Louisiana Colonial Records

Online Records

 * 1679-1803 - Records of the French Superior Court. Louisiana (Province). Conseil Superieur. Images only.
 * 1724-1829 - Baptismal records of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Images only.
 * 1702-1803 - Inventory of the records of the French Superior Council and judicial records of the Spanish Cabildo. Images only.
 *  1770-1900s - Conveyance records (Ascension Parish, Louisiana), 1770-1901; vendor and vendee index, 1770-1957. Images, and some indexed.
 * 1753-1899 - Original acts, misc. court records, written in French, Spanish as well as English. Images only.

History
Louisiana was claimed by France in 1682. Fort Mississippi was built in 1699, but there was little European settlement until after 1713. Louisiana was owned by private companies from 1712-1731 when the colony reverted to the French Crown. Upper and Lower Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, were ceded to Spain in 1762, while the rest of Louisiana was ceded to Great Britain and became parts of East and West Florida. Britain ceded the Floridas back to Spain in 1780, and the government was administered by the Captaincy General of Cuba. In 1802, Louisiana transferred back to the French, and then sold to the United States in 1803.

Civil Records and Sources
From 1699-1805, military and local censuses were kept in Louisiana. The originals of these records are located at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain; the French National Archives, Section Outre-Mer, Paris; and the Archivo Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba. The Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge, LA has copies of some of these records. Because Spain and France were both predominately Catholic, records kept under both administrations, ecclesiastical and notarial, were kept in a similar fashion.


 * The Acadian Coast in 1779: Settlers of Cabanocey and la Fourche in the Spanish Province of Louisiana During the American Revolution by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1993).
 * Attakapas Post, the Census of 1771 by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1986).
 * The Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732 by Charles Rene Maduell. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972).
 * English Language Summaries of the Records of the French Superior Council and the Judicial Records of the Spanish Cabildo, 1714-1800 by Historical Records Survey. )n.p., n.d., film 1292541). at FamilySearch. Digital Images.
 * Louisiana Census and Militia Lists, 1770-1798 by Albert J. Robichaux. 2 Vols. (Harvey, LA: The Author, 1974).
 * Name card index to records of the French Superior Council and judicial records of the Spanish Cabildo (film 1276244). at FamilySearch. Digital Images.
 * New Feliciana in the Province of Louisiana: A Guide to the Census of 1793 by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1987).
 * Rapides Post on Red River: Census and Military Documents for Central Louisiana, 1769-1800 by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1985).
 * Recensements et Correspondance Général, 1691-1781 (film 108000 ff) by Général Gouverneur. This collection includes general correspondence, passenger lists, censuses, land grants from the French administration.
 * Southwest Louisiana Families in 1785: The Spanish Census of the Posts of Attakapas and Opelousas by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1991).
 * Southwest Louisiana Families in 1777: Census Records of Attakapas and Opelousas Posts Southwest Louisiana Families in 1777: Census Records of Attakapas and Opelousas Posts] by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1987).
 * Valenzuela in the Province of Louisiana: A Census of 1784 by Winston De Ville, (Ville Platte, LA: The Author, 1987).
 * Rapides Post, 1799: A Brief Study in Genealogy and Local History by Winston De Ville. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1968).

French Colonization

 * Church and State in French Colonial Louisiana: Policy and Politics to 1732 by Charles Edwards O'Neill. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966).
 * General Correspondence of Louisiana: 1678-1763 by Dunbar Rowland. (1907. Reprint. New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1976).
 * Louisiane passages 1718-1724. (film 1305374).
 * Louisiana Marriage Contracts: A Compilation of Abstracts form Records of the Superior Council of Louisiana During the French Regime, 1725-1769 by Alice D. Forsyth. 2 Vols. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1980).
 * Marriage Contracts of French Colonial Louisiana by Henry P. Dart. (n.p.: Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 1934, film 141730).
 * The New Orleans French, 1720-1733: A Collection of Marriage Records Relating to the First Colonists of the Louisiana Province by Winston De Ville. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing CO., 1973).
 * Pest Ships, 1720-1721 by Alice D. Forsyth. (New Orleans: New Orleans Genealogical Research Society, 1969, fiche 6094099).Lists names of immigrants who were sent to Louisiana.
 * Recensements et correspondence général, censuses, and land grants during the French administration of Louisiana by Gouverneur-Général. (film 0108000).
 * The Settlement on the German Coast of Louisiana and the Creoles of German Descent by J. Hanno Deiler. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970). Lists the names of Germans in the 1724 French census.

Spanish Colonization

 * Cabildo, Province of Louisiana. Original records are located at the Louisiana Historical Center in New Orleans, LA.


 * Acts and deliberations of the Cabildo, 1769-1803. (film 1309934).
 * Inventory of the records of the French Superior Council and judicial records of the Spanish Cabildo 1702-1803. (film 1306185).
 * Judicial records, 1769-1804. (film 1306185).
 * Petitions, decrees, and letters of the Spanish Cabildo, 1770-1803. (film 1309932)
 * Archives of the Spanish government of West Florida. (film 0327823). This includes probate, land, and notarial records from 1782-1810.


 * The Canary Islanders of Louisiana by Gilbert C. Din. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988).
 * The Canary Islands Migration to Louisiana, 1778-1783: The History and Passenger Lists of the Islenos Volunteer Recruits and Their Families by Sidney Louis Villeré. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1972).
 * Index to the Archives of Spanish West Florida, 1782-1810 by Stanley Clisby Arthur. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1975).
 * Louisiana and Mississippi Lands: A Guide to Spanish Land Grants at the University of Michigan by Winston De Ville. (Ville Platte, LA: Evangeline Genealogical and Historical Society, 1985).
 * Marriage Contracts of the Attakapas Post, 1760-1803 by Winston De Ville. (Saint Martinville, LA: Attakapas Historical Association, 1966).

Ecclesiastical Records and Sources
Catholic church records in Louisiana date back to 1720, with the first church having been founded in 1700. The Diocese of New Orleans (previously called the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas) was organized in 1793. The diocese covered French territory from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the original records are available at the Notre Dame Archives, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, and the Archivo Nacional de Cuba in Havana, Cuba. Catholic church records from the French administration period are located at the French National Archives, Section Outre-Mer, Paris and the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.


 * A Guide to Church Records in Louisiana, 1720-1975 by Donald J. Hebert. (Eunice, LA: n.p., 1975, fiche 6051420). This index lists records for Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish congregations.
 * Diocese of Baton Rouge, Catholic Church Records: 1707-1882. 15 Vols. (Baton Rouge: Diocese of Baton Rouge, Department of Archives, 1978, fiche 6093541).
 * Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Records of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1576-1803 by Thomas Timothy McAvoy. (South Bend: University of Notre Dame Archives, 1967).
 * Marriage Dispensations in the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1786-1803 by Shirley Chaisson Bourquard. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1980).
 * Natchitoches: Abstracts of the Catholic Registers, 1729-1803, abstracts of the Catholic Church registers of the French and Spanish post of St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches in Louisiana by Elizabeth Shown Mills. (New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1977).
 * Natchitoches, 1800-1826 : translated abstracts of register number five of the Catholic Church Parish of St. François des Natchitoches in Louisiana by Elizabeth Shown Mills. (New Orleans, Louisiana : Polyanthos, 1980).
 * Paroisse de Nouvelle-Orléans. Registres paroissiaux, 1720-1734 (film 0959147). Parish Registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials for New Orleans, 1724-1730; Biloxi, Mississippi, 1720-1722; and Kaskaskia, Illinois, 1723-1724 by Église Catholique.
 * Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans [1718-1912], by Earl C. Woods. (New Orleans: Archdiocese of New Orleans, 1987-1995).