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Gc 976.102 M71ham 1753311
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02320 8553
THE FOUNDING of MOBILE 1702-1718
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST CAPITAL OF THE PROVINCE OF LOUIS- IANA, WITH MAP SHOWING ITS RELATION TO THE PRESENT CITY
PETER J. HAMILTON, L.L.D. AUTHOR OF "COLONIAL MOBILE," ETC.
MOBILE Commercial Printing Company 1911
840
,
1753311
THE
FOUNDING OF MOBILE by
Peter J. Hamilton
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/foundingofmobile00hami_0
PREFATORY NOTE.
These studies were made in connection with the celebration in May, 1911, of the Bicentenary of the founding of Mobile and in their original form were published in the Mobile Register. They have now been revised and it is hoped improved.
The map at the end was drawn under the super- vision of Wright Smith, the City Engineer of Mo- bile, and shows the French town relative to the ex- isting American city. The route of the bicenten- nial parade around the French limits is also indi- cated. At the turning corners granite posts are placed in the sidewalk.
These studies are perhaps disconnected, but centre about the institutions of the time when Mobile was the First Creole Capital. They are based upon man- . uscript and early sources and are in a large measure independent and supplementary to my "Colonial Mobile."
P. J. HAMILTON. Mobile, 1911.
.
Dedication to the Limited Facsimile Edition
This Facsimile of the First Edition of the Book I Am Happy to Dedicate to the Memory of My Father PETER JOSEPH HAMILTON PRINCETONIAN, HISTORIAN, FEDERAL JUDGE BUT FIRST OF ALL --- MOBILIAN
Rachel-Duke Hamilton Cannon.
This Facsimile Edition Limited to 500 Copies
PUBLISHED BY COLONIAL MOBILE BOOK SHOP MOBILE, ALABAMA Copyright 1946
3:2
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I. FORT LOUIS.
Page. 1 .- French Colonization 5
II .- Vieux Fort 8
III .- First Directory 12
IV .- Bienville s Coat of Arms 17
V .- Religion
21
VI .- The Social Side 24
VII .- A Colonial Menu 28
VIII .- The Mosquito Fleet 31
II. MOBILE.
IX .- The removal as Told by the Removers. 35
X .- New Mobile 44
XI .- The Great Hat Question 50
XII .- A Chateau on the Bay 54
XIII .- Infant Industries 57
XIV .- Colonial Homes
62
XV .- Place Names that Survive
65
III. CROZAT AND AFTER.
XVI .- Colonial Government 69
XVII .- Expansion 74
XVIII .- The First Law Book 78
XIX .- The Soldiers 83
XX .- First Shipping List 88
XXI .- Cradle and the Grave 92
XXII .- Indian Trade 98 XXIII .- Conclusion 102 . (Map showing relation of French town to modern city at end.)
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I. FORT LOUIS.
I .-- FRENCH COLONIZATION.
Of all the movements of races, those following the discovery of America are the most interesting. They brought our ancestors to America, dispossessed the aboriginal tribes, and changed the current of the world's history. Being within historical times, the facts can be easily traced. The settlement of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico has features of local im- portance, but cannot be understood except as a part of a world movement, a readjustment of population.
Colonization in all ages has had several motifs, and it so happened that Spain, who was first in the field, chose one of only temporary value. Columbus had stumbled on America on his way to India, but the Spaniards found so much gold and silver in South America and Mexico that they were willing enough to leave India to be fought for by the Portu- gese, French and English. Even in North America, Spain, through DeSoto and others, explored rather than colonized. The idea of developing colonies for the benefit of the colonists was left for our day, but that of developing products to be manufactured for the home market was to dawn upon the French and English, although it did not upon the Spaniards. Possibly that country will win in the long run as a colonizer which has the most surplus- population. Spain had none to spare, but it so happened that an
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economic readjustment in England, followed by re- ligious persecutions, drove many yoemen to a sea- faring life. This brought knowledge of the new world and supplied it with colonists. How far this was true of France remained to be seen, but cer- tainly its gradually centralizing government was able to use for any purpose, at home of abroad, whatever means that country afforded.
The two nations settled Virginia and Canada in almost the same year, French Quebec in 1606 being only one year ahead of English Jamestown. It was to lead to a long and interesting rivalry in coloniza- tion. Over a century and a half were to pass before the result was decided. It is true that the French had made earlier attempts. Both Brazil and Caro- lina were colonized under Huguenot auspices, and so. short-lived was Coligny's power that both were unsuccessful. In North America characteristically Virginia was a commercial venture. Massachusetts a few years later was a religious experiment, while Canada was not a popular but a royal effort. Eng- land took her third colonial step in colonizing on the old French ground of Carolina, just as the French LaSalle made his famous prise de possession at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682. Eng- lish colonization was confined to the Atlantic coast, and expanded in a gradual advance as county or township was settled; the French colonization lay in the occupation of the St. Lawrence basin by a nobility, who settled their lands with retainers, but allied to this was the exploration by coureurs de bois,-woodsmen,-and voyageurs, who carried French influence everywhere. .
Quebec and Montreal had been settled upon the
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great northern French River. The Mississippi, how- ever, ran not through Laurentian rocks, but through an alluvial country which furnished no good resting place for a capital. The St. Lawrence was wide. and a sailing vessel of the day could ascend it as easily as it could go anywhere at sea. The Missis- sippi was not such an arm of the sea. It was wide, to be sure, but deep and winding. Sailing vessels could make little headway against its current and along its tortuous course. For that reason no per- manent settlement was made near its mouth. La- Salle had such a plan, but the practical Iberville thought a small earthwork sufficient to hold pos- session there, while his capital was to be on the sea- coast. Temporarily he might have his headquarters at Biloxi, but he explored for a more fertile seat for his colony.
Wherever it might be, it would be another seat of empire. The British began with their two types, Cavalier Jamestown and Puritan Plymouth. The French had Quebec in the north, and now in the south were to establish another capital. Two fea- tures stand ont. With the French there was greater leadership. Champlain in the north and Iberville in the south were greater names than the British colonizers furnished. Again, the French penetrated further and acquired a greater hegemony over the natives than did the English yeomen, who hugged the coast and stayed close together. Perhaps the national characteristics of brilliancy and pluck were pitted against each other, and it would be in- teresting to see how they worked out the future be- fore them. The British had the advantage in num- bers and in foci; for there were when Mobile was
7
founded, not only Boston and Williamsburg, which had succeeded Plymouth and Jamestown, but con- quered New Amsterdam and pacific Philadelphia between, and the new Charleston was becoming a strong centre of influence. Against those could be opposed by the French only Quebec and Montreal in the north and Mobile in the south; but they con- trolled the greatest river basins in America, were united in spirit, and were wielded by the greatest king of modern times.
The rivalry was not unequal and the building of the southern capital was carrying out the plan to make a greater New France. There was little to choose between the qualities of the two races. There might be a choice between their institutions, but new conditions would equalize these. If France could spare as many people as England, and the colonies of both races multiplied equally, there would be a New England on the Atlantic, and a New France occupying the much greater St. Law- rence and Mississippi Valleys. In the working out of this lies the import of the story of Louisiana and her first capital in the time of Iberville and his brothers.
II .- VIEUX FORT.
It seems that the original condition of mankind was that of families and clans, either as wandering herdsmen or settled agriculturists. The town or city was a gradual evolution, which reached its per- fection among the Romans. When the Romans sent out colonists, however, they made the town the basis of their colonization, and the European nations fol- lowed suit in their efforts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was an inversion of the
8
natural process, and yet probably a necessity of the case. The colony must have a centre, a capital, both for communication with the home country, and for influence among the natives. For this reason the story of the capital is of importance. In fact, to some extent the capital was the colony.
When it becomes necessary, therefore, to select a site for his colony, Iberville made a careful inspec- tion of all the Gulf coast west of Pensacola. The Mississippi current was too strong, and the lands near its mouth too marshy to admit of settlement. The post at Biloxi was never intended for a capital, but merely as a temporary settlement.
The four great Indian tribes of the south were the numerous Choctaws about Mobile and Tombig- bee Rivers, the warlike Chickasaws between the sources of the Tombigbee and the Mississippi, the Muscogees, whom the French called the Alibamons from the lowest subdivision on their river, and the Cherokees in the mountains behind the English set- tlements on the Atlantic. There were many other -tribes, but even on the Mississippi each was few in numbers. Strange to say, the presence of a small tribe on Mobile River had much to do with the se- lection of the site, for the Mobilians there were not only thought to be the influential Movila whom De- Soto had all but exterminated in 1540, but theirs was the trade jargon or international language un- derstood from the Atlantic to the Mississippi. Some ยท still flourished, among the Alibamons near modern Claiborne. Both to watch the English and and in- fluence the natives, therefore, a site on the Mobile River, which was made up of the Alabama and the
9
Tombigbee, was appropriate. On the other hand, Mobile Bay offered great advantages. At its mouth was Dauphine Island, which was found to have an admirable harbor at the east end, which was named Port Dauphin. There was also an eastern entrance to the bay, but that by Port Dauphin was thought more available. Ships could unload at Port Dau- phin and have their cargoes transferred by traver- siers and other boats to the river settlement. The river bluff and island port, therefore, could make up a capital, and this was what the fertile mind of Iberville determined.
On his second voyage, while lying sick in Pensa- cola Bay, he directed Sauvole and Bienville to move everything from Biloxi to Massacre Island with a view of making a permanent establishment upon the river sixteen leagues from the Gulf.
The new town was founded on January 16, 1702, and work continued incessantly. On March 19, La- Salle, who performed the functions of commissaire de marine, arrived and found the streets aligned, the magasin completed, and the palisaded fort of four bastions ready for use. The settlement was reached from a landing, where a small creek makes into the river, and one ascended the hill to the south by the main highway along the river bluff. At in- tervals were cross streets, named for residents, and the southern extremity of the town was Fort Louis, sometimes called de la Mobile and sometimes de la Louisiane. In front of it on the river bank was the powder magazine, and west of the town was a ravine, and beyond a slight outpost. The fort was on a bend and overlooked the river in both direc- tions, while across were the marshy islands of the
10
delta, which were to afford some rich agricultural grounds.
The town gradually grew. In 1704 a church was built near the fort by the liberality of Gervaise, a pious priest who was unable to come out, and north- west on the sources of the creek was the Seminaire, where the Seminary priests lived. The west side of the fort was taken up by the chapel, a large building which served also as church for the settlement. As the town was built southwards, a well was dug a block or two inwards from the fort, and about it was the Marche, the assembly and playground of Mobile. There was also a kind of resort on the banks of the creek, and in the woods behind the town the little cemetery, which was, like all grave- yards, to grow in size. From the yellow fever epi- demic in 1704 it was a populous spot.
In 1702 Iberville brought over four families, and, despite occasional want,-as in 1706 acutely,- all `learned to love the place. When D'Artaguette came in 1708 to investigate the complaints of the priest and of the commissaire he found that all had been done which could be expected, and the colonists unanimously declared themselves satisfied with their surroundings. All they wanted was horses to help cultivate the soil.
A traversier was built and plied regularly to Port Dauphin, and gradually all along the river, and even on the bay shore, French settlements arose, some- times villages, but generally habitans with their lit- tle farms.
The settlement was double in character, it is look- ed towards France and towards the interior. It was the seat of trade and diplomacy with the three
11
great tribes up the rivers, and even with the Chero- kees beyond, and as a result the influence of the English was soon broken. They had traded to the Mississippi River, but this great wedge soon all but shut them out. The Choctaws became firm allies of the French, and the French contended on equal terms with the British for influence among the up- per tribes.
The new settlement marked a distinct advance in town building in America. All others founded be- fore it, from Jamestown and Quebec to Charleston, were within walls and fortifications. Even the land of pacific Philadelphia had been bought from the natives. French influence, however, was such that no cession was needed from the Indians for the set- tlement on the Mobile, and no walls or fortifications were built about it. It was open to the world. It is true that in its centre was a fort, but this was more for protection against Europeans than against the natives. In none of the correspondence or state papers of the day is there expressed the slightest fear of the Indians. Mobile from its foundation to the end of the French regime was the centre of the Indian trade and diplomacy, and only at one time was it in any danger from the natives, and that was long after it ceased to be the capital.
III .- FIRST DIRECTORY OF MOBILE.
Fort Louis de la Mobile at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff was established in 1702 and despite wars in Europe soon became a flourishing town. A map was made the year of the foundation, and one marked "un peu avant 1711" not only shows a place of double the size, but indicates its growth to have been sonthwardly.
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The first thing which attracts attention on this map is the fort, which seems to be looked at from above,-as if there was an aeroplane in use. . Fort Louis is square, with bastions at each corner. From the northeast bastion on the river floats the white flag of France, and the west side of the fort is wholly taken up by a large church with steeple, surmounted by the predecessor of M. Rostand's Chantecler. The parapets are all covered, the roofs being plainly visible. The fort is near the river and on the north, west and south sides of it lies the large "Place Royale",-doubtless the drill ground of that day.
As at first built the town sloped up to the left from a little stream falling into the river, just as with the village of Longueuil on the St. Lawrence.
In 1702 the town extended from the creek (ruis- seau) about three blocks down to the fort. On the new map as much of a town as previously existed is shown to have grown up west of the fort, and an- other section almost as large southwest of the fort about the market place. While houses are not indi- cated, we are told that they were there in abund- ance, and the names of the residents are given in de- tail. Many are the same as found on the map of 1702, but there are a number of names peculiar to this second map.
The town might be said to be in three or four dis- tricts. The old settlement was that on the creek to the north of the fort. On the creek itself was the brickyard near the river and what may be a pleasure report (Beau sejour) further up stream, while north of the creek was nothing but the woods. . Higher up- the creek was the Seminaire, residence of the priests
13
from Quebee, with their garden adjacent. Near it was the place of greatest interest,-the "simitiere," where, without doubt, the great explorer Tonty lies buried with his iron hand. A branch from the creek heads up by the cemetery.
What we may call the second district of the town lay on three streets running west from Place Royale. This section was thickly settled.
The south district of the town was growing up about the market place, "le Marche", with the brick well in the centre. The king reserved some land im- mediately south of the Place Royale, and Bienville, with an eye to the future, secured a tract south of this, perhaps, with a view of making Bienville's First Addition when the town grew.
The highway running along the river is not named, nor are those bounding the city on the west and on the south. The other streets are very much named; for the same street will change its name every block or so, quite as in the Paris of that day. Parallel with the river and running through the west side of the Place Royale was the street which bore the name St. Francois at its northern extremity and further south the names of Ste. Marie, de Rues- savel, Chateauguay. Next west of that was Boute- ville, St. Joseph, de Tonti, Becancour, Juchero, and St. Denis. Next west was the last street with a name, called Seminaire where it begins opposite the Seminary, and then Pontchartrain further south.
The highways running east and west change names in a somewhat similar manner. The first was near the river called Charpentie, and further west Marais (marsh). Next down the river was the street of the Jesuits, bearing also the name LaSalle
14
and St. Anne. Streets running west from the cor- ners of the Place Royale were called respectively for Yberville and Serignie, his brother. One between was named for the distinguished soldier Boisbril- lant, but towards the west bore also .the name of Gue,-which is difficult to understand, unless the ford (gue) ran across the marsh which existed west of the town. The last street towards the south was called for Bienville.
Among the prominent residents were Yberville, Bienville, St. Denis, LaSalle and Boisbrillant, and that most remarkable of all liars in the history of the world,-Matheiu Sagean, who pretended to have explored the whole interior of North America.
Some one has said that a dictionary is interesting reading, but changes the subject quite often. De- spite a corresponding defect, the first directory of Mobile given by streets will be found of interest. Some of the names were familiar for many years afterwards.
On the unnamed front street beginning at the north and going south were Pouarie, La Loir, Le Conte, Saucie, Jesuits, LaSalle, and D'Yberville. In the same way on St. Fransois was a long list, al- though at the Place Royale, the street had but one side. On it were Dame Dieu, L'Esperance, La Fontaine, Goulard, Jaque Boullet & ses gens. Talle- ment, Boutin, Jesuits, Lamery, Francoeur, Trepag- nier, Claude, Minet. St. Marie, LeSueur, Le Vasseur, Boisbriliant, Place Royale, La Loir, Gerard, Sa varie, Boyer, Le Moine, Louis Le Dieu, Sabastien Le Breton, Alexandre, LaFleur, L'Assure. What sort of people were M. Dieu and Dame Dieu ?
On St. Joseph street were in the first place Beau
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Sejour, which may be conjectured to be a pleasure resort,-at least for mosquitoes there by the creek, -and then follow on both sides of the street the longest list of all,-La Chenesgaulle, Charle Dumont, Marais, Dumont cadet, Jardin du Seminaire, Jean le can, Magdeleine Poulard, Jacque La Pointe, Denis Durbois. Chavier & Brother, Dominique, Francois Montreuil. Ayote, De Tonti, Charleville, Pierie, La- folett, Jacque La Barre, Lezie Larcois, Rouffain, Charle Regnault, Jean Alexandre, Beccancour, La- force, La Fleur, Duhaut Meni, Juchero, Pierre Isogui, Antoine Priau, Francois Marie bourne, St. Denis, St. Marin, Alexie Gry, Birott, Andre Pene- gau and Robillard.
On Seminaire was the "Simitiere" and then the following : Pierre Le Sueur, Roy, De Launy, Neveu, Neveu L'aine. LaLiberte, Des List, Nicolas Laberge, Francois Trado, Le Boeuf, La Valle, Le Source, Manuelle du hautmeny, Chauvin L'aine, La Frenniere.
On the unnamed west boundry street, all on the east side, were the following: Rochon, Charli, Legat, Antoine Rinard, Martin Moquin, Zacare Dra- peau, and Langlois.
This does not quite exhaust the list, for there were some residents on the cross streets who were not on corners, and thus not also on the north and south streets. In order to complete the list and make one feel at home in walking about these early streets, they are subjoined as follows: On Charpentie street were Jean Partie, Condits and Louis Dore.
On Jesuit street were Le Vetias, Regnault and Alain. On the north side of the Place Royalle was Poudrie. On Yberville street was Joseph La Pointe,
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Dardine, Fransois Hainelle, Potie, Berichon and Daroeque. On Boisbrillant were LeGascon, Cour- tois and Le Nantois, On Serignie street were five, as follows: Charle Miret, Pierre Ardouin, Jean Francois Levasseur, St. Lambert de haut Meni, and Michel Philippe. Last of all on Bienville street came the famous Matieu Sajan and Jean Saucie.
Many of the leaders were Canadians and not a few of the habitans. Trudant was a carpenter from Longueuil, as were Lapointe and Poudrie, and Bon- oist soon came also. Montreal was the mother of Mobile.
IV .- BIENVILLE'S COAT OF ARMS.
In the flourishing city of Montreal they have not only kept the names of the old streets-one named for Charles Le Moyne-and marked with bronze tablets the prominent historical spots, but some of the colonial buildings have been preserved intact. The Chateau de Ramezay, the residence of the colonial governors, is now the home of historical society, and its wall, gardens and rooms have been restored as nearly as possible to their original con- dition. In the hall containing portraits of famous Canadians stand several of the Le Moyne family, including Charles, the immigrant from Normandy, and several of his distinguished sons. Amongst these is Jean Baptiste, whom the father namcd de Bienville, from a spot dear to him in the old coun- try.
Charles le Moyne was one of the early settlers of Ville Marie, or Montreal, and in recognition of dis- tinguished colonial services received several grants of land. One was Longueuil, granted in 1657 on
17
the south side of the St. Lawrence, almost opposite Montreal. After a while he seems to have built a chateau over there and lived in Longueuil during the summer. He was seigneur of this concession and of others.
Among Canadian scholars it is agreed that the seigneurial system was the making of Canada. It was based upon land grants, having a front on the St. Lawrence river and extending back in depth several times the front. subdivided by the seigneur among his own tenants. A common road was re- quired to be made along the river from one seig- neurie to another, but the most interesting features were those within each concession. The seigneur had a manor house surrounded by his own grounds, generally on some commanding knoll, while the fields of his tenants stretched far and wide. As far as possible each one was given a front on the St. Lawrence, but this was not always feasible. They may still be traced in the long, narrow fields. The profits of the seigneur consisted of his rents, per- haps in produce, later generally commuted into a small money payment, and in the rights and banali- ties which the tenants were bound to respect. If the seigneur had a mill, the tenant must grind his wheat there for a certain consideration. Perhaps even more important was the right of holding court, -with high, low or middle justice,-varying accord- ing to the extent of his jurisdiction, and incidentally bringing in fees and fines. The Seigneurie of Lon- gueuil was two leagues on the river by almost double in depth. It had its mill, landing place and light- house. And a delightful place of residence it is, stretching now as a village along a rambling street
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