Alex Plicque

By Ira Mountford

Name of interviewee: Alexander Hilarien Plicque

Age at emancipation: N/A

’Race’: Mulatto

Year of interview: 1940

Place of interview: 920 Austerlitz St, New Orleans

State of interview: Louisiana

Place of enslavement N/A

Address of interviewee 920 Austerlitz St, New Orleans

‘Occupation’: Domestic, Carpenter

‘Occupation’ of mother: Homemaker

‘Occupation’ of father: Carpenter

Name of interviewer: Zoe Posey

Race of interviewer: White

Is this included in Rawick’s supplement series?: No

Is there evidence of editing: No

Alexander Hllarien Plicque was born on 21st October 1859 in New Orleans, he was the fourth eldest out of his seven siblings and was the child of Louis Adolphe and Henriette Amenaide Plicque. His parents were also both born in Louisiana and father was a carpenter by trade. Plicque’s family owned the home he grew up in, located 448 Carondelet street, which at the time of the 1870 federal census had the real estate value of $5000, ($100,000 in 2021 adjusted for inflation) making the Plicque family significantly wealthy for the time.

Plicque regards himself and his family as being French Creole, which means he is a mix of French colonial and Black African descent. Plicque and his immediate family were never enslaved, therefore making him a free black man in Louisiana. Throughout Plicque’s multiple interviews the theme of skin colour pigment is very prevalent, this due to the nature of his light skin and how this impacted his life. The interviewer Zoe Posey preludes her interview by questioning his race and suggests he resembles “a sun browned son of the toil” over a black man. The ambiguousness of Plicque’s race is further shown with government records, the earliest recording of him , age 11, is with his family in the 1870 United States Federal Census, where they are mistakenly labelled under the family name of “Plick”. In this record the whole family’s race has been recorded as “White”, it is unknown if this recording was a mistake similar to the surname or if it was an intentional move by the family in order to gain the social advantages of being recognised as white. Plicque within his interview identifies the significance of mixed-race individuals “passing as white” and further outlines an example of a baby being recorded as black which lead to issues at city hall. Ten years later however, in the 1880 Census the Plicque family, is recorded as the “Plague” family and are all identified as being “Mulatto”, unfortunately there is no evidence for the context of this change.

Plicque and his siblings were all educated and there is evidence of the Plicque name within a Straight University record catalogue in 1871. (Straight university was a predominately black University now known as Dillard) It is unlikely Alex Plicque himself attended the University, as at the time record was taken he was only twelve years old, however it is likely that he attended a School linked to the university. In his late teenage years, he delivered mail around New Orleans, a job he was able to get due to his educational background. At age nineteen Plicque followed his father’s trade and became a Carpenter, which continued to be his career for the rest of his life.

Plicque lived with his family on Carondelet street until 1880, when on the 6th of November he married Mississippi born Rossetter Reed, and moved to 3917 Barrone street where he lived for over forty years. Census records show in this time on occasion his extended family such as nephews and nieces also lived with him. In 1922, Plicques daughter Marie was born, then two years later he had his son Jacob Alexander . Shortly after this in 1925 Plicque moved to Austerlitz street , the house where the interviews took place.

Plicques heritage is significant throughout as he claims his maternal grandfather was the son of Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, descended from kings. The Ancestory.com Plicque family tree shows that Alexander’s fathers’ mother was the illegitimate child of free black woman Eulalie Bacchus and Alexandre Félix Philippe Ducloslange. This is further evidenced on page seven of the 1821 will of Philip Du Closange which states that when he dies that “ the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, with payment of regular interest to Eulalie Bacchus ... in case the death of the said Eulalie money will go to the illegitimate children had by me”1. It is difficult to exactly identify Phillip Du Closange as being the Duke of Orleans as his heritage is not outlined on Ancestry.com and there is insufficient information about the Du Closange family name. However, his will indicates, due to the amount of wealth that he had, that he was a significant social figure within New Orleans. This therefore partly confirms Plicques claim and suggests he is an illegitimate descendent of presumably French nobility, this could partly be an explanation for why his family was so wealthy when he was a child.

Plicque in his interviews has significant insight into New Orleans life, he is able to provide a first-hand account of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau, who Plicque occasionally came into contact with when he was a mail carrier. Extensive works have been written about Laveau such as Martha Wards “Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveaui” which details her practices and discusses her influence within New Orleans. Plicque also references Quadroon Balls, these were balls in which Quadroons (women that were either one quarter or one-half mixed race) would attend in order to form liaisons with wealthy white men. The balls are now considered to be a myth, as there is almost no evidence of their existence. However, Plicque in his interview is certain that they happened. Plicque seemingly enjoyed his interview and was happy to share his positive narrative experience of New Orleans life, he looks back fondly and, in some cases, suggests life was better back then. This however typical of an old man reminiscing about his life, is unusual in context of living through times of extreme racial inequality. This could be due to Zoe Posey, who notably from other WPA interviews seemingly has a racist agenda, and is attempting to create her own narrative around what Plicque says. This could be done by downplaying the negative aspects of Plicque’s interviews, such as him witnessing the harsh realities of the enslaved people, which he does refer to, in order for Posey to present a more positive experience of black individuals living in Louisiana. However, this may not be the case and it may be that Plicque’s own unique experience of being born light skinned, into a relatively wealthy family, given educational opportunities and being able to follow his father’s trade allowed for an overall much more positive life.

Bibliography

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/32634707:7163?tid=&pid=&queryId=6cdad77a8bdff87f4c53e2e20f3868d7&_phsrc=Fbi81&_phstart=successSource (acsessed 18/03/2021)Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/9148868:6742?tid=&pid=&queryId=6cdad77a8bdff87f4c53e2e20f3868d7&_phsrc=Fbi82&_phstart=successSource (accessed 16/03/2021)Ancestry.com. U.S., School Catalogs, 1765-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/9148868:6742?tid=&pid=&queryId=6cdad77a8bdff87f4c53e2e20f3868d7&_phsrc=Fbi82&_phstart=successSource (accessed 18/03/2021)Ancestry.com.Plicque Family Tree. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/13465553?cfpid=-65369995&dtid=100 (accessed 18/03/2021) Louisiana Works Progress Administration (WPA), Will of Philippe Du Closlange of New Orleans in 1821, Page 7, https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/state-lwp%3A7167 (accessed 18/03/2021)Ward, Martha, Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau, (University Press Of Mississippi, 2004)Picture of Alexander Plicque Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166290840/jacob-alexander-plicque/photo (accessed 18/03/2021)