Author

Second Volume
Below is a preview of chapter one of Algiers: The Untold Story of a
New Orleans Treasure. The first chapter introduces the early years of
the community and the history of African Americans within Algiers.
The photographs are from the private collection of Moses and Gloria
Bailey. All of the photos were taken by Moses Bailey and cannot be
used for any purposes without written permission.

The second volume will be published by the Reaching Out non-profit
organization. The book will be published by 2010 in time for the
Grand Opening of the new L.B. Landry High School, a multi-million
dollar state-of-the-art facility located in Algiers. The book will also be
donated to several churches, schools and libraries throughout the
New Orleans Metropolitan community.

Chapter One
Copyright 2006

Dedicated to the citizens of New Orleans who lost homes, lives,
friends and so much more … remember, the sun will rise again.

The Beginning
In the image of God, we were made
Exposed to the sun, with little shade

The hues of our skin: black and brown as a result
The content of our character, strong enough to exalt

The land we roamed was rich and pure
Clean water, fresh food, clear skies – so secure

We were born, we were loved, we were strong, we were true

We birthed traditions, formed societies, created cultures – we were
new

The lyrical tones that flowed from the tips of our lips
Became languages with profound phrases that grew into songs to
move our hips

Colors of the plains, colors of the mountains, colors of the sky, colors
of sea

We used them all to weave fabric that draped our bodies gracefully

We were made in the image of God
To soar, to shine, to enjoy His fruits

We were chained in the image of Man
To fulfill the lusts of flesh-driven pursuits

The Arrival
They came in chains: some dressed in rags, some not dressed at all.
Their tasks were monumental, yet no one bothered to give them their
job descriptions. With one glance at the vast landscape that lay
before them, it was easy to see that this land was unyielding, wild and
rebellious. With pockets of swamps, lakes and unlivable territory, it
was hard for any man, even one with the wildest of imaginations, to
picture a future where this swampy, hot and diseased land would
transform into a flourishing French province. It was hard for the
explorers to imagine it and even harder for the foreign laborers
shackled by hands and feet to understand. All men, both slave and
free, who dared to conquer this often flooded and undeveloped
territory held the fear of disappointment and failure secretly within
their hearts. Neither overseer nor slave would dare to express the
horror in knowing that the task at hand could prove to be
insurmountable. Yet the free man had the advantage.

With resources in abundance from plantation companies and slaves
imported from as close as the West Indies and as far as the shores of
Africa, the free man could dream longer and more intense than those
belabored with accomplishing the goals of 18th century developers.
And, like many of their ambitious Navy counterparts, men like Jean
Baptiste LeMoyne Sieur de Bienville dreamed so long and so intense
that he became successor to his brother, Pierre LeMoyne Sieur de
Iberville as one of the greatest midshipman in the Royal Navy. Iberville
and Bienville were masterful seaman who had conquered and
established several territories including Mobile, Dauphin Island and
Biloxi. Bienville established New Orleans in 1718 with the hopes that
the City would be a prosperous port town for shipman en route to
other lands via the Gulf of Mexico. His intuition proved to reap great
rewards, but not without sacrifice and economic hardship. With his
founding of New Orleans, Bienville was granted the west bank portion
of the City separated by the Mississippi River and the property would
later become known as Algiers.

What's in a Name
How Algiers got its name remains a mystery. Some historians recall
accounts documented by explorers who compared the quaint territory
to the capital of the African nation Algeria due to its large population
of slaves, hence the name: Algiers. Whatever the origin of the name,
slaves occupied and worked on the land for companies like the King’
s Plantation, the Company of the West and the Company of the
Indies. Skillful slave laborers were sold in Algiers and they proved to
be masters in agriculture. Many slaves produced crops such as rice,
corn and indigo. The commodities were said to be in so much
abundance that the surplus was often exported to other territories
including Pensacola, Florida.

The Black Code
Like many colonies in the early years of the United States, slave
populations were growing and in some parts of the country, slaves
outnumbered those of European settlers. To be overpopulated with
slaves produced fear among French rulers whose plans included
assisting settlers with becoming citizens of a new land. To help
dissipate those fears, in 1724, Bienville developed “Code Noir,”
which is translated as the Black Code, to reassure settlers or
“subjects,” as they were sometimes called, that the French were in
control. The prelude to the code’s 28 articles informed those who
lived in remote areas with large slave populations, that should they
encounter conflicts with their human property, swift and sometimes
deadly consequences awaited the poor servants. The articles
contained in the “Black Code” outlined specific laws for governing
slaves, which included extreme punishments, lifetime slavery,
religious requirements and restricted social interactions. By decree
of the Code, all slaves were required to be instructed and baptized as
Catholics. Slaves could not own anything and all of his or her
possessions belonged to the master. Moreover, hired overseers
were required to be Catholic and should such a person be found as a
non-Catholic, their slaves could be taken away and the overseer
would be severely punished.

Slaves were allowed to marry, but at the permission of the master. If a
woman was a slave and her husband was free, then she and all of her
children would be slaves belonging to her master. If a woman was
free and her husband was a slave, then she and her children would be
free. Slaves were forbidden to marry whites nor could they maintain
concubine-like relationships with whites or free persons of color.

Slaves belonging to different masters were forbidden to congregate
and socialize with one another. Slave uprisings occurred more
frequently than most slave owners admitted and in direct opposition
to reality, many slave owners refused to paint a picture of a slave
being anything other than a willing participant in human degradation.
The truth that many feared would be made known is that slaves were
planning uprisings daily and many slaves often escaped from their
masters on a regular basis.

Congregating slaves of different masters could expect to be whipped
and or killed for the simple crime of communing with one another.
Masters were required to feed, clothe and care for their slaves in the
most humanely way possible afforded a slave during that time.
Punishment to a master was of course far more lenient and included
paying fines or having slaves taken away. No whipping or corporal
punishment was outlined in the Code in regards to masters and their
treatment of their slaves. The Code sent out a clear message to all
men, women and children involved in the development of this wild,
unyielding land with great potential. The message was that all rights
and privileges belonged to the free man and none to the slave
assigned the task of turning the dreams of ambitious settlers into a
reality.

The Battles
As France, Spain and Britain continued in their struggles for
dominance of the new land that would become the United States,
Algiers inevitably became a part of that struggle and was soon
overcome by Spain’s dominance. In 1769, Spain ruled the colony and
mandated that all property belonging to the Crown be sold. As a
result, Louis Bonrepo became the proprietor of Algiers in 1770 by
decree of the Spanish Government. Algiers and its undeveloped
cousins that included tracts of land now known as McDonoghville,
Gretna and Lower Algiers was bought and sold several times
between 1770 and 1805. Barthelemy Duverje bought the property on
August 9, 1805 for $18,000 and sold parts of it to other wealthy
developers. Duverje built his family home in 1812 at the site that is
now the Algiers Courthouse. Duverje’s efforts were clearly a spark for
economic growth that resulted in further development and the
subdividing of the property.

From 1814 to 1815 Algiers was involved in a series of battles known
as the Battle of New Orleans. Citizens of all social classes and ethnic
backgrounds combined their resources and talents to present a
united effort in the war. Louisiana was the only state in the Union to
commission African slaves, Indians (mainly Choctaws) and free men
of color to serve in the war as military personnel. Men of European,
Native American and African descent fought together, protected
homes and labored to widen canals to build defenses along them.
The effort was indeed valiant and deserving of recognition for its
cross cultural unification. However, it existed only under the auspices
of war. The victory at the Battle of New Orleans proved to be
monumental, not only for its multicultural troops, but also because in
Louisiana’s history, it ushered the state into its political incorporation
in the Union.

The Pioneers
After the war, in 1815, several property owners were listed in Algiers
with names that include, but are not limited to, Mossy, Bienvenu,
Dupuy, De la Croix, Dessales and the infamous McDonogh. John
McDonogh was a resident of the French Quarter before moving to
Algiers in 1817. McDonogh’s property was large enough to have the
parcel bear his name as the town of McDonoghville. His reputation in
the community was that of a wealthy miser who denied himself
luxuries that he could easily afford in order to save money. He later
revealed that his mission in life was to accumulate wealth for the
benefit of the poor and enslaved. In addition to his philanthropy,
McDonogh was known to treat his slaves with reverence and respect.
He empowered many of them in tasks normally assigned to
overseers and he took pride in his decision to place, “no white man
over them, as an overseer.” McDonogh described his relationships
with his slaves as endearing and compared his interactions with them
to that of close friends and confidants. Slaves who were owned by
John McDonogh were afforded opportunities to work as managers
and supervisors of other slaves. McDonogh reported in his memoirs
that he did not have the time to manage all the work tasks assigned
to the slaves, therefore, he would meet nightly with the slave deemed
as the manager or “commander” to receive a report of all daily
activities. McDonogh called his slaves businessmen who, “enjoyed
my confidence, collected my rents, leased my houses, took care of
my property and effects of every kind, and that with an honesty and
fidelity which was proof against every temptation.”

It is said that McDonogh did not sell his slaves, but rather assisted
many of them in obtaining their freedom. Once free, he helped them
to return to the African nation of Liberia. Slaves who labored for
McDonogh for fourteen and one half years would be freed with
money, clothes and other provisions needed for independent living.
The New Orleans Commercial Bulletin featured a complimentary
editorial report on the intentions of McDonogh’s liberated slaves as
they sailed to Liberia. The article described the newly freed men and
women as “educated and intelligent subjects.” The writer pointed out
that the majority of the slaves liberated by McDonogh had built
houses, participated in business transactions, rented homes and
collected rents. Readers were encouraged to imagine, “what sort of a
colony these people will constitute in their own original country.” The
free people were said to be highly skilled and qualified to establish a
great future for themselves in a land where they would no longer be
bound by “The Black Code,” but be free to live as men and women
worthy of the dignity and respect afforded the Eurpean settlers. The
last of McDonogh’s slaves received their freedom in 1859 almost
nine years after his death.

With detailed provisions outlined in his will, McDonogh had
impressively planned for his wealth to live on well beyond his lifetime.
He was a well-versed advocate for social change who had more than
enough money to fund his vision. McDonogh believed that all children
should receive a free education. In his will, he reported that the
revenue generated from his abundance of property could finance the
education of all the poor in two states: Louisiana and Maryland.
McDonogh owned property on both sides of the Mississippi River in
New Orleans with the town of McDonogh being listed as his suburban
property. In 1861, ten years after McDonogh’s death, schools were
being built to educate the City’s poor. Close to 40 schools were built
between 1861 and 1951 with funds from the McDonogh Fund, an
effort that McDonogh lived and worked to be accomplished after his
death.

Growing Up
Another pioneering property owner who purchased property from
Duverje was Andre Seguin who bought land in 1819 to establish
Algiers’ first dry dock. Seguin’s ingenuity led to Algiers’
transformation from a community solely dependent upon its
plantations to a community with a growing industrial empire. In 1837,
the first dry dock was constructed in Kentucky and transported to
Algiers. The New Orleans Floating Dry Dock Company owned and
managed the enterprise which was valued at $200,000. The
beginning of the dry dock industry ushered in a stream of docks
owned, operated and managed by men like Francois Vallette and O.I.
McLellan whose names still remain a part of the Algiers community
(Vallette Street and McLellanville also “McCliney-ville and/or
McClendon-ville”). In the 1800s, there were more than 15 docks in the
Algiers community that provided gainful and steady employment for
its residents and revenue for maritime business owners.

With the growth of the maritime industry was also the expansion of
transportation. In 1827, the Algiers Ferry was established and began
transporting passengers between Algiers, or the “right bank of the
river” to “New Orleans Proper.”

In addition to the maritime industry that began to flourish in Algiers,
was the railroad industry that developed into an enterprise that would
employ thousands of Algiers residents in its years of development.
The Railroad was established in the early 1850s and in 1853,
commissioners of Algiers approved the construction of a railroad
extending from Louisiana to Texas. Those commissioners included
noted men whose names appear on many streets in Algiers including
J. Thayer and R.B. Sumner. Thayer, Sumner and six other prominent
commissioners were instrumental in establishing the New Orleans,
Opelousas and Great Western Railroad. December 3, 1853, marked
the first excursion of the railroad which took passengers from Algiers
to a point known at the time as St. Charles. In the years following the
establishment of the railroad, rail lines were expanded and more
stops were added.

As the railroad expanded, so did the railroad yards that serviced and
maintained the trains. The yards spanned from Algiers to Gretna and
other parts of Jefferson Parish. Citizens who possessed skills often
provided services in foundries, lumber yards, offices, carpentry
shops, black-smith operations and paint shops. In addition, the
massive infrastructure required to operate the railroad, caused
Algiers to be divided in half which resulted in “Upper Algiers” or “Old
Algiers” and the “Lower Coast Algiers.” Viaducts, or small bridges,
were built over the yards to allow horse-drawn traffic and pedestrians
to cross the yards without interruption. Later, the viaducts were
expanded to allow streetcars, vehicles and buses to travel the spans.
The viaducts were located at Newton, Patterson and Eliza Streets.

To be continued ...

Minerva Simmons
circa 1940

Frances Spencer
circa 1940

Shirley Scovell
circa 1940

Identity Unknown
circa 1940

Algiers: The Untold Story
A New Orleans Neighborhood