USA > Louisiana > Louisiana; comprising sketches of counties, towns, events, institutions, and persons, Volume II > Part 56
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
459
LOUISIANA
of the territory ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana and lying south of 36° 30' north latitude." And again, on March 16, 1854, the general assembly adopted a reso- lution which declared "That the people of Louisiana view with alarmı the policy inaugurated by Spain in Cuba, the object of which must be the abolition of slavery in the colony, and the sacrifice of the white race, with its arts, commerce and civilization, to the barbarous race, and that the time has arrived when the Federal government should adopt the most decisive and energetic measures to thwart and defeat a policy conceived in hatred of the republic."
The Wilmot Proviso was denounced by the public men and press of the state as a "violation of the constitution-a violation of natural right, and an outrage not only upon the people of the South, but also upon the people of the new territory." The votes of her senators and representatives in Congress were uniformly cast in favor of such measures as they considered to be to the best interests of the South, and against every proposition which they conceived to be inimical to the welfare of the Southern people. They all supported the motions of Mr. Burt and Mr. Douglas to extend the compromise line of 36° 30' westward to the Pacific, and some of her congressmen were leaders in the contest, as may be seen by Mr. Soule's amendment to the Utah bill. Several of her governors, in official messages and public addresses, spoke in no uncertain language regarding the aggressions of the anti-slavery element, and stood firm with the leaders of public opinion in the South in warning that element that its aggression might be car- ried beyond the limit of forbearance. That limit was finally reached, the war between the states followed, and the abolition of slavery was one of the results of the conflict. (See Emancipa- tion Proclamation.)
With regard to slavery being the cause of the war, Alexander H. Stephens, in the work already referred to (Vol. I, p. 539), says : "The matter of slavery, so-called, which was the proximate cause of these irregular movements on both sides, and which ended in the general collision of war, as we have seen, was of infinitely less importance to the seceding states than the recognition of this great principle (the right of each state to regulate its domestic institutions without the interference of the general government). * * What was called slavery amongst us was but a legal subordination of the African to the Caucasian race. This relation was so regulated by law as to promote, according to the intent and design of the system, the best interests of both races, the black as well as the white, the inferior as well as the superior. Both had rights secured, and both had duties imposed. It was a system of reciprocal service and mutual bonds. But even the $2,000,000,000 invested in the relation thus established, between private capital and the labor of this class of population, under the system, was but as the dust in the balance, compared with the
460
LOUISIANA
attributes of Independence and Sovereignty on the part of the sev- eral states."
On the subject of the moral and legal aspects of slavery, the same author (Vol. II, p. 24) says: "What was called slavery with us was not slavery in the usual sense of that word, as generally used and understood by the ancients, and as generally used and understood in many countries in the present age. It was with us a political institution. It was, indeed, nothing but that legal sub- ordination of an inferior race to a superior one which was thought to be the best in the organization of society for the welfare polit- ically, socially, morally and intellectually of both races. The slave, so-called, was not in law regarded entirely as a chattel, as has been erroneously represented. He was by no means subject to the absolute dominion of his master. He had important per- sonal rights, secured by law. His service due according to law. it is true, was considered property, and so in all countries is con- sidered the service of all persons who according to law are bound to another or others for a term, however long or short. So is the legal right of parents to the service of minor children in all the states now considered as property. A right or property that may be assigned, transferred or sold. Hamilton expressed the idea of this peculiar institution, as it existed with us, clearly, when he said: 'The Federal constitution, therefore, decides with great propriety on the case of our slaves when it views them in the mixed character of persons and property. This is in fact their true character. It is the character bestowed on them by the laws under which they live.' They were so viewed and regarded by the constitutions and laws of all the states. The relation of master and slave under the institution, as before said, was but one of reciprocal service and mutual bonds. The view of them as prop- erty related to their services due according to law."
.The spirit with which the Southern people accepted the aboli- tion of slavery is well depicted by Susan Dabney Smedes, in ".1 Southern Planter." when she says: "Now that the institution is swept away, I venture to express the conviction that there is not an intelligent white man or woman in the South who would have it recalled, if a wish could do it. Those who suffered and lost
most-those who were reduced from a life of affluence to one of grinding poverty-are content to pay the price. Good masters saw the evil that bad masters could do. It is true, a bad master was universally execrated, and no vocation was held so debasing as the negro traders. Every conscientious proprietor felt that these were helpless creatures, whose life and limb were, in a cer- tain sense, under his control. There were others who felt that slavery was a yoke upon the white man's neck almost as galling as on the slaves; and it was a saying that the mistress of a plantation was the most complete slave on it."
Slidell, an incorporated town in the southeastern part of St. Tam- many parish, has become one of the largest towns in the south- eastern part of the state since the railroad was built. It is located
461
LOUISIANA
at the junction of two lines of the New Orleans Great Northern R. R., about 25 miles northeast of New Orleans in the great pinery west of the Pearl river and is the shipping and banking town for the large lumber district to the north and east. It has sawmills, brickyards, several factories, a bank, an international money order postoffice, telegraph and express offices, mercantile establishments, and is the supply town for the southeastern part of the parish. The population in 1900 was 1.129.
Slidell, John, lawyer, statesman and diplomat, was born in the State of New York about 1793. In 1810 he graduated at Colum- bia college, then studied law and a few years later became a resi- dent of New Orleans, La., where he won fame as a lawyer and was active in political affairs. He served several terms in the state legislature; was a candidate for Congress in 1828, but was de- feated; was appointed U. S. district attorney in 1829; became a representative in Congress in 1842, and was reelected in 1844. In Nov., 1845, President Polk appointed him minister to Mexico to settle the Texas question, but the Mexican government refused to receive him. President Pierce, soon after his inauguration, offered Mr. Slidell a mission to Central America, but about that time he was elected to the U. S. senate, where he was active in committee work, though little known as a speaker. He was reelected senator in 1859 and served until Feb. 14, 1861, when he withdrew. Louisi- ana having passed a secession ordinance on Jan. 26. In taking leave of the senate, Mr. Slidell said: "The occasion justifies, if it does not call for, some parting words to those whom we leave behind, some forever, others we trust to meet again, and to partici- pate with them in the noble task of constructing and defending a new confederacy ; which, if it may want at first the grand propor- tions and vast resources of the old, will still possess the essential elements of greatness, a people bold, hardy, homogeneous in inter- ests and sentiments, a fertile soil, an extensive territory, the capacity and will to govern themselves through forms and in the spirit of the constitution under which they have been born and educated." In the autumn of 1861 Mr. Slidell was appointed com- missioner to France, to procure the recognition of the Confederacy by that country. In company with James M. Mason, of Virginia. who was on a like mission to England, he embarked on the British mail steamer Trent at Havana on Nov. 7. About noon of the next day a vessel was discovered lying in the narrow passage of the old Bahama channel apparently waiting for the Trent to appear. This was the U. S. steamer San Jacinto, Capt. Charles Wilkes com- manding. When the two vessels were within 500 or 600 yards of each other, the American fired a shot across the bow of the Trent as a signal to heave to, and at the same time hoisted the American flag. The Trent, however, kept on her way until a shell was fired which burst about 100 yards in front of her, and the San Jacinto's broadside guns were run out. the men standing at quar- ters, ready to fire. Capt. Moir of the Trent then stopped his ves- sel, when Lieuts. Greer and Fairfax, with about 20 men heavily
462
LOUISIANA
armed, came on board and demanded that Mason and Slidell, with their secretaries, Eustis and McFarland, be surrendered to them. After some parley the + men were taken on board the San Jacinto and carried to Boston harbor, where they were confined in Fort Warren. Considerable excitement followed the event, the British government made a vigorous protest, even going so far as to order the British minister at Washington to withdraw, "with all the members and archives of the legation," unless a favorable answer was given by the U. S. secretary of state within a given time. On Dec. 26, Mr. Seward, the secretary of state, replied, directing the prisoners to be released, and Mr. Slidell regained his liberty on Jan. 1, 1862. Soon after that he arrived in Paris, where he nego- tiated a large Confederate loan, but failed to accomplish his main object-the recognition of the Confederacy. He also made an effort to secure vessels for the use of the Confederate navy, but was unsuccessful. He never returned to America, but passed the remainder of his life in England, his death occurring at London on July 29, 1871.
Sligo, a post-hamlet in the southern part of Bossier parish, is 4 miles northeast of Curtis, the nearest railroad station, and about 10 miles southeast of Shreveport.
Smallpox, the most dreaded of the class of febrile diseases, was carried to Europe from the Holy Land by the Crusaders, and it spread throughout the northern countries in the 13th century. In the early part of the 16th century the Spaniards brought the disease to America. It appeared first in Santo Domingo, later in Mexico, where it killed people by the thousand. and soon after the first settlement of Louisiana, made its appearance in the colony. Diron d'Artaguette wrote to France in 1738: "I have found on my ar- rival at this place. 2 contagious diseases, first smallpox, which has carried off a considerable number of persons." In 1787 smallpox infested the whole province. The Acadian families were so terrified by it that they abandoned those attacked with it, providing thein with nothing but food and the articles absolutely necessary. The infected person was in this manner practically isolated. Smallpox prevailed in New Orleans in 1802 and there were so many cases that Gov. Claiborne was urged to establish a quarantine, and at the same time it was suggested that vaccine, which had been dis- covered in the latter part of the 18th century by Jenner, be used to prevent the spread of the disease. The legislature of Louisiana in 1818 passed an act to establish a board of health and officers to prevent the introduction and spread of pestilential and infectious diseases. In 1870 smallpox prevailed to such an extent in St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes that the legislatures passed an act appropriating $2,500 for the relief of the sufferers. In 1902 the state legislature passed a law by which the state and parish boards cooperate in establishing quarantine regulations and rules for vaccination.
Smith, a post-hamlet in the southeastern part of Winn parish, on the proposed new line of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
.
463
LOUISIANA
R. R., is about 10 miles southeast of Winnfield, the parish seat and nearest railroad town.
Smith, Edmund Kirby, soldier, was born at St. Augustine, Fla., May 16, 1824. His father, Col. J. L. Smith, held the office of U. S. judge for the district of Florida. Edmund was appointed to the U. S. military academy, where he graduated in 1845 with a com- mission as lieutenant in the infantry. He took part in the Mexican war and received 3 brevets for gallantry in action. From 1849 to 1852 he was assistant professor of mathematics at West Point; was promoted to captain of the 2nd cavalry in 1855; took part in a battle against the Comanche Indians in Texas in 1859; and 2 years later the legislature of that state thanked him for his protection and he was promoted to the rank of captain. When Florida seceded from the Union, he resigned his commission in the army and entered the service of the Confederacy. On March 16, 1861, he received a commission as colonel of cavalry ; was promoted to brigadier-general June 17, and major-general Oct. 11, 1861. A year later, in Oct., 1862, he was advanced to the rank of lieutenant- general and on Feb. 19, 1864, became general. He served as chief of staff to Gen. Johnston, at Harper's Ferry; was instrumental in the organization of the Army of the Shenandoah, and after his promotion to brigadier-general, was placed in command of the 4th brigade. He was wounded at the battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861, but after recovering from this wound commanded the reserve division of the army. After being advanced to major-general he assumed command at Knoxville, March, 8, 1862, of the east district of Tennessee, Kentucky, north Georgia and western North Carolina. At Cumberland gap he opposed a force of the Federals; in July advanced into Kentucky with 6,000 men : defeated a superior force of the Federals near Richmond; after Gen. Heath joined him he called his command "The Army of Kentucky"; made efforts to gather supplies and recruits for the Confederate army, and occupied Lexington, the capital of the state. He withdrew from Kentucky. and in Feb .. 1863, was ordered to assume command of the Trans- Mississippi department. He held the general command from March 7, 1863, until the close of the war. His headquarters were at Shreveport, where he supported Gov. Allen, shipped quantities of cotton to Europe, imported machinery and did much for the devel- opment of mining and manufacture. He concentrated his troops for the defense of the Red River country, the campaign resulting in the victory of Mansfield. On May 26, 1865, he surrendered his army at Baton Rouge, his men being the last Confederate troops to lay down their arms. After the close of the war Gen. Smith was president of the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph company : chan- cellor of the University of Nashville from 1870 to 1875; and later professor of mathematics in the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., until his death, March 28, 1893.
Smith, George L., soldier and member of Congress, was born in Hillsboro county. N. H., Dec. 11. 1840. He received a liberal edu- cation in his native state and during the Civil war he served in
464
LOUISIANA
the Union army. After hostilities ceased he settled in Louisiana, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. For some time he was engaged in newspaper work and hield several local offices before he was elected a representative from Louisiana to the 45th Con- gress to fill the place of Samuel Peters, who had died.
Smith, William Benjamin, mathematician and New Testament critic, was born at Stanford, Ky., Oct. 26, 1850, a son of Jeremiah and Angelina Smith. He was graduated at the Kentucky university in 1871 with the degree of A. M., then studied and taught lan- guages and science until 1876, when he went to Germany, and in 1879 he received the degree of Ph. D., from the University of Göttingen. From 1881 to 1885 he was professor of mathematics in Central college, Mo .; occupied the chair of physics in the same institution until 1888: was then professor of mathematics in the University of Missouri until 1893, when he came to Tulane uni- versity, where he occupied the chair of mathematics until 1906, since which time he has been professor of philosophy in that insti- tution. Dr. Smith is the author of Coordinate Geometry (1885) ; Clew to Trigonometry (1889) ; Introductory Modern Geometry (1893) ; Infinitesimal Analysis (1898) ; The Color Line (1905) ; Der Vorchristliche Jesus (1906). He has also written pamphlets on "Tariff," "Finance," and other economic subjects, "Studies in Paulinism," and a work on "The Structure and Origin of the New Testament." He is one of the best known educators in the South, and is regarded as an authority on all branches of mathematics.
Smithland, a post-station in the northern part of Pointe Coupée parish, is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river, 4 miles east of Lettsworth, the nearest railroad town, and 18 miles north- west of New Roads, the parish seat. It is a landing on the river, where large amounts of cotton are shipped by water to the market of New Orleans. The population in 1900 was 150.
Smoke Bend, one of the largest towns in Ascension parish. is located on the west bank of the Mississippi river and is a station on the Texas & Pacific R. R., about 2 miles west of Donaldsonville, the parish seat. It is in one of the richest farming sections of the state and is the shipping point for a considerable district. It has an international money order postoffice. telegraph and express offices, a good retail trade, and in 1900 had a population of 500.
Smugglers .- European wars, in the closing years of the 18th century, developed a class of men who had become expert in the practice of privateering, and in the early years of the 19th century privateers, claiming to operate under French letters of marque. infested the Gulf of Mexico, Spain's commerce being their object of prey. The headquarters of these privateers were the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, but these islands were captured by the British in 1806, and in Feb., 1810, the privateers were driven out. They then transferred their base of operations to Barataria bay (q. v.) on the southern coast of Louisiana, a spot well suited to their purposes. The island of Grand Terre was fortified, and on Grand Isle they built dwellings and storehouses, and even paid
.
465
LOUISIANA
some attention to agriculture. About the time they were driven from their island haunts the province of Colombia declared itself to be independent of Spain, and the government of Cartagena granted letters of marque to the privateers, who then lowered the French flag and hoisted the standard of the new republic. This change was easy, as the band was composed of men of all nationali- ties, cosmopolitan in their notions of allegiance.
The first official notice of the acts of the "Smugglers of Barata- ria" in Louisiana was on Sept. 6, 1810, when Thomas B. Robert- son, then secretary of the Territory of Orleans, issued a circular, announcing the arrival of two cargoes of slaves via Barataria bay, though both goods and slaves had previously been smuggled into New Orleans through Bayous Lafourche and Teche. During the Spanish domination the officials conducted themselves as though they believed there was nothing really wrong in smuggling, and it was therefore perfectly natural that the people should take a similar view of the matter. They could buy goods more cheaply from the smugglers than elsewhere, hence they did not hesitate to give encouragement to the illicit trade. The Baratarians now became bolder and more active in their operation. Through the Lafitte brothers, Jean and Pierre, who acted as their agents in New Orleans, orders for goods were placed with as much publicity as though they were being bought from agents of authorized and legitimate trading houses. Jean Lafitte subsequently became the chief of the Baratarians, and under his skillful leadership, his arts of finesse, the smugglers reached the zenith of their greatness in 1813. On March 15 of that year Gov. Claiborne issued a proela- mation concerning the "banditti" who had on Lake Barataria "armed and equipped several vessels for the avowed purpose of cruising upon the high seas, and committing depredations and piracies on the vessels of nations at peace with the United States, and carrying on an illicit trade in goods, wares and merchandise with the inhabitants of the state." He commanded them to dis- perse, but the smugglers paid no heed to his proclamation. On April 7 legal proceedings were begun in the U. S. district court against Jean and Pierre Lafitte, for the violation of the revenue and neutrality laws of the United States, but, as it is a hard matter to secure a conviction where the strength of public opinion is in favor of the defendant. the prosecution was barren of results.
About this time the band became widely known as the "Pirates of Barataria." They were charged with carrying the black flag and of attacking the merchant vessels of all nations, but there was no evidence that this was true. They admitted that they were smugglers, though they persistently denied the charge of piracy, claiming that they attacked only the ships of Spain, which nation was then at war with both France and Colombia. On June 23, 1813. a British sloop of war attacked two privateers under the lee of Cat island, but the Englishman was driven off. In October a party of revenue officers seized some smuggled goods near New Orleans. They were fired upon by a small detachment of the
466
LOUISIANA
Baratarians and one of them was wounded. This and other high- handed proceedings drew forth from Gov. Claiborne another procla- mation on Nov. 24, offering a reward of $500 for the capture of Jean Lafitte, who in turn offered a reward of $15,000 for Claiborne's head. In Jan., 1814, the smugglers had another skirmish with the revenue officers, and again came out ahead. Claiborne appealed to the legislature for men and means "to disperse those desperate men on Lake Barataria, whose piracies have rendered our shores a terror to neutral flags." But the legislature refused to act. Several expeditions sent against the outlaws by the United States accomplished nothing, because the people who were in sympathy with the smugglers always managed to find means to warn them in time. One of these expeditions arrested both the Lafittes, but they effected their escape, and the writs were returned endorsed "not found."
Finally, however, public opinion began to waver, then to array itself against the Baratarians. In July, 1814, a grand jury found indictments against two captains-Johnness and Johannot-for piracies committed on the gulf, and against Pierre Lafitte as ac- cessory. Lafitte was shortly afterward arrested and committed to jail in default of bail. The same jury called on the people to aid in removing "the stain that had fallen on all classes of society in the minds of the good people of other states." On Sept. 2, 1814, the British brig Sophia appeared off Grand Terre and a small boat, bearing Capt. Lockyer, another naval officer, and a captain of infantry, came in to shore with a packet of papers addressed to "Mr. Lafitte, Barataria." It contained, Ist, an appeal of Col. Nicholls to the. people of Louisiana to assist in restoring the province to Spain; 2nd, a letter to Lafitte, offering him $30,000 and a captain's commission as inducements to enter the British service ; 3rd, a proclamation of Capt. Percy of the sloop Hermes : and 4th, a copy of the orders under which Lockyer was then act- ing. Lockyer, with his companions and crew, was detained on the island until the following morning, when Lafitte asked for 15 days to make up his mind. Scarcely had the British emissaries left the island when Lafitte wrote to Mr. Blanque, a member of the Loui- siana legislature, as follows: "Mr. Nicholas Lockyer, a British officer of high rank, delivered to me the following papers, two di- rected to me, a proclamation, and the admiral's instructions to that officer, all herewith enclosed. You will see from their contents the advantages I might have derived from that kind of association. I may have evaded the payment of duties to the custom house; but I have never ceased to be a good citizen ; and all the offense I have committed I was forced to by certain vices in our laws. In short, sir, I make you the depository of the secret on which per- haps depends the tranquillity of our country : please to make use of it as your judgment may direct. I might expatiate on this proof of patriotism, but I let the fact speak for itself."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.