New Orleans Louisiana Genealogy

Biography of Francis Lester Hawkes

The old saying, that North Carolina is a good place to start from, is the key-note to the greatness of her people, as well as a term of reproach as accepted by them. All great men must seek the large centers of civilization in order to give to the world their message, but the great principles of their lives come from the land of their birth. A State is to be measured by the number of its good and great men, and not by material or physical predominance. Even intellectual gifts and culture cannot make a people great, but may … Read more

Slave Narrative of James Cornelius

Person Interviewed: James Cornelius Location: Magnolia, Mississippi Place of Birth: Franklin Louisiana Age: 90+ James Cornelius lives in Magnolia in the northwestern part of the town, in the Negro settlement. He draws a Confederate pension of four dollars per month. He relates events of his life readily. “I does not know de year I was borned but dey said I was 15 years old when de War broke out an’ dey tell me I’se past 90 now. Dey call me James Cornelius an’ all de white folks says I’se a good ‘spectable darkey. “I was borned in Franklin, Loos’anna. My … Read more

Establishment of Fort Gibson in 1824

By Act of Congress of March 2, 1819, Arkansas Territory was established July 4, embracing substantially all of what are now the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma; though the civil government of Arkansas Territory was limited to that section lying east of the Osage line, divided into counties, and embracing approximately the present state of Arkansas. That west of the Osage line was the Indian country, and in later years became known as Indian Territory. James Miller of New Hampshire was appointed the first Governor of Arkansas Territory, and among the duties of his office was that of supervision of … Read more

Slave Narrative of Reverend Williams

Interviewer: Miriam Logan Person Interviewed: Rev. Williams Location: Lebanon, Ohio Place of Birth: Greenbriar County, West Virginia Date of Birth: 1859 Age: 76 Occupation: Methodist minister Miriam Logan Lebanon, Ohio July 8th Warren County, District 2 Story of REVEREND WILLIAMS, Aged 76, Colored Methodist Minister, Born Greenbriar County, West Virginia (Born 1859) “I was born on the estate of Miss Frances Cree, my mother’s mistress. She had set my grandmother Delilah free with her sixteen children, so my mother was free when I was born, but my father was not. “My father was butler to General Davis, nephew of Jefferson … Read more

Fauborg Ste. Marie

If one will stand to-day on the broad levee at New Orleans, with his back to the Mississippi, a short way out to the left and riverward from the spot where the longvanished little fort St. Louis once made pretence of guarding the town’s upper river corner, he will look down two streets at once. They are Canal and Common, which gently diverge from their starting-point at his feet and narrow away before his eye as they run down toward the low, unsettled lots and commons behind the city. Canal Street, the centre and pride of New Orleans, takes its … Read more

Biography of John Hall, M. D.

John Hall, M. D., was born near Leeds, Yorkshire County, England, in 1819. He was reared and schooled in his native place, and early in life learned the printer’s trade. In 1845 he came to the United States and located in La Fayette County, Wisconsin, and, after a visit to New Orleans, was there engaged in the lead mines as a smelter. In 1848 he went to Canada, where he engaged in work at his trade as a printer in Toronto. He also entered upon the study of medicine in the Toronto School of Medicine. In 1857 he returned to … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. B. Conley

A. B. Conley, merchant, and a prominent citizen of Tullahoma, Tennessee, was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, November 7, 1847; the son of A. W. Conley, a native of Tennessee. Our subject was reared on a farm in what is now a part of Crockett County. He acquired his education in the common schools and in 1867 began the study of medicine. He attended the Eclectic College at Cincinnati, Ohio, the medical department of the University of Louisiana at New Orleans, and graduated in 1884 from the American Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati. From 1871 to 1880 he practiced in … Read more

Biography of Floyd Stewart, M.D.

Dr. Floyd Stewart, formerly connected professionally with the United States army and navy for several years, is now engaged in the private practice of medicine in St. Louis, making a specialty of genito-urinary diseases. A native of Georgia, he was born at Thomaston, October 20, 1873, a son of the late Alcee W. Stewart, who was born in Louisiana and was of Scotch descent. His grandfather was Samuel Stewart, who was born in County Down, Ireland, and was a lineal descendant of the family of Stewart that formerly reigned in Scotland and England. Samuel Stewart came to America in 1816. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Jacobs

John Jacobs, of Germany, came to America and settled in Virginia, where he married Sarah Crawford. Their children were David, John, Peter, William, Elizabeth C., and Susan H. William married Margaret A., daughter of Daniel McDaniel and Mary Anderson, who were natives of Edinburgh, Scotland. By her he had Charles A., George R., Mary, Anna, Sallie, Sophia, and Catharine H. Mr. Jacobs died in Virginia in 1828, and in 1831 his widow removed to Missouri and settled in Montgomery County, where she died in 1850. Charles, who was a wealthy merchant of New Orleans, died without marrying. George R., who … Read more

Biography of John F. Sheehan

JOHN F. SHEEHAN. – The gentleman whose name heads this brief memoir, an excellent portrait of whom appears in this history, has been a leading business man and resident of Port Townsend, Washington for almost thirty years. Mr. Sheehan is a native of the Sunny south, and was born in Baltimore Maryland, in 1840. When but an infant he suffered the irreparable loss of his father by death. His widowed mother then, with her two sons, our subject being but eighteen months old, paid a visit to Ireland, and at the end of one year returned to Baltimore. John F. … Read more

Biography of Ira B. Oldham, M. D.

Dr. Ira B. Oldham, who for eighteen years has engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Muskogee and whose ability and wide knowledge lie behind the substantial success that he has achieved, was born on a farm in Madison county, Kentucky, March 2, 1871, his parents being William Kavanaugh and J. Catherine (Brown) Oldham, both of whom were representatives of old southern families early established in Virginia. Dr. Oldham’s father was born in Madison county, Kentucky, but his grandfather, Hezekiah Oldham, was born in Caswell county, North Carolina, and was a son of Captain John Oldham, an American … Read more

New Orleans in 1803

New Orleans had been under the actual sway of the Spaniard for thirty-four years. Ten thousand inhabitants were gathered in and about its walls. Most of the whites were Creoles. Even in the province at large these were three in every four. Immigrants from Malaga, the Canaries, and Nova Scotia had passed on through the town and into the rural districts. Of the thousands of Americans, only a few scores of mercantile pioneers came as far as the town – sometimes with families, but generally without. Free trade with France had brought some French merchants, and the Reign of Terror, as we … Read more

Biography of John Dovell

JOHN DOVELL. – Mr. Dovell is one of those men who have belabored fortune, and have knocked about the world until it is sufficient to turn one’s hair gray simply to listen to their adventures. A native of the Azores, of Portuguese parentage and born in 1836, he came to Portland, Maine, at the age of fourteen, and learned shipbuilding. He left in four years and plied his trade in New Orleans, shipping thence to Liverpool, and coming as ship’s carpenter from that foreign port to San Francisco. He soon came up the coast to Portland, Oregon, and worked upon … Read more

Hubert Grey Todd of New Orleans LA

Hubert Grey Todd9, (James A.8, Alfred7, Caleb6, Caleb5, Stephen4, Samuel3, Samuel2, Christopher1) born Sept. 1, 1872, in Sherman, Mich., married Jan. 16, 1907, Annie Lee, daughter of Frederick A. and Lee J. (Guice) Dicks, who was born Oct. 30, 1876, in Natchez, Miss., her father having been born in Mississippi and her mother in Minnesota. He went with his parents in 1874, to Burr Oak, Mich., where he attended school and graduated from the High School there in 1888. He took a commercial course in 1892. He began learning the printing business in March 1888, when he secured a position … Read more

Biography of Hiram C. Whitley

Hiram C. Whitley. The State of Kansas is filled with interesting men, many of them known to the world at large. The city of Emporia had several. One is a prominent business man, who for upwards of forty years had given his time and energies to the upbuilding of that locality. This is Hiram C. Whitley who was at one time chief of the secret service division of the United States Treasury. The story of his life, particularly the early years, reads like a book, and in fact his experiences have been described in a book which was published about … Read more

The Natchez and the French

But alas for the poor Natchez! An evil day brought the pale-faces among them in the year 1716, who built the Fort Rosalie among them and in it garrisoned, as a matter of course, a body of soldiers as a protection in their intended aggressions upon and usurpations of the Indians rights; and from that day the sun of the Natchez’s happiness began to wane, but to speedily set forever in the oblivion of utter extermination. As an introduction, Cadillac, on his way up the Mississippi river to search for gold and silver, stopped at Natchez. As soon as the Indian … Read more

Flush Times

The brow and cheek of this man were darkened by outdoor exposure, but they were not weather-beaten. His shapely, bronzed hand was no harder or rougher than was due to the use of the bridle-rein and the gunstock. His eye was the eye of a steed; his neck-the same. His hair was a little luxuriant. His speech was positive, his manner was military, his sentiments were antique, his clothing was of broadcloth, his boots were neat, and his hat was soft, broad, and slouched a little to show its fineness. Such in his best aspect was the Mississippi River planter. … Read more

Slave Narrative of John White

Person Interviewed: John White Location: Sand Springs, Oklahoma Date of Birth: April 10, 1816 Age: 121 Occupation: Yard Worker Of all my Mammy’s children I am the first born and the longest living. The others all gone to join Mammy. She was named Mary White, the same name as her Mistress, the wife of my first master, James White. About my paopy. I never hear his name and I never see him, not even when I was the least child around the old Master’s place ‘way back there in Georgia more’n one-hundred twenty years ago! Mammy try to make it … Read more

Slave Narrative of Berry Smith

Interviewer: W. B. Allen Person Interviewed: Berry Smith Location: Forest, Mississippi Place of Birth: Sumpter County, Alabama “Uncle Berry” Smith is five feet two or three inches tall. He is scrupulously neat. He is very independent for his age, which is calculated at one hundred and sixteen years. He believes the figure to be correct. His mind is amazingly clear. “I was born an’ bred in Sumpter County, Alabama, in de prairie lan’, six miles from Gainesville. Dat’s where I hauled cotton. It was close to Livingston, Alabama, where we lived. “I was twelve years old when de stars fell. … Read more

Early Exploration and Native Americans

De Soto and his band gave to the Choctaws at Moma Binah and the Chickasaws at Chikasahha their first lesson in the white man’s modus operandi to civilize and Christianize North American Indians; so has the same lesson been continued to be given to that unfortunate people by his white successors from that day to this, all over this continent, but which to them, was as the tones of an alarm-bell at midnight. And one hundred and twenty-three years have passed since our forefathers declared all men of every nationality to be free and equal on the soil of the North … Read more