Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2006 - (Page 43) The news of revolution in St. Domingue terrified Louisiana’s influential planter class. (accompanied by their owners) into Louisiana, as well as the entry of free blacks. St. Domingue émigrés had flocked to the East Coast in 1793, to Jamaica in 1798, and to Cuba in 1803. Claiborne’s decree transformed New Orleans from a secondary destination to a primary port of call. Tradition holds that the St. Domingue influx doubled the population of New Orleans. The actual demographics are somewhat more complex. Between May 1809 and January 1810, some 9,059 St. Domingue refugees arrived in New Orleans from Cuba. Equally represented in this flood of humanity were whites, free people of color, and black slaves. It is difficult to determine how many émigrés from St. Domingue finally settled in the city of New Orleans since the census of 1810 does not identify birthplace. The 1797 Spanish census recorded 8,056 residents in the approximate area of the present-day French Quarter. The 1,933 residents of the surrounding areas of Gentilly, Bayou St. John, and the upriver districts brought the city’s total population to 9,989. By the time of the U.S. census of 1810, the city proper had grown to include Faubourgs St. Mary, Marigny, and Tremé, and had expanded in population by 9,186 — just slightly more than the number of émigrés from St. Domingue — to 17,242. While St. Domingue émigrés would have made up a substantial portion of this increase, the city was also welcoming newcomers from other parts of the United States and Europe, in addition to experiencing natural population growth. On the other hand, when areas just outside of the city proper — where a percentage of émigrés would have certainly settled — are included in the count for 1810, the number grows to 24,552. Such rapid urban expansion prompted a degree of anxiety. Some residents feared that the émigrés would not integrate readily into the community; others feared that social services would be inadequate to meet the needs of the poor, old, and disabled. Yet any concerns about the welfare of the St. Dominguans soon passed. Members of the local French community provided material assistance to the new arrivals. And, in the The building partially shown at the right edge of the cartouche is believed to have housed the tailor business of Francois La Croix and Etienne Cordevoille. Both free men of color, La Croix and Cordevoille were in business in New Orleans by 1832, the same year that La Croix was married. La Croixʼs business acumen and real estate acquisitions made him a wealthy man. An avid philanthropist, he put that wealth toward several notable charities dedicated to the education of free people of color. courtesy of the New Orleans Notorial Archive Spring 2006/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 43
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