SAINT-DOMINGUE. 3 P.S., Le Trou, Le Cap (Saint-Domingue), 17 - Lot 574

SAINT-DOMINGUE. 3 P.S., Le Trou, Le Cap (Saint-Domingue), 1777-1789; 3 pages small in-4. The home of Alexandre Dumas's great-uncle. [Born in 1716, Charles Davy de La Pailleterie settled in Saint-Domingue, where he grew tobacco, sugarcane and indigo. Returning to France, he set up a triangular trading company in 1760. Having given up this activity after two disappointing crossings, he returned to Saint-Domingue, where he died in 1773, leaving a legacy of heavy inheritance liabilities. His daughter, Marie Anne Charlotte, inherited his properties, which were then managed by her husband, Léon de Maulde. Charles was the brother of Alexandre Antoine Davy de La Pailleterie, grandfather of Alexandre Dumas]. The first two documents are sugar invoices signed by the manager of the dwelling, by Maunoury de Prémesnil: "Invoice for one barrel of terré sugar from the dwellings of M le comte de Maulde, loaded by M de Prémesnil onto the ship le Sylvain, Capne Jean Morel de Dunkerque [...] to the address and consignment of M Elle Briansiaux, négociant à Dunkerque"... (Le Trou June 17, 1777). - "Invoice for twenty barrels of terré white sugar [...] loaded by M de Prémesnil on the ship le Basque, Capne Lermet [...] to the address & consignation of MM Antoine Defos & Cie négociants à Bordeaux"... (Le Trou June 16, 1783). The third is a bill of lading signed by a merchant ship's captain: "I Chebaud captain & master, after God, of the ship named the St Honoré de Nantes, anchored at present in front of the French Cape [...] confess having received [...] the following goods, named and marked [... ], namely: Twenty-four barrels Creole terré sugar [...] at the address & consignment of M Prosper Charret, merchant in Nantes..." (Le Cap April 5, 1789).