USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 31
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department of the University of Louisiana was opened, after a thorough reorganization.
The legislature of 1879 assembled on Jan. 6, Lieut .- Gov. Wiltz presiding in the senate and John C. Moncure was elected speaker of the house. Benjamin F. Jonas was elected U. S. senator to stic- ceed James B. Eustis. An act was passed authorizing a constitui- tional convention, to meet in New Orleans on April 21, delegates to be elected on March 18. (See Constitutional Conventions.) As this was the year for the election of state officers, a Democratic state convention met at New Orleans on Oct. 6 and nominated the following ticket: For governor, Louis A. Wiltz; lieutenant- governor, Samuel D. McEnery ; secretary of state, W. S. Strong ; auditor, Allen Jumel; attorney-general, J. C. Egan; superintend- ent of schools, E. H. Fay. The Republican convention met on Oct. 21 and nominated Taylor Beattie for governor; James M. Gillespie, lieutenant-governor; James D. Kennedy (colored), sec -. retary of state; Clodius Mayo, auditor ; Don A. Pardee, attorney- general; M. F. Bonzano, superintendent of schools. The election was held on Dec. 8, when the constitution was ratified by a vote of 86,494 to 27,346; the entire Democratic state ticket was victori- ous by large majorities, and both branches of the legislature were likewise Democratic.
The first administration of Gov. Nicholls came to an end on Jan. 14, 1880, when Gov. Wiltz was inaugurated. On May 21, 1888, his second administration began, James Jeffries being at the same time inducted into office as lieutenant-governor. Quite a different state of affairs existed now as compared with the time he was first elected governor. No unscrupulous politicians disputed his title to the office, nor no Federal troops stood as a menace to his asserting his rights. During the twelve years that had elapsed since the recognition of his government by President Hayes, great progress had been made in the state along all lines. The state treasury, instead of being bankrupt, showed balances in the sev- eral funds on April 30. amounting to nearly $485,000. Gov. Nicholls gave special attention to the improvement of the public school system, and in 1888 a state board of education was created. It was composed of the governor, the attorney-general and the superintendent of education. who were members ex-officio, and six citizens-one from each of the Congressional districts-to be appointed by the governor. School returns from all but four par- ishes for the school year of 1888-89 reported 1.304 white and 665 colored schools in operation, with 110.914 pupils enrolled.
In Oct., 1889, indictments were returned by the grand jury at New Orleans against former state treasurer E. A. Burke (q. v.) for irregularities in the issue and negotiation of bonds. The state immigration bureau and an immigration association, supported by private enterprise, were active in advertising the resources of the state for the purpose of attracting immigrants, and several con- ventions were held in different parts of the state to further the work of these societies.
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The regular biennial session of the legislature began on May 12, 1890. Among the acts passed was one providing for equal but separate coaches for white and colored passengers on all railroads. A vigorous campaign was waged by an association called the Anti Lottery League to prevent the passage of a bill to renew the charter of the Louisiana state lottery, which did not expire until Jan. 1, 1894. and charges of accepting bribes were made against some of the members of the assembly. (See Lotteries.) All the educational and charitable institutions were reported in good condition, and agricultural statistics showed a marked in- crease in productions over the crops of the previous year. The census of 1890 gave the population of the state as 1,117,605, an increase of 138,996 during the preceding ten years. Some excite- ment occurred in the fall of the year over the murder of David C. Hennessey, chief of the New Orleans police, by men supposed to be members of the Italian Mafia (q. v.). The year 1891 was uneventful, except for the spirited discussion of the lottery ques- tion, which continued without abatement.
Five candidates for governor were nominated to be voted for at the election on April 19, 1892, viz: Murphy J. Foster, who was. nominated as an anti-lottery candidate on a ticket formed by a fusion of one wing of the Democratic party with the Farmers' Alliance ; Samuel D. McEnery, who claimed to represent the regu- lar Democracy : Albert H. Leonard and John Ebreanx, each rep- resenting a faction of the Republican party ; and R. L. Tannehill, the candidate of the People's party. Ex-Gov. Kellogg canvassed the state in the interest of the Leonard ticket, and ex-Gov. War- moth supported Ebreaux. In the election Foster received 79,270 votes : McEnery, 46,739; Leonard. 28.834: Ebreaux, 11.301 ; Tanne- hill, 8,502. Gov. Foster was inaugurated at the beginning of the legislative session in May, and soon afterward ex-Gov. Nicholls was appointed chief justice of the supreme court.
Nicholson, James W., educator. was born in Mason county, Ala., June 16, 1844. He received his education at Homer college, La., but left school to enlist in the Confederate 'army at the outbreak of the Civil war. During the engagements at Belmont, Fort Pillow, Baker's creek, Resaca, Peachtree creek. Decatur, Franklin, Nash- ville, Kinston, and Bentonville, he fought as a member of the 12th regiment of Louisiana infantry. Before entering the army he was interested in mathematics, and continued his studies during the war. At the close of the war he taught for several years and was for a while professor of mathematics at Homer college. He founded Arizona seminary, considered one of the best schools in the state. In 1877 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the Louisiana state university, agricultural and mechanical college, of which he was president in 1883-4. and 1887-96. He has pub- lished a number of pamphlets upon mathematics which have been incorporated into some of the standard works upon the subject. lle is a contributor to mathematical journals and author of a series of text books on arithmetic and elementary algebra used in
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the Louisiana schools. President Nicholson was married in Clai- borne parish, July 30, 1876, to Sallie D., daughter of James C. Baker, a Georgia merchant.
Nickel, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Catahoula parish, is situated on a branch of Salem creek, 8 miles north of Jena, the nearest railroad station, and 15 miles west of Harrisonburg, the parish seat.
Ninock, a post-hamlet and station near the southern boundary of Bossier parish, is situated on the line of the Louisiana Railway & Navigation company, has an express office and telegraph station, and is a trading center for the surrounding district.
Noble, a town in the northwestern part of Sabine parish, is a station of the Kansas City Southern R. R., about 12 miles north- west of Many, the parish seat. It is in the western timber district and its location at the junction of the main line of the Kansas City Southern and the Shreveport, Noble & Southern railroads makes it the shipping and supply town for the large arca of timber coun- try between the railroad and the Sabine river. It has sawmills and other lumber industries, a money order postoffice, express and telegraph offices, several good mercantile establishments, and in 1900 reported a population of 110.
Nolan, Philip, was an Irish adventurer who lived in Kentucky in the closing years of the 18th century, and who acquired consid- erable notoriety through his association with Gen. Wilkinson, for whom he acted as agent in Louisiana from 1789 to 1791. When Wilkinson gave up his monopoly of the New Orleans trade in 1791 to accept a commission in the U. S. army, Nolan made a trip down the river and did not return to Kentucky for about five years. During this time he visited Mexico on a trading expedition, but his passport did not prevent his being suspected as a spy, and he was reduced to poverty by being cheated out of his goods. He then took up his abode among the Indians, turned hunter and trapper, sold furs and caught wild horses, bringing 50 head with him to New Orleans, where he says he was "received as a person risen from the dead and was protected by the Baron." (Caronde- let.) On June 10, 1796, he wrote to Wilkinson from Frankfort, Ky., that he had been suspected as a spy by the Mexicans, and even by Gayoso, so that lie dared not write. "A letter from a trader in horses," said he, "to a general of the Federal armies, would have confirmed suspicions that were nearly fatal to me." He then resumed his relations with Wilkinson, and it is said that he received from Thomas Power, Carondelet's agent, the $9,640 sent up to New Madrid for the general. In the winter of 1796 he again descended the Mississippi with a lot of Kentucky produce, and on this occasion bore a cipher letter from Wilkinson to Gayoso, then governor of the Natchez district, with the following recom- mendation : "This will be delivered to you by Nolan, whom you know is a child of my own raising, true to his profession and firm in his attachment to Spain. I consider him a powerful instrument in our hands' should occasion offer."
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The Spanish authorities, however, did not place much confidence in Nolan. Gayoso said of him: "He is a vile man and my im- placable enemy, yet he treats me with attention. The Baron knows him, and has done all in his power to protect me from his vengeance. I have, however, my fears; and I may yet be obliged to shoot the monster with a poisoned arrow." On July 13, 1801, Gov. Salcedo, who had assumed the duties of his office about a month before. informed the Spanish government that he had found it necessary to arm and equip the militia of the Natchitoches dis- triet "with a view of counteracting the projects of the American bandit, Philip Nolan, who had introduced himself into the interior of the provinces of New Spain with 36 armed men." About this time Nolan was shot and killed by Spanish soldiers while at the head of his men. his companions being captured and made to work in the Spanish mines. Edward Everett Hale has made the name ot Philip Nolan familiar through his story of "A Man Without a Country." Mr. Hale regarded the killing of Nolan and the im- prisonment of his men as one of the causes for the bitter hatred of the Spaniards by the American inhabitants of the Mississippi valley.
Nolia is a post-hamlet of Natchitoches parish.
Nolte, Vincent, formerly a merchant of New Orleans, and author of several prominent works on political economy, was born in 1779, in Leghorn, Italy, where he entered the mercantile business as a mere boy. Later he pursued the same occupation in Ham- burg, and in 1804 he went to Paris, where he entered the employ of a prominent commercial house. His duties often took him to America, where he made extensive business tours. While on one of these missions in 1806 he arrived in New Orleans for the first time, a place which was to be his headquarters for many years afterward. He had the good fortune of being an eye-witness of the downfall of the British at the memorable Battle of New Or- leans, Jan. 8, 1815. which is vividly portrayed in his work, "Fifty Years in both Hemispheres." In this work he also tells of the employment of his cotton bales by the Americans in the breast works along Macarty's canal in the following language-"The general wished to erect five or six redoubts along the Macarty canal, but the miriness of the soil rendered all exertions utterly fruitless. A French engineer then suggested to Jackson the idea of filling up the hollowed redoubts with cotton bales, laid to the depth of three or four, one above the other." Mr. Nolte contrib- uted quite liberally to the press, most of his contributions being of a political or economical nature. He pursued literary work in Trieste in 1848-49. in the meantime editing his "View of the Com- mercial World," and his revised edition of William Benche's "Sys- tem of Insurance." He was also editor-in-chief of the "Deutsche Triehafen." a journal devoted to the interests of free trade. He died in 1852.
Normal Schools .- (See State Normal School.)
Norvilla Collegiate Institute .- By the act of March 14, 1878,
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William A. Gill, C. M. Silman, John Freeler, Reuben Lee and others were incorporated as a body politic to open and conduct an institution by this name in the town of Greensburg, the parish seat of St. Helena parish. For some time the school was conducted in the lower story of the Masonic building, and later became a part of the high school system. .
Norwood, a post-village of East Feliciana parish, is a station on the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R. R., 8 miles northwest of Clin- ton, the parish seat. It is the supply and shipping town for the rich farming country in the northwestern part of the parish, being located in the fruit and truck farm district that supplies a large quantity of the early berries and fruits that are shipped to the markets of Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago, has a bank, a money order postoffice, telegraph and telephone facilities, and in 1900 had a population of 92.
Notes and Bills of Exchange .- Instruments of this nature are entitled to three days' grace, except bills at sight or orders for money on demand, which are allowed no grace. If the third .or last day of grace be a legal holiday (see Holidays), and should the day succeeding the last or third day of grace also be a holiday, then the note or bill shall be payable on the following day not a legal holiday. To hold the indorser, the note must be presented on the proper day, payment demanded either of the drawer or at the place of payment, and the indorser notified of dishonor. The same delays, under like circumstances, are allowed in giving notice to the indorser as are allowed in protesting for nonpayment, etc. In computing the delay for giving notice of nonacceptance or nonpayment of a bill of exchange, or promissory note, or other .commercial paper, the days of public rest or legal holidays shall . not be counted, and if the day or two days next succeeding the protest for nonacceptance or nonpayment shall be days of public rest or legal holidays, then the day next following shall be com- puted as the first day after the protest. Notes, bills, and other forms of commercial paper, calling for the payment of money only, and at a time specified, are negotiable when drawn payable to order or bearer.
Notnac, a village in the northeastern part of Tensas parish, is a short distance east of Lake St. Joseph, and + miles northeast of Newellton, the nearest railroad station.
Noyan, Jean Baptiste, a nephew of Gov. Bienville, came to Louisiana as a youth soon after the founding of the colony, but was recalled to France in the fall of 1726. He again returned to Louisiana and took part in the Chickasaw war, returning to France in 1740, where he rose to the rank of captain in the French cavalry. Upon retiring from the army he settled near New Orleans, married the daughter of Atty .- Gen. Lafreniere and became a planter. He was active in the insurrection of 1768, and was one of those arrested on Aug. 21, 1769, by Gov. O'Reilly's order. He was charged with attending seditious meetings before the insurrection ; of having the flagstaff for the French colors made on his planta-
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tion ; of inciting the Acadians to revolt; of furnishing food and other supplies to the revolutionists, and of having openly expressed his. desire to see Gov. Ulloa "chased from the colony." These offenses, in the opinion of the court that tried him, merited deatlı. He was first sentenced to be hanged, but as no hangman could be found he was shot to death on Oct. 25, 1769.
Nunez, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Vermilion parish, is about 5 miles west of Abbeville, the parish seat and nearest railroad town.
Nuñez, Alvarez, Spanish explorer, surnamed Cabeça de Vaca, was born in Spain about 1490. He was second in command of the ill-fated expedition under Panfilo de Narvaez to Florida in 1527. When Narvaez was lost at sea. while attempting to reach Mexico, Nuñez, with some of the survivors, continued westward along the coast of Louisiana until they were cast ashore on an island some- where near the present boundary between Louisiana and Texas. They managed to reach the mainland, made an expedition into the interior, and are supposed to have reached what is now New Mexico. In 1536. after eight years of hardships, Nuñez and three of his companions arrived at the Spanish settlements on the Pacific coast. Soon after that Nuñez returned to Spain and in 1540 was appointed adelantado or governor of the Rio de la Plata. He ex- plored the valley of the La Plata, conquered several Indian tribes, but on the accusations of de Irala, his lieutenant, he was sum- moned to Spain for trial, found guilty, and banished to Africa. At the end of eight years he was recalled by the king of Spain and made judge of the court at Seville, where he died in 1564. Twenty years before his death there was published at Valladolid "The Ship- wrecks of Alvarez Nuñez," written by his secretary, Fernandez, with notes and comments by himself. In his work mention is made of a river "which poured such a large stream into the Gulf that they took fresh water from the sea." This is supposed to have been the Mississippi by some writers, who have tried to establish the claim that Nunez discovered that river prior to its discovery by De Soto-
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Oakdale, one of the principal towns of Calcasieu parish, is in the northeast corner of the parish at the junction of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and the St. Louis, Watkins & Gulf railroads, about 50 miles from Lake Charles. It is also the terminus of a short line of railroad operated by the Industrial Lumber company. Being located in the long leaf pine belt, lumbering is the principal industry and large quantities of that commodity are annually shipped from Oakdale. The town has a money order postoffice. telegraph and express offices. good schools, several mercantile establishments, and iz 1900 reported a population of 372.
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Oak Grove, a village of West Carroll parish, is a station on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., about 12 miles north of Floyd, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, is a trading center for a considerable territory, and in 1900 had a population of 76.
Oakland, a post-hamlet of Union parish, is about 3 miles south of the state line and 5 miles west of Cecil, the nearest railroad station. The population in 1900 was 56.
Oakley, a post-hamlet of Franklin parish, is situated on Bayou Macon, which forms the southern boundary of the parish, 3 miles southeast of Wisner, the nearest railroad station.
Oak Ridge, an incorporated town of Morehouse parish, is a sta- tion on the New Orleans & Northwestern R. R., about 12 miles southeast of Bastrop, the parish seat. It is one of the largest and most important towns in the parish, is the shipping and supply town for the rich agricultural country by which it is surrounded, has a money order postoffice, express office and telegraph and telephone facilities, and in 1900 reported a population of 348.
Oberlin, an incorporated town in the northeastern part of Cal- casieu parish, is situated on the St. Louis, Watkins & Gulf R. R., about 40 miles northeast of Lake Charles, the parish seat. It has rice mills and lumber industries, a money order postoffice, telegraph station and express office, good stores, and in 1900 had a population of 213.
Odd Fellows .- The order of Odd Fellows was organized in Eng- land in the 18th century, though the exact date when the first lodge was established is uncertain. For some time the lodges were isolated and independent of each other, but in 1812 those in and around Manchester sent delegates to a convention in that city, and this convention organized the "Manchester Unity of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows." An effort was made to introduce Odd Fellowship into New York as early as 1806, when Solomon Cham- bers and his two sons, members of Loyal Westminster Lodge of England, organized a lodge in New York city and another in Brooklyn. By 1810 both these lodges had been dissolved. In 1818 Thomas Wildey and another English Odd Fellow came to this country and located in Baltimore, Md., where the following year they organized a lodge which is recognized in the history of the order as the first in the United States. On Feb. 1, 1820, the Balti- more lodge received a charter from the Manchester unity under the name of "Washington Lodge and Grand Lodge of Maryland and of the United States of America." This charter was afterward sur- rendered and Washington Lodge became merely a local organiza- tion. The American lodges have long since ceased to affiliate with the Manchester unity, and in 1879 the United States grand lodge took the name of "Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows."
The order is made up of lodges, encampments and cantons, the last named being composed of the "Patriarchs Militant," something like the Knights Templars of the Masonic fraternity. The first
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encampment was organized at Baltimore in 1831 and the patriarchs militant degree was organized in 1884. There is also a Rebekah degree, to which the wives and daughters of Odd Fellows are eligible. This degree was started in 1851.
Odd Fellowship was introduced in Louisiana in 1831. On Feb. 20 of that year the United States grand lodge granted a charter to Joel C. Davis, William J. Orr, Francis C. Davis, William Willis, William Brown, John Malone, Joseph Price, Daniel Buckley, John F. Barnes and Joseph F. Irish to organize a lodge in New Orleans, and under the authority thus conferred Louisiana Lodge, No. 1, was duly instituted on May 23, 1831. On March 5, 1832, the grand lodge of the United States met at Baltimore and during the session a petition was received from Joel C. and Francis C. Davis, Melville Crossman, T. Losing and A. W. Scates asking for a charter for the grand lodge of the State of Louisiana, to be located in the city of New Orleans. The petition was granted and the grand lodge was formally established on Dec. 24, 1832, with Joel C. Davis as the first grand master. The first Louisiana encampment-Wildey No. 1-was instituted in New Orleans at the same time as the state grand lodge, and in Sept., 1848, the grand lodge of the United States authorized the formation of a grand encampment for the state. The first Rebekah lodge-Naomi No. 1-was organized at New Orleans on May 16, 1874.
From the time the first lodge was organized in the state in 1831 to the beginning of the war the order experienced a healthy growth. The membership in 1860 was about 3,000. The war brought dis- sensions into the ranks, and at a meeting of the grand lodge on Jan. 30, 1862, a resolution was offered to the effect "that this Right Worthy Grand Lodge dissolve its connection with the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of the United States." The resolution was voted down at that time, but later in the session it came up in the form "that this R. W. Grand Lodge declare itself independent of the R. W. Grand Lodge of the United States," in which form it was adopted at an adjourned meeting on Feb. 4, 1862, and on the 8th a similar resolution was adopted by the grand encampment. Under date of Jan. 14, 1865, Grand Sire Veitch of the United States grand lodge wrote a letter to the Louisiana Odd Fellows urging them to renew friendly relations with the national organization, and on the 31st the grand lodge of the state rescinded the resolution of separa- tion and resumed allegiance to the U. S. grand lodge. Whether as a result of this action or from other causes, the order steadily declined for several years. In 1874 there were but 1,307 Odd Fel- lows in the state, and in 1890 the number had further decreased to 875. Then the pendulum began to swing in the opposite direction, and in 1906 there were in Louisiana 3,010 members in good stand- ing. A majority of the subordinate lodges were at the latter date reported to be in a prosperous condition, with new members con- stantly coming in, and the dark days of Odd Fellowship in Louisiana seem to have been passed.
To the grand jurisdiction of Louisiana belongs the honor of first
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proposing and carrying to a successful conclusion two of the impor- tant institutions connected with the order. The first of these was the "Odd Fellows' Rest," and the "General Relief Committee." The latter, organized in 1846, was intended to relieve lodges of the begging system and extend aid to members by a systematic and businesslike effort, a per capita tax being levied upon the lodges to raise a fund for the use of the general relief committee. The Widows' and Orphans' general relief association was chartered on Feb. 20, 1864, and was incorporated on April 7, 1865. The Auxil- iary Endowment association of Louisiana was organized in Jan., 1882.
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