Scope and Contents After the dissolution of the Orleans Parish Police Jury in 1846, the three Municipality Councils assumed emancipation powers. This manuscript volume, covering the period July 1, 1846 - July 7, 1851, records chronologically the deliberations of the Council in matters of emancipations of enslaved people. The record of each individual emancipation is filed under the date of the council meeting the petition was received and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. Following this is a record...

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Affidavits attesting that the named person is free. Describes the named person’s lineage, place of birth and current address. Click the image to the right to view collection.

Scope and Contents 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...

Scope and Contents From the Series:

This series includes correspondence between the Mayor and the Council and with other government entities, officials, as well as constituents. Additionally, the series contains licenses and permits issued to merchants and businesses, especially bakeries. The register of Free People of Color mandated by the Louisiana State legislature, in addition to other records tracking and monitoring enslaved people and people of color are in this series.

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Affidavit of registration by two free people of color at the mayor’s office: Charles Richard Lyons and William Richard Torrant. Click the image to view materials.

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Fragment of free papers of Robert H. [surname] registering him as a Free Person of Color with the Mayor's Office and granting permission to reside in the State of Louisiana. Click image to view materials.

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Travel passes granted to Free Persons of Color. Describes what the person looked like, destination and duration of travel. Click image to view materials.