OVERVIEW
Captain John Lyons, born in County Leitrim, Ireland ca. 1822, may have settled in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana before 1840. In 1842 Lyons enlisted at Albany as a private in a U.S. Army artillery unit. He is enumerated with 8 and then 38 enslaved persons in 1850 and 1860, and operated a cotton plantation near Washington, St. Landry Parish, in the Atchafalaya region. In March 1863, an enslaved man known as Peter (later reported as “Gordon”) escaped the plantation after a severe whipping by overseer Artayou Carrier. Reaching Union lines at Baton Rouge in April 1863, Peter was photographed; the image of his scarred back, often titled “The Scourged Back,” circulated widely and became a defining abolitionist document. According to Peter’s own account, he was later told he had become crazy and tried to shoot people, claims he could not recall and rejected. Harper’s Weekly published the image and story on July 4, 1863, cementing the plantation’s place in Civil War-era debates over slavery’s brutality.
Quick Stats:
- 38 enslaved (1860)
- 8 enslaved (1850)
- Named enslaved individuals: Peter
ENSLAVED PERSONS
Individuals and Families
- Peter (a.k.a. “Gordon”) – enslaved man who fled the Lyons plantation in March 1863 after a brutal whipping by overseer Artayou Carrier; photographed at Baton Rouge (April 1863).
1860 Slave Schedule (Abstract)
- Jurisdiction: St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
- Households:
- John Lyons – 38 enslaved, 10 slave houses
1850 Slave Schedule (Abstract)
- Jurisdiction: St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
- Households:
- John Lyons – 8 enslaved
ENSLAVERS
- Capt. John Lyons – Irish-born (County Leitrim), carpenter/bridge builder, steamboat captain, and cotton planter near Washington, St. Landry Parish. Married Brigit (Bridget) Delia Fahey at Opelousas (Oct 30, 1845). Listed as a carpenter in 1850 and a planter by 1860; 8 enslaved (1850) and 38 enslaved (1860). Reported killed at his plantation in 1864 during the Civil War.
- Artayou Carrier (Pierre Arthéon Carrière) – overseer dismissed by Lyons after the whipping of Peter.
Enslaver Families
- Lyons family – Capt. John Lyons (c.1821–1822 – 1864, owner); wife: Brigit (Bridget) Delia Fahey Lyons (c.1820s-1864, m. 1845); children: Mary E. Lyons (1846), A. D. Lyons (1848), Ester P. Lyons (1850), Brigite Lyons (1852), Thomas G. Lyons (1856)
Cross-Plantation Links
- None documented yet
RESEARCH TO-DO
- Search St. Landry probate (estate files/inventories) and conveyances (bills of sale/hire) for additional named enslaved individuals and families on the Lyons plantation.
- Cross-reference with the 1870 US Federal Census for formerly enslaved persons potentially connected to Lyons.
- Check Baton Rouge Union provost marshal/hospital records (April 1863) for Peter/Gordon’s arrival, and medical notes.
- Add geo-coordinates for the plantation tract, using plats/ deeds.
SOURCES
- Harper’s Weekly. “A Typical Negro.” Vol. 7, no. 340 (July 4, 1863): 429–430. (Reproduction: Son of the South). SRC-HW-1863-07-04-ATN – http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/july/whipped-slave.htm
- Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. “Gordon (Peter)” – collection entry with context on the Baton Rouge photographs. SRC-SI-NPG-Gordon
- Silkenat, D. (2014). “‘A Typical Negro’: Gordon, Peter, and the Meanings of the Scourged Back.” Journal of American Studies. SRC-JAS-2014-Silkenat
- History.com, A&E Television Networks. “The Shocking Photo of ‘Whipped Peter’ That Made Slavery’s Brutality Impossible to Deny.” (Accessed Sept 21, 2025) SRC-HCOM-WhippedPeter – https://www.history.com/articles/whipped-peter-slavery-photo-scourged-back-real-story-civil-war
- Wikipedia. “John Lyons (Louisiana).” Biography of Capt. John Lyons (origins, marriage, occupations, 1850/1860 enslaved counts, death). SRC-WIKI-JohnLyons-LA – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lyons_(Louisiana)
- Lyons Shaw, Adonica. “Captain John Lyons of St. Landry Parish.” Lyons family website (archived Mar 4, 2016). SRC-WEB-LYONS-SHAW-2016-ARCH – https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082724/http://shawra.com/gen/index_files/Page1884.htm
- U.S. Census (Population), 1860. Louisiana, St. Landry Parish (Opelousas). Series M653, Roll 424, Page 954. Records of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29. SRC-POP-1860-LA-STLA-M653-424-P954
- U.S. Census (Slave Inhabitants), 1860. Louisiana, St. Landry Parish. Series M653 (roll/page pending). Records of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29. SRC-SS-1860-LA-STLA-M653-R??
- U.S. Census (Slave Inhabitants), 1850. Louisiana, St. Landry Parish. Series M432 (roll/page pending). Records of the Bureau of the Census, RG 29. SRC-SS-1850-LA-STLA-M432-R??
