François Lacroix (1806–1876) was a wealthy Creole of color, tailor, fabric merchant, and prominent landowner in New Orleans, Louisiana. His son

Victor Lacroix Victor Lacroix (died 1866) was a Creole of color from New Orleans who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and died in the New Orleans massacre of 1866. He was the son of wealthy property owner, tailor, and Creole of color Fran� ...

was killed in the infamous

New Orleans massacre of 1866 The New Orleans massacre of 1866 occurred on July 30, when a peaceful demonstration of mostly Black Freedmen was set upon by a mob of white rioters, many of whom had been soldiers of the recently defeated Confederate States of America, leading ...

when Republicans gathered and paraded for a constitutional convention at the Mechanics Institute in New Orleans and were attacked by Democrats including armed police and firemen. He supported his son's widow, a white woman named Sarah Brown, as well as their two children.

Life

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

and Catholic, Lacroix was born free in Cuba, as was his brother Julien. Their parents, a white Frenchman and a free '' mulâtresse'', fled there from

Saint Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the island, Santo Domingo, which came to re ...

following the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

. Along with fellow tailor and Creole Etienne Cordeviolle, Lacroix founded the tailoring shop known as "Cordeviolle & Lacroix" located off of Canal Street. As an extremely successful businessman, he acquired a large real estate portfolio as well as several slaves over the course of his life. He likewise supported a number of philanthropies, including La Société de la Sainte Famille and the Institut Catholique des orphelins indigents, of which he served for a time as president. Deeply affected by his son's death, Lacroix was a participant in

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...

s to try to communicate with him. An exhibit about his life was put on at a New Orleans Public Library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacroix, François 1806 births 1876 deaths People from New Orleans African-American businesspeople Businesspeople from New Orleans Louisiana Creole people 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American philanthropists African-American Catholics