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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 23
BY REPRESENTATIVES COX, BROWN, AND HOWARD AND SENATORS GALLOT
AND LONG
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To commend the life and legacy of Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin, the matriarch of the Cane
River Colony of Creoles.
WHEREAS, Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin is known as the matriarch of the Cane
River Colony of Creoles, and it is appropriate to recognize her legacy of hard work, faith,
and determination; and
WHEREAS, Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin was born in 1742, a slave in the
household of Sieur Lois Juchereau de St. Denis, the founder and commandant of
Natchitoches, the oldest settlement of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, legend has it that Marie Thérèze was the daughter of Francois and
Marie Francois, slaves of the commandant St. Denis; and
WHEREAS, after Madame de St. Denis's untimely death in 1758 and the death of
both of her parents three days later, sixteen year-old Marie Thérèze was inherited by the
elder son; and
WHEREAS, in his household she gave birth to five children and was later given to
his younger sister Mme. de St. Denis de Soto; and
WHEREAS, in 1767, Marie Thérèze, then twenty-five, first laid eyes on Claude
Thomas Pierre Métoyer, a French merchant new to the frontier; and
WHEREAS, there was an instant attraction between the comely slave and the young
French settler, and Pierre Métoyer leased Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin from Mme. de St.
Denis de Soto; and
WHEREAS, a year later, in January of 1768, Marie Thérèze gave birth to twins, a
son and a daughter, and eventually the relationship would produce a total of ten children and
a legacy that endures to this day; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 23
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WHEREAS, in 1778, Pierre Métoyer purchased Marie Thérèze from Mme. de St.
Denis de Soto so that they could be together; however, since laws forbade white masters
from keeping slaves as concubines, the only way that Pierre Métoyer and Marie Thérèze
could be together was for her to be free; and
WHEREAS, Pierre Métoyer soon gave Marie Thérèze and their newborn son their
freedom along with sixty-eight acres of land and a monthly stipend; and
WHEREAS, at the age of forty-six, Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin was free, a
landowner, and the mother of free children and slave children; and
WHEREAS, the relationship between Pierre Métoyer and Marie Thérèze continued
for many years until he married Marie Therese Buard Pavie, the widow of his dear friend,
Entienne Pavie; and
WHEREAS, Marie Thérèze moved to the maison that Pierre Métoyer built on her
property, and with the help of her children and her slaves, began to cultivate tobacco and
indigo; and
WHEREAS, Marie Thérèze used the profits to buy all of her children out of slavery
and eventually gave each one of them a land grant; and
WHEREAS, the example Marie Thérèze set and the religious and moral values she
instilled in her offspring were the guiding forces of an exceptional community built by her
children and grandchildren on Cane River; and
WHEREAS, Nicolas Augustin, the eldest of the Métoyer-Coincoin children,
followed these idyllic values by donating land to build the St. Augustine Catholic Church,
believed to be America's first church founded by free people of color; his brother Louis built
the Yucca Plantation, today known as Melrose, and both still exist; and
WHEREAS, the descendants of Marie Thérèze's ten children still recognize and
revere her as the matriarch of the Cane River Colony of Creoles, for it was her bravery and
skill in buying her family out of slavery that enabled generations to grow and prosper in the
Cane River area.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
honor the lifetime achievements of Marie Thérèze ditte Coincoin and the impact she made
upon the Cane River community, the parish of Natchitoches, and the state of Louisiana, does
hereby recognize her as the matriarch of the Cane River Colony of Creoles, and does hereby ENROLLEDHCR NO. 23
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commemorate her legacy of bravery, courage, determination, tenacity, and resilience that
will continue to be a source of great pride and honor for generations and generations of her
descendants.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that suitable copies of this Resolution be transmitted
to the mayor of the city of Natchitoches, the parish president of Natchitoches Parish, and the
curator of Melrose Plantation.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE