Manuscript Resources on The Sugar Industry

Tower, Luther Field. Diary, 1845-1846. 2 vols. Location: H:20. Clerk for a New Orleans. La., cotton exchange. Diary provides a daily account of local weather conditions in New Orleans, the arrival and departure of cargo ships, cotton and sugar prices, the cotton trade, local military and political celebrations, Tower's attendance at Protestant church services, concerts and opera performances, and prominent visitors to New Orleans. Entries for November and December of 1845 describe the trial of Dr. W.A. Scott, minister of the First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans. Entries also note the progress of the Mexican War and the funeral of U.S. President Andrew Jackson. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 765.

Trinity Plantation. Records, 1903-1913. 3 ms. vols. Location: L:6. Sugar plantation near Rosedale, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Journals and ledger record expenses and creditors. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2653.

Tucker Brothers. Mortgage, 1861. 1 item. Location: Misc.: T. George Washington Tucker joined with Paschal E. Tucker and Sarah L. Tucker Douglas to form a copartnership in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, on Dec. 17, 1859. This mortgage on a sugar plantation in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, includes all plantation property and buildings, including fifty-five slaves who are listed by name and age.  Mss. 5254.

Turnbull, Daniel Family Papers, 1803-1913. (bulk 1832-1871). 74 items. Location: C:96. Daniel Turnbull was a sugar and cotton planter and founder of Rosedown Plantation in West Feliciana Parish. The collection contains correspondence, legal papers, and financial records of the Turnbull family, including Turnbull's daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and James P. Bowman, and concern the operation of family plantations Rosedown and Bayou Grosse Tete, as well as to the family's experiences during the Civil War, the destruction of DeSoto Plantation, and Turnbull's war claims. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4973.

Turnbull-Allain Family Papers, 1784-1941 (bulk 1820-1890). 15 linear ft. Location: C:98-112, OS:T, 99:T. The Turnbull and Allain families were cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana, West Baton Rouge, and Iberville parishes, Louisiana. Papers include correspondence, legal and financial documents, and plantation records. Included are a large number of Braille writings of Helene Allain, some written while she studied and taught at the Louisiana Institute for the Blind in Baton Rouge. Plantation papers include lists of slaves and laborers. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 19-34. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4261.

Turnbull-Bowman family. Papers, 1771-1956 (bulk 1795-1910). 8 microfilm reels; 5.5 linear ft. Location: MSS.MF:T; X:19-23; OS:T. The Turnbull and Bowman families were cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Financial papers, correspondence, legal documents, personal papers, sheet music, printed items, and photographs of members of the Turnbull and Bowman families, cotton and sugar planters of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Some papers of the related Pirrie and Gray families are included. Early documents reflect involvement of members of the Turnbull family in the fur trade in colonial Louisiana. Most papers reflect planting activities. Papers also include the sermons of William R. Bowman (1800-1835), rector of Grace Episcopal Church in St. Francisville. Some items in Spanish and French. Mss. 4452.

Turnbull-Bowman-Lyons Family Papers, 1797-1955 (bulk 1820-1910). 3.5 linear ft. Location: C:113-115, OS:T. Sugar and cotton planters with properties in West Feliciana Parish, Iberville Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Correspondence, plantation management papers, financial papers, legal documents, personal papers, and printed and graphic materials documenting the lives of members of the Turnbull, Pirrie, Lyons, Bowman, Barrow, Stirling, and Fort families. Correspondence discusses plantation, slave, financial, and social matters, and includes antebellum letters. Available on microfilm 5322: University Publications of America Records of Ante-bellum Southern Plantations Series I, Part 4, Reels 34-38. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4026.

Uncle Sam Plantation papers, 1805-1914 (bulk 1880-1911). 12.5 linear feet, 183 volumes, 6 microfilm reels. Location: UU:217-228, P:11-13, OS:U, MSS.MF:U. Plantation built by Samuel Fagot of St. James Parish, Louisiana, in the 1840s; it produced sugar cane and was known as Constancia Plantation prior to 1864. The plantation store operated circa 1875-1914. Collection includes business records, correspondence, slave and free labor records, and plantation store records and scrip. Later papers include payroll accounts and labor statistics for Cypress Knee Plantation. Some correspondence in French. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 408, 602, 1252.

Viosca, Percy, Jr. Photograph collection, circa 1920-1960. 904 black and white negatives; 782 gelatin silver prints; 259 resin coated paper prints. Location: 145:56-57. While employed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Percy Viosca documented the coastal Louisiana landscape between 1921 and 1932. He traveled the state for his work that included mosquito control; riparian and marshland studies; flood control; taxonomic work with native Louisiana irises, newts, and snakes; culture of crawfish; and environmental impact of oil refinery practices. The images in this collection document locations on or near the Louisiana coast and a few sites inland. All images refer to water quality, water control, or environmental conditions affecting water quality. Mss. 4948.

Wailes, Levin, 1768-1847, Letter, 1812 Feb. 25. 1 item. Location: Misc.:W. Register of the Land Office of the United States, Territory of Orleans (1810-1822). Letter to U.S. Representative William W. Bibb [Georgia], written from Opelousas, Louisiana, discusses an inexpensive and successful method of raising and processing sugar then being employed in the Bayou Teche-Attakapas region of Louisiana. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2946.