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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 41.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 16,375 items) |
| Abstract | Prudhomme family members were planters in Natchitoches Parish, La., with interests in slaves, cotton, corn, hay, lumber, livestock, and a general store. Six generations of Prudhommes, spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, lived at Bermuda plantation (later called Oakland). Among the important members of the Prudhomme family were Phanor Prudhomme (1807-1865); his son, J. Alphonse Prudhomme I (1838-1919); his grandson, P. Phanor Prudhomme II (1865-1948); and his great grandson, J. Alphonse Prudhomme II (1896-1991), who carried on the various agricultural operations and the general store until the early 1980s; and J. Alphonse II's wife, Lucile Keator Prudhomme (1906-1994). The collection includes correspondence, writings, scrapbooks, and photographic materials, 1828-1993, document plantation life, courtship and marriage, sickness, social activities, travel, and general news of the Prudhomme family; the Keator family of Webster Groves, Mo.; and other related families in the Natchitoches area, including the Cloutiers, Lecomtes, and Metoyers. Financial and legal materials include loose papers and volumes, 1765-1989, that document various agricultural and general store operations at Bermuda/Oakland plantation; accounts with sharecroppers, tenants, and hired laborers, many of whom were freedmen; relationships with other local plantation owners and businesses across the country; and the succession of ownership through several generations of the family. There is also documentation of the accounting of plantation physician, James A. Leveque, and miscellaneous personal financial records. Other materials relate to the social life and interests of the Prudhomme and Keator families; they include the extensive genealogical research and historic preservation work of Lucile Keator Prudhomme and the school, religious, military, political, and club materials of many family members. Also included are a small amount of maps and plats, chiefly of the Cane River plantations and Natchitoches, La.; family photographs; and audio cassettes and films documenting the family's activities. Many 18th- and 19th-century materials are in French. |
| Creator | Prudhomme family. |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical
Information
The nearly 200 year history of the Prudhomme family as plantation owners began with Jean Pierre Emanuel Prudhomme (1762-1845), the son of Jean Baptiste Prudhomme (1736-1786), a physician, captain in the militia, and planter, and the grandson of Jean Pierre Philippe Prudhomme (circa 1673-1739), a merchant and trader who settled in the Natchitoches area in 1716. Emanuel married Marie Catherine Lambre (1763-1848) in 1782, and around 1792 he purchased land that straddled the Red River thirteen miles south of Natchitoches. He planted indigo and tobacco crops, and in 1795 introduced cotton to the region. He was the first planter to grow cotton on a large scale west of the Mississippi River in the Louisiana Purchase territory. In 1818 he began building a plantation house and in 1821 the family moved in. The house and plantation were called Bermuda until 1873, when it was partitioned by the family. The house and the land on the right bank of the Red River thereafter became known as Oakland.
Emanuel's son, P. Phanor Prudhomme I (1807-1865), appears to have taken over the family plantation in the 1840s. Phanor I was married to Suzanne Lize Metoyer (d. 1855) in 1835. The Metoyer family also seems to have owned considerable acreage in Natchitoches Parish, and may also have been active in commercial endeavors, such as cotton factorages and stores. The Prudhommes had five children: Adeline (1836-1878); J. Alphonse I (1838-1919); Emma (d. 1854); Henriette, (1848-1922); and Emanuel (1844-1934).
Besides the main plantation, materials in this collection suggest that Phanor Prudhomme I had other business ventures, including a sawmill that was widely used by his neighbors. Prudhomme's stature in the community can be surmised from an 1855 letter in which he declined the offer of a Democratic Party nomination to Congress. Near the end of his life, Phanor's property was listed for war tax purposes. This 1862 assessment shows Phanor in possession of the following: 900 acres in cultivation; 1200 woodland acres; 100 acres directly fronting the Red River; 1000 acres of pine woods; and a lot and townhouse at Natchitoches. In addition, he owned a total of 146 slaves, several gold watches, considerable silver and gold plate, a piano, and miscellaneous farm and pleasure conveyances, both animal and vehicular. His children were well educated, with his daughters attending the Ladies of the Sacred Heart School in Natchitoches (mid 1850s), and his sons the University of North Carolina (J. Alphonse, 1858-1860) and Georgetown College, Washington, D.C. (Emanuel, 1861).
Upon Phanor Prudhomme I's death in 1865, J. Alphonse I took control of Bermuda plantation and other family interests. It is not clear how the other children shared in the inheritance. J. Alphonse I married Eliza Elizabeth Lecomte (1840-1923) in 1864. The Lecomte family, like the Prudhommes and the Metoyers, owned considerable acreage, across Natchitoches and in surrounding parishes. Magnolia, Shallow Lake, and Vienna plantations were among their holdings at that time.
J. Alphonse I and Eliza had eight children: P. Phanor II (1865-1948); Jules Lecomte (1867-1916); Edward Carrington (1869-1941); Marie Cora (1871-1952); Marie Attala (1875-1958); Marie Julia (1878-1933); Marie Maie (1880-1964); and Marie Noelie (1883-1978). J. Alphonse I proved to be a highly successful cotton planter. In 1904 he received a gold medal at the St. Louis World's Fair for growing the highest grade of cotton in the South.
Materials in the collection suggest that the Prudhommes experienced a relatively smooth transition from a slave to a tenant economy after the Civil War. Many freedmen became sharecroppers and hired laborers on the plantation. Cotton planting, ginning, and pressing remained the chief operations on the plantation, but it appears that livestock, hay, and timber also were important agricultural activities, especially during the 1880s.
Phanor II assumed plantation responsibilities probably during the 1910s, but certainly by 1919 when J. Alphonse I died. Before that, Phanor II attended Notre Dame (1886-1888). In 1891 he married Marie Laure Cloutier (1871-1941). The Cloutier family owned land in Natchitoches parish, although it is not clear how much. Materials in the collection indicate that after the Civil War and into the 1870s the Cloutiers contracted with freedmen to work the family land. Phanor II and Laure had nine children: J. Alphonse II (1896-1991); Louise Vivian (1898-1904); Elisa Elizabeth (1900-1953); Marie Adele (1903-1974); Marie Leanore (born and died 1904); P. Phanor (born and died 1908); P. "Pete" Phanor III (1909-1978); Marie Lucile (1911-1976); and Louis Donald (1913-1993).
During Phanor II's tenure as patriarch of Oakland, cotton and the general store were the chief operations. Phanor II retired and sold the family business to his son, J. Alphonse II, in 1942. Materials in the collection suggest that cotton and the store remained the primary focus of Prudhomme business interests after the 1940s. Cotton farming can be tracked until around 1960, and the store records extend to 1982.
"Phonsie" married Rosalie Lucile Keator (sometimes called "Lu" or "LuLu") in 1924. Lucile grew up in Webster Groves, Mo., with her parents Mabel and Mayo Sands Keator, an engineer. She also had Keator relations living in Bermuda, La., including her grandfather, Dr. James E. Keator, and her uncle, Dr. James T. Keator. In 1920 Lucile attended St. Mary's Academy in Natchitoches, La., where she befriended classmate Adele Prudhomme and her older brother. Phonsie and Lucile had four children: James Alphonse III (1927-1988); Kenneth Andrew (b. 1929); Mayo Keator (b. 1932); and Rose Vivian (b. 1934). The children of Phonsie and Lucile were the sixth and last generation of Prudhommes to live at Oakland. All four children married and moved from Oakland.
Lucile Keator Prudhomme was an active advocate for Prudhomme and Oakland plantation history. She conducted much of the historic preservation and genealogical research activity at Oakland. Her family research interest dates to the 1920s when she joined as a charter member of the St. Denis chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lucile would go on to join several more genealogical societies and remain active in them until the 1980s. Her concern for the preservation of Oakland began in 1940 when a museum of the plantation's artifacts was arranged in a couple of rooms in the house. Her devotion to the preservation of Oakland culminated in its being placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. In 1997 Oakland was purchased by the National Park Service to become part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park.
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Scope and Content
The collection consists of correspondence, writings, financial materials, legal papers, genealogical, photographic, and other materials relating to the Prudhomme family of Natchitoches Parish, La. and the Keator family of Webster Groves, Mo., chiefly during the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the important members of the Prudhomme family were Phanor Prudhomme I (1807-1865); his son, J. Alphonse Prudhomme I (1838-1919); his grandson, P. Phanor Prudhomme II (1865-1948); and his great grandson, J. Alphonse Prudhomme II (1896-1992), who carried on various the agricultural operations and the general store until the early 1980s; and J. Alphonse II's wife, Lucile Keator Prudhomme (b. 1906).
Correspondence, 1828-1993, documents life at Bermuda plantation (later called Oakland), including courtship and marriage, school life, social activities, sports, weather, travel, and general news of the Prudhomme, Keator, Cloutier, Lecomte, Metoyer, and other related families. Writings, 1850-1991, include diaries, commonplace books, school composition and lesson notebooks, poetry, and sheet music. The materials in these two series chiefly illustrate the education, interests, and concerns of women, especially young women, in the late 19th through mid 20th century. There are few materials relating to the Civil War. Among them are three letters that describe the effects of the War and an 1864 diary with entries describing military life.
Financial materials, 1765-1989, include loose papers and volumes that document the financial operations of a plantation with interests in slaves, cotton growing, ginning and pressing, corn, hay, lumber, livestock, and a general store. The collection also documents relationships with other plantation owners and businesses; the accounts of day laborers, sharecroppers, and tenants, many of whom were freedmen; the records of the plantation physician, James A. Leveque; and miscellaneous personal financial records of various Prudhomme family members and several persons related through marriage to the family, but otherwise financially distinct from the plantation economy records. In addition to Bermuda/Oakland plantation, there is some scattered information about other nearby plantations, including Gente Place, Magnolia, Shallow Lake, Coco Point, Homeplace, Cognac, Vienna and others. There is a small amount of maps and plats, chiefly of the Cane River plantations and Natchitoches Parish, La.
Legal papers, 1810-1971, are comprised of agreements and indentures, deeds of property and land, judgments and suits, marriage contracts, mortgages, and wills and successions.
Genealogical materials, 1842-1993, document Lucile Keator Prudhomme's interest in family history throughout her adult life. Included are her extensive genealogical correspondence; research notes on the Prudhomme, Keator, and other related families; lineage scrapbooks created by family researchers; family mementos; records of genealogical societies in which she was active; and a small sampling of the published materials used by Lucile in her genealogical research.
Photographic materials include color and black-and-white photographs, slides, and albums of multiple generations of family members, travels, social activities, and Oakland plantation. There are some 19th-century portraits, but the bulk of the collection documents the 20th-century (1910s-1980s). Nearly all of the materials are annotated.
Also included are two audio cassettes, two 16 mm home movies, and 3 reels of microfilm of the original Phanor Prudhomme collection at the Southern Historical Collection.
Other materials, 1811-1995, relate to the social life and non-business interests of the Prudhomme and Keator families. Materials document interest and active participation in education, religion, military service, politics, historic preservation, literary pursuits, domestic arts, sports, and travel.
Many of the 18th- and 19th-century materials are in French.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1837-1993.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Documents everyday personal and family life and social activities of six generations of the Prudhomme family in Natchitoches Parish, La. These materials were chiefly written and exchanged by the women of the family. The surname of correspondents is uncertain in many cases, though the genealogical volume compiled by Lucile Keator Prudhomme in Series 5.2 may provide some clarifications.
Series 1 has been divided into two subseries. Subseries 1.1 contains all substantive correspondence from 1837 to 1993, and includes letters, postcards, and greeting cards. Subseries 1.2 covers the time period from 1880 to 1993, and is comprised of greeting cards, calling cards, gift cards, and decorative cards. Materials in Subseries 1.2 typically are signed, but lack substantive content.
Correspondence previously filed with subject-related material has not been integrated with Series 1. Accordingly, other correspondence may be found in Series 3.1.1 Financial Materials, Series 4 Legal Materials, Series 5.1 Genealogical Materials, Series 7.9 Oakland and Other Historic Natchitoches Materials, and Series 7.14 Scrapbooks.
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Subseries 1.1. Correspondence, 1837-1993.
Arrangement: Chronological.
The 19th-century materials were written chiefly by young women and men in their teens and twenties. Repeated themes include sickness; feelings of isolation when apart from sisters, cousins, and peers; school life; courtship and marriage; diversions such as balls, riding, and sewing; and the effect of weather on plantation work and life. The few letters written by males concern school and work interests, the local baseball teams, and occasionally plantation operations. The Civil War is mentioned in two letters, giving the general effects of the war in Louisiana and the prevailing pessimism. Correspondence from the 1890s is comprised chiefly of letters written to Laure Cloutier Prudhomme. Some items in French.
The 20th-century materials introduce correspondence written by Lucile Keator Prudhomme and the Keator family. Life in St. Louis and Webster Groves, Mo., and Baltimore, Md., are documented, in addition to happenings in Natchitoches Parish, La. Repeating themes include courtship, sickness, loss of loved ones, and aging parents. The dissolution of multi-generational plantation life as family members left Natchitoches to settle elsewhere in the state and country is also reflected in these materials.
The heaviest correspondence is exchanged between J. Alphonse Prudhomme II and Lucile Keator during their 1923-1924 courtship. Also of note are postcards sent by Laure Cloutier Prudhomme to her son, J. Alphonse Prudhomme II, while he served in the U.S. Army during and after World War I, and his postwar correspondence with a French mother and daughter he befriended during his stay in Paris. Other war-related correspondence includes letters from Randall R.D. Keator to his aunt and uncle, Mabel Keator and Mayo S. Keator, and from J. Alphonse Prudhomme III to his father, J. Alphonse Prudhomme II. Also of note is Lucile Keator Prudhomme's extensive correspondence with non-family members, including tourists who had visited Oakland.
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Subseries 1.2. Greeting Cards, Calling Cards, Gift Cards, and Decorative Cards, circa 1880-1993.
Arrangement: Chronological by decade.
Cards typically are signed, but lack dates and/or substantive content.
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2. Writings, 1850-1991.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by last name.
Includes diaries, commonplace books, school composition and lesson notebooks, original and handwritten copies of poetry, and sheet music. Of note are Fulbert Cloutier's Civil War diary describing military life, and the commonplace books and diaries created by teenage girls such as Eulalie Buard and Lucile Keator Prudhomme. Some items in French.
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Series 3. Financial Materials, 1788-1989.
Documents the everyday financial operations of a plantation with interests in cotton, corn, hay, lumber, livestock, and a general store. In addition to Bermuda plantation (later called Oakland), there is some scattered information about other nearby plantations, including Gente Place, Magnolia, Shallow Lake, Coco Point, Homeplace, Cognac, Vienna, and others.
Material has been divided into three subseries. Subseries 3.1 contains overview materials that relate to the plantation business as a whole, organization and planning, long term accounting, and the plantation store. Accordingly, correspondence, account ledgers, plantation journals, daybooks, cash account books, receipts, and tax materials are located in this subseries. Subseries 3.2 contains financial materials that describe the specific details of various plantation operations. Accordingly, cotton records, gin, press, corn, and hay books, inventory and order books, and other like materials that pertain to specific crops or day to day functions of the plantation, general store accounting excluded, are collected here. Also, this subseries contains materials pertaining to the personal finances of Prudhomme family members, including pocket notebooks, a stock book, and succession records. Subseries 3.3 contains financial materials created by individuals related to and/or living near the Prudhommes at Bermuda/Oakland, but do not pertain directly to the organization and running of the Prudhomme properties. The medical and financial materials of the plantation doctor, for example, are collected in this subseries.
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Subseries 3.1. General Plantation Materials, 1788-1989.
Arrangement: By format.
Contains materials that relate to the plantation organization and planning, long term accounting, or the plantation store. Includes correspondence, account ledgers, plantation journals, daybooks, cash account books, receipts, and tax assessments.
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Subseries 3.1.1. Correspondence, 1802-1989.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Nineteenth-century correspondence pertains chiefly to land sales and mortgages, and includes an 1862 overseer report, a mortgage on slaves and land, and a letter requesting that slaves be sent to work for the Road Commissary. Several items with 1890s dates discuss sale of swamp lands for timber. Many items in French.
Twentieth-century materials pertain chiefly to orders, notice of receipt of goods, and inquiries and advertising sent to and from merchandise and service vendors, including Standard Oil, in business with the Oakland plantation store. Other notable items include the mercantile reports filed with Louisiana Tax Commission, gin equipment instructions, and materials related to the food stamp program during the 1930s.
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Subseries 3.1.2. Account Ledgers, 1836-1911.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Accounts of laborers, tenants, sharecroppers, and other plantation owners in business with Prudhomme family. Some slave records can be found here. The names of freedmen fill the account books after the Civil War as the plantation made the transition to tenant, sharecropper, and a day labor work force.
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Subseries 3.1.3. Cash Account books, 1894-1944.
Arrangement: Chronological.
A record of extensions of credit granted until the customer could pay, probably when able to bring cotton for ginning at Prudhomme gin.
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Subseries 3.1.4. Day books, 1876-1975.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Daily record of cash and credit sales at the plantation store is listed by date and then name with items purchased. There are no daybooks for years 1886-1919 and 1972-1973.
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Subseries 3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988.
Arrangement: By format, then chronological.
Journals provide daily record of farm work completed, slave information, reports of weather and how it affected plantation work. Slave records often include names, ages, births, deaths, monetary value, health, and work records. Other information includes poison schedules, rent records, equipment lists, hay and cotton sales, cotton picked and ginned, tenant accounts, football bowl game results, cattle counts and tagging, and bills. Miscellaneous records include information about bales of cotton hauled, measurements of uncultivated land, cabin residents of Oakland, Cognac, and Gangre Place, acres in cultivation, list of gin hands, chickens sold, corn hauled, rainfall, household inventories, and weather summaries.
| Folder 267 |
Slave work record, including daily picking records, 1836 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 267 |
| Folder 268 |
Plantation journal, including slave lists and scattered accounts, 1837-1839 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 268 |
| Folder 269 |
Plantation journal containing scattered journal entries, accounts, slave lists, and notes, 1839-1842 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 269 |
| Folder 270 |
Ambrose Lecomte, 1852 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 270Ledger with inventory, supplies purchased, births and deaths of slaves, age and monetary value of slaves on Vienna Plantation. Records were kept in printed books called The Cotton Plantation Record and Account Book by Thomas Affleck. Printed in New Orleans, these books offered the opportunity to make entries under titles such as "Daily Record of Passing Events," "Daily Record of Cotton Picked," and "Planter's Annual Record of His Negroes." |
| Folder 271 |
P. Phanor Prudhomme I, 1852, 1854, 1866-1867 (bulk, 1852, 1866) #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 271Affleck ledger with daily record of events includes description of work completed on plantation, weather, cotton picked by each slave, bale weights, births, deaths, ages, monetary value of slaves, rations issued. Entries for 1852 are in ink; entries for 1866-1867 are written in pencil. |
| Folder 272 |
P. Phanor Prudhomme I, 1857 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 272Affleck ledger with record of weather and labor performed on plantation, remarks on various crops, cotton picked by each slave, births and deaths of slaves, physician visits with explanation as to purpose, and livestock increases. |
| Folder 273 |
Plantation journal, 1856-1863 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 273Contains farm work records, accounts, slave lists, and other records. |
| Folder 274 |
1860 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 274Affleck ledger with daily record of activities on Prudhomme properties, weather reports, information about slaves, livestock. |
| Folder 275 |
1861 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 275Affleck ledger with daily record of activities on Prudhomme properties, weather reports, information about slaves, livestock. |
| Folder 276 |
1862 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 276Affleck ledger with daily record of activities on Prudhomme properties, weather reports, information about slaves, livestock. |
| Folder 277 |
1863-1864 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 277Affleck ledger with daily record of activities on Prudhomme properties, weather reports, information about slaves, livestock. |
| Folder 278 |
P. Phanor Prudhomme I, 1864-1866 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 278Daily weather and labor account, how much corn given and to whom, slave lists accounting for death and desertion to the Yankees. |
| Folder 279 |
J. Alphonse Prudhomme I, 1867 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 279Affleck ledger with plantation records. The format is similar to those used in 1860-1864 but the forms were modified to reflect the demise of slavery. |
| Folder 280 |
P. Phanor Prudhomme II, 1942-1961 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 280Record of when and where crops were planted and by whom, poisons applied. |
| Folder 281 |
1964 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 281Daily record of activities on plantation. |
| Folder 282 |
1965 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 282Daily record of activities on plantation. |
| Folder 283 |
1966-1968 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 283Daily record of activities on plantation. |
| Folder 284 |
1969-1973 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 284Daily record of activities on plantation. |
| Folder 285 |
1974-1978 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 285Daily record of activities on plantation. |
| Folder 286 |
1979-1984, 1987-1988 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 286Daily record of activities on plantation; includes account of James Alphonse Prudhomme III's cancer. |
| Folder 287 |
Miscellaneous records, 1839-1880 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 287 |
| Folder 288 |
Miscellaneous records, 1915-1982 #00613, Subseries: "3.1.5. Plantation Journals and Records, 1836-1988. " Folder 288 |
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Subseries 3.1.6. Plantation and Store Ledgers, 1873-1982.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of sales and purchases at the Prudhomme plantation store. The daily sales to individuals were recorded first in the daybooks and cash account books and then copied by customer name to these ledgers. At various times plantation expenses, day worker accounts, merchandise reports (in some cases by item, e.g. pecans), credit and cash sales reports, vendor accounts, crop records, and taxes paid to FICA social security tax and the Internal Revenue Service also were recorded in these ledgers. Occasionally temperature, rainfall, and brief weather descriptions were recorded on inside covers. There are no ledgers for 1895-1915, 1918-1919, or 1924.
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Subseries 3.1.7. Receipts, 1788-1950.
Arrangement: Chronological, except for the unbound 20th-century items, which are arranged alphabetically.
Chiefly 19th-century promissory notes, orders, account summaries, bank receipts, bills of lading, and transfers of credit that document crops, brands, merchandise, and services bought and sold. In addition, there are some miscellaneous succession receipts and tax receipts, a record of slaves lent to work on fortifications during the Civil War and purchases made by the Confederate Army, and some 20th-century handwritten merchandise orders from local customers. Volumes contain a representative sample of 20th-century receipts that document merchandise purchased to stock the store. Many 19th-century items in French.
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Subseries 3.1.8. Tax Statements and Other Assessments, 1851-1960 (bulk 1945-1960).
Arrangement: Chronological.
Recapitulations and tax returns detailing plantation assets, income, and expenses.
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Subseries 3.2. Plantation Operations and Personal Financial Materials, 1837-1977.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject, then chronological.
Materials gathered in this subseries constitute a microeconomic approach to the Prudhomme plantation and store records. These materials demonstrate the various operations on Prudhomme properties in minute day-to-day detail. Included are cotton crop, gin, and press records, time books and store accounts for laborers, corn books, hay books, store inventory books, customer order books, ice, lumber, and seed books, market reports, personal expense notebooks, and succession records.
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Subseries 3.2.1 Articles-Needed Books, 1884-1887.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of grocery, hardware, dry goods, and drug merchandise to be added to the store inventory.
| Folder 392 |
Three books, 1884-1887 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.1 Articles-Needed Books, 1884-1887. " Folder 392 |
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Subseries 3.2.2. Corn Books, 1882-1890.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of store accounts to be paid in corn by customers.
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Subseries 3.2.3. Cotton Records, 1831-1977.
Arrangement: By format.
Materials include notebooks, a ledger, receipts and correspondence. Cotton books document store accounts paid for with cotton and sometimes include notes on cotton bale tag numbers and crop yields for tenants and sharecroppers at Oakland and Coco Point plantations. Some items also contain information about corn, hay, and lumber crops. Ledger is an account book of cotton grown at nearby plantations. Receipts and correspondence consist chiefly of bills of sale and lading, account summaries, Cotton Producers Association contracts, Louisiana Farm Bureau Cotton Growers Cooperative Association materials, sales agreements, and bank deposits.
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Subseries 3.2.4. Gin Records, 1893-1961.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of cotton ginned for tenants and sharecroppers on the Prudhomme's plantation, and for other cotton growers on nearby plantations. Materials include gin books, a ledger, receipts and reports. Volumes and receipts record ginning expenses and profits. Reports, which record the bale weight and tag numbers for cotton ginned at the Prudhomme gin, were required by the Agricultural Adjustment Act to demonstrate compliance with the cotton quota. See also the plantation and store ledgers in Subseries 3.1.6 for ginning between 1912 and 1920.
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Subseries 3.2.5. Hay Books, 1876-1888.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of work performed by day laborers and store charges against their earnings. Laborers earned 75 cents per day, which generally was credited to a store account, but appears to have been paid out in cash on occasion. Some books contain records of sale and purchase of hay bales, amounts brought up, amounts pressed, the weight of the bales, number of bales sold and where distributed or stored.
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Subseries 3.2.6. Ice Book, 1926-1931.
Record of sale of ice at store.
| Folder 454 |
1926-1931 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.6. Ice Book, 1926-1931. " Folder 454 |
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Subseries 3.2.7. Inventory Books, 1872-1970.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Lists of the groceries, drugs, dry goods, hardware, gasoline and oil, and notions in stock in the store, usually inventoried the first of the year.
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Subseries 3.2.8. Licenses and Memberships, 1873-1962.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Permits to sell alcohol, tobacco, soft drinks, and retail goods. Memberships in various organizations, including Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation, Louisiana Cotton Ginners Association.
| Folder 461 |
1873-1962 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.8. Licenses and Memberships, 1873-1962. " Folder 461 |
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Subseries 3.2.9. Livestock Records, 1882-1959.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly record of horse breeding, with some entries for cattle breeding and mules loaned to be gentled. Poultry book records weight and sale of turkeys and hens.
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Subseries 3.2.10 Lumber and Sawmill Books, 1860-1883.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Sale of lumber, including size and price.
| Folder 468 |
1860-1862 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.10 Lumber and Sawmill Books, 1860-1883. " Folder 468 |
| Folder 469 |
1882-1883 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.10 Lumber and Sawmill Books, 1860-1883. " Folder 469 |
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Subseries 3.2.11 Market Reports, 1859-1894.
Printed reports on cotton, tobacco, and other crops for St. Louis and New Orleans markets.
| Folder 470 |
1859-1894 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.11 Market Reports, 1859-1894. " Folder 470 |
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Subseries 3.2.12 Order Books, 1842-1881.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Merchandise ordered for the house and store and for individual customers. Several books document accounts with J. B. Planche in New Orleans.
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Subseries 3.2.13 Pocket Notebooks, 1841-circa 1925.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Chiefly personal expense notebooks.
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Subseries 3.2.14 Post Office Records, 1908-1944.
Arrangement: Chronological.
J. Alphonse Prudhomme I became the second postmaster of Bermuda, La., in 1903. J. Alphonse Prudhomme II succeeded him as the third postmaster, and J. Alphonse Prudhomme III served as the fourth, from 1962-1966.
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Subseries 3.2.15 Press books, 1917-1940.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of bags and ties received and issued, seeds pressed, and reports to government.
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Subseries 3.2.16 Seed Book, 1916, 1950-1961.
Record of seed bought from or by sharecroppers. Includes a 1950 journal of weather, personal activities, clock and jewelry repair by P. Phanor "Pete" Prudhomme III for 1950-1951 and 1955-1961.
| Folder 505 |
1916, 1950-1961 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.16 Seed Book, 1916, 1950-1961. " Folder 505 |
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Subseries 3.2.17 Stock Investment Book, 1924-1934.
P. Phanor Prudhomme II's record of shares purchased and dividends for Peoples Bank, Natchitoches Sanitorium, and John Henry Oil and Gas, Inc. Also, record of money borrowed from Dr. E. G. Lawton, the husband of his sister Cora Prudhomme Lawton, to make payment on equipment for gin press and to pay succession, land leased, and royalties.
| Folder 506 |
1924-1934 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.17 Stock Investment Book, 1924-1934. " Folder 506 |
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Subseries 3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of merchandise and cash advances purchased at store on credit by day laborers and farmers, then repaid in labor, crops, or cash.
| Folder 507 |
1878-1879 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893. " Folder 507 |
| Folder 508 |
1879-1880 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893. " Folder 508 |
| Folder 509 |
1880 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893. " Folder 509 |
| Folder 510 |
1880-1881 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893. " Folder 510 |
| Folder 511 |
1892-1893 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.18 Store Notebooks, 1878-1893. " Folder 511Chiefly accounting for W.W. Breazeale, Jr., but other accounts included, viz. Metoyer and Hertzog. |
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Subseries 3.2.19 Succession Records, 1845-1875.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Records documenting succession accounting. See also subseries 3.3 for succession records of non-Prudhomme family members.
| Folder 512 |
Division of Jean Pierre Emmanuel Prudhomme and Catherine Lambre Prudhomme estate, 1845-1860 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.19 Succession Records, 1845-1875. " Folder 512Includes entries for notes collected and paid out, interest collected, assets, and notes of auction; additional entries record Phanor Prudhomme I's administration of the successions of N. C. Levoy and Achille Lebreton, and the accounts of Phanor's children (1853-1860); accounting for a saw mill and a dairy in Texas. Chiefly in French. |
| Folder 513 |
1868-1875 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.19 Succession Records, 1845-1875. " Folder 513Succession and personal accounts of the children of Achille Prudhomme and Estelle Prudhomme; J.Alphonse Prudhomme I served as executor. |
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Subseries 3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Record of work performed by day laborers and store charges against their earnings.
| Folder 514 |
1882-1883 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920. " Folder 514 |
| Folder 515 |
1884 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920. " Folder 515 |
| Folder 516 |
1887 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920. " Folder 516 |
| Folder 517 |
1880s #00613, Subseries: "3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920. " Folder 517 |
| Folder 518 |
1915-1920 #00613, Subseries: "3.2.20 Time Books, 1882-1920. " Folder 518Includes record of time worked and lost by month hands. |
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Subseries 3.3. Other Financial Materials, 1836-1918.
Financial materials created by individuals related to and/or living near the Prudhommes at Bermuda/Oakland plantation, but do not pertain directly to the organization and running of the Prudhomme properties. Materials in this subseries have been divided into James A. Leveque materials and miscellaneous materials. The Leveque materials include medical accounts and other records of the doctor who lived at Oakland and served the local community. Miscellaneous materials consist of a few other notebooks belonging to Alexis Cloutier, Emile Cloutier, Achille Lebreton, James E. Keator, A. Lecomte, and one of unknown authorship, but possibly belonging to a member of the Keator family.
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Subseries 3.3.1 Leveque Medical Accounts and Other Records, 1867-1897.
Arrangement: By format.
James A. Leveque served as doctor for Oakland community and the surrounding community. Around 1879, the doctor began recording the sale of merchandise, perhaps at that time beginning a store partnership of some sort with the Prudhommes. Materials in this subseries include the following: account summaries of customers in debt to Leveque; daybooks with daily records of medical services provided and merchandise sold, and some documentation of livestock breeding; ledgers with accounting information for medical services, expenses, and contracts, which were paid in cash, draft from someone else, labor, liens, and merchandise; notebooks with medical and store accounting records; a succession book; and miscellaneous items pertaining to professional and personal finances, including promissory notes, receipts, a drug price list, requests for house calls, and court judgments against non-paying clients.