Sale of négresse créole named Mérente

On 27 May 1805, under private contract, Dame Charlotte Julie LABBÉ, wife of Jean-Pierre DÉCUIR, sales to the mulâtre libre named Charles, alias Charles CARRIÈRE, a négresse créole aged 6 years belonging to the said Dame LABBÉ named Mérente.

Charles CARRIÈRE agreed to pay 350 piastres within 8 months to Dame LABBÉ for the purchase of Mérente, He actually paid the sum by 30 Dec 1806.

Charles CARRIÈRE, mulâtre libre, formerly belonged to Mr. DE LA VILLEBEUVRE.

Mérente, négresse créole, is the daughter of the négresse named Marthe, formerly belonging to the said Dame LABBÉ.

N.B. The act of sale does not state this, but Émérente "Mérente" CARRIÈRE, described elsewhere as griffe in complexion, was the natural daughter of Charles CARRIÈRE, mulâtre libre, and Marie-Marthe DE LA VILLEBEUVRE, négresse libre.

Émérente became 1 of 2 longterm mistresses of Dame LABBÉ's brother-in-law, Godefroy DÉCUIR, inhabitants on Bayou Tortue in St. Martin Parish.

Recorded in the parish conveyances on 2 Aug 1825.

Source: St. Martin Parish Clerk of Court, Conveyance Records, book 2, pp. 20-21, doc. #s 5700-5701.