Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault (1800 – 1857) was an American entrepreneur and landowner.American National Biography She managed to acquire land in the city of

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, despite the prohibition against landowning in

Antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...

Savannah for non-white people.Janice Sumler-Edmond,
The Secret Trust of Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault: The Life and Trials of a Free Woman of Color in Antebellum Georgia
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Life

Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault born a

free person of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

in the French colony of

Saint Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the islan ...

. She was the daughter (or younger sister) of Hagar Cruvellier (fl. 1823) and the sister of Francis, Peter and Justine Cruvellier. She emigrated with her family to Savannah as a child. From 1812, she lived in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, where her family established a successful tailor shop. She initially worked in the family tailor workshop with her family as a seamstress. In 1825, she opened a bakery and pastry shop with her sister Justine. She became a very successful businesswoman. She married Samuel Mirault, with whom she had the daughters Louisa and Letitia. She was widowed in 1829 or 1831. By that time, she owned her own pastry shop. Like her mother and her sister, she used slave labour in her business: in 1839, she paid taxes for five female slaves. In 1842, she became a landowner when she bought a lot of land in the city of Savannah, auctioned by the city authorities. In 1818, non-white people were forbidden by law to buy land in the city of Savannah. However, it was common for wealthy Afro Americans in Savannah to get around the law by using a white representative to buy the land for them. Aspasia Cruvellier Mirault used the services of George Cally, who bought the land in his own name using her money. Formally, Cally was the owner of the land, but in reality, Cally and Cruvellier Mirault had an agreement in which the land was to be owned by her in all but name, and it appears that Cally respected the agreement. Cruvellier Mirault had a house built on her land which she used to expand her business and provide her family - children and grandchildren - with larger living space.

References

1800 births 1857 deaths 19th-century American businesswomen 19th-century American businesspeople American slave owners African-American history in Savannah, Georgia Pastry chefs American bakers Black slave owners in the United States Free people of color American women slave owners {{US-business-bio-1800s-stub

Life

See also

References