Joséph Pierre Grégoire Guillory (1712 - bef. 1777)

Grégoire Guillory lived in Louisiana. Join: Louisiana Families Project Discuss: louisiana

Biography

Grégoire Guillory has French origins.

Joseph Pierre Gregoire Guillory was born on 16 December 1712 at Massacre Island, Louisiana, New France (now Dauphin Island, Alabama, USA).^[1][2]

Gregoire married Marie Jeanne LaCasse, daughter of Jean LaCasse and Marie Anne Foucher, on 20 Aug 1739 at Notre Dame de la Mobile, Mobile, Alabama.^[2][3][4]

Children of Grégoire Guillory and Marie Jeanne LaCasse

1. Marie Jeanne Guillory (1740)
2. Pierre Grégoire Guillory (1742-1803)
3. Francoise Guillory (c.1744-1782)
4. Jean Baptiste Guillory (1746-c.1813)
5. Marie Louise Guillory (1748-1749)
6. Claude Guillory (1750-1820)
7. Joséph Pierre Grégoire Guillory (1752-1813)
8. Jean Louis Belaire Guillory (1754-1813)

With the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, Great Britain acquired from France its territory east of the Mississippi River except New Orleans. To avoid life under English rule, many French residents of Mobile and other Alabama posts were resettled. Many arrived at the Opelousas Post in southwest Louisiana; although he had taken an oath of allegiance to the British King George III in October 1764 at Mobile,^[5] Grégoire Guillory had applied for a Louisiana land grant in October 1763,^[6] and he and his children were among those Alabama emigrants.^[7] Marie Jeanne Lacasse having died in April of 1764,^[8] Grégoire moved to Louisiana with most of his children and slaves, including Marguerite, whom he applied to marry in New Orleans but was rejected ^{[citation needed]} due to the French Code Noir still in force.

Children of Grégoire Guillory and Marguerite^[9]

1. Catherine "Catiche" Guillory (c.1764-1862)^[10]
2. Jean Baptiste Guillory (c.1766)
3. Joséph (José) Guillory (c.1769)
4. Anne Marie Josèphe Guillory (1770)

Joséph Pierre Grégoire Guillory died in Louisiana between 1777 and spring of 1778,^[11] but before 27 April 1778.^[9] He was not listed in the census of the Opelousas Post on 4 May 1777 (his sons Louis, Claude, Baptiste, and Joseph were counted), suggesting that he had died before then. A series of lawsuits between Grégoire and his older children and Marguerite and Grégoire's heirs shed some additional light on his life. The following narrative, written by Cathy Lemoine Sturgell, explains it well.

The infamous "Margarita" Case

In the early 1980's, a Louisiana court case made headlines when a woman sued the State of Louisiana to have herself declared to be of the white race, questioning a state law which required her to be registered as "colored" because her descent included 1/32 Negro blood. This woman was a direct descendant of Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory, and his slave, Marguerite (Spanish = Margarita). This 20th century court case brought to light long buried details of a 200-year-old court case that has become known as "The Margarita Case."

In 1739, Grégoire married Marie Jeanne LaCasse, the daughter of Jean LaCasse and Marie Anne Fourche. At the time of her marriage to Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory, Marie Jeanne was the widow of Joseph Stameyer (aka: Estamier dit Chateauneuf). Joseph, a soldier in the company of Le Sueur, had died in 1738, less than 10 months after his marriage to Marie Jeanne.

Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory and Marie Jeanne LaCasse produced at least 8 children before the death of Marie in April 1764 at the age of 38. Soon after Marie's death, two sons-in-law of Grégoire sued for their portion of Marie Jeanne's estate and an inventory was taken at that time which included nine slaves. Among them was Marguerite, a "Negro" slave who was pregnant on the date the inventory was made, 22 July 1764. Shortly thereafter, Grégoire moved his children and slaves to Louisiana and settled at Opelousas Post where he had recently received a land grant of 640 acres. It is here that the "Margarita" case begins.

It is not known if Marguerite gave birth to the child she was carrying before arriving at Opelousas Post. It is now assumed, however, that the child Marguerite was carrying was "Catherine" (called Catiche), born c1764, fathered by Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory.

After the move to Opelousas Post, Marguerite produced three additional children fathered by Grégoire: Jean Baptiste (c1766), Joseph (c1769), Marie (c1770). (The fact that Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory was the father of Marguerite's children was never disputed.) After the birth of Marie in 1770, Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory ... [acted] to free Marguerite and their children.

On December 31, 1770, the emancipation act was recorded in New Orleans before Andres Almonester y Roxas, Notary Public.

However, in 1773, in order to settle the estate of his deceased wife, Joséph Grégoire Guillory ... conveyed Marguerite, and his four mulatto children to his legitimate children, ignoring the 1770 emancipation. Their value was placed at 2000 livres.

Four years later, as death grew near for Grégoire, he went at night to the residence of his white children, threatened his son, Jean Baptiste Guillory, at knife point and abducted Marguerite. His legitimate children showed no opposition to their father's actions as he promised the return of the slave to them after his death, indicating he needed her services only during his life. Joséph-Pierre Grégoire Guillory died between 1777 and spring of 1778 but not before giving Marguerite, once again, her freedom.

On April 27, 1778, Jean Baptiste Guillory, conveyed the story of the abduction to the commandant at Opelousas. In his petition, he demanded the return to slavery of Marguerite to his and his sibling's ownership. The Opelousas Post commandant transferred the petition to the high court of the Cabildo in New Orleans (January 20, 1779).

The defendants, Marguerite and her Guillory mulatto offspring, contended that they had been freed in 1770 and that the plaintiffs had approved their emancipation. The plaintiffs, on the other hand, insisted that the alleged manumission of 1770 was illegal; they were young at the time and their father had taken advantage of that fact; the so-called freed slaves had become solely their property in 1773, when their father had conveyed them to the heirs. Due the the obvious complexity of the case, the case was transferred to the high court in Havana, Cuba.

Note: Upon close examination of the case outline that appeared in the January 1935 edition of Louisiana Historical Quarterly, it appears that Marguerite's four mulatto children remained as slaves in the household of the legitimate Guillory children although the mulatto children maintained that they had been set "free." No evidence has been found to suggest that Marguerite's children were with her between her 1777 abduction and the 1783 settlement of this case. In 1781, Claude Guillory, another son of Grégoire, brought forth a suit in order to recover a slave that had run away (January 20, 1781, No. 3494, 13 pp. Court of Alcade Jacinto Panis, New Orleans). This slave, of course, was Marguerite, who was now reported to be living in New Orleans. As a result of this suit, Marguerite, and her employer, Miguel Barre, were arrested and put in prison. After producing the document to prove her emancipation, both Marguerite and Miguel Barre were released. The 1770 emancipation document, certified copy presented in this case, stated as follows:

• "I, Grégoire Guillorie, over my ordinary mark, of my own free will and that of my children, or the life and thirty years services rendered me by Margarita, my slave, not only to me but to my children before and after the death of my wife I declare that I give her her freedom as well as that of her children, on condition that she serves me up to my death. Done and executed of my own free will, April 13, 1770. Juan Batiste Guillorie, son, Ordinary mark of Mr. Grégoire Guillorie, Claude Guillorie, son, Luis Guillorie, son. Signature of Mr. Guillorie approved by Benoit."

On March 9, 1782, Marguerite, a free Negress, filed suit against the Guillory heirs to compel them to declare her children free (No. 3440, 71 pp. Court of Alcade Panis, New Orleans). Marguerite once again presented the act of emancipation and indicated that her four children were suffering under the power of the Guillory heirs who were unwilling to free them. Marguerite maintained that her children had been held by force and treated with cruelty by the Guillory heirs. Although the case dragged on for another year, the final outcome was this (as detailed in the act dated at New Orleans, April 5, 1783):

Marguerite and her four mulatto children were ordered to pay the Guillory heirs 600 pesos, in conformity to and under the following conditions: 150 pesos which has to be counted as diminished by the personal labors of her son, Juan Bautista, during two years and two months that he must remain in the service of Juan B. Guillory, and 150 pesos that she has to pay in cash, 50 pesos more to be paid within three months, and the remaining 250 pesos within two years counted from this day. As soon as the amount shall be paid, the Guillory heirs agree to give Maria, Joseph, Juan Bautista, and Catalina their freedom.

Little is known about Marguerite's life after the 1783 settlement. It is known, however, that she was still alive on February 23, 1808 when her daughter, Marie, married Juan Mateos of Vera Cruz. Both Marguerite and daughter Marie are listed as "free." What few people knew at the time, however, was the intense struggle that Marguerite and her children went through to become free.^[11]

Research Notes

His son? "He took an oath of loyalty to the Spanish King, Carlos III (Bourbon) di Espana "Charles III" on 22 March 1780 at Mobile, New Spain."^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Marshaleigh Orr Bahan, "Jean Baptiste Bahan and Francoise Guillory," in New Orleans Genesis, Vol. XLII, No. 165.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Marshaleigh Orr Bahan and Theresa Bennett McFadden, The Baham and Guillory Families Revisited With Exploration of Racial Aspects, (publisher? July 2010).
3. ↑ "Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQKC-J2Z : accessed 16 February 2016), Gregoir Gregory Gillory and Marie Jeanne Lacase, 20 Aug 1739; citing reference; FHL microfilm 1026601 IT 2. Gregoir Gregory Gillory married Marie Jeanne Lacase 10 Aug 1739 Notre-Dame-Du Fort Conde De La Mobile-Catholic, Mobile, Alabama.
4. ↑ Jacqueline Olivier Vidrine, Love's Legacy: The Mobile Marriages Recorded in French, Transcribed, with Annotated Abstracts in English, 1724-1786 (Lafayette, LA: University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1985) p.191. Text:
   • • Mob. mb I:25b-2-26a
     • August 20, 1739
     • Three banns published.
     • Gregoire Guillory, native of Isle Dauphine, son of deceased Francois Guillor of Montreal, Canada, and of Jeanne Monfort, native of Belle-Isle-en-Mer, Diocese of Vannes (in Brittany).
     • Marie Jeanne La Case, native of Mobile, widow of the late Joseph Stamaӱer dit Chateuneuf,¹ daughter of deceased Jean La Case, native of "Bearn",² and Marie Anne Fourché, native of Epernay, Diocese of Reims.
     • Witnesses signing:³ M(arie Anne) Fourchet (or Fourché), remarried to Pierre Lorandini; Le S----, ver faded, probably Jean Paul Le Sueur; J(ean) B(aptiste Allein dit) Rouceve; (Louis) Deflandres, husband of Marie Therese Dupre; (Pierre?) Roy, identification indefinite.
     • 1. See their marriage, November 21, 1737. Mob. mb I:19-20.
     • 2. "Bearn" is clearly written. The Béarn forms a large part of the department of Basse-Pyrenées, around Pau. It should be noted that perhaps the town of Beaune was meant, or even Berne, Switzerland.
     • 3. The document is faded; parts of some signatures are no longer visible.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Albert Tate, Jr. "The French in Mobile, British West Florida, 1763-1780" in The Orleans Genesis, Vol. XXII, July 1983, No. 37.
6. ↑ DeVille, LBJ, p. 88
   • Note 16: "... Gregoire Guillory's petition for land ... original dated 29 October 1763" cites Louisiana State Museum Archives.
7. ↑ DeVille, LBJ, p. 86.
8. ↑ Winston DeVille, Gulf Coast Colonials (Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 1968) p. 40
   • Funeral of Marie Jeanne La Casse, 27 April 1764.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Winston DeVille, "The Margarita Case: Historical Perspectives on a Controversial Case in 18th Century Louisiana" ("LBJ") in the Louisiana Bar Journal (Aug 1983, Volume 31, Number 2) pp. 85-88.
   • Note 20 on page 88 cites the deposition of the white son, Jean Baptiste Guillory, on that date, which refers to his father as deceased.
10. ↑ Deville, LBJ, p. 88
    • Note 17.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Cathy Lemoine Sturgell, "Guillory Family: The infamous "Margarita" Case," in MY LOUISIANA LINEAGE, Including Early Pointe Coupée & Avoyelles Colonists...and their roots in Canada, France, Germany..., website, citing Winston DeVille, "The Margarita Case: Historical Perspectives on a Controversial Case in 18th Century Louisiana" in the Louisiana Bar Journal (Volume 31, Number 2), and The Guillory Manuscripts, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1773 : with a Synopsis of Early Guillory Family History, Winston DeVille, ed. (Ville Platte, La.: Provincial Press, 2003).

• Carl A. Brasseaux, Claude F. Oubre, Keith P. Fontenot, Creoles of Color in the Bayou Country, (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, Reprint,1996) p. 43
• William Gremillion, Some Early Families of Avoyelles Parish, Vol. 2, p. 184

See also:

• Ancestry.com, Ancestry Family Trees, Rider/Deshotel Family, by Nadine Rider (nrider1961) (behind paywall)
  • Ancestry Profile: #-825483430 for Joseph Gregoire Guillory
  • Media, untitled story about Joseph and Margarita, by Butch Vidrine

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Joseph Bahan, Nadine Rider, Phil Smith, Simone Soileau.