History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 53

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

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tion. Altitude: 15 feet. Population: 1850- 20,515; 1860-29,258; 1870-32,034; 1880 -40,000; 1890-31,076; 1900-38,469; 1910-51.521.

History .- On April 9, 1682, on some dry spot near the mouth of the Mississippi river, with imposing ceremonies, Robert Cavelier de la Salle took possession of "this country of Louisiana," or, as he phrased it in his report, he "took possession of this river, of all the rivers which flow into it and all the countries which they watered." Colonization of this vast Indian world was the all en- grossing ambition of LaSalle. Three years later he laid his plans before the King, Louis the Fourteenth, and Seignlay, the Marine and Colonial Minister, and was duly empow- ered to establish a fort and a colony within the great river. LaSalle returned with his soldiers and colonists, but missed the mouth of the Mississippi and established his colony on Matogorda Bay in Texas. It was an 111- fated enterprise. Some months later, while seeking relief for the colonists, LaSalle per- ished by the hands of an assassin, and either Spaniards or Indians wiped his colony out of existence. Twelve years passed away and Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur D'Iberville took up the interrupted work of LaSalle. On October 2, 1698, he sailed from Brest with two ves- sels, the "Badine" and the "Marin," which were accompanied by two transports and later were joined hy "Francois," an armed Cor- vette. Among the colonists was Jean Bap- tiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, Iberville's brother. They reached Pensacola, recently founded by the Spaniards, on January 27, 1699, and three days later, reached the bar off Mobile Point. Violent rains and storms prevented all exploration for several days, after which the pass to the bay was rounded, and some of the islands at the entrance were explored. Again there was another and more terrific storm, and Iherville was weather- bound for three days on Dauphin Island. After the subsidence of the storm some ex- ploration was made of the shores of Mobile Bay. Then sailing westerly, Iberville dis- covered many islands, among these Cat Island and Ship Island, the latter having a fine har- hor, of which he took possession. The next day Iberville with a small party visited the mainland, which he found inhabited by the Biloxi Indians. The day after when again on the mainland, he gained his first definite information in regard to the Mississippi River from a hunting party of Bayougoula and Mangoulasha Indians whom he was so fortunate as to encounter. Leaving his ves- sels in Biloxi Bay with thirty-three men in two feluccas, he proceeded to the rediscovery of the "Hidden River." He found it and went up it as far as the village of the Houmas, situated near the present dividing line of Mississippi and Louisiana. Finding no place suitable for the establishment of his colony, Iherville returned to his vessels at Ship Island. Several places having been explored, he finally selected the back bay of Biloxi as the most eligible place for his colony. The soldiers

and colonists with their supplies were landed, small farms were opened, and Fort Maurepas, as it was named, was begun and finished about the last of April. A few days thereafter, Iberville, sailed back to France, leaving Sau- volle in command of the fort and Colony. On January 8, 1700, he was again back at Biloxi, bringing more colonists, among them some young marriageable women, some fine live stock, with cotton seed and sugar cane. His return and presence infused new life into the colonists. But the colony was not des- tined to remain long at Biloxi. In the fall of 1701, Iberville, then in France, was ordered to occupy Mobile, as it was a better site for a colony as well as a better base to watch the Spaniards, who had ever been jealous of the French occupation of Louisiana. He arrived at Pensacola, November 24, 1701. Here he learned of the death of Sauvolle. Not long after he sent a boat to Biloxi, to his brother Bienville, who had succeeded Sau- volle in command, with orders to transport every thing to Mobile. Early in January, 1702, in boats and rafts, some of the boats being furnished by the Spaniards, the French with all their property and the munitions of war, were transported from Biloxi and Dau- phin Island up Mobile River, to Twenty- seven Mile Bluff, the site was selected for the new establishment, which was six leagues below the habitat of the Mobilien Indians. It was named in full "Fort Louis de la Mo- bile" in honor of Louis XIV, with the sup- plementary addition to show its proximity to the Mobilien Indians. The town was laid out and the huildings were erected. The fort was in the center of the parade ground. The magazine, which was the only hrick structure, was near the river bank. Other public buildings were the church and a hos- pital. There was a market place and a well which was dug near the magazine. The town was to the north and west of the fort. In it were the houses of the officers and settlers, the mechanics, and the Canadians and voy- agers. The farms, mills and other industries were to the west of the town. Iberville sailed to France, April 29, leaving Bienville in con- trol of the colony, of which he became actual governor on his brother's death in 1706.

The history of Fort Louis de la Mobile is largely an account of the relations of the French, friendly and otherwise with the In- dian tribes. The colonists had wars with the Alibamos and the Shilimashas. The most important Indian affair was in 1708 when a large hand of Alibamos, Abuhkas and Cata- wbas made an inroad and burned many of the cabins of the Mobiliens, their neigh- bors, but refrained from making an attack on Mobile. Some of the most pleasing feat- ures in Indian affairs were the treaty which Iberville made with the Choctaws and Chick- asaws, the peace and reconciliation which were Bienville's, sometimes making peace between two warring tribes, and his settling the fugitive Apalachees, the Chatos and the Tensas in the vicinity of Mobile. The colo- nists, viewed with modern eyes, were not a

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prosperous people. They were often put to great extremities for the want of food sup- plies, and hence were largely dependent upon their Indian neighbors for their subsistence.

In 1811, in consequence of a great over- flow old Mohile was abandoned and a new town, retaining the name of Mobile was built on a plain that ran along the bank of the river. Fort Conde was erected, and all the people of the old town gradually moved to the new, bringing their household belongings in boats and rafts down the river and set- tling in the new place. The abandoned town was in time covered with a forest growth and there are now but few indications to show that here stood the first French town that was built in the Gulf States. The total pop- ulation of the old town in 1703, was one hundred and thirty souls. In 1711, the year of the removal, even with the accession of some new colonists, it only amounted to about four hundred, all told. Bienville remained governor of the colony until 1812, when he was named lieutenant governor under Cadil- lar the new governor appointed by Antoine Crozat, who had leased Louisiana for fifteen years. Bienville in the meantime was per- mitted to erect Fort Toulouse, so that by means of its garrison he could control the Indians and their trade and at the same time watch the movements of the English on the Carolina frontier. Crozat was a mer- chant of vast wealth, which he expected to greatly increase in the lease of Louisiana, by working its gold and silver mines, by the monopoly of the Indian trade and of com- merce with Mexico and the Carolinas. He had the exclusive right of importing goods from France and they were exempt from duty. There were other exclusive privileges granted Crozat, but with all the means at his command he failed to make his grand schemes profitable, and in August, 1717, he surren- dered his charter. The year prior, 1716, Cadillac, who was, in some measure, the part- ner of Crozat, was recalled to France. Crozat at once appointed L'Epinay as his successor. He arrived in Mobile in March, 1717, but when Crozat surrendered his charter, he re- turned to France, leaving Bienville again as governor of the colony. Neither Cadillac nor L'Epinay encouraged agriculture as their minds were ever filled with wild and visionary schemes, by which they hoped to acquire vast personal wealth. Following close upon the failure of Crozat came John Law's grand scheme for the development of Louisiana through the Western Company. This com- pany was granted greater privileges than those enjoyed by Crozat. Law's bank failed in 1721, and this failure was followed by great distress in France and even in Lou- isiana. The Western Company, however, did one good thing for the colonists in their systematic importation of negro slaves, whose labors created more produce, thus rendering the colony less dependent upon the home country. This produce was sold to the West- ern Company and something was thus gained in the colonists thus finding a home market. The principal agricultural prod-

ucts were rice and tobacco, while fur, hides, lumber and tar also found a ready sale for exports. Bienville had ever encour- aged agriculture and even went so far as to urge upon the home government that those of the colonists who had prospered should not be permitted to return to France. Even in the early years of his government he promoted the erection of saw mills, which at least enabled the people to build better houses than log cabins.

In 1722 Mohile ceased to be the capital of Louisiana, which was transferred to New Orleans, but the former town, owing to its proximity to the large and powerful Indian nations, continued to be the center of Indian influence and diplomacy, mainly through the domination of Fort Tombecbe and Toulouse. In 1733 Bienville again hecame governor of Louisiana. In this year Mobile suffered much from a disastrous hurricane, which destroyed crops and provisions, and from a fatal epi- demic of smallpox. Bienville's administration is noted for its wars against the Chickasaws. He was succeeded in 1743 by the Marquis de Vandreuil whose administration resembled that of Bienville in its Indian disturbances. Vandreuil was succeeded in 1753 by Captain Kerlerec, who was the last governor of Louisiana.

On the whole it must be admitted that agriculture did not greatly flourish in the Province of Louisiana, notwithstanding all the encouragement given to it by the gover- nors coming after Cadillac. During the ad- ministration of Kerlerec, there was generally, it seems, a sufficiency of corn raised in the vicinity of Mobile. There were also some or- chards of oranges, pomegranates, apples, pears and peaches. Sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes and all kinds of garden vegetables were also raised. Stock raising was fairly successful and by the close of Kerlerec's administration cattle, horses and hogs had become ahundant in and around Mobile. During the last years of the Seven Years' War, as commerce with the home country was greatly interrupted, Kerlerec often experi- enced much difficulty in procuring supplies for his Indian allies, the Choctaws and the Alibamos, whom he pronounced "the bul- warks of the colony." On October 22, 1763, Mobile surrendered to the British, and the grenadiers of the 22nd and 34th regiments took possession of Fort Condé, renamed Fort Charlotte by the English. The French troops withdrew to New Orleans and it seems but few of the people of Mobile accompanied or followed them; for by October 2, 1764, one hundred and twelve adults of the vicinity, ninety-eight families that lived in the dis- trict of Mobile had taken the oath of allegi- ance to the British government in accordance with the manifests of Major Robert Farmar, governor of Louisiana. Thus terminated in a disastrous failure the grand scheme of the long years in which LaSalle, Iberville, and Bienville had labored and toiled to build up for France a great empire in the western world.

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British West Florida .- By a royal procla- mation of October 7, 1763, the territory ac- quired from the French and Spaniards was erected into the provinces of East and West Florida, separated from each other by Apa- lachicola river, with the thirty-first parallel as the northern boundary, but in the following year the northern boundary of West Florida was extended to 32 degree, and 30 minutes. Pensacola was the capital of the western prov- ince and George Johnston was the first gov- ernor. Major Robert Farmar was the mili- tary commandant at Mobile. The first most notable event in the history of British Mobile was the great Choctaw-Chickasaw congress held with the British officials in the town March 26-April 9, 1765. Apart from a defi- nite treaty of peace with the two tribes, the most important business transacted in the congress were a tariff of trade which was agreed upon between the parties, and a ces- sion of land by the Choctaws extending from Hatchetigbee Bluff on the Tombigbee to a point on Bogue Homa, thence down this creek, and down Chickasahay and Pascagoula Rivers to the Gulf coast. Practically Sintee Bogue was considered the northern boundary of this cession. It seems that soon after the British tacitly came to the conclusion not to claim the lands embraced in the cession on the east side of the Tombigbee, perhaps on account of the conflicting claims of the Choctaws and Creeks to this territory.

The next event of importance in the history of Mobile occurred a few months later in the embarking of a large fleet of Catteaux under Major Farman that proceeded up the Mississippi River to the Illinois country to take possession of Fort Chartres. The first years of the British occupation of Mobile were not happy ones. The French, a very tem- perate people, had lived for two generations in the Mobile district and had hecome thor- oughly acclimated, and except during occa- sional visitations of small pox, were a fairly healthful people. The British troops, coming from the West Indies, unaccustomed to the new climate, and especially prone to various excesses, in consequence became very un- healthy, especially during 1766 and 1767, when such a great mortality prevailed among them, that a contemporary British writer called Mobile, "the grave yard of the Britons." But in time owing to some sanitary regulations, the health of the troops improved. The English have ever shown a genius for self- government, and their government of West Florida differed greatly from that of the French, who made but little difference be- tween military and civil officers. One of the first governmental acts of the British on tak- ing possession of the province was the for- mation of a legislature, called the general assembly, the upper branch of which was known as the Great Council, and which was appointed by the home government. The lower house was called the House of Com- mons, the members of which were elected by the property owners at meetings held by the sheriff.

The Governor's Council had the power of

granting public land. The land was sur- veyed for the applicant asking for so many acres, the grant was signed by the governor and given to the applicant. As in French times the land grants faced the bay, the river, or a large creek, as there were but few roads and the water route was the only intercommunication. The council also had much to do with the control of Indian affairs. Courts were also established, with the gov- ernor as chancellor and a Court of Requests for the collection of small debts. All deeds were made out by the notary.

One of the first enterprises was the mak- ing of a road connecting Mobile and Pensa- cola. Indian trails answered all the purposes of the Indian trader, who traveled over them with his packhorses loaded with goods into the Indian villages in the interior. One of the most noted trails was the "Big Trading Path," which extended up from Mobile into the Choctaw country and thence up to the Chickasaw nation. The Indian trade was a very remunerative business.

Unlike the French colony, there was per- fect religious toleration in West Florida. The English of Mobile belonged almost exclusively to the Anglican church and had their own rector and house of worship, while their Catholic French neighbors had their own church and priest. There was no friction between the adherents belonging to separate races and creeds. The English rector was also the school teacher of his people for which he received a salary from the government. Governor Johnstone's administration closed in the Spring of 1768, and the lieutenant-gov- ernor, Montfort Browne, succeeded him ad interim, pending the arrival of Elliott, John- stone's successor. Elliott, however, died at sea and was succeeded by Montfort Browne, who usually resided at Mobile. In 1770 he was succeeded by Elias Durnford and he in turn was succeeded by Peter Chester. In 1779 Durnford was appointed lieutenant- governor and held this office until the close of the British dominion. The merchants and other influential men of Mobile during Governor Chester's administration did not wish the Province to have a legislature as they feared it might pass an act regulating the Indian trade in which they were greatly interested, notably in the profits derived from the barter in the immense quantities of rum carried by the traders into the Indian coun- tries. This profuse introduction of rum among their people aroused the Indians them- selves to a protest against it in a congress held by John Stuart in Mobile in 1776. In consequence of their fears in regard to the rum trade, the Mobile members seldom at- tended the meetings the legislature.

Finally they became involved in a dispute with Governor Chester, because the Mobile voters wanted the legislature elected every year so as to have it directly responsible to the people. Finally matters came to a crisis when the sheriff wrote on the electrion ticket, which he signed, that the members were elected for only one year. Governor Chester pronounced this action treason, the home

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government took the same view and in con- sequence deprived Mobile of the right of suffrage. The legislature sympathized with Mobile and declined to hold any session and the governor got along the best he could without any legislature until 1778, when there was need of one to pass militia and In- dian bills. About this time Clarke, Bladwin, and Washington Counties received many set- tlers, Tory refugees from Georgia and South Carolina. Some settled on Mobile River. But Mobile was soon to cease to be a British possession.

In 1799 Spain declared war against Great Britain, and in the fall of that year Bernards Galvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, cap- tured all the British forts on the Mississippi River, and on March 1, 1780 appeared with his army in front of Mobile. Elias Durnford commanded the small mixed garrison of two hundred and seventy-nine men, all told, in

Mobile. After sustaining a brisk cannonade for several days, on March 14, Durnford sur- rendered his small force to the greatly supe- rior numbers of Governor Galvez. By the terms of surrender the troops were carried to a British port and there landed under parole not to serve against Spain and her allies for eighteen months.

Spanish Rule .- After its conquest by the Spaniards, the Province of West Florida re- mained under military law until it was ceded to Spain by Great Britain in 1782. The Spanish civil rule was then introduced. The duties of the commandant at Mohile were both military and civil. His civil functions were somewhat the same as those of a probate judge. He took charge of the property of a deceased person, and sealed it up until it was sold to pay the deceased's debts. The duties of the intendant were strictly civil, among other functions, the looking after the revenues. The alcalde was the civil officer that was the most in touch with the people. His function closely corresponded with those of a justice of the peace, but with wider pow- ers. Persons who wished to secure a tract of land made a written application in which was a description of the land, which he pre- sented to the commandant, who added a note to the application as to whether the land was vacant and the applicant worthy. These requirements being satisfactory, the intendant issued a formal grant of land. Should there be no intendant the governor or the command- ant made the grant. Deeds between two per- sons were drawn up by a notary and they were signed by the parties in his presence. Some times the commandant acted as notary. Many of the British merchants withdrew from Mo- bile on the Spanish occupations. Others re- mained mingled with the French population and contented themselves under the rule of the new government, which was mild in its sway, and sought the welfare of the people. The population in 1785 was 746 souls. Mo- bile was doubtless as prosperous under the Spanish as under the British rule. There were various industries, but no great staples. Cotton was planted to a considerable extent and from it much domestic cloth was manu-

factured, on looms of a very primitive structure. Indigo was also raised. There were many saw mills more or less distant from the town and numerous brick yards, for the clay in the vicinity of Mobile is of a superior quality. The town had physicians, carpenters, blacksmiths, butchers and bakers, but no lawyers except a prosecuting attorney. The people must have had an abundance of wild game for their tables as a quarter of venison was worth only two bits (twenty- five cents). The Spanish settlers made cattle raising a much larger business than their English and French predecessors. There were many cowpens, in which were kept large herds, which found an abundance of suste- nance in the contiguous swamps even in the depth of winter, which made cattle raising a very profitable business. As under the French and British, the Indian trade was a prominent business, from which often great fortunes were made, notably by the firm of Panton, Leslie and Company. Deer skins was the greatest export from the province. Mexi- can silver was the coin in most general cir- culation. There were about a dozen com- mandants in Mobile during the Spanish times. Among the best known was Foich, who later became intendant of the province. The last commandant was Cayetano Perez, who after the surrender of Mobile continued to reside in the town. The population of Mobile in 1803 was eight hundred and ten souls. Some of these must have settled in the place after the running of Ellicott's line, which caused many Spanish subjects living above the line to move southward. About this time there was such an inflow of Americans into the Spanish territory that an order was issued in 1805 forbidding land grants except to Spanish subjects. The Americans after this could only secure grants of land by becom- ing Spanish subjects. In 1800 under the com- pulsion of Napoleon, Spain ceded to France the Province of Louisiana. The United States government was not willing that such a powerful nation as France should have posses- sion of the mouth of the Mississippi River. and after much negotiation Napoleon, in 1803, sold the Province to the United States for fifteen million dollars. In this purchase the United States insisted that Spain in 1800 and France in 1803 had ceded all the territory as far east as Perdido River which would in- clude Mobile. Spain on the other hand con- tended that Florida to the south of the thir- ty-first parallel was not a part of the Louisiana territory. As the wording of the treaties was somewhat indefinite the United States government did not press the point, but still claimed the disputed territory, at the same time tactily permitting Spain to retain possession. This status lasted until the war of 1812 when the Spanish Gulf ports were used by the British as their own in their expeditions against the Americans. In view of this situation in accordance with an act of congress passed in the Spring of 1813, President Madison ordered General James Wilkinson, stationed at New Orleans, to take possession of Mobile. Wilkinson

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without delay made an expedition with six hundred men which he landed below Mobile. At the same time Colonel Bowyer descended the Tensaw with his troops and artillery and took a position on the opposite side of the town, while the bay was guarded by Shaw's gunboats. Captain Perez had only sixty men in Fort Charlotte. Environed with such a vastly superior force, on April 13 he sur- rendered the garrison, which, agreeably to the terms of surrender, was conveyed in trans- ports to Pensacola, and Mobile henceforth after living under three European flags, was destined to be an American possession for- ever.

By an act of the legislature of the Miss- issippi Territory, December 18, 1812, four months before the surrender of Mobile, Mo- bile County was established, its area compris- ing all the country south of the 31st parallel that was bounded on the east by Perdido River and on the west by the dividing ridge separating Mobile and Pascagoula Rivers. On January 20, 1814, the legislature passed an act for the incorporation of the town of Mo- bile and in accordance with this act a meet- ing of citizens was held and seven commis- sioners were elected, who after having been sworn into office took charge of the town affairs. By a legislative act of December 1, 1814 the town was bounded by a line run- ning straight from Choctaw Point to the western bank of Bayou Chateaugay, thence down the western bank of this stream to its mouth, thence down the river and Bay of Mobile to the place of beginning. This has substantially been the boundary of Mo- bile ever since. In spite of the surrender the Spaniards still claimed the town, and during the progress of the Creek War dissuaded the Indians from making any attack on it. In August 1814, Gen. Jackson succeeded Gen- eral Flournoy as commander of the Seventh Military district and was ordered to estab- lish his headquarters at Mobile. He arrived there September 14, with five hundred regu- lars, and found Col. Richard Sparks in com- mand of Fort Charlotte which was garrisoned by five companies of regulars and a detach- ment of artillery. This small force was greatly reinforced within a few weeks, and now with an army of three thousand men, on October 26, General Jackson marched to- wards Pensacola, which he captured on No- vember 10, and on the 16th of the same month was again back at his headquarters at Mobile. About December 1, he put his army in motion for New Orleans, leaving Gen- eral Winchester with a detachment in com- mand at Mobile. Fort Charlotte had been identified with the history of Mobile for more than a century and at times during that period had been garrisoned by the soldiers of four different nationalities. As Florida had now become an American possession there was no further need of the fort. Yield- ing to the criticism of the military as the fort was still garrisoned, and to the pressure of the municipal authorities of Mobile, Con- gress, on April 20, 1818, passed an act for the sale of the fort, but this was not carried

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 53

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 724

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724