Don Almonester, his widow, Louise, became well known as "a superbly competent businesswoman who had greatly increased the inheritance since Almonester's death." (Six years after Almonester's death, Louise then married Jean-Baptiste Victor Castillon. The newlywed couple are reported to have been subjected to a mob's riotous three-day Charivari in response to the youth of the bridegroom who was, contrary to the much younger ages widely reported, a mere seven years her junior, then deemed scandalous.) Legacy After the Great New Orleans Fire (1788), Don Almonester funded a public school for the city, as well as a house for the use of the clergy and the charity hospital at the then-considerable cost of $114,000. He rebuilt the buildings on either side of the cathedral, the hospital, the boys' school, a chapel for the Ursulines; and he founded the leper hospital. Almonester funded the building of New Orleans' parish church, in which he is buried. The Church of Saint Louis was dedicated in 1794, becoming a cathedral the following year, and was never pulled down as some sources may say. In 1849 the cathedral was badly damaged due to the removal of supports which led to the collapse of the center tower. This led to the 1850s remodeled structure as we know it today. Don Andres' remains still lie in the cathedral, entombed in the floor with one of his two daughters, four-year-old Andrea. New Orleans' Almonaster Avenue is named in his honor, posthumously editing the spelling of his surname from Almonester to Almonaster. References External links Almonster y Roxas, Andrés at Louisiana Historical Association's Dictionary of Louisiana Biography Biographical sketch by Grace King in New Orleans: The Place and the People (1895) 1798 deaths People of Colonial Spanish Louisiana 1728 births