USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 3
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Lakeside, a village of Cameron parish, is situated at the southwest end of Lake Arthur, in the northeast part of the parish. about 6 miles southeast of Thornwell, the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and a population of about 35.
Lamar, a village and station in the northeastern part of Franklin parish, is on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about . 10 miles southwest of Delhi and 12 miles northeast of Winnsboro. the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, is the trading cen- ter for a considerable district, and in 1900 reported a population of 46.
Lamarque, a village in the northwestern part of Concordia parish, is situated on the Tensas river about 6 miles west of Clayton, the nearest railroad station, and 15 miles northwest of Vidalia, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice and some retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 32.
Lambert, Sir John, an English general and baronet, was born in 1772. Upon reaching manhood he entered the British army, and after serving in various countries was sent in command of a force to America to participate in the War of 1812. Late in Dec., 1814,
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he joined the British army threatening New Orleans, and in the battle of Jan. 8. 1815, commanded the 2nd division. After the death of Gen. Pakenham he assumed command of the entire army and obtained permission from Gen. Jackson to bury the dead and care for the wounded that had been left on the field. On the night of Jan. 18, ten days after the battle, he evacuated his camp, leaving dummy sentinels, uniformed and armed, to keep up the impression that the British camp was still occupied. Considering all the ob- stacles in the way, the retreat of the British was conducted in a masterly manner. On Jan. 28 Gen. Lambert reported to Earl Bathurst as follows: "Only + men were reported absent the next morning, and these must have been behind and must have fallen into the hands of the enemy: but when it is considered that the troops were in perfect ignorance of the movement until a fixed hour during the night ; that the pickets did not move off till half past 3 o'clock in the morning, and that the whole had to retire through the most difficult new-made road, wet, marshy ground, impassable for a horse, and where, in many places, the men could go only in single files, and that the absence of men might be accounted for in so many ways, it would be rather a matter of surprise that the number was so few."
On Feb. 12 Gen. Lambert captured Fort Bowyer, near Mobile, commanded by Lieut .- Col. Lawrence, and remained there until the close of the war, or rather until notified of the treaty of peace, which had been concluded at Ghent on Dec. 24, 1814. On March 17 Gen. Jackson wrote to Lambert informing him of the treaty, and next day the latter replied that he had ordered a cessation of hostilities. On the 19th he wrote that the preparations for the long voyage might detain the troops a few days longer than was at first antici- pated, but that Fort Bowyer would be evacuated as soon as prac- ticable, which promise was faithfully observed. While at New Or- leans a number of negro slaves belonging to American planters found their way into the British camp. A lively correspondence en- sued regarding their return to their masters, Gen. Lambert insisting that he would offer no objections to their owners taking them away, and that he would persuade them to return; but that he could not compel them to do so, as his government did not recognize the in- stitution of slavery. Most of the slaves were recovered. Gen. Lam- bert died in England in 1847.
Lamothe, a post-hamlet of Rapides parish, is situated on a con- fluent of the Red river. + miles south of Ashburn, the nearest rail- road station, and 9 miles west of Alexandria, the parish seat. In 1900 it had a population of 80.
Lamourie, a village of Rapides parish, is situated in the east- central part at the junction of the Southern Pacific, the Texas & Pa- cific and the Shreveport, Alexandria & Southwestern railroads, 10 miles southeast of Alexandria, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, a large retail trade, and is the center of shipping for that section of the parish. The population in 1900 was 100.
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Landerneau, a village of Caldwell parish, is situated in the north- eastern corner on the Boeuf river about 5 miles southeast of Bosco, the nearest railroad station, and 12 miles northeast of Columbia, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice and is a trading center for the neighborhood.
Land Grants .- The first grants or concessions of land to private individuals in Louisiana were made shortly after the Western Com- pany assumed control of the colony in 1717. Among these early concessions the following were the most important: A grant to Paris Duvernay at the old Indian village of the Bayagoulas, oppo- site Manchae; one to MI. le Blane and others on the Yazoux; a grant of 16 leagues square to John Law, about 30 miles above the mouth of the Arkansas, where he established a post ; one to Diron d'Artaguette at Baton Rouge ; one to Villemont on the Black river ; one to MI. de Muys at the Tchoupitoulas ; one to St. Reine at the Tonicas; one to the Marquis d'Artagnac at Cannesbrule; one to Mme. de Chaumont at the Pascagoulas; one to the Brossart brothers, two merchants of Lyons, on the Red river, not far from Natchitoches ; one to Benard de la Harpe farther up the Red river in the country of the Cadodaqui Indians ; one at the bay of St. Louis and old Biloxi to Mme. de Mezieres ; one at Pointe Coupée to MI. de Meuse; one at the Houmas to the Marquis d'Ancenis; and the grants to Coly, Cleracs and De la Houssaye in the vicinity of Natchez.
The owners of these grants were wealthy and prominent people in France. They were expected to send to the colony agents, work- men, tools, seeds, etc., for the cultivation of the soil, and to use every reasonable endeavor for the development of their possessions. Paris Duvernay brought over with him his brother, two sisters, and about 25 other persons, intending to raise rice, indigo and to- bacco and to engage in silk culture. The grant to De Muys was a large tract near the old Tensas village. He sent over his two nephews and two associates in charge of about 80 persons, with the necessary tools, implements, etc., to engage in agricultural pitr- suits. The concession on the Yazonx ( Yazoo) was obtained by Le Blanc, French minister of war. Le Comte de Belle-Isle, Le Marquis d'Asfeld and Le Blond, brigadier engineer, the last named being in the colony with the title of director-general. The settlement in this colony was destroyed and the inhabitants butchered by the Indians on Dec. 12, 1779, a short time after the massacre at Natchez.
The failure of John Law in 1720 seriously affected the operations of the Western Company and almost put a stop to immigration and the making of improvements on the concessions. While things were in this state Father Charlevoix descended the Mississippi. visiting all the concessions, and it is not surprising that he reported their conditions in a very unfavorable light, though he declares he never heard Louisiana lightly spoken of, "except by three sorts of people that have been in the country, and whose testimony is cer- tainly to be rejected. The first are the mariners, who, from the road off Ship island or Isle Dauphin, could see nothing but that island
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quite covered with barren sand, and the still more sandy coast of Biloxi, and who suffered themselves to be persuaded that the en- trance of the Mississippi was impassable for ships of a certain bulk, or that it was necessary to go 50 leagues up this river to find a place that was habitable.
"The second sort are poor wretches who are being driven out of France for their crimes or bad conduct, true or false, or who, whether to shun the pursuit of their creditors, have engaged them- selves in the troops or in the grants. Both these, looking upon this country as a place of banishment, are disgusted at everything. They do not interest themselves in the success of the colony, of which they are members against their inclination.
"The third sort are those who, having seen nothing but poverty in a country on which excessive expenses have been bestowed, at- tribute to it what we ought to cast entirely on the incapacity or on the negligence of those who had the care of settling it. You also know very well the reasons they had to publish that Louisiana con- tained great treasures, and that it brought us near the famous mines of St. Barbe and others still richer, from which they flattered them- selves they could easily drive away the possessors (the Spaniards) ; and because these idle stories had gained credit with some silly people, instead of imputing to themselves the error, in which they were engaged by their foolish credulity, they have discharged their spleen on the country, where they have found nothing of what had been promised them." (Journal of Father Charlevoix, La. Hist. Coll., part III.)
Notwithstanding the discouraging reports of the "three sorts of people" spoken of by Father Charlevoix, land in Louisiana was con- stantly rising in value as the possibilities of the country became bet- ter understood. This, with the fact that the early surveys had been carelessly made ; the limits fixed in a loose or arbitrary manner ; and the titles to many grants having never been perfected, from negli- gence or other causes, opened the way for innumerable lawsuits. In order to forestall the confusion that might arise from the pre- vailing conditions, a royal order was issued on Aug. 10, 1728, to the effect "That all the orders of concession addressed before the 30th of Dec., 1723, by the India Company in France, to its directors in Louisiana, if not yet presented to the said directors for confirmation, or if not as yet followed by the possession and improvement stipu- lated in the acts of concession, are null and void."
Pursuant to this order every landholder was required to present his title to the superior council within a specified time, to show the quantity and location of land claimed under the title, and to furnish evidence as to the number of acres under cultivation. Failure to comply with this order was punishable by a fine of 1,000 livres and the loss of the land, which, in such cases, would revert to the com- pany. Concessions on the Mississippi below Manchac were to be reduced in size, so that none would have a frontage on the river of more than 20 acres, except where it could be proved that more than that number of acres were under cultivation, the depth of each
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concession to vary from 100 to 120 acres, according to the locality, and the company was required to raise a tax of one cent for each aere, whether cultivated or not. Under this system a number of the carly land grants were forfeited, the titles of the others were completed, and the custom then established was continued until the beginning of the Spanish domination.
Spanish Grants .- When O'Reilly took charge of colonial affairs for the Spanish government in 1769, he prescribed the manner in which all future concessions of land should be made, and the extent of such concessions. It is therefore doubtful whether some of the large grants of land that were made some years later by O'Reilly's successors were valid, unless it can be shown that his decree, made in the name of the king, had been repealed or modified. Immedi- ately after the French revolution a number of French royalists, who were compelled to leave their native land. sought a refuge in Louisiana. Upon their arrival in New Orleans Baron de Carondelet. at that time governor of Louisiana, received the refugees with every manifestation of friendship and furnished them with transportation to the Ouachita river, where several of them were given large con- cessions. Baron de Bastrop received a grant of 12 leagues square (108 square miles) : Marquis de Maison Rouge received a grant of 30,000 aeres: Jacques Ceran de St. Vrain received 10,000 square arpents, and there were some grants of lesser extent. These con- cessions were accompanied by terms of great liberality, calculated to encourage immigration and develop the resources of the country. They were made on certain conditions, which Gayarre says were never complied with, and a full and complete title never vested in the grantees. The result was an almost interminable chain of liti- gation, and the question was not finally settled until several years after the purchase of the province by the United States. In the carly part of the year 1802 Baron de Bastrop disposed of a portion of his grant to Abraham Morehouse, a citizen of the United States. but the king of Spain disapproved of the transaction, and on July 18. 1802, issued a royal decree forbidding the grant or sale of any land in Louisiana to a citizen of the United States.
Concerning Spanish grants in Lower Louisiana Claiborne says: "Lands were obtained with little difficulty or expense. The immi- grant made his selection of any unoccupied parcel, and presented a written request for an order of survey. If no obstacle inter- vened, the governor issued the order, and on return of the plat and the payment of very moderate fees for surveying, the grant issued. Many settled under the order of survey merely, if the survey could not be immediately made."
In Upper Louisiana, the oldest grants on the records at St. Louis bear the date of April 27, 1766. They were made by the French authorities, who continued to grant lands in that section of the province until May, 1770. when Spain took possession under the treaty of 1762. About 1796 Spain found it necessary to populate Upper Louisiana as a barrier to the English in Canada. At that time the policy of the king was entirely different from that in 1802
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when Baron de Bastrop endeavored to sell his concession to More- house. Every encouragement was given to settlers, and emigrants from the United States were given the preference in the choice of lands, "as their prejudices against the English were a sure guaran- tee of their attachment to the Spanish interests." Lands were granted to them for the bare cost of survey and the fees of con- firmation by the authorities at New Orleans. The fees of office and the survey of 800 acres, according to Stoddard, amounted to but $41, only exclusive of the hire of chainmen. This liberal policy and the fertility of the soil turned the tide of emigration to Upper Louisiana, and hundreds of families there found homes. Stoddard says: "The quantity of land actually granted and conceded in Lower Louisiana before we took possession of it cannot be esti- mated with certainty, because under the Spanish government indi- vidual claims were never recorded till after the surveys were made, and at the time alluded to a vast number of unextended concessions were scattered among the settlers."
English Grants .- Wailes' Report of 1854 says: "From Jan., 1768, to Sept., 1779, numerous British grants were made by the governor of West Florida ; those in the Natchez district being made chictly to officers of the British army and navy, and in many instances were of large dimensions. The largest embraced 25,000 acres; two others 20,000 each; several were for 10,000, and very few for less than 1,000 acres. * * Few of the lands granted were occupied or improved to the extent required, proof of which was to have been made within a stated time. They were. therefore, inchoate, if strictly construed, and were never perfected. Many of them, how- ever, were nevertheless recognized and confirmed by the succeed- ing Spanish government, which, though acquiring the country by conquest, yet with liberality guaranteed these possessions to the holders, upon the performance of certain reasonable requirements, such as presentation and proof of title, accompanied by occupancy, allowing several years for this purpose."
Some of these British grants were in that portion of Louisiana known as the "Florida Parishes," and most of them were made dur- ing the administration of Peter Chester as governor of West Flor- ida. After the English had established themselves in possession of West Florida, they prohibited the French settlers there from dis- posing of their lands until the titles had been verified, registered, and approved by the commanding officer. By the treaty of 1783, between Spain and Great Britain, the subjects of the latter country were granted 18 months in which to sell their estates and vacate the territory. At the expiration of that time the property was to be forfeited, unless the holder took the oath of allegiance to the king of Spain. This allowance of time was subsequently extended, but . where the terms were not fully complied with the lands were con- fiscated and regranted to some loyal applicant. Some confiscation of British grants also followed the revolt of 1791, in cases where .the holders of the lands took part in the uprising against the Span- ish.
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When the United States took possession of the territory title was claimed by many nonresident holders of British grants. In 1803 President Jefferson appointed a commission, consisting of James Madison, secretary of state, Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treas- ury, and Levi Lincoln, attorney-general, to investigate and recom- mend a policy to be followed by Congress in the enactment of laws relating to the public domain in the newly acquired territory. The commissioners reported about 80,000 acres claimed by nonresidents under the British grants, and regarding the claims said: "The West Florida patents were, with but few exceptions, accompanied with a clause of forfeiture, unless the land should be improved within ten years : and the Spanish government seem to have considered all the unimproved lands as forfeited. It is, however, alleged on the part of the grantees, that, although a condition of settlement was com- monly annexed to the grants in the British provinces under the royal governments, with a penalty of forfeiture in case of default, this has never been enforced either by the British government, or, after the Revolution, by the States; and that the Indians at first, and the Spanish conquest afterwards, rendered in this case a fulfillment of the conditions impossible. Where the land has been regranted by Spain, the parties must be left to a judicial decision ; but where it remains unclaimed by any other person, the commissioners are of opinion that it would be improper for the United States to grant it again, until the amount and nature of the grants shall have been fully ascertained."
The first act of Congress relating to these grants was passed in 1803 and required British claimants to register at Natchez before March 31, 1804. Through Minister Erskine, various nonresident claimants presented a memorial to the U. S. government, asking for more time, and a supplementary act extended the time for lands west of the. Pearl river to Nov. 30, 1804. By the act of March 2, 1805, the time was still further extended to Dec. 31, 1805, which was final. In 1812 Congress passed an aet providing that every person, or legal representative of such person, claiming lands in the territory by virtue of a British or Spanish land warrant or order of survey. granted prior to Oct. 27, 1795, who was on that date actually resi- dent in the territory, and whose claim had been regularly filed with the proper register of the land office, be confirmed in his right to the land so claimed. This left out all those who were trying to revive old British warrants for speculative purposes, and these sent agents into the country to the great annoyance of persons then occupying the lands claimed on such warrants. In 1818 the matter was re- ferred by Congress to William H. Crawford, secretary of the treas- ury, for an opinion, and he reported a bill for the settlement of the claims, but it does not appear that Congress took any action, leav- ing the claims to be adjusted under the law of 1803 and the amend- ments thereto.
Land Laws .- When the first settlements were made in America land was abundant and without commercial value. As Louis XIV was without resources to aid the colonists, he resorted to the cus-
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tom of granting lavishly the lands of the new French acquisitions in this country, as the best means of retaining his hold upon the terri- tory. was by peopling it with his subjects. In Canada land was granted by feudal tenure-"a system of social polity, of which lord- ship and vassalage were the essential features, and of land tenure in which the real ownership inhered solely in the lord, only use, possession, or tenancy belonging to the grantee." In Louisiana the colonists held their lands under the French and Spanish govern- ments by allodial tenure-that is independently and without any acknowledgment of a feudal superior. This principle of allodium was established and strictly adhered to during the regimes of Crozat and the Western Company. No lands were granted except by appli- cation in the form of a petition, and concessions were either general or special : general when the concessionaire was authorized to levy upon any portion of the vacant lands, and special when his conces- sion was designated by certain fixed metes and bounds. The former was the more common method, as it gave the concessionaire the privilege of selecting such tract as suited his convenience, though a proviso limiting the extent of his lawful claim was usually inserted in his title. Petitions and concessions were drawn with great exact- ness-usually by notaries or public officials-and were made to correspond to each other, and the same care was exercised in the transfer of land from one individual to another. In all these con- cessions or transfers no provision "contrary to law, religion or mo- rality" could be inserted, and all grantees were bound by certain restrictions, such as clearing and improving the land, constructing levees, etc.
During the French domination the general land laws of France and the royal edicts of the king applied to Louisiana, with such modifications as local conditions made necessary. With the incom- ing of the Spanish domination the whole system of French colonial jurisprudence was changed. but the principle of allodium was re- tained, the changes were not to disturb those who held titles to lands granted by the French authorities, and who had complied with all the conditions imposed by such titles. On Feb. 17, 1770, Gov. O'Reilly promulgated a series of laws or regulations relating to the size of future land grants and imposing certain restrictions, but these laws were never regarded as anything but general rules, liable to exceptions when occasion might make it necessary or ad- visable. They were made partly to check improper speculations by subordinate officials, and partly to encourage immigration. They were not considered binding upon the successors of O'Reilly, any more than a law of one legislature is binding upon a succeeding one that may choose to repeal it. Each governor under the Spanish domination possessed discretionary power over the edicts or regu- lations of his predecessors. Consequently, in Jan., 1798, Gov. Gayoso issued to commandants a series of instructions, the principal features of which were as follows:
1. Commandants were forbidden to grant land to a new settler coming from another post where he had obtained a grant. Such
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persons must either purchase land or obtain a grant from the gov- ernor.
2. If a settler happened to be a foreigner. unmarried, and with- out either slaves, money or other property, no grant was to be made to him until he should have remained + years in the post. "demcan- ing himself well in some honest and useful occupation."
3. Mechanics were to be protected, but no land was to be granted to them until they had acquired some property during a residence of 3 years in the exercise of their trade.
4. The unmarried emigrant, without trade or property, was re- quired to reside for + years in the post, engaged in tilling the soil, before land would be granted to him, except in case he married the daughter of some honest farmer, when a residence of 2 years would be sufficient to entitle him to hold land in his own right.
5. Children of immigrants were required to be educated in the Catholic faith.
6. No land was to be granted to a trader or speculator.
7. No settler was to be admitted to U'pper Louisiana unless he was a farmer or mechanic.
These instructions, which had the force of law, were followed on July 17, 1799, by a set of regulations issued by Intendant Morales, which provided :
1. Each newly arrived family was to receive a grant of land. If on the Mississippi river, this grant should be not more than 8 arpents in front by 40 deep: if at any other place "the quantity which they shall be judged capable to cultivate, but never to exceed 800 arpents in superfices."
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