Angeles Plantation . . .

Old Angeles Plantation is heating up.  We think  the old place was built in 1910 or so and still stands patiently on its spot along the Mississippi River in Pointe Coupee Parish. The plantation, the land, is the holdings of my Grandfather, Walter Christian Morrison.  The original land holdings of the Morrison's lies to the west of Angeles, Angeles was inherited by my grandfather from Brunswick Plantation, the  pre-civil war holdings of Jacob Haight  Morrison and his wife, Corrine Landry.  Walter Christian was but one of many children.  Today both Jacob Haight and Corrine's portraits hang in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

My grandfather insisted on his share being given to him.  The others left theirs to be handled by his brother, Edward.  Edward eventually lost Brunswick and the Thibaut family owned and farmed Brunswick for years.   Today, Brunswick belongs to Jobie Beaud and he will be the new leaser of Angeles.

Walter also  acquired his half sisters share, Matilda.  Sister Mat's share and his share comprise one half of Angeles, the remainder were acquired by Walter Christian over time roughly doubling the size of the present day land holdings.  Angeles, I believe is 18 Arpents wide and 80 Arpents more or less deep.  Generally the place faces the Mississippi as Mississippi flows from west to east, so Angeles is oriented north to south.

The Mississippi River levee fronting the plantation was moved back but since the house was located close to the river, the levee kind of goes around it.  The levee for years had an off set in front of the east side of the place.  The Atchafalaya Levee Board in the early 60s adjusted the levee at that knee.  So it is not so apparent now days and the new levee orientation makes Angeles off square with the levee.  And it is perilously close to the levee forcing the paved road in front of it to be sited right next to the levee.

In the 1980's my father, a registered Civil Engineer, surveyed the plantation, tying the property markings in with the existing markers on the back of the place.  The rear property line fell into the middle of the "portage canal" with runs east to west providing drainage for the local region.  So he installed an offset line well within our present day holdings and the canal. That allow a future spoil bank for cleaning out the canal.  In  surveying the property line he detect a 20 second error and accommodated that into the modern day survey.  He then filed the survey at the Clerk of Courts office and now it is an official and legal description of the plantation.  Since it coincides with other properties it is locked in.

No one of the family lives full time at Angeles anymore.  It is now a family corporation with the original ownership converted to shares.  We no longer farm it, but we do rent it to farmers.  We just recently changed tenants and are letting it return to sugar cane  My grandfather was a sugar cane planter, so it is appropriate.

I was named for both of my grandfathers, William deGraffenreid and Walter Christian Morrison, so I am one of the many WC Morrison around except it is William Christian not Walter Christian.  They, for the most part, are Walter Christians but not me.  I do carry Walter Christian Morrison's nick name, Chippy.  He was known to pack a pistol and only his close friends ever called him by his nick name.  No other Morrison carries the name Chippy.  But there are a host of William C's and Walter C's floating around the states.

So Angeles house is over a hundred years old.  It is showing its age.
















































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