Gumersindo Vidal

Quick Facts

Significance:

Louisiana Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Donaldsonville, Louisiana

Date of Birth:

1843

Place of Death:

Unknown

Gumersindo A. Vidal who enlisted using his middle name Adrian (or Adrien), joined the 2nd Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guard on September 25, 1862, at the age of 20. This regiment was later reorganized as the 74th US Colored Infantry.

On May 22, 1876, in New Orleans, he married Delphine Batice, the sister of notable homesteaders Charles Baptiste (holder of patent #5274) and Peter Baptiste (patent #5410). The couple also adopted a daughter.Prior to settling in Livingston Parish, Gumersindo worked as a Cigar Maker in New Orleans.

On February 19, 1885, Gumersindo A. Vidal of Livington Parish paid a nine-dollar filing fee at the New Orleans land office for homestead application #8553 for 80 acres of land. This land is in the East ½ of Southeast 1/4 of Section #37, in Township# 8S of Range 5E in Maurepas, Louisiana.

In May 1885 he built a 12x12 house made of Cypress Lumber. His house had two rooms, a kitchen, a corn crib, and a store room valued at $300. In addition, he owned one plow, one mule, seven cattle, and six hogs. He had two armoires, seven bedsteads, one bureau, one washstand, nine chairs, and a rocker. He raised on five acres corn, cotton, rice, and potatoes every season valued at $100.00 per year.

On November 25, 1890, he listed witnesses all of Livingston Parish to support his claim: Sosthene Rousseau (also a homesteader), Miller J. Skinner (a veteran of the USCT), Benjamin Frazier (also a homesteader and a veteran of the USCT), and Henry N. Tinkshell (also a homesteader). Sosthene Rousseau was also the Justice of the Peace in the Fifth Ward of Livingston Parish.

Forty-four-year-old Sousthene Rousseau, a farmer since 1885 of Maurepas, noted that he lived ½ mile from Gumersindo for 3 years. He noted that the land was timberland and ordinary farming land.

On January 12, 1891, the Maurepas Gazette ran a notice for six consecutive weeks to inform the community of Gumersindo’s intent to complete the application process. The editor of the Newspaper Robert Benefield, and Sousthene Rousseau concurred that the notice was in the newspaper.

Upon completing all of the requirements to become a landowner, Gumersindo A. Vidal received Homestead Certificate #5409 for 80 acres of land in Maurepas (Livingston Parish, Louisiana) on June 28, 1895.

Patent Details - BLM GLO Records 
 

~ Contributed by Bernice Alexander Bennett 

Bernice Alexander Bennett

More about the contributor: Bernice Alexander Bennett is the great-great granddaughter of Louisiana homesteader Peter Clark and has researched other Black Homesteaders from Livingston Parish. She is also an award-winning author, genealogist, nationally recognized guest speaker, storyteller, producer-host of the popular Research at the National Archives and Beyond BlogTalkRadio program, Citizen’s Archivist with the National Archives, and on the Board of Directors for the National Genealogical Society. Bennett, a New Orleans native and current resident in Maryland--enjoyed a 35-year career in domestic and international public health. She received an undergraduate degree from Grambling State University and a graduate degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan. Her genealogical research centers on Southeast Louisiana, and also Edgefield and Greenwood Counties, South Carolina.