USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I > Part 10
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Bienville Parish, was created out of the original territory of Clai- borne parish in 1848, during the administration of Gov. Isaac Jolin- son, and named in honor of Bienville, "The father of Louisiana." The parish has an area of 832 square miles, is located in the north- western part of the state, and its geographical outline is extremely irregular. On the north it is bonded by Webster. Claiborne and Lincoln parishes; on the east by Lincoln and Jackson parishes ; on the south by Winn, Natchitoches and Red River parishes, and on the west by Red River, Bossier and Webster parishes. Bienville is one of the "good upland" parishes because most of its formation is good upland, of red sandy clays and some rich bottom lands. The soil is fertile and productive, and is drained by Lake Bistineau on the west, by Bayous Blacklake and Saline in the central part, by the Dugdemona river and its tributaries along the eastern boundary, all of which flow south. The water supply is abundant, as there are many springs and creeks with their numerous branches. The real settlement of the parish goes back to the early '30s, when Irish .immigrant families from the south Atlantic states began to settle in this part of the country. Sparta was selected as the parish seat in 1849, but the courthouse was not built until 1854. In 1892 the seat of justice was changed to Arcadia. The oldest parish records that are preserved date back to 1850. Mount Lebanon is an old college town, incorporated in 1854. The university there was established by the Louisiana Baptist society. There are a number of educational institutions in the parish. among which are the Arcadia Male and Female college, and the Gibsland Collegiate institute of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Bienville has some deposits of iron ore and abounds in salt licks, in addition to which there are large deposits of fire-clay, potter's clay, marl and green sand. Cotton is the chief product, though corn, oats, hay, sorghum and garden vegetables are all paying crops. Large areas are devoted to diversified farming, and as the timber is cut live stock is becoming a more important industry. Post oak and short leaf pine are the prevailing timber, mingled with other varieties of oak and hickory, as well as many soft wood trees. Up to a few years ago there still remained 150.000 acres of virgin forest. The fruits and nuts of this northern parish differ some from the southern parishes, those most profitably grown are apples, pears. peaches, plums, pecans, quinces, grapes and figs. Very good transportation and shipping facilities are afforded by the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R. which crosses the northern part of the parish. nearly parallel to the northern boundary; the Louisiana & Northwest R. R., which runs south from Gibsland through the center of the parish, connecting on the north with the Cotton Belt line and on the south with the Texas & Pacific R. R., and the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company. The Louisiana & Arkansas R. R. angles from northwest to southeast across the western part of the parish, and is nearly paralleled farther west by the Shreveport. Alexandria & Southwestern R. R., while the Northern Louisiana & Gulf R. R. taps the extreme southeastern corner. An outlet is thus furnished
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in every direction to the markets of north, west and south. Arcadia, situated in the northeastern part of the parish on the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R., is the parish seat. Other towns of importance are Alberta, Bienville, Gibsland, Mount Lebanon, Ring- gold, Armistead, Sparta, Taylor and Liberty Hill. The following data concerning the farms, manufactures and population of the parish are taken from the U. S. census for 1900: Number of farms, 2,392; acreage, 300,563; acres under cultivation, 109,729; value of land and improvements exclusive of buildings, $815,150: value of farm buildings. $328,070; value of live stock, $421,660; total value of all products not fed to live stock, $717,248. Number of manu- facturing establishments. 28: capital invested, $47.646: wages paid, $14.327 ; cost of materials used, $20,126; total value of products, $50,939. The population for 1900 was 9,348 whites, 8,240 colored, tota! 17,588, an increase of 3,480 over that of 1890. The estimated population for 1908 was over 20,000.
Bigbend (R. R. name Cordes), a post-village in the eastern part of Avoyelles parish, is station on the line of the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company, about 15 miles southeast of Marksville, the parish seat. The population in 1900 was 101.
Bigcane, a post-village in the northeastern part of St. Landry parish, situated on Bayou Rouge, a confluent of the Atchafalava river, about 5 miles east of Morrow, the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and a population of about 150.
Bills of Exchange .- (See Notes.)
Biloxi .- This was the name of the first French establishment in Louisiana, and was so called by Iberville for the small tribe of In- dians which then inhabited the region bordering on the bay of that name. The word Biloxi was somewhat loosely applied by the early French chroniclers, and was made to include both Old and New Biloxi, as well as the civil and military district of that name, estab- lished in 1723. (For an account of Iberville's first establishment, see Iberville, Sanvole, Bienville, Fort Maurepas, etc.) Sauvole dates his interesting "Journal Historique," "an Fort du Biloxi." The headquarters of the infant colony only remained at Biloxi until the close of 1701, when Bienville removed to the Mobile, having a small garrison and a few settlers at the old fort, and the principal estab- lishment was for many years at Dauphine island. During the years succeeding the formation of the Western company, hundreds of settlers for the concessions, as well as a large number of soldiers for the various posts and many mechanics and other workmen, were transported to Louisiana. The accommodations on Dauphine island were inadequate to care for the many new arrivals, and in Feb. 1718, Bienville chose a site for his. new capital 30 leagues from the mouth of the Mississippi, where New Orleans now stands, which could also be reached by way of Lake Pontchartrain and Bayou St. John. There was, however, dissension among the members of the superior council or directorate of the company, Legac and others being opposed to any establishment away from the sea coast. It should be kept in mind by the reader that prior to 1720-21, prac-
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tically all the colonists were being housed, cared for and fed at the expense of the company, and there was no serious effort made to work the various concessions or grants, prior to 1720. Enormous quantities of provisions and supplies were being constantly sent from France to supply the wants of the colonists, and almost nothing was being done in the way of agriculture. Indeed, it was generally believed that the coast region east and west of Biloxi was barren and sterile and would not repay tillage. Such was the general con- dition of affairs when steps were taken to remove the headquarters of the colony in 1719 to Old Biloxi, so-called because of Iberville's old fort there, and also to distinguish it from the later establishment at New Biloxi, one league distant on the west side of the bay, on the point of land opposite Deer island. Here, in Nov., 1719, accord- ing to Dumont, cabins were built for the soldiers, dwellings for the commandant and officers, magazines, and even a cistern, and as soon as preparations were sufficiently advanced, everybody, and everything was transported thither from Dauphine island. Head- quarters only remained at Old Biloxi for a short period. Bienville had caused a new fort to be built at New Biloxi, which was named Fort Louis, in honor of the king. Moreover, an accidental fire destroyed the fort at Old Biloxi, as well as some of the cabins. La Harpe states in his Journal that "on the 9th of September (1721), M. de Bienville left Old Biloxi, to go to Fort Louis (New Biloxi). where the engineers had prepared accommodations for him in an old warehouse." Many of the colonists narrowly escaped death by famine at this time, as the same historian states that, on the 14th, "provisions having failed, the troops were sent to the Pearl river and to the Pascagoulas, to live among the Indians." This famine is assigned by Dumont as one of the reasons for transferring the colony from Old to New Biloxi. So great was the prevailing want "that the commandant was obliged to send the soldiers, workmen, and even officers, to the nearest Indians of the country, that of the Biloxis and Pascagoulas, who received them with great pleasure, and supported them quite well, not indeed with bread. but with good hominy and sagamity, boiled with good store of meat or bear oil. As for the concessioners, each remained at his place, living not over well, being brought down to beans and peas in no great quantity. To increase the dilemma, there arrived at this juncture a vessel loaded with negroes, who were distributed to such as could support them. At last the famine was so severe that a great number died. some from eating herbs they did not know, and which, instead of prolonging life, produced death ; others from eating oysters, which they went and gathered on the seashore. Most of those found dead by the heaps of shells were Germans. At last in the height of the scourge came the Venus, loaded exclusively with provisions, and followed immediately by two other vessels. Meanwhile, in April, 1721, the engineer Pauger was sent by Bienville to the mouth of the Mississippi to sound the passes. He reported that he had found 12 feet of water on the bar. and urged Bienville to use his influence with the company to have the fort at Biloxi abandoned, and to fix
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the headquarters and principal settlement at New Orleans. This desirable end was finally accomplished in 1722. though thousands of colonists down to 1732 made their first landing on the soil of Louisiana at Biloxi, and the fine harbor of Ship island was used by French ships for many years longer.
Biloxis .- (See Indians. )
Biologic Station .- (See Gulf Biologic Station.)
Bird Day .- (See Game Laws.)
Blackburn, a post-hamlet in the western part of Claiborne parish, is about 5 miles west of Camp, the nearest railroad station and 9 miles northwest of Homer. the parish seat.
Blackburn, William Jasper, member of Congress, was born in Arkansas, July 24, 1820; was educated in the public schools ; learned the printing trade, and established the Homer Hliad, at Homer, La. He was so strong in his attacks against the slavery question that his office was twice mobbed. In 1848 he was sent as a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 40th Congress, as a Republican serving from July 18, 1868, to March 3, 1869.
Black Code .- The negro population became an important element in the community quite early in the history of the colony. A few Africans were brought over during the Crozat regime. and when, in 1717, the Western Company was chartered to manage the affairs of the colony, one of the conditions imposed upon it was the im- portation of 3.000 slaves for service on the various plantations. African slaves had become numerous enough in 1724 to warrant the enactment of special legislation for their management and control. By direction of the company. in March. 1724, Bienville therefore promulgated a Black Code, the essential provisions of which re- mained in force until 1803, and many of which were embodied in the later American Black Code. Says Gavarre: "Its first and third articles were, it must be confessed. strangely irrelevant to the matter in consideration. Thus, the first declared that the Jews were for- ever expelled from the colony: and the third. that the Roman Catholic religion was the only religious creed which would be tolerated in Louisiana. By what concatenation of causes or of ideas, these provisions concerning the supremacy of the Roman Catholic religion and the expulsion of the Jews came to be inserted - into the Black Code. it is difficult to imagine."
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Art. 1. Decrees the expulsion of the Jews from the colony.
Art. 2. Makes it imperative on masters to impart religious in- struction to their slaves.
Art. 3. Permits the exercises of the Roman Catholic creed oniy. Every other mode of worship is prohibited.
Art. 4. Negroes placed under the direction or supervision of any other person than a Catholic, are liable to confiscation.
Art. 5. Sundays and holy days are to be strictly observed. All negroes found at work on these days are to be confiscated.
Art. 6. We forbid our white subjects, of both sexes, to marry with the blacks, under the penalty of being fined and subjected to
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some other arbitrary punishment. We forbid all curates, priests, or missionaries of our secular or regular clergy, and even our chaplains in our navy, to sanction such marriages. We also forbid all our white subjects, and even the manumitted or free-born blacks, to live in a state of concubinage with slaves. Should there be any issue from this kind of intercourse. it is our will that the person so offending, and the master of the slave, should pay each a fine of 300 livres. Should said issue be the result of the con- cubinage of the master with his slave, said master shall not only pay the fine, but be deprived of the slave and of the children, who shall be adjudged to the hospital of the locality, and said slaves shall be forever incapable of being set free. But, should this illicit intercourse have existed between a free black and his slave, when said free black had no legitimate wife, and should said black marry said slave according to the forms prescribed by the church, said slave shall be thereby set free, and the children shall also become free and legitimate : and in such a case, there shall be no application of the penalties mentioned in the present article.
Art. 7. The ceremonies and forms prescribed by the ordinance of Blois, and by the ediet of 1639, for marriages, shall be observed both with regard to free persons and to slaves. But the consent of the father and mother of the slave is not necessary; that of the master shall be the only one required.
Art. 8. We forbid all curates to proceed to effect marriages between slaves without proof of the consent of their masters; and we also forbid all masters to force their slaves into any marriage against their will.
. Art. 9. Children, issued from the marriage of slaves, shall follow . the condition of their parents, and shall belong to the master of the wife and not of the husband, if the husband and wife have different masters.
Art. 10. If the husband be a slave, and the wife a free woman, it is our will that their children, of whatever sex they may be, shall share the condition of their mother, and be as free as she, notwith- standing the servitude of their father; and if the father be free and the mother a slave, the children shall all be slaves.
Art. 11. Masters shall have their Christian slaves buried in con- secrated ground.
Art. 12. We forbid slaves to carry offensive weapons or heavy sticks, under the penalty of being whipped, and of having said weapons confiscated for the benefit of the person seizing the same. An exception is made in favor of those slaves who are sent a hunting or a shooting by their masters, and who carry with them a written permission to that effect, or are designated by some known mark or badge.
Art. 13. We forbid slaves belonging to different masters to gather in crowds either by day or by night. under the pretext of a wedding, or for any other cause, either at the dwelling or on the grounds of one of their masters, or elsewhere, and much less on the highways or in seeluded places, under the penalty of corporal pun-
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ishment, which shall not be less than the whip. In case of frequent offenses of the kind, the offenders shall be branded with the mark 'of the flower de luce, and should there be aggravating circumstances, capital punishment may be applied, at the discretion of our judges. We command all our subjects, be they officers or not, to seize all such offenders, to arrest and conduct them to prison, although there should be no judgment against them.
Art. 14. Masters who shall be convicted of having permitted or tolerated such gatherings as aforesaid, composed of other slaves than their own, shall be sentenced individually, to indemnity their neighbors for the damage occasioned by said gatherings, and to pay, for the first time. a fine of 30 livres, and double that sum on the repetition of the offense.
Art. 15. We forbid negroes to sell any commodities, provisions, or produce of any kind, without the written permission of their mas- ters, or without wearing their known marks or badges, and any persons purchasing anything from negroes in violation of this article, shall be sentenced to pay a fine of 1,500 livres.
Art. 16, 17, 18 and 19. Provide at length for the clothing of slaves and for their subsistence.
Art. 20. Slaves who shall not be properly fed, clad, and provided for by their masters, may give information thereof to the attorney- general or the superior council, or to all the other officers of justice of an inferior jurisdiction, and may put the written exposition of their wrongs into their hands : upon which information, and even ex- officio, should the information come from another quarter, the attorney-general shall prosecute said masters without charging any costs to the complainants. It is our will that this regulation be "observed in all accusations for crimes or barbarous and inhuman treatment brought by slaves against their masters.
Art. 21. Slaves who are disabled from working, either by old age, disease, or otherwise, be the disease incurable or not, shall be fed and provided for by their masters ; and in case they should have been abandoned by said masters, said slaves shall be adjudged to the nearest hospital, to which said masters shall be obliged to pay eight cents a day for the food and maintenance of each one of these slaves ; and for the payment of this sum, said hospital shall have a. lien on the plantation of the master.
Art. 22. We declare that slaves can have no right to any kind of property, and that all that they acquire either by their own industry, or by the liberality of others, or by any other means or title whatever, shall be the full property of their masters; and the „children of said slaves, their fathers and mothers, their kindred or other relations, either free or slaves, shall have no pretensions or claims thereto, either through testamentary dispositions or dona- tions inter vivos : which dispositions and donations we declare null and void, and also whatever promises they may have made, or what- ever obligations they may have subscribed to, as having been entered into by persons incapable of disposing of any thing, and of participating to any contract.
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Art. 23. Masters shall be responsible for what their slaves have done by their command, and also for what transactions they have permitted their slaves to do in their shops, in the particular line of commerce with which they are intrusted; and in case said slaves should have acted without the order or authorization of their mas- ters, said masters shall be responsible only for so much as has turned to their profit : and it said masters have not profited by the doing or transaction of their slaves, the peculium which the masters have permitted the slaves to own, shall be subjected to all claims against said slaves, after deduction made by the masters of what may be due to them : and if said peculium should consist, in whole or in part, of merchandises in which the slaves had permission to traffic, the masters shall only come in for their share in common with the other creditors.
Art. 24. Slaves shall be incapable of all public functions, and of being constituted agents for any other person than their own mas- ters, with powers to manage or conduct any kind of trade; nor can they serve as arbitrators or experts; nor shall they be called to give their testimony either in civil or in criminal cases, except when it shall be a matter of necessity, and only in default of white people ; but in no case shall they be permitted to serve as witnesses either for or against their masters.
Art. 25. Slaves shall never be parties to civil suits, either as plain- tiffs or defendants, nor shall they be allowed to appear as com- plainants in criminal cases, but their masters shall have the right to act for them in civil matters, and in criminal ones, to demand punish- ment and reparation for such outrages and excesses as their slaves may have suffered from.
Art. 26. Slaves may be prosecuted criminally, without their mas- ters being made parties to the trial, except they should be indicted as accomplices : and said slaves shall be tried, at first, by the judges of ordinary jurisdiction, if there be any, and on appeal, by the superior council, with the same rules, formalities, and proceedings observed for free persons, save the exceptions mentioned hereafter.
Art. 27. The slave who, having struck his master, his mistress, or the husband of his mistress, or their children, shall have produced a bruise, or the shedding of blood in the face, shall suffer capital punishment.
Art. 28. With regard to outrages or acts of violence committed by slaves against free persons, it is our will that they be punished with severity, and even with death, should the case require it.
Art. 29. Thefts of importance, and even the stealing of horses, mares, mules, oxen or cows, when executed by slaves or manumitted persons, shall make the offender liable to corporal, and even capital punishment, according to the circumstances of the case.
Art. 30. The stealing of sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, grain, fod- der, peas, beans, or other vegetables, produce, or provisions, when committed by slaves, shall be punished according to the circum- stances of the case ; and the judges may sentence them, if necessary,
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to be whipped by the public executioner, and branded with the mark of the flower de luce.
Art. 31. In cases of thefts committed or damages done by their slaves, masters, besides the corporal punishment inflicted on their slaves, shall be bound to make amends for the injuries resulting from the acts of said slaves, unless they prefer abandoning them to the sufferer. They shall be bound to make this choice in three days from the time of the conviction of the negroes; if not, this privilege shall be forever forfeited.
Art. 32. The runaway slave. who shall continue to be so for one month from the day of his being denounced to the officers of justice, shall have his ears cut off, and shall be branded with the flower de luce on the shoulder ; and on the second offense of the same nature, persisted in during one month from the day of his being denounced, he shall be hamstrung, and be marked with the flower de luce on the other shoulder. On the third offense, he shall suffer death.
Art. 33. Slaves who shall have made themselves liable to the pen- alty of the whip, the flower de luce brand, and ear cutting, shall be tried, in the last resort, by the ordinary judges of the inferior courts, and shall undergo the sentence passed upon them without there being an appeal to the superior council, in confirmation or reversal of judgment, notwithstanding the article 26th of the present code, which shall be applicable only to those judgments in which the slave convicted is sentenced to be hamstrung or to suffer death.
Art. 34. Freed or free-born negroes, who shall have afforded refuge in their houses to fugitive slaves, shall be sentenced to pay to the masters of said slaves, the sum of 30 livres a day for every day during which they shall have concealed said fugitives; and all other free persons, guilty of the same offense, shall pay a fine of 10 livres a day as aforesaid; and should the freed or free-born negroes not be able to pay the fine herein specified, they shall be reduced to the condition of slaves, and be sold as such. Should the price of the sale exceed the sum mentioned in the judgment, the surplus shall be delivered to the hospital.
Art. 35. We permit our subjects in this colony, who may have slaves concealed in any place whatever, to have them sought after by such persons and in such a way as they may deem proper, or to proceed themselves to such researches as they may think best.
Art. 36. The slave who is sentenced to suffer death on the de- nunciation of his master, shall, when that master is not an accom- plice to his crime, be appraised before his execution by two of the principal inhabitants of the locality, who shall be specially appointed by the judge, and the amount of said appraisement shall be paid to the master. To raise this sum, a proportional tax shall be laid on every slave, and shall be collected by the persons invested with that authority.
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