The Helaire Family of Oakland / The Shields Family of Oakland

The Helaire Family of Oakland, also, The Shields Family of Oakland. . , The Helaire family traces its history back to the late 1700s and two enslaved workers whose son, Helaire, was born on Oakland in 1809. Known as Jean Baptiste Helaire after Emancipation, he and his wife Filis (or Phillis) raised seven children and started a tight-knit family that continues to this day., After the Civil War, the Helaires remained at Oakland for several generations as sharecroppers, though they also did a great variety of other jobs. One later member of the family, Felix Helaire, was not just a sharecropper, but also a blacksmith and ran a small family cane syrup mill at his house. Another, Carrie, before marrying into the Helaire family, was the planter family's babysitter. The Helaire family's story continues to the present day, with many Helaires still calling the Cane River area their home., The Shields Family of Oakland. , This cabin reflects life in the Quarters from the mid-1950s to early 1960s and is one of the only examples in the United States of an original slave/tenant cabin furnished by former plantation residents., Former Oakland resident, Elvin Shield assisted in furnishing this cabin. Elvin was born on Melrose Plantation in 194? His family moved to Oakland Plantation in 1954 to work as sharecroppers. Elvin's mother and sister also worked as cooks. The Shield's family lived in the two remaining cabin until 1962. After serving in Vietnam, Elvin married Betty Robinson. He would go on to serve as a Supervisory Mechanical Engineer for the National Guard at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Since his retirement, Elvin has volunteered at the park, sharing his childhood experiences with visitors of all ages. He often demonstrates the making of the wire toys that entertained his brothers, sinters and other plantation kids.