SANKOFA'S PLANTATION DATABASE
Ormond Plantation
Location: St. Charles Parish, LA
Constructed: 1787
History: In the early 1780's, Pierre d'Trepagnier was awarded a tract of land by the Spanish Governer Don Bernardo deGalvez, in recognition of Trepagnier's service in subduing the British at Natchez during the American Revolution. The main building was completed shortly before 1790 and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. d'Trepagnier and their children. d'Trepagnier began growing indigo, and then sugar cane, and the plantation began to prosper. In 1798, the first of the mysteries occurred. Pierre d'Trepagnier was summoned from a family meal by a servant to meet a gentlemen, supposedly dressed in clothes signifying a Spanish official. After a word to his wife, Pierre d'Trepagnier left with the man and never returned. No trace of d'Trepagnier was ever found.
On June 25, 1805, Col. Richard Butler, son and nephew of American Revolutionary war heroes bought the plantation home and land from Mrs. d'Trepagnier. Butler had served in the U.S. Army and had fallen in love with the South. He named his new home "Ormond", after his ancestral home, the Castle Ormonde in Ireland. On August 7, 1809, Butler became a business partner with Captain Samuel McCutchon, a merchant and sailor, originally from Pennsylvania, when he sold to McCutchon, one-third share in Ormond Plantation. On June 29, 1819, in a private pact signed at the plantation, Richard Butler turned over all of his holdings to Samuel McCutchon, and moved to Bay St. Louis.
Capt. McCutchon prospered both as a planter and merchantman and Ormond was one of the beneficiaries of that prosperity. McCutchon filled his home with furnishings from Great Britain, France and the Orient. During this time, Capt. McCutchon's eldest son, Samuel B., married Adele d'Estrehan, the daughter of the owner of neighboring Destrehan Plantation. Samuel B. and his brother James William took over the Plantation upon the death of Capt. McCutchon, and continued its prosperity.
Associated Surnames: d'Trepagnier
Associated Plantations: Destrehan Plantation (St. Charles Pa.)
Associated Free White Names
Associated Black Slave Names
Agriculture
Description of Associated Architecture
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