louisville,” possibly an image of Caroline Morancy Hawkins, housed in leatherette case with detached cover; a quarter plate ambrotype of a mustached man seated alongside a young boy, housed in leatherette case with detached cover; a quarter plate ambrotype of a well-dressed man, seated and facing the camera, with a smaller oval ambrotype of the same sitter; and a sixth plate ambrotype of a young child posed in an ornate red dress.
Later images include: a half plate tintype portrait of a young girl standing with arm resting on. table; CDV-size tintype of a young boy seated in a small chair; a CDV-size albumen portrait of a young girl with a white bow, cut from mount into oval shape; and two late 19th-early 20th-century studio portraits, one of a man and one of a woman, both identified to the studio of “Misses McAllister Parker K.C.”
Partial list of additional archive contents:
Partially printed ticket issued to Mr. (later Dr.) Emilius Morancy (brother of Honoré Morancy) to attend “Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Surgery by William Gibson M.D.” University of Maryland. 7 November 1818.
Autograph letter signed from Charles Carroll Harper, grandson of Signer Charles Carroll, to Emile (Emilius) Morancy, describing a European tour. Paris, 16 October 1819. (Heavily worn, completely separated along multiple folds, possibly incomplete).
Statement of Indemnity Settlement settled upon Messrs. Emilius and Honoré Morancy, heirs of former slaveholding proprietors of a plantation in Cavaillon Parish, Saint-Domingue (Haiti). 9 December 1837. Paris, France. In French, no accompanying translation (heavily worn, completely separated along multiple folds, possibly incomplete).
Multiple letters in the archive were written by members of Catholic religious organizations, including: an 1865 letter to Caroline Morancy Hawkins from “Sister Severina,” a Sister of Charity at the “Louisiana Retreat,” a Catholic psychiatric hospital, regarding her husband Antoine Hawkins’s stay at the institution; an 1884 letter from an abbot at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Nelson Co., KY, to an unidentified member of the Morancy family, presumably Caroline Morancy Hawkins, sending prayers and acknowledging the death of Eliza Morancy; and an 1893 letter to Mrs. Blanche Hawkins, wife of Honore Morancy Hawkins, from “Mother Superior” of Visitation Convent, regarding prayers and a healing piece of linen being sent for her “suffering son.”
A group of 3 letters written by Caroline Lowry Maher to her sister Eliza while she traveled abroad in Europe. Of particular interest is a letter written from Dublin in 1852, describing post-famine Ireland, including destitute beggars, mass evictions, and starvation. Caroline compares the plight of the Irish to enslaved African Americans, stating “our Negroes are wealthy and blessed people compared with these poor wretches.”
Three letters written by Francis “Frank” Hawkins to family members while a student at St. Vincents College, Cape Girardeau, MO., ca 1880s; an undated list, possibly in the hand of Frank Hawkins, entitled “Articles of Value at Lake Providence an[d] in our Homes to be disposed of,” noting Morancy family keepsakes including an oil portrait of “Grandfather Morancy” and a letter from Jefferson Davis; three letters, all written in the late 1870s, by [Edward] Preston Hawkins to family members while he was away at a Catholic boarding school in St. Louis, two of which reference sending his love to “Mammy,” presumably the same “Mammy” or “Mammy Jane” who stayed with the Morancy family during the war.
Twentieth-century ephemera associated with Francis J. Hawkins and his wife Ethel Cart Hawkins, including ration books, newspaper clippings, and a marriage certificate.
[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [African Americana, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Photography, Early Photography] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]
