Francis D. Richardson Family Papers
Collection 481
Richardson, Francis D. (1812–1901). Family Papers, 1849–2019, n.d.
1 foot, 1 ½ inches; oversize
Francis DuBose Richardson was born in Wilkinson County, MS in 1812. He moved to St. Mary Parish, LA in 1832 when his father bought a sugar plantation and sold the family’s cotton plantation in Mississippi. Around this time, Richardson clerked for Judges Caffery and Moore and was elected to the Louisiana state legislature from 1850 to 1854. He was also a staunch supporter for deaf and blind students, helping found the State Institutions for the Deaf and the Blind in 1850.
Richardson purchased a 6-acre land for a sugar plantation on the Bayou Teche in Jeanerette, Louisiana, which would be known as Bayside Plantation. On January 29, 1987, the plantation house was registered with the United States National Register of Historic Places. The two-story brick Greek revival plantation house remains one of Iberia Parish’s finest Greek revival structures.
This collection consists of papers presenting the history of the Richardson, Bissell, and Horner families. These include genealogy, writings, photographs, and original letters between family members. There is also a record book dated from 1860-1868 of day-to-day operations on the plantation side. According to the record book, crops planted included cotton and corn, but mainly sugarcane.
Wesley Winans Horner II donated the papers. Gayle Breaux Smith donated the records book.
Series:
| A. | Biographies and Genealogy | 1-01 through 1-06, Map Case 8-14 |
| B. | Articles and Writings | 1-07 through 1-14 |
| C. | Photographs | 1-15 |
| D. | Letters | 1-16 through 1-22 |
| E. | Record Book | Box 2 |
Inventory:
| Box 1 | |||
| A. Biographies and Genealogy | |||
| 1-01 | Auto-Biography of Francis DuBose Richardson, Written at Forest Home, St. Louis County, 20 August 1881 | ||
| 1-02 | Memoirs of Francis D. Richardson, Written 1878, Typed 1 December 1895 (Photocopy of Original) | ||
| 1-03 | Memoirs of Francis D. Richardson, Written 1 December 1895, Reprint, 1930 | ||
| 1-04 | Family Record of Arthur Richardson (2 copies), 1 July 1885 | ||
| 1-05 | Richardson Biographies, 1956, 1979, n.d. | ||
| 1-06 | Genealogy, n.d. | ||
| Map Case 8-14: A Select Lineage of Daniel Bissell Horner, Wesley Winans Horner II, Douglass DuBose Horner, Deborah Richardson Horner, January 2021 (Digital version also available) | |||
| B. Articles and Writings | |||
| 1-07 | Articles by Col. F. D. Richardson, 1850-1886, n.d. | ||
| 1-08 | Articles Related to Helen Richardson, 1874, n.d. | ||
| 1-09 | Speech by Francis D. Richardson on the History of the Chalmette Monument, 1895 | ||
| 1-10 | Article: “The Opening for Chinese Young Women,” by Miss Helen Richardson, The Chinese Recorder, February 1909 | ||
| 1-11 | Will of Elizabeth B. Hilliard, Aunt to Evelyn, Beverly, and Martha Bissell, 21 May 1947 | ||
| 1-12 | Article: “Beautiful Bayside Plantation,” Story and Photos by Gerald J. Delcambre, Sunday Advocate, Baton Rouge, 17 May 1970 | ||
| 1-13 | Miscellaneous: Donelson Caffery, U. S. Senate Platform, circa 1921 | ||
| Miscellaneous: Jeanerette Pamphlet, 1983 | |||
| 1-14 | Obituaries, 1856 - circa 1943 | ||
| Digital Materials | |||
| 1. | “A Personal Inquiry into the Genealogy of My Horner Family in America,” by Wesley W. Horner II, Third Edition, November 2016 | ||
| 2. | “The Life and Legacy of Jane Harper Winans, 1830-1899: How the Harper, Winans and Horner Families Came Together,” by Wesley Winans Horner II, Second Edition, March 2019 | ||
| C. Photographs | |||
| 1-15 | Photographs, n.d. | ||
| Digital Materials | |||
| 1. | Summer of 1915 at the Bissell House | ||
| 2. | Bissell Manor Where Evelyn R. Bissell Lived | ||
| D. Letters | |||
| 1-16 | Letters, 1849-1855 | ||
| 1-17 | Letters, 1860-1869 | ||
| 1-18 | Letters, 1880-1899 | ||
| 1-19 | Letters, 1917, 1920, 1973 | ||
| 1-20 | Letters, 1984 | ||
| 1-21 | Letters, 1993-2014 | ||
| 1-22 | Letters, n.d. | ||
| Box 2 | |||
| E. Record Book | |||
| 2-01 | Bayside Plantation Record, Louisiana, 1860-1868 | ||