Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 44

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 44


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Political arguments, love affairs, legal contests, scientific discus- sions, etc., often furnished the excuse for a challenge, which was seldom declined. "Everybody fought with everybody," and men kept score of their duels as a society belle keeps tally of her con- quests. With the advent of a large number of the soldiers of Na- poleon's disbanded armies there was a renaissance of dueling, and all through the ante-bellum days the man who would not fight was deemed unworthy of the treatment due a gentleman, socially ostra- cised, to some extent at least, and open to insult. None was too high nor too low in social or political life to offer or accept a chal- lenge. W. C. C. Claiborne, the first American governor, left the executive mansion in 1807 to meet Daniel Clark, then the terri- torial delegate in Congress at Fort Manchac, and in the duel which ensued Clark was severely wounded. While Winfield Scott, then a captain in the army, was stationed at New Orleans, a rumor was started that he had appropriated to his own use some of the money sent to him to pay his men. He challenged a Dr. Upshaw of Mis- sissippi, and on Feb. 10, 1810, a duel was fought on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi river opposite Natchez, the bluffs on the east side being crowded by spectators, among whom were several army officers. Scott received a painful scalp wound, but the fact that he was willing to defend his honor had a tendency to check the rumor so damaging to his character. Marigny de Mandeville fought with his brother-in-law : a father and son both fought dnels on the same day ; and on one Sunday in 1839 as many as ten duels


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were fought in New Orleans or the immediate vicinity. Pierre Soulé, while U. S. minister to Spain, fought a duel at Madrid with Marquis de Turgot, the French ambassador, over an affair of state, Turgot receiving a wound that was more annoying than dangerous.


But to describe, ever so briefly, all the duels that have taken place in and about New Orleans would require a volume. The visitor to the old cemeteries may see on many of the old tombs the legend: "Killed on the field of honor." Ponton's fencing rooms, near the Orleans theater, were the scene of numerous duels, though the spot that stood highest in favor with the duelists was "The Oaks," a beautiful grove of live oaks, not far from Metairie ceme- tery, on the same ridge, and now in what is known as the lower city park.


Clergymen animadverted upon the evils of dueling, but without avail. Article 130 of the constitution of 1845 was as follows: "Any citizen of this state who shall, after the adoption of this constitu- tion, fight a duel with deadly weapons, or send a challenge to fight a duel, either within the state, or out of it, or who shall act as second, or knowingly aid and assist in any manner those thus offending, shall be deprived of holding any office of trust or profit, and of enjoying the right of suffrage under this constitution." This article was ratified by the people, but it soon became unpopular, as many of the leading citizens of the state found themselves dis- franchised, and in 1849 it was repealed. Louisiana was not the only state that essayed to suppress dueling by law. In some of the states the killing of a man in a duel was defined as murder and made punishable by death; in others public officials were required to take an oath that they had not been, within a certain period, nor would not be during their term of office, engaged in any duel.


Those who fought duels were not necessarily bad or bloodthirsty men. They were simply adherents to a custom that demanded they should fight or be branded as a coward. Most of them were law- abiding citizens in all matters outside of the "code," and many of the historic duels in the United States were fought by men high in public life. The duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is familiar to almost every schoolboy; Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia was killed by Gen. McIntosh: Henry Clay and John Randolph, two of the most brilliant men in Congress, fought a duel in 1826; Gen. Andrew Jackson and Col. Thomas H. Benton both fought several duels, each killing his opponent in one instance; DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York and the Federalist candidate for president in 1812, was a noted duelist, and the list might be extended indefinitely.


Since the war the "code" has fallen into disuse, and a duel, fought by formal challenge and acceptance. is now of rare occur- rence. There are some, however, who still believe in this method of settling differences of opinion, but public opinion keeps them from being too outspoken in its defense. James D. Lynch, of Mis- sissippi, in the history of the bench and bar of that state, published


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in 1880, says: "While the institution of chivalry, as it existed in the middle ages, has long since been borne down by the heavy tread of a cold asceticism, and our society bears but little analogy to the scenes of Ivanhoe or the days of Richard Cœur de Lion, the duello, in spite of all regrets and denunciations, will continue to give tone to the upper circles of Southern society so long as South- ern honor maintains its historic standard."


Duke of Orleans .- (See Louis Philippe.)


Dulac, a post-hamlet in the central part of Terrebonne parish, is situated on Bayou Caillou, just south of Quitman lake and about 15 miles south of Houma, the parish seat. The population in 1900 was 71.


Dumont, author of The Historical Memoirs of Louisiana cover- ing the period of French domination down to the year 1740, or the close of Gov. Bienville's second campaign against the Chickasaws, was a resident of the colony for 22 years, and was an eye witness of much that he describes. While many of his statements lack historical accuracy, his work nevertheless ranks with that of La Harpe and Le Page du Pratz, as one of the best sources of early Louisiana history. He has left one of the most interesting accounts of the beginning of New Orleans, and his story of the last Natchez war is as accurate as any. Dumont was stationed for a number of years at Forts Rosalie and St. Claude as lieutenant and engineer. He also accompanied La Harpe in 1721 in the capacity of mathe- matician on his expedition of 250 leagues up the Arkansas river. He was serving as a lieutenant at Fort Rosalie among the Natchez shortly before the massacre of 1729, as he records a serious diffi- culty he had with the arbitrary commander of that year, Chopart. His Memoirs are included in the French Collections of Louisiana, and frequent references to this valuable work will be found in these pages. Says Mr. French, "It is much to be regretted that M. Dumont, who lived some years after he returned to France, had not brought down his history of Louisiana to its abandonment to Spain."


Dunbar, a post-village in the extreme southeastern corner of St. Tammany parish, is on the west bank of the Pearl river and is a station on the Louisville & Nashville R. R.


Dunbar, William, member of Congress, was elected a repre- sentative from Louisiana, to the 33d Congress. This is the only record of him in the Congressional Directory.


Dunbar's Line .- This name has sometimes been applied to the parallel of 31º north latitude from the Pearl river to the Missis- sippi, though the greater portion of the line was run by Andrew Ellicott, who was acting on behalf of the United States. - William Dunbar, a celebrated mathematician and astronomer, was born in Scotland in 1749 and was educated in Glasgow and London. In 1771 he came to America, first establishing a trading post at Pitts- burg, Pa., but two years later he descended the Ohio and Missis- sippi rivers and selected a tract of land near Baton Rouge. where he decided to establish himself as a planter. In 1798 he was ap-


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pointed by Gov. Galvez to act as astronomer on behalf of Spain in running the line between the Spanish possessions and the United States as fixed by the treaties of 1783. Andrew Ellicott represented the United States, and had determined a point on the line about two miles from the Mississippi before he was joined by Dunbar on May 28, 1798. Dunbar accepted the point established by Ellicott, and in his report to the Spanish authorities says: "The moist and swampy soil in the vicinity of the Mississippi being con- sidered as hazardous to the health of our northern friends, I pro- posed that the American commissioner should continue his prog- ress eastward. with the white laborers, 50 in number, reserving for myself the task of pushing the line through the low lands to the margin of the Mississippi with the assistance of two surveyors, 22 black laborers and a white overseer."


He extended the line to the river bank, a distance of 2 miles and 180 perches (2.111.42 French toises), reaching the river on August 17, 1798. and the next day erected a post 10 feet high, sur- rounded by a mound 8 feet in height, of which he says: "On this point is inscribed on the south side a crown with the letter R underneath ; on the north U. S., and on the west side fronting the river, Agosto 18th. 1798. 31° Lat. N." Mr. Dunbar remained with the work until the line had been carried to the distance of about 18 miles from the river, "including the whole of the cultivated lands," when he retired in accordance with the terms of the agree- ment previously made with the Spanish government. His report has been copied from the archives of Spain and published in the Collections of the Mississippi Historical society, (Vol. III, p. 185.)


Duncan, Johnson Kelly, soldier, was born in York, Pa., March 19, 1827. He was appointed to the U. S. military academy, where he was graduated July 1, 1849, as brevet second-lieutenant of the 2nd artillery. He served in Florida against the Indians during 1849 and 1850, and on garrison duty at Forts Sullivan and Preble, Me. Soon after he was appointed assistant on the Northern Pacific railroad exploring expedition, serving from 1853 to 1854. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant of the 3d artillery, but resigned Jan. 31, 1855 and became superintendent of repairs at the branch mint at New Orleans until 1860. From that time until 1861 he was chief engineer of the board of public works of Louisiana. When the war broke out he offered his services to Jefferson Davis, who appointed him colonel first and on Jan. 7, 1862, promoted him to brigadier- general. He was placed in command of the coast defenses, includ- ing Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Toward the end of April Farra- gut bombarded these forts, which were intended to defend the city of New Orleans, and after 6 days passed them. After the Union fleet passed. Gen. Duncan was cut off and surrendered. After his exchange he acted as aide to Gen. Bragg, but lived only a few months longer. He died at Knoxville, Tenn., Dec. 18, 1862.


Dunham, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Franklin parish, is near the northern boundary, about 5 miles northwest of Pickrum, the nearest railroad station. Its population in 1900 was less than 20.


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Dunn, a post-hamlet in the eastern part of Richland parish, is a station on the main line of the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific R. R., about 4 miles west of Delhi. It has an express office and telegraph station and in 1900 had a population of 40.


Duplessis, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Ascension par- ish, is about 4 miles north of Witten, which is the most convenient railroad station.


Dupont, a post-hamlet in the castern part of Pointe Coupée parish, is about 5 miles southeast of St. Clair, the nearest railroad station.


Dupré, Jacques, acting-governor of Louisiana from Jan. 15, 1830, to Jan. 30, 1831, was born in the Opelousas district about 1790. His opportunities to acquire an education were extremely limited, but he was a practical man, and in later life became noted for his good judgment. As a stock raiser he amassed a considerable for- tune. His entry into polities was when he was elected a member of the lower house of the legislature from St. Landry parish, and from 1828 to 1846 he was a member of the state senate. In Jan., 1830, he was elected president of the senate and by virtue of that office succeeded Armand Beauvais as acting-governor. On Jan. 30, 1831, he resigned in favor of Gov. Roman, who had just been elected by the general assembly.


Durald, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of St. Landry parish, is about 6 miles northwest of Eunice, the nearest railroad station.


Durell, Edward Henry, jurist and writer, was born at Ports- mouth, N. H., July 14, 1810, a son of Daniel M. and Elizabeth (Wentworth) Durell. His father, who was born in 1769 and died in 1841, was a prominent lawyer, a member of the 10th Congress, served for several years in the New Hampshire legislature, and from 1830 to 1834 was U. S. district attorney for that state. Edward H. Durell was educated at Phillips Exeter academy and at Har- vard, graduating in 1831. He then studied law and soon after his admission to the bar removed to Mississippi. In 1836 he located in New Orleans, where he wielded a large influence in public affairs. In 1843 he drafted the law changing the law of descent of property in Louisiana, which did much to allay the then prevailing family feuds in the settlement of estates. As a member of the city council he originated several important measures regarding the city's rev- enues. He was opposed to secession and after the passage of the ordinance by the Louisiana convention he left the Democratic party and for a time lived in retirement. When the Federal troops occu- pied New Orleans in the spring of 1862, he drafted, at the request of the military authorities, the so-called bureau system of municipal government, and was appointed president of the bureau of finance. In 1863 he served for awhile as mayor of New Orleans; was ap- pointed U. S. judge for the eastern district of Louisiana in 1864, and two years later his jurisdiction was extended to the entire state. He was president of the state constitutional convention in 1864; declined a place on the U. S. supreme bench in 1865; visited


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Washington that year and was influential in securing the discon- tinuance of legal procedure under the confiscation policy ; was ten- dered and declined the Austrian mission in 1867: was prominently mentioned as a candidate for vice-president on the Republican ticket in 1868, and continued to serve as district judge until 1874. when he resigned. His resignation was no doubt hastened by the notoriety he attained through his famous "midnight order" on Dec. 5, 1872. (See Returning Boards.) After retiring from the bench Judge Durell removed to Schoharie, N. Y., where he passed the remainder of his life in literary work. His most important work was his translation of P. C. Rout's "Essay on the History of France and the Immediate Causes of the Revolution of 1789," to which he added a volume of original notes. At the time of his death he was at work on a "History of Seventeen Years, from 1860 to the Retiring of the Federal Army from Louisiana and South Carolina," the manuscript of which he left incomplete. He died at Schoharie, March 29, 1887.


Duson, a post-hamlet and station in the western part of Lafay- ette parish, is on the Southern Pacific R. R., about 11 miles west of Lafayette, the parish seat. It has an express office, telegraph sta- tion, telephone facilities, and in 1900 had a population of 56.


Dutch Town, a money order post-village in the northern part of Ascension parish, is about 2 miles northeast of Nettie, the near- est railroad station. In 1900 it reported a population of 77.


Duty, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Catahoula parish, is situated on the Ouachita river, about 12 miles north of Harrison- burg, the parish seat, and about 6 miles east of Rosefield, the near- est railroad station.


Dyer, a money order post-village in the southwestern part of Rapides parish, situated on a confluent of the Bayou Cocodrie, about 5 miles north of Kelly, the nearest railroad station.


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Eads, James Buchanan, one of the greatest American civil engineers, was born on May 23, 1820, at Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he received all his schooling by the time he was 13 years of age. At that time his parents started to remove to St. Louis, but were so unfortunate as to lose all their effects by fire before reaching their destination. This threw the boy on his own resources. He peddled apples, clerked in a store, and at the age of 19 years became a clerk on a steamboat. During all this time he had occupied his spare time in the study of engineering, and soon after taking service on the river he invented a boat to recover the cargoes from sunken - steamers. This was followed by a pumping device for relieving sunken vessels of the sand accumulated in them, so that vessel and ' cargo could be raised. In this business he acquired wealth and prominence, and in a few years he was one of the richest and best


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known men on the Mississippi river. In 1845 he erected a glass works at St. Louis, the first west of the Ohio river. In 1856 he went to Washington to interest Congress in the removal of snags, wrecks, etc., from the waters of the western rivers. The house passed a bill making appropriations for that purpose, but it failed in the senate. At the beginning of the war President Lincoln sent for Mr. Eads and asked him to undertake the construction of light- draught gunboats for use on the western rivers, and in 100 days he completed 8 vessels, the first ironclads built by the United States. After the war he designed and constructed the great steel bridge over the Mississippi river at St. Louis-one of the greatest tri- umphs of engineering skill. In 1872 Congress appointed a com- mission of 7 prominent engineers to devise some plan of avoiding the bars at the mouth of the Mississippi, and in 1878 the commis- sion reported in favor of a canal from near Fort St. Philip to Breton bay. This plan was opposed by Eads, who finally won his case and received the contract of building the jetties (q. v.) to deepen and keep clear the channel at the mouth of the river. This work was completed in 1879, and the same year Mr. Eads was ap- pointed one of a commission to prepare a plan for the improvement of the entire Mississippi with a view to preventing destructive floods. From this time until his death he was engaged in various engineering works, among which were the deepening of the St. John's river, Fla., the Sacramento river, Cal., and the harbors of Toronto, Canada, and Vera Cruz, Mexico. In 1872 he was elected a member of the national academy of sciences and the University of Michigan conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. He was the author of numerous pamphlets and monographs on the subject of engineering and delivered addresses on the same topic before various societies. In 1884 the English society for the encourage- ment of arts, manufactures and commerce (organized in 1754) awarded him the Albert medal, the first American citizen to be so honored. He died at Nassau, Bahama islands, March 16, 1887.


Early River Commerce .- The State of Louisiana embraces many thousand miles of navigable waters within its limits, but for the purposes of this article the chief interest centers in the commerce of the Mississippi river. True, the same type of vessels which plied the turbid waters of the Mississippi also traversed many of the other rivers and bayous, but the Mississippi always constituted the chief artery of commerce and trade. Its waters give commercial entrance to the very heart of the continent, and, down to the era of rail- roads. it bore ascending and descending an ever increasing volume of trade. The bulk of the pioneer population clung to its banks, and French Louisiana planted her capital and chief commercial port there, no great distance from its three-forked mouth. Thither was transported such foreign commerce as the restrictive trade regulations of France and Spain permitted, and down the great river to the gates of New Orleans floated the commerce from the upper river country. During the French regime when the colony often struggled to maintain its very existence in the face of Indian war-


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fare, frequent famines, and gross mismanagement and neglect on the part of the home government, there could be no extensive com- mercial development. The population remained few in numbers, were always more or less dependent on the French government for their food and other supplies, and the imports always exceeded the exports. The monopolies of trade and transportation held by Crozat and the Mississippi Company never proved profitable, and there was no great improvement when the province again became a crown colony. When the Indian Company surrendered its char- ter in 1731, the exports from the Mississippi valley aggregated about $62,000, composed chiefly of skins shipped from the upper river region. A few food products were shipped down the river for consumption on the Gulf coast, and some of these shipments occasionally found their way to the West Indies. There is a record of one substantial shipment made as early as 1705 from the Central Ohio region, consisting of 10,000 deer and 5,000 bear skins. The 1,400 mile voyage by river and lake to the French settlements on Mississippi sound was made in open boats. The cargo ulti- mately found its way to France, and the venture proved a success- ful one to all concerned. When Louisiana was transferred to Spain in 1762, the total export trade of the colony was estimated at $304,- 000, the chief items of which were indigo, peltries and lumber.


During the French and early Spanish period, or prior to the close of the Revolutionary war, the canoe, pirogue and bateau types of river craft reigned supreme on the inland waters. The primitive Indian canoe, a cheap, light and quickly made craft, was promptly adopted by the early French explorers and traders. It was a frail bark usually constructed from the bark of trees, but it was easily handled, and readily glided up-stream even when heavily freighted. It was often made long and was then capable of carrying a score of men together with their supplies for an extended voyage. Port- ages were frequently necessary on account of difficulties encoun- tered in the river, such as snags and treacherous currents, or in cutting across a point to escape the circuitous trip around it, and the canoe was therefore admirably adapted to the primitive wants of the pioneer period. As the French settlements in Lower Lou- isiana increased and the demands of trade became greater, the pirogue, a vessel of greater carrying capacity, came into general use. The commercial pirogue of early Louisiana was little more than a log-canoe-a solid log of cypress or live-oak which was cut out in the center, and propelled by paddles, assisted by sails when the wind was favorable. It was often built of 2 to 5 tons burden and was propelled by slaves. It could be freighted with as many as 20 bales of cotton or 30 barrels of molasses, and after being floated down to New Orleans was easily paddled back to the plan- tation. Both the canoe and the pirogue were boats of a primitive and undeveloped period, but the latter survived as an instrument of river commerce for at least a century, and as late as 1830 a con- siderable amount of the produce of Louisiana reached market in these log canoes. The bateau, the third type of river craft in use


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in these early days, was essentially a down-stream craft, and was commonly known on the Mississippi as a barge. It differed, how- ever, from the barge in being wider at the middle and tapering at the end like the modern canal boat. Bateaux were designed for longer voyages than pirogues, were built of rough plank, long in proportion to their breadth, and were much employed in the upper country, but were never very popular on the Lower Mississippi. They therefore died an early death, though even as late a's 1825 an occasional bateau reached New Orleans from some extreme point in the wild Indian country west of the Mississippi.


Throughout the period of French rule not only the mouth of the Mississippi, but practically the whole valley was monopolized by France. When, as a result of the Seven Years' war, she lost her possessions in America, and Louisiana was transferred to Spain, the latter country sought to exercise the same control over the great river and its tributaries. Spain, however, in her pretensions, met with serious opposition in her attempt to monopolize the com- merce of the Mississippi, first from the British, and later from the United States. By the treaty of 1763 Great Britain was granted equal rights of navigation on the Mississippi, including ingress and egress for her vessels at the mouth ; nor were her ships to be stopped, visited, or subjected to any duty at New Orleans. This privilege she made extensive use of for a number of years, and she was rapidly getting the trade of the colony into her hands ere the Spanish were in a position to put a stop to it. When O'Reilly arrived at New Orleans in 1769 and firmly established Spanish rule in the colony, he thus reported on the condition of the province: "I found the British in complete possession of the commerce of the colony. They had in the town their merchants and traders with open stores and shops and I can safely assert that they pock- eted nine-tenths of the money spent here. The commerce of France used to receive the productions of the colony in payment of the articles imported into it from the mother country ; but the English, selling their goods much cheaper, had the gathering of all the money. I drove off all the English traders and the other individ- uals of that nation whom I found in this town, and I shall admit here none of their vessels." The commercial privileges of the city were, however, gradually extended and the commerce of Louisiana doubled every few years. Gov. Unzaga winked at the many British violations of the law regulating commerce, and Galvez later fos- tered the French trade. Commerce was permitted with Campeachy and the French and Spanish West Indies, under certain restric- tions. Some time before this, Oliver Pollock, by an act of gen- crosity in bringing a cargo of flour from Baltimore to New Orleans. won permission of free access as long as he lived. The British for a.time had perfect freedom of access to the river, which their vessels were constantly ploughing up and down. "Under pretense of going to their possessions of Manchae, Baton Rouge and Natchez. the English contrived to supply clandestinely the inhabitants of New Orleans and the planters above and below that town with




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