Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 48

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 48


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fruit belt, has orange industries, and in 1900 had a population of 200.


Englewood, a post-village in the central part of Madison parisli, is a station on the St. Louis. Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about 3 miles south of Tallulah, the parish seat.


English Turn .- About 18 miles below the city of New Orleans is a bend in the Mississippi river known by this name, which was given to it by the following incident. On Sept. 16, 1699, while Bienville was descending the river on his return from an exploring expedition to the Plaquemine and Chetimachas bayous, he here met an English frigate carrying 12 guns and commanded by a Capt. Bar. The vessel was one of a fleet sent out by an English claimant to a large grant of land in the Carolinas, and Bar frankly admitted that he was looking for a suitable location on the banks of the Mississippi to establish a colony. Bienville, if not strictly truthful, was equal to the occasion. One version of the story is that he told Bar the river sought was farther to the west. An- other is that he informed the Englishman the French were already in possession of the river : that colonies had been planted at various places along its course : that he was then returning from a visit to those colonies ; and that the whole region was really a dependency of Canada. Whichever version may be the correct one, Bar evi- dently was convinced. He ordered his vessel to be put about, though with rather bad grace, threatening to return some time and vindicate England's right to the river and its valley. The frigate sailed out of the Mississippi, leaving the young French diplomat master of the field, and from that day to the present time the place where this bit of strategy was worked has been known as "The English Turn."


At that time England was claiming Louisiana as a part of the Carolinas. It is said that on Bar's vessel was a French engineer, who secretly gave to Bienville a petition addressed to the king and giving the assurance that 400 Protestant families would come from the Carolinas and settle in Louisiana if the king would grant them liberty of conscience in the matter of religious worship. The petition was referred to Count Pontchartrain and was refused.


English Turn, a post-village situated in the northern part of Plaquemines parish, is on the east bank of the Mississippi river and a station on the Louisiana Southern R. R .. near the place where Bienville turned back the English ship in 1699. It is located in a rich truck farming district and in 1900 had a population of 100.


Ennes, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Calcasieu parish. on Barnes creek, about 3 miles north of Longville, the nearest rail- road station. It is located in the western long leaf yellow pine dis- trict and has important lumber industries.


Enterprise, a post-village of Catahoula parish, situated on the Ouachita river, about 6 miles east of Rosefield, the nearest railroad station. It has a population of about 60.


Eola, a village in the southwestern part of Avoyelles parish, is


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situated at the junction of the Southern Pacific and the Texas & Pacific railroads, about 4 miles south of Bunkie, in a rich agricul- tural district, for which it is the shipping and supply point. It has a money order postoffice, express office and telegraph station and in 1900 had a population of 227.


Erath, an incorporated town in the northeastern part of Ver- milion parish, is a station on the Southern Pacific R. R., about 7 miles east of Abbeville, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express office, telegraph station and telephone facilities and is the shipping and supply town for a rich sugar district. The population in 1900 was 215.


Eros, a money order post-village in the northeastern part of Jackson parish, is on the Tremont & Gulf R. R., about 8 miles east of Vernon, the parish seat. It has one free rural delivery route and an express office.


Erwinville, a village of West Baton Rouge parish, is situated in the western part on the Colorado Southern. New Orleans & Pacific R. R., about 15 miles northwest of Baton Rouge. It has a money order postoffice and a population of about 65.


Esperenze, a post-hamlet in the extreme eastern part of Con- cordia parish, is on the Mississippi river, about 5 miles east of Fish Pond, the nearest railroad station.


Espiritu Santo River .- (See Mississippi River.)


Esther, a money order post-hamlet in the central part of Ver- milion parish, is situated on a confluent of the Vermilion river, about 10 miles south of Abbeville, the parish seat, and 5 miles south of Rosehill, the nearest railroad station. In 1900 it had a population of 51.


Estherwood, a village in the southwestern part of Acadia parish, is a station on the Southern Pacific R. R., about 6 miles west of Crowley, the parish seat. It has a bank, a money order postoffice, rice mills, an express office, telegraph station, telephone facilities, and a population of about 150.


Estopinal, a post-village and station in the western part of St. Bernard parish, is on the Louisiana Southern R. R., about 15 miles southeast of New Orleans, and in a large truck farming district that furnishes New Orleans with vegetables and fruit.


Estopinal, Albert, planter, and for many years prominent in Louisiana political affairs, was born in St. Bernard parish in 1845. He was educated in the parish schools and at New Orleans, and at the age of 17 years enlisted in Co. G, 28th La. infantry, and was made sergeant. He was with his regiment during the siege of Vicksburg, and was several times in charge of the guard to con- duct Federal prisoners to Richmond. In the latter part of 1863 he was made sergeant of Co. G, 22nd La. heavy artillery, with which he concluded his military service, being at Mobile. Ala., during the operations there in the spring of 1865. He was paroled with Gen. Taylor's forces at Meridian, Miss., May 15, 1865, and returned home. For several years he was engaged in the commis- sion business at New Orleans, but most of his life was spent at


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his home, "Kenilworth Plantation," 20 miles below New Orleans. In 1872 he was elected sheriff of St. Bernard parish; reelected in 1874; was active during the reconstruction days; served as presi- dent of the parish police jury; was elected to the lower house of the state legislature in 1876 and again in 1878; was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1879; in 1880 was elected to the state senate and served in that body for 20 years; was a member of the constitutional convention of 1898, and in 1900 was elected lieutenant-governor on the Democrat ticket. In 1908 he was elected to Congress from the 1st district to succeed Gen. Adolph Meyer, who had died a few months before.


Ethel, a village in the southwestern part of East Feliciana par- ish, is situated at the junction of two branches of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 9 miles southwest of Clinton, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express office and telegraphı station, and in 1900 had a population of 125.


Eular, a post-hamlet in the northwestern part of Livingston par- ish, is situated on a confluent of the Amite river, about 7 miles northeast of Denham Springs, the nearest railroad and telegraph station.


Eunice, an incorporated town in the western part of St. Landry parish, is situated at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Colorado Southern and the South Pacific railroads, and in 1900 had a population of 315. It has a bank, an express office, telegraph station and telephone facilities, and is the shipping and supply town for the southwestern part of the parish.


Eustis, George, jurist. a nephew of William Eustis, at one time governor of Massachusetts, was born at Boston, Mass., Oct. 20, 1796. He was educated at Harvard university, graduating in 1815. After leaving college he was secretary to his uncle, Gov. Eustis, who was then U. S. minister to Holland. While at The Hague he began to study law : on his return to America he went to Louisiana and settled in New Orleans in 1817; was admitted to the bar of Louisiana 5 years later ; took an active part in local politics ; was elected to the state assembly for several terms; became secretary of state, and was appointed one of the commissioners of the board of currency. While holding this position, he was instrumental in having reforms made that gave stability to the state currency. In 1845 he was sent as a delegate to the state constitutional conven- tion, and was elected attorney-general of the state. A year later he became a supreme court justice, serving until 1852. A short time before his death Harvard university honored him with the degree of LL. D. He died at New Orleans, La., Dec. 23, 1858.


Eustis, George, jr., diplomat and lawyer, was born at New Or- leans, La., Sept. 28, 1822. He received a fine education ; graduated at the Jefferson college of Louisiana and the Cambridge law school ; - was admitted to the bar and began practice in New Orleans; en- tered political life: was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 34th Congress as an American, and reelected to the 35th Congress. During the war he was secretary of the Confederate


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legation at Paris, where he remained after the close of the war. Elihu B. Washburn, minister at Paris, commissioned him to ne- gotiate a postal treaty with the French government. He died at Cannes, France, March 15, 1872.


Eustis, James B., U. S. senator from Louisiana, was born in New Orleans, Aug. 27, 1834. He received a classical education ; attended the Harvard law school in 1853-54; was admitted to the bar in 1856 and practiced law in New Orleans; at the outbreak of the war he entered the Confederate army as judge-advocate on Gen. Magruder's staff; was transferred to the staff of Gen. Joe Johnston ; served in this capacity until the close of the war, when he resumed his law practice at New Orleans. Prior to the recon- struction acts he was elected to the state legislature and was one of the committee sent to Washington to confer with President Johnson on Louisiana affairs. He was a member of the state house of representatives in 1872; elected a member of the state senate for 4 years in 1874; elected U. S. senator in 1877, but his seat was contested by P. B. S. Pinchback and he was not recognized by the senate until Dec. 10, 1877, and served until March 3, 1879. Mr. Eustis was then made professor of civil law in the University of Louisiana, and was again elected to the U. S. senate as a Demo- crat to succeed Benjamin F. Jonas for the term of 1885-1891 ; prac- ticed law at Washington, D. C., in 1891 ; and was appointed am- bassador to France 1893-1897. Upon his return he located at New York City, and died at Newport, R. I., Sept. 9, 1899.


Eva, a post-hamlet in the western part of Concordia parish, is situated on the Black river about 9 miles south of the village of Black River, the nearest railroad station.


Evangeline, a money order post-hamlet in the western part of Acadia parish, situated on Bayou Cannes, about 5 miles north of Mermenton, the nearest railroad station, and 12 miles northwest of Crowley, the parish seat.


Evangeline Parish .- This parish was authorized by the act of the general assembly, approved by Gov. Sanders on June 22, 1908. Section 1 provides "That a new parish. in the State of Louisiana, be and the same is hereby created out of the western portion of the parish of St. Landry to be called and known as the parish of Evangeline : which said parish of Evangeline shall be composed of all that territory of the parish of St. Landry lying west of a line beginning at a point on the line between the parishes of Acadia and St. Landry on the township line between range two (2) and range three (3), east Louisiana meridian, following said line due north to a point where the same intersects Bayou Grand Louis; thence following said bayou to its junction with Bayou Petite Passe ; thence running due north to a point on Bayou Cocodrie; thence following said Bayon Cocodrie to a point on the township line be- tween ranges two (2) and three (3) east : thence due north on said township line to a point on the line between the parishes of Avoyelles and St. Landry."


Section 2 places the new parish in the 7th Congressional dis -.


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trict ; the 14th senatorial district ; the 16th judicial district; the 3d supreme court district ; and makes it a part of the district under 'the jurisdiction of the Ist circuit court. The section further pro- vides that the parish seat shall be fixed and remain at such place as may be selected by the voters at an election held for that pur- pose.


After prescribing the manner of organizing the new parish, and providing for the copying and transmission of the records relating to that part of the parish of St. Landry cut off to form the parish of Evangeline, section 10 of the act stipulates that immediately after the passage and approval of the act the governor shall direct the board of election supervisors in and for the parish of St. Landry to order an election for the second Tuesday in April, 1909, at which the voters of the parish of St. Landry might vote on the question of dividing the parish for the establishment of the new one author- ized by the act. If a majority of the voters expressed themselves in favor of the new parish, then the governor was directed to ap- point five commissioners to order an election on the second Tues- day in Nov., 1909, for the purpose of deciding the location of the parish seat, and should issue his proclamation declaring the par- ish of Evangeline created, the organization thereof to remain in abeyance until a full set of officers shall be chosen at the general election in 1912. If a majority of the voters should express them- selves as opposed to the establishment of the new parish, then "this act shall be null and of no effect."


The election to ratify or reject the provisions of the act was accordingly held on April 13, 1909, (the second Tuesday) and a large majority declared in favor of the establishment of the new parish. Some of the opponents expressed an opinion immediately after the election that the act will be declared unconstitutional by the courts, and thus the matter stands at the time this work goes to press. The history of the territory comprising Evangeline par- ish is a part of the history of St. Landry (q.v.). The name was chosen from Longfellow's poem describing the sufferings of the Acadians, many of whom settled in Louisiana after their cruel ex- pulsion from their Canadian homes, and whose descendants live in the district included within the boundaries of the new parish.


Evart, a post-hamlet in the central part of Calcasien parish, is a station on the Colorado Southern, New Orleans & Pacific R. R., about 15 miles northwest of Lake Charles, the parish seat and nearest banking point. It is located in the pine district and has lumber industries.


Evelyn, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of De Soto par- ish, is situated on Bayon Pierre, about 5 miles southwest of Armistead. the nearest railroad station.


Evergreen, an incorporated town in the southern part of Avoyelles parish, is a station on the Texas & Pacific R. R., 12 miles south of Marksville. the parish seat. It has one free rural delivery route, a bank, a money order postoffice, an express office, telegraph


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and telephone service, and is the trading center for a rich agricul- tural district. In 1900 it had a population of 322.


Excelsior, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Jackson par- ish, is a station on the Tremont & Gulf R. R., about 12 miles south- east of Vernon, the parish seat.


Executions .- The plaintiff, wishing to execute his judgment, must apply to the clerk of the court rendering it, who will issue a writ of fieri facias to the sheriff or constable, ordering a seizure and sale of sufficient property of the defendant to satisfy the judg- ment and costs. When seized, the sheriff or constable must ad- vertise it, if personal property 10, and if real estate 30 days, before selling the same. The property must be valued by two appraisers, one chosen by each party, and being first offered for cash must bring two-thirds of the appraisement, or it cannot then be sold. If no bid is made to that amount, the property is readvertised for 15 days longer, to be sold on a credit of 12 months, for whatever it will bring. At this sale the purchaser is required to give what is called a twelve-months' bond, with sufficient security, bearing the same rate of interest as the original debt; and if real estate is sold, by being properly recorded it operates as a special mortgage and vendor's privilege upon the property sold. If it is not paid at ma- turity, the plaintiff may take out execution, without any previous demand, against both the principal and surety, and seize the prop- erty of either, and after 10 days' advertisement, if it be personal property, or 30 days, if it be real estate, sell it for cash for what- ever it will bring.


Exemptions .- Under the constitution of 1879 the following prop- erty was made exempt from seizure by execution or any other process: The homestead actually owned by the debtor and occu- pied by him, consisting of lands, buildings, etc., whether rural or urban, of every head of a family, or person having a mother or father or other person or persons dependent on him or her for sup- port; also one work-horse, one wagon or cart, one yoke of oxen, two cows and calves, 25 head of hogs or 1,000 pounds of bacon, or its equivalent in pork, whether these exempted objects be at- tached to a homestead or not, and on a farm the necessary quantity of corn and fodder for the current year and the necessary farming implements to the value of $2,000. But the property exempt shall - in no case exceed $2,000 in value ; provided, however, that no hus- band shall be entitled to the exemption provided for, whose wife shall own in her own right and be in the actual enjoyment of prop- erty or means to the amount of $2,000.


The person or persons claiming the benefit of the homestead and exemptions law must execute a written declaration of home- stead. This declaration must contain : 1-A statement of the facts showing the person claiming the homestead and exemptions is a person of the description to be entitled thereto: 2-A statement that the person claiming it is residing on the land or lot claimed as homestead and owns it by a bona fide title, setting forth the nature of the title; 3-A description of the lot or tract of land ; 4-


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An enumeration of the other exemptions; 5-An estimate of the cash value of the homestead and exemptions, and a statement of intention to claim such homestead and exemptions. The declara- tion must be sworn to and recorded in the book of mortgages for the parish where the homestead claimed is situated.


Whenever the widow or minor children of a deceased person are left in necessitous circumstances, she or they shall be entitled to demand and receive from the succession of the deceased husband or father a sum which; added to the amount of property owned by them, or either of them, in their own right, will make up the sum of $1,000, and which said amount shall be paid in preference to all other debts, except those for the vendor's privilege and the expenses incurred in selling the property. If this claim of the widow or minor children is opposed, it must be proved and neces- sitous circumstances shown to exist. The sheriff or constable cannot seize the linen and clothes belonging to the debtor or his wife, nor his bed, bedding or bedstead, nor those of his family, nor his arms and military accouterments, his tools and instruments, books, and sewing-machines necessary for the exercise of his or her calling, trade or profession by which he or she makes a living; nor shall he in any case seize the rights of personal servitude, of use and habitation, of usufruct to the estate of a minor child, the income of dotal property, money due for the salary of an officer, laborers wages, the cooking-stove and utensils of said stove, the plates, dishes, knives, forks, and spoons, the dining-table and dining chairs, wash-tubs, smoothing irons and ironing furnaces, family portraits belonging to the debtor, nor the musical instruments played on or practiced on by any member of the family.


Exodus, Negro .- Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1879 says : "The attention of the country during the past year has been at- tracted to movements among the colored population, chiefly in the states bordering on the Mississippi. There was no appearance of organization or system among these persons. Their irregu- larity and the absence of preparation seemed to indicate spontane- ousness and earnestness. Bands moved from the plantations to the Mississippi river, and thence to St. Louis and other cities, with no defined purpose, except to reach some one of the new states west of the Mississippi, where they expected to enjoy a new Canaan. Their movements received the name of the 'Exodus.'"


As the planters of those states depended principally upon negro labor, the immediate effect of the exodus was to disorganize that labor, and for a time disaster to the growing crops seemed immi- nent. The excitement spread rapidly among the colored popula- tion and conventions were called to discuss the situation. On April 17, 1879, a colored convention, composed, according to the call, of "clergymen, teachers and social directors," met in New Orleans, about 200 delegates being present, of whom it is said one- third were colored preachers. Quite a number were blacks who had been brought to the city from the rural districts of the state as witnesses in political trials. The convention was poorly organ-


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ized and the proceedings were characterized by turbulence, many of the delegates preferring to talk of "political violence and in- timidation" to discussing the question of emigration to other states. A few, among whom was P. B. S. Pinchback, spoke in opposition, but a majority favored the exodus. The name of Frederick Doug- lass was hissed, and a resolution was adopted "that it is the sense of this convention that the colored people of the South should mi- grate." The convention finally closed with an appeal for material aid to the "official and moral influence of the president of the United States, the Republican party, and the country at large."


The Mississippi Valley labor convention, which met at Vieks- burg, Miss., on May 5, was more pacific in tone. Resolutions were adopted asserting the constitutional right of the colored people to emigrate where they pleased, but at the same time urged them "to proceed in their movements toward emigration as reasonable human beings, providing in advance by economy the means for transportation and settlement, sustaining their reputation for hon- esty and fair-dealing by preserving intact until the completion of contracts for labor-leasing which have already been made." The resolutions also called on the colored people present "to contra- dict the false reports circulated among and impressed upon the more ignorant and credulous, and to instruct them that no lands, mules, or money await them in Kansas or elsewhere, without labor or price, and report to the civil authorities disseminating such re- ports."


Probably the most extreme utterances and demands came from the colored convention which assembled at Nashville, Tenn., May 7, with a number of delegates from the Northern states present. It demanded for the colored people social and political equality as a right; recommended the several state legislatures to enact laws for a compulsory system of education; opposed separate schools as injurious to both races, inasmuch as they tended to foster color prejudices ; and adopted a resolution "That it is the sense of this conference that the colored people should emigrate to those states and territories where they can enjoy all the rights which are guar- anteed by the laws and constitution of the United States, and en- forced by the executive departments of such states and territories ; and we ask of the United States an appropriation of $500,000, to aid in the removal of our people from the South."


Kansas seemed to be the goal of the emigrants, the first of whom reached that state early in April, and by the end of the year there were added to the population some 40.000 negroes, about ten per cent. of whom had come from Louisiana. "Many of these hung about Topeka and other towns, and showed themselves incapable and unwilling to try to provide for themselves." A Freedmen's relief association was organized soon after the arrival of the first immigrants, and within a year it had contributed about $150.000 toward the support of the blacks. Toward the close of 1879 the tide of emigration was turned to Indiana, and Daniel W. Voorhees. one of the U. S. senators from that state, secured the appointment




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