Curious place of death: why would a person of color travel from free Massachusetts to New Orleans in 1844?

Question

Jane S. Gould Williams (1801-1844) was born in Massachusetts to a once-enslaved African American man and Wampanoag woman. She is the sister of the notable Zerviah Gould Mitchell, who wrote a book on local Indian history and it included a family genealogy. Zerviah writes in an entry for sister Jane:

"m. July 14, 1821, John Williams. She died in New Orleans, May 27, 1844. They had no children. She was remarkable for her skill in managing a horse, riding on horse-back without saddle or bridle. She was also an expert swimmer, and once when swimming in the water at Ipswich she came near losing her life, from a man who aimed his gun at her head that he mistook for a wild duck. With her husband she visited Paris and other places of note in the old world."

There are many fascinating details to unpack, but what strikes me is the death in New Orleans, a place where slavery was an integral and highly visible part of everyday life. I have yet to turn up a death record, so I don't know the cause of death, but why would a free person of color travel to New Orleans in the first place?

Perhaps Jane passed as white, but seeing pictures of her sister Zerviah and Zerviah's descendants, it doesn't seem likely. Also, I don't know much about husband John Williams other than the marriage record notes he, too, was "colored". Williams may have been a mariner, hence the ability to travel.

Massachusetts certainly was not a racial utopia in the 1840s, but New Orleans was a hotbed of slavery. Anyone have any thoughts as to why she was there or how to search for her death record?

Answer 1

I would add John Williams to her profile and follow his trail. I did find this on Family search, but only their ages and being together suggest it might be them: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-G197-P3?i=575&cc=1849782&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQVPX-2TFS

Answer 2

It wasn't unusual for a person of color to go to New Orleans, there were free and slaves, there were all kinds of reasons to go to New Orleans just as there are today.  There should be a burial record or death record for free persons, some persons of colored owned slaves.

Information on her mother and father here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181228759/phebe-rosier_gould

Answer 3

I am not an expert on this subject, but may I add that people of color and slaves had more legal rights in New Orleans - possibly due to N.O. laws established under Spanish and French control.  New Orleans was not part of the original Southern Colonies (where Industrial level Slavery was being practiced). Even though Massachusetts abolished slavery in 1787, New England and New York were infested with slave catchers, hired by Southern plantation owners to capture and return runaway slaves. There are many accounts of free blacks and people of color being unjustly captured and taken into the Deep South, and impressed into slavery.  It's obvious that Jane Gould and her husband were literate and sophisticated. My opinion is that Jane and Zerviah enjoyed more freedom and protections in New Orleans, than any of the  former 13 Colonies.

Comments

"There are many accounts of free blacks and people of color being unjustly captured and taken into the Deep South, and impressed into slavery."

Yes! That is one of the things, knowing what I know in 2022, that made me think it would be perilous for people of color to travel to New Orleans. And it makes me wonder about her cause of death. 

Thank you for the response, Christine. 

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Wayne, questions like this is one of the reasons I love genealogy. You mentioned that Jane and Zerviah visited Paris -a trip that was made by ship. Could they have sailed from Massachusetts to New Orleans  - bypassing a land route? Even that would have been risky. I recently read of abolitionist ship captains who required their black passengers  (free or fleeing slaves), to get below deck and not show themselves while the ship was in certain Southern waters.

I have a Massachusetts Revolutionary War Patriot family member who died in Natchez Mississippi, abt 1794 - while the area was still under Spanish control and before it even became a territory. I ask myself the similar question, 'what was he doing so far from home in a foreign territory?

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Christine, you’ve offered an accurate description of how different life and culture was in antebellum New Orleans - which was probably more like Paris than it was like any city in the US.  In a nutshell, it was “the” place to go before the war. Most folks took a paddle-wheeled steamboat down the Mississippi River to get there. As an aside, in 1840, New Orleans was about 58% white and about 42% free people of color.  There just weren’t that many slaves in New Orleans other than those brought there for auction. Free people of color in New Orleans owned businesses and in many cases became quite wealthy.  Many of their descendants remain in Louisiana today.  The book and subsequent movie, “Twelve Years a Slave,” is based on a true story of a free person of color who went north on business, was kidnapped, and brought to Louisiana and sold into slavery on a plantation in central Louisiana. If you were a free person of color in New Orleans, you were as safe as anyone else.  Outside of New Orleans, it was a completely different story.

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Thank you, Adele!

Answer 4

This is a bit tangential, but the book A Sea Captain's Wife by Martha Hodes has an interesting story ~ 19th century white woman from New England marries and moves to the South with her husband, who fights for the Confederacy. After he dies, she returns to New England, where she works as a laundry woman, barely surviving. She meets a black Caribbean sea captain and marries him, moving to his home island, where they live fairly comfortably. 

Fascinating story, told using family letters and diaries. Writing style is somewhat into the "dissertation turned into book" style but a good read overall.

Answer 5

It could be that she traveled by ship and died from malaria or cholera in New Orleans.

Answer 6

It might be helpful to add her husband John Williams to her profile and search for her under her married name. If you follow his trail, you might find her...

Comments

Thanks Gina. I have held off creating a profile for John Williams because all that I have for a source is the marriage record to Jane. I have yet to get a beat on his vitals or the names of other family members.

There is one 1840s death record in neighboring Charlestown, Mass., that could be this John Williams, but it doesn’t provide any other way to confirm it’s the same man other than location proximity and the same birth year as Jane Gould. Unfortunately the race of John from the death record isn’t noted.