Marillac Origins

Although we are not descendants of the Marillac (the paper trail is insufficient to establish it), we thought it would be worthwhile to trace the origins of Anne Marie Joseph Gory's godfather. We already discovered that he married what appears to have been the sister of Anne's mother. Moreover, both Marillac and Anne Marie Joseph appear to have been descendants of a woman enslaved by the Saugrain in the 1720s, Susanne. What about the Marillac name, and that part of his past?

A quick perusal of the Marillac of Jacmel and Bainet via ANOM clarified a lot. The first Marillac, or Marillan (?) in Jacmel was a native of Agen, Jean Marillac de Monplesy. He married a Marie Elisabeth Marin of Martinique in 1722. We assume his wife was a woman of color (this remains to be determined), and their children then married or had children with other free people of color. One of their children, Jean Baptiste, was born in 1728, or so. That Jean Baptiste was, in turn, the father of the Jean Baptiste Marillac who married a Marie Louise Monteise (Gory). 

The mother of the Marillac who was closely connected to the Gory was a Saugrain (Sougrain), Marie Barbe. She was, from what we could gather, one of two twins born to an enslaved woman of the Saugrains, Susanne. Baptized in 1725 and declared free, she went on to have Jean Baptiste Marillac in late 1757 or early 1758 with the senior Jean Baptiste. 

Jean Baptiste Marillac, fils in this case, had a Bainet Saugrain (probably also a daughter of Susanne) as his godmother in 1758. This explains how he was related to several of the Gory. Then to further link the Marillac and Gory, he went and married Marie Louise Monteise (or Montes), the daughter of a Frenchman and a Gory. Our theory is that his wife was the sister of Anne Marie Joseph's mother, Victoire Susanne (named after their enslaved ancestor?). 

We know of one other child by the first, white, Marillac. His daughter, Magdeleine, was baptized in 1732 in Jacmel. She had an illegitimate child baptized in 1753, Marie Magdeleine. This daughter, Marie Magdeleine, appears to have been the mother of a child with a Louis Saugrain (or Sougrain, the name was spelled differently from the original), Marie Louise. This daughter, Marie Louise, married Jean-Pierre Cangé. In short, all these families were marrying or having children with the same few families of similar status (no surprise), and in some cases marrying cousins.

The Life of Walatta-Petros

The Life of Walatta-Petros was not what we expected. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of acquiring the concise edition, so we are missing all the extra references, commentary, and analysis of the translators. Furthermore, we are missing several sections or chapters, although the concise edition probably contains the most important parts of the text. Nonetheless, this was a useful primer for grappling with Ethiopia's hagiographical literature. While the translation or some of the analysis of it has aroused controversy (the idea that Walatta-Petros was expressing lesbian or same-sex desire always struck me as far-fetched and absurd, particularly with one anecdote in the text illustrating the abbess's opposition to such a thing among the sisters), this hagiography was written within decades after her death. So it does appear more grounded, despite the appearance of several miracles. One almost gets a sense of what was going on 17th century Solomonic Ethiopia. Certainly among its religious communities, at least, and the extent to which Church and State were closely entwined.

Our main interest in the text was the Jesuits and the opposition they aroused among the local Orthodox Christians. Most of the references to Roman Catholicism in the concise edition only allude to the "filthy" faith of the Europeans, or mention the intransigence of Walatta-Petros to Susenyos's attempt to impose Catholicism. In spite of her literate background and the occasional mention of local theologians, Walatta-Petros did not actively debate the Jesuits. And when did she convert a Catholic noblewoman, it was through her humility rather than theological or intellectual debate. Besides one episode with what may have been the Catholic Patriarch, much of the text emphasizes Walatta-Petros's opposition to Susenyos, his persecution of her (but never going far enough to execute her because of her husband and aristocratic lineage), and her various sites for her religious community. In a lowland region, Zhabey, she is sent as a captive to a "black" man serving Susenyos. This part of the hagiography seems particularly interested in emphasizing a distinction between Habasha as neither black nor white, although one wonders if Ethiopian Christianity borrowed early color symbolism of the patristic literature. 

Since we have not read the full text, we will revisit this one. It's fascinating to read about monastic Ethiopian Christianity of the 17th century because of the development of Sufi Islamic settlements in Air and Borno during the same era. Of course, the Christian monastic tradition of Ethiopia has left behind more written sources, but communities like Kalumbardo in Borno might represent an Islamic equivalent of sorts, of religious and spiritual transformation and development that engendered new dynamics. Then there's a parallel of sorts with Church and State, as Umar b. Idris killed and exiled the first Kalumbardo leaders. One would be hard-pressed to find any woman recognized as a spiritual leader in this era of Borno's past, however. 

Searching Leogane

Jean Baptiste's marriage to Marie Pichot. According to this document, Pichot was the daughter of a Jacques (presumably the one who died in 1749) and a free black woman, Nanette. There was a Nanette who died in Léogâne that might have been Pichot's mother.

After taking a break, it was decided to peruse Léogâne parish on ANOM's site. It was not unexpected to uncover new information pertinent to the Gory of Bainet we are trying to trace. Indeed, it was in Léogâne that Jean Baptiste Gory married Marie Pichot in the 1740s. Using the record of their marriage, we can see that Jean Baptiste's mother was a free black woman. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult to say if her name was Marie or Marine or something else, but at least we know that Louis Gory sired at least one child with her. We operate on the assumption that Jean Baptiste was born in the 1710s or early 1720s, as was François Gory. Thus, assuming the two are both sons of Louis Gory, which seems likely, we believe the mother of François was the same black woman. Unfortunately, there is no obvious trace of her in Bainet or Léogâne, so we cannot speculate as to her origins or how she became free. However, if she was around the same age as Louis, we expect her to have been born in the later decades of the 17th century, perhaps the 1680s or 1690s.

Nanette died in 1744, before her daughter Marie Pichot married a Gory. Nothing of her origins can be seen here, but the man who freed her bore a name which resembled that of Jean Baptiste Gory's (second?) wife. Or did Marie Pichot drop that surname for the one of the man who once owned her mother?

Léogâne also provided some hints as to the origin of Louis Gory. We could not help but notice that the father of Marie Pichot was also the godfather of another mixed-race Gory. Jacques Pichot was a witness to the profession of faith of a Jacques Gorri (Gory), habitant of Nippes, and godfather to his daughter, Marie Rose. Perhaps Jacques Gorri (Gory) was a Protestant and although he was not old enough to have been the father of Louis, the two must have been related somehow. Jacques died in 1736, around the age of 40. Perhaps the two were cousins or siblings of some sort? His daughter, Marie Rose, appeared later on in the parish registers as the mother of illegitimate children. Her race was indicated as "mulatto" but it is possible both of her parents were of mixed-race origins. As for the Protestant background, Jacques must have converted to Catholicism much later than Louis. 

What exactly was the relationship between Jacques and Louis? Both families were connected to Jacques Pichot, and one might get away with thinking Jacques Gory and Louis Gory were somehow related.

Léogâne parish also gave a few more details on the families connected to Bainet. The Drouillac mother of the woman who married Joseph Gory appears to have been born in or around 1721. The Marie François Geoffroi who married Pierre Celin Cangé was born in the 1730s to Pierre Geoffroi and Marie Magdelaine. Pierre Celin dit Cangé was supposedly the son of Jean Celin and Marguerite Butet, according to his the entry for his marriage to Geoffroi. People were on the move, and one can find connections to Jacmel and Bainet from this parish.

The Cangé were tied by marriage or other bonds to Saugrain, Barreau, Geoffroi and, via them, to the Gory. 

Despite still being in the dark, we have confirmed some things, figured out a few more, and hope to explore other parishes for additional  information. As to be expected, very little of the information I find has unveiled the African background of the individuals I suspect to be the ancestors of the Bainet Gory. Nonetheless, it is interesting (and disturbing) to imagine what life was like for these people in a hellish slave society like Saint-Domingue. It puts something of a human face to this brutal era to know that some of these people were ancestors.

Stand on Zanzibar

Although it took us several years to finally read novel in its entirety, Stand on Zanzibar is one of those necessary science fiction reads for everyone interested in the genre. It was not exactly what was expected. For instance, we initially thought President Obomi was the leader of the US, not of a fictional West African country, seemingly based on today's Benin and Togo yet distinct from Dahomey (Dahomalia). But we already knew what to expect with the more experimental narrative style of Brunner in this work, and the horrific dystopian future of the novel. The playful and clever slang phrases, intervening chapters that flesh out the world, and occasionally hilarious snippets of Chad Mulligan's writings or speeches make for powerful, sometimes frightening literature. 

The overpopulated world in which countries like the US have implemented eugenics legislation did not come into being by the 2010s, but it is a little scary how many of Brunner's predictions turned out to be true. We have our muckers today, as the frequency of mass shootings and violence indicates, just as we also witnessed the collapse of Detroit. Corporations do, more or less, control nations while US tensions with China is very real. Of course homosexuality is accepted, more or less, polyamorous couples exist and racism is less overt but pervasive. Racial tensions are ubiquitous, here in the US and across the pond. Old leftovers of colonial regimes in Africa likewise stand in for the lingering racial biases and tensions. African Americans refer to whites as "paleass" and characters like Norman are constantly on guard in a huge, corporate outfit like GT. On the other hand, we have not yet reached the scale of prostitution represented by shiggies or the perhaps the the level of terrorism and low-intensity civil war of Stand on Zanzibar yet, but it seems almost inevitable. 

What is perhaps most interesting about a novel written in the late 1960s, in an era when much of the Global South became independent states, is the projection of a future in which areas often deemed marginal became hugely significant in the fate of the species. By this, we refer to fictionalized West African and Southeast Asian nations. Yatakang, which appears to have been modeled on Indonesia, represented a third path for postcolonial states that is combined with the potentially dangerous genetic optimization program. Beninia offers hope through the genetics of the Shinka people. As one would expect, things do not quite go as planned and the reader is left feeling like Chad Mulligan: intensely frustrated by the human race yet madly in love with it. Mulligan almost certainly represents the sentiments of Brunner himself, and the fate of humanity remains in question. Whether the path forward lay with genetic engineering of the kind combining Shinka genetics with the techniques of the Yatakangi scientist, rule by sentient computers like Shalmaneser, or an alternative, one must remain optimistic. And the wealthy, powerful societies have a lot to learn from the backwards places like Beninia...

Walatta Petros

This is a nice video on a remarkable Ethiopian woman. Due to our ongoing interests in Ethiopia and the Jesuits, the hagiographical literature on Walatta Petros is a fascinating text to tackle. 

Thinking of Susanne

The Marie Saugrain baptized in 1718 died in 1756. She was married to a Barreau.

After reviewing the ANOM documents in my attempt to reconstruct the origins of the Gory family in colonial Bainet, I realize that I have likely made a mistake. I failed to identify an enslaved woman of the Saugrains as the most likely mother of the Marie Françoise Saugrain who married François Gory. I initially thought the Marie Françoise who married Gory was the one baptized in 1718, an illegitimate child of Alexis Saugrain and an unnamed enslaved mother. It actually looks like Marie Françoise was the daughter of Suzanne and an unnamed father, presumably another Saugrain (Louis or Alexis?). 

In 1781, Marie Françoise Saugrain died. Aged around 60, she was probably the child of Susanne.

Thus, Marie Françoise was born in 1721 and was the sister of the mixed-race Saugrain mother of Jean Baptiste Marillac, Marie Barbe. This actually explains why Jean Baptiste Marillac's godmother was Marie Françoise Saugrain of Bainet. Basically, several of the Gory children of Marie Françoise Saugrain were actually cousins of Jean Baptiste Marillac. Of course, this means that Jean-Baptiste Marillac was actually related to Anne Marie Joseph Gory, his godchild, through Susanne.

The Marie Françoise who later married was François Gory was baptized in 1721. What makes things even more confusing is the appearance of another Marie Françoise, baptized in 1722, whose enslaved mother, Marguerite Susanne, was owned by the Saugrain.

As for the Marie Saugrain born in 1718, she married a Jean François Barreau. It is difficult to say if Suzanne was also the mother of Marie, but it is possible. A child born to Suzanne later in the 1720s had Jean François Barreau and a Marie as godparents, perhaps the very same Marie Saugrain, daughter of Alexis and Suzanne? And it looks like all her children went on to use the Saugrain name, or later changed it to Sougrain. So the white fathers eventually recognized their children or at least acted as godparents, as Alexis Saugrain did for a child of Marie Françoise.

In 1725, the twin daughters of Susanne were baptized. One of them, Marie Barbe, was actually the mother of Jean Baptiste Marillac, the godfather of Anne Marie Joseph.

Unfortunately, our poor Suzanne appears to have remained in bondage to the white Saugrains. I could not find any trace of Suzanne or indication of her origins. It is possible she was the young "Negress" slave of the Saugrain mentioned in the 1703 census for the Jacmel quarter and its dependencies. Or, perhaps, she was one of the adult enslaved women of the Saugrain indigoterie. However, knowing her as the progenitor of many of the Gory helps explain Victoire Susanne Monteise's name. Her mother or godmother may have named her after their enslaved ancestor, Susanne. So at least they remembered her in a fashion. 

Jean Baptiste Marillac's godmother was Marie Françoise Saugrain of Baynet, and probably the sister of his mother, Marie Barbe, daughter of Susanne.

It would have been interesting to find out where Suzanne came from or what African "nation" she represented, but for all I know she could have been born in the colony. In fact, if she was the young female slave child listed in the 1703 census, she possibly grew up with the Saugrain. Since we have yet to find any record of what happened to her after the 1720s, we are left in the dark about her origins or fate. 

More Gory Searching

Jean-Baptiste Marillac married a woman of Montes and Gory parentage in 1787. 

A quick perusal of ANOM's Baynet parish record revealed some more information that strengthens my theory for Anne Marie Joseph Gory's origins. Her godfather, Jean-Baptiste Marillac, was actually related to her and shared her Saugrain ancestry. Moreover, Marillac was linked to the Gory through his marriage to a daughter of François Monteise (Montes) and a Gory. Indeed, it is possible that Jean-Baptiste Marillac was actually married to the aunt of Anne Marie Joseph, if indeed Victoire Gory was the same person as Victoire Suzanne Monteise. 

Marguerite Louise, the older sister of Victoire, was born in 1761. 

Although I would like firmer evidence to connect Anne Marie Joseph to Victoire Suzanne Monteise, our case rests on slightly stronger ground. We have identified this specific Jean-Baptiste Marillac, who was baptized in 1758, and linked him to the Saugrain and Gory through birth and marriage. The fact that he was Anne Marie Joseph's godfather further establishes a connection. Indeed, the fact that he was married to Marguerite Louise Montes, the possible older sister of Victoire, makes it possible he was an attractive candidate to be Anne Marie Joseph's godfather (her uncle). Furthermore, we have yet to locate any other Victoire living in that section of Bainet besides the older Marie Victoire Gory, who was probably not Anne Marie Joseph's mother (she would have been far less likely to still be alive in the 1850s). It is possible Victoire Suzanne dropped the Montes name because her father was dead by 1787 if not far earlier.

Jean-Baptiste Marillac appears to have been born in late 1757, baptized in February 1758. His godmother was a Bainet Saugrain married to François Gory. We also see that Jean-Baptiste Marillac was a grandson of an enslaved woman, Suzanne, who had multiple children in the 1720s. At least one of her children was sired by Louis Saugrain. Her daughter, Marie Barbe, used the Saugrain name and married a Marillac.

Anne Marie Joseph Gory's godmother, Marie Marthe Marillac, was probably the brother of her godfather, Jean-Baptiste Marillac. If she was the brother of Jean-Baptiste Marillac, who was a Saugrain through their mother, then Marie Marthe was also a relative of Anne Marie Joseph. 

So, now that we have established the familial link between Jean-Baptiste Marillac and Anne Marie Joseph Gory, what do we know of the deeper origins of the Gory name in Bainet? Despite appearing rather early on as a godfather to several children, the first Gory we know of, Louis Gory, did not leave behind much of a paper trail. Our current theory is that he was the father of not only Jean-Baptiste Gory but François Gory, too. François Gory died in about 1760, around the age of 40. His brother, Jean-Baptiste Gory, died in 1791 around the age of 80. They both appear to have been sons of Louis Gory, a "free mulatto" who was still alive in 1746. 

Jean-Baptiste Gory died in May 1791. If he was 80 at the time of his death, then Louis Gory must have been born sometime in the later decades of the 1600s. Our current theory for Anne Marie Joseph links her to Jean-Baptiste and François. 

If Louis Gory was not a native to Bainet, from whence did he come? The other Gory or Gaury in early 18th century Saint-Domingue were in Croix-des-Bouquets and Cavaillon. The Croix-des-Bouquet Gory was a woman from Saint-Christophe, Anne, who died in 1732. Her father, Pierre Gorry, was presumably the son of another Pierre and his "mulatto" wife, Marie. The Cavaillon Gaury in the 1720s was a woman said to be a native of Île-à-Vache. Perhaps the origins of Louis Gory can be found in the Sud, although I cannot recall any census from 1703 or other records identifying a Louis Gory in that region. But I can imagine him moving to Bainet parish from another area once administered by the Compagnie de Saint-Domingue. Or, like others who migrated to Jacmel and Bainet parish, he could have come from Leogane or Croix-des-Bouquets.

In 1723, Louis Gori (Gory) was the godfather of a child of Mathieu Renard (probably related to Jacques Renard, a native of Saint-Christophe) and an enslaved woman. In that same year he was also the godfather of a child born to free blacks Soliman and Marie.

Sadly, we are still in the dark as to the origins of Louis Gory. We can guess he was born in the late 1600s, perhaps the 1680s. Our evidence suggests he was a "mulatto" and was well-connected to a number of other Bainet habitants, including free blacks like the Soliman. We are not sure where else to look for possible traces of Louis, either. Perusals of ANOM materials from Croix-des-Bouquets, Les Cayes, Léogâne, and other parishes has not revealed anything so far.

Here Louis Gory was identified as a "free mulatto" in yet another example of him acting as godfather.

To sum it all up, our current understanding of the available evidence suggests the earliest Gory in Bainet was a "mulatto" named Louis. Jean-Baptiste was his son, as was likely the case for François. Anne Marie Joseph's godfather was also related to the Gory via Saugrain ancestry and marriage to a Gaury who also had a Monteise father. Our theory suggests Anne Marie Joseph's mother was the sister of Jean-Baptiste Marillac's wife. Being her uncle, it is no surprise to see him act as her godfather.

A crude family tree for Anne Marie Joseph Gaury's parents.