The Francis Richard Family: From French Nobility to Florida Pioneers

Chapter 3: The United States (1791 – 1797) From FRANÇOIS to Francis

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ouis Joseph FRANÇOIS dit RICHARD would eventually be known simply as Francis RICHARD in the United States. His true surname, FRANÇOIS, was anglicized to Francis, and that became his first name. His children and their descendants would carry only their

father’s added (“dit”) surname, RICHARD. This family’s connection to the noble French FRANÇOIS family would be lost for over two hundred years. Louis Joseph’s oldest son, also named Louis Joseph, would be known as Francis RICHARD, Junior in Florida. For the sake of clarity in this work, the father will be called Francis I, and the son will be called Francis II. Most Americans looking at the name would naturally pronounce it as they would the common first name Richard [Rich' erd]. Future American RICHARD descendants would tire of correcting their fellow Americans’ anglicized pronunciation of their surname. One American branch of the family went so far as to change the spelling of the name from RICHARD to RiCharde in an attempt to approximate the French pronunciation. Another family branch uses RESHARD.

Charleston, South Carolina, 1791 ... Just before the insurrection of the negroes, which caused such a havoc in the island, he [Francis I] had determined to leave for America. He owned numerous slaves and a coffee plantation and managed to make his way to Charleston, S.C., with the slaves, by exercising some strategy.1 While it is not known exactly when the RICHARDs left Saint Domingue, the family and their slaves departed the island sometime before the horrific Night of Fire. Family history says that a household slave warned them off about the impending revolt. Whatever precipitated their departure, by August 11, 1791 – eleven days before the Night of Fire – Francis I, Honorine, and their three teenage children had landed safely in Charleston, South Carolina.

The earliest known document of the RICHARDs’ presence in the United States is a receipt for twenty-two slaves they had purchased in St. Domingue dated May 10, 1790.2 The seller, Pierre AGNEAU, affirms that he sold the slaves to Geneviève for 27,800 pounds sterling in St. Marc, St. Domingue. This document was entered into the Book of Miscellaneous Records in Charleston on August 11, 1791. This could be the date they landed, as they would probably have been required to show some form of ownership papers for the slaves.

Chapter 3: The United States I, the undersigned Pierre Agneau, residing at the Mountain of St. Marc acknowledge to have sold and delivered to Geneviève Bianne, wife of Joseph François Richard, living at the same place, the quantity of 22 heads of slaves, adults and children, as they are itemized below with name, age, and nationality, and for the following amount: The said sale made for the price and sum of Twenty Seven Thousand Eight Hundred silver pounds of this colony which I acknowledge to have received cash and with which I am satisfied; that is why the said slaves are already the property of the said purchaser who is in their possession to enjoy and dispose of them with the guarantee of no troubles or hindrances.

At St. Marc, 10th May, 1790

Information about Purchased Slaves

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Name

Nationality

Estimated Age

Meder Bernard Louis Nicolas André Laurent Jean Baptiste Dominique

Ibo Creole Congo Congo same same Montengo Arada

45 years 17 years 18 years 17 years 30 years 25 years 9 years 10 years

Pounds Sterling 2000 2000 2000 2000 2200 2200 1000 1000

Black Women and Children 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Petronelle Marie Catherine known as Michele Jacques Françoise Gille Madelene Pierre Louis Agathe Marguerite Henriette

Negro

Cotote Arada Congo

31 years 8 years

2000 1000

3 years 2 years 1 years 30 years 2 years 32 years __ years 10 years

500 200 100 2000 200 2400 1000 1000

Mulatto Women 19 20 21

Melanie Louise Victoise

Griffonne Carteronne Mulato

12 years 8 years 8 years Totaling:

1500 700 800 27,800 Pounds

Figure 15. Receipt of Purchase of Slaves – 1790

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Chapter 3: The United States The slave revolt in Haiti caused enormous concern in the Southern states. Would slaves in the U.S. catch wind of the successful Haitian revolt and attempt the same thing there? Southerners, especially plantation owners, were sympathetic to the plight of these French planters recently dispossessed of their land and livelihood.

In Charleston, people opened their wallets and their homes to help their French counterparts. An organization called La Société de Bienfaisance (The Charity Society in English) was created to help the multitude of refugees assimilate into their new culture. This group categorized the refugees into three economic groups based on the circumstances of their emigration: (1) those arriving completely destitute; (2) those arriving with modest means and able to support themselves through their art or trade; and (3) those with some resources who were able to go into business or invest in land.3 Because the RICHARDs managed to escape St. Domingue with a number of slaves, and because Louis Joseph acquired land soon after they arrived, they belonged to this third and most fortunate group of refugees.

His land purchase is the next known reference to the RICHARDs in the United States. This real estate transaction involved property in Goose Creek, outside Charleston, South Carolina. … Elisha POINSETT who on 1 May 1793 conveyed it as 446 acres to Louis Joseph Francis “dit” Richard who mortgaged it back to him, and the two, Elisha POINSETT and Louis Joseph Francis Richard on 1 August 1793 conveyed it as 440½ acres to Cyprian BIGELOW.4 Immediately after Elisha POINSETT and Louis Joseph bought the property, Louis Joseph mortgaged it back to POINSETT. He was to repay POINSETT four installments of 266 pounds, 13 shillings, 4 pence each - on or before May 1 of each of the four years following their purchase on May 1, 1793. Louis Joseph became delinquent in his payments, and POINSETT sued him.5 The debt must have been eventually settled, because POINSETT withdrew the suit in February 1797.

Elisha POINSETT was from a prominent Charleston family. His son, Joel Robert, was the Secretary of War in Andrew Jackson’s administration. He was also the first US ambassador to Mexico.

Joel returned to the U.S. around 1830 with an unusual Mexican plant with red leaves that was previously unknown in the U.S. The plant was later named after him - the poinsettia. Joel POINSETT is also credited with founding the first national museum in the United States. This was the origin of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

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Chapter 3: The United States

John Charles: The first American FRANÇOIS / RICHARD In Charleston, on July 28, 1796, Louis Joseph and Honorine married each other for the second time – 23 years after their first ceremony in St. Marc, Haiti.6 Not nine months later, on April 5, 1797, 42 year old Honorine gave birth to John Charles in Goose Creek, outside Charleston, South Carolina. It had been twenty years since she had given birth to her previous child, Jean Baptiste. Among Spanish speakers in Spanish East Florida, Jean Baptiste would be known by the Spanish translation of his name, Juan Bautista; among English speakers he would be known as (John) William and sometimes John B. John B. would have a son, John William, who would often be confused with the father, just as some family notes incorrectly refer to John Baptiste as John Bianne.

Being born in the United States was not the only characteristic that would set young John Charles apart from his much older siblings. Francis II, Jean Baptiste, and Clementine had grown up speaking French in rural Haiti. If their father had been trying to escape his Italian past, he might not have taught his children Italian. It’s possible, however, that they also knew Italian and had studied Latin or Greek, too. They probably never attended a formal school, but received their education much as their island-born mother probably had - from their parents and from tutors at their plantation home.

It is said that John Charles spoke several languages fluently. He obviously spoke English. In addition to English, he was at least conversant in French. In his 1848 manuscript Notes and Observations Upon the Present Condition of Florida (Appendix H), he wrote about an unusual encounter he had with a Polish man he ran into in the forest. He wrote, “I replied in French and begged if he comprehended me to reply in that language. He did so very agreeable and appeared delighted as he understood my bad French better than I did his murdered English.”7 Owing to his education, John Charles probably also studied Latin and Greek.

John Charles probably attended boarding school in Charleston, or possibly Savannah. Many of his own grandchildren, grandnieces and grandnephews would attend Madame Duprés’ Academy in Charleston. If proper schooling was not to be found in northern Florida in the days of his grandchildren, then it’s probable that he, too, had been sent off to boarding school as a child. Another generational difference between John Charles and his older siblings was that, while his two older brothers followed their father to the Florida coast, John Charles would establish himself first in Georgia (Glynn and Camden Counties) and later inland, in Alachua County, Florida.

St. Marys, Camden County, Georgia The town of St. Marys, Camden County, Georgia, was founded in 1788. The St. Marys River was the town’s main thoroughfare, and it also served as the international border that divided the United States from Spanish East Florida. It was a short boat ride to St. Augustine, the capital of East Florida, 24

Chapter 3: The United States and an even shorter ride to the town of Fernandina, on Amelia Island, Spanish East Florida. In St. Marys lived a diverse cast of characters, many with ties to East Florida. Some had owned plantations there under British rule from 1763-1783, but had abandoned them when the Spanish regained control. Some owned plantations in both Florida and Georgia, while still others were just arriving with the hope of obtaining a land grant in Spanish East Florida. The People in Camden County & East Florida lists a number of pioneer families, including the RICHARDs, with ties to both Spanish East Florida and Georgia.

Florida was a Spanish colony for 250 years, from 1513 until 1763. Its capital, St. Augustine, was founded in 1565. Over the years, Spain had fended off attacks from the British and the French in Florida. In 1763 the British capture of Spanish Cuba ended the Seven Years’ War. In the ensuing treaty, Spain chose to keep Cuba over Florida. Spanish residents packed up and left St. Augustine as their British counterparts arrived to take their place. British control of Florida would last only 20 years. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles which ended the American Revolution, dictated that Britain cede Florida back to Spain in 1783. Most of the British plantation owners in the countryside as well as the residents of St. Augustine abandoned Florida rather than stay and live under Catholic Spanish rule.

Although it had always been a relatively unimportant colony to Spain in the past, Spanish officials knew that if left under-populated, it would become a sitting target for others with an eye on it; namely, the Creek, Miccosukee, and Seminole Indians, Americans in nearby Georgia, or the French who at this time owned about one-fourth of the territory of present-day U.S. The U.S. did not make the Louisiana Purchase until a few years later, in 1803.

With twenty-two slaves, Francis I was in need of land to cultivate. He was apparently unable to find it in South Carolina – at least at a price he was willing and able to pay. Despite the difficult circumstances of how he and his family had arrived there, Francis seemed to be in the right place at the right time. In an attempt to repopulate the area, the Spanish officials decided, starting in 1790, … …to open East Florida’s borders to foreign and non-Catholic immigrants and to grant them fifty acres of unclaimed land for every family member or worker (free or slave) they brought into the colony.

Within months, 300 whites and their 1,000 enslaved blacks became new Florida residents.

Between 1790 and 1804, approximately 750 immigrant heads of family took the loyalty oath in St. Augustine, 270 of them slaveowners claiming nearly 5,000 bondsmen. More than 80% were born in a British North American colony (by then part of the United States), or in England, Scotland, or Ireland. Another 10% were of French ancestry, including refugees from the slave rebellion in Saint Domingue.8

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Chapter 3: The United States If he could obtain 50 acres for every family member and slave, plus 100 acres for himself, he was looking at 1,450 acres of basically free land in Spanish East Florida. In St. Augustine, on November 24, 1797 Francis I signed his Oath of Allegiance to the king of Spain – a prerequisite for any land concession.9 The very next day he applied for his first Spanish land grant, for 400 acres.10

An International and Local Conflict There was more than a little bad blood between the residents who lived on opposite sides of the St. Marys River. The bad blood came to a boil and spilled over on two occasions with forces trying to take control of Spanish East Florida. The first was a short-lived, small revolt in 1794-1795; the second attempt was on a much larger and bloodier scale during the years 1812-1814. This second attempt, known as The Patriot War, included clandestine forces of the U.S. Army fighting of the side of the socalled “Patriots.” The following excerpt from James Cusick’s The Other War of 1812 provides a relatively concise description of this complex history.

By 1794, several men among the immigrants were conspiring with a Savannah merchant and Indian trader by the name of Abner HAMMOND to stage an uprising. Hammond’s associates included John MCINTOSH, a revolutionary war hero from a prominent Camden County family, and several other recent arrivals from the southern states, Richard LANG, William PLOWDEN, and John Peter WAGNON. In 1794 and 1795, the area exploded in violence when an abortive revolt against Spanish rule shook northern Florida and Camden County. At the center of the revolt was a cadre of U.S. citizens all recent immigrants to East Florida. When their insurrection failed and they escaped punishment by fleeing into Georgia, they created a community of exiles who ever afterward remained bitterly opposed to the Spaniards.11 MCINTOSH and HAMMOND were arrested and sent to prison in Cuba. MCINTOSH was released in 1795 and he …returned to East Florida to exact retribution. He joined Richard LANG, Elijah CLARKE, and other associates at the head of about a hundred armed men and attacked Spanish outposts, capturing Fort Juana on the Trout River and Fort San Nicolas on the St. Johns River.12 The Spanish quickly retook the forts, and the rebels fled back into Georgia. “Those deemed to be traitors, including all the rebel leaders, suffered a traitor’s fate: their property was inventoried and confiscated as forfeit to the Crown.”13

1

Rerick, Rowland H. Memoirs of Florida, Volume 1, p. 662-3.

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Chapter 3: The United States

2

Camden County, Georgia, Deed Record Book I, p. 132. Added to bottom of record, “Recorded in Book of Miscellaneous Records lettered GGG, page 330, the 11th day of Augt. 1791 and examined by Stephen Ravenal, Secretary, Secretary’s Office, Charleston.”

3

150th Anniversary de La Société Française de Charleston 1816-1966, p. 25.

4

Smith, Henry A.M. “Goose Creek: Bigelow’s or Inglesby’s.” South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XXIX, No. 1, (January, 1928), p. 11.

5

Charleston, South Carolina Judgement Rolls, 1797, #632A, “Elisha Poinsett vs. Lewis Richard.”

6

All family notes cite Goose Creek as the birthplace of John Charles Sr. I have not been able to find proof of this, but there’s no reason to believe he was born elsewhere. His baptismal entry from St. Augustine does not record his place of birth. His family was apparently living in Goose Creek when Francis I bought land there in 1793.

7

Appendix E, p. 135.

8

Landers, Jane. Colonial Plantations and Economy in Florida, p. 101.

9

Cusick, James. East Florida Papers Oaths of Allegiance 1793-1804. 1797.

10

Florida Department of State. Spanish Land Grants. File of Francis Richard Sr.

11

Cusick, James. The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida, pp. 49-50.

12

Cusick, James. The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida, pp. 49-50.

13

Cusick, James. The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida, pp. 49-50.

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