Louis in the Louisiana records

A baptismal sponsor

Louis Wagenspach appears as sponsor at Marie Josephe Klomp’s baptism on 15 January 1753. The association is valuable, but sponsorship by itself does not establish kinship.

Evidence:

A marriage witness

A Louis Wagenspach witnesses Gaspard Dore and Anne Margueritte Greber’s marriage on 10 January 1755. The record names no parents or wife for Louis. Identification with the inherited ancestor remains qualified.

Evidence:

Follow the network

Joseph and Barbe’s documented children and the Klomp household offer a network to investigate. The network does not yet supply the missing statement that Louis was their son.

Evidence:

Catherine was the woman sold, not the widow

Conrad’s printed 1974 abstracts, page 105, No. 545, record an unnamed widow Louis Vaquespacq selling Catherine, aged 40, to Pierre Rieux for 550 piastres on March 30, 1783. Catherine’s age and recorded origin describe the enslaved woman. An adjacent entry records Rieux granting freedom to a Catherine that day, before the same witnesses. The possible connection needs the underlying acts. Hall’s separate extraction differs in day, document number and buyer spelling; those disagreements remain unresolved.

Evidence: E286

INSPECT THE EVIDENCE

The recovered original pages

Printed 1783 abstracts · full-size image ↗