Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume I, Part 77

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 77


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ises to see the mouth." Acting under this authority from Fron- .tenac, Joliet, in company with Father Marquette, left Michili- mackinac in May, 1673, ascended the Fox river from Green bay, secured Indian guides to the Wisconsin river, and descended that stream to the Mississippi, which they reached on the 17th of June. In frail canoes they voyaged down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, where they heard rumors that the country farther to the south was infested by hostile Indian tribes at war with each other, and returned to Lake Michigan by way of the Illinois river. From that point Joliet proceeded alone to Quebec. Unfortunately his journal and maps were lost by the upsetting of his canoe in tlie La Chine rapids, but from memory he prepared a map and report of the expedition. This map and report were sent to France by Frontenac, with the following communication, under date of Nov. 14, 1674.


"The Sieur Joliet, whom M. Talon advised me when I arrived from France to send to discover the South Sea, returned here three months ago, and has discovered some admirable countries, and a navigation so easy by fine rivers, that he found that from Lake Ontario and Fort Frontenac they could go in barques to the Gulf of Mexico, having only to unload once, where Lake Erie falls into Lake Ontario. These are some of the enterprises they could work upon when peace is established, and it shall please the king to push these discoveries. He has been within ten days of the Gulf of Mexico and believes that (through) the rivers, which empty into the great river from the west * they will find some com- munication by these waters which will lead to the Vermillion sea and that of California. I send you by my secretary the map which he has made and the remarks which he is able to remember, having lost all his memoirs and journals in the shipwreck which he sui- fered in sight of Montreal, where, after a voyage of 1,200 leagues, he came near being drowned and lost all his papers and a little Indian that he was bringing back with him. He had left at Lake Superior, with the Fathers at Sault Ste. Marie, copies of his jour- nals, which we cannot obtain until next year; through these you will learn more of the particulars of that discovery in which he acquitted himself very creditably."


History does not record the recovery of the copies of the journals left at Sault Ste. Marie, and but little is known of Joliet's subse- quent career, further than that he held the seigneuries of Anacosti island and Joliet, the latter of which still belongs to his family. He died about 1730. Although he failed to reach the mouth of the Mississippi, and was never in what is now the State of Louis- iana, his expedition developed the fact that the great river emptied into the Gulf of Mexico instead of the Pacific ocean, and opened the eyes of the French government to the future possibilities of the Mississippi as an artery of commerce. (See also Marquette, Jacques.)


Jonas, Benjamin Franklin, lawyer and statesman, was born at Williamstown, Grant Co., Ky., July 19, 1834. While he was still


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young his family removed to Illinois, where he was educated. In 1853 he went to New Orleans and studied law at the University of Louisiana, where he graduated in 1855. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private of artil- lery in Hood's corps, Army of the Tennessee, and served until hostilities ceased. He was elected a member of the Louisiana state legislature in 1865, where he served until reconstruction in 1868, and was that year chairman of the Louisiana delegation in the Democratic national convention. He was elected to the state senate, but refused to take his seat in the Kellogg legislature and adhered to the McEnery government. In 1874 he was elected attorney of the city of New Orleans and reelected 2 years later. From 1876 to 1877 he was a member of the Louisiana legislature, acting as chairman of the judiciary committee of the house. He was elected U. S. senator as a Democrat, to succeed James B. Eustis, and took his seat on March 18, 1879.


Jones, a village and station in the northeastern part of More- house parish, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about 20 miles northeast of Bastrop, the parish seat. It is located in one of the richest agricultural regions of the state and is a shipping and supply town of considerable importance. It has a money order postoffice and in 1900 had a population of 105.


Jones Roland, member of Congress, was a native of South Caro- lina. He removed to Louisiana and located at Shreveport, where he was elected a representative to the 33d Congress as a Democrat.


Jones, Thomas Ap Catesby, naval officer, was born in Virginia in 1789, a son of Maj. Catesby and Lettice Carbin (Turberville) Jones. His brother, Roger Jones, was adjutant-general of the U. S. army. Thomas entered the navy in 1805, became a lieutenant 7 years later, was promoted to commander in 1820, and to captain in 1829. During these years of service he was engaged in sup- pressing piracy, smuggling, and the prohibited slave trade in the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribbean sea. He was in command of the American flect that tried to intercept the British squadron in Dec., 1814, on Lake Borgne (q.v.), where he was wounded and forced to surrender, but was commended for brave conduct. While commanding a squadron on the Pacific ocean, he took temporary- possession of Monterey, having been misinformed that the United States and Mexico were at war. He was married July 1. 1823, to Mary W. Carter, and died at Georgetown, D. C., May 30, 1858.


Jonesboro, a town of Jackson parish, is located in the south- western part, at the junction of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the New Orleans & Northwestern, and the Tremont & Gulf rail- roads, in one of the great pine forests of western Louisiana, and has important lumber industries. As the timber has been cut the surrounding country has rapidly developed into a fine agricultural district, of which Jonesboro is the center of trade. It has a bank, a money order postoffice, express offices, telegraph station, a large retail trade, and an estimated population of 2,000.


Jonesville, a village in the southeastern part of Catahoula parish,


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is on the Black river, just opposite the town of Black River, which is the terminus of the Natchez & Western R. R. Jonesville is one of the largest and most important villages in the parish. It was laid out in 1871 by a Mrs. Jones, and named in her honor. Richard Yancy built the first store. Before the railroad was built it did not grow very rapidly, but it now has a bank, several stores, 2 hotels, good schools, a saw and shingle mill, a money order postoffice, and an estimated population of 300.


Joutel, Henri M., who ranks with Henri de Tonti as one of the most intimate and faithful friends of the great La Salle, was selected by the latter to accompany him in 1684 on his last and fatal voyage to rediscover the Mississippi and colonize Louisiana. During those trying years, 1784-87, Joutel repeatedly proved himself as devoted a friend to La Salle as ever a man had, and ultimately became the historian of the unfortunate expedition in which the great explorer met his sad and untimely fate. Joutel's extremely rare and inter- esting work, entitled "Historical Journal of Monsieur de La Salle's Last Voyage to Discover the River Mississippi," has been charac- terized by the historian B. F. French as "one of the most authentic works on Louisiana." His "description of the country of Texas, although written one hundred and fifty years ago, is still among the best we have." After the expedition had landed in 1684 at what is now the Bay of St. Bernard or Matagorda, La Salle twice left Joutel in responsible command of the temporary fort near the coast, while he himself, accompanied by a small force, conducted long journeys of exploration north and east, in search of the elusive Mississippi. Returning from the second of these fruitless expedi- tions in Aug., 1686, during which he had lost through death or desertion 12 of the 20 men who had set forth with him, he never- theless remained cheerful in the midst of all the calamities which had overtaken him. Says Joutel: "The even temper of our chief made all men easy, and he found by his great vivacity of spirit expedients which revived the lowest ebb of hope." When La Salle finally set out from the coast Jan. 12, 1687, with the view of finding the "fatal Mississippi." as Joutel calls it, and with the further object of journeying to the Illinois country, and thence to Canada. to secure needed succor for his colony, Joutel formed one of the 17 men who accompanied him, and he was not far away, though not actually present, when his chief was treacherously murdered in March by some of his disaffected companions. Not long after this event, the party divided, and Joutel, together with Father Anastasius, MM. Cavelier, the brother and nephew of La Salle, Sieur de Marle, one Teissier, a young Parisian named Bar- tholomew, and 3 Indians for guides, set out alone in a northeast direction for the Mississippi. Passing through present Louisiana they finally reached after great hardships and dangers the Arkan- sas villages on the Mississippi, where they discovered Tonti's post and 3 of the men he had left there. Joutel later ascended to the Illinois post, where he found Tonti, and then proceeded to Mon- treal and Quebec. where he sailed for France.


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Judgments .- Every parish in Louisiana has an officer known as parish recorder, in whose office all mortgages, deeds and privileges must be recorded before they can have any effect against third parties. Judgments recorded in this office operate as mortgages upon all real estate of the debtor from the date of record. Foreign judgments may be sued on and judgments recovered on them here. . They are proved by a duly certified transcript of the record. Non- resident creditors are not affected by the state insolvent laws when their claims exceed $2,000, unless they participate in the insolvent proceedings. They can obtain judgment on their claims in the Federal courts. Judgment may be rendered for reasonable attor- ney's fees, when the contract stipulates they are to be paid by the defendant. They are not taxed as costs except in a few special cases. Justices of the peace and city courts have jurisdiction where the amount involved does not exceed S100. Judgments may be obtained in the city courts of New Orleans, when no defense is interposed, in about 8 days: in justices' courts, in about 15 days ; in district court in New Orleans, in about 15 days, when court is in session. (See Actions.)


Juanita, a village and station of Calcasieu parish, is located in the northwestern part, on the Kansas City Southern R. R., about 30 miles northwest of Lake Charles, the parish seat. It is in the western long leaf yellow pine district, has lumber industries, a money order postoffice, express office. telegraph station and tele- phone facilities, and is an important shipping point.


Junior, a post-hamlet in the central part of Plaquemines parish, is on the west bank of the Mississippi river and the New Orleans, Fort Jackson & Grand Isle R. R., about 5 miles northwest of Pointe à la Hache, in one of the finest orange districts of the state.


Jute .- The jute of commerce is the fiber of two plants of the order Tilliacæ (Corchorus capsularis and C. olitorius) and comes chiefly from India and China, the so-called Mexican jute being the fiber of an allied family. To obtain the fiber the plants are cut as soon as the bloom makes it appearance and macerated in water, after which the bark or fiber is separated from the stalks. The fiber, which resembles hemp, except that it is softer, is used in the manufacture of gunny bags, coarse coffee sacks, burlaps, cheap carpets, etc. Some of the finer varieties have been substituted for silk and wool in the manufacture of curtains, tapestries and uphol- stery. The plants require a rich alluvial soil, a warm, moist atmos- phere, and an abundant rainfall. These conditions make India the greatest jute producing country in the world, though the plants have long been successfully cultivated in China, the Philippine islands, and elsewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere. In 1880 there were four establishments in the United States engaged in the man- ufacture of jute goods, their combined capital being $415,000. About that time efforts were made to introduce jute culture into this country. Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1881 says: "Ex- periments in the cultivation of jute on the reclaimed marsh lands of Louisiana have been attended with encouraging results. The


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returns from the efforts made show, according to statements that have been published in New Orleans, that land just reclaimed from the marsh, and still matted with roots, can be at once seeded with jute; and that the plant will then make so vigorous a growth as to supplant all other vegetation. Mr. John Sloane, of the Dolphin Mills, who is engaged in the manufacture of jute, has represented, after his observations of experiments in growing the plant in the Southern states, that as good a product can be raised there as in India, but that difficulties arise in securing a proper treatment of the plant after it is ent; so that it is hardly practica- ble, under the American system of labor and wages, to obtain a good fiber for an economical price. And in view of the difference between the rates of wages in the United States and in India, no hopeful prospect exists that American jute will be able to compete with the Indian product, until machinery has been devised and applied to take the place of manual labor.'


The same authority for 1882 announced that a decorticating machine had been invented by a St. Louis man, but upon actual test it failed to do the work satisfactorily. In 1892 the U. S. depart- ment of agriculture authorized the trial of decorticating machines at the Louisiana experiment stations. Three machines were entered for a ten-hour test, but none of them was able to run for more than a short time before they became clogged with the fiber, and the same conditions prevail in 1908 as in 1881. What has been said regarding the decortication of jute is also true of ramie ( Boehmeria nivea), the fiber of which is almost as valuable as silk. A hand book issued by the Louisiana state board of agriculture and immi- gration, several years after the tests above mentioned, says with reference to ramie : "The recent trials of machines for decorticating this plant, at the sugar experiment station, Audubon Park, New Orleans, gave promise of an early solution of this vexations prob- lem. When the farmer can obtain a machine to work up the product of his soil, he will not be slow in cultivating this plant, since the demand for this fiber is practically unlimited. So, too, with jutes. * * * These plants can be grown to great perfec- tion, and will be largely cultivated when the fiber can be success- fully detached by machinery."


Notwithstanding the difficulties attending the separation of the fiber from the stalk, some jute is raised in Louisiana, the parishes. of Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. John the Baptist, and others of the coast marsh region producing considerable quantities of it. In 1900 the number of concerns manufacturing jute goods had increased to 18, with a combined capital of over $7,000,000. The imports of jute for the first nine months of 1908 amounted to 81,778 tons, an increase of 4.773 tons over the corresponding period in 1907, and 8,217 tons over the same months in 1906. This con- stant increase in the quantity imported, and the fact that the prices of jute goods do not deeline to any great extent, demonstrate that there is a good profit to be derived from its culture whenever the obstacles attending its decortication are removed.


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K


Kaplan, a village of Vermilion parish, is a station on the South- ern Pacific R. R., 9 miles west of Abbeville, the parish seat. It is located in the southwestern rice district of Louisiana, has rice mills, sugar industries, a money order postoffice, and is the trading center for a rich farming district.


Keatchie, sometimes written Keatchi, is an old college town situated in the northwestern part of De Soto parish, on the Hous- ton & Shreveport R. R., about 15 miles northwest of Many, the parish seat. It was named after some Indian more than 50 years ago. In 1865 a store was established at Keatchie, a number of houses were built after the war, and in 1866 the postoffice was restored. The Keatchie church was organized in 1852 and was instrumental in establishing the Baptist college of Keatchie in 1857. This town has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, and is the supply center for a large agricultural and lumber district. The population in 1900 was 326.


Kedron, a post-hamlet of St. Helena parish, is situated near the eastern boundary, 4 miles west of Arcola, the nearest railroad sta- tion, and 6 miles southeast of Greensburg, the parish seat.


Keithville, a village of Caddo parish, is situated in the southern part at the junction of the Houston & Shreveport and the Texas & Pacific railroads, and about 12 miles southwest of Shreveport, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express office, tele- graph station and telephone facilities, and is the trading center for a large district.


Kellogg, William Pitt, lawyer and 19th governor of the State of Louisiana, was born at Orwell, Vt .. Dec. 8, 1831, the son of Sher- man Kellogg, a Congregational minister. He was educated in a military academy at Norwich, Vt., and at the age of 16 years went to Peoria, Ill., where he engaged in teaching school for about two years, studying law in the meantime. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Republican state convention in Illinois, and the same year was a presidential elector from that state. President Lincoln appointed him chief justice of Nebraska in 1861. but when the Civil war broke out he returned to Illinois, where he assisted in raising a regiment of cavalry, which he commanded at Cape Girardeau, Mo., and afterward in Gen. Pope's Missouri campaigns. He was in command of a cavalry brigade at Grand Junction, Corinth and Farmington, Miss., but was compelled to leave the army on account of his health. From that time until 1863 he served as chief justice of Nebraska, and then accompanied Gov. Yates, of Illinois, on a visit to the soldiers of that state in the field. While at Vicksburg Gen. Grant commissioned him to carry important despatches to Washington. From 1865 to 1868 he was collector of the port of New Orleans, resigning his position to enter the U. S. senate from Louisiana. While in the senate he was chairman of the committee on Mississippi river levees, and


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also served on other important committees. In 1872 he was nomi- nated by the Republican party for governor of the state, and by 'means of an injunction granted by the U. S. district court, restrain- ing the returning board from announcing the result of the election, was declared elected. The election of John McEnery (q.v.) was claimed by the opposition, and for a time the state had two admin- istrations. On Sept. 14. 1874, the people of New Orleans over- threw Kellogg, but the Federal government recognized his admin- istration, and with the aid of troops he was retained in the office until Jan., 1877, the end of the term for which he was elected. Upon retiring from the governor's office he was elected illegally U. S. senator, and in 1882 was elected Congressman from the 3d district. At the close of his term he retired from political life. Mr. Kellogg was a delegate to every Republican national conven- tion from 1868 to 1892, and served as chairman in five of them.


Kellogg's Administration .- Two bodies. cach claiming to be the legal legislature of Louisiana. assembled on Jan. 7. 1873,-the one supporting Gov. Kellogg at the Mechanics' Institute, and the other supporting Gov. McEnery, at Odd Fellows hall. On the 14th the former inaugurated Kellogg and the latter Mc Enery. One of the first acts of the Kellogg legislature was to pass a bill providing for the immediate collection of taxes under severe pen- alties for those who refused to pay. This led to the organization of the "People's League" for the purpose of resisting the collection. A proclamation by Kellogg stated the amount of unpaid taxes to be over $2,300,000. and he urged the citizens to make prompt pay- ment, in order to avoid extreme measures. An act was passed or- ganizing the metropolitan police into the metropolitan brigade and placing it at the absolute disposal of the governor, to be used in any part of the state to enforce his orders. In the parish of St. Martin the people resisted the collection of taxes and the metro- politan brigade was sent to the assistance of the collectors. Under the leadership of Col. Alcibiade De Blanc, the citizens defeated the police, and Federal troops were sent to the scene. De Blanc sur- rendered to the soldiers, but the incident developed the fact that only Federal power could uphold the Kellogg administration.


Another act of the general assembly was one "to protect the civil rights of citizens." It required all transportation companies. keepers of hotels and places of public amusement, etc., to give equal and impartial accommodation to citizens without regard to race or color, and provided severe fines, forfeitures and imprisonment for those found guilty of misdemeanor in making such distinc- tions.


No returns of parish officers had been made in Grant parish by the returning board, and Kellogg attempted to make appointments there. Trouble resulted and U. S. troops were ordered to Colfax to quell the disturbance. Steamboat owners refused to carry them because it would injure their trade and the soldiers did not reach Colfax until April 23, order having been restored before their arrival.


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The legislature which assembled on Jan. 5, 1874, authorized the issue of "the consolidated bonds of the State of Louisiana" to the amount of $15.000.000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, for the purpose of reducing and consolidating the bonded and floating debt of the state, and created a sinking fund for the pay- ment of the bonds, which were to run 40 years at 7 per cent. At this session was passed a general law for the registration of voters, under the operations of which the elections of 1874 were conducted. A Republican convention on Aug. 5 nominated Antoine Dubuclet for the office of state treasurer-the only state office to be filled this year-and adopted resolutions indorsing the "liberal, en- lightened and just policy of President Grant" and the state ad- ministration. The Democratic state convention met at Baton Rouge on Ang. 24. John C. Moncure was nominated for state treasurer, and candidates for Congress were nominated in each of the six Congressional districts.


Late in August six Republican officials were shot at Coushatta in Red River parish. Reports of the occurrence were conflicting, one side claiming that the tragedy was due to a merciless war waged by the white people against the negroes, and the other in- sisting that it was due to an uprising of the blacks. On Sept. 3. Kellogg offered a reward of $5,000 for the capture of each one im- plicated, but it does not appear that the reward was ever claimed by any one. On the day that this reward was offered U. S. Atty .- Gen. George H. Williams sent word that troops would be stationed at various places in the state to aid Kellogg in the discharge of his official duties. This brought a reply from the committee of 70 on the 8th, to the effect that the Federal government misunderstood the situation in Louisiana ; that the trouble lay in the fact that the people had no confidence in the present usurping government ; that it failed to command their respect and obedience because it was not founded on "the consent of the governed;" and that the true remedy would be the restoration of the state government to the legally elected officers. The committee further declared that the blood of every man killed in consequence of political strife in the last two years lay at the door of William P. Kellogg. No attention was paid by the president to the address of the committee, and Kel- logg, knowing that he had the support of the Federal government, grew more despotic. His metropolitan brigade, acting under or- ders, seized guns and ammunition belonging to private citizens, . under pretense that they were to be used in making war upon the negroes. Dealers in arms were arrested on fictitious or trumped- up charges and their stock confiscated. Arms were sent to the negroes in the country parishes, and for a time the state was threatened with civil war.


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The White League, which was organized in the spring and summer of 1874, had. in September, a consignment of arms on the steamship Mississippi, and to prevent the police from seizing them a' conflict was precipitated. On the 13th there appeared in the New Orleans papers an appeal to the citizens of that city. It was




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