Some of the largest and wealthiest plantations in the South are located in Louisiana. While certainly not the largest, the Goldpoint Plantation in Bossier Parish, over 1,000 acres prior to the war, was worked by dozens of slaves. Like many slaveowners, Goldpoint’s owner sent his slaves to a nearby church, the Red River Baptist Church…
Black residents of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana first learn of their freedom this day when Federal soldiers march into town with good news. The soldiers, tasked with helping with Reconstruction in the state through the Freedmen’s Bureau, remain in Shreveport for ten years.The Bureau assists former slaves in securing jobs with fair pay and obtaining…
Louisiana is in the news this day. The Union ship Kentucky leaves Shreveport late in the day with some 800 passengers aboard, many paroled Confederate soldiers, some with their families. Plying the Red River, the overloaded ship strikes a snag that rips a gash in the vessel. Two hours pass before the leak is noticed.…