USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 23
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Nashville Exposition .- (See Expositions.)
Natalbany, a town of Tangipahoa parish, is situated at the june-
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tion of the Illinois Central and the New Orleans, Natalbany & Natchez railroads, 4 miles north of Hammond and 12 miles south of Amite, the parish seat. It is one of the towns that has become an important trading and shipping point since the New Orleans, Natalbany & Natchez R. R. was built, has a money order post- office, express and telegraph offices, good schools, several churches, and mercantile establishments. Its population in 1900 was 143.
Natchez, a post-village of Natchitoches parish, is a station on the Texas & Pacific R. R., about 6 miles south of Natchitoches, the parish seat. It has a telegraph station and an express office, and is the shipping and supply town for a considerable district of the rich Red river valley. Its population in 1900 was 85.
Natchez District .- The beautiful and fertile stretch of country which extends along the Mississippi river, from Bayou Sara to the Yazoo river, formed one of the important civil and military districts of the Province of Louisiana during most of the colonial period. The region is a high and breezy upland, formerly covered with hardwood forests, and even before the days of levees was exempt from the destruction wrought by the Mississippi in flood- time, which made it remarkably adapted to the necessities of the pioneer settler. The French early recognized its value for agri- cultural and shipping purposes, and the commissary Hubert and others even used their influence to have the capital established at Natchez instead of New Orleans. In 1716 Bienville caused a fort to be erected on the bluff where Natchez now stands, to restrain the warlike Natchez tribe of Indians, and to serve as a link in the chain of river outposts on the Mississippi, which should forever serve to protect France in her claim to the valley all the way from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Under the protection of old Fort Rosalie settlers began to pour into the district as early as 1718; in 1722 Natchez was erected into a separate civil and military district, and by 1729 there had been developed at the cliffs of the Natchez a populous, rich and growing colony. This state of affairs was practically terminated by the great massacre of 1729 (see Natchez Massacre), when most of the male inhabitants were slaughtered in one day and the fort destroyed. The region never recovered from this blow during the remainder of the French domination, though history records a considerable French popula- tion along the east bank of the Mississippi, above the 31st degree of latitude, and extending as far as the Walnut hills, at the time of the British occupancy.
The British troops took possession of the ruins of old Fort Rosalie in the summer of 1764, repaired the works and garrisoned the post, rechristening it Fort Panmure. Says Pickett, in his his- tory of Alabama, speaking of the French population: "When they ascertained that British laws had been extended over them. many retired across the river, south of Manchac. Others, assured that they would not be disturbed, either in the enjoyment of the Catholic faith, or in their rights and property, remained in the country." The French historians, noting at this period the arrivals
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of French refugees from the Illinois, Alabama and Canadian dis- tricts, fail to record any from the Natchez, perhaps because of their nearness. At first this British military post was outside of the limits then assigned to the province of West Florida, and lay within the region assigned by royal proclamation for the use of the Indians. However, the British soon took steps to extinguish the Choctaw title to the region (Treaty of 1770), and the limits of West Florida were extended northward to a line running due east from the mouth of the Yazoo river. The actual survey of the line of the Natchez district was not completed by the British until 1779. The boundary was later the subject of negotiations between the Indians and Spanish at the Treaty of Natchez, 1790. After the American occupancy of the district in 1798 it was agreed to resurvey the line, and arrangements therefor were made by Gen. Wilkinson at the treaty of Fort Confederation in Oct., 1802. He completed this new survey early in 1803, and the district of Natchez, within the boundary line thus defined, was estimated at 2,031,800 acres. The British control of the Natchez district lasted until September. 1779, and during this period active efforts were made to attract immigration. As early as 1765 the North Carolina settlement be- gan below Baton Rouge. Some of these families later removed to the neighborhood of Natchez. During the following years the English governors of West Florida executed numerous grants under the royal authority to retired military and naval men, and after 1770 immigration increased rapidly. Says Hamilton (Coloni- zation of the South) : "The project of settling the Mississippi re- mained a favorite idea of the province and in 1770 this began in earnest. It would seem that some eighteen families of immigrants with negroes settled down about Natchez, and Chester promptly applied for troops to protect them. Gage, of course, opposed it, and expressed astonishment that avidity for lands should make people scramble thither through the deserts. The necessity may be shown by a report to Haldimand in 1772 that the materials of Fort Bute had been destroyed and the writer turned out by the help of Spanish officers; but this seems to stand unsupported. The jealousy of the Spaniards, however, might well be aroused. for Durnford reports that 300 persons from Virginia and the Carolinas were then settled on the Mississippi, and 300 or 400 families were expected before the end of the summer. As a result the posts at Natchez and Bute were ultimately repaired and some sort of government instituted on the Mississippi." Nevertheless, the dis- trict remained very sparsely settled up to the time of the Revolu- tion. Says Wailes ( Historical Outline) : "We have the testimony of some of the early settlers, who survived to an advanced age, and whose statements have been preserved, that in 1776, twelve years after the English first occupied the fort at Natchez, the town then consisted of only 10 log cabins and two frame houses, all situated under the bluff. The site of Fort Rosalie was overgrown with forest trees, some of them more than two feet in diameter ; several old iron guns were lying about, supposed to have been left
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by the French. About 78 families, dispersed in different settle- ments, constituted the whole population of the district, few of . which, according to these statements, had emigrated to the country previous to the year 1772." During the war of the Revolution, when the people of the revolting American colonies were much divided in sentiment, the district received a large accession in popu- lation. Many, whose loyalty to their king remained unshaken, and who were yet unwilling to take up arms against their neighbors and kindred and endure the bitterness of civil strife, renounced their homes in the east and came west to the Mississippi. Still others had been actively engaged against the colonies and, to escape the confiscation of their property and the opprobrium of their old neighbors, had made the long journey to the Mississippi with their families and property. A large contingent was composed of Caro- linians from the Santee hills of South Carolina, led by Anthony. Hutchins; others were Scotch Highlanders from the Cape Fear river ; still others came from the more northern colonies. In coming some followed the northern river route; others came with pack- horses on the trail from Georgia through the Creek and Choctaw countries; the Northerners mostly came by ship to Pensacola and New Orleans, and thence by boat up the river, though many came down the Ohio from Pittsburg. Nearly all of them were practical pioneers and came to cultivate the soil, bringing with them an abundance of capital, as well as a full measure of energy and intelli- gence. The Florida parishes east of the Mississippi, as well as the section north of the Louisiana line, received this important immi- gration. By 1778 the increase in inhabitants in the western por- tion of West Florida was such as to warrant its being set off from the district of Mobile or Charlotte county. This western section was then erected into the districts of Manchae and Natchez, and contained, says the English Gov. Chester. "a greater number of respectable, wealthy planters and settlers than either of the other districts in the colony."
The rovalists on the Mississippi did not entirely escape the in- fluence of the Revolution, despite their desire to remain neutral, and some of them, led by the redoubtable Hutchins, dared to offer armed resistance to the expedition of Capt. James Willing, after that officer had been guilty of plundering the region about Baton Rouge and Manchac. As war with Spain became imminent about this time, Gov. Chester ordered Fort Panmure to be fitted up once more and several companies of militia, to be raised. Many of the inhabitants favored Spanish control of the district, others were loyal to the American cause, and still others adhered to Great Britain. While the sentiment of the region was thus divided and feeling was running high, Spain declared war against England and rapidly effected the conquest of West Florida. Fort Pan- mure at the Natchez was included in the surrender of Baton Rouge to Gen. Galvez. Sept. 22. 1879. The entire district of Natchez then passed once more under the control of the governor of Louisiana. Efforts of Congress at this time, to hold the allegiance
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of the inhabitants of Natchez district, and to keep the region as territory of the United States, proved futile.
Many of the eastern settlers in the district remained disaffected with the Spanish rule, and the strong Protestant spirit animating these colonists rendered them particularly averse to assuming the role of heretics under the dominion of his Catholic Majesty. Even after 2 years of Spanish control the Protestants felt that they had little reason to hope that they would be permitted to remain in the district. Despite the respect inspired by the remarkable ability of Galvez, and heedless of the harsh punishment meted out to those distinguished French citizens of New Orleans who had dared to resist the power of Spain some 10 years before, these scattered British loyalists prepared to raise the standard of revolt. Nor were they deterred by the Spanish conquest of Mobile in 1780, and when the Spaniards in the following year set on foot their expedition against Pensacola, they seized on this occasion to attempt the expulsion of the Spaniards from the Natchez district. Word was sent to Gov. Chester and Gen. Campbell of their pro- posed action and their assistance was asked. Chester and Camp- bell, who were in daily anticipation of an attack by an armada from Havana, seem to have sent such supplies as they could spare, and the cooperation of a small war party from the Choctaw Indians was secured. The insurgents, led by Capt. Blomart, with Winfrey and Smith as lieutenants, raised the British flag on April 22, 1781. and a comparatively harmless exchange of hostilities between the Spanish garrison at the fort and the insurgents continued for a week. On the 29th the garrison, under the belief that the fort had been undermined and would be blown up, surrendered it and were permitted to take up their march toward Baton Rouge, es- corted by a small guard of Natchez soldiery. The success of the insurgents, however, was short lived. At Loftus heights a body of Spanish troops on 5 barges was espied going up the river. This force consisted of a detachment of French militia from Opelousas, and a number of western Indians, about 300 in all, under the com- mand of Maj. Mulligan, an Irish "Spaniard." who promptly landed his men, pursued and attacked the insurgent party near the Homo- chitto, and either killed or captured most of the force. The news of this disaster only stimulated the inhabitants to more strenuous resistance, and the Spanish party was forced to retire to a posi- tion at the white cliffs. now known as Ellis cliffs, 12 miles below Natchez. About the middle of June, however, the inhabitants were thrown into the greatest consternation by news of the fall of Pensacola, followed by the surrender of the province to Spain and the agreement that it should be evacuated by the subjects of the British king.
The little band of Natchez insurgents, thus left alone in the midst of a hostile continent. with no friends nearer than Savannah, unless the Choctaws remained faithful. scattered in dismay. Mulli- gan occupied Fort Panmure and his men ravaged the district. "For 30 days plundering parties roamed through the country, seiz-
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ing the property and destroying the houses of the inhabitants, until Col. Grandpré arrived with a battalion of troops and took regular possession of the country." ( Wailes.)
Says Monette, speaking of events after Col. Grandpré took com- mand on July 29: "Measures were immediately instituted for the punishment of such of the late insurgents as were within the reach of the Spanish authorities. Arrests. seizures and confiscations commenced. During the months of September and October, the goods, effects, chattels, and dues of every kind, pertaining to more than twenty 'fugitive rebels,' had been seized for confiscation. Some of these were men of wealth. especially George Rapalji and Jacob Blomart. Before the middle of November seven of the leaders were in close confinement at New Orleans, 'charged with the crime of attempting to promote a general rebellion' against his Catholic Majesty's government in the district of Natchez. Seven were convicted and sentenced to death, but were subsequently reprieved by the governor-general."
The Spanish records of the Natchez district preserve the names of the fugitives and the proceedings against such as were arrested. Those fleeing the country are recorded as Philip Alston, John Ogg. Christian Bingaman, Caleb Hansbrough, Thaddeus Lyman, John Watkins, William Case. John Turner, Thomas James, Philip Mulkey, Ebenezer Gossett, Thompson Lyman and Nathaniel John- son. The "leaders of the rebellion" in prison Nov. 16 were John Alston, arrested in the Indian nation; Jacob Blomart, called the chief of the rebels: John Smith, "lieutenant of rebels": Jacob Win- frey, "captain of rebels"; William Eason, Parker Carradine and George Rapalji. "Bingaman was spared through the intercession of McIntosh," says Wailes, and "it is believed that Blomart was subsequently sent to Spain for trial."
Most of the administration of Col. Grandpré, whose duties as "civil and military commandant of the post and district of Natchez" lasted until Sept., 1782, was devoted to the arrest of "rebels" and the confiscation of their property. He was succeeded by Col. Estevan Miro, who had acted as governor-general at New Orleans in the absence of Gen. Galvez; Miro was succeeded in November by Don Pedro Piernas, who was promoted to colonel when Miro was made brigadier-general : the successor to Piernas, ad interim (June to Aug. 3, 1783) was Capt. Francisco Collel, who gave way to Lieut-Col. Phelipe Trevino, both of the regiment of Louisiana. Natchez was honored in the assignment of commandants from the famous Creole regiment. In 1785 Don Francisco Bouligny became "lieutenant-governor" and commandant, and in March, 1786, Col. Grandpré was again assigned. In July, 1792, Lient .- Col. Mannel Gayoso de Lemos was put in command. Gayoso was a Spaniard of English education, and remained until July 26, 1797. when he left to take the office of governor-general on Aug. 1. 1797. and after that Capt. 'Stephen Minor. Gayoso's post major, acted as com- mandant, until the evacuation, the reappointment of Col. Grandpré. in 1797, being protested by the inhabitants. These commandants,
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or "governors," had the general duties of a civil administrative officer and military commandant, under the orders of the governor- general of Louisiana. They appointed alcaldes, or justices, in the various districts of the Natchez, of which there were 9 or 10 in 1797, and themselves heard appeals from these justices. They performed the duties of governor, legislature, mayor, court of appeals, magistrate, chief of police, town marshals, etc. There could be no auction without their permission in writing. They granted permission to go to New Orleans, and sometimes refused it to individuals who had debts, unless they gave security. Divorces were also within their jurisdiction. It is of record that Mrs. Rachael Robards came down from Nashville in 1790, and obtained a Spanish divorce, preliminary to her marriage to Andrew Jackson. There was no law-making body. The law at New Orleans was the code of O'Reilly, together with the edicts of the governor- general, the council of the Indies and his Catholic Majesty. At Natchez the law proceeded from the commandant, though there is some evidence that the inhabitants had some initiative respect- ing local laws. Gov. Gayoso proclaimed a set of laws Feb. 1, 1793, saying that "the inhabitants in a full meeting of the prin- cipal planters" had represented to him the needs of pens and pounds for cattle; their fears of the ravages of "wild beasts of prey, particularly the tiger and the wolf." and their desire to guard against the natural inconveniences that attend the making of indigo. By the same proclamation a lawful fence was also defined as staked and ridered and 5 English feet high; stray cattle were required to be put in the pounds provided for in the proclamation and notice given ; a reward of $5 was offered for wolf and tiger scalps, and makers of indigo were required to burn the weed as soon as possible after it came out of the steeper, and were for- bidden to drain the vats into any creeks used by the inhabitants as a source of water.
The provincial government entirely ignored the boundary of the United States as recognized by Great Britain in the treaty of 1783. This matter was taken up between the United States and Spain, and the negotiations continued for 12 years. The inhabitants of the district. meanwhile, submitting with such grace as they could to the transfer from vassalage to the king of England to vassalage to the king of Spain. A few had been American citi- zens to the extent that citizenship had been imparted by Capt. Willing, but that had been promptly renounced for what they considered good reasons. Throughout the long period of waiting for the assumption of American control of the district there was a decided disposition from time to time to assert citizenship in the United States, which disposition was increased by the con- stant arrival of immigrants from the Atlantic coast. The Spanish authorities did what they could to check this movement, and endeavored to make all the inhabitants who remained in the dis- trict after the treaty of peace take a solemn oath of allegiance to his Catholic Majesty, and to conform to the Catholic faith. In
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respect to the latter matter, however, the sway of the Spaniards was decidedly tolerant. Generally speaking, the inhabitants could believe what they pleased in private, but Irish pricsts were sent forth from the University of Salamanca to perform the public rites of worship.
According to the census taken for Louisiana in 1785, the popula- tion by districts was as follows: Manchac, 77; Baton Rouge, 270; Natchez, 1,550; New Orleans, 4,980; St. Louis, 897; Galveston, 242; Tchoupitoulas. 7,046. A census taken in 1788 showed that the population of the Natchez district had increased to 2.679, a more rapid growth than was shown by New Orleans or St. Louis. Following this there was considerable settlement from the western country, chiefly in the Natchez district and Feliciana, in response to the efforts of the Spanish agents. Says Wailes: "Many, how- ever, under the pretense of settling permanently in the country, took advantage of the permission to make several trips and to introduce their goods and produce free, and in this manner a market was gradually opened for the produce of Ohio." After 1789, according to Pickett's History of Alabama, the population was increased by a number of adventurers who came out expecting to obtain lands under the Georgia deals with the Carolina land companies, but found no land for them unless they could acquire it from the Indians, which was forbidden by the laws of the United States, including Georgia. Their efforts were also considered as inimical to the sovereignty of Spain.
Despite all the tangled intrigues which distracted the western settlements at this period of history, the inhabitants of the Natchez district were complimented by Gov. Carondelet in 1790 for such stanch loyalty that encouraged the French of New Orleans to remain quietly under Spanish rule, notwithstanding the appeals of their countrymen. Wailes says, "some of the English royalists of the Natchez district, the original settlers, adhered to that party which looked with a distant and vague hope to the reestablishment of the British rule."
As the period of Spanish control drew to a close, the official communications indicated no expectation of giving up the country to the United States. The continual effort, on the other hand. was to enlarge the dominion of the king up to the Ohio river if possible. Finally, when the treaty of relinquishment was made in 1795, it was understood as a temporary expedient of international policy in Europe, resorted to in the confusion of the Napoleonic era, when royalty of the Bourbon stamp was struggling for exist- ence. It does not appear that the governor of Louisiana or his subordinates expected the treaty to be carried into effect. They had some hope that the inhabitants would remain loyal to Spain. At any rate the Spanish government was persuaded to obstruct the execution of the treaty of 1795 in the hope that it might be altogether renounced. As a result of these tactics, it was not until Feb. 22, 1797, the birthday anniversary of George Washington, that the United States flag was first raised in the Natchez dis-
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trict, at the mouth of Bayou Pierre, by a little guard of American soldiers. Thirteen months later, March 30, 1798, the Spanish gar- rison finally withdrew from old Fort Panmure, which was occupied by the Americans. Spanish dominion north of the 31st parallel had finally ended.
Natchez Massacre .- The terrible catastrophe which overwhelmed the French settlers at the Natchez near the close of Nov., 1729, came like a bolt from a clear sky, and awakened the utmost con- sternation throughout the whole province. Well grounded fears were entertained lest this Indian uprising of the Natchez should prove to be only the forerunner of a general war of extermination against the whites. There is little doubt that a widespread con- spiracy among the Indians to attain this end had actually - been formed. Embraced within this hostile league were not only the Natchez Indians, but also the Chickasaws and a considerable por- tion of the Choctaws, as well as a number of lesser tribes. That the French colonists escaped an even greater disaster was due to the precipitate action of the Natchez and to that spirit of inter- tribal jealousy which has always proved a bar to any general Indian uprising. The Chickasaws never bore any good will to the French, and doubtless did what they could to arouse a sense of wrong in the hearts of the Natchez, while influential voices were raised in the councils of the supposedly friendly Choctaw nation to warn against the dangers of white encroachment. The tale of the white man's oppression and injustice toward the Indian is a long one, and the French were no better than other members of the dominant white races. It has been said that the white man has never been able to really interpret the nature and customs of the red man, and certain reputed actions of the French toward the Natchez would certainly seem to support this statement. From the beginning the French had gazed with covetous eye upon the beautiful and fertile domain of the Natchez-a highly favored region peculiarly adapted to the wants of the pioneer settler. Here Bienville had caused Fort Rosalie to be erected and garrisoned in 1716, with a view to the protection of future settlers against the native tribe of the Natchez, and also as a stronghold to aid in holding the control of the Mississippi. Before the establishment of this post the Natchez had been guilty of certain acts of aggres- sion against the French, but the masterful Bienville took steps to humble them on his arrival in 1716. and even compelled the Indians to perform much of the manual labor during the erection of the fort. Relations were further strained in 1723. when a general uprising of the Natchez took place, but this was quelled by Bienville with characteristic sternness. Meanwhile numerous settlers had come into the district with their families and slaves and occupied concessions granted by the French government. In the granting of these concessions only nominal respect was paid to the prior rights of the Indians, and we can readily imagine the growing disgust with which they viewed the coming of these alien settlers with their domineering ways and strange laws and customs.
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