Did the 1788 Bayou Lafourche census count Isleño families near Valenzuela?
Research question: Do the 1788 Bayou Lafourche census figures of over 1,500 settlers include Isleño families around Valenzuela, and who compiled that census?
The records show that the 1788 Lafourche census is an original Spanish document held in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain 6. Albert J. Robichaux, Jr. compiled and reprinted the 1788 Lafourche census records in a published volume 7. The verified facts do not confirm the figure of over 1,500 settlers or say whether that census includes Isleño families around Valenzuela; the only Valenzuela counts cited come from the late 1781 Legajo 192 survey, which counted 174 persons in 46 families, 146 of them Isleños 5. Isleños are descended from Canary Islands colonists who settled in Spanish Louisiana between 1778 and 1783 4, and Valenzuela was one of four communities where they originally settled 1. The newest dated fact concerns the 1788 census, so the source is about 238 years old as of October 2026 6.
Sources
"In Louisiana, the Isleños originally settled in four communities which included Galveztown, Valenzuela, Barataria, and San Bernardo."Canarian Americans
"In Louisiana, the Isleños originally settled in four communities which included Galveztown, Valenzuela, Barataria, and San Bernardo."Louisiana
"The large migration of Acadian refugees to Bayou Lafourche led to the rapid gallicization of the Valenzuela community, sometimes referred to as the Brulis/Brules or brule dwellers."Canarian Americans
"Its members are descendants of colonists from the Canary Islands who settled in Spanish Louisiana between 1778 and 1783 and intermarried with other communities such as Frenchmen , Acadians , Creoles , Spaniards , and other groups, mainly through the 19th and early 20th centuries."Louisiana
"The census in Legajo 192 identifies forty-six families and enumerates one hundred seventy-four persons. One hundred forty-six (thirty-nine families) were Isleños."Canary Islanders of Louisiana: Valenzuela Settlement (1778 - 1804)
"General Census of the Inhabitants Established in Lafourche 1788, Legajo 201, Archivo General de Indias - Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Seville, Spain."Canary Islanders of Louisiana
"Reprinted in Albert J. Robichaux, Jr., compiler, Colonial Settlers along Bayou Lafourche Louisiana Census Records 1770-1798"Canary Islanders of Louisiana