Bridgett Nugent

Sailing from the United Kingdom in 1847, Filipino seaman Felipe Madrigal met Bridgett Nugent of Ireland.  The couple settled in the fishing villages of St. Bernard and Jefferson Parishes, near the New Orleans, Louisiana area. Madrigal fished and Nugent ran a restaurant.  Many of their customers were other Filipino sailors who lived, worked and settled in the villages during the 1840s and 1850s.  These are some of the oldest established communities of Asian laborers to the "new world." (Photo from Marina Espina Collection)