USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 37
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eaves and balconies, but they are built of wood, as the palmetto and woven cane would not withstand the violence of the climate in the United States as in the Philippines. The wood for the houses had to be shipped a considerable distance, as no trees grow in the swamp. A strange wharf has been built by the inhabitants along the bayou where they moor their fishing boats. The people of the little colony . are of different tribes of the Malay race, some very dark, almost brown : some light with more regular features. Most of them are short and undersized, but with well knit supple bodies. They speak Spanish and a Malay dialect. Connection has always been maintained with Manila and the colony is added to from time to time by emigrants from the Philippines. No women are allowed in the colony and if a man has a family they must be kept elsewhere. The life of the colony is connected with New Orleans, where the headquarters of their benevolent society is maintained, and when a fisherman dies his remains are finally in- terred in one of the cemeteries in New Orleans. Of the 13 or 14 picturesque buildings nearly all have dried fish hanging from the roof, with chickens and pigs beneath the planking. They are lighted by lamps in which fish oil is used. No liquor is allowed in the settlement and disputes are settled by the oldest resident in the colony. The reason so little is known of the settlement is due to the peculiar reticence of the inhabitants, its isolated location, and the fact that they trade almost entirely with Chinese or Malays who live in out of the way places in New Orleans.
Phillips, a post-hamlet and station in the northeastern part of St. Helena parish, is on the Kentwood. Greensburg & Southeastern R. R., 4 miles east of Greensburg, the parish seat.
Phillips Bluff, a post -hamlet in the central part of Calcasieu par- ish, is about 5 miles south of Drew, the nearest railroad station,. and 20 miles northeast of Lake Charles, the parish seat.
Phoenix, a post-hamlet in the central part of Plaquemines parish .. is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi river, 5 miles south of Belair, the most convenient railroad station, and about 10 miles above Pointe a la Hache, the parish seat. It is a landing for steam -. ers of several lines. and in 1900 had a population of 95.
Pickering, one of the largest towns of Vernon parish, is on the Kansas City Southern R. R .. 7 miles south of Leesville, the parish seat. The majority of the inhabitants are engaged in the manu- facture of lumber, one of the largest sawmills in this section of the state being located here, and over 4.000 cars of lumber are shipped annually. Wood-working establishments are being built, but prac- tically nothing has been done as yet to develop the agricultural resources of the vicinity. Pickering has an international money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, and is the trading center for the surrounding district. The population in 1900 was 1.000. -
Piernas, Don Pedro, a Spanish soldier, came to Louisiana in 1766 as a captain in the force that accompanied Gov. Ulloa, and took part in the operations which established the Spanish govern-
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ment under O'Reilly. In the spring of 1770 he was appointed lien- tenant-governor of Upper Louisiana by O'Reilly and was sent with two companies of the stationary regiment of Louisiana to assume anthority over that portion of the province. He arrived at St. Louis on March 20, 1770, and soon afterward ordered the first survey of lots. His mild and conciliatory policy made friends of the more prominent of the early French settlers, who had been somewhat reluctant to renounce their allegiance to France. Their friendship for him was doubtless increased by the fact that he had married a French woman of New Orleans-Felicite Robineau de Portneuf -before coming to St. Louis. When he was succeeded by Fran- · cisco Cruzat on May 20, 1775, the people of St. Louis gave public expression to the regard for him and their endorsement of his offi- - cial acts.
Pilette, a post-village in the eastern part of Lafayette parish, is situated on the Vermilion river, 5 miles southeast of Lafayette, the parish seat, and 3 miles west of Broussard, the nearest railroad "station.
Pilot Town, a village of Plaquemines parish, is situated on the "east bank of the Mississippi river at the head of the passes, about 25 miles southeast of Buras, the nearest railroad station. It has a money order postoffice and telegraph station, is the headquarters for the men who pilot the vessels through the pass, and is the point from which vessels are sighted and reported by wire to New Or- leans. In 1900 it had a population of 87.
Pine, a post-hamlet in the northern part of Washington parish, is situated on the Bogue Lusa, about 4 miles southwest of Pope- ville, the nearest railroad station, and 10 miles northeast of Frank- linton, the parish seat.
Pineda, Alfonso Alvarez .- (See Garay, Francisco de.)
Pine Grove, a post-hamlet in the southwestern part of St. Helena parisli, is situated on a branch of the Tickfaw river, about 4 miles west of Mayer, the nearest railroad station. and 10 miles southwest of Greensburg, the parish seat. It had a population of 64 in 1900.
Pine Prairie, a post-hamlet of St. Landry parish, is about 22 miles northwest of Opelousas, the parish seat, and + miles east of Pine Prairie Station on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R.
Pine Ridge, a post-hamlet in the northwest corner of Winn par- ish, is about 2 miles east of Saline bayou, and 6 miles southeast of Saline, the nearest railroad station.
Pineville, a town of Rapides parish, is on the east bank of the Red river, opposite Alexandria, and is one of the oldest settlements in Louisiana, as it was the stopping place and portage for the early explorers and traders on the upper Red river. St. Denis was at Pineville in 1700, and from that time it was well known to the French, who sent several expeditions up the river. In 1711, when the church at Adayes was erected. a mission chapel was built at Pineville, in what is now the old Catholic cemetery. At this time the Spaniards claimed the Red river as the boundary between Mexico and the French province of Louisiana, and in this case they
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reached beyond the river in their claim of church property. Em- manuel Meuillon was post commandant here in the early days, and both he and his wife are buried in the old Catholic cemetery. Between 1830 and 1835 John David and F. Poussin came directly from France, opened a store at Pineville, and did a prosperous business. By 1858 the hamlet had a population of about 50 or 60 inhabitants. During the Civil war the Federal troops stationed at Pineville cut a large tract of the pine forest for their huts and fire wood. After peace was declared. the place became the rendez- vous for Federal troops and several more stores were established. On June 23, 1867, occurred a fire which destroyed some of the buildings, but the others were saved by the officers and troops sta- tioned there. Just above the town 2 forts-Buhlow and Randolph -were built in 1863-64, and near them is the national cemetery, established in 1867. The first postoffice was established here in 1871. Pineville was incorporated soon afterward, and as it lies in the rich Red river valley has become a flourishing town. It is situated on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Louisiana Rail- way & Navigation company, and the Louisiana & Arkansas rail- way lines, and is the supply town for a large district east of the Red river. It has a money order postoffice, express, telephone and telegraph facilities, such industries as sawmills, cotton gins, and presses, and is the site of the state insane asylum for colored people. The population in 1900 was 617.
Pioneer, a village and station of West Carroll parish, is on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern R. R., 5 miles north of Floyd, the parish seat. It has a money order postoffice, and is the trading center for a large district.
Pitreville, a post-hamlet of St. Landry parish, is near the south- ern boundary, 4 miles southwest of Geneva, the nearest railroad station, and 10 miles southwest of Opelousas, the parish seat.
Place d'Armes .- (See Jackson Square.)
Plain Dealing, one of the new railroad towns in the northern part of Bossier parish, is on the St. Louis Southwestern R. R., 15 miles north of Benton. It was incorporated in 1890, with W. B. Boggs as the first mayor. One of the first public buildings was the Plain Dealing academy, which was followed by the Baptist church. The town has a money order postoffice, a bank, express and telegraph offices, and in 1900 reported a population of 258.
Plaisance, a post-hamlet in the central part of St. Landry parislz. is + miles west of Washington, the nearest railroad town, in a riche farming and grazing country, and in 1900 had a population of 82.
Plaquemine, the seat of justice and principal city of Iberville parish, is located in the eastern part of the parish on the Missis- sippi river and the Texas & Pacific R. R., and in 1900 reported a population of 3.590. It was first incorporated in 1838, when Zeno Labauve was elected the first mayor. In 1842 the parish seat was removed from Point Pleasant, 8 miles below. to Plaquemine. The first courthouse erected at Plaquemine was too near the river and was destroyed by the caving in of the bank on which it stood. In
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1878 the town was granted an amended charter of incorporation by the general assembly and the new charter seems to have had a salutary effect on the population and business of the place, as the former doubled during the decade from 1880 to 1890, while the volume of business increased in proportion. Plaquemine claims the distinction of manufacturing more shingles than any other point in the state. It does a large business in lumber of all kinds. has two foundries and machine shops, two banks, a well equipped electric light and power company, two newspapers, an ice factory, several wholesale houses, a number of up to date retail mercantile establishments, and the locks at Plaquemine are among the greatest in the state. The academy of St. Basil college is located here, the public schools are of a high order of excellence, and the leading religious denominations are represented by handsome church edi- fices. Plaquemine is an old town, having been in existence for many years before it received its first charter of incorporation. The name was derived from the large number of persimmon trees that grew along the Bayou Plaquemine on which the town is situ- ated.
Plaquemines Parish, the most southerly of the gulf parishes, was established in 1807. when Orleans territory was divided into 19 parishes. It has an area of 978 square miles, and took its name from Bayou Plaquemine. It is situated in the southeastern part of the state and is divided by the Mississippi river. Orleans parish bounds it on the north ; St. Bernard parish and the Gulf of Mexico form the eastern boundary; the gulf also forms the southern boundary, and on the west it is bounded by Jefferson parish. In 1721, the ships of the "Western Company" brought several immi- grants, some of whom settled on the lands along the Mississippi river. During the decade following 1765 the population was greatly increased by the Acadian refugees (see Acadians), who came from the Atlantic states by way of the Tennessee river and the Missis- sippi, many of them settled along the bayous and streams of La- fourche and Plaquemines. Martin in his History of Louisiana says, "From English turn to the city, the Mississippi is bordered on each side by plantations, and the houses are as close to each other, as in many parts of the United States that are dignified by the appellation of town. * * The distance is 18 miles." The lower part of the river was not so well settled up, but the country along the eastern boundary of the parish was settled by some col- onists who arrived from the Canary islands in 1778. O'Reilly wrote in 1776 that "settlement of the Mississippi river begins 10 leagues from the sea." These plantations had a water front of from 500 to 1,000 yards and ran back to about 2,400 yards.
Pointe a la Hache, on the east bank of the Mississippi river, was one of the largest settlements, and was made the seat of justice when the parish was organized. Among the first settlers of whom there is any record were Jacob Ilingle, the Crosses, Martins, Den- nex, Dobards, Salvants, Fontanelles. Wilkinsons, Dominiques, Nagos and De Latours. Like most of the coast parishes, Plaque-
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mines has no large city or towns. Point a la Hache had a popula- tion of 300 in 1900; there are many villages and hamlets along the railroads and river ; Port Eads and Pilot Town are near the mouth of the Mississippi ; some of the other towns and villages are Belair, Bertrandville, City Price, Buras, Diamond, Fort Saint Philip, Homeplace, Daisy, Dalcour, Dime, Empire, English Turn, Happy Jack, Jesuit Bend, Lawrence, Nairn, Neptune, Nero, Nicholls, Pot- ash, St. Sophie, Sunrise, Triumph and Venice. The parish is drained by the Mississippi river and a number of bayous. The New Orleans, Fort Jackson & Grand Isle R. R. runs down the western bank of the Mississippi river to Buras, and the Louisiana Southern runs down the eastern bank to Belair, furnishing trans- portation and shipping facilities to the planters along those lines, and cheap transportation by steamboat is provided on the Missis- sippi river. Plaquemines parish is a peninsula, nearly two-thirds of the land being wooded swamp or coast marsh. The cultivable land extends from the northern boundary of the parish to within 30 miles of the mouth of the river. Originally the parish was heav- ily timbered with cypress, oak, elm. cottonwood and willow, hence humbering has been an important industry and a source of great revenue to the parish. Considerable good marketable lumber still remains in the cypress swamps. The soil is entirely alluvial, sandy loam with some "black land." The staple crops are sugar and rice, but corn and jute are grown, and immense quantities of vegetables are raised and shipped to the New Orleans market. For years market gardening has been one of the principal industries of the parish. The rich soil and mild climate of this favored region com- bine to make horticulture a most profitable industry, and oranges have been cultivated with profit since the establishment of the par- ish. The oyster industry of Plaquemines has long been in opera- tion, but it is only within recent years. under state protection. that it has attained the prominence it now holds. The size and quality of the oysters found in the numerous bayous, bays and inlets of the coast have created a demand for them in northern and eastern markets. Fishing is excellent, crabs, sheepshead, pompano, floun- der, salt water trout and Spanish mackerel being taken in large numbers for home and foreign consumption. The following statis- tics concerning the parish are taken from the U. S. census for 1900: number of farms in the parish, 728; acreage, 211,490; acres improved, 34,144; value of land and improvements exclusive of buildings, $1.468.240; value of farm buildings, $716,240; value of live stock. $209,801 ; value of all products not fed to live stock, $957,597 : number of manufacturing establishments, 12; capital in- vested. $1.239.330; wages paid. $75.788; cost of materials used, $622.840; total value of products, $890,400. The population of the parish for 1900 was 5,762 whites, 7,267 colored, a total of 13,039, an increase of 498 during the preceding decade. The estimated population for 1908 was 13.500.
Plattenville, a village and station in the northeastern part of Assumption parish. is on the Bayou Lafourche and the Texas &
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Pacific R. R., 4 miles northeast of Napoleonville, the parish scat. It has a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, tele- phone facilities, is the trading and shipping town for a rich agri- cultural district, and in 1900 had a population of 172.
Plaucheville, an old town in the south-central part of Avoyelles parish, 4 miles southeast of Moreauville, the nearest railroad town. It is a fine cotton district, has a money order postoffice and several good stores, and in 1900 had a population of 93.
Pleasant Hill (R. R. name Sodus), a town in the northeastern part of Sabine parish, was incorporated on March 20, 1861. It is situated on the Texas & Pacific R. R. and Bayou St. Michael, 17 miles southeast of Mansfield, in the large pineries west of the Mis- sissippi river, has important lumber interests, and is the principal shipping depot for this part of the parish. A battle occurred here in April. 1864, between the Confederate and Union forces, resulting in the defeat of the former. The town has a bank, a money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, and in 1900 had a popu- lation of 300.
Poindexter, George, who was prominently identified with the movement to secure the admission of Louisiana into the Union, was born in Louisa county, Va., in 1779. He was a descendant of French Protestants who left their native land to escape the per- secutions of Louis XIV. His father suffered heavy losses.on ac- count of the Revolutionary war and died soon after peace was restored, leaving to his son only a small amount of this world's goods. This inheritance he applied to the acquirement of an edu- cation, and when it gave out he began the practice of law in Rich- mond, Va. At the age of 23 years he located in Natchez; was elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1805; and in 1807 was chosen delegate to Congress, which office he held for three terms. In Jan., 1811, when the bill for the admission of Louisiana was before the lower house of Congress, Josiah Quincy of Massachu- setts said: "I am compelled to declare it as my deliberate opinion that if this bill passes, the bonds of this Union are virtually dis- solved ; that the states which compose it are free from their moral obligations ; and that, as it will be the right of all. so it will be the duty of some, to prepare definitely for a separation-amicably if they can, violently if they must." For these words Mr. Poindexter called the gentleman to order and asked the speaker of the house to decide whether such language could be permitted in debate. The speaker sustained Mr. Poindexter, but the house, by a vote of 56 to 53, sustained Quincy. Poindexter then replied and in the course of his speech said: "Aaron Burr did not dare to go the lengths which the gentleman from Massachusetts has been per- mitted to go within these walls. Had such expressions been estab- lished by the evidence on his trial, I hazard an opinion that it would have produced a very different result. Perhaps, sir, instead of exile, he would have been consigned to a gibbet. *
* The fate of Aaron Burr ought to be a salutary warning against treason- able machinations-and if others, having the same views, do not
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share a similar fate, it will not be because they do not deserve it." Concerning this debate, Fortier says it "is one of the most curious incidents in history, and illustrates admirably the irony of fate, when we think of the great Civil war which was caused by the attempted secession of the Southern states from the Union." On Dec. 29, 1814, Mr. Poindexter arrived in New Orleans to aid in defending the city against the British. He was attached to the staff of Gen. Carroll and performed duty day and night as a volun- teer aide-de-camp. He is said to have been the author of the story that the British had for a countersign the words "Beauty and Booty." After the war was over he returned to Mississippi, where he served on the bench until 1817, and then after serving a term in Congress was elected governor in 1819. The loss of his wife and child caused him to retire from public life for a time, but he was subsequently appointed U. S. senator upon the death of Sena- tor Adams, the appointment being unanimously confirmed by the legislature when it convened. While in the senate Mr. Poindexter became involved in a misunderstanding with President Jackson over Federal appointments, and after the attempt of Lawrence to assassinate the president in 1835, a plot was laid to entangle Poin- dexter, but nothing came of it. Mr. Poindexter spent the latter years of his life in the practice of law at Jackson, Miss., where he died on Sept. 5, 1855.
Point, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Union parish, is about 10 miles southeast of Farmerville, the parish seat and nearest railroad town.
Pointe à la Hache, the seat of justice of Plaquemines parish, is located on the east bank of the Mississippi river about 50 miles below New Orleans. The name is derived from the curve in the river, which makes the point of land the shape of the head of a hatchet-hence "la Hache." Soon after the settlement of New Or- leans by the French in 1718, settlements were made by the early colonists on the high lands along the bank of the river, their plan- tations beginning about 10 leagues from the sea and extending up to New Orleans. When Plaquemines parish was established in 1807, Pointe à la Hache was one of the largest settlements between English Turn and the mouth of the river and was chosen as the seat of parochial government. The first church in the town was built in 1820, the jail was built in 1835, and the present courthouse in 1890. The first newspaper in the parish was published at Pointe à la Hache during the decade preceding the Civil war. under the name of "The Rice Planter." From 1861 to 1865 it suspended pub- lication but resumed when peace was established. The second paper was the "Plaquemine Protector" and the two papers were ultimately consolidated. Pointe à la Hache is located in one of the richest fruit, truck farming and rice districts of the state. It has several rice mills. fruit houses, a money order postoffice, telegraph station, commercial houses and hotel, and is the shipping and sup- ply town for a large stretch of farming lands along the river. In
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1900 it had a population of 300 inhabitants. The estimated popu- lation for 1908 was 1.500.
Pointe Coupée, a village in the parish of the same name, is one of the oldest settlements and most historie spots in the United States. It is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river 3 miles north of New Roads, the parish seat and nearest railroad town. It was settled early in the 18th century by French Canadian trappers who came down the Mississippi river from the Illinois country and located at Pointe Coupee to hunt and fish. They were followed by French colonists, brought over from France by men to whom large grants of land were made by the French government. The town grew up around the fort built by the French as a refuge against the Indians and to assert their right to this section of the country. During the early years of the Province of Louisiana Pointe Coupée was in an unbroken wilderness, the farthest outpost of civilization on the west bank of the river. It became an impor- tant trading point on the river, as all the shipping from the Ohio, Illinois and Red river country passed on the way to New Orleans. During ante-bellum days it played an important part in the life of the river traffic, but with the advent of the railroads its importance waned, though it is still a landing on the river, with a money order postoffice, several commercial establishments, and a population of 93 in 1900. Several thousand bales of cotton are shipped annually.
Pointe Coupée Parish, one of the wealthiest and oldest in Lou- isiana, was first established as one of the 12 counties erected by the territorial council in 1804, and in 1807 it became one of the original 19 parishes into which Orleans territory was divided. Péni- cant, in his Annals of Louisiana, states the name Pointe Coupée comes from the fact that in 1699, when Iberville and his party were exploring the Mississippi river, "Five leagues above this (Baton Rouge) on the right side there are very high bluffs of white earth. about three quarters of a league in length, at the upper end of which is a neck of land seven leagues in circuit. To avoid going round this point, M. d'Iberville had the boats transported across this neck of land which is about a musket-shot space wide, and in a very short space of time, we were on the other side of the Missis- sippi. Such is the rapidity of the current, that the water soon after wore a channel through the place, from which this post took the name of Pointe Coupée, which means the point cut off." The parish has an area of 576 square miles. It is situated in the eastern part of the state on the Mississippi river, and is bounded on the north by Avoyelles and Concordia parishes; the Mississippi river forms part of its irregular castern boundary, which is completed by West Baton Rouge parish ; on the south it is bounded by Iberville parish. and the Atchafalaya river forms its entire western boundary, sepa- rating it from the parishes of Avoyelles and St. Landry. The first settlers were some Canadian trappers who came down the river about 1708, and a number of them married Indian women. In 1812 additional settlers came from Vincennes and Kaskaskia. De- serters from the French post at Biloxi joined this colony and a
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