Meullion Family Papers. Folder 01-03, 1796-1853. - Meullion Family Papers. Folder 01-03, 1796-1853.

Jean Baptiste Meullion (also spelled "Juan Bautista"), a free man of color known as "Baptiste," was born in 1763 or 1764 on the German Coast of Louisiana to Maria Juana (born about 1736 and died approximately 1793, also called "Mariana Meullion" ), an enslaved person belonging to Luis Augustin Meullion. Baptiste cites Francois Cheval of St. Charles Parish as his father in the record of his marriage. In 1777, Luis Augustin Meullion freed Baptiste and Maria Juana, whom he inherited from the estate of his father Antonio. Maria Juana is described as mulatto, and Baptiste as griffe.</br></br>In 1796, Baptiste Meullion married Marie Célèste Suzanne Donato (Bello) (1764-1842), the daughter of Donato Bello, an Italian-born Opelousas militia officer, and Marie-Jeanne Taillefero, a free woman of color from New Orleansa. Their marriage contract was executed in St. Charles Parish, La., one of the parishes that comprise the German Coast. Meullion became a propertied slaveholder in Saint Landry Parish and operated a sugar and cotton plantation at Prairie Laurent on Bayou Teche, where he died in 1840. The couple had at least four children, François Cheval (born between 1795 and 1806 and active through at least 1846), Antoine Donato "Donot" (1801-1890), Marie Denise (born about 1800), and Suzanne Bellazaire (active 1796?-1871), commonly known as "Belasir," "Belazaire" and other permutations of the same. She never married but operated a plantation at Prairie Laurent. Most of them seem to have gone by their middle names. In 1827, Marie Denise Meullion married Auguste Donato (b. about 1798). François Cheval Meullion wed Marie Françoise "Ison" Lemelle in 1831. That same year Antoine Donato married Eliza Donato, the sister of Marie Denise Meullion’s husband Auguste Donato.