Andre Cailloux - Early Life

Early Life

Born a slave in Louisiana in 1825, Cailloux lived his entire life in and around New Orleans. He was owned by members of the Duvernay family until 1846, when his petition for manumission, which was supported by his owner, was granted by an all-white police jury in the city of New Orleans. In 1847, Cailloux married Felicie Coulon, whose mother, Feliciana, a mulatto woman, had participated in the local placage system as the common law wife of a white plantation owner, Valentin Encalada, for several years. Though Felicie was not Encalada’s daughter, she remained his property until her mother bought her freedom from Encalada in 1842. Cailloux and Coulon had four children, three of whom survived to adulthood.

As a young man, Cailloux had learned the cigar making trade as an apprentice. Upon gaining his freedom, he earned his living as a cigar maker, and prior to the beginning of the Civil War, established his own cigar making business. Though his financial circumstances were modest, Cailloux became recognized as a leader within the free African-French Creole community of New Orleans.

An avid sportsman, Cailloux was admired as one of the best boxers in the city. He was also an active supporter of the Institute Catholique, a school for orphaned black children, that also taught the children of free people of color. After his manumission, Cailloux learned to read, probably with the assistance of the teachers at the Institute Catholique. He became fluent in both English and French. By 1860, Cailloux was a well-respected member of the 10,000 “free men of color” African-Creole community in New Orleans. At the time, New Orleans was the largest city in the South, and the sixth largest city in the United States, with a population of about 100,000.