Saint-Domingue Exodus
Géricault Life
1612 Sugar Plantation… Brésil, (detail) Frans Poast, Louvre.
Théodore Géricault’s Robillard relations owned several plantations in the island colony of Saint Domingue. The largest of these belonged to Jean-Guillaume Robillard, brother of Pierre-Antoine Robillard, founder of the family tobacco concern at the Hôtel de Longueville. In 1791, rebel slaves destroyed Jean-Guillaume Robillard’s plantation and dispersed many of his slaves. The rebellion persisted and conditions in Saint Domingue continued to deteriorate. Many colonists began leaving for America and other destinations.
Jean-Guillaume Robillard composed his last will and testament on June 16th, 1794. The document was notarized July 22nd, 1794; at which time it was recorded that Sieur Robillard died the day before on July 21st, 1794.
The death of Jean-Guillaume Robillard in 1794 marked the beginning of the end for the Robillards in Saint Domingue. The death also marked a generational change in the extended Géricault family in France. Our interest in Jean-Guillaume Robillard and other Saint Domingue family members persists, however. We will continue to examine the life of Jean-Guillaume Robillard and other key figures who lived on the island colony from the latter half of the 18th century in issues to come.
The last will and testament of Jean-Guillaume Robillard opens a fascinating window into life in the island colony in 1794. The initial section of the will identifies his nephew as his executor, to whom he bequeaths his Negre Ignace, Cuissinier (chef/cook), and his Mulatre Charle, aprentis confiseur (mulatto/apprentice confectioner).
Jean-Guillaume Robillard then bequeaths to his grand-nephew: “ma Negresse Agathe who is with her mother, and le mulatre Cheri, son of ma Negresse Catau.”
To his grand-niece Zoe, Jean-Guillaume bequeaths: “ma jeune Mulatresse Sainte et Fortunée sa sœur” (my young mulatress Sainte and Fortunée her sister.)
Jean-Guillaume Robillard then asks that his horse “Mistralle be sold, along with saddle and bridle, upon his death and that the money from this sale be shared equally between his two mulattoes Alexandre and Charles Lamy.” Alexandre and Charles also inherit a piece of land, “le terrein qui j’ai acheté du mulatre Beau deux ou trois mois avant l’incendie de la Plaine (the land which I purchased from the mulato Beau two or three months before the conflagration on the Plain)” of 1791.
Jean-Guillaume concludes with a single line: “Quant à mon Brin et le reste de mes Negres il reviendra à mes héritiers suivant la loi. (As for my Brin and the rest of my Negroes, ‘all’ go to my inheritors in accordance with the law.)”
The testament of Jean-Guillaume Robillard provides important details of family life on the island in 1794. In the bequest to his grand-niece, Jean-Guillaume refers to the Stanislas plantation. The Stanislas plantation had belonged to one of Jean-Guillaume Robillard’s nephews, who had died in 1790; in 1794 the property was in the hands of the widow and her family. (I will discuss the Stanislas plantation in greater detail in coming issues.) We can assume from the testament that some of Jean-Guillaume Robillard’s slaves were placed on Robillard family plantations before or after Jean-Guillaume’s Grand Boucan plantation was destroyed in August of 1791 (See our February issue.)
My research confirms that key members of the Saint Domingue Robillard family joined their relations in Paris sometime between 1798 and 1803. We need to recall that Pierre-Antoine Robillard and Jean-Guillaume Robillard were brothers. Pierre Antoine Robillard was the de facto family patriarch at this time, and played a key role in family affairs in Rouen, Dieppe and Saint Domingue. His grandniece arrived in Paris from Saint Domingue first with her parents, via New York, around the same time as the Géricault family moved from Rouen into the family apartment on the rue de l’Université. His grand-nephew followed several years later with his mother, via Jamaica. We do not know whether the island girls Sainte and Fortunée traveled from Saint Domingue to Paris; or if Agathe and Cheri made the same trip from Saint Domingue some years later.
I can confirm, however, that the Saint Domingue Robillards had an immense impact on the family in Paris. The presence of the Saint Domingue Robillards and their activities in Paris affected the family as a whole, and played a critical part in Théodore Géricault’s decision to become a professional artist.