First Owner of the House – Residency: 1826-1833
Joseph LeCarpentier commissioned the building of the house that is now the Beauregard-Keyes House and its rear dependency buildings in 1826 and lived there with his family through 1833 (see original French-language floor plan of the house, including its former kitchen and slave quarters, in gallery below). LeCarpentier was born on a cotton plantation in St. Domingue [today’s Haiti] in or around 1777 and settled in New Orleans following the Haitian Revolution. LeCarpentier was an auctioneer by trade, and historical records confirm that his dealings included slave auctions. Specific documentation regarding the enslaved individuals LeCarpentier owned personally have not yet been fully located, but the 1830 US Census indicates that there were 15 enslaved people living and working on his property at that time.
