Part 7 – Peter Javain in Charleston the years of 1816-1830

A quick word about Cluster Genealogy Research, which is when you research the people and places around your ancestor such as their neighbors, their friends and their siblings. (the cluster of people around them). By doing this type of research, it gives you a more complete picture of the person’s life you are researching. Also, you may find out as I did, that many times their lives intersect. My cluster research on my ancestor Zepherine led me to Peter her brother. So let’s see what he has been up to.

Peter has found his place in Charleston. His grocery business is thriving. He becomes very involved in the Charleston social scene. He becomes a Free Mason and is listed as the Recording Secretary in the newspaper. He joins a French Benevolent Society and becomes their Secretary as well. I believe he becomes a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church , but I have to physically go to the Charleston Diocese Archives in order to look at their records to truly confirm this.

He also continues hiring out slaves. At the end of 1816 we learn of another slave that has runaway named Monday.

Monday was a cooper which is someone who builds wooden caskets, barrels and the like. A surtout is a long coat that comes right above the knee. The ad runs for two days and sadly, I know that he is caught. After trying unsuccessfully to sell him in Charleston, 4 years later Peter puts him on a ship and sends him to New Orleans. Being sent to New Orleans would have been considered a drastic and horrible outcome for Monday. I have endeavored to find what happened to him in New Orleans, but still have not found a sale or where he exactly went.

*Update: I went searching again to see if I could find something, and I actually *may* have found him in 1870 , There is a Monday Stuart, living in DeSoto parish, aged 80 years old, born in South Carolina. He lists his occupation as Servant. He lists another male in the house, aged 63 named “Lobby Dick”, who is also from South Carolina. I have searched through the records, and I did find a wealthy planter by the name of John Stuart who could theoretically be the Stuart last name connection. It will take time to sift and read through more obscure records and see if I can find more evidence this is our Monday.

In 1819 Peter gets caught up in helping a friend named J. Caquet who is in dire financial straits. Peter places ads in the paper stating he can receive money towards bills due to a Mr Caquet (poor Mr. Caquet has been taken to debtors prison). Apparently, the conditions in this gaol are so horrible that Peter and some other men write a letter to the legislature, demanding for a change in conditions of the gaol. They post a “denouncement of the conditions of the gaol” in the newspaper (1). They also ask that debtors be given a separate and safer area to be in instead of with common criminals. Ads for letters left at the post office for Mr. Caquet run for several months, but sadly I believe he died, because I can not find any mention of him ever again.

Sometime around 1820 Etrenne is born. She will be listed in Peter’s will as the granddaughter of Mammie who saved his life. I do not know who her mother or father is. I will return to Etrenne in a later post.

*Update, In the Comments Ayn brought up a question about Mammie, and I wanted to make sure everyone saw my answer. So I do not know where Mammie is. I do know that in Peter’s will he says that Etrenne is Mammie’s grand-daughter. So, these are the questions I still cannot answer: Where is Mammie? Is she still alive? Did she even get on the boat with Peter and Zepherine in St. Domingue? Who is her daughter or son that is Etrenne’s parent? All we have are the few clues that are left to us to decipher. In a later post I will make a timeline of Mammies descendants, maybe someone else will see something I have been unable to see!

In shipping news of October 1822 we find Peter has sailed on the Schooner Hero, with Captain Thompson which has just arrived from Alexandria. Hmm, I think we may know who he was visiting! I double-checked and Monsieur Generes’ dancing balls were in full swing during this time.

Peter continues being highly involved with the Free Mason’s. He posts notices of lectures and meetings over the years. I was actually able to find a mason document with his signature on it (1).

He forms a deep friendship John Cogdell who becomes the Grand Master of this Lodge of Free Masons. In fact, in Peter’s will he leaves Mr. Cogdell his treasured masonic jewels. Mr. Cogdell was a very well-traveled learned attorney, who served in the South Carolina House of Representative and was President of the Bank of South Carolina. After a trip to Italy he became interested in the arts, especially painting and sculpting. His works have been displayed in many places such as the Boston Athenaeum. He was NOT a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, but he painted a mural which is on the ceiling in this picture and still there today! Here is a picture of the St. Mary’s Church (remember this is probably Peter’s church) with a beautiful perspective of the mural on the ceiling.

A couple of years later Peter becomes embroiled in a major disagreement within the Charleston Free Masons. As I try to dissect the argument, it becomes highly confusing due to their obtuse use of language. If I understood correctly, the gist is Peter, the Grand Master John Cogdell, along with other higher-ups decide to adopt a different rule of order called the “Cerneau consistory”. This did not go over well with the previous grand master Mr. Bacot ( another close friend of Cogdells) and some others in this order. They involve the national councils and write angry articles and opinions in the newspaper. It became a sad rift between two good friends (Bacot and Cogdell) who also served on the church council at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church together. Eventually, John and Peter’s group landed on the wrong side of the rift and the Free Masons went back to the old way of doing things.

In May of 1823 a slave named Peter Javain was born. More on that in a bit.

July of this same year Peter has taken another trip returning out of Alexandria.

Then in November of this same year a Free Woman of Color named Mary Est Javain dies of Bilious Fever and is buried in the Brown Fellowship Society Cemetery. There is some confusion on her age, in some records she is listed as 78 years old, and in other as 16 years. So, who is this Mary? To answer that I look at every clue in the death record.

First, she is buried in the Brown Fellowship Society Cemetery which has a story of its own: (2)

“Founded in 1790, the Brown Fellowship Society is the oldest all-male Funeral Society in Charleston, South Carolina. It also provides a major historical example of how racism affected the African American community itself, in that lighter skinned African Americans in the Society considered themselves superior to darker skinned African Americans. …..

The Fellowship Society aimed to establish their own cemetery for “brown” African American individuals, believing it would foster a sense of social unity among them. Officially the stated purpose was to provide respectable funerals for Society members, support widows, and educate surviving children. …..

Typically only free lighter skinned African Americans were allowed to join, but sometimes darker-skinned individuals who had naturally straight hair were permitted as well. All who joined were considered prosperous and a few were wealthy.  Most held relatively affluent jobs such as shoemakers and tailors, but were still subject to prejudice from the white community.

Darker-skinned black men, led by Thomas Smalls, formed their own group, The Society for Free Blacks of Dark Complexion, in 1843, and purchased their own burial land. After the Civil War the Brown Fellowship Society expanded to include more African Americans, including women and those of darker skin, and changed its name to the Century Fellowship Society. The graveyard property was sold in 1945 by descendants of the Century Fellowship Society. In the late 1950’s the graveyard was paved over so that a parking lot could be built for Catholic Bishop England High School. In 1990, the graveyard descendants organized to erect a small memorial to their ancestors, who are buried beneath the asphalt.

So, our Mary Est Javain is buried in an exclusive cemetery, and not in the “common” Charleston Burial Ground (CBG) . This means she is born to a person of means or has a benefactor and that she was a light-skinned free person of color. The few records that exist of the Brown Fellowship Society are located at the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture in Charleston. But, sadly the files they have do not cover these years, and apparently do not exist anymore.

Next, I don’t know what the “Est” in her middle name stands for. The registrar that sent me the record mentioned that she had never seen “Est” ever before, but found it curious and it stood out to her as something worth noting.

Her cause of death is listed as bilious fever, which was a fever accompanied by jaundice. Current medical opinion is that bilious fever was a symptom caused by malaria.

She has illegible words under occupation, and her place of birth is Charleston and her current residence is Charleston. Lastly, remarks noted she died on a Thursday.

I can see only a few reasons Mary was free and had the last name of Javain. She was freed by either Zepherine or Peter, but I have found no records of emancipation (so far) for a Mary Est Javain. Or, her mother was freed by one of them, and I have found no definite person that could be. Also, remember Peter had just gotten back from Alexandria a couple of months prior, did he possibly bring Mary with him from Zepherine’s house?

It is highly likely that Mary was baptized in the Catholic Church. One source still to be reviewed, but can only be seen in person are the Parish Sacramental and Interment records, 1792-1969 at the Diocese of Charleston archives. (3)

Regarding the confusion on her age, I think it is probably just a clerical error or misprint on ancestry.com. If you look at her age, I believe it says 16 not 78. But please tell me if you see it differently!

Y’all know I want to go to Charleston! Until then, our Mary Est Javain remains a mystery.

Sadly, the following year after Mary’s death little Peter Javain dies. He only lives for 14 months and “teething” was listed as the cause of death. This was a commonly listed cause of death for children between 1-3 that happened to coincide with their teething years. Doctors are still trying to pinpoint what this could have actually been. Young Peter was buried in Charleston Burial Ground which was where slaves were commonly buried. Noticeably, Not in the exclusive Brown Fellowship Society Cemetery as Mary was buried. He is buried with no identifying marker. So why was this child named Peter? The likely reason is that the child was not given a real name yet (his mother probably called him by some affectionate name). So, when registering the death the registrar used the slave owner’s name. I wish I could attribute a happier reason, but after considering where he was buried and the time period’s customs, I have come to this assumption.

After these deaths, Peter winds down his business and rents out his grocery store and house. I believe he had a falling out with his business partner because I found Judgment roll in the Archives. I have ordered the file.

He is listed several times in the shipping news as taking several trips . He moves further out of the city onto the corner of Philip and Line St. He continues hiring out slaves, and another slave takes an opportunity to leave.

It is interesting to note Fortune would sleep elsewhere. I will have to do more research on what happened to Fortune.

I have never found an 1820 census record for Peter. Sometimes this happens which is frustrating !

I think this is a good place to pause Peter’s story as I wait on some documents to arrive and let’s catch up with Monsieur Jean Generes and Zepherine over in Alexandria.

(1) https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth-oai:4f16dg27b

(2) https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/brown-fellowship-society-1790-1945/

(3) http://www.catholic-doc.org/archive1/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=127&q=&rootcontentid=8592#id8592