John Randolph was an American lawyer and politician from Williamsburg in the British colony of Virginia. He served as king's attorney for Virginia from 1766 until he left for Britain at the outset of the American Revolution.
John Smith was a Virginia planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly as well as the United States House of Representatives.
The Creoles of color are a historic ethnic group of Louisiana Creoles that developed in the former French and Spanish colonies of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwestern Florida, in what is now the United States. French colonists in Louisiana first used the term "Creole" to refer to people born in the colony, rather than in Europe, thus drawing a distinction between Old-World Europeans and Africans from their descendants born in the New World. Today, these Creoles of color have assimilated into Black American culture, while some retain their distinct identity as a subset within the broader African American ethnic group.
Virginia Randolph Cary was an American writer. She was the author of Letters on Female Character, Addressed to a Young Lady, on the Death of Her Mother (1828), an influential advice book.
Gouverneur Morris Jr. was an American railroad executive and the son of a founding father of the United States, Gouverneur Morris.
Alexander Dimitry was an American author, diplomat, educator, journalist, lawyer, orator, and publicist. He was the first state superintendent of public instruction in Louisiana and represented the United States as Ambassador to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. He was the first person of color to hold both offices and despite his mixed heritage (quadroon), he was one of the few people of color to serve in the bureaucracy of the Confederate Government. Alexander generally passed as white but still witnessed countless incidents of racism. Two major incidents involving his family were documented in court entitled Forstall, f.p.c. v. Dimitry (1833) and Pandelly v. Wiltz (1854). Throughout his entire life, Alexander underwent constant persecution and was always reminded of his skin color and ethnic background.
Pierre-Paul Pecquet du Bellet was an American attorney, author, and unofficial diplomatic agent of the Confederate States of America in France.
Andrea Dimitry, also known as Andrea Drussakis Dimitry, was a Greek refugee who emigrated to New Orleans and became a merchant. He married Marianne Céleste Dragon, a Louisiana Creole woman of African, French, and Greek ancestry. He fought in the Battle of New Orleans with Major General and future President Andrew Jackson. His son is the author and educator Alexander Dimitry.
Giuseppe Ferrata (1865–1928) was an Italian-American pianist, composer, and university professor. He was a student of Giovanni Sgambati and Franz Liszt at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. Ferrata was knighted by the Royal Court of Portugal, the Royal Court of Belgium, and the King of Italy.
Marie Celeste Dragon (1777–1856) was a prominent Creole of color land owner during the Spanish Louisiana period, also known for her portrait by José Francisco Xavier de Salazar y Mendoza. She was the wife of Andrea Dimitry. They were an interracial couple. Dragon passed neither as black or white due to her mixed ancestry. She was of Greek-French and African descent.
Michel Dragon also known as Don Michael Dragon or Michael Dracos was a Greek merchant and lieutenant who served in the Spanish Army during the American Revolution, fighting with the Patriots for the independence of the United States of America. He participated in the Gulf Coast Campaign, notably in the Battle of Baton Rouge, Battle of Fort Charlotte and in the Siege of Pensacola where he was in command of the provincial militia. Dragon was one of the first Greek Americans and one of few to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He married a former slave of African descent and they had two children, one of them being Marianne Celeste Dragon. Both he and his daughter were the subjects of two different portraits by Josef de Salazar. He was also a businessman and major planter. Dragon and his wife Francoise Chauvin Beaulieu de Monplaisir were major planters in New Orleans.
John Bull Smith Dimitry was an American author, professor, and Confederate soldier. Despite his mixed heritage, (octoroon), he is one of the few people of color venerated by the Confederacy. As the son of the author Alexander Dimitry, John was selected to write the Confederate Military History around the same period as Plessy v. Ferguson. John wrote for several news publications and published several of his own books.
Charles Patton Dimitry was an American author, poet, journalist, inventor, historian and Confederate soldier. He was mixed race Creole and the second son of author and diplomat Alexander Dimitry and also the grandson of Marianne Celeste Dragon. His catalog features a massive amount of literary publications one of his most notable works was The House in Balfour Street published in 1868. The author used two pseudonyms Tobias Guarnerius Jr. or Braddock Field his father Alexander used the pseudonym Tobias Guarnerius in some of his works. Charles worked for newspaper publications across the country including New Orleans, New York City, and Washington DC.
Ernest Lagarde was a mixed race Creole author, journalist, professor, publisher, and linguist. He spoke many languages including Greek, following his Greek-American heritage. Lagarde was a member of the prominent Creole Dimitry family of New Orleans. The family was involved in a large number of controversial incidents that involved racism. He was a faculty member at Mount St. Mary's University for over 45 years. He served as chairman of the university's Department of Modern Languages and Literature. Lagarde worked for several newspapers and also wrote several scholarly books, including one on William Shakespeare entitled Shakespeare A Lecture. He started a newspaper for Mount Saint Mary's College called The Mountain Echo.
George Pandely was a mixed race Louisiana creole. He was a court clerk, teacher, politician, entrepreneur, and superintendent of different railroad companies from 1859 to 1883 in New Orleans. He was a member of the prominent New Orleans mixed Greek Creole family known as the Dimitry Family. He eventually became part owner and the president of the Whitney Irons Works company of New Orleans from 1883 for the remainder of his life. Pandely is known for being removed from public office as assistant alderman in New Orleans due to his African heritage in 1853. The incident became known as the Pandelly Affair and forced the Dimitry Family to create a fictitious genealogy where their lineage was derived from Native Americans rather than African people which was a clear case of ethnocide.
Theodore John Dimitry Jr. was a Creole physician, optometrist, professor, author and inventor. He was a pioneer in the field of optometry responsible for developing the Dimitry Erisiphake and a plastic eye made of lucite to permit motion. Theodore's vast contribution to the field of optometry also included the publication of hundreds of articles in different medical journals. He was a member of one of the oldest Creole families in New Orleans known as the Dimitry Family. His great-grandmother was Marianne Celeste Dragon.
Robert Mills Lusher was a writer, journalist, educator, and superintendent of education in Louisiana. He was known for segregating schools in Louisiana immediately following the American Civil War. Lusher moved to New Orleans following his first cousin Mary Powell Mills who was involved in an interracial marriage to Creole author and diplomat Alexander Dimitry. Alexander was the first superintendent of education in Louisiana and the first person of color to hold that position. The Dimitry family underwent countless instances of racism. Two major incidents involving the family were documented in court entitled Forstall, f.p.c. v. Dimitry (1833) and Pandelly v. Wiltz (1854). The Creole family was heavily pressured to pass as white which is deemed ethnocide. Lusher was closely involved with the Dimitry family and endorsed by Alexander and Alexander's daughter Virginia Ruth Dimitry was also involved with Lusher as an educator.
Dracos Anthony Dimitry was a mixed race Louisiana Creole councilman, mayor, solicitor, and railroad station agent. His grandmother was Marianne Celeste Dragon and his first cousin was George Pandely. He was a member of the prominent New Orleans mixed Greek Creole family known as the Dimitry Family. The family underwent countless hardships of racism throughout the 19th century two major incidents involving the family were documented in court entitled Forstall, f.p.c. v. Dimitry (1833) and Pandelly v. Wiltz (1854). The Creole family was heavily pressured to pass as white because during the Jim Crow era laws became more severe including segregation and eventually the one-drop rule was adopted in Louisiana by 1910.
Eugène Chassaignac was a French-American musician, professor, composer and music critic. Eugene was a prominent member of the New Orleans community and is known for desegregating Scottish Rite Freemasonic lodges in New Orleans in 1867 for which he won a gold medal. Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi personally sent Eugene a letter of praise for his courageous act of kindness towards people of color. His son Charles Louis Chassaignac became a prominent doctor in New Orleans and worked for Charity Hospital and was a humanitarian. His daughter Marie Chassaignac married Baron Randolph Natili. Natili's parents were involved in an interracial marriage and he was a member of the prominent Creole Dimitry Family. Natili became closely associated with Italian American composer Giuseppe Ferrata because of the marriage of his first cousin's daughter Alice. Natili's relationship with his father-in-law Eugene benefited Ferrata because of Natili's knowledge and appreciation for musical composition.
Louis Placide Canonge was a Creole journalist, politician, playwright, actor, librettist, and lyricist. His most celebrated play Le Comte De Carmagnola appeared in Paris for one hundred nights. He regularly contributed to New Orleans newspapers some included: L’Abeille, Louisiana Lorgnette, Le Propagateur Catholique, Le Courrier De La Louisiane, La Presse and many more. Canonge is known for participating in two infamous duels involving theater. Canonge translated Nojoque A Serious Question For A Continent into a French version entitled Nojoque Une Grave Question Pour Un Continent. The book violently features the use of the word negro and subjugates their community, it was written by Hinton Rowan Helper. Canonge uses the translation to voice his discontent with reconstruction and the status of the negro; in contrast, he wrote lyrics for Francois-Michel-Samuel Snaer a Creole of color, and a favorable eulogy for Louis Charles Roudanez a Creole of color who founded the nation's first daily Black newspaper, which was also bilingual.
