Title: The
Notarial Acts of Louis André Martinet
Creator: Louis
André Martinet (1849-1917)
Dates:
1888-1917
Size: 2.7
Linear feet
Access: Access to originals is restricted for preservation purposes. Microfilm copy is available to registered researchers during research center’s regular hours.
Biographical Sketch:
A politician, lawyer, educator, activist,
journalist, medical doctor, and notary, Louis André Martinet played a role in
some of the seminal events of the Reconstruction Era, both in New Orleans, and
nationally.
Louis André Martinet was born on December 28, 1849 in St. Martinville, Louisiana, one of eight children of Hipolite Martinet, a Belgian carpenter, and Marie Louise Benoit, a native of Louisiana and a free woman of color. In 1882 Louis Martinet married Leona Miller, a native of New Orleans and a teacher at Southern University with whom he had two children, Marie Divonne, who died as an infant, and Leslie Louise.
Martinet and Miller divorced sometime around 1900.
While in his early twenties, from 1872 to 1875, Martinet served as a State Representative from St. Martin Parish. In 1876 Martinet graduated as part of the first class from Straight University Law School, having already passed the Louisiana Bar in 1875. His achievements in the field of law were recognized in 1957 when the Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, an organization of African-American legal professionals, was founded and named for him.
Martinet served on the Orleans Parish School Board in 1877 and was appointed by Gov. Samuel Douglas McEnery to the Board of Trustees at Southern University, which he served on from 1889 to 1897. Martinet’s political connections garnered him various political patronage jobs which he held throughout the 1880s, including Clerk in Collector of Customs Office (1882), Deputy Surveyor for Port of New Orleans (1883), and Carrier in U.S. Post Office (1885). Martinet’s varied talents also extended into medicine, and he received a medical degree from Flint Medical College in New Orleans in the 1890s, although the exact date is uncertain
Martinet began his notarial practice in 1888 and operated it until his death in 1917. Throughout the early years of his practice, Martinet was also a key figure in the civil rights activities surrounding the end of Reconstruction. In 1889 Martinet began publishing The Crusader, a first weekly then daily paper chronicling the struggle for civil rights. In 1891 Martinet was a founding member of the Comité des Citoyens (Citizens’ Committee). The Comité des Citoyens, comprised of prominent people of color in New Orleans, sought to end the encroaching practice of racial segregation in the south by challenging the practice in the courts. Martinet was a key figure in this challenge, and played a large role in the orchestrated act of Homer Plessy’s arrest for violating the Separate Car Act, an act that resulted in the landmark Plessy vs. Ferguson case, the prolonged legal battle which ultimately led to the 1896 Supreme Court decision legalizing the separate but equal doctrine. For several years Martinet’s political, journalistic, and notarial lives existed side by side. Indeed, The Crusader was published out of Martinet’s notarial office, and the Comité des Citoyens’ fight against the Separate Car Act received donations from organizations that used Martinet’s notarial service.
Sources:
Bethea, Judy. “Louis André Martinet: A Creole Gadfly." Unpublished.
Desdunes, Rodolphe Lucien. Our People and Our History: Fifty Creole Portraits. Translated and Edited by Sister Dorothea McCants. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973.
Nils R. Douglas Papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University.
Medley, Keith Weldon. We as Freemen: Plessy vs. Ferguson. Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing, 2003.
Medley, Keith Weldon. “The Sad Story of How ‘Separate but Equal’ was Born.” Smithsonian, February 1994, 104.
A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Ten Year Supplement 1988-1998. Edited by Carl A. Brasseaux and James D. Wilson. Jr. Lafayette, La.: The Louisiana Historical Association, 1999.
Charles B. Rousseve Papers, Amistad Research Center at Tulane University.
Scott, Rebecca. “Public Rights and Public Standing: Louis Martinet, Plessy V. Ferguson and Access to Law,” Unpublished.
Vincent, Charles. Black Legislators in Louisiana During Reconstruction. Baton Rouge, La: LSU Press, 1976.
Scope
and Contents:
The Notarial Acts of Louis A. Martinet are held in
8 volumes, dating from March 1888 to January 1917 and bound in volumes
chronologically. The majority of the acts are related to property, including
sale of property and mortgage acts. Approximately one quarter of the acts are
acts of incorporation for benevolent and mutual aid societies. Other acts
include family meetings, last will and testaments, inventory of succession and
power of attorney or procuration. Four of the acts are written in French.
Description:
I. VOL. 1 March 1888 – December 1892
II. VOL. 2 January 1893 – December 1895
III. VOL. 3 January 1896 – December 1900
IV. VOL. 4 January 1901 – November 1904
V. VOL. 5 February 1905 – December 1907
VI. VOL. 6 January 1908 – November 1911
VII. VOL. 7 January 1912 – December 1914
VIII. VOL. 8 January 1915 – January 1917
|
Acts of Incorporation |
|||||
| Organization | Date of Act | Volume | Act # | Year | Variation |
|
Mutual Aid Society La Prevoyance (Société d'Assistance Mutuelle La Prevoyance) |
11/18/1889 |
1 |
3 |
1889 |
|
|
Sir Knights of the Golden Rule Literary, Athletic and Gymnastic Club |
8/7/1890 |
1 |
5 |
1890 |
|
|
"La Dignité" Société d' Assistance Mutuelle |
10/3/1890 |
1 |
6 |
1890 |
Act written in French |
|
Afro-American Real Estate Association |
11/24/1890 |
1 |
10 |
1890 |
|
|
Benjamin Harrison Literary and Social Club |
2/20/1891 |
1 |
1 |
1891 |
|
|
La Concorde Mutual Aid Association |
4/17/1891 |
1 |
7 |
1891 |
|
|
Young Female Benevolent Association of Louisiana Number One |
4/25/1891 |
1 |
8 |
1891 |
|
|
Undertakers Cooperative Copartnership |
5/14/1891 |
1 |
10 |
1891 |
Dissolution of Co-partnership |
|
Peoples Aid Association |
6/6/1891 |
1 |
12 |
1891 |
|
|
Mutual Cooperative and Investment Company Limited |
9/7/1891 |
1 |
16 |
1891 |
|
|
Golden Gate Athletic Club |
9/28/1891 |
1 |
19 |
1891 |
|
|
Determination Protective Association |
10/10/1891 |
1 |
20 |
1891 |
|
|
Sons of Orleans |
10/24/1891 |
1 |
23 |
1891 |
|
|
Progressive Mutual Aid and Endowment Association |
11/7/1891 |
1 |
24 |
1891 |
|
|
Servicemen Benevolent Association of Louisiana |
12/9/1891 |
1 |
27 |
1891 |
Amendments to Charter |
|
Assistance of Calvary Benevolent Association |
3/25/1892 |
1 |
2 |
1892 |
|
|
New South Relief Association |
5/6/1892 |
1 |
6 |
1892 |
|
|
Young Friends of Honor Benevolent Association |
9/5/1892 |
1 |
18 |
1892 |
|
|
United Working Brothers Club |
10/20/1892 |
1 |
22 |
1892 |
|
|
Crescent Mutual Benevolent Association |
10/21/1892 |
1 |
23 |
1892 |
|
|
Ladies Co-operative Mutual Aid Association |
1/24/1893 |
2 |
6 |
1893 |
|
|
Ladies St. Remy Benevolent Association |
3/14/1893 |
2 |
7 |
1893 |
|
|
Ladies' and Gentlemen's Perseverance Benevolent Association |
3/25/1893 |
2 |
8 |
1893 |
|
|
Louisiana Co-operative Association Limited |
9/19/1893 |
2 |
13 |
1893 |
|
|
Ladies Excelsior Mutual Aid Association |
9/26/1893 |
2 |
14 |
1893 |
|
|
Laboring Men Accidental Aid Association |
8/1/1890 |
1 |
4 |
1890 |
|
|
American Mercantile Company, Limited |
10/5/1893 |
2 |
15 |
1893 |
|
|
Louisiana Emigration, Land and Improvement Company, Limited |
11/8/1893 |
2 |
18 |
1893 |
|
|
Young Mens United Investment, Enterprising and Workers Club, Company, Limited |
1/20/1894 |
2 |
1 |
1894 |
|
|
Les Amis de L'aveuir Société d'Assistance Mutuelle |
3/8/1894 |
2 |
9 |
1894 |
|
|
Ladies Laboring Benevolent Association Number One |
3/22/1894 |
2 |
10 |
1894 |
|
|
Young Friends of Charity Benevolent Association |
3/21/1894 |
2 |
15 |
1894 |
|
|
Old Folks African Methodist Episcopal Home Association |
5/7/1894 |
2 |
17 |
1894 |
|
|
Lilly of the Valley Council Number 3 |
7/24/1894 |
2 |
22 |
1894 |
|
|
Adequate Installment Benevolent Company |
7/ 31/1894 |
2 |
23 |
1894 |
|
|
Saint Matthew Methodist Episcopal Church |
8/ 10/1894 |
2 |
25 |
1894 |
|
|
Ladies of Good Shepherd Mutual Benevolent Association |
8/11/1894 |
2 |
26 |
1894 |
|
|
Screwmen's Benevolent Association of Louisiana |
8/20/1894 |
2 |
30 |
1894 |
Amendments to Act of Incorporation |
|
First Street Methodist Episcopal Church |
8/ 24/1894 |
2 |
31 |
1894 |
|
|
Central Congregational Church |
11/23/1894 |
2 |
38 |
1894 |
|
|
Winans Chapel Home Mission Benevolent Society |
12/4/1894 |
2 |
40 |
1894 |
|
|
Young Men's Mutual Protective Benevolent Association |
12/6/1894 |
2 |
41 |
1894 |
|
|
Lafon Old Folks Home of the Methodist Episcopal Church |
1/29/1895 |
2 |
3 |
1895 |
|
|
Cosmopolitan Mutual Aid Association New Orleans |
4/25/1895 |
2 |
7 |
1895 |
|
|
Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias of the State of Louisiana |
5/ 10/1895 |
2 |
8 |
1895 |
|
|
Ladies of Peace Relief Association |
6/4/1895 |
2 |
11 |
1895 |
|
|
First District Baptist Association of the State of Louisiana |
7/ 5/1895 |
2 |
15 |
1895 |
|
|
Baptist Ministers Aid Society of the State of Louisiana |
3/ 2/1896 |
3 |
6 |
1896 |
|
|
District Grand Lodge No. 21 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows of the State of Louisiana |
3/21/1896 |
3 |
9 |
1896 |
|
|
Cotton Yard Mens' Business League Company, Limited |
5/26/1896 |
3 |
14 |
1896 |
|
|
Milneberg Benevolent Association |
7/21/1896 |
3 |
15 |
1896 |
|
|
People's Benevolent Society |
7/27/1896 |
3 |
16 |
1896 |
|
|
Prompt Secours Association d'Assistance Mutuelle |
5/13/1897 |
3 |
6 |
1897 |
|
|
Juvenile Co-operator's Fraternal's Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
10/1/1897 |
3 |
16 |
1897 |
|
|
Afro-American Mutual Aid Protective Association |
2/3/1898 |
3 |
1 |
1898 |
|
|
Louisiana Missionary Baptist State Convention |
2/ 7/1898 |
3 |
2 |
1898 |
|
|
Morris Brown Congregational Society |
7/1/1898 |
3 |
9 |
1898 |
|
|
International Commercial Association of Louisiana Limited |
11/14/1898 |
3 |
22 |
1898 |
|
|
Société Les Francs Coeurs |
12/15/1898 |
3 |
24 |
1898 |
|
|
Broadway Mission Baptist Church |
3/14/1899 |
3 |
7 |
1899 |
|
|
Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty and Pension Association of Louisiana |
6/22/1899 |
3 |
20 |
1899 |
|
|
Free Will Free Baptist Association of Louisiana |
8/31/1899 |
3 |
29 |
1899 |
|
|
General and United Order of Brothers and Sisters of Love and Charity |
11/18/1899 |
3 |
37 |
1899 |
|
|
Jeunes Amis Benevolent Association of New Orleans, La |
11/ 23/1899 |
3 |
38 |
1899 |
Amendments to Charter |
|
Hopeful Land Company Limited of New Orleans |
11/ 23/1899 |
3 |
39 |
1899 |
|
|
Ladies Friends of Progress Benevolent Association |
2/20/1900 |
3 |
2 |
1900 |
|
|
Crescent City Baking Company Limited |
9/30/1899 |
3 |
32 |
1899 |
|
|
Dames et Demoiselles La Sagesse (sous l'invocation de St Pierre) Société de Bienfaisance Mutuelle |
5/9/1901 |
4 |
7 |
1901 |
|
|
Afro-American Woman's Club Visiting Nurses' Association |
5/20/1901 |
4 |
8 |
1901 |
|
|
Louisiana and Brazoria Oil and Investment Company Limited |
5/20/1901 |
4 |
9 |
1901 |
|
|
Ladies Co-operative Mutual Aid Association |
5/27/1901 |
4 |
12 |
1901 |
Amendments to Acts of Incorporation |
|
Perseverance Benevolent Association of Algiers |
8/22/1901 |
4 |
15 |
1901 |
|
|
Ladies of Honor Benevolent Association |
10/28/1901 |
4 |
17 |
1901 |
|
|
Mount Hermon Baptist Church |
7/28/1902 |
4 |
8 |
1902 |
|
|
Ladies True Friends Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
8/30/1902 |
4 |
9 |
1902 |
|
|
Ladies of Humanity Society |
9/22/1902 |
4 |
13 |
1902 |
|
|
Progressive Baptist Church |
12/2/1902 |
4 |
16 |
1902 |
|
|
Mount Airy Baptist Church |
3/22/1904 |
4 |
11 |
1904 |
|
|
Ladies Bakers Benevolent and Mutual Aid Society |
5/19/1904 |
4 |
16 |
1904 |
|
|
Ladies of Determination Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
11/30/1904 |
4 |
30 |
1904 |
|
|
Union Athletic and Pleasure Club |
11/28/1904 |
4 |
32 |
1904 |
|
|
Ladies of Veterans of 1862 and 1865 Number One |
5/29/1905 |
5 |
6 |
1905 |
|
|
Ladies of Nathaniel Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
6/16/1905 |
5 |
10 |
1905 |
|
|
Children Ladies Progressive Friends Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
7/20/1905 |
5 |
19 |
1905 |
|
|
Ladies of Sincerity Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
3/1/1906 |
5 |
3 |
1906 |
|
|
Queen Anne Temple Number One Independent Order of Sisters of Mysterious Ten |
5/26/1906 |
5 |
8 |
1906 |
|
|
Ladies of Deliverance Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
6/14/1906 |
5 |
9 |
1906 |
|
|
Juvenile Sons and Daughters Veterans Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
6/15/1906 |
5 |
10 |
1906 |
|
|
Ladies of Sunrise Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
6/19/1906 |
5 |
11 |
1906 |
|
|
Ladies of Progress Benevolent Mutual Aid Association No. 2 |
7/23/1906 |
5 |
15 |
1906 |
|
|
Colored Young Men's Christian Association of New Orleans |
2/6/1907 |
5 |
2 |
1907 |
|
|
Grand Lodge of Knights of Pythias of the State of Louisiana |
4/27/1907 |
5 |
12 |
1907 |
Amendments to Acts of Incorporation |
|
Myrtle Wreath Lodge No. 29 Knights of Pythias |
5/28/1907 |
5 |
16 |
1907 |
|
|
Juveniles of Saint Katherine Benevolent Association |
9/24/1907 |
5 |
30 |
1907 |
|
|
Perseverance Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
10/10/1907 |
5 |
31 |
1907 |
|
|
The Children of St. Mary Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
5/12/1908 |
6 |
11 |
1908 |
|
|
New Ladies of Order Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
8/9/1908 |
6 |
23 |
1908 |
|
|
Female Benevolent Association of Louisiana No. One |
10/4/1909 |
6 |
17 |
1909 |
|
|
People's Benevolent Industrial Life Insurance Company (of Louisiana) |
11/8/1909 |
6 |
19 |
1909 |
|
|
St. Mark Fourth Baptist Church of New Orleans |
1/27/1909 |
6 |
2 |
1909 |
|
|
Ladies of Hope Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
12/3/1909 |
6 |
26 |
1909 |
|
|
Union Baptist Church and School |
1/31/1910 |
6 |
2 |
1910 |
|
|
Plymouth Rock Baptist Church |
2/28/1910 |
6 |
5 |
1910 |
Amendments to Acts of Incorporation |
|
Ladies of Louisiana Benevolent Association (under the protection of Notre Dame le Prompt Secours) |
7/25/1910 |
6 |
23 |
1910 |
Renewal of Acts of Incorporation |
|
Venus Star Tabernacle Number Three of the General Grand Accepted Order of Brothers and Sisters of Love and Charity |
10/10/1910 |
6 |
26 |
1910 |
Renewal of Acts of Incorporation |
|
Young Ladies Eagle Mutual Aid and Benevolent Association |
5/1/1911 |
6 |
7 |
1911 |
|
|
Young Men Sincerity Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
6/2/1911 |
6 |
10 |
1911 |
|
|
New Ladies of St. Michael Benevolent and Mutual Aid Association |
1/9/1912 |
7 |
1 |
1912 |
|
|
Ladies and Young Ladies Sincerity Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
4/30/1912 |
7 |
7 |
1912 |
|
|
Young Friends of Honor Benevolent Association of Algiers |
7/2/1912 |
7 |
12A |
1912 |
|
|
Young Friends of Honor Benevolent Association of Algiers |
9/19/1912 |
7 |
16 |
1912 |
|
|
Notre Dames des Sept Douleurs Société de Bienfaisance et d'Assistance Mutuelle |
12/23/1912 |
7 |
21 |
1912 |
|
|
Ladies Jefferson Friendship Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
11/11/1913 |
7 |
18 |
1913 |
|
|
Sons and Daughters Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
1/12/1914 |
7 |
2 |
1914 |
|
|
Young Ladies Charity (Jrs.) Benevolent Association |
1/12/1914 |
7 |
3 |
1914 |
|
|
Pride of Newcomb Literary Aid and Pleasure Club |
2/23/1914 |
7 |
9 |
1914 |
|
|
Friends of Progress Benevolent Association |
2/ 28/1914 |
7 |
10 |
1914 |
Renewal of Acts of Incorporation |
|
Reliance Benevolent and Mutual Aid Society |
3/30/1914 |
7 |
14 |
1914 |
|
|
Eclipse Social Aid and Pleasure Club |
4/3/1914 |
7 |
16 |
1914 |
|
|
Ladies Reliance Mutual Benevolent Association |
7/1/1914 |
7 |
24 |
1914 |
|
|
Progressive Mutual Aid Association |
8/31/1914 |
7 |
31 |
1914 |
|
|
Settled Men Progressive Association of Algiers |
9/12/1914 |
7 |
33 |
1914 |
|
|
Lion's Aid and Gymnastic Club |
12/14/1914 |
7 |
44 |
1914 |
|
|
Settled Ladies Progressive Association of Algiers |
9/11/1915 |
8 |
33 |
1915 |
|
|
New Ladies Rising Sun Benevolent Mutual Aid Association |
1/10/1917 |
8 |
17 |
1917 |
|