Jean Baptiste Riche: Served as a translator for two women from the Tunica nation, Francoise and Madelaine who were witnesses to events about the revolt of slaves against their masters.

Francoise, of the Tunica Nation:

Testimony taken 4/27/1795. She said, that while she was at the swamp where many of the widow Lacour’s slaves worked, she heard, Cesar (owned by Mr. Frederic Leonard), say that there was an “order to make the freedom of the slaves publicly known, however since the commandant wasn’t going to tell the slaves, they had decided to take their freedom by force, killing “all of the white men, old women, and children” (6). The slaves would then keep only the young women “whom they wanted to have serve them” (7).

She said that the leaders of the revolt were as follows: Antoine, Jacob, Philipe (slave of widow Lacour), Anis and Jean-Louis (slaves of widow Barron), Grand Joseph (slave of Mr. Colin Lacour) and Antoine Sarrasin (the mullato slave of Mr. Poydras) (7). Cesar said that the slaves from these three plantations would be enough to kill all of the whites at the Point Coupee post.

Confirmation of this “order” about their freedom was to be confirmed by Philipe Manchot, but since he never returned to speak with them, they decided to move forward with the plot anyway. They would start by setting fire to Mr. Poydras’ camp, after stealing all of the guns, gunpowder and bullets.

Testimony taken 5/6/1795. Again, Francoise of the Tunica nation was summoned to speak again through interpreters to tell the truth about what she heard about the slave plot. Her testimony was the same as before, however it changed slightly.

She said that:

On Friday, April 10th she was at the camp of Mr. Colin Lacour and the widow Lacour and that the blacks told them everything—that the revolt couldn’t happen on a Saturday, but it would be better to do so on a Sunday instead which would give them more time to attack the whites in the evening. She also said, that she was next to Petit Pierre’s home which he shared with his wife Madelaine, (who were both slaves of Mr. Colin Lacour). While near their cabin she heard Guillaume (slave of widow J. Pierre Le Doux) speaking with Petit Pierre inside of his home. She said Petit Pierre sounded afraid, but he claimed that he was not. It was then that Francoise went into their cabin and told them all to be quiet, because people might overhear their conversation. Immediately after this conversation, the bell rang for the slaves to go back to work.

Madelaine, of Tunica Nation

Testimony taken 4/27/1795. She said, while at the swamp (Cipriere) with her friend Francoise, she did witness the salves working, but did not hear plans of the revolt. All she could do was repeat what her friend had told her.

However, she did hear Cesar say that it would be better for the men to meet about the plot on Sunday, instead of Saturday.

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