Becnel Bankruptcy, Cabins' Value

Becnel Bankruptcy, Cabins' Value

Timber Frame Documentary Evidence

This line is from the bankruptcy and asset evaluation of Pierre Clidamon Becnel, then owner of Evergreen Plantation, from April 20, 1835. It shows that there were at the time twelve enslaved peoples' homes, which were valued at a total of $1,200.

Felix de Armas, Esq.

Jane Boddie, Evergreen Collecion

First District Court of the State of Louisiana

April 20, 1835

[no text]

Jane Boddie, Evergreen Collection

[no text]

995 x 126
23.4 KB
JPEG created from PDF

English

JPEG from PDF

Documents

This line from the bankruptcy form reveals more than it may seem at first glance. It shows that even at this plantation had grown large enough to need twelve homes for the enslaved. The form also lists 54 enslaved people, meaning that there were between 4 and five people in each home at this time.

What is also important to note is that the value is so low. The total value shows only an average value of $100 each, while the pigeon house itself is valued at $250. This kind of valuation, in my opinion, fuels the narrative of the shoddy construction of the homes, making one quite easily say that they must have been constructed poorly is a house for pigeons is worth two and a half times as much. This kind of documentary evidence, though, in context with the material evidence of the homes themselves, shows that the valuation was probably more a statement on the valuation of the enslaved people themselves more so than their actual skills and the construction of their homes.