Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Fortier, Alcee, 1856-1914, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Association
Number of Pages: 1294

USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I > Part 1

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Gc 976.3 F778 v.1 1764731

RE ... GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02305 2357

LOUISIANA

Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form

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EDITED BY ALCEE FORTIER, LIT. D.

PROFESSOR OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES IN TULANE UNIVERSITY

· IN TWO VOLUMES WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME OF CONTEMPORARY BIOGRAPHY

VOLUME I

L- K 1 ATLANTA SOUTHERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 1909

563

1764731

F 876 .306

Fortier, Alcée, 1856- ed.

Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form; ed. by Alece Fortier ... In two volumes, with a supplementary volume of contemporary biography. Atlanta, Southern historical association, 1909-

v. front. (port.) 28°m.

GC 776.3 F77K?

PHILF CARD

1. Louisiana-Dictionaries and encyclopedias.

FARVE VI3

9-31665

210030-1 Library of Congress F367.F74

- Copy 2.

c Dcc. 6, 1909 : 2c. Dec. 10, 1907, A 252826: Selwyn A. Brant, Madison, Wis.

F 876.306

1 COPYRIGHT, 1909 BY SELWYN A. BRANT

210030

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this work is to give a concrete knowledge of the State of Louisiana-a record of the social, political, industrial and institutional development of its people-in such a way as to combine the best features of the popular history, for continuous reading, with the cyclopedie style for ready reference.

It has been said that, "If history can be made immediately accessible, without in any way impairing its accuracy and readableness. a forward movement has been made in popularizing its study." It is hoped and believed that the methods herein employed will accomplish this end, and that the work will receive alike the endorsement of the serious student of history and the busy man of affairs.

In the selection of titles or captions for the various topics included in the work, the compilers have endeavored to select such as a majority of readers would be likely to look for, but in order to facilitate the work of those who may seek information under some other heading, or in cases where a subject is but a subdivision of a larger theme, cross references have been freely used.

Considerable biographical matter has been included in the form of brief sketches of those who have left the impress of their lives upon the state's history. In the first two volumes the aim has been to include in the biographical mention of men now living only such as have held official position, or who in some other way have been unusually promi- nent in promoting the progress and development of the state or some of its institutions. In this connection it is well to state that the editor is responsible only for those biographies that are intimately interwoven with the history of the state along the lines above suggested.

The editor and his assistants desire to express here their apprecia- tion of the courtesies shown them in the preparation of the work by . the officers of various societies, such as the Bankers', Bar, Medical, Press and Teachers' associations, the fraternal orders, and the librarians and attaches of the Louisiana State, the New Orleans Public and the Howard Memorial libraries. They also desire to acknowledge their · indebtedness to the following works :

Official Publications .- Legislative Journals, Reports of the State Departments, Governors' Messages. Proceedings of the State and Con- stitutional Conventions, Session Laws of Louisiana, Reports of the State Supreme Court, American State Papers, Reports of the U. S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Ethnology, Congressional Record, Congressional Directory, and the Records of the U. S. War Depart- ment.

Histories of Louisiana .- Francois X. Martin, Charles Gayarre, Alcee Fortier, Jolin B. S. Dimitry, Maurice Thompson, Goodspeed's Memoirs of Louisiana, W. H. Perrin's Ilistory of Southwestern Louisiana, Bonner's History of Louisiana, etc.

Miscellaneous .- Shea's Translation of Hennepin's Description of Louisiana, Latour's Historical Memoir of the War in Louisiana and West Florida, Pierre Margry's Works, published by act of the U. S. Congress, Darby's Louisiana, Brackenridge's Views of Louisiana, with a Journal of a Voyage up the Missouri river in 1811, Stoddard's Sketches of Louisiana. French's Collections, Publications of the Louisiana Historical Society, Grace King's New Orleans, the Place and the People, Norman's New Orleans and Environs, Barnwell's New Orleans Book, Fortier's Louisiana Studies, Monette's Valley of the Mississippi, Hamilton's Colonial Mobile, Marcy's Exploration of the Red River, Alexander H. Stephens' History of the War Between the States, Confederate Military History, National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia, Newspaper Files, Pamphlets, Manuscripts, etc. In the archives of the Louisiana His- torical Society are to be found important manuscript documents relating to the history of Louisiana during the French and Spanish dominations.

ALCEE FORTIER, Editor.

LOUISIANA

Abbeville, the capital of Vermilion parish, is located in the northeastern part of the parish on the Southern Pacific R. R., near the point where that line crosses Bayou Vermilion, which bayou is navigable for steamers of moderate capacity, thus adding to Abbe- ville's transportation facilities. The site of the city was originally the plantation of Joseph Le Blanc, which was purchased by Father Megret, who remodeled the Le Blanc residence and converted it into a Roman Catholic chapel. Abbeville was incorporated by act of the legislature in 1850 and two years later was made the parish seat by the same authority. The Abbeville of today is one of the thriving cities of southwestern Louisiana. The population accord- ing to the United States census of 1900 was 1,536, but Young's Directory of Louisiana for 1909 estimates the population at the beginning of that year at 4,000. It has important manufactures of cotton seed oil, brick, etc .. two banks, several large mercantile establishments, good waterworks, well-kept streets and sidewalks, both public and private schools, and is the trading center for a large and prosperous agricultural district. The Catholic church is the prevailing religion, the large convent there having been erected in 1885, though there are also churches of other denominations.

Abeille .- L'Abeille de la Nouvelle-Orleans (The New Orleans Bee) is the oldest newspaper in that city, having been founded in 1827. (See Newspapers.)

Abell, Edmund, a New Orleans lawyer, was a member of the constitutional convention of 1864, and under the provisions of the constitution at that time adopted was made judge of the First district court of New Orleans. In the summer of 1866, when an attempt was made to reassemble the convention for the purpose of revising the constitution, his court was the only court of record sitting in New Orleans that had jurisdiction of offenses against the laws of the state. On July 23 he charged the grand jury that the convention ·would be an unlawful assemblage in case it was called together. Acting upon his instructions, the grand jury took steps to find indictments against any and all members of the convention. that might assemble. (See Riot of 1866.) On March 19, 1867, Gen. P. H. Sheridan assumed command of the 5th military dis- trict, with headquarters in New Orleans, and on the 27th he removed Judge Abell as an "obnoxious official who was in his opinion dan- gerous to the peace of the community." Judge Abell protested against Sheridan's action, and in defense of his course the preceding July, called attention to a letter written by him to Gen. Sheridan. He claimed that he had always performed his official duties in

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harmony with the laws, and declared his intention to carry the matter before the general government. At the time the removal was made. Sheridan assigned no specific reason for his action. When Judge Abell called the attention of President Grant to the case, the latter demanded of Sheridan an explanation. This brought forth a reply in which Sheridan said: "The court over which Judge Abell presided is the only criminal court in the city of New Orleans, and for a period of at least five months previous to July 30th he had been educating a large portion of the community to the perpetration of this outrage, by almost promising no prosecution in his court against the offenders, in case such an event occurred. The records of this court will show that he fulfilled his promise, as not one of the guilty ones has been prosecuted."

Judge Abell wrote to President Grant. denying the charges made by Sheridan, and asking that he and the other officers removed might be permitted to serve until their successors should be chosen under a new constitution as provided for by law, but his request passed unheeded. It appears that his greatest offense was in up- holding the state government created by the constitution of 1864, when the men who established that government would have over- thrown the constitution because some of its provisions stood in the way of their selfish schemes.

Abita Springs, a village in the central part of St. Tammany parish, on the Eastern Louisiana R. R., 4 miles east of Covington, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice; as it lies in the famous "Ozone Belt" has become a well known summer and winter resort. Many people from the northern states, who are affected with pulmonary diseases, winter here.

Academy of the Sacred Heart .- The following sketch of this institution. situated in St. James parish, La., is taken from Fay's History of Education in Louisiana as furnished him by the mother superior. The educational institution known under the title. "Order of the Sacred Heart," which sprang up in France at the close of the Revolution, was introduced into this country in the early years of the nineteenth century by a truly apostolic woman, Philippine Duchesne. a woman endowed with the resistless energy of character traditional in her family, and which rendered the name one of historic note during the Reign of Terror. Madame Duchesne sailed from Bordeaux on March 19, 1818, accompanied by four companions, one of whom, Eugenie Ande, had been a brilliant and flattered member of the imperial court, which she deserted in the bloom of youth to devote herself to the service of God in the shadow of the sanctuary. It was only after a voyage of two months and a half that, on the 29th of May, the heroic band reached New Orleans, where the first act of the enthusiastic foundress was to kneel and kiss the land she had come to evangelize. Going northward to Missouri, then known as Upper Louisiana. she opened her first school in the city of St. Louis, and it was not until 1821, on receiv- ing reinforcements from France, that she returned to Louisiana proper and established at Grand Coteau an educational institution

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on property presented by a rich and pious lady, the widow of Mr. Charles Smith. Four years later, in 1825, she laid the foundation of the present flourishing and widely known institution in the parish of St. James known as the Convent of St. Michaels. Establishments in Natchitoches and Baton Rouge were founded respectively in 1847 and 1851, while the schools of the order were spreading rapidly in the northern and eastern states. These women of rare refinement and high intellectual culture did not confine their care to the priv- ileged classes who thronged to their schools eager to profit by the advantages presented ; they had crossed the ocean to seek and save the children of the wilderness, and they lavished their apostolic labors equally on the negroes and the Indians, with whom they dis- dained not to dwell among the wilds of the forest and prairies. Recently a second school has been established in the city of New Orleans, and the success attained in all these academies proves them worthy of the renown which attends the order throughout Europe, where it holds the first rank as an educational institution.

Acadia Parish, one of the new parishes, was created in 1886, during the administration of Gov. Samuel D. McEnery, out of the southwestern part of St. Landry parish, and named in memory of the old county of Acadia, settled by the exiled Acadians (q. v.) early in the 18th century. It is situated in the southwestern part of the state and is bounded on the north by St. Landry parish ; on the east by St. Landry and Lafayette parishes; on the south by Vermilion parish ; and on the west by Calcasieu parish, from which it is separated by the Mermentau river and Bayou Nezpique. Acadia lies in the very heart of the old "Attakapas District." as all that vast stretch of country from the Atchafalava river to the Sabine, was known during the French and Spanish occupancy of Louisiana. The early settlement of and history of St. Landry, Lafayette and Calcasieu parishes includes that of Acadia, as it was not erected as a parish until comparatively a recent date. One of the most interesting historical facts in regard to the settlement of the parish was the colonization of this portion of the country in 1870-71. by German immigrants. Joseph Fabacher of New Orleans, had amassed a fortune before the war. and when it was decided to build a railroad (Southern Pacific) through this section, Fabacher, with keen insight saw in the undeveloped resources of the rich country the immense opportunities presented to energetic farmers. He took up great tracts of land, upon which he intended to put a colony of German farmers, built a large saw-mill, and succeeded in everything but getting the railroad, which missed his land by some distance. He noticed, however, that the Acadian farmers were planting rice in the mud, and after making inquiries as to its success, determined to carry out his original idea and plant a German colony to carry on rice culture. In a short time he had some families direct from the "Fatherland" located upon his lands. Their descendants are among the most prosperous farmers of Acadia, and rank among the great rice growers of Louisiana. Mr. Fabacher introduced into the district, the first machine for threshing rice, of which

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several thousand car-loads are shipped annually from the parish. Acadia has an undulating surface of 633 square miles, comprising woodland and prairie. The soil is fertile and productive, well drained by Bayou Nezpique and Queue de Tortne on the south, and through its central portions, by Bayous Cannes and Plaquemines Brûlée. The general direction of the streams is southwest; they are all quite deep, with high banks, which were originally covered with fine timber. The water supply is ample for all purposes. The prairies are monotonously level, and in summer are covered with luxuriant grass several feet high. Twenty-five years ago the site of Crowley was a pasture, but when the new parish was organized the town was laid out and became the parish seat. It has an ideal location, being half way between New Orleans and Houston, Tex. Many Northern people have settled in and around Crowley since the creation of the parish. Some of the other towns in the parish are Rayne, Estherwood, Morse, Church Point, Mermenton, Egan and Evangeline. Rice and sugar are the big export crops, as Acadia produces more rice than any other parish in the state, but corn, hay, cotton, oats, tobacco and all kinds of garden vegetables are grown. Soil and climate combine to make horticulture a profitable industry. Stock-raising is a leading industry, thousands of sheep and cattle being raised on the prairies, where fine pasture can be obtained the entire year. Many farmers are interested in wool, as · sheep thrive and increase remarkably well here. Timber sufficient for all domestic purposes is found along the bayous and coulees. It consists of different varieties of oak, cypress, cottonwood, elm, gum, ash, sugarwood, sycamore, persimmon and willow. Oil and gas have been struck in the parish. There are a number of paying wells, and several gushers of considerable magnitude have been struck. Ample transportation facilities are furnished by the South- ern Pacific R. R. and the Opelousas, Gulf & Northeastern R. Rs., affording an outlet in every direction for the products of the parish. The United States census for 1900 gives the following statistics regarding the parish: Number of farms, 2,481; acreage, 276,490; acres improved, 143,354; value of land exclusive of buildings, $3,413,830; value of buildings, $599,540; value of live stock, $906,- 171 ; total value of all products not fed, $1,983.760 ; number of manu- facturing establishments, 62; capital invested, $331,445 ; wages paid, $100,452 ; cost of materials, $1.336.324; total value of products, $1,714,453. The population in 1900 consisted of 18,662 whites, 4,820 colored, a total of 23.483, an increase of 10.252 over the year 1890. The estimated population of 1908 was over 30,000.

Acadians .- In 1605 Port Royal was founded by De Monts, and this was the beginning of the province of Acadia, now known as Nova Scotia. By the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Acadia was ceded to Great Britain. but the Acadians still maintained their allegiance to France. In 1749 some 2.500 English immigrants landed on the Acadian peninsula and founded the city of Halifax. The stubborn loyalty of the Acadians to their mother country led to frequent ruptures between them and their English neighbors, and in the fall

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of 1755 about 4,000 of them were torn from their homes, crowded like cattle on British ships and transported to the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, where they were left to shift for themselves as best they could. Many of the poor, unfor- tunate exiles made their way during the next few years to the French settlements on the lower Mississippi. There seems to be some difference of opinion as to the date when the first Acadians arrived in Louisiana. Martin says it was in 1755, and that they received lands along the Mississippi. the place where they settled afterward becoming known as the "Acadian Coast." Thompson, in his Story of Louisiana, says "Six hundred and fifty of them arrived early in 1756 and were sent to Attakapas and Opelousas," but neither of these statements are fully corroborated. Gayarre mentions 650, under the command of Andry, who were sent to Attakapas and Opelousas, but gives the date of their arrival as "between Jan. 1 and May 13, 1765." In a letter written April 6, 1764, d'Abbadie speaks of the arrival of four families-20 persons- from New York. and during the year 1765 Foucault, commissaire ordonnateur, frequently refers to the Acadians in his correspond- ence. On Feb. 28 he wrote that 193 had arrived a few days before ; on May 4 he speaks of 80 who had just arrived and had been sent to the Attakapas, and on the 13th of the same month he mentions 48 families, who had been sent to the Opelousas. On Nov. 16, 1766, he notes in a letter the arrival of 216 Acadians, and it was about this time that lands were granted them on both sides of the Mississippi above the German coast, whence they extended their settlements to Baton Rouge and Pointe Coupée. In the Revolution of 1768 the Acadians were unanimous in their opposition to Spanish rule, many of them taking up arms to aid in the expulsion of Gov. Ulloa. (See Revolution of 1768.) In 1787, after the people had becomed reconciled to Spanish rule. Gov. Miró ordered a census of the Acadians, which showed at that time 1.587 in the Province of Louisiana. What was known as the Acadian coast is now in St. James parish, though descendants of the early Acadians are to be found in every parish in lower Louisiana. They are described as "generally honest. industrious and deeply religious, and cling tenaciously to the traditions of their ancestors." Among the eminent men of Acadian origin. who have achieved prominence in Louisiana, may be mentioned Alexander Mouton, at one time governor of the state, Joseph A. Breaux, at present chief justice of the supreme court, and Robert Broussard, a member of the house of representa- tives of the United States.

Acklen, Joseph Hayes, planter. lawyer and politician, was born at Nashville, Tenn .. Mav 20. 1850. His father was a large sugar planter in Louisiana, and his birth occurred during a visit of his parents at Nashville. He was educated by private tutors at "Bel- mont," the summer home of his parents at Nashville : at Burlington college, and finally graduated successively from two foreign univer- sities. Returning to America he graduated from the law depart- ment of the Columbian university at Lebanon, Tenn., and com-

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menced the practice of law at Nashville, where he continued for several years. Later he removed to Memphis, Tenn., and aban- doned the practice of law to personally superintend his sugar planta- tions in Louisiana. Ile was elected to the 45th Congress and re- elected to the 46th as a Democrat. and at the close of his second term resumed his law practice at Memphis, Tenn.

Acknowledgements .- (See Deeds.)

Actions .- All actions are commenced by petition, which must be addressed to the proper judge. The petition must contain the name, surname and place of residence of plaintiff and defendant; a clear statement of the cause of action ; a prayer for citation to issue to the defendant, and for judgment in conformity with the allegations of the petition. and must be signed either by the plain- tiff or his attorney. Citation is then issued by the clerk, addressed to the defendant, requiring him to comply with the demand of the plaintiff, or file his answer in writing within 10 days from the date of service, if his residence be within 10 miles of the court-house, with an additional delay of one day for every additional 10 miles. A certified copy of the petition must accompany this citation. This, together with the citation, must be served by the sheriff or his deputy. Service can never be made by publication, except in the case of proceedings in rem. At the expiration of the above men- tioned period, if the defendant does not appear or answer, plaintiff may cause a judgment to be entered against him by default, and after the lapse of two judicial days, prove up his claim and obtain final judgment. Judgments by default can be confirmed on ex parte affidavits when founded on accounts. In other cases proof must be taken contradictorily with the defendant. In city courts in New Orleans a default may be taken in four days after citation, and the judgment proved up and made final after two judicial days from the day of default. In justices' courts in the country parishes, a delay of 10 days from the day of service is given the defendant to file his answer, after which judgment by default can be entered and confirmed on proof of claim being made.

Acme, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of Concordia parish, is located on the Black river, about 14 miles west of Bougere, which is the most convenient railroad station.

Acy, a money order post-hamlet in the central part of Ascension parish, is about 416 miles northeast of Brittany, the nearest railroad town.

Ada is a post-hamlet of Grant parish, about 3 miles west of Bentley, which is the nearest railroad station.

Adair, Gen. John, was born in Chester county, S. C., in 1758. When he was about twenty years he went to Kentucky, where he served in the legislature and held a commission in the militia. In 1805 he was ciected to the U. S. senate from Kentucky and served in that body until the following year, when he came to Louisiana. Late in the year 1806 he was arrested by Gen. Wilkinson's order and sent north for complicity in the Burr conspiracy, but subsequently returned to Louisiana. He commanded the Kentucky riflemen in

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the battle of New Orleans and won a flattering encomium from . Gen. Jackson for his skill and bravery. The Louisiana legislature gave him a vote of thanks on Feb. 2, 1815, for the gallant part he played in that engagement. From 1831 to 1833 he was a repre- sentative in Congress from Kentucky and served on the committee on military affairs. His death occurred May 19, 1850.

Adams, Daniel W., soldier, was one of the gallant leaders in the military operations of Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Missis- sippi. When the war broke out he entered the service of the Con- federate States as second lieutenant of Mississippi state troops, and on Oct. 30, 1861, was commissioned colonel of the 1st regiment, Louisiana infantry, at Pensacola, in the brigade of Gen. Gladden. Later he served at Mobile, and in the spring of 1862, served under Bragg around Corinth. He was wounded on the first day's battle at Shiloh : on May 23, 1862, was commissioned brigadier-general, and recovered in time to lead his command in the Kentucky cam- paign. On Dec. 31 he was again wounded, at the battle of Mur- freesboro, but recovered and led the brigade in the second day's battle at Chickamauga, where he was again wounded. Gen. D. H. Hill commented upon his gallantry as follows: "Brigadier-General Adams was for the third time severely wounded. It was difficult for me to decide which the most to admire, his courage in the field, or his unparalleled cheerfulness under suffering." Soon after recover- ing from his wounds he was exchanged and commanded a cavalry brigade operating in northern Alabama and Mississippi. In Sept., 1864, he was given command of the district of central Alabama, and on March 11, 1865, of the entire state north of the Gulf depart- ment. He evacuated Montgomery and fought a battle at Columbus on April 16. After peace was restored he settled in New Orleans and engaged in business. His death occurred in New Orleans, La., June 14, 1872.

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Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Fortier, Alcee, 1856-1914, ed. 1n Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Association Number of Pages: 1294

Author: Fortier, Alcee, 1856-1914, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Association
Number of Pages: 1294