Addressed to an historic Antebellum woman cotton plantation owner in Louisiana!

This is a circa 1840's home made envelope that was constructed by using an 8 x 10 thick, blank sheet of writing paper that was folded into an envelope. Bold and neatly addressed in ink to Mrs. Rachel O'Connor, St. Francisville, La. Written at the bottom left corner is "Brilliant" which is the name of the steamboat that carried this envelope, and whatever contents it may have once contained, quite possibly a letter from her half brother David, her frequent correspondent. Remnants of an old wax seal is visible on the reverse. Very fine condition. Extremely desirable Mississippi steamboat related item with a very interesting history from antebellum Louisiana. Circa 1840's.

Mrs. Rachael O'Connor, the recipient of this envelope, was a rather historic figure in St. Francisville, Louisiana. She became a pioneer woman planter, following the deaths of her husband, and two sons. She managed the large plantation called "Evergreen" for twenty-six years.

Rachel O'Connor wrote more than one hundred letters describing antebellum plantation life in southern Louisiana. Of the 157 surviving letters, they provide an informative glimpse into early community life, the legal status of antebellum women, and the experiences of a slave holding widow managing a large cotton plantation.

As she struggled for her plantation’s survival, Mrs. O’Connor frequently wrote to her half-brother David Weeks, and his family. Weeks, a wealthy sugar planter, owned "Shadows-on-the-Teche" in New Iberia, La. O’Connor’s letters are filled with news about the health and activities of her neighbors and family, including those of her nearest neighbors Lucretia Alston Pirrie, mistress of Oakley Plantation (now Audubon State Commemorative Area in St. Francisville), and Pirrie’s daughter Eliza.

Oakley Plantation, adjacent to the O’Connor’s land, provided a temporary home for bird and wildlife painter John James Audubon, who arrived in 1821 to tutor Eliza.

In her letters, O’Connor documents the web of social and family connections, including the marriages, births, deaths, and travels, among her neighbors.

Rachel’s correspondence also reveals the challenges women faced as plantation managers. She writes about her care of and affection for her slaves, as well as her distrust of overseers who might abuse them. In addition, she describes disease outbreaks, including yellow fever and cholera, afflicting the region and threatening the lives of her slaves. Although she used overseers and sought the advice of family members about plantation matters, Mrs. O’Connor actively engaged in the management of agricultural production on the plantation. Her correspondence provides regular reports on the plantation’s cotton production, as well as her personal labors in the vegetable and flower gardens.

Born Rachel Swayze, on March 13, 1774, near Bayou Teche, La., Mrs. O'Connor died on May 22, 1846, at her Evergreen plantation.

(Source: Rachael O'Connor, by Sara Brooks Sunberg).

Suggested reading: Rachel Swayze O'Connor. "Mistress of Evergreen Plantation: Rachel O’Connor’s Legacy of Letters, 1823-1845." Published by SUNY Press, Albany, 1984.

WBTS Trivia: The steamboat "Brilliant" ran the New Orleans to Sara Bayou trade route on the Mississippi River until she sank on September 29, 1851, when her boiler exploded causing the deaths of 47 people.

St. Francisville, Louisiana is located on the Mississippi River, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, La.