I represent Maria de la Merced Vidal Palao, a free parda woman born in Louisiana. I was the daughter of Euphrosina Hinnard and Nicolas Maria Vidal, the former lieutenant governor of Louisiana. At the time of the 1820 census of Pensacola, I was 25 years old and married to Severino Palao, a free pardo man who worked as a carpenter. We had two children.
In August of 1821, I would play a starring role in what became known as the Vidal affair, when I complained to the new American legal authorities that the Spanish had delayed a claim on my father’s estate. The ensuing bureaucratic squabble caused quite an incident between General Andrew Jackson and Spanish Governor Jose Callava.