Slavery at Oak Alley Plantation

Human bondage has formed an unfortunate part of mankind's existence since the beginning of recorded history. There is nothing to justify it, but it has been present somewhere in the world in every culture, race and generation since time began. Certainly, its role in the development and maintenance of the predominantly agricultural antebellum south impacted on an entire nation, and the reality of slavery in 19th century plantation life can be neither denied nor condoned, but was an integral part of the times and must be dealt with honestly and with candor.

Photograph by Neil Greentree

Jacques Telesphore Roman purchased the land known as Oak Alley with an already established sugar industry, live stock and 57 slaves. Many of these, plus a crew brought in by building contractor, George Swainey, dedicated three years to erect the splendid manor house and buildings immediately surrounding it. What finer credit to their craftsmanship than that Oak Alley has endured through the years!

As on all plantations, Oak Alley functioned efficiently with machinery, water and steam powered mills. In time, Roman accrued an inventory of just over 100 in both field and house slaves. The latter out-ranked the former and were at the very core of the family's existence. Indeed, it was crucial to the demands of constant interaction between them and their master that a degree of confidence and mutual dependence prevailed that is difficult to imagine in this day and age of independence and self motivation.

Historical documents, personal testaments, and community lore vividly describe the humiliation, cruelty and terror of slavery and the effect on pitiful victims of such a system. Yet within its web of injustice and pain, may be found evidence that there were those who regarded their slaves with pride and affection. The totally immoral concept that one can possess another human being prevailed among many, it is true, but from the very beginning of our nation's colonization and search for freedom from tyranny, there was an innate sense that slavery itself was sinful, and he who gained a reputation for maltreatment of his slaves was openly scorned.

Both J. T. Roman and his brother-in-law, Valcour Aime, were noted for their benevolence and justice with their slaves, many of whom are on record as having been emancipated long before the Civil War had ever been contemplated. Devout Catholics, these two and other Creoles saw that their slaves received Baptism into the Church, and that they were buried in hallowed ground.

Families were kept together and encouraged to develop skills. At Oak Alley, for example, those showing leadership qualities were assigned overseer and foreman positions. Others with a predisposition for horticulture were supported in their efforts and provided with necessary materials and tools. One of these, Antoine, won acclaim for the successful grafting of the first paper shell pecan! Two of Valcour Aime's slaves, Helene and Andrieu, lived well into the 20th century and often spoke of their master, his family, and life on the River Region plantations. According to River Region folklore the most poignant tribute came from Andrieu when he allegedly remarked: "My master was very good; he gave everything. No one was too sick or too sorry or too poor for my master. He lived to make a smile come into somebody's face. Oh! Surely my master is in heaven this day. And, as for me, well, I am more of a slave now than then."

Photograph by Neil Greentree

The Roman family's dealing with slavery at Oak Alley spanned two decades and ended with the Civil War. A devastated land and the madness of haphazard methods of reconstruction wreaked havoc on former masters and slaves alike, while a whole culture was swept into the uncertainty of a new way of life.

The following notation appears in the estate inventory drawn up following the death in 1849 of J. T. Roman, builder and original owner of Oak Alley. It is believed that the slave Antoine of the paper shell pecan is one in the same.

In the winter of 1846, Jacques Telesphore Roman invited Dr. A. E. Colomb, whose efforts to perpetuate a superior variety of pecan through grafting had not yet met with success, to conduct further experiments at Oak Alley. Dr. Colomb had in his possession some scion cuttings of a special tree which stood on the east bank of the Mississippi River at Mr. Amant Bourgeois' Anita Plantation. By grafting these cuttings, Dr. Colomb hoped to develop a hardy, high quality pecan cultivar suitable for commercial purposes, and Oak Alley offered both adequate land and the notable talents of Telesphore Roman's slave gardener, Antoine. Dr. Colomb found in Antoine a gifted apprentice who in no time succeeded in grafting 16 trees near the mansion and quarters with the scions from the Anita Plantation tree.

The work continued without interruption and, before J. T. Roman's untimely death in 1848, there were 110 trees grafted in the orchard located some forty arpents from the river. By the end of the Civil War, all of these trees had achieved maturity and were bearing excellent quality pecans. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the nuts were bringing from $50 to $75 per barrel, Oak Alley's post war owners resolved to clear a number of the trees out to make way for more sugar cane, and the pecan project began to fade into relative oblivion.

In 1876, part owner, Hubert Bonzano, exhibited nuts from the Oak Alley grafted trees at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. So well received were they that he was awarded a diploma in which the variety was commended for its "remarkably large size, tenderness of shell, and very special excellence." It is interesting to note that the name "Centennial" was applied to this variety in honor of the 100th celebration of the birth of this nation. Of very special significance as well is the fact that those first commercially successful grafts have been authentically acclaimed as the outstanding accomplishments of Antoine, a former J. Telesphore Roman slave.

Map numbered and overlaid to indicate 1. Plantation Store, 2. Garçonniéres, 3. Big House, 4. Barns, 5. Slave Quarters, 6. Sugar Mill, 7. Other outbuildings. Original map courtesy of U.S. Corps of Engineers, circa 1877.

Inset Photograph of Oak Alley Plantation pecan trees by Richard Sexton

Plantation Slaves

Records From Inventory of J. T. Roman's Estate - April 1848

TOTAL 113 SLAVES INCLUDING CHILDREN