Ascension Parish lies in the fertile “sugar belt” of southeastern Louisiana and abounds with historical significance. Its parish seat, Donaldsonville, which lies at the confluence of the Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche, had one of the most sizable communities of free people of color outside of New Orleans. 

Pierre Landry, who went by “Caliste” before the Civil War, was born enslaved in 1841 on the plantation of Dr. François-Marie Prévost in Ascension Parish. While enslaved, he managed to operate a small business and received a decent education from neighboring free people of color. He entered politics after the Civil War, with his most noteworthy achievement being his election as mayor of Donaldsonville in April 1868, thus becoming the first mayor of color in the United States. He later went on to work for nearly a half-decade as an educator and clergyman. When Pierre Caliste Landry set out to record the trials and accomplishments of his life, he named his work simply, “Always Wanted Cooperation.” Indeed, Landry’s accomplishments during his time in slavery and as a free man were made because of his ability to cooperate. During Reconstruction, his “politics of cooperation” would cause more ‘Radical’ members of his own Republican party to seek his life. Later, he credited the saving of his life to his friend and fellow Ascension Parish resident, Louis Lefort.

Louis Lefort, f.m.c. (1837-1902)

Louis Lefort was born in Donaldsonville on 20 August 1837. His parents were François-Louis Lefort, a white merchant, and Rosalie-Hyacinthe, a free woman of color. Louis was baptized at Ascension Catholic Church on 7 April 1838. His godparents were Clément Boudreaux and Alexandrine Arrieux, a member of the family by which his mother had been enslaved.

Louis Lefort and his older sister, Josephine Lefort (1830-1890), were reared as free people of color in Donaldsonville, during the quarter-century leading up to the Civil War. His father speculated in real estate, buying and selling lots in Donaldsonville between the 1810s and 1840s. His earliest major purchases were from the wardens of Ascension Church, as much of what is now considered Donaldsonville was deeded to the parish church in a Spanish land grant. Between 1830 and 1831, Donaldsonville buzzed with excitement, when it was designated the state capital. François Lefort sold the land upon which the State Capitol was built to the state capitol commission. In 1843, Lefort and several other prominent men including Thomas C. Francis (the father of Gov. Francis T. Nicholls) purchased the Théâtre des Variétés in Donaldsonville.

Louis’ mother, Rosalie-Hyacinthe, was born in Louisiana in about 1808. At the age of 10, she was inventoried as part of the estate of Pierre Arrieux. She remained with the Arrieux family, led by his widow, Antoinette Barbet Arrieux, until the Widow Arrieux died in 1834. The Widow Arrieux granted Hyacinthe her freedom in her will, and on 4 July 1837, she was freed by her testamentary executor, Jerome Dugas, in an act passed before Judge John H. Ilsley. The witnesses were Louis Bourdier and Hyacinthe’s partner, François Lefort. Six years after her manumission, on 4 November 1843, Hyacinthe purchased a piece of land on Attakapas Street in Donaldsonville from Mary Conway Maurin, the wife of Antoine Maurin and the mother of Victor Maurin. The price of the property was $300.00. The witnesses to the transaction were Urmas Randall and François Lefort. Eighteen months later, on 14 June 1845, she received outright possession of the property. The witnesses at that time were Victor Maurin and again, her partner, François Lefort.

Louis Lefort learned the painting trade under the mentorship of Joseph Arnaud, another free man of color. Arnaud was married to Marie-Justine Hector, who like Lefort’s mother, was a former slave of the Arrieux family. Arnaud served as a caregiver to many of the prominent local families during times of illness. He also served as sexton of the Ascension Church and Cemetery for over fifty years. He instructed many children of color, enslaved and free, in their catechism, including Pierre Caliste Landry and, likely Louis Lefort. Lefort later participated in efforts to raise funds for the colored Catholic school at Donaldsonville, which was begun by the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1885. 

Lefort purchased his mother’s property on Attakapas Street from her on 23 July 1860. Just short of a year later, he married Clara Claiborne on 9 June 1861 at Ascension Church. He and Clara had one daughter, Hyacinthe-Louise (named for his mother) who was born in late 1861 or early 1862. The Civil War began in April 1861 with the firing on Fort Sumter and men across the South began organizing military units. The Donaldsonville Canonniers (or Donaldsonville Artillery as they were called during the War) were organized in 1837, the year of Lefort’s birth, and were composed of sons of Creole, Acadian, and Islenos families. As one of the state’s oldest and best organized units, the Canonniers rallied under the leadership of Captain Victor Maurin and by the first of May, they were in New Orleans awaiting transport to the battlefront in Virginia. Lefort went off to war with the Canonniers as a body servant or valet to Captain Victor Maurin. Five other free men of color – Frederick Conway, Prosper Conway, John Barré, ‘Lanlee’ Barré, and Sosthène Braud – served as the company’s band. Lefort served with the Canonniers throughout the War, including at Gettysburg, and was paroled with them at Appomattox Court House, Virginia in April 1865. Louis returned from the Civil War to discover that his wife, Clara, had given birth to a son. Obviously, Louis had been off in battle for several years, and was not the father. Judge William C. Lawes, whom Pierre Landry described as “the guardian of the free men of color in Ascension Parish,” handled his divorce proceedings. It was their “cooperation,” with leading local white men, which made Lefort and Landry anathema to the Radical Republicans. He was married civilly to Ophelia Fobb on 3 December 1867, and was later married in the Church on 10 December 1871. After Ophelia Fobb Lefort’s death, Lefort married Elizabeth Therence on 5 September 1876. They were married in the Church a few months later on 7 March 1877. Between his three marriages, Lefort was the father of eighteen children. 

Lefort, like Landry, his father-in-law Frederick Fobb, and several former free men of color took an active interest in local politics during Reconstruction. He was elected Sheriff of Ascension Parish in 1870, Supervisor of Voter Registration in 1877, and President pro tem of the Ascension Parish Police Jury in 1878. He was named United States Postmaster of Donaldsonville on 31 October 1881. When Lefort’s term as postmaster expired on 15 February 1886, The Donaldsonville Chief of 20 February 1886 reported:

“Under his administration the affairs of the important office have been conducted in a manner highly satisfactory to the public and creditable in the greatest degree to the officer himself. Assuming the position under circumstances that lead many of his political opponents to regard the appointment with dislike and to predict for him an unsatisfactory official career, he has so comported himself as to win confidence of the public and the government and the respect, if not the good will, of those who were most inimical to him at the outset of his term of service. Mr. Lefort retires with a clean balance sheet and has faithfully accounted for all the money and property passing through his hands during the last four years, aggregating in value many thousands of dollars annually.”

Louis Lefort saved the life of Pierre Caliste Landry during the violent incident surrounding the contested election of November 1870 in Donaldsonville. With Lefort’s help and that of several other leading Black men, Landry led a so-called ‘conservative’ faction which extended a hand to the moderate white population and formed a coalition in opposition to the Radical Republicans. The Radical faction included more than a few corrupt carpetbaggers, who were considered repulsive “foreigners” by the natives, and the office-greedy local leaders who cooperated with them. These Radicals sought the life of Pierre Landry. Louis Lefort arranged for him to be hidden in the homes of various veterans of the Donaldsonville Canonniers. The fact they were willing to hide Landry at Lefort’s request shows something of the esteem in which he was held. According to a subsequent newspaper account, during the 1870 Incident, Lefort was arrested and sentenced to be shot on the town square. Lefort stood unflinchingly before the firing squad before the militia’s firing squad and opened his shirt front as if daring them to fire. His bravery impressed the militiamen, who refused to fire.

An obituary for Louis Lefort, published in The Daily Picayune, 3 November 1902.

The Donaldsonville Market, situated in Crescent Park, was a bustling center for trade and commerce in town. Spaces in the public market were auctioned each year by the city government. After ending his years in elected office, Lefort ran a café in the market until his death in 1902. His ability to “cooperate” enabled him to become a popular and generous local figure, giving money to families in need. Lefort sold coffee, breakfast, and lunch. He was described as a “noted chef,” who “could prepare the best of Creoles dishes.” His wife, Ophelia, and daughter, Tulip (Lefort) Jackson, helped him run the café. After his death, his children Paul, Charles, Louis, Jr., and Jeanne-Aurora continued the business.

On Sunday, November 2, 1902 while conversing with passersby during a stroll on the levee, Lefort had a stroke and collapsed to the ground. He was brought to a nearby bench and afterwards carried to his home, where he died, despite the efforts of Dr. E. K. Sims to administer to him. Lefort was buried with military honors by the members of United Confederate Veterans Camp No. 38 and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. His eulogy was preached by Father Massardier of Ascension Church. He was interred in Section 1, Row 1 of Ascension Catholic Cemetery.

When Louis Lefort died, Cyrille Armand Gaudin, a local chronicler of historic events, made the following short but highly complimentary entry in his journal:

“1902, Nov. 2, Sun. died Louis Lefort, col’d. Confederate. A member of the Donaldsonville Canonniers War of ’61 to ’65. Age 65 years old. Best Citizen of Ascension Parish, La.”

Lefort Plot in Ascension Catholic Cemetery

Sources: “Donaldsonville,” The Daily Picayune, 4 November 1902, p. 14, col. 5; “Necrology: Louis Lefort,” The Daily Picayune, 3 November 1902, p. 11, col. 4; “Louis Lefort (Colored), Donaldsonville,” The Times-Democrat, 4 November 1902, p. 7, col. 5; “Change of Postmasters,” The Donaldsonville Chief, 20 February 1886, p. 3, col. 3; “Joseph Arnaud, Sr.,” The Donaldsonville Chief, 5 November 1881, p. 3, col. 2; “Cyrile Armand Gaudin Journal,” L’Hermitage: Journal of the East Ascension Genealogical Society 22:1 (1999); Michael Marshall, Gallant Creoles: A History of the Donaldsonville Canonniers (Lafayette: University of Louisiana Press, 2013), 16-17, 29; James D. Wilson Jr., “The Donaldsonville Incident of 1870: A Story of Local Party Dissension and Republican Infighting in Reconstruction Louisiana,” Louisiana History 38.3 (1997): 329-345; Pierre Landry, “Always Wanted Cooperation,” (unpublished autobiography), Dunn-Landry Family Papers (Mss. 138), Box 4, Amistad Research Center, New Orleans; Ancestry, Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 April 2023), memorial 154894883, Louis Lefort, Ascension Catholic Cemetery, Donaldsonville, Louisiana; grave marker photograph by Louise (contributor 47609295); Portrait of Louis Lefort is on display in the River Road African American Museum at Donaldsonville, a gift of the Lefort Family. 

Jari C. Honora

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