For centuries, leaders have recognized the importance of the land where the mighty Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico. “There is on the globe one single spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy,” wrote Thomas Jefferson in 1802. “It is New Orleans.”
It’s not surprising, then, that powers jockeyed over what is now Louisiana: first indigenous peoples, then France, then Spain and Great Britain, and finally the United States. Each resident left its mark on Louisiana, whose rich, diverse Creole character is known worldwide. Read on to learn how to find your ancestors in the Pelican State.
Indigenous peoples have lived in what is now Louisiana for thousands of years. Around the time of European contact and settlement, notable groups included the Chitimacha, Choctaw, Coushatta (Koasati), Houma and Tunica-Biloxi. All but the Houma are federally recognized tribes today; the Houma are recognized only by the state of Louisiana. France claimed the Mississippi River Valley as early as 1682, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sailed down the Mississippi River from Illinois. But Spaniard Hernando de Soto, who arrived nearly 150 years earlier, holds the distinction of the first European known to visit what is now Louisiana.
Colonization in the area didn’t begin in earnest until the early 1700s, and initial attempts floundered. Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans in 1718, naming the city for the Duke of Orléans (who was regent to the 8-year-old king of France, Louis XV). The area’s population swelled, and Louisiana became a royal colony with New Orleans as its capital in 1731.
New Orleans—near the mouth of the Mississippi River as it enters the Gulf of Mexico—became a crucial port. Fer- tile lands around the riverbanks were ideal for cultivating indigo, tobacco, sugar and cotton, leading to highly profit- able plantations.
The Choctaw name for New Orleans’ location, Bulbancha (“place of foreign tongues”), could well describe the cosmopolitan population who has lived there over the centuries. French-speaking refugees from British-held Acadia (ancestors of the city’s famous Cajun population) arrived in the 1760s. Slavery’s prominence led to a large Black population, and Germans settled the “German Coast” in the 1720s and 1730s. The city later attracted emigrants from the Caribbean, particularly during the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804)
Spain and France were allies in the Seven Years’ War. After its end, French Louisiana came under Spanish ownership with one exception: West Florida (the “Florida parishes” east of the Mississippi) was given to Great Britain. Spain quietly returned Louisiana to France after a few decades, and Napoleon Bonaparte (preoccupied with conquering Europe) sold it to the United States. The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 nearly doubled the size of the United States. The newly acquired land was split into two territories: the Territory of Orleans (comprising most of the modern state) and the District of Louisiana (comprising the rest). The former quickly gained a large-enough population to apply for statehood, which it achieved in 1812.
Soon after, New Orleans was the site of a climactic battle with Great Britain. Andrew Jackson, unaware that peace with Great Britain had been negotiated two weeks earlier, successfully defended the city from a British assault. Louisiana was reliant upon the institution of slavery, and New Orleans was a hub of slave-trading. Despite the state’s large population of free Blacks, many living there were hostile to slavery’s abolition. Louisiana’s government voted to secede on the eve of the Civil War. The critical port of New Orleans was captured by the Union in early 1862, then occupied until war’s end.
Louisiana was readmitted to the Union in 1868. Postwar Reconstruction temporarily elevated the rights of African Americans. Jim Crow laws passed after the U.S. Army’s withdrawal in 1877 ushered in an era of race-based segregation, intimidation, and voting discrimination. It was in New Orleans in 1892 that Homer Plessy was arrested for boarding a whites-only train car; the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” policy behind the law forbidding this was constitutional. A few years later, the state government added restrictive voting rules—poll taxes, literacy requirements, and a “grandfather clause”—that effectively stripped African Americans of the right to vote.
The state’s reliance on agriculture led to bleak conditions in the later 1800s. Discoveries of sulfur and oil—as well as the rise of forestry—helped diversify the state’s economy. And Populist politicians like the nationally known Huey Long (who served as Louisiana’s governor, then senator before being assassinated) encouraged reforms. Louisiana is widely known today for its unique cuisine, nightlife and jazz music, as well as a vibrant Mardi Gras celebration that reflects its multicultural heritage.
1541 Spaniard Hernando de Soto reaches the
Mississippi River 1818 René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle claims
“Louisiana” for France 1846 New Orleans is founded
1719-1762
1731 Louisiana becomes a royal colony 1762 Spain temporarily gains Louisiana
1763-1815
1803 The United States purchases Louisiana from France and forms the Territory of Orleans 1812 Louisiana becomes the 18th state
1816-2005
1815 Andrew Jackson defeats British forces at New
Orleans, the last battle of the War of 1812 1861 Louisiana joins the Confederate States
of America; it’s readmitted in 1868 2005 urricane Katrina devastates New Orleans
Louisiana first required birth and death records in 1911, though it didn’t achieve widespread compliance for a few years. Vital events prior to that were generally recorded by religious organizations—notably the Catholic Church, which was most prominent before the Louisiana Purchase. State law restricts access to civil birth records less than 100 years old and death records less than 50 years old. The department of health holds records within those confidentiality windows, then transfers responsibility for them to the state archives. At the state archives website, you can search record indexes, then request certified copies for a fee.
MARRIAGE RECORDS
Marriages were documented by individual parishes earlier and with more consistency than births or deaths. FamilySearch holds many marriage records, plus an index from 1837 through 1957. Colonial-era marriages may be mentioned in French or Spanish judicial records. Orleans Parish (coterminous with the city of New Orleans) is a notable exception, keeping birth records as early as 1790. The state archives include early vital records in its collections, though note that individual certificates may not be available. Individual parishes have custody of marriages that took place there, but Orleans Parish marriages are maintained by the state department of health and are subject to a 50-year privacy rule.
Louisiana first appears as Orleans Territory in the 1810 census. Records survive for all but the 1890 census, and are widely available on genealogy websites. Note that French and Spanish placenames and surnames may be misspelled, especially in early censuses.
The state hasn’t taken any of its own censuses. However, colonial-era counts (including one from 1799, right on the cusp of US acquisition) have been published in book format. Ancestry.com has a collection of various French censuses from the early 18th century, and the New Orleans Public Library has a few censuses for that city.Voter registration books, some dating to the 1850s, contain much of the same information as censuses. The New Orleans Public Library has microfilmed copies of Orleans Parish books.
The New Orleans Public Library holds a large collection of newspapers published in “The Big Easy” and its environs. Some microfilmed papers are available to view only by appointment at the library, though digital papers can be accessed online with a library card or at subscription website Newspapers.com. The library’s website has an obituary index covering 1804 to 1972, which is free to search.
Passenger lists were first required by the federal government in 1820. Arrival records from New Orleans are held by the National Archives and searchable at FamilySearch. They’re also available at subscription websites Ancestry.com and MyHeritage. Records of earlier arrivals may be included in publications such as First Families of Louisiana by Glenn Conrad (Claitor Publishing)
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