Spotlight: baptismal certificate, 1798 August 18.

Charles-Pierre Lambert baptismal certificate, 1798 August 18.

A certificate verifying that Charles-Pierre Lambert was baptized at age two by Jean Baptiste-Joseph Lemaire and that Madame de St. Georges gave him to Monsieur Lambert, his natural father, who promised to set him free. The certificate is signed by Chapdu de St. George, V. Lambert (Francoise-Victoire Joubert né Lambert, his godmother), and J. J. Lemaire. The document is in French.

Charles-Pierre Lambert (known as "Richard,") was a free man of color, musician, conductor, and early teacher of the violinist and composer Edmond Dédé. He was born an enslaved person about 1796 in New York, NY to Pierre Antoine Lambert and Marie Nicolle, "Zoe." He is described as a mulatto slave belonging to Madame de St. Georges. In Saint-Domingue on 18 August 1798, his custody was transferred to his father, who vowed to free him. He married Jeanne Ferand, a free woman of color, on 22 April 1826 in New Orleans. His second wife was Suzanne Coralie Ory, also a free woman of color. He had at least nine children: Charles-Lucien (musician, 1828?-before 1875), Richard (born 1829), Catherine Elmire (born 1835), Sidney (musician, born 1838?), Elmire (born 1839), Leda (born 1840), Elisa (born 1842), Emile (born 1852), and John Alcide (born 1858).He died in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1862.

Pierre Antoine Lambert (1771-1827) was a native of Saint-Domingue, who later lived in Cuba on his coffee plantation until about 1809, when he settled in New Orleans, Louisiana. In New Orleans, he owned a pharmacy, practiced medicine, and taught at the Collége d'Orléans. His first wife was Marie Nicolle (also known as "Zoe") and his second wife was Louise Hélène né Emilie Chapdu. His children were Charles-Pierre (also known as "Richard," 1796-1862), Eugene (born 1798), Marie Laurette (born 1799), Hyacinthe (born 1808), Lucien (1809-1813), Jean Marie "Jules" (1813-1869), Louise (1819-1843), and Pierre-Alexandre, (1806-1895) who was a prominent New Orleans doctor and administrator of Charity Hospital.

Lambert Family Papers, Manuscripts Collection 244, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, You can enlarge the image here.

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