USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 14
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McManus, a village in the western part of East Feliciana parish, is at the junction of the Jackson and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroads, + miles east of Jackson and 8 miles west of Clinton, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express
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office, telegraph station and telephone facilities, and is a shipping point of some importance.
Mabel, a village of Concordia parish, is situated on the Missis- sippi river about 8 miles above Vidalia, the parish seat, and is a shipping point by water for the northeastern part of the parish. It has a money order postoffice, some retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 50.
Macarty, Mactigue, was born in 1706, the son of a captain in the French service. He entered the army very early in life and became a captain in Louisiana in 1731. In 1735 he was promoted to major of engineers, was ordered to the Illinois as commandant in 1752, and was stationed at this post until the capitulation of Montreal in 1760. During his administration Fort Chartres was rebuilt in stone and was known as the strongest post on the river, Fort Duquesne was provisioned and supplied with detachments of troops, and Fort Massiac (or Massac) was built in 1757. Major Macarty was ordered to New Orleans in June, 1760, being relieved in the command at Fort Chartres by his second in command, Maj. de Villiers. He remained on duty at New Orleans until the time of his death, April 20, 1764.
Machen is a post-hamlet of Winn parish.
Macland, a post-hamlet of St. Landry parish, is situated on the Southern Pacific R. R., 9 miles north of Opelousas, the parish seat.
Madison Parish, established in 1839, was named in honor of James Madison. 4th president of the United States. It was created from territory known from the earliest occupation of Louisiana by the French as the "County of Ouachita." As originally laid out it contained a part of the present parish of Franklin. It is located in the northeastern part of the state, and as now constituted is bounded on the north by East Carroll parish ; on the east by the Mississippi river, which separates it from the State of Mississippi ; on the south by Tensas parish, and on the west by Franklin and Richland parishes, from which it is separated by Bayou Macon. The history of Madison parish, like that of all the river parishes, goes back to 1682, when La Salle descended the Mississippi, but nearly a century and a half elapsed before settlements along the west bank of the river in this section were made. One of the first was in the vicinity of "Walnut hills." The earliest land owners on record were Robert Coderan and John Barney, who took up land in 1803. They were followed by Moses Graves, James Dong- las, Gibson Betts and Elijah Clark. The first parish officers were R. C. Downer, judge: Charles Gay, sheriff : and John T. Mason, clerk of the court. After the organization of the parish Richmond was chosen as the seat of justice. During the Civil war the town was practically destroyed and as it was not. rebuilt, the parish seat was changed to Delta. In 1882 it was removed to its present site at Tallulah. Madison has an area of 661 square miles. The formation is alluvial land and wooded swamp. The soil of alluvial deposit is black, dark red or reddish-gray, very rich, and with only ordinary cultivation is highly productive. Water is excel-
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lent and the natural supply in the creeks and streams is abundant for stock. The parish is drained by the Mississippi river along its eastern boundary, by the Tensas river through the central portion, by Bayou Macon on the west and by Vidal, Roundaway and Wal- nut bayons through the other portions. Cotton, the great staple product, yields enormously on the alluvial bottoms. Corn, hay, oats, sugar-cane, potatoes, peas and sorghum, as well as all kinds of garden vegetables and grasses are also grown. Commercially, little attention has been given to fruit growing in the parish, but such fruits as pears, apples, plums, pomegranates, figs and grapes yield abundantly. The markets of Memphis, Vicksburg, St. Louis and Baton Rouge provide a growing demand for all kinds of garden products. With the fine shipping facilities provided by the Missis- sippi river, lumbering has been for years an important industry throughout the swamp district. Common to most of the delta region, hogs and cattle are raised, as it has been proved that pork can be produced at less cost here than on the higher lands of the state. The principal manufactories are wooden-ware factories, rice mills and cotton compresses. Transportation is exceptionally good, being provided by water on the Mississippi river along the entire eastern boundary of the parish, by the Vicksburg, Shreve- port & Pacific R. R., which traverses the central part of the parish east and west, and by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R. which runs north and south through the eastern part. Madi- son has no large towns, Tallulah, the parish seat, situated at the intersection of the two railroads, being the most important. Other towns and villages are Ashley, Coleman. Griffin, Delta, Duckport, Mound, Omega, Kellogg's Landing, Quebec, Thomastown and Waverly. The following data concerning the parish are taken from the U. S. census for 1900: number of farms. 2,489; acreage, 131,086; acres improved. 71,097 : value of land and improvements exclusive of buildings, $1.582,040; value of farm buildings, $525,970; valne of live stock. $371,537 ; total value of all products not fed to live stock, $922,900: number of manufacturing establishments. 34; capital invested, $59,130; wages paid, $3.481; cost of materials used, $10,742; total value of products, $37,222. The population of the parish for 1900 was 899 whites, 11,422 colored, a total of 12,322, a decrease of 1,813 during the preceding decade.
Madisonville, one of the principal towns of St. Tammany parish, is located on the Tchefuncte river, a short distance from Lake Pontchartrain and about 6 miles southwest of Covington, the parish seat. Mandeville is the nearest railroad station. Madisonville is an old town, having been incorporated many years ago. It has important lumbering interests, brickyards, a large retail trade, a money order postoffice, and in 1900 had a population of 779. A line of steamboats run between New Orleans and Madisonville 'and other places on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Early in Jan., 1864, some skirmishing occurred about Madisonville, though the town was finally occupied by a detachment of about
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1,000 Federal troops under command of Col. Kimball, who had been sent out from New Orleans for that purpose.
Madrid, Treaty of .- (See Treaties.)
Mafia .- Among the Italians in the United States there are various societies for the mutual protection of the members, or the redress of wrongs, real or imaginary, by the assassination of the offender. On Oct. 15, 1890. David C. Hennessey, at that time chief of the New Orleans police, was shot near his home after dark, and before he died stated that the "Dagoes" had shot him. Hennessey had been active in securing the extradition of one Esposito, a fugitive Italian bandit, and also in the arrest of and finding evidence against several members of the Provenzanos, a gang of Italian longshore- men, who were awaiting trial on the charge of firing from ambush upon some Matrangas, members of another gang, competitors in the business of unloading fruit vessels at the New Orleans wharves. The belief soon became prevalent that Hennessey had been mur- dered by the "Mafia," an oath bound Italian society for assassina- tion, and this belief was further confirmed by the acquittal of the Provenzanos. On Feb. 6, 1891, the district attorney arraigned 6 Italians indicted for the shooting of Hennessey and 3 charged with being accessories. After a tedious trial, in which more than 150 witnesses were examined, the jury rendered a verdict of ac- quittal in the cases of the 6 principals indicted. A committee of 50 citizens had been appointed to assist the authorities, and these men did not hesitate to denounce the verdict as contrary to the evidence. It was even intimated that some of the jurors had been bribed to render such a verdict, and the general belief was strength- ened that it was impossible to convict members of these organiza- tions, as they were bound to save each other by perjured evidence.
The verdict was handed in on March 13, and the next morning the following notice appeared in the New Orleans morning papers: "Mass Meeting! All good citizens are invited to attend a mass meeting on Saturday, March 14, at 10 o'clock a. in., at Clay statue, to take steps to remedy the failure of justice in the Hennessey case. Come prepared for action." This notice was signed by a number of well-known citizens, and at the appointed hour an im- mense crowd was assembled at the statue. An address was made by William S. Parkerson, in which he said: "When courts fail, the people must act! What protection, or assurance of protection, is there left us, when the very head of our police department, our chief of police, is assassinated in our very midst by the Mafia society, and his assassins are again turned loose on the community ? The time has come for the people of New Orleans to say whether they are going to stand these outrages by organized bands of assassins, for the people to say whether they shall permit them to continue. I ask you to consider this fairly. Are you going to let it continue? Will every man here follow me, and see the murder of D. C. Hennessey vindicated? Are there men enough here to set aside the verdict of that infamous jury, every one of whom is
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a perjurer and a scoundrel? Men and citizens of New Orleans, follow me, 1 will be your leader !"
Mr. Parkerson was followed by Walter C. Denegre, after which John C. Wickliffe began an address but was unable to finish it on account of the intense excitement, the crowd shouting "On to the prison! Hang the Dago murderers!" With Parkerson as the leader, James D. Houston, first lieutenant, and Wickliffe as the second, the people marched to the parish prison, in which there were 19 prisoners who had been arrested for complicity in the murder of Hennessey. One of these, a mere boy, was protected by the leaders, 2 were taken from the prison and hanged, and 9 were shot down in the jail. After the lynching was over Mr. Parkerson again addressed the crowd briefly, saying: "I have per- formed the most painful duty of my life to-day. Now go home, and God bless you and the community."
On the day of the lynching Baron Fava, the Italian minister at Washington, acting under instructions from his home government, made a formal written protest to Mr. Blaine, the secretary of state, who telegraphed to Gov. Nicholls, urging the arrest of the persons implicated in the death of the Italians. In his reply the governor deplored the conditions that made such action on the part of the people of New Orleans necessary, but declined to institute pro- ceedings against any of those who took part in the affair. Eight of the Italians were naturalized American citizens, the other three were Sicilians, who were Italian subjects. Diplomatic relations between Italy and the United States became so strained that Baron Fava, the minister above mentioned, and Albert G. Porter, the U. S. minister at Rome, both left their posts. The matter was finally adjusted by the payment of an indemnity of $25,000 by the United States for distribution among the families of the victims. and in April, 1892, the ministers returned to their places. The affair caused wide-spread comment, but was justified by the people of Louisiana as an act of self-preservation. The lynching had a salutary effect on the Italians of the state, and no more acts ot violence were committed by the Mafia.
Magnolia, a post-hamlet of East Baton Rouge parish, is situated on a confluent of the Amite river, about 5 miles north of Denham Springs, the nearest railroad station, and 15 miles northeast of Baton Rouge, the parish seat.
Magruder, Allan B., U. S. senator from Louisiana, was born in Kentucky about 1775. He received an academic education, and studied and practiced law at Lexington, Ky. After a few years he removed to Louisiana: served in the lower branch of the state legislature before he was elected U. S. senator from Louisiana, as a Democrat. He served as senator from Nov. 18, 1812, to March 3, 1813. During his life he published several literary works. He died at Opelousas, La., April 16, 1822.
Mahon, a post-village in the northern part of Claiborne parish. is on the Bayou D'Arbonne, about 4 miles east of Oakes, the nearest railroad station, and 8 miles north of Homer, the parish seat.
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Mains, a post-hamlet of Pointe Coupée parish, is situated in the northern part, about + miles west of Batchelor, the nearest railroad station, and about 20 miles northwest of New Roads, the parish seat.
Mamon, a post-hamlet of St. Landry parish, is on the terminus of a branch line of the Southern Pacific R. R., about 18 miles northwest of Opelousas, the parish seat. It has a telegraph station and is the trading center for a large agricultural and cattle district.
Manchac (R. R. name Longwood), a village in the southern part of East Baton Rouge parish, is a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., about 8 miles south of the city of Baton Rouge. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, a good retail trade, and in 1900 reported a population of 126.
Mandeville, one of the most important towns of St. Tammany parish, is situated on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain and at the junction of two divisions of the New Orleans Great Northern R. R. It is an old town, having been incorporated by the legis- lature on March 24. 1840. and is popular as a summer resort, being connected with the city of New Orleans by a line of boats which make regular trips across Lake Pontchartrain, and it is also con- nected by an electric railway with Covington, the parish seat, about 9 miles north. Mandeville has important lumbering interests, brickyards, wood-working factories, several first class mercantile establishments, good schools and churches, a money order post- office, express, telegraph and telephone facilities and is well pro- vided with hotels. The population in 1900 was 1,029.
Mangham, a village in the southeastern part of Richland parish, is situated at the junction of the Mangham & Northeastern and the New Orleans & Northwestern railroads, about 10 miles south of Rayville. It is a trading center for a large district in eastern part of Richland and the western part of Franklin parish, has a bank, a money order postoffice, express office and telegraph offices, and in 1900 had a population of 110.
Manifest, a village in the eastern part of Catahoula parish, is situated on Salem creek, about 10 miles southwest of Harrison- burg, the parish seat, and 10 miles northwest of Black River, the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice, is a trading center for the neighborhood, and in 1900 had a population of 80.
Mann, James, soldier and member of Congress, was born at Gorham, Me., in 1822. He was elected state senator, and served as county treasurer and custom house officer at Portland. When the Civil war broke out he entered the Federal army and served during the war. President Lincoln appointed him treasury agent for Louisiana, where he settled. He was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 40th Congress as a Democrat, serving from July 18, 1868. to his death. Ang. 26, 1868, at New Orleans, La.
Manning, Thomas Courtland, jurist, was born in Edenton, N. C., in 1831. His first American ancestor emigrated from England to Virginia in the 17th century. Thomas Manning was educated
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at the University of North Carolina, studied law, was admitted to the bar and. began to practice in his native town, but moved to Louisiana in 1855 and settled at Alexandria, where he acquired a large practice. He sympathized with his adopted state on the question of siavery, was sent as delegate to the secession conven- tion of 1861 as a State-Rights Democrat, and at the close of the convention was elected lieutenant in a Louisiana Confederate regi- ment. During the war he served with the rank of lieutenant- colonel on Gov. Moore's staff, and in 1863 was appointed adjutant- general of Louisiana, with rank of brigadier-general. The next year he was appointed associate justice of the supreme court, serving until the close of the war. In 1872 he declined to become the candidate of his party for governor, but was a presidential elector, and in 1876 was vice-president of the Democratic national convention that nominated Samuel J. Tilden. One year later he was again appointed to the supreme bench, this time as chief justice, and served until 1880, when the constitution of 1879 went into effect. While serving on the bench he was elected a trustee of the Peabody educational fund. At the close of his term as chief justice he was presidential elector, and in the fall of 1880 was appointed U. S. senator, but was not permitted to take his seat. Two years later he was appointed to the supreme bench for the third time, and served until 1886. President Cleveland appointed him U. S. minister to Mexico, which position he held until his death, on Oct. 11, 1887, at New York city.
Mansfield, the capital of De Soto parish, dates back to 1843, shortly after the creation of the parish. On June 5 of that year it was selected as the seat of justice and the name suggested by Thomas Abington, an admirer of the Scotch peer, Lord Mansfield. The town was incorporated on April 15, 1847, and an act of March 17, 1852, conferred judicial powers upon the mayor. The town is situated near the geographical center of the parish, at the junction of the Kansas City Southern and the Texas & Pacific railroads, about 40 miles south of Shreveport. The region around it is devoted to farming, lumbering and stock raising. Mansfield Female college was founded here in 1854, and a year later the college was incorporated. After the battle of Mansfield, April 8, 1864, the col- lege buildings were used as a hospital by the Confederates until 1865. Mansfield has a courthouse, a good hotel, a bank, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal churches, and until a few years ago had a Catholic church, which was abandoned when the Car- melite church was established at Carmel. 8 miles east. Among its most important industries are a steam cotton-gin, a grist mill and a cottonseed oil mill. The Mansfield Advertiser was established in 1849, by W. I. Hamilton and J. W. Parsons. Since that time a number of papers have been published in the town. In 1888 the Farmers' Union organized the Farmers' Supply company, which carries a stock of $20,000, and in 1888-9 they controlled over 4,000 bales of cotton. The De Soto Live Stock association was organized in 1890, and it has completed a fair grounds and race track. The
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population of Mansfield in 1900 was 847. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph, express and telephone facilities, and is the supply town for the central portion of the parish.
An important engagement was fought near Mansfield on April 8, 1864, between Gen. Banks' army and the Confederate forces commanded by Gen. Richard Taylor. This battle marked the turning point of Banks' Red River campaign, as after that his movement was backward instead of forward. Among the Con- federates killed at Mansfield were Col. Leopold Armant and Brig .- Gen. Alfred Mouton.
Mansfield Female College .- This well known college for women was founded soon after the middle of the last century, at Mansfield, De Soto parish, La. It is under the control of the Methodist denomination, and the men most active in its establishment were its first president, Rev. H. C. Thweatt, a graduate of the University of Virginia, and the Rev. William E. Doty. The citizens of Mans- field and the region adjacent thereto contributed some $30,000 to the enterprise. It was incorporated on March 9, 1855, by Jacob W. Wemple, Henry Moss, William Crosby, William H. Terrill, Benjamin Person, George C. Burns and others, under the name of "The President and Trustees of Mansfield Female Col- lege," and was placed under the direction of the Methodist Epis- copal church. The legislature of 1855 appropriated $5,000 to the college to complete its buildings, which were finished the follow- ing year. The college is located on the highest ground in the state, on the dividing ridge between Red river and the Sabine, 40 miles south of Shreveport, and the site is pleasant and sanitary. The main building is a solid and massive brick structure, large and imposing in appearance, yielding a generous view of the sur- rounding country. In the other buildings are ample quarters for dining room, class rooms, music rooms, chapel, etc., and the college is in a prosperous condition. With the exception of a brief period during the war between the states, the college has maintained a continuous existence, though it has had its financial ups and downs. The work of the college is broad and thorough and embraces instruction in the ancient languages, mathematics, English literature, history and geography, the natural sciences, ethics, modern languages, poetry, music, art, theory and practice of teaching, etc.
Mansura, situated in the central part of Avoyelles parish, about 7 miles south of Marksville, the parish seat, is one of the oldest of the modern towns in the parish. It was incorporated on March 13, 1860, and the postoffice was established there in 1866, with David Siess as postmaster. Several times the people of the parish desired to move the seat of justice to Mansura, but could not, as it was unconstitutional. Mansura is one of the largest and most important trading towns of the parish. It is situated at the junction of the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company and the Texas & Pacific railroads, and ships several thousand bales of cotton every year. It has a bank, a money order postoffice, an
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express office, telegraph and telephone facilities, and in 1900 had a population of 408.
Manufacturing .- From the earliest settlement of Louisiana agri- culture has been the leading occupation, but since the Civil war there has been a steady growth in the manufacturing and mechan- ical industries of the state. In 1870, the first census year after the war, the number of manufacturing concerns reporting was 1,744; capital invested, $18,313,974; number of persons employed, 8,789; value of all manufactured products. $15,587,473. In 1900 the num- ber of manufacturing establishments had increased to 4,350; the invested capital to $113,084,294 ; the number of employees to 42,210, and the value of manufactured products to $121,181,683. These figures show the progress of manufacturing during a period of 30 years-a progress that compares favorably with the other states of the Union.
One drawback to manufacturing enterprises for many years was the high price of fuel, but with the completion of the canal con- necting the Mississippi river with the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Borgne, and the improvement of the Warrior river in Ala- bama, through water rates can be obtained on coal from Alabama mines, thus materially iessening the cost of that commodity. This has been of great advantage to the factories of New Orleans and the southeastern part of the state, while the discovery of oil in Texas and southwestern Louisiana has given cheaper fuel to that section of the state, and the natural gas field in the northwestern part is furnishing cheap fuel to Shreveport and the adjacent towns and cities. Another agency that has been a great stimulus to manufacturing is the increase in railroad mileage, affording better facilities for placing manufactured goods on the market. As the railroads are extended into hitherto undeveloped portions of the state, new towns spring up and each of these towns supports one or more manufacturing enterprises.
The most important manufacturing industry of the state is that of sugar and molasses, in which the growth between 1890 and 1900 was little short of marvelous. In the former year 38 establish- ments reported an invested capital of $1.943,601. with 1,963 wage- earners, and products valued at $12.603,913. In 1900 the number of establishments had increased to 384, the capital invested to $52,799,105, the number of wage-earners to 6,504, and the value of the products to $47.891.691. The census report for 1900 says: "One of the greatest obstacles in the way of local manufacture is the enforced idleness during the greater part of the year of expen- sive plants, thus entailing a loss'on capital invested. An industry is now being developed which is intended to keep these plants in operation for a longer period, and utilize a waste product. This is the manufacture of paper from bagasse, the woody fiber of the sugar-cane after the juice has been expresed. With a small admix- ture of jute or manila, this material has been found to make one of the finest grades of heavy paper."
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