Eufrosina Hinard facts for kids

Eufrosina Hinard (born 1777, died after 1819) was a successful businesswoman who lived in New Orleans and Pensacola, Florida. She was a free woman of mixed race. As part of her business, she owned people, but she also allowed them to buy their own freedom.

Who Was Eufrosina Hinard?

Eufrosina Hinard was born in 1777 in New Orleans. Her mother had been a slave but gained her freedom, so Eufrosina was born free. Her father was a free white man.

Her Life in New Orleans

In 1791, when Eufrosina was about 14, she began a relationship with Nicolás María Vidal. He was an important legal advisor to the governor of Spanish Louisiana. Eufrosina and Vidal had two daughters together: Carolina Maria Salome and Maria Josefa de las Mercedes. Even though Vidal's name wasn't on their baptism records, their daughters were accepted into Vidal's social life without any problems.

Eufrosina and her daughters lived in New Orleans until 1803. That year, the area was given to the French. So, they moved with Vidal to Pensacola, Florida.

Business and Freedom

When Vidal passed away in 1806, he left his property and the people he owned to Eufrosina and her daughters. Getting control of this property was not easy. Eufrosina and her daughters even had to deal with Andrew Jackson because of disagreements over the estate.

Eufrosina Hinard rented out the people she owned and also bought more. At that time, it was becoming very hard for enslaved people in the United States to buy their freedom. However, Eufrosina still allowed the people she owned to purchase their freedom from her. This continued even after the Spanish areas of New Orleans and Florida became part of the U.S. Eufrosina saw owning people as a "business practice," not a human condition. The people she owned could pay their purchase price, plus a small fee, to earn their freedom. Eufrosina also owned a brickworks business in Florida.

Eufrosina Hinard is the fourth-great-grandmother of the famous Creole chef Leah Chase.