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New Orleans Collection

Call Number

MS 1944

Date

1770-1904 (bulk 1804-1836), inclusive

Creator

Extent

4.5 Linear feet (10 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The New Orleans Collection documents the expansion, maintenance, and administration of the city during the antebellum period, especially 1804-1836. The bulk of the collection is in French; items are also in English, and, occasionally, Spanish. Included in the New Orleans Collection are numerous contracts and surveyor reports; financial documents; petitions, reports, and financial documents of the Spanish Cabildo; letters and petitions to the mayor and the City Council; City Council resolutions; payroll records for city workers; levee dues records, cargo manifests, and bills of lading; license bonds; tax receipts and reports; property and land records; depositions given before the mayor; Garde de Ville and commissary reports; fire company rosters; medical reports; and correspondence. Many of these items are contemporary copies.

Historical Note

(Events in the city's history most relevant to items in collection)

Missing Title

1718 New Orleans founded by John-Baptiste Le Moyne, as capital of the French territory of Louisiana
1764 Louisiana ceded to Spain
1766 Spain takes possession, establishes the Cabildo (City Council)
1785 Census of New Orleans reports 4,980 inhabitants
1800 Spain cedes territory back to France
1803 April France agrees to sell Louisiana to the U.S.
1803 Nov. 30 Territory is transferred from Spain to France
1803 Dec. 20 Territory transferred to the U.S.
1805 City of New Orleans is incorporated; municipal government consists of Mayor, Recorder, Treasurer, and Conseil de Ville (City Council) with 14 Aldermen
1805 Census of New Orleans reports 8,212
1806 Garde de Ville (police force) established
1810 Census reports 24,552
1812 First steamboat arrives in New Orleans; city soon becomes a major early nineteenth-century port
1815 Jan. 8 Battle of New Orleans fought against the British, tail end of the War of 1812
1817 Yellow fever outbreak; Board of Health established
1821 Street lighting efforts begun
1822 City waterworks project completed
1832, 1833 Cholera and yellow fever outbreaks
1833 City of Lafayette founded; absorbed by New Orleans in 1852
1835-1842 Banking capital of New Orleans exceeds New York's
1836-1852 New city charter divides New Orleans into three separate municipalities (First Municipality, Second Municipality, Third Municipality); one mayor still serves
1840 Population 102,192; second largest port in U.S. behind New York
1845 City of Carrollton founded; absorbed by New Orleans in 1874
1861Jan. 26 Louisiana secedes from Union
1862 Apr. Union troops capture New Orleans

(Sources: Herbert Asbury, The French Quarter; Henry Rightor, ed., Standard History of New Orleans, Louisiana (1900); Gilbert C. Din and John E. Harkins, The New Orleans Cabildo: Colonial Louisiana's First City Government, 1769-1803; Louisiana State Museum, The Cabildo: Two Centuries of Louisiana History [http://lsm.crt.state.la.us/cabildo/cabildo.htm]; Kimberly Hanger, A Medley of Cultures: Louisiana History at the Cabildo.)

French words frequently found in collection:

Missing Title

Arrete Agreed upon, decreed
Bail a loyer Lease of house, etc.
Banquette Sidewalk
Bienfaisance Charity
Cercueil Coffin
Charrette Cart
Chemin Path, road, route
Doit Debit/debtor side of account
Droit Right, equity; right to claim, title, fee, due (tax), duty, customs duty
Esclave/esclavage Slave/slavery
Faubourg Suburb
Geole Jail
Mairie Mayor
Pension Boarding house
Poste Post/station; guardhouse
Rapport Report/account
Tombereaux Carts
Vente Sale
Voyer Surveyor/inspector

Mayors of New Orleans, frequently found in collection:

Missing Title

Nov. 30, 1803-May 26, 1804 John Etienne Bore
June 2, 1804-July 26, 1805 James Pitot
July 27,1805-March 8, 1807 John Watkins
March 9, 1807-May 16, 1812 James Mather
May 16, 1812-Oct. 8, 1812 Charles Trudeau (acting)
Nov. 6, 1812-Dec. 4, 1812 LeBreton Dorgenois (acting)
Oct. 8, 1812-Sept. 4,1815 Nicholas Girod
Sept. 4,1815-May 13, 1820 Augustin Macarty
May 14, 1820-May 10, 1828 Joseph Roffignac
May 12, 1828-Apr. 9, 1838 Denis Prieur

(Source: New Orleans Public Library, City Archives and Louisiana Division Special Collections, Fact Finder, http://nutrias.org/~nopl/facts/mayors.htm)

Arrangement

The New Orleans Collection is organized into nineteen series:

Missing Title

  1. Series I. Cabildo Records, 1770-1819, undated
  2. Series II. Mayoral Records, 1804-1854
  3. Series III. City Council Records, 1805-1858, undated
  4. Series IV. Public Works Records, 1804-1861 (bulk 1820s)
  5. Series V. Shipping Records, 1802-1875, undated
  6. Series VI. License Bonds, 1816-1861 (bulk 1836)
  7. Series VII. Financial Records, 1803-1883 (bulk 1820s)
  8. Series VIII. Property Records, 1807-1888
  9. Series IX. Legal Records, 1807-1868
  10. Series X. Police Department Reports, 1808-1825
  11. Series XI. Fire Department Rosters, 1861-1862 (bulk Oct. 1862)
  12. Series XII. Medical Reports, 1813, 1817, 1830
  13. Series XIII. Correspondence, 1805-1879, 1904
  14. Series XIV. Freemason Documents, 1868
  15. Series XV. Education Records: Invoices for School Books, 1841, 1848
  16. Series XVI. Poetry, undated
  17. Series XVII. Military Certificate, 1859
  18. Series XVIII. Railroad Images, undated
  19. Series XIX. Fragments, undated

Scope and Content Note

The New Orleans Collection documents the expansion, maintenance, and administration of the city during the antebellum period, especially 1804-1836. The bulk of the collection is in French; items are also in English, and, occasionally, Spanish. Included in the New Orleans Collection are numerous contracts and surveyor reports that detail the construction and repair needs of bridges, streets, levees, canals, sidewalks, and buildings in the Vieux Carre, Faubourgs Marigny and St. Mary, and Bayou St. John. Financial documents for city accounts, such as bills, receipts, and promissory notes, further itemize construction work completed and materials used.

Also included in this collection are petitions, reports, and financial documents of the Spanish Cabildo; letters and petitions to the mayor and the City Council; City Council resolutions; payroll records for city workers; levee dues records, cargo manifests, and bills of lading; license bonds; tax receipts and reports; property and land records; depositions given before the mayor; Garde de Ville and commissary reports; fire company rosters; medical reports; and correspondence. Many of these items are contemporary copies.

This collection supports research in the history of New Orleans, particularly in the physical expansion and maintenance of the antebellum city, and in the regulation of public life and work. As the majority of material is municipal, few items are personal in nature. However, citizens' private concerns and activities are expressed in letters and petitions to the mayor and City Council, in depositions given before the mayor, and in reports of the Garde de Ville. Items relating to the yellow fever outbreak of 1817, hospital administration, and the Board of Health can be found among the letters and petitions to the mayor and City Council, and in a small series of medical reports.

Few items in the New Orleans Collection deal directly with slavery or free persons of color, with social or religious organizations, or with military activities.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as BV New Orleans, The New-York Historical Society .

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Provenance

Purchase, Charles F. Heartman, 1943

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

Leverich Papers

R. R. Livingston Papers

Judge Edward Henry Durrell Papers

See Manuscript Department card catalog under New Orleans for individual items in various collections.

Collection processed by

Melissa Haley

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-28 12:10:41 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from neworleans.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024