[Block 84A]

A free black woman named Marie LaBastille owned and lived in this house until 1812. According to a Spanish census of 1799, there were 6 free blacks and 50 "free mulattos" who lived in St. Louis.

Marie Le Bastille's claims to this lot were honored by the American land commissioners. In 1812, she sold the land to her neighbor John Beaufils "for and in consideration of 20 pounds of coffee, 25 pounds of sugar, 300 pounds of flour, 25 loads of firewood, 80 pounds of pork, and 20 pounds of beef, which she said Jean Baptiste Beaufils promises and obligates himself to deliver to me annually during my life." In other words, Marie continued to live in the house until she died and had her groceries, firewood and other necessities paid for and delivered each year until her death. This information was adapted from the research of Judith Gilbert, published in "Esther and Her Sisters: Free Women of Color as Property Owners in Colonial St. Louis, 1765-1803," by Judith A. Gilbert, Gateway Heritage, the Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 1996.