USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 36
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ing. By the act of July 5, 1904, a portion of the old penitentiary grounds were ordered to be sold, and on July 11, 1906, Gov. Blanchard approved an act authorizing the board of control to sell "the grounds and buildings used as a penitentiary in Baton Rouge, and to use the proceeds of the sale in the construction of buildings, purchase of machinery, and other improvements on the state farms, under the governor's approval."
The sale authorized by this bill had not been made in June, 1908, when the state board of Charities and Corrections submitted to the legislature a report, in which they condemned the conditions prevailing in the old prison, and closed this part of the report with the following statement : "Although it is doubtless true that a great many of these deficiencies are due to the fact that the walls have outlived their usefulness and will eventually be abandoned, yet while they are still used for the absolutely essential function of receiving prisoners for classification they should be kept up to a reasonably good standard of cleanliness and sanitation. We most earnestly recommend that at the earliest possible date this old building be abandoned entirely and the receiving station be estab- lished at Angola, with at least one member of the board of con- trol resident there." The board also made some recommendations regarding the improvement of conditions at the camps, though upon the whole the farm system was commended.
Hon. Samuel M. Jones, known all over the United States as "Golden Rule" Jones, while mayor of Toledo, Ohio, paid a. visit to Hope piantation, and afterward wrote to an Eastern journal as follows: "I have felt, because a great mass of the convicts of the South have been worked at outdoor employment that if they were badly treated they were not in the long run as badly off as our convicts in the North, who are contracted out to work in dingy, ill-ventilated and disease-breeding shops, where they are doomed to breathe poisoned air and almost entirely shut out from ever seeing a ray of sunshine. I was, however, quite unprepared to find that the State of Louisiana has taken a step in the matter of deal- ing with convicted human beings that easily places her a century ahead of the methods in common practice in the ordinary prisons North and South."
Penn, Alexander G., planter and member of Congress, was a Virginian by birth. He received but a limited education : moved from Virginia to St. Tammany parish, La., in 1812, where he be- came a planter; served in the Louisiana state assembly ; was post- master of New Orleans from 1845 to 1849, when he was elected to the 31st Congress as a Democrat, to take the place of J. H. Har- manson, deceased. and was reelected to the 32nd Congress. He died at Washington, D. C., May 8, 1866.
Penn, Davidson B., who was elected lieutenant-governor on the Democratic ticket in 1872. was a prominent figure in the political affairs of Louisiana during the reconstruction period. The candi- dates of both parties claimed to be elected in 1872, and the result was that two legislatures assembled in New Orleans in December,
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Lieut .- Gov. Penn presiding over the senate in the general assembly that met at the city hall, which was declared by Gov. Warmoth to be the legal state house. This legislature was not recognized by the national administration, and was therefore powerless to enact laws that would become effective. Some historians have failed to credit Mr. Penn with having been lieutenant-governor, but there is no question as to his having received a majority of the legal votes in the preceding election. When the people revolted in Sept., 1874, against the atrocities of the Kellogg administration (q. v.), Gov. John McEnery was absent from the city, and for the time being Mr. Penn was called upon to discharge the functions of the chief executive. He proved equal to the emergency by issuing his proclamation for the militia of the state to turn out and aid in the overthrow of Kellogg and his coadjutors, and by the ap- pointment of Gen. F. N. Ogden as provisional general of the militia. His next step was to send a despatch to President Grant, informing him that the people had "taken up arms to maintain the legal authority of the persons elected by them against the usurpers who have heaped upon them innumerable insults, burdens and wrongs." After the defeat of the Kellogg forces Mr. Penn ad- dressed the people, congratulating them upon the establishment of peace and order and calling upon them to assemble in the sev- eral churches of the city at 11 a. m. the next day "to offer thanks to God for the great mercies he has shown, and to implore a con- tinuance of his protection." The Kellogg government was rein- stated by bayonets, but Lieut .- Gov. Penn remained true to the interests of the people who had elected him, and with whom he was exceedingly popular.
Pensions .- The State of Louisiana, through her legislative de- partment, has ever been mindful of the needs of those who have been disabled while in the military service of the state, or of those dependent upon soldiers killed while in such service. On Feb. 8, 1817, the governor approved an act granting a pension of $8 per month to each of a number of persons dependent upon men who laid down their lives in the defense of New Orleans during the War of 1812, and these pensions were paid by the state authorities as long as the conditions demanded their payment.
Prior to the adoption of the constitution of 1898, a number of bills were passed by the legislature making appropriations for pro- viding Confederate soldiers with artificial limbs, and several un- expended balances in various funds were also made use of for this purpose by the authority of the general assembly and with the approval of the executive. From 1880 to 1894 about $50,000 were paid out by the state for the purchase and repair of artificial limbs alone, and relief along other lines was extended to worthy dis- abled soldiers and their families. The constitution of 1898 pro- vided for the payment of pensions to Confederate soldiers and sailors and their widows, the maximum rate to be $8 per month. Some idea of the amount expended annually under this provision of the constitution may be gained from the report of the pension
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commissioners to the governor and the legislature in June, 1908, which says:
"During its existence the board has examined 7,141 applica- tions, of which 5,835 were from soldiers and 1,306 from widows, and of these 4,170 were passed and 2,971 rejected. The total deaths have been 1,055 (880 soldiers and 175 widows). Dropped 111 soldiers and 28 widows (139). With the increase of the appropria- tion of $150,000, the board felt warranted in creating a special grade for the blind, paralyzed and bedridden, and in increasing the allowance per quarter to $20 for special grade, to $17 for grade No. 1, $14 for grade No. 2 and to $11 for grade No. 3. Such is the present status of payment. The board prudently abstained from placing the highest grade at $8 per month, the maximum allowed by the constitution. With the increased appropriation came an unexpected increase in the number of applications, and the board was reluctantly compelled to cease placing new applicants on the. roll as soon as it attained a number that alone could be paid with the appropriation now existing. Since this step 408 applications have accumulated that cannot be acted on until death diminishes the roll or the legislature gives the larger appropriation.
"Misfortune, age and infirmities are evidently pressing hard upon the veterans and widows of veterans of Louisiana, as their ability to earn a living vanishes, and they naturally look for assist- ance from their state. The board, moved by such touching appeals, feels warranted in urging Your Excellency and the legislature the necessity of a larger appropriation for pensions. At least $250,000 a year will be needed for some years to come to make good the promise of the constitution, that a maximum of $8 per month shall come to Confederate veterans and widows. *
"The expenses of the board for the past two years have been as follows (this statement being furnished to the board by the state treasurer), viz .: Salary of members, $4,750; expenses of mem- bers, $358.55: salary of secretary, $3,419.35; expenses of secretary for offices, $1.225.15; for artificial limbs, $3,250; pensions, S236,- 652.29; total, $249,655.34. This leaves a balance in the appropria- tion for pensions up to June 30, 1908, of $91,208.98. This balance will be disposed of before the next appropriation, as follows: Bal- ance in appropriation for pensions up to June 30. 1908, $91.208.98, less checks outstanding and unclaimed, $2,552; amount available, $88,656.98, out of which, quarters ending March 31 and June 30, 1908, are to be paid, requiring about $43,000 per quarter, S86,000, leaving an apparent balance of $2,656.98, which will be largely diminished by the salaries, office expenses and artificial limbs claims for the quarter ending June 30, 1908."
Perché, Napoleon Joseph, archbishop of New Orleans, was born in Angers, France. Jan. 10, 1805. He was a brilliant student, and when only 18 years old, was appointed professor of philosophy. At the age of 20 he entered the seminary of Beaupreatt for the study of theology : finished the course and was ordained priest. on Sept. 19, 1829. After holding several pastorates he asked permis-
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sion to go to Kentucky with Bishop Flaget, who in 1836 visited France to secure priests for his diocese. Permission was granted and for four years he remained on the frontier. He built a church at Portland, Ky., going to Louisiana to raise money to pay for it. It was on this trip that his eloquent sermons induced Archbishop Blanc to request him to come to New Orleans. He accepted the invitation and was made almoner of the Ursuline Convent. There was trouble at this time in New Orleans regarding the appoint- ments of priests. Abbé Perché supported the Bishop, and to assist him published a paper called "Le Propagatenr Catholique," which he edited himself though the paper stated it was "published by a society of literary men." It was due largely to the Abbe and his paper, that affairs were peacefully adjusted; this paper is the chief religious paper of the French people today. In 1870 Father Perché was nominated coadjutor to Archbishop Odin, and on May 1 he was consecrated Bishop of Abdera in partibus at the Cathedral of St. Louis. He succeeded to the archbishopric May 25, having served as coadjutor only 24 days. Trouble again arose about the management of church property, which led to litigation, but the archbishop settled with the wardens without causing any ill feeling. It was under Bishop Perche's rule that the Carmelite nuns were established in his diocese : 20 churches and chapels were built ; the priesthood grew; 2 Catholic colleges-Thibodaux and St. Mary's -- were founded, as well as academies for girls, a number of parochial schools, and an asylum for aged colored women, placed under the charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Pope Leo XIII called Perché the "Bossnet of the American church." Archbishop Perché died in New Orleans, La., Dec. 28. 1883.
Pere Antoine .- (See Sedella, Antonio de.)
Périer, Governor .- Boisbriant had been at the head of affairs in the colony less than a year when the Sienr Perier arrived at New Orleans in Oct., 1726, to succeed Bienville as governor-general. Dumont says the new governor was "a brave marine officer. to whose praise it can be said that he cansed himself to be loved by the troops as well as by the inhabitants, for his equity and benevo- lent generosity." Bienville's downfall had been the result of bitter opposition on the part of other officers in the colony, and the India company decided that much of the wrangling was due to the presence of the Le Moynes, and it was therefore deemed only fair to the new appointee to oust Bienville's relatives and friends from office. His brother Chateauguay was deposed as royal lieutenant, his two nephews, the De Noyans, were excluded from the service. all three were recalled to France, and even the gallant Boisbriant, his cousin, was later subjected to the same humiliation. Perier found affairs in a more or less chaotic condition on his arrival, and at once set to work to establish the colony on a more pros- perous basis. He was a tireless and energetic administrator and distributed rewards and punishments with equal impartiality. He made every effort to encourage agriculture, stimulated in every way the establishment of new plantations, to the end that the colony
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might be made self-sustaining, and was ably seconded by the other officers in this useful work. Negro slaves continued to be sent to the colony in considerable numbers by the company, and these were distributed by Périer among the several plantations without favor. (See Slavery.)
Says Gayarre: "Gov. Perier signalized the beginning of his administration by some improvements of an important nature. On the 15th of November, he had completed in front of New Orleans a levee, of 1,800 yards in length, and so broad that its summit meas- ured 18 feet in width. This same levee, although considerably re- duced in its proportions, he caused to be continued 18 miles on both sides of the city, above and below." He also began the con- struction of a canal from New Orleans to Bayou St. John, but was forced to abandon the project. He secretly aided the Spanish, who were then at war with England, and pursued the traditional French policy of exciting the Indian tribes to acts of hostility against the English. During his first year Périer ascended the Mississippi as far as the Arkansas, visiting and conciliating the various Indian tribes, and settling their differences. He also visited the settle- ments at Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Mobile. Though the year 1727 was known as one of great tranquillity and there were still less than 5,000 souls all told in the colony, including negroes and Indian slaves, yet the cost of administration increased and amounted to the considerable sum of 453,728 livres, the equiva- lent of three or four times that sum in gold today. A census of the colony on Jan. 1, 1726, copied from the archives at the ministry of the colonies in Paris by Prof. Fortier, reveals the following popu- lation : masters, 1952: hired men and servants, 276; negro slaves. 1.540; Indian slaves, 229. On July 1, 1727, a general census showed the following for New Orleans: masters, 729: hired, 65: negroes, 127; Indians, 17; cattle, 231 : horses, 10; hogs, none. The totals for the entire department of New Orleans at the same time were: masters, 1,329; hired, 138; negroes, 1,561 ; Indians, 73; cattle, 1,794; horses, 181 ; hogs, 514. A census of the negroes throughout the colony, taken by Périer in 1727. showed there were 2,600. A num- ber of Jesuit priests and missionaries and six Ursuline nuns arrived at New Orleans in a company ship in the summer of 1727, and the Casket Girls came early in 1728.
Speaking of affairs in the colony at this time Judge Martin says : "To the culture of rice and tobacco, that of indigo was now added ; the fig tree had been introduced from Provence, and the orange from Hispaniola. A considerable number of negroes had been in- troduced, and land, which hitherto had been considered of little value, began to be regarded as of great relative importance." In worder to regulate the matter of titles, and to insure strict compli- ance with the terms of the grant, landholders were required. under the terms of an edict of the king's council, Aug. 10, 1728. to fulfill all their stipulations in regard to occupancy and improvements, and to make declaration of the quantity of land claimed and im- proved by them, under pain of forfeiture. To insure a denser popu-
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lation above and below New Orleans for the protection of the capital, "grants of more than 20 arpents in front, on either side of the Mississippi, below Bayon Manchac, were to be reduced to that front, except in cases, in which the whole front had been improved." But Périer and De la Chaise were permitted to make exceptions in favor of landholders who used their lands for pasture, and who maintained large herds. "The depth of every grant was fixed at between 20 and 100 arpents. according to its situation ; the com- pany, as lords of all the land in the province, were authorized to levy a quit rent of a sou on every arpent, cultivated or not. and 5 livres on every negro, to enable it to build churches, glebes and hospitals ; grantees were restrained from alienating their land until they had made the requisite improvements."
Such in general was the state of the colony when the greatest disaster that had yet befallen it occurred, the massacre of the French at Natchez. (See Natchez Massacre.)
It is said that Perier was not naturally a cruel man, and yet some of his deeds fully equalled in savage ferocity the acts committed by his savage foes. It can only be said in his defense that the times were indeed troublous and that he had to deal with treacher- ous foes. Even the blacks were stirred to revolt, but the con- spiracy was discovered in time and several of their leaders, includ- ing one woman, were executed. Either because the little tribe of the Chouachas below New Orleans was thought to have fallen under the influence of the Chickasaws, or else in pursuance of the policy of provoking eternal hatred between the red and black races, he authorized the slaves of the neighboring plantations to brutally massacre the men, women, and children of this tribe. On another occasion, he allowed the tribe of the Tunicas to publicly torture and burn a captive Natchez woman on a platform erected in front of New Orleans. On Aug. 1, 1730, Perier, in reporting on the progress of the campaign, calmly wrote: "latterly. I burned here 4 men and 2 women, and sent the rest to St. Domingo."
One result of the Indian troubles was that the city of New Or- leans was placed in a better state of defense, and was completely surrounded by a wide ditch, while several small forts were erected between the city and the Natchez, as places of refuge for the set- tlers. The Indian wars, however, had proved very expensive to the Company of the Indies, and it decided that it was unable longer to bear the great burden of expense incident to the protection and defense of the colony under its monopoly. It therefore petitioned the Crown in Jan., 1731. for the right to surrender its charter. This request was granted after some lengthy negotiations, and before the close of the year Louisiana again became a royal prov- ince after a laborious existence under the monopoly of the India, company of 14 years. Two delegates, Brusle and Bru, were sent to the colony by the king to wind up the affairs of the company. and to receive claims against it in the province ; creditors were not ' permitted to bring suit against the company in France. Salmon had succeeded La Chaise in the office of commissary ordonnateur,
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the latter having died, and received possession of Louisiana from the company in the king's name, also taking over the property of the company, which was valued at only 263,000 livres. The oppor- tunity was now taken to reorganize the affairs of the colony, and on May 7, 1732, the superior council was placed on a new basis by letters patent. The new members of the council were as follows: Perier, governor'; Salmon, king's commissary ; Loubois and D'Ar- taguette, king's lieutenants; Benac, major of New Orleans; Fazende, Bruslé, Bru, Lafreniere. Prat, and Raguet, councilors; Fleuriau, attorney-general ; Rossart, secretary.
In order to revive commerce, which the monopoly of the India Company had nearly destroyed, the king relieved the vessels of his subjects, trading with Louisiana, from the obligation of transport- ing redemptioners and muskets, and also abolished all export and import duties on merchandise between France and Louisiana. This enlightened policy met an immediate response from the colonists and merchants of France and numerous trading vessels arrived at New Orleans the following year. An effort was also made to give the colony a more stable monetary system and to prevent the sud- den and extreme fluctuations in the value of its circulating medium. Gov. Périer continued to serve for a year under the new order, when Bienville was reappointed governor, and "much to his own satisfaction, and to the gratification of the colonists, returned to Louisiana in 1733, after an absence of eight years." Périer had served the colony for six years, and, says Gayarre, "retired with the reputation of a man of integrity and talent. but of stern dispo- sition, and of manners somewhat bordering on roughness. There was at the bottom of his character a fund of harshness from which the Indians had but too much to suffer, and which made itself felt even by his French subordinates." He was subsequently raised to the rank of lieutenant-general as a reward for his services.
Perkins, John, lawyer and jurist, was born in Louisiana, July 1, 1819. He was sent to Yale College, where he graduated in 1840; studied law and began practice at New Orleans; went to Europe, where he traveled extensively, and upon his return to America, was appointed a judge of the circuit court in 1851. A year later he was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 33d Congress as a Democrat. During the Civil war he served as a member of the Confederate Congress.
Perry, a village of Vermilion parish, is situated on the Vermilion river, about 3 miles southwest of Abbeville, the parish seat and nearest railroad town. It has a money order postoffice and in 1900 had a population of 116.
Peters, Samuel J., merchant and financier, was a native of Can- ada, though his father and grandfather were both born in Massa- chusetts. The latter was a Tory during the War for Independence, thereby losing his property in Massachusetts, and the English gov- ernment reimbursed him to some extent by giving him a grant of land in Canada. Samuel J. came to New Orleans poor and began life as a clerk, but by his energy and business sagacity he became
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in time one of the leading merchants of the city. For many years he was president of the City Bank of New Orleans, which institu- tion he conducted safely through the panic of 1837. Mr. Peters was a Whig in his political affiliations, and was a man of great public spirit. In 1840 he visited the public schools of several of the Northern and Eastern cities and by the knowledge thus gained he aided materially in establishing the public school system of New Orleans. He was elected a member of the city council, in which capacity his business training and experience made him a leader in the promotion of measures for the municipal welfare. Among other institutions in which he was deeply interested was what was known as the municipal library, of which he is said to have been the founder. When the meeting was called at New Orleans on May 5, 1846, to encourage enlistments for service in the War with Mex- ico, he was one of the vice-presidents and exerted his influence in securing the required quota of men.
Petit, Cavelier, a native of Louisiana and a member of one of the old creole families, was prominent in the affairs of the colony about the time it passed into the hands of the United States. He was made a member of the council established by Laussat on Nov. 30, 1803, and presided at the mecting of May 26, 1804, when the council adopted a letter to Etienne de Boré expressing regret at his resignation as mayor of New Orleans. Later in the year he was on the committee with Evan Jones, Edward Livingston and James Pitot to draft the petition to Congress protesting against the establishment of the Territory of Orleans. He attended the last meeting of the council on March 6, 1805, after which he retired to private life.
Petit, Joseph, who was one of the active leaders in the opposition to Spanish authority, after the treaty of 1762, was one of the lead- ing merchants of New Orleans, according to Gayarre, who men- tions him also as one of the "chief conspirators." He was arrested, along with several others, in Ang., 1769, by orders of Gov. O'Reilly. The specific charge against him, in addition to the general one of being a leader of the revolutionists, was that he had untied the rope which held Gov. Ulloa's vessel, thereby setting the governor adrift and hastening his departure. Petit was sentenced to imprisonment for life and was confined in Morro Castle, Havana, Cuba, until in 1771, when he was pardoned by the king of Spain through the in- tercession of the French government. He is believed to have passed the remainder of his life on the island of St. Domingo.
Philippinos in Louisiana .- For nearly 75 years there has existed in the swamps of southeastern Louisiana, on the east shore of Lake Borgne a settlement of Malay fishermen-Tagalos from the Philippine islands. For years the public knew nothing of the ex- istence of the settlement and the people of New Orleans, less than 50 miles away, had heard but little of it. The marsh on the shore of the lake at the settlement is only about + inches above the level of the lake, and the houses are built in the true Philippine style. on high stilts or piles over the marsh and water, with- immense
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