Paternity of Mary Anderson:
As I was learning who was part was in the political scene of early St. Landry Parish, I discovered that my ancestor Francois Auguste Donato Pere lost a seat in the state senate to Thomas C. Anderson. With learning that information I became curious about Mr. Thomas C. Anderson.
He married on the 22nd day of May 1847 (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #438) in Opelousas, Louisiana to Marie Theresa Hardy, daughter of William H. Hardy and Sarah Spalding, grandparents of Louisiana’s former secretary of State Pliny D. Hardy (1859-1865).
I learned that Anderson was a wealthy planter from Virginia who in the 1860 census was worth about 100,000 in real estate which is an extremely large amount during this time. That could explain his political advantage in the Parish. In politics the one who has the most resources has an advantage over his opponents because Parishioners would be more respectable of those who have wealth.
In the 1865 newspaper article, Francois Auguste had property next to him which I found ironic that the two property neighbors would go head to head in politics. In 1868 Anderson, a democrat was elected over Francois Auguste Donato Pere as state senate.
Doing extensive research on the Donato family I found that Florentine Frilot, former wife of Dr. Raphael Emile Donato, Opelousas first licensed Black Doctor, had a daughter named Mary Anderson for a man named Eddie Anderson. Learning how Florentine’s mother Marie Louise Donato, had children for the prominent and affluent White and men of color in the Parish made me assume that this Eddie had to have had some type of status or ties to the prominent families of St. Landry Parish. I searched the census on St. Landry Parish for Eddie Anderson but only found Black men who were poor, too young or too old.
Then I found this baptismal entry of Thomas son Edwards; ANDERSON, Edward Joseph (Thomas & — HARDY) bt. 8 Dec. 1873 (GC Ch.: v. 3, p. 82). This could definitely be the Eddie I been looking for being that Eddie is a common nickname for one with the name Edward. I located Edward in the 1870 census living with his father. I found him in the 1900 and 1910 census living in Jackson County, Missouri with his wife and children. To had more reason to believe this Eddie was the father, for one he was old enough to have fathered Mary and his family was wealthy and heavily involved in politics which makes him a perfect candidate in fathering Mary Anderson. Another interesting fact is that Eddie’s paternal second cousin Mary Hardy, daughter of Pliny D. Hardy and Marianne Boulard, married Mary Anderson’s maternal second Cousin J.B.G. Donato. This could show how the illegitimate Donato women systematically hooked up with these White men of power.
When learning the occupational positions and genealogy of the people, you definitely can gain a lot of knowledge to understand how they married or associated with the families they dealt with. It took me a few years to learn the associations of families but it was years that has now benefited my judgement.
Below is a picture of Mary Anderson given to me by her granddaughter Mona Gills-Collins.
Thanks for sharing