USA > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans > Creole families of New Orleans > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30
The register of the Cathedral contains the record
--- ==
-
------ ------ + !
173
LAFRÉNIÈRE
of the baptism of two daughters: Catherine Chauvin de Lafrénière, born in 1750; and Marguerite Cather- ine de Lafrénière, born in 1753. The latter married in 1767 Jean Baptiste August de Noyan, captain of cavalry, son of Augustin Payen de Noyan, Chevalier of St. Louis, a Lieutenant of the King, and nephew of Bienville.
In 1740, Lafrénière's name, as Counsellor of the Superior Council, figures among witnesses of the marriage contract of his cousin, Déléry des Islet, Charlotte Faucon du Manoir. Gayarré mentions, without explanation, that he returned to Louisiana in 1763 on the same ship with d'Abbadie, the Gover- nor newly appointed to succeed Kerlerec, carrying in his pocket his appointment as Attorney-General and the decree of expulsion to be executed against the Jesuits.
They landed in New Orleans in June, 1763. The decree against the Jesuits was published at once. It restated merely the decree that was being executed in Europe against the order; that as the institution of the Jesuits was hostile to the Royal authority, public peace and safety, their vows were proclaimed nul; they were prohibited to call themselves there- after by the name of Jesuits and to wear the garb. All their property, except some books and wearing apparel, were to be seized and sold at public auction ; their sacred vessels were to be delivered to the Capuchin Fathers; their chapels were to be demolished, their cemeteries destroyed and their priests ordered to return to France by the first ship ready to depart.
According to the Relations of the Jesuits, and the authorities of the time, the execution of the decree by the young, newly appointed Attorney General
1
.
174
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
lacked nothing in stern vigor, although he was implored to moderate his zeal. And notwithstanding that he honored the Fathers with a personal visit, and assured them of the pain he felt in discharging his disagreeable duty, he nevertheless discharged it in such a way as to incur the hot resentment of the inhabitants, who have not failed to placard his memory with despicable accusations that remain to this day. Among them, it is not surprising to find him called an atheist, as a result of association with the brilliant freethinkers of Paris, and from other associations he was said to have formed a taste for society of gay morality.
But Gayarré and other historians paint a different picture of him:
"Large, well-formed, with noble appearance, impressive, brave, with eyes lightened as if by fire; in short, so remarkable a person that people not knowing with whom to compare him, called him Louis XIV! . . Good beyond all tests, loving his fellow citizens like brothers, possessed of all the qualities that make a loved husband, father, friend. Charming and agreeable in his speech, with all the grace and charm of manner acquired in the most polished society of Europe. . . .
"Sweet tempered and moderate in all ordinary situations of life, he was as if electrified with passion on serious occasions, and none could resist the torrent of his eloquence."
As a matter of course, therefore, he was the object of the most flattering popular attentions of New Orleans, and the wonder and admiration of public assemblies.
The result of the decree against the Jesuits, the confiscation of their property, including the fine plantations above the city upon which they were making the experiment of planting sugar cane, the closing of their chapels and the abrupt termination
1
-
175
LAFRÉNIÈRE
of their religious and educational benefactions to the community, the parting with beloved pastors and friends, threw New Orleans into acute distress of mind and heart, from which it had not recovered when the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, was made public in 1764.
The Louisianians had followed with the shrewd eyes of Indian fighters the progress of the war in Northern America between the English and French. That France as a consequence of defeat should be forced to give up her American possessions to her victorious rival had been foreseen, with the cool stoicism of good fighters; and the humiliating sight of the English boats sailing up and down the Missis- sippi River carrying provisions and men to the newly acquired English possessions was one their eyes were growing accustomed to.
The city, with its territory, the Island of Orleans, as it was called, alone remained to France and, as it may be imagined, never had the fleur-de-lis flown more proudly and bravely after its humiliating with- drawal from Canada than it did over the small sovereignty remaining to it in Louisiana; and never was sovereignty more loyally and devotedly acknowl- edged by the city of New Orleans than in the hour of French defeat. The city contained only 3,190 inhabitants, but the population of New Orleans has never, in political crises, been reckoned by mere numerical physical statistics. At this time it was less to be so reckoned than ever. The city seemed at last on the point of fulfilling the arrogant hopes of its future that had been sown in the time of Bien- ville, and the colony, after bravely struggling for half a century, had at last made a sure foothold in
176
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
the soil. Rewards for past suffering were flowing in. Commerce was beginning to prosper, and agriculture to be profitable. The conditions of life were being softened into luxury by wealth. Population was increasing. The Indians were flocking everywhere to the French settlements; the English, busy taking possession of their new acquisitions, were friendly and content.
1
The political horizon, viewed from the city, was never freer and clearer than when the greatest cloud of its history burst over it, in the publication of an official letter from the King to M. d'Abbadie. It stated that, by private act passed at Fontainebleau, on November 3d, 1762, he had by his own free will ceded to his very dear and beloved cousin, the King of Spain, and to his successors and heirs in full property, completely and without reserve or restric- tion, all the country known under the name of Louisiana, as well as New Orleans; and that by another act, signed by the King of Spain on the thir- teenth of November of the same year, His Catholic Majesty had accepted the cession!
Historians, in default of more appropriate expres- sion, merely write that the colony was plunged into the deepest consternation. Gayarré being in touch, as he was, with the sentiments of his grandfather, describes the heartfelt bitterness, the talk and the feelings which spread through the streets, and which the streets of New Orleans were too small, in truth, to contain:
"As Frenchmen, they felt that a deep wound had been inflicted on their pride by the severing in twain of Louisiana, and the dis- tribution of its mutilated parts between England and Spain. As men, they felt the degradation of being bartered away as marketable
1
- -
1
177
LAFRÉNIÈRE
objects; they felt the loss of their national character and rights, and the humiliation of their sudden transformation into Spaniards or Englishmen, without their consent. As colonists, as property owners, as members of a civilized society, they were agitated by all the apprehensions consequent upon a change of laws, manners, customs, habits and government."
There ensued a moment of panic with loss of nerve. Lafreniere, the popular favorite, was the first to recover his presence of mind and logically, in his case, flew to legal measures of defense. By a political innovation, daring at that time, he appealed to the people, calling a public mass meeting of repre- sentatives from every parish in the province to con- sider the question of the cession. The response was enthusiastic. A vast number crowded to the meet- ing. Among them were Villeré; the Chevalier d'Arensbourg; Maxent; de la Chaise; Marquis, the commander of the Swiss troops; Doucet, a distin- guished lawyer recently arrived from France; St. Lette, Pin; Jean Milhet, the richest merchant of the city; Joseph, his brother; de Boisblanc ; de Grandmai- son; de Lalande; Le Sassier; Kernion-all prominent names of the best and strongest men in the city and country.
Lafrénière called the meeting to order, made an eloquent speech explaining the situation, and sub- mitted a prepared resolution of protest-a sincere document, written in simple language, expressing passionate devotion to the mother country and to the King, ending with a heart-rending plea not to be divorced from France, not to be made to change the name of Frenchmen for that of Spaniards. The resolution was enthusiastically adopted, and Jean Milhet was deputed to carry it to France and lay it
178
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
at the foot of the throne. A year elapsed before Milhet returned, but no Spaniard had presented himself to take possession. On strength of the so- called truism that "no news is good news," the passions of the excited population began to calm down and, "like little wanton boys," they swam on bladders, until Milhet did return to report that he had not even been able to gain access to the King or to deliver the protest; and almost at the same time in June came the announcement that Don Antonio de Ulloa had been sent to take possession of the province !
August, September, October, November, Decem- ber passed away. Governor d'Abbadie died and was succeeded by Aubry, the military commander, a Frenchman and only a Frenchman-with no thought save for his military duties. The year 1766 opened, and still no Spaniard appeared.
"Many of the colonists," says Gayarre, "now adopted the con- viction that the Treaty of Cession was but a sham instrument, con- cealing some diplomatic manœuvring."*
But on the fifth of March the unexpected, the impossible, happened. Ulloa arrived, accompanied by two companies of infantry, and the Spanish officials of the government to be set up: a Commis- sary of War, Loyola; an Intendant, Gayarré; a Treasurer, Navarro. Aubry, the Governor, re- ceived them according to the ceremonious military etiquette of the day, while the concourse of citizens looked on in sullen discontent. He had previously convened all the French officers and laid before them the instructions he had received from his government
* "French Domination." Gayarré.
1
i
--
--
179
LAFRÉNIÈRE
to put the military forces at the disposal of the Spanish Governor; and he consulted them on the practicability of coercing the troops into the service of Spain. The officers refused unanimously to go into the service of Spain, and warned him that the attempt to coerce the French soldiers would be exceedingly dangerous.
The next step in the transaction should have been for Ulloa to exhibit his powers to the highest court authority in the province, the Superior Council, who alone could deliver the province to him. He refused to do this on the ground that he intended to postpone taking possession of the country until the arrival of all the Spanish forces that he expected, adding that he had nothing to do with the Superior Council, which was only a civil tribunal by which he could not possibly be called to account. With regard to the delivery of the province into his hands, he declared that he had to deal only with Governor Aubry, whom he recognized as the sole competent authority on that matter.
Autocratic insolence could go no further. The issue was made clearly now, not between the inhabit- ants and Spain, but between the civil and military authorities. Unquestionably, if Ulloa had pro- ceeded to the Council, then in session, and had fol- lowed the proper formalities, as requested, he could have been put in possession of the province peaceably and legally.
Ulloa's military weakness and his insolent arro- gance fanned the sparks of hatred existing already against him and his government. New Orleans was soon seething with revolutionary talk, the fury of which he kept at a white heat by his subsequent
180
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
conduct. While refusing to take formal possession of the colony, he proceeded to exercise all functions of the Governor of it. He visited various posts, remaining some time in Nachitoches the sensitive spot on the border between Spanish and French possessions, and in each place, with the tacit consent of the subservient Aubry, raised the Spanish flag and lowered the French. He ordered a census of the colony. The commercial restrictions he imposed were all for the benefit of Spanish trade and ruinous to the interests of New Orleans.
In September, a file of soldiers with fixed bayonets, heralded by the loud beating of a drum, proclaimed, by order of Aubry, an ordinance dictated by Ulloa, according to instructions received from Spain. As Aubry wrote to his government:
"I command for the King of France, and at the same time I govern the colony as if it belonged to Spain!"
The Superior Council was composed of no insignifi- cant men, as their names and titles show : Foucault, the Commissary-General of France; Lafrenière, the Attorney-General; de la Chaise; Le Sassier; Laplace. They were not the men to be flouted with impunity, or to look on supinely while a foreign usurper, as they considered Ulloa, exercised their functions and ruined their country. They met in secret caucus, as it would be called to-day, and discussed what could be done, not to hold the province to France, but to drive the Spaniards away.
Lafrénière was, as usual, the leader; Foucault, the King's Intendant, was his right hand; their fol- lowers were: Masan, a retired Captain of Infantry who had served under Bienville-a middle-aged
- -
181
LAFRĒNIÈRE
man who had become a wealthy planter and Cheva- lier of St. Louis; Marquis, Captain of the Swiss soldiers; the two nephews of Bienville-the one called Bienville, a Captain of Cavalry ; and Noyan, a Lieutenant in the Navy; Doucet, a lawyer, just arrived from France; the Milhets; Caresse; Poupart; Hardy de Boisblanc; and Villeré, brother-in-law of Lafrénière, and Commander of the German Coast. The band of patriots met secretly, either at Masan's house or at Madame Pradel's (a friend of Foucault's), on the outskirts of the city, a villa which was sur- rounded by a large garden, shaded by magnificent magnolias.
The conspirators would drop in one by one, and, when their number was complete, would unfold and discuss their plans; after which they would saunter in the perfumed alleys of roses, myrtles and magnolias and end the evening with a luxurious banquet. The secret of their meetings was so well kept that Aubry and Ulloa learned of it only late in October, when all the plans were matured and when the pro- gramme of proceedings was decided upon.
On the twenty-seventh, Foucault called a meeting of the Superior Council for the next day. The day before this sitting of the Council, a public meeting was held; it was addressed by Lafrénière in a fiery speech, of which Gayarré publishes a fragment:
"Sirs, we are arrived at a moment of crisis, when we must face with vigor. In desperate cases we must have recourse to desperate measures. What greater misfortune could we suffer than that to being no longer Frenchmen. What shame to be sold as slaves to a foreign nation whose language we do not know! Our possessions they are naught: our life, our honor will be put under laws that we know nothing of. Let us follow the noble example of the people of Burgundy, when Francis the first, abandoned by fortune on the
182
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
plains of Pavia, consented to buy his liberty at the price of one of the most beautiful provinces of France. The nobility of Burgundy replied with unanimous voice to Launoy, who came to take possession in the name of the King of Spain: 'The French soil is unalienable, therefore the King of France cannot transfer it to a foreign power! French by birth and by our hearts, we will know how to live and die as Frenchmen! If the King of France persists in abandoning use, come and take us!"*
The Superior Council met as convened by Fou- cault. Only five members were present, the rest excusing themselves on the plea of sickness. Car- esse, being introduced, presented a petition signed by six hundred planters, merchants and other citi- zens, demanding the restoration of their rights and liberties as Frenchmen, and demanding the expul- sion of Ulloa. The petition was said to have been written by Lafrénière and Doucet.
It was not read at the Council, but was referred to two members, Huchet de Kernion and de Launay, with instructions to present it next day.
In order to restore the Council to its full strength, Lafrénière moved to replace the absent members by appointment, and six were chosen on his and Foucault's recommendation. During the night of the 27th the guns at the Tchoupitoulas Gate were spiked; the next morning Villeré, at the head of the German settlers, all armed, entered the city. The Acadians, f also armed, under Noyan, followed the Germans. The planters along the coast joined their confederates.
* "Essaie Historique sur la Louisiane, 1830." This fragment, Gayarré says, was found in an old manuscript, but the manuscript has been lost.
t In 1765, about six hundred and fifty Acadians had arrived in New Orleans and had been sent to settlements in the Attakapas and Opelousas districts, where their descendants still live and thrive.
-
- --
-
-
183
LAFRENIÈRE
Marquis took command of the insurgents. Alarm and confusion spread through the town. The Spanish frigate withdrew to the other side of the river. Aubry distributed cartridges to his small band of one hundred and ten French soldiers, after sending for Lafrénière and Foucault and in vain imploring them to desist. Ulloa and his household prudently. retreated to the Spanish frigate; Gayarré, Loyola and Navarro barricaded themselves in the Govern- ment House. On the 29th, the next step was taken: the Superior Council met to take the petition of Caresse into consideration, but before deliberating inquired of Aubry whether . Ulloa had exhibited to him his powers to take possession of the colony in the name of the King of Spain? Aubry answered that nothing decisive on the subject had ever been shown.
Then the Attorney-General arose with the ques- tion: "Is yours a competent tribunal? Are these complaints in the petition just?" and proceeded to open an elaborate, thorough and convincing argu- ment; a scholarly exposition of the legal position of the Superior Council and the illegal assumption of authority on the part of Ulloa. After listening to it, and to the report of the committee, the decree against the government of Ulloa was granted, and Ulloa was enjoined to leave the colony in three days.
Gayarré mentions with pride a passage in La- frénière's address before the Council :*
"Without liberty there are but few virtues. Despotism breeds
* This able document is printed in full in the appendix of Gayarré's "French Domination."
184
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
pusillanimity, and deepens the abyss of vice. Man is considered as sinning before God only because he retains his free will."
As Gayarré comments, to appreciate this bold language it must be remembered that it was officially uttered by the Attorney-General of an absolute monarch and that it was intended to reach the ears of the despotic government of France.
Each one of the thirteen members of the Council gave his opinion separately and in writing, that of Hardy de Boisblanc being distinguished by its violence against Ulloa. The decree prayed for was granted-the Council framing it in almost the exact 1 words of Lafrénière. It was also resolved that col- lated copies be sent to the Duc de Choiseul.
In the meantime the excited populace, gathered in the Place d'Armes, were giving vent to the wildest clamor against Spain and for France. When the decree issued by the Superior Council was communi- cated to them, the most intense enthusiasm thrilled them; women and children rushed to the flagstaff that bore the banner of France, and embraced it frantically.
Two days later Aubry sent to one of the Ministers of France a detailed account of all that had taken place. He writes, exonerating himself from any responsibility in an action that he says, plaintively, he considers one of the greatest outrages that could be committed:
"I protest against their decree which orders the expulsion within three days of him whom His Catholic Majesty had sent to take possession of the colony."
This despatch was entrusted to a Knight of St. Louis who was instructed to give all further informa- tion needed about the revolution.
-
-
185
LAFRÉNIÈRE
The Superior Council lost no time in sending also their account of what had taken place. Their messengers were Le Sassier, one of their members, and Bienville, of the Navy, with Milhet to represent the merchants. Bienville was debarred from serving by his military duties and St. Lette was named in his place.
In the evening of the same day, October 31st, Ulloa embarked with his family and attendants on a French vessel that he chartered, alleging that the Spanish frigate needed repairs.
The following morning, November 1st, a band of merrymakers from a wedding feast, who had passed the night frolicking, could not restrain themselves at the sight of the French vessel moored at the bank. With shouts of exultation they saw Petit, one of their number, cut the ropes that made the ship fast to the shore; and as it slowly moved away on the current of the river they flung their cries of derision until it passed out of sight.
The coup d'état had been accomplished. The colony had repulsed both the French and Spanish effort against its liberty and had shown what was the quality of its manhood. The planters and mer- chants put forth as their final justification a Memo- rial repeating the arguments contained in the address of Lafrenière before the Council, reinforced by their proven allegations. This Memorial, as it is called, was printed by Braud the Royal Printer, on the order of Foucault. The Memorial was evidently written by Lafrénière.
"What harm have we done" it asks, "in shaking off a foreign yoke? What offense have we committed in claiming back our laws, our country, our sovereign? Are such laudable attempts without
186
OLD FAMILIES OF NEW ORLEANS
an example in our history? Has not more than one city in France. such as Cahors and Mautauban, and even whole provinces, such as the Guerci, the Rouerque and Gascony, repeatedly broken with patriotic courage the English yoke, or refused to be fettered by foreign chains? Noble resistance to the decrees of our natural born sovereigns, far from kindling their wrath, stirred up the fountains of their attachment and forced them into helping their loving subjects and thus wrought out their deliverance!"
The Superior Council also addressed to the Prime Minister a communication forwarding its decree to be laid at the foot of the throne. With this document went a letter from Foucault justifying what had taken place, and Aubry added another letter in which he had the courage to say:
"I foresaw the unfortunate event which has occurred. M. de Ulloa was not the proper person to govern this colony, not- withstanding his vast interest . and although he is full of honour and probity, and zeal for his sovereign, he does not possess the necessary qualifications to command Frenchmen. . . He has done all that he could to alienate them. He seemed to despise the first men of the colony and particularly the members of the Superior Council. . . . He has alarmed everybody . . . and contributed not a little to draw down upon himself and his realm the storm that has swept him away."
All fruitless · France, destined a score of years later to be the torchbearer of liberty to all the world, was still a slave in chains; and the patriots of Louisiana, worthy to stand in the ranks of the great liberators of people, were coldly condemned by a mere turning down of thumbs!
Ulloa arrived safely in Havana, whence he at once sent his report of his expulsion from Louisiana to his government, making as good an argument for himself as his antagonists had made against him. He showed in it that he was fully aware of the state of feeling of
1
-
187
LAFRÉNIÈRE
the colonists at the time of his arrival, and thor- oughly cognizant of the efforts they were making to frustrate the cession. His report, indeed, is so well furnished with information, that historians have supplied themselves from it.
Ulloa states that when the revolt was only in contemplation, de Bienville, the brother of Noyan, and Masan, son of the "Conspirator," went secretly to Pensacola to solicit assistance of troops from the English Governor-General to support the insurrec- tion; upon his refusal to do this, the proposal was made to transform the colony into a republic under the protection of England. This being discouraged, they then boldly determined to rise in their own strength and trample under foot the orders of their Sovereign. Lafrénière he names as the one single man who put the colony in a state of insurrection, and that it is not the first time that his "seditious maxims" had caused trouble.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.