Clues to the Past - Marie Baron's Estate Inventory

In 1748 Marie Catherine Baron's possessions--also referred to as her estate--were inventoried and appraised after her death. The list was handwritten in eighteenth-century French. Because estate inventories are considered legal documents, the inventory has been preserved by the Circuit Clerk at the Randolph County Courthouse in Chester, Illinois. The document is over 300 years old and the writing has faded and become difficult to read. The following translation is not complete but includes those household items and items of clothing that were legible.

Household Items:

14 napkins--20 livres

4 linen table cloths--20 livres

3 window curtains of brown linen--5 livres

2 chests and 1 valise, well bound and closed with a lock--40 livres

2 caskets closed with locks and covered with red copper--20 livres

3 calico window curtains--24 livres

1 bed furnished with a straw mattress, a pillow, a bolster, a calico bedspread, a feather bed, a green wool blanket--120 livres

1 cot--40 livres

1 large framed mirror--70 livres

1 small cupboard with 6 wine bottles--15 livres

1 old chest closed with a lock--5 livres

2 silver goblets--25 livres

2 crystal goblets--2 livres

1 armchair--12 livres

1 square table with drawers--25 livres

20 plates, 1 large dish, 1 small dish, 1 pot--85 livres

12 iron forks and dinner knives, 5 spoons, 1 little pewter basins--18 livres

6 crockery plates--3 livres

1 small copper cauldron--3 livres

1 medium-sized frying pan, 1 grill, 1 fork to draw food from the pot--15 livres

2 medium-sized pans--20 livres

1 small cauldron--3 livres

1 old wardrobe--20 livres

1 frying pan--7 livres

1 small framed mirror--6 livres

Clothing:

1 capot^*, jacket and breeches--60 livres

1 capot of cadiz and 1 black jacket--40 livres

2 jackets of cholet, 1 capot of limbourg--25 livres

1 capot of cadiz adorned with silver lace, 1 waistcoat of red camelot adorned with silver lace and with silver buttons--60 livres

1 purse and 1 hat of half beaver--20 livres

1 wool belt, 1 pair of gloves--4 livres

3 pairs of breeches, one of cotton, one of basin, one of cadiz--15 livres

4 shirts (chemises)--40 livres

2 shirts (chemises) of Beaufort linen--20 livres

1 dressing gown, 1 taffeta petticoat, 1 cotton dress, 1 calico dress--220 livres

1 pair of silver buckles--15 livres

2 old pairs of slippers--5 livres

Other:

1 hunting knife, 1 silver pistol--30 livres

1 bullet mold--20 livres

400 hundred pounds of lead--100 livres

4 oxen--400 livres

4 cows--300 livres

2 mares, 2 colts--220 livres

40 fowl (chickens), large and small--40 livres

1 family of slaves (a Negro, a Negress and 2 baby boys)--2,000 livres

*Capot: a man's knee-length hooded jacket, belted at the waist with a sash.

Translation of Kaskaskia manuscripts--Private Papers, V Circuit Clerk Office, Randolph County Courthouse, Chester, Illinois.

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© Illinois State Museum 31-Dec-96