The Ancestors of Paul Sentell

This information was provided by Mark Brandenburg, M.D. a decendant of Paul Sentell, because He Loves being a Proud Creole and Wants the World to know about Us And Our Heritage

 

My family descends from the Creole families of the Barre and Rodrigue sugar plantations St. John the Baptist Parish. My great- great-grandfather, Joseph Barre, and his children are listed as being mulatto in the 1880 census records when they were living and working on the Laura Plantation in St. James Parish. Eventually, they all moved to New Orleans.

Joseph Barre and his white wife, Appoline Rodrigue, are one of the few/only examples of a mulatto man being married to a white woman ... thus, the reason they were not allowed to be married in the St. John the Baptist Parish Church, but rather traveled to New Orleans to be married at St. Augustine Church in Treme.

You might be interested to know that we have found a person in our family tree who played major league baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies in the very early 1900s. His name was Leopold Paul Sentell, and he was the nephew of our Joseph Barre. Mr. Sentell's mother was Sylvanie Barre (mulatto in the 1870 census records), who was the daughter of Achilles Barre and Charlotte Rosalie (believed to be a slave on the Barre sugar plantation).

Bottom line -- We believe a mulatto Louisiana Creole, Leopold Paul Sentell, grandson of a slave, may be the first or one of the first examples of a person of color playing major-league baseball ... well before Jackie Robinson. I have attached a couple pictures of Mr. Sentell. After playing for the Philadelphia Phillies for two seasons, he later became an umpire in the major-leagues.

Just thought you might like to share in another proud moment and Creole history. Thank you so much for your wonderful website.

Mark Brandenburg, M.D.

 

Click on Text to enlarge

 

 

Paul Sentell More on Paul ...click here The Baseball Almaniac

More on Sentell...Click Here

 

Paul Sentell a player who appeared in the majors in 1906 and 1907.   Leopold Theodore Sentell   Bats Right, Throws Right Height 5' 9", Weight 176 lb. Debut April 12, 1906 Final Game April 27, 1907 Born August 27, 1879 in New Orleans, LA USA Died April 27, 1923 in Cincinnati, OH USA Biographical Information     Leopold Theodore Sentell   is remembered as Paul Sentell, a player who appeared in the majors in 1906 and 1907. He had almost all of his at-bats in 1906 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and played mostly third and second base. Although his .229 batting average doesn't seem like much, the team hit only .241, and neither the regular second baseman (Kid Gleason) nor the regular third baseman (Ernie Courtney) hit over .236. However, they had better fielding percentages than Sentell. An article in the New York Times, dated March 18, 1917, states that "an ancient feud" between Sentell and John McGraw was rekindled during a St. Patrick's Day exhibition game between the New York Giants and the Galveston team, on which Sentell was player-manager. It was caused by an umpire's decision and reversal that was disputed. The Galveston crowd then threatened the Giants "with utter destruction", at which point the Galveston team's owner told Sentell to back down when McGraw threatened his team would not continue to play. Sentell played first base and batted seventh in that game, going 2-for-5 against Jim Middleton. The Giants won the game. Source

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His Baptism Cretificate ...Click to enlarge