3535 Louisiana 18
Vacherie, LA, USA

Felicity Plantation

Built 1846, for Francois-Gabriel "Valcour" Aime (1798-1867) as a wedding present for his third daughter, Félicité Emma Aime (1823-1905), and her husband Septime Alexandre Fortier (1816-1898). The historic Felicity Plantation is located on the famed River Road on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the Acadian Coast. It was here that the French scholar, Élisée Reclus (1830-1905), was a tutor and became an active abolitionist. Since 1899, it has been the property of the Waguespack family who continue to live and farm the sugar cane there today. It has featured in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and The Skeleton Key (2005); and, the TV Series', Queen Sugar & Underground.

Francois-Gabriel Aime was born in 1798 and was nicknamed "Valcour" in childhood by his nurse. Having been orphaned by the age of nine he was brought up in the household of his maternal grandfather, Colonel Michel Fortier II (1750-1819), of New Orleans. On reaching adulthood, Valcour became heir to a fortune of $100,000 which he used to buy plantations in St. James and then pioneered the process of sugar refining in Louisiana. In his day, Valcour Aime became the world's leading sugar producer and with an abundance of wealth at his fingertips he was well-known for his hospitality and generosity.

Felicity's Plantation & its far from Ordinary Tutor

At the time of her marriage, Felicity's father (Valcour) was reckoned to be the wealthiest man in the South and he did not hold back on any luxury when he built this house for the third of his four daughters. It has a wide central hall that leads off to high ceilinged reception rooms noted for their red Italian marble fireplaces. It is fronted by six two-story square wooden pillars, supporting a full-width balcony on the second floor.

Felicity and Septime had 14-children, eleven of whom grew up at the plantation and survived to adulthood. The tutor they employed for two-and-half years in the 1850s was none other than the distinguished writer, geographer, and political activist, Elisée Reclus (1830-1905). He was an anti-Bonapartist who fled France before coming to Louisiana. However, he did not stay long and was so disgusted with the treatment of the slaves on the Felicity Plantation that he became a staunch and proactive abolitionist. In 1855, on returning to Paris, he published his memoirs of this period of his life, "Fragment d'un voyage à Louisiane," and with it a series of anti-slavery articles.

In 1863, as the Civil War raged across America, Septime, "a refugee from his own burnt out home in St. James Parish" removed with his family from Vacherie into New Orleans where he focused on the export side of the sugar business, setting up as a wholesale grocer. They lived first at 213 Bayou Road before later moving to 409 Ursulines Road.

Revived by Folse, Beltran, & the Waguespacks

In 1873, the ravaged Felicity Plantation and its debts were principally acquired by the Bank of America. They put it up for sale when it was acquired by "expert sugar planter" Louis J. Folse and his business partner R. Beltran. Folse & Beltran successfully brought the plantation (and presumably the house) back to order. In 1898, they put the plantation up for public auction when it was sold to one Mr Rost. The following year, Louis Folse "with his esteemed family" moved to Iberville Parish and Rost flipped the 1,200-acre Felicity Plantation on to Joseph Waguespack, a relation by marriage of the Folse family.

In 1901, Waguespack merged Felicity with the St. Joseph Plantation which was also built by Valcour Aime for another of his daughters and in which Waguespack had previously held a one-third interest, along with two cousins. By uniting the two, Waguespack created the St. Joseph Planting & Manufacturing Company. Joseph is the ancestor of the Waguespack family who continues to farm at Felicity today.

The Plantation Today & as a Popular Film Location

Between Felicity and St. Joseph, aside from the two picturesque mansions, they contain a great many outbuildings that are original to the plantations: a detached kitchen, slaves quarters, blacksmith's shop, barns, a schoolhouse and carpenters shed. Although the house itself is no longer inhabited, the exterior is maintained and its outbuildings combine to make both plantations a popular filming location. Felicity has featured in the movies 12 Years a Slave (2013), All The King's Men (2006), Mudbound (2017) & The Skeleton Key (2005). It also features in the TV Series' Queen Sugar & The Underground Railroad.

St. Joseph Plantation

Built in 1830, for the Scioneaux family. In 1846, it was acquired by Francois-Gabriel "Valcour" Aime (1798-1867) and given as a wedding present to his second daughter, Joséphine Aime (1821-1894), and her husband, Alexis Ferry II (1815-1884). It was here in 1838 that one of the country's most celebrated architects was born: Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886), father of "Richardsonian Romanesque". St. Joseph is located on the famed River Road on the west bank of the Mississippi River on the Acadian Coast. It is adjacent to Oak Alley Plantation, built by Josephine's uncle, and in 1907 it was merged with what had been her sister's home, Felicity Plantation.

The Scioneaux family built the simple, 10-room, two-story Creole house, as seen today. It was originally raised up on the lower 8-foot pillars to protect it from flooding.

Birthplace of the Architect H.H. Richardson

By 1838, it had either been leased or sold to William Priestley (1771-1838) and it was in that year that Priestley's famous grandson, H.H Richardson (1838-1886), "one of the recognized trinity of American Architecture" was born here. Priestley was a son of the famous chemist (Joseph Priestley), who discovered oxygen. Two years later (1840) the plantation was sold to a former surgeon at the court of Emperor Napoleon, Dr. Cazamine Mericq. He is remembered visiting the plantations around and about in his horse-drawn buggy where he tended to the wealthy families just as well as he did to their slaves.

The family of Valcour Aime

In 1846, "Valcour" Aimer purchased the plantation. He was given that nickname in childhood by his nurse having been orphaned by the age of nine and brought up in the household of his maternal grandfather, Michel Fortier II (1750-1819). On reaching adulthood, Valcour became heir to a fortune of $100,000 which he used to buy plantations in St. James and then pioneered the process of sugar refining in Louisiana. In his day, Valcour Aime became the world's leading sugar producer and with an abundance of wealth at his fingertips he was well-known for his hospitality and generosity.

Joséphine was the second daughter of Valcour Aime and at the time of her marriage to Alexis Ferry II (1815-1884), her father was reckoned to be the wealthiest man in the South. According to her husband's diary, she received $110,000 in gifts from her father including the use of the St. Joseph Plantation. The Ferrys made several changes to the house, adding four rooms and enclosing the ground floor to create a basement.

The Waguespecks & St. Joseph Today

Similarly to the fate of the neighboring Felicity Plantation, the Ferrys lost title to St. Joseph most probably during or just after the Civil War and in 1873 it was sold at the Sheriff's auction to Joseph Waguespack, a local sugar planter. In 1901, Waguespeck purchased the Felicity Plantation too and merged them into one 2,500-acre plantation, forming the St. Joseph Planting & Manufacturing Company.

Between Felicity and St. Joseph, aside from the two picturesque mansions, they contain a great many outbuildings that are original to the plantations: a detached kitchen, slaves quarters, blacksmith's shop, barns, a schoolhouse and carpenters shed. These all combine to make the plantation as a whole a popular filming location. In 2005, the house at St. Joseph was restored by members of the Simon and Waguespack families - who still run the working plantation today. Each room is filled with period antique furniture that includes a square grand piano in the main hall and an old desk with medical instruments and a skeleton. Today, the 12,000 square foot plantation house is open for tours.