Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 28

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 28


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which fall each month of the year. In California west winds pre- vail, blowing from the ocean; in Louisiana, south winds prevail, blowing from the gulf. California has a greater number of sun- shiny days in the summer months, but an almost total lack of rain- fall. The rainfall in Louisiana is general throughout the year, with but few foggy days. The district where rain falls in California in summer is small, confined to the localities which are directly affected by the ocean breezes, and extend but a few miles inland. The val- leys back from the coast become unbearably hot in the summer months ; there is but little vegetation and water is not easily pro- cured. Louisiana has only one climate, and that a well defined one. It has hot weather, but the gulf breeze extends inland, reaching to the northern portion of the state, which has, however, a higher temperature than that recorded in the southern portion during the summer months. The rainfall and moisture is almost the same, being but slightly less in the north than the south. The summers are long, but this is necessary for the crops, grown in the region. Louisiana is comparatively free from killing frosts, and has a great advantage over northern Florida, which is frequently visited by frosts heavy enough to kill the fruit and often the trees. The south- ern part of the state. from Rapides and Concordia parishes south, compares with the southern part of the Florida peninsula. Most of the cold waves that sweep south over the country during the winter months are deflected from Louisiana, as nearly all the winter storms have an eastern tendency. The storms that arise in north- western Texas usually pass to the north of Louisiana, and the storms that arise east of the Rocky mountains are generally at- tracted by the valley of the great lakes and pass down the St. Law- rence. Another cause of this immunity from storms, is the great volume of warm moist air which hangs over the gulf and central part of the state, and which mingles with the cold air from the north and passes off to the east. Not that Louisiana is entirely free from cold waves, as the temperature sometimes falls to but 10° or 15°, above zero. Dry winds are unknown in Louisiana, conse- quently there are no high winds, and the moisture is not absorbed from the earth. The high winds that prevail are storm winds, and nearly always cause precipitation-generally a hard rainfall. While Louisiana does not have a windy climate it has a breezy one, the air from the gulf is cool, salty and invigorating. There are few states in the Union that possess more genial climate. The only difference in the climate of the northern and southern portions of the state, is a slight increase in the range of temperature, an atmosphere less humid and a rainfall averaging 4 inches less annually.


Clinton, the parish seat of East Feliciana parish, is located near the center of the parish, the site having been determined by a vote of the people when the parish was organized in 1824. The town was laid out in 1830 and two years later the Clinton female acad- emy was founded by the sisters of George Bancroft, the noted his- torian. The Centenary college was located here in 1839, and the


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town was incorported in 1852. Clinton is the eastern terminus of a short branch of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., which connects with the main line at Ethel. This branch is a part of the old Clinton & Port Hudson R. R., which was completed in 1840, but after that road was absorbed by the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley system the portion from Ethel to Port Hudson was abandoned. Clinton is a town of considerable commercial activity. It has a bank, a large brick and tile factory, some minor manufactures, a number of well conducted mercantile establishments, a money order postoffice with rural delivery routes emanating from it, good schools and churches, and the press and professions are well repre- sented. The population in 1900 was 960.


Clio, a money order post-hamlet, in the southeastern part of Liv- ingston parish, is situated on the Amite river, about 8 miles south- east of Springville, the parish seat, and the same distance southwest of Springfield, the nearest railroad station. It has a population of about 150 and is the supply point for a considerable district.


Cloutierville, a money order post-village in the southeastern part of Natchitoches parish, is located on the Cane river about 20 miles southeast of Natchitoches. It was founded by Alexander Cloutier, and incorporated, with the idea of making it the seat of justice for a new parish which Cloutier petitioned to have established. The prospects of this were so good that a large building was erected for parish purposes and a Catholic church, then the only religion known in this section of Louisiana. The new parish was not cre- ated and the town has remained a village. The population in 1900 was 200. Derry, on the Texas & Pacific R. R., 3 miles west, is the nearest railroad station.


Clover, a post-hamlet in the western part of Rapides parish, is situated on Bayou Boeuf, about 15 miles west of Alexandria, the parish seat, and 5 miles southeast of Hoyt, the nearest railroad station.


Clyde (R. R. name Swaty), a post-village in the western part of Sabine parish, is a station on the Kansas City Southern R. R., about 12 miles northwest of Many, the parish seat, and 3 miles north of Zwolle, the nearest banking town. It is a lumber town and has a population of about 100.


Coal .- The mineral coal of Louisiana is of the species known as lignite, also called wood-coal or fossil-wood. Lignite is usually of a brownish color, though it is sometimes pitch black. As the name implies, it retains the form and appearance of wood, but it contains more hydrogen than wood. Strictly speaking, lignite is an unfin- ished product. As the process of decomposition continues lignite throws off carburetted hydrogen, and in time becomes a bituminous coal. The lignite beds of Louisiana are probably offshoots from the larger formations along the eastern foot of the Rocky mountains, which deposits, according to Hayden, "occupy a position between the Cretaceous and Eocene Tertiary strata, cover an area of about 50,000 square miles within the United States, and extend north into Canada and south into Mexico."


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About the beginning of the present century mining operations were commenced in the lignite deposits of the Dolet hills. A bulletin issued by the state commission of the Louisiana Purchase exposition in 1904, says: "Analyses recently made show the fol- lowing average composition : Water, 32 per cent .; volatile matter. 34 per cent .; fixed carbon, 31 per cent .; ash, 3 per cent. Thermal value with 15.2 per cent. moisture is 9883 B.T.U. The water evaporates on exposure with but little slacking in the coal. This deposit, varying in thickness from 6 to 8 fect, covers an area of over 40,000 acres, situated between two main lines of railroad run- ning north and south. The coal can be easily mined above the intersecting branches. *


* * Geological investigations show that this formation underlies a large part of northwestern Louisiana, with numerous outcrops from the Ouachita to the Sabine. On the latter stream, near Sabine town, is a bed of lignite over 5 feet thick. Other prominent outcrops are near Shreveport."


Mansfield, Many and


Concerning the deposits at Mansfield, "Current Events," a maga- zine published by the Kansas City Southern railway, said in the issue of Jan., 1904: "In the vicinity of Mansfield, La., are some 40 square miles of land underlaid with a good quality of tertiary coal. which occurs in three layers, each 7 feet thick and of easy access. A corporation has been recently formed to undertake the mining of this coal, for which there is an excellent market. How it escaped development before this is one of the mysteries, considering the proximity to a dozen large cities within easy reach. The opening of the first mines will probably bring about the development of the whole region before long."


Coast Line .- The coast line of Louisiana, including the bays and lakes on the coast, such as Breton sound, Chandeleur sound, Atcha- falaya, Barataria, Cote Blanche, Terre Bonne and Vermilion bays, Lakes Borgne, Pontchartrain, etc., approximates 2,000 miles. The coast may be divided into two parts; the 1st or eastern division lies between Cat island, near the mouth of the Pearl river, on the east, and Vermilion bay on the southwest. These are the eastern and western limits of the great Mississippi delta. It is supposed that at one time the waters of the great river flowed through Bayou Manchac, Lake Maurepas, Lake Pontchartrain and the Rigolets into Mississippi Sound. The outline of this part of the coast is extremely irregular, indented with many bays and cut by lakes and bayous into a labyrinth of peninsulas and islands. The general contour of the coast is like the arc of a circle, convex toward the gulf. The islands along the delta coast all have a tendency to form in groups, convex toward the gulf (sce Chandeleur Islands), and the individual islands of each group have the same general outline as that of the group itself. The bayous which flow through the delta lands are nearly always shallow near their mouths. which are often obstructed by shallow bays filled with sand bars. The 2nd, or western division of the coast, from Vermilion bay to Sabine lake. which forms the southwestern boundary of the state, has a very


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regular beach on the edge of the marsh; there are no outlying islands and the general structure is entirely different from the eastern section. The marshes which border the coast extend from the water line of the gulf, inland to a depth varying from 5 to 25 miles but averages about 12 miles. In all cases it is low, wet and subject to tidal overflow. In most places the marshes are impass- able. They are filled with lakes and intersected by many bayous. The marshes are not uniform in structure, being in some places practically a lake, in others a grassy plain, firm enough for cattle to graze on. In other places the surface is apparently firm, while underneath the crust there is nothing but water and oozy mud. In some places considerable solid islands rise above the marsh and present the unusual spectacle of islands on land.


Coburn, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Sabine parish, is situated on Middle creek, about 8 miles southeast of Rolly, the nearest railroad station, and 12 miles southeast of Many, the parish seat.


Codes and Statutes .- (See French Domination, Spanish Dom- ination, Black Code, and the several State Constitutions). During the period of the French domination. the laws, ordinances, customs, and usages of the Prevostship and Viscounty of Paris formed the early basis for the laws of the province of Louisiana, and there was early provided an administrative and judicial body, or government couneil, similar in character to the one provided for San Domingo and Martinique. The edicts or decrees of this council. at whose head stood the governor of the province. together with the royal edicts issued from time to time, provided the chief legislation for the colony .. This government council, known throughout the French period as the superior council, underwent numerous changes in its personnel and functions. For instance, as modified by the royal edict, it was to consist in 1719 of the governor, the two "Lien- tenants de Roi," or lieutenant-governors, the king's attorney-gen- eral, and four other persons, together with such directors of the Western Company as might happen to be in the colony as ex- officio members. After the surrender of the charter of the India Company, the superior council was again reorganized by letters patent issued in 1732, when it was made to consist of the governor, king's commissary, two lieutenant-governors, attorney-general, commander of New Orleans, and six others (Gayarre). In the lat- ter portion of the French period the superior council, appears to have consisted of some thirteen members, and it was this famous body which entertained the petition for the expulsion from the col- ony of the Spanish Ulloa, and formally enjoined him to quit the col- ony within three days in Oct .. 1768.


The Spanish Gov. O'Reilly abolished the superior council, and established in its place a city council, or cabildo. The transition from the French to Spanish laws was not difficult, because of their similarity of origin. "The people of Louisiana, under the Spanish regime, were governed by the Fuero Viego, Fuero Juzco, Partidas. Recopilaciones, Leyes de las Indias, Austos Accordados, and Royal


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Schedules. To explain these, Spanish commentators were resorted to, and to eke out any deficiency the lawyers who came from France or Hispaniola read Pothier, D'Aguesseau, Dumoulin, etc. El Fuero Juzco was a compilation of the rules and regulations made for Spain by its national councils and Gothic kings as carly as 693 A. D. It was the first code made by the Spanish nation ; it consisted of 12 volumes, and was originally published in Latin. It was trans- lated into Spanish in the 13th century by order of Ferdinand 111. El Fuero Viego was published in the year 992. It is divided into five books, and contains the ancient customs and usages of the Spanish nation. The Partidas is the most perfect system of Span- ish laws, and may be advantageously compared with any code published in the most enlightened ages of the world. It is in imi- tation of the Roman Pandects, and may be considered a digest of the laws of Spain. ..... . Much of our present system of practice is taken from the Partidas. The Recopilacion of Castile was pub-" lished in the year 1567, under the authority and supervision of Philip II. From that time to 1777 many new editions of the work were produced. The Autos Accordados were edicts and orders in Council sanctioned and published by virtue of a royal decree. It consists of but one volume. The scattered laws made for the Span- ish colonies at different periods, were digested by Philip IV, in the same form as the Recopilacion of Castile, and called in 1661 the Recopilacion de las Indias." (Louisiana and her Laws, by Henry J. Leovy). Of this great digest of colonial law, says Bourne in his Spain in America: "Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reinos de las Indias, in spite of shortcomings as to finance and variances with modern ideas. was, in its broad humanity and consideration for the general welfare of the king's American subjects, far superior to anything that has been shown for the English or French colonies."


When Louisiana became the "Orleans Territory" under the United States, the government permitted the people of the new territory to make what changes they pleased in the existing system of laws. The criminal laws of Spain were repealed and new penal statutes adopted. "the definitions and intendments of which were left to the Common law of England." The first territorial legis- lature in 1806 anthorized two members of the bar. Messrs. Brown and Lislet, to prepare a digest of the laws then in existence in the territory, and each to receive $800 a year for five years as compensa- tion. Says Leovy: "Instead of complying with their orders and digesting the laws in existence, these gentlemen made a code based principally on the Code Napoleon. This was adopted by the legis- lature, and is now known as the old Civil Code of 1808. This code did not repeal former laws: the old Civil Code only repealed such parts of the Civil law as were contrary or incompatible with it. It did not contain many important provisions of the Spanish law nor any rules of judicial proceedings. It was therefore decided that the Spanish laws were to be considered as untouched when the Digest or Civil Code did not reach them. The legislature, therefore, in


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1819 ordered the publication of such parts of the Partidas as were still in force."


In the course of a number of years the state outgrew the "Old Code," and the legislature appointed a committee, consisting of Messrs. Livingston. Derbigny, and Moreau Lislet, to amend and revise it. Their work resulted in the so-called "Civil Code of Louisiana," which went into operation in 1825. The Code of Prac- tice was enacted April 12, 1824, and was promulgated Sept. 2. 1825. This code repealed all former rules of practice, and such parts of the Civil Code as conflicted with it. The code of criminal law, prepared by Edward Livingston, was completed in 1828, and was a large work of 800 pages. It embraced five divisions-a Code of Crimes and Punishments, a Code of Procedure, a Code of Evi- dence, a Code of Reform and Prison Discipline, and a Book of Definitions. De Bow calls the work "a great book, but one of little practical utility." On the other hand, Mignet, the French historian, says: "(Livingston ) has composed a book that recommends itself to the. attention of philosophers as a beautiful system of ideas, and to the use of nations as a vast code of rules."


The present constitution of the state, by articles 322, 323 and 324. made provision for a Code of Criminal Law, a Code of Criminal Procedure, and a Code of Criminal Correction, to be prepared by a commission of three lawyers. appointed by the governor.


Coe, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Acadia parish, situated on Bayou Plaquemine, 5 miles northwest of Branch, the nearest railroad town.


Coffee, John, a soldier of the War of 1812, was born in 1772. He became a brother-in-law and partner of Gen. Andrew Jackson, with whom he was engaged in the Indian wars in Alabama after the massacre of Fort Mims, especially distinguishing himself at the battle of Talladega. In the War of 1812 he was in command of the army at Pensacola and went to the aid of Jackson at New Orleans. On the morning of Jan. 8, 1815. he was + miles above the city and was guided to the battle-field by a planter named De la Ronde, arriving in time to take position on the right of the Amer- ican line, where his command rendered valiant service during the action. Gen. Coffee was complimented by Jackson in his report, and on Feb. 2, 1815, the Louisiana legislature extended him a vote of thanks for his timely arrival and gallantry in repelling the at- tacks of the British. After the war Gen. Coffee settled in Georgia. He was elected to the lower house of Congress in 1832, and re- elected.in 1834. but died before the beginning of his second termn. Coffee county, Ga., was named in his honor.


Cofield, a post-village of Ascension parish. is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river, 2 miles southwest of Burnside, the nearest railroad station, and 4 miles northeast of Donaldsonville, the parish seat. It is a shipping point for a rich agricultural dis- trict and in 1900 had a population of 53.


Coldwater, a post-hamlet and station in the extreme western part of Winn parish, is on the Louisiana & Arkansas R. R., 2 miles north-


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east of Saline lake and 15 miles northwest of Winnfield, the parish seat. It has an express office, telegraph and telephone facilities and a population of about 50.


Coleman, a post-village in the southeastern part of Madison parish, is about 3 miles southwest of Mound, the nearest railroad station. Vicksburg, Miss., is the nearest banking town.


Coleman, Hamilton Dudley, financier and member of Congress. was born in New Orleans, La., May 12, 1845. At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Washington artillery, which served in the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the war. After peace was established he began to manufacture and deal in plantation machinery ; was active in the organization of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial exposition at New Or- leans in 1884-5 ; was one of the organizers of the first electric light- ing company established in New Orleans; served as vice-president and afterward as president of the company ; was for two terms presi- dent of the New Orleans chamber of commerce; was elected in Nov., 1888, one of the vice-presidents of the National board of trade, and was elected to the 51st Congress as a Republican.


Colfax, the capitol of Grant parish, is located on the right bank of the old stream, Rigolet de Bon Dieu, which in 1836, robbed the old channel of its waters and became the main channel of the Red river. The town became the seat of justice of the parish when it was organized in 1869 and was incorporated in 1878. The first postmaster was S. E. Cuney and the first store was opened by W. S. Calhoun in 1867. A terrible riot occurred in Colfax in April, 1873, when a band of negroes held the courthouse for several days defy- ing the whites. On Easter Sunday, April 13. the whites fired upon the negroes, who had erected defenses at the courthouse. They took refuge in a brick barn, which was fired, and the negroes who were not burned were taken prisoners. A few white men were wounded and 40 negroes taken prisoners. In 1880, Mrs. M. A. Lane donated a block of land to the town and parish, the condition being that the seat of justice be continued at Colfax. This dona- tion was accepted in 1881, and on Jan. 4, 188, the new courthouse was received by the police jury, the parish offices being moved into the new building on Jan. 5. The pioneer journal was the Colfax Chronicle, issued July 8. 1876, by J. M. Sweeney. It was started . as an independent paper, "owing no allegiance to any political party." The second newspaper was established by T. M. Wells, in Aug., 1884. In 1883, the Methodist Society donated land for a public school building which was erected the same year. The Masons have a lodge in Colfax, and the following churches are represented: Methodist Episcopal, Baptist and Catholic. The Southwestern Loan & Building association was organized in Oct., 1890. The principal industries of Colfax are sawmills. wood- working factories and cotton seed oil mills. The Louisiana Rail- way & Navigation company's line runs through Colfax. and as it is on the Red river, it is the principal shipping point supply depot for a large section of the rich river valley. It has one bank, a


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money order postoffice, express, telegraph and telephone facilities and in 1900 had a population of 190.


College of the Immaculate Conception .- According to Fay's His- tory of Education in Louisiana, the Society of Jesus has two col- leges in the state, one called St. Charles college, at Grand Coteau, and the other the college of the Immaculate Conception in New Orleans. The former was founded in 1837 and still continues its labors ; the latter, which is much the larger and more important of the two, was founded in 1847, when the Jesuits reentered Louisiana upon the invitation of Archbishop Blanc. In that year a site was secured at the corner of Common and Baronne streets, in the city of New Orleans, and a brick building 40 by 150 feet, three stories high, was erected. This building, in connection with a frame house adjoining, constituted the college, which was formally opened in the fall of 1849 with 100 students and a staff of ten instructors. The number of students grew steadily until the breaking out of the Civil war, when 260 were enrolled, and since the war the attendance has been all that could be desired. In 1856 the college was endowed by the legislature with the full powers and privileges of a univer- sity. The plan of studies embraces the doctrine and evidences of the Roman Catholic religion, logic, metaphysics, rhetoric, composi- tion, elocution, history, geography, mathematics, ethics, astronomy, philosophy, penmanship, bookkeeping, the Latin, Greek, English, French, German and Spanish languages, etc. The college offers a complete classical course, embracing the three general departments of philosophy, rhetoric and belles-lettres, a commercial course, a preparatory course, and an advanced postgraduate course, the last named leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The college has a fine library of some 18,000 volumes and its alumni occupy places of honor and responsibility in the political, commercial, professional and educational circles of the state and the nation.


College of Louisiana .- This former state institution of learning, now the Centenary college of Louisiana (q. v.), was in many ways the actual successor of the College of Orleans, elsewhere described. French influences, as opposed to English, had prevailed in the col- lege of Orleans, and the representatives of the country parishes in the legislature, many of whom were of English descent, were jealous of the city influence in the old state fostered school. These were the general causes which brought about the downfall of the College of Orleans, and led to the act of Feb. 18, 1825, which established the College of Louisiana at the little village of Jackson, East Felici- ana parish, and transferred the annual state appropriation of $5.000 from the College of Orleans to the new institution. The English influence was to dominate in the College of Louisiana, a fact which led to the rival establishment of the College of Jefferson (q. v.), a few years later. The new college was authorized to confer the usual degrees granted by any university, college, or seminary in the United States, and the curriculum was to embrace courses in Eng- lish, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, mathematics, natural philoso- phy, chemistry, natural history, geography, moral and political




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