hey, barbara. just to let u know, i remember looking at the 1792 opelousas census of free mulattos and negros contained in the spanish cabildo papers and saw John shives, a free mulatto in his thirties. in the 1810 census of st. martin(attakapas) parish, i also found john cheves. i wonder if he related to the charity chevis who married john drake. just throwing some info out there.