I represent Ysabel Parbula, a parda girl enslaved in the household of Don Luis Gayarre. I was baptized by Father Josef de Agustin Briones, Chaplain of the Louisiana Regiment of Infantry, at St. Michael’s on December 9, 1817, a few months after my birth. My mother was Joaquina, a mulata woman enslaved in the same household. I was born into slavery by virtue of her enslaved status. My father is not mentioned, which usually means that the man either did not want or was not able to acknowledge me.