New Orleans, Louisiana Genealogy

See also, Port of New Orleans

Guide to New Orleans Louisiana genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, immigration records, and military records.



History
New Orleans was founded about 1718 by Jean-Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, then governor of the French Louisiana colony, who named the settlement for Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans, then regent of France. In 1722 the town was made the capital of the colony. Following the partition of Louisiana between England and Spain in 1762-1763, New Orleans (called Nouvelle-Orléans) became the capital of Spanish Louisiana. The French citizens revolted against Spain and expelled the Spanish governor in 1768. The revolt was short-lived, however, and a show of force in 1769 reestablished Spanish rule. New Orleans was ceded secretly to France in 1800, and in the space of only twenty days (November 30-December 20, 1803) it was formally ceded first to France and then, by the terms of the Louisiana Purchase, to the United States. Under American enterprise, development of the city was rapid.

The city was incorporated in 1805 and became the State capital in 1812. In 1815, at the close of the War of 1812, the city was attacked by a British force. General Andrew Jackson commanded an American army that decisively defeated the invaders in the Battle of New Orleans, on January 8, 1815.

During the following four decades New Orleans enjoyed great prosperity. Trade was tremendously increased by the advent of the steamboat and railroads, and by 1852 the city was the third largest in the United States.

During the Civil War, New Orleans, as the chief Confederate port and a military center, was a focal objective of Union troops. Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, commanding a Union fleet, captured the city in April 1862, and the port was held by the Union until the end of the war.

From 1865 to 1877 the history of New Orleans was characterized by racial and political strife incited by so-called carpetbaggers, who encouraged the freed slaves to persecute their former masters. Riots became so frequent that the Federal government declared martial law in 1874. The government forces were withdrawn in 1877.

During the period of Reconstruction the city slowly recovered. The capital was transferred to Baton Rouge in 1880, and civic enterprise devoted itself to commercial development and public works.

African American

 * 1777-1801 Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records in the Archives 1777-1801, available online, courtesy: Office of Archives: Archdiocese of New Orleans.
 * 1807-1860 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection — index and images; also at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)
 * African American Resource Center - a reference division of the New Orleans Public Library

Cemeteries

 * Lafayette Cemetery Number 1, New Orleans Inventory and Cross-Index to Plaques and Tombs of Historic New Orleans Cemetery Lafayette #1

Church



 * NewOrleansChurches.com - an historical photo album of historic places of worship in the New Orleans area.
 * German Churches of New Orleans - an inventory of records

Catholic

 * The Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, edited by Earl C. Woods and Charles E. Nolan are invaluable. They contain birth, baptism, marriage, and death information. Currently there are 19 volumes covering 1718 to 1831.
 * Online access to Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans
 * St. Charles Borromeo Destrehan Combination 1739-1755
 * List of churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans (Wikipedia)

Methodist Episcopal
Felicity Street German Methodist Episcopal Church, New Orleans

Baptism


 * 1869-1875 - Felicity Street German Methodist Episcopal Church, New Orleans, Baptism Index 1869-1875. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage


 * 1870-1885 - Felicity Street German Methodist Episcopal Church, New Orleans, Baptism Index 1870-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Presbyterian
Lafayette Presbyterian Church, New Orleans

Baptism


 * 1842-1853 - Lafayette Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, Baptism Index 1842-1853. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1852-1885 - Lafayette Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, Baptism Index 1852-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriage


 * 1841-1855 - Lafayette Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, Marriage Index 1841-1855. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1859-1892 - Lafayette Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, Marriage Index 1859-1892. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Directories

 * Fold3.com ($) has New Orleans City Directories 1861 and 1866-1923 (3 yrs. missing) available online.

Immigration

 * . Index and images
 * Resources for Finding Passenger Arrival Records at the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Compiled by Joe Beine
 * Cyndi's List: United States » Louisiana » Immigration, Emigration &amp; Migration
 * Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Laws and Legislation

 * The following site nutrias.org/~nopl/inv/neh/nehab.htm#ab22[1] contains short descriptions of various city government charters for the City of New Orleans and provides an inventory of minutes, ordinances, and resolutions.

Local Histories

 * A good online history of New Orleans is located at www.madere.com/history.html. The authors are Donald McNabb and Louis E. Madere.  The timeframe covered is founding of New Orleans to the Civil War.

Newspapers

 * 1804-1871 - The New Orleans Bee (New Orleans, La.) at Google News - free.


 * 1810-1851 - Courrier de la Louisiane (New Orleans, La.) at Google News - free.


 * 1816-1819 - L'Amis de Lois &amp; Journal du Soir (New Orleans, La.) at Google News - free.


 * 1867-1870 - New Orleans Republican (New Orleans, La.) at Google News - free.


 * 1876-1906 - New Orleanser Deutsche Zeitung (New Orleans, La.) at Google News - free.


 * New Orleans Times Picayune


 * Times Picayune Orleans Parish Obit Index - a project of USGenWeb Archives

Vital Records

 * Indexes to birth, marriage, and death records for New Orleans are online at The USGenWeb Archives Project for Orleans Parish, Louisiana. The indexes provide the volume and page numbers from which the FamilySearch Catalog can be used to locate the microfilm containing the vital record of interest. Indexes for Orleans parish birth records 1790-1907 can be found online at http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/Home/Archives/ResearchLibrary/VitalRecords/OrleansParishBirths/tabid/641/Default.aspx and marriages at http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/Home/Archives/ResearchLibrary/VitalRecords/OrleansParishMarriages/tabid/633/Default.aspx Actual certificates are not available for many of these older records.
 * Orleans Parish Marriage Records at La State Archives
 * New Orleans Marriage Records
 * USGenWeb Archives Project Yellow Fever Death Records Lists of Interments in New Orleans cemeteries, 1828-1878
 * 1837–1957 -  at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies

 * Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans - The organization was established in 1960 to foster an interest in family research and to encourage preservation of genealogical records in New Orleans, in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
 * The Jewish Genealogical Society (JGS) of New Orleans - The JGS is a non-profit organization for those who desire to research their Jewish roots in Louisiana and worldwide.
 * Louisiana Historical Society - Founded in 1835, the Louisiana Historical Society is the oldest historical organization in the state.
 * La Creole Research Association - a New Orleans based non-profit family research organization dedicated to the study of the history and culture of the Creoles of Color of Louisiana through ancestral research, education, and celebration.

Libraries

 * The Public Library of New Orleans has a wealth of online information, including:
 * Louisiana Biography/Obituary Index
 * Guide to Genealogical Materials
 * Digging Up Roots in the Mud Files
 * NOVA Transcriptions of City Archives Records
 * Index to Deaths in the Daily Picayune, 1837-1857
 * Index to the Justices of the Peace Marriage Records, 1846-1880
 * New Orleans Newspaper Marriage Index, 1837-1857
 * Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New Orleans
 * Naturalization Records in New Orleans
 * Birth Records for New Orleans
 * Hints on Using the 1850 Census
 * Hints on Using the 1860-1920 Censuses
 * New Orleans City Directories
 * African-American Genealogical Sources