USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 16
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and the Confederates under Gen. Kirby Smith and Gen. Richard Taylor.
Marquette, Jaques, French missionary and explorer, was born in Picardy, France, in 1637. At the age of 28 years he came to Canada as a Jesuit missionary, and in 1668 founded the mission at Sault Ste. Marie. He continued his labors among the aborigines until 1673, when he was selected to accompany Louis Joliet on the expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi river ( then unnamed and unknown to the French, save as described by the Indians and called by them "The Great River." or the Mechisipi). There is little question that the paramount object of this expedition was to dis- cover a water communication with the South sea. though some writers go upon the presumption that the primary design was to discover the Mississippi, which had in fact been discovered by the Spaniards more than a century before. Even as reliable a his- torian as Bancroft says: "The long-expected discovery of the Mississippi was now at hand, to be accomplished by Joliet of Quebec, of whom there is scarce a record but this one excursion that gives him immortality, and by Marquette, who, after years of pious assiduity to the poor wrecks of Hurons, whom he planted near abundant fisheries, on the cold extremity of Michigan, en- tered, with equal humility, upon a career which exposed his life to perpetual danger, and by its results affected the destiny of nations."
Upon the return of the expedition to Lake Michigan in Sept., 1673, Father Marquette remained there, leaving Joliet to return alone to Quebec and report to Governor Frontenac. (See Joliet.) From that time until his death. in the spring of 1675, he labored as a missionary among the Indians on the western shore of Lake Michigan and at the Indian town of Kaskaskia. He prepared and forwarded to his superior a map and account of the expedition, which were published in Paris by Trevenot in 1681. Concerning Marquette's narrative Professor Sparks says: "He writes as a scholar and as a man of careful observation and practical sense. In every point of view, this tract is one of the most interesting among those that illustrate the early history of America." Owing to the loss of Joliet's journal, it has been necessary for historians to rely for details chiefly upon the published account of Father Marquette, and this has doubtless been the reason why he is so frequently first mentioned in connection with the expedition, though Joliet was the official head and commander of the under- taking. As has already been stated of Joliet. Father Marquette was never within the confines of the present State of Louisiana, but the expedition with which he was connected was destined, undreamed of by the actors, to become a prominent feature in the subsequent French negotiations in America and the history of the United States.
Marr, Robert H., a leading member of the New Orleans bar, was an active participant in the events that occurred during the reconstruction period. In 1874 he was prominent in the White
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League movement ; was president of the Baton Rouge convention on Aug. 24 of that year: delivered an address at the meeting at the Clay statue on Canal street on Sept. 14; also read the resolu- tions that were adopted by the 5,000 people present at that meet- ing; was one of the committee to wait on Gov. Kellogg, and advised that the committee go unarmed; addressed the meeting again upon the return of the committee from Kellogg's office; in this address he advised the people to go home and get their arms and report again at 2:30 p. m .; after the victory over Kel- logg's forces he again addressed the people in front of the St. Charles hotel, congratulating them upon the result. In 1877 he was appointed associate justice of the supreme court by Gov. Francis T. Nicholls, and later was judge of the criminal district court.
Married Women .- The separate property of the wife cannot be sold by the husband. She may administer it herself, unless there is an antenuptial contract to the contrary. All property acquired during marriage, the earnings of the joint or separate labor of the spouses and the revenues of the separate property of each, enter into the community and is equally divided between them. In other words, marriage is a kind of partnership, and in case of its dissolution the husband and wife each take back what they brought in, and the profits, without any reference to the amount of capital contributed by either, are equally divided. The wife has a mortgage upon all the real estate of her husband, to secure the repayment of sums received by hint for her account during marriage, but she may renounce the same at any time. The wife has no dower in her husband's real estate. She may sell her separate estate with the authorization and assistance of her hus- band. A minor has a similar mortgage upon the estate of his tutor, the mortgage of the wife dating from the day that the husband received the money belonging to her, and that of the minor from the day of the tutor's appointment. By a constitutional pro- vision these mortgages are now required to be recorded, in order that they may have effect against third parties. A female becomes of age at 21 years. If the wife is a public merchant she may, . without being empowered by her husband, obligate herself in anything relating to her trade; and in such case her husband is bound also, if there exists a community of property between them. She is considered a public merchant if she carries on a separate trade, but not if she retails only the merchandise belonging to the commerce carried on by her husband. The authorization of the husband to the commercial contracts of the wife is presumed by law, if he permits her to trade in her own name; to her contracts for necessaries for herself and family, where he does not himself provide them; and to all her other contracts when he himself is a party to them. The unauthorized contracts made by married women, like the acts of minors, may be made valid after the mar- riage is dissolved either by express or implied ratification. A mar- ried woman cannot bind herself or her property for her husband's
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debts. If the property of the wife be paraphernal, and she has reserved to herself the administration of it, she ought to bear a proportion of the marriage charges, equal, if need be, to one-half her income. The wife may, during the marriage, petition against the husband for a separation of property whenever her dowry is in danger, owing to the mismanagement of her husband or other- wise, or when the disorder of his affairs induces her to believe that his estate may not be sufficient to meet her rights and claims. The wife who has obtained the separation of property must contribute, in proportion to her fortune and to that of her husband, both to the household expenses and to those of the education of their children. She is bound to support those expenses alone if there remain nothing to her husband. Any married woman can open an account in any bank ( state or national), make deposits and withdraw same, without authorization or assistance of her husband.
Marthaville, an incorporated town in the extreme western part of Natchitoches parish, is a station on the Texas & Pacific R. R., about 15 miles west of Natchitoches, the parish seat. The first settlements were made in 1851, and in 1852 the Union church was established. A year later a school was built, in 1855 a postoffice was established, and Marthaville became a station on the mail route of the Alexandria and Shreveport stage line, which began operations that year. In 1857 a daily mail service was started. During the Civil war a small engagement took place here between Banks' invaders and the Confederate troops under Gen. 'Green. The town was incorporated in 1884 and a number of stores were soon built. Marthaville has a large saw and planing mill, which ships 2,000,000 feet of lumber a year, chiefly to Texas and other western points. The town has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph facilities, and in 1900 had a population of 228.
Martin, a post-hamlet and station in the northern part of St. Martin parish, is a station on the Southern Pacific R. R.
Martin, Francois Xavier, jurist and historian, was born in Mar- seilles, France, March 17, 1764, and was educated in some of the best schools of that country. At the age of 17 years he emigrated to the island of Martinique, where he was unsuccessful in his busi- ness ventures and remained only a few years. In 1786 he sailed for the United States and settled in New Berne, N. C., where he at once found employment in giving French lessons. He likewise ob- tained a position in a newspaper and job printing office and made himself familiar with the English language while learning his trade. He became in turn foreman of the office and editor of the paper. A man of unbounded energy and capacity for work, leisure hours found him occupied in preparing translations of French periodicals, books, etc., which found a ready sale. He also studied law and when 27 years of age was admitted to the bar of North Carolina, of which he soon became a prominent member. His literary genius then found an outlet in the preparation of a number of legal studies, among them a series of treatises on the duties of public officers, a compilation of the colonial statutes of North Carolina, digests of
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the state statutes upon which he was employed by the legislature, the first published volumes of the North Carolina state law reports, and the work of Pothier on Obligations. In 1806 he was elected a member of the state assembly : in 1809 was appointed by President Madison U. S. judge of the Mississippi territory; and in 1810 he was transferred to the bench of the superior city court of the Terri- tory of Orleans. His exhaustive legal studies and his familiarity with the civil law enabled him to be of great service to the juris- prudence of the new State of Louisiana, and he remedied many de- fects of the civil code of 1808, which had resulted from the super- imposition of the principles of the common law upon the French or Napoleonic code. First attorney-general of the state of Louis- iana, judge of the supreme court, and in 1837 chief justice, Judge Martin held an honored position as a member of the state judiciary until his retirement to private life in 1845. He was the second president of the Louisiana Historical society. The judge made few close personai associations and could be found during leisure hours in his library, surrounded by his favorite authors. In 1827 he pub- lished a "History of Louisiana from its Settlement to the Treaty of Ghent in 1814," and in 1829 a "History of North Carolina," and reports and digests of Louisiana laws in both French and Eng- lish. Harvard college conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1841, and he received the same honor from the University of Nash- ville. Judge Martin died in New Orleans Dec. 11, 1846. His will bequeathed a considerable estate to his brothers, but was con- tested by the State of Louisiana on the grounds that administration duties were due the state on property bequeathed to foreigners, and that the judge being practically blind could not have written the will himself. In thus defeating the last expressed wishes of the venerable jurist and historian, the state made but poor requital to one whose eminent services and distinguished career called aloud for generous treatment, and rendered nugatory the faith of him who has written of the judicial branch of government: "it does not abandon man after he has passed the gates of death-leaving him in the grave the consoling hope that the judiciary power of his country will cause him to hover a while, like a beneficent shade, over the family he reared, directing the disposition of the funds his care accumulated for their support, and thus, by a sort of magic, allow him to continue to have a will after he has ceased to have an existence." Judge Martin's most enduring title to fame is his His- tory of Louisiana, and this great work admirably illustrates both in contents and style his clear and critical powers of reasoning and analytical statement. His method is clear, scholarly and ac- curate, almost devoid of ornament, and the product of a mind es- sentially judicial in its workings.
Masan, Balthasar, one of the promoters of the insurrection of 1768, was a wealthy planter, a retired captain of militia and a Knight of St. Louis. He was the second man to affix his name to the peti- tion to the council on Oct. 28, 1768, asking for the expulsion of Gov. Ulloa. With several others he was arrested by order of Gov.
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O'Reilly on Aug. 21, 1769, and upon being tried was convicted and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. He was confined in Morro Castle, Havana, Cuba, until in 1771, when his son went to Madrid to petition the king to pardon his father. The French ambassador added his entreaties, with the result that all the prisoners sen- tenced for complicity in the insurrection were liberated.
Mason, a postoffice of Franklin parish, is about a mile east of Big creek and 12 miles southwest of Winnsboro, the parish seat and nearest railroad town.
Mathews, a post-village of Lafourche parish, is situated on Bayou Lafourche in the northern part of the parish and is a station on the Southern Pacific R. R., 4 miles north of Lockport.
Mathews, George, jurist, son of George Mathews, governor of Georgia, was born near Staunton, Va., Sept. 21, 1774. When he was 11 years old the family moved from Virginia to Georgia. He received an academic education, studied law and was admitted to the bar at 25 years of age ; soon emigrated to the Mississippi terri- tory and practiced there for a number of years before President Jefferson appointed him judge of the supreme court in 1805. A year later he was transferred to the superior court of New Orleans. When the state government was organized he became chief jus- tice of the supreme court and held the office to his death, which occurred at Bayou Sara, La., Nov. 14, 1836. When Judge Mathews first took his seat upon the bench, he had but little knowledge of civil law and no experience with the complicated system of French and common law in use in the territory, but his opinions were so well formed that they have been handed down in the Louisiana system of jurisprudence.
Maurepas, a village of Livingston parish, is situated on the Amite river, 10 miles southwest of Springfield, the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and in 1900 had a population of 100.
Maurice, a village of Vermilion parish, is 3 miles west of Bayou Vermilion and 9 miles northeast of Abbeville, the parish seat and nearest railroad town. It is located in the rice and sugar district, has a money order postoffice, a good retail trade, and had a popu- lation of 75 in 1900.
Mayer, a post-hamlet of St. Helena parish, is a station on the line of the Brakenridge Railway & Navigation company, 7 miles south of Greensburg, the parish seat, and in 1900 reported a popu- lation of 35.
Mayna, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Catahoula par- ish, is on the Black river, about 14 miles west of Fish Pond, the nearest railroad station.
Mayo, a post-hamlet of Vernon parish, is situated on the Bayou Quelqueshoe, about 12 miles northeast of Leesville, the parish seat and most convenient railroad station. It had a population of 50 in 1900.
Mazureau, Etienne, a native of France, was one of the leading lawyers of Louisiana during the early years of statehood. He
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served as a member of the general assembly and was for many years attorney-general of the state. In politics he was an ardent Whig, and in the campaign of 1840 he and Sergeant S. Prentiss were the favorite orators of that party in Louisiana. It was largely due to their work on the hustings that the electoral vote was given to Harrison and Tyler. As an orator he appeared at his best in his native language, though he excelled as a speaker in English. In 1847 was published in New Orleans a little work entitled "Sketches of the Bench and Bar." in which the author pays this tribute to Mr. Mazureau's character and ability: "Mazureau both as legislator and advocate has his name connected with the history of our state. As attorney-general, Mazureau has not yet seen his superior in Louisiana. Appointed to this post by several succes- sive governors, he seemed to hold by a certain prescriptive right the high office to which he brought a talent and industry that will ever entitle him to the respect and admiration of his contempo- raries."
Meade, a post-village and station of Rapides parish, is situated on the Red river and the line of the Louisiana Railway & Naviga- tion company, where it crosses the northern boundary of the par- ish, about 8 miles northwest of Alexandria, the parish seat.
Mechanics' Institute .- In the early years of the 19th century the organization of "Mechanics' Societies" became a popular move- ment throughout the country, and Louisiana was no exception to the rule. On Aug. 17, 1821, the legislature granted a charter to the "Mechanics' Society of New Orleans." Subsequently the act of incorporation was amended, giving the society authority to own property to the amount of $500,000. Under the provisions of the amended charter the society issued bonds and erected the build- ing known as the "Mechanics' Institute" on Dryades street be- tween Common and Canal streets. on the site now occupied by the new Grunewald hotel. A later act of the legislature gave the so- ciety the privilege of keeping and maintaining the Fisk free library in the institute building. In time the society failed to meet the payment of the bonds issued for the purpose of erecting the insti- tute and the building became the property of the state. During the early part of the reconstruction period the Mechanics' Institute was used as a state capitol. After the purchase by the state of the old St. Louis hotel for a state house the building on Dryades street was purchased by Paul Tulane, and it was used as the academic department of Tulane University until 1894, being known as Tulane Hall. After that it was sold to the hotel company and the Me- chanics' Institute passed into history.
Medical College of Louisiana .- (See Tulane University of Louisiana.)
Medical Society, State .- The first state medical society was or- ganized and incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1843, un- der the name of the "Societe Medico-Chirurgicale de la Louisiane." with Dr. C. A. Luzenberg as president. After a struggling exist- ence of a few years it gave up the ghost, and in 1850 the "Louisiana
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State Medical Society" was organized with 42 members and Dr. Josiah Hale of Alexandria as president. He was succeeded by Dr. E. H. Barton in 1852, at which time the society had a membership of about 70. No record of this society can be found later than the year 1856, and it appears the medical profession was without a state society of any kind until Jan. 14, 1878, when the present "Louisiana State Medical Society" was organized at New Orleans with the following officers: Dr. J. C. Egan of Shreveport, president; Dr. S. M. Bemiss of New Orleans, first vice-president; Dr. J. W. Du- pree of Baton Rouge. second vice-president; Dr. G. A. B. Hays of Plaquemines parish, third vice-president; Dr. Thomas Layton of New Orleans, recording secretary; Dr. S. S. Herrick of New Orleans, corresponding secretary : Dr. George K. Pratt, treasurer. At that meeting 80 members were enrolled. 46 of whom were from New Orleans and 34 from other parts of the state.
The society is a component part of the American Medical Asso- ciation and mects annually. It acts in an advisory capacity with the legislature in recommending the enactment of laws for the improvement of sanitary conditions of the state, the establishment of quarantines in epidemics, etc. In actual epidemics the members of the society advise the authorities and the society has been at all times active in its efforts to suppress contagious or infectious diseases. The officers elected in 1909 are as follows: Dr. Charles Mc Vea of Baton Rouge, president ; Dr. John J. Archinard of New Orleans, first vice-president : Dr. R. M. Littell of Opelousas, sec- ond vice-president : Dr. S. M. D. Clark of New Orleans, third vice- president : Dr. E. M. Hummel of New Orleans, secretary ; Dr. C. C. Bass of New Orleans, treasurer ; Mr. George Augustin of New Or- leans, assistant secretary. The headquarters of the society are at 141 Elk Place, New Orleans, where a library of several thousand volumes is kept for the benefit of the members, and where copies of all the leading medical journals can be found on file.
The oldest medical society of which there is any account in the state, was the Physio-Medical Society, which was organized in New Orleans in 1820, but it was a local society only. The New Orleans Medical Society was organized in 1866 and was main- tained until 1870. The present Orleans Parish Medical Society was founded in the same year as the state medical society (1878) and now has a membership of about 300. The officers of this society for 1909 are as follows: Dr. William H. Seemann, president ; Dr. Benj. A. Ledbetter. first vice-president: Dr. Eugene H. Walet, second vice-president : Dr. Edmund L. Leckert, third vice-presi- dent ; Dr. Charles P. Holderith, secretary; Dr. Howard D. King, treasurer ; Dr. Homer Dupuy. librarian: Mr. George Augustin, assistant librarian. Within recent years the members of the med- ical profession have learned the advantages to be derived from organization and cooperation, with the result that a medical society has been established in almost every parish of the state, all of which work in harmony with the state society and the state board of health.
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Meeker, a post-village in the southeastern part of Rapides parish, is a station on the Southern Pacific and the Texas & Pacific rail- ยท roads, about 20 miles southeast of Alexandria, the parish seat. It has an express office and telegraph station, and in 1900 had a population of 52.
Melder, a post-hamlet in the western part of Rapides parish, is about 4 miles southwest of Condor, the nearest railroad station, and 17 miles southwest of Alexandria, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice and in 1900 reported a population of 45.
Melonie (R. R. name Saxonholm), a post-hamlet and station of St. Bernard parish, is situated on the Louisiana Southern R. R., about 10 miles southeast of New Orleans in one of the great truck farming districts that supplies New Orleans with vegetables and fruit.
Melrose, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Natchitoches parish, is on the Red river about 3 miles north of Old River, the nearest railroad station, and 14 miles southeast of Natchitoches, the parish seat. The population in 1900 was 66.
Melville, an incorporated town of St. Landry parish, is situated on the Atchafalava river, which forms the eastern boundary of the parish, at the junction of the Opelousas, Gulf & Northeastern and the Texas & Pacific railroads, about 25 miles northeast of Opelousas, the parish seat. It has a bank, an international money order postoffice, telegraph, express, and telephone facilities, and is the shipping and trading point for a large district in the eastern part of the parish. It had a population of 517 in 1900.
Memorial Day .- It is claimed. on apparently good authority, that the custom of placing flowers on the graves of soldiers who served in the great Civil war originated with Mrs. Mary A. Williams of Columbus, Ga. Her husband, C. J. Williams, colonel of the 1st Georgia regulars, died in the spring of 1862 and was buried at Columbus. It is related of Mrs. Williams that she and her little daughter would frequently go to the cemetery and place flowers on the grave. On one of these occasions the little girl asked her mother's permission to put flowers on the graves of other soldiers near by, and this incident suggested to the mother the idea of hav- ing one day in the year consecrated to the work of decorating. with appropriate ceremonies, the graves of the Confederate dead. In the spring of 1865 several of the ladies of Columbus joined Mrs. Williams in the decoration of the graves in the local cemetery, and the following spring. at a meeting of these devoted women, Mrs. Williams was appointed to write a letter to the public on the subject of a memorial day. In her letter, which was dated March 12, 1866, and widely published, she said: "We cannot raise monumental shafts and inscribe thereon their many deeds of hero- ism, but can keep alive the memory of the debt we owe them by dedicating at least one day in each year to embellishing their hum- ble graves with flowers. Therefore we beg the assistance of the press and the ladies throughout the South to aid us in the effort to set apart a certain day to be observed, from the Potomac to the
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