Martin Milnoy Duralde

Duralde (1737-1822), a native of Biscaya, Spain*, served as commandant of the Opelousas Post, Louisiana, from 1795 until the end of Spanish rule. Later, he became a prominent planter of indigo in Louisiana.** Duralde's youngest daughter, Marie Clarissa, became Louisiana Governor, William C.C. Claiborne's second wife. Claiborne's marriage into the Duralde family was of vital importance to his political career, giving the outsider governor connections to an important Creole family. From Biblio.com

• Other sources state he was born in Bayonne, France.

Immigration: 1767 from France, to Illinois

Marriage: September 17, 1776, in St. Louis, MO

• *Martin's success as a planter was in large part due to the fact that, to cultivate his massive crop of indigo, he used the skilled labor of a great number of slaves. ~Loretta Alexandra, 5th great-granddaughter
  • ****************************************************************** "I have surveyed measured and marked the boundaries of a tract of land by Martin Durald[e] and confirmed by Commissioners Certificate B. No. 1146 containing six hundred and seventy nine American acres, situate[d] on the left bank of the Bayou Of The Bridge in Township No. 5 & 6 south in Range 4 & 5 East and having such form and marks natural and artificial as are represented in the above plat and notes of reference. Nov. 15, 1815.

signed William B. Jackson Dep. Surveyor

Approved the 10 Jan. 1816

Signed Gideon Fitz

Principal Dep. Surveyor"

• ***************************************************************

Sources: Southwest Louisiana Records, Vol. 1, Pg 200, V. 2, pg. 303

A Dictionary Of Louisiana Biography, V. 1

Catholic Baptisms St. Louis Missouri 1765-1840

Old Families Of Louisiana, Arthur and Kerion

Louisiana History, Winter 1982, V. XXIII, No. 1, Pg. 208, Glenn R. Conrad, ed., Louisiana Historical Association

Repertoire des actes de bapteme, mariage, sépulture, et des recensements, du Quebec ancien, Vol. 8, pg. 138, pub. by: Les Presses De L 'Universite De Montreal, 1982.

Book Marked "Private Claims, Southwestern District.", Cabinet No. 107