Part 8 – Jean and Zepherine, a house full of kids
Ok, let’s pick up where we left off with Jean and Zepherine, which is 1812 in Alexandria, Virginia. According to the article written about Jean in the Fireside Sentinel (1) “John Constantine Generes served during the War of 1812 as a private in Capt. Moreland’s Company, DC Militia.” I have been unable to verify this, and he doesn’t show up in any muster rolls. I think Jean was similar to Peter in that he signed up as an extreme militia backup, but never actually served in the war.
We have another genealogical gem – an actual letter written by Jean and addressed to his Brother In Law:
September 24, 1812, Alexandria
My dear brother in law:
I have just returned from the country with all my family where we have passed three months in the lower part of Virginia, where I had a dancing school. this absence has done a great deal of good to my wife who had recently given birth to a little girl whom we call Josephine, age 4 months. She nursed the little one together with a negress; in general my children are in good health. It is a century since we have had news from you. I hope that I shall be fortunate to receive a response from this letter. My wife is quite disturbed not to receive news from you; we are at this moment without servants, that which has prevented me from writing, having two young children to care for, we really have five. We shall send Marsolina to school next week, that which she knows, has been taught by her mother, who has too much to do to continue in this fashion. Henry will also go to school as soon as possible.
I have absolutely no news from France since I have written you. I wish to be able to receive that which I have in France in order to buy a piano for Marsolina. A master. She is now 7 years old and it is time for her to commence.
Goodbye, we embrace you all and wish that you may be in perfect health from the heart of your friend and brother-in-law.
Generes Marsallan
We do not know to whom this letter was written. I do not believe it is written towards Peter based on the wording of the letter (I believe he would have just referred to Zepherine as “your sister” not “my wife” to Peter). What is more important is the beautiful description of the family in this letter. I love how Marsolina was about to start school, and little Henri “as soon as possible”.
He mentions Zepherine nursed the baby along with a negress, which was very common in those days. Also, that he is without servant at this time. So, a couple of things come to mind, one where is little Eliza? Remember in 1806 she was listed in that importation form. That would make Eliza between 13-16 years old. I know she stays with the family because in 1819 they manumit her two children. Also, I forgot to include in the last post another slave that Jean filled out an anti-importation form was named Nelly. He listed her as 6 years old in 1808. So Nelly would be 12 years old here. Also, this is the only information I ever find on Nelly. I will continue to look for other clues to what happened to her.
I personally do not believe when Jean says “that which I have in France ” Jean is referring to the Indemnity money paid to France from Haiti, but rather some property that was or is owned by his family in France. This letter is dated in 1812, and the reparations were not suggested until 1814 by then President of Haiti, Pétion. So that means it couldn’t be this money he is referring to. Another possibility is he has money in a bank in France. One day I will go through historic land sales across France and see if I can find it.
Anyone else has any other thoughts on this letter? Something I missed or some insight please let me know in the comments!
So, the war is over, it is time to celebrate with a Ball! The gentlemen listed in this ad are prominent doctors and businessmen in the area.
I found a description of a house Jean and Zepherine were renting in Georgetown. It a 2 story brick house on the corner of Lafayette and 2nd Street. The street names have changed, and now that is the corner of O St NW and 35th St NW. There are two houses it could be on that corner. If you are traveling to Georgetown and want to walk by it, send me an email and I will see if I can find any more details.
For the next couple of years, Jean and Zepherine add three more children to their family, Octavia born in 1813, John Laurence born in 1816 and Louis Florval (my direct ancestor!) in 1818. There is mention of two more children but I do not know what years they are born, and they do not survive infancy (as far as I know). Their names are August Javain and Isidore dePoincy.
Jean and Zepherine continue bouncing between Georgetown, Alexandria, and Baltimore. In 1819 Henry is attending Georgetown and his name is listed in the paper as earning a distinction in Writing.
On December 8, 1819, Jean and Zepherine manumit two children of Kitty. The court document reads (2):
Annette, 2, and Bernard, 1, were the children of Kitty and were bound to serve until they had each attained the age of 21.
So, it is my personal belief that Kitty is our Eliza previously mentioned in the anti-importation form filled out in 1806. Eliza was stated as being between the ages of 7-9 in 1806, which would make her between 20-22 years old at this point. I do not know where Eliza is at the signing of this document. She could be living with them or somewhere else. There is another resource book to research manumissions, and the closest location is in a library in Mobile, Al. We may just find Eliza in this Register. (4)
I am grateful for the clue that these are the children of Kitty. Annette will be free in 1839 and Bernard in 1840. Manumission laws in 1819 varied state by state, but the law enacted in Virginia in 1806 was anyone freed had to leave the state within one year or risk be re-enslaved. Also, children under a certain age were required to be taken care of.
In 1831 manumission laws changed dramatically for the worse after Nat Turner’s Rebellion (5 For further reading). It was nearly impossible to manumit a slave until the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865.
Around this same time, Jean and Zepherine purchase a small farm in Falls Church, Virginia which he names Glen Asile.
He put it up for sale for a short while but then decided to keep it. Many years later his daughter Fredericka Octavia is married there. I found a picture and description of the property in a book from 1966. Yes, the name they list is incorrect, it is definitely Glen Asile. (3)
and here is a google maps screenshot:
But, wait, there’s more….!…. I found a Zillow listing, showing pictures of the inside of the house:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/903-Lanier-Pl-Falls-Church-VA-22046/12229716_zpid/?
Wow, how awesome to be able to look inside!
In 1827 the Indemnity payments are approved and Jean receives 8,000 francs. This is his 1/5 share with his four other brothers who all live in France: Jacques-Antoine, Louis-Marc, Louis-Denis, and Jean-Francois. I approximate 8,000 francs to be equal to about $100,000 in today’s dollars. (6) A quick explanation of the Indemnity Payments by a Brown University Haiti Exhibition:
France finally recognized Haitian independence in 1825, in exchange for Haiti’s payment of a debilitating indemnity of 150 million francs. France claimed the indemnity on behalf of former colonists who had lost their plantations and fortunes during the revolution.
In November of 1831, Jean retires his dance instruction academy and posts his final ads. He puts his house up for sale in Alexandria in 1833. They move to the farmhouse in Falls Church, Virginia. Their daughter Octavia marries Augustus Marye in 1833 at the house.
For the first time, they show up on a census. Here is a screenshot of the record:
By 1840 all of Jean and Zepherine’s sons had moved out. The daughter’s remained, and I believe newly married Octavia was staying with her parents (maybe her husband was working out of town the day the census was taken). So I believe the people in this census are: Jean and Zepherine, Marsollina, Eugenia, Josephine, Octavia Marye and her daughter Constance Marye and son Louis Marye.
I can never really know who the slaves listed are. I have an educated guess that the young girl under 10 is Charity Thompson. Charity will show up later and I think it will be easier to explain her in a later post. I think it is possible that one of the ladies between 24-35 is Charity’s mother. I think it is also possible that Annette (who was manumitted by this point) could be on this list. Not that she was re-enslaved, but possibly as a protective stance if she wasn’t able to leave the state. I do not even have a guess at who the young boy is except to say it is probably the son of one of the ladies.
Sometime between the 1840 census and 1843 Jean and Zepherine move to Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. Three of their sons live in Louisiana. I am not sure what brought them *exactly* to Avoyelles parish. Their oldest son Henri was in New Orleans, as well as their youngest son Louis Florval. John Laurence was working as an attorney and I am not exactly sure where he was in 1840. Maybe one day I will come across the answer.
In 1843 Zepherine’s brother Peter comes to spend his final days with his sister and her family. I will pause Jean and Zepherine’s story here, and next post I will fill you in up to this point in Peter’s life in Charleston.
Any questions or comments please let me know below!
(1) Edith Moor Sprouse in the Fireside Sentinal Vol. Vi. No 12 Dec 1992,
(2)http://www.freedmenscemetery.org/resources/documents/manumissions.shtml
(3) Northern Virginia Heritage: A Pictorial Compilation of the Historic Sites and Homes in the Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, Prince William and Stafford, and the Cities of Alexandria and Fredericksburg, by Eleanor Lee Reading Templeman, Nan Netherton , Privately published by E. L. Templeman , 1966
(4) Alexandria County, Virginia: Free Negro Registers, 1797-1861 by Dorothy S. Provine, Heritage Press, 1990
(5) https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/nat-turner
(6)https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/exhibitions/haitian/pages/part7.html
