Album: Oakland Plantation: Keyser Cabin

Cane River Creole National Historical Park

In 1821, French Creole Jean-Pierre Emanuel Prud'homme completed construction on what would become Oakland Plantation. The plantation, which was comprised entirely of enslaved labor, was a major producer of cotton although its first cash crops were indigo and tobacco. The property had its own plantation store which later became a U.S. Post Office. Descendants of Prudhomme still reside on the property. The number of enslaved people laboring on the plantation at times reach over 150. An overseer’s diary from 1860 documented at least 90 enslaved people working in the cotton fields. Researchers have been able to identify onlyl a few of the enslaved by name including Solomon Williams, the blacksmith; Solomon Wilson, Bob and Lens who were carpenters; and Charles, the family’s coach driver. Descendants of formerly enslaved continued to reside on the property as sharecroppers after the Civil War. In 2011, Elvin Shields provided an interview and stated that he had been a sharecropper for the plantation in the 1960s.