An enslaved woman in the household of Don Pedro de Alba, Sr.
Born around 1795. Race is recorded as negra.
Appears in the baptismal records of her sons, Luis Felix (1818) and Luis Laureano (1821). In both records, their father was listed as unknown (this usually meant the father was unwilling or unable to acknowledge the child.) In Luis Laureano’s record, the owner of both mother and child is Doña Constanza Tala, wife of Don Pedro de Alba, Jr.
Mentioned in the 1819 case of F.T. Commyns vs. E. Latady in a listing of the property Don Pedro gave to his son on the eve of his son’s 1817 marriage to Constance de Tala, and later returned by Constance de Tala. She was said to be 22 years old at the time of the gift.
By the time of Don Pedro’s will of April, 1835, she had been returned to him and was counted among the property he left to his grandson, Juan de Alba, with her two sons (referred to as Luis and Laureano).
Maria Rosa and her son, Laureano, were sold to Zenon Suchet on 1 October 1839. They were identified as Marie Rose, aged about 40; and Lauranio, a mulatto aged about 19. They were among six slaves sold to Suchet for “the use and benefit of [John de Alba’s] wife, Eugenie Suchet de Alba.” [Escambia County Deed Book G, page 104, dated 1 October 1839].
Felix was sold to Zenon Suchet on 30 October 1839 for $102. He was described as a Negro boy of about 16 years of age, of black complexion. (The deed acknowledged that he was still encumbered by the mortgage of September 1839.) [Escambia County, Florida Deed Book G, page 104, dated 30 October 1839.]
FAMILY:
Children: Luis Felix de Alba*, Luis Laureano de Alba*, Marcelina de Alba*
SOURCES:
Records of St. Michael’s Parish, Pensacola, FL, Book III: Baptisms of People of Color, 1817 – 1882. University of West Florida Archives and West Florida History Center. 22 SEP 2021.
F.T. Commyns vs. E. Latady. Escambia County Court Case No. 2842 CA-01 (1819)
Will of Don Pedro de Alba, 1 April 1835. Ancestry.com. Florida, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1827-1950 [accessed 1 FEB 2021]