USA > Louisiana > The settlement of the German coast of Louisiana and the Creoles of German descent > Part 7
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In Biloxi he found no sheds to store his goods, nor a hos- pital, and not even medicines for his sick. Ninety of his people died there of the fever which raged in Biloxi "for four years." There were no boats to take his men to the Mississippi, and they had to stay nearly eight months on the sandy shore. He himself built two barges in which he set off on the 23rd ofApril, 1721, with part of his men with whom he reached Natchez about the end of June. The rest of his people had to remain behind. Another authority says that they stayed in Biloxi for a whole year.
Dumanoir then had hardly enough provisions left to last for two months, which, together with the great loss of time, made it impossible for him to go into the wilderness and select a site for the new plantation. So Dumanoir, in January, 1721, bought Hubert's plantation in Natchez for 50,000 livres, and also twelve cows and two negroes from M. Raquet for 6,500 livres.
This was the best he could do under the circumstances, but his right to select four leagues square as a concession for his association was lost. Hubert's place offered many advantages. At Natchez there was a military post to furnish protection against the Indians, and there were already 160 arpents cleared which saved fifteen months of time, work, salaries, and other expenses. Moreover, the seed was in the ground for a large crop of pro- visions and tobacco. To satisfy immediate wants, however,
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Dumanoir purchased another place, a little concession, the same mentioned under "Chapitoulas" in the census of 1721, which was later abandoned.
In 1727 charges of maladministration were made against Dumanoir, and he was deposed. It must have been then that Koly determined to come to Louisiana himself to take charge of the enterprise. He and his son were killed by the Natchez Indians in St. Catharine in the great massacre in 1729.
CONTINUATION OF THE CENSUS OF 1721.
The upper part of Chapitoulas was later called "La Provi- dence," and extended to Cannes Brûlées, where M. Diron, the inspector general, had his concession. At this point the census of 1721 stops.
Seven lieues below New Orleans is English Turn. Imme- diately below this was at that time the second concession, the principal one being on the Yazoo River, of M. le Blanc, the French minister of war, and adjoining this was John Law's second concession, his principal one being on the Arkansas River. On this, the lower concession of Law, were, in 1721, five men, eleven women, fourteen children, and forty engagés. We have learned that all the Law people were Germans, and so we have a settlement of seventy Germans, in 1721, below English Turn.
This is all the information concerning the early Germans contained in the official census of 1721.
REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS ON LOUISIANA.
There are some fifteen pages of "Remarks and Observa- tions on Louisiana," probably written by some reviewing official, attached to the census of 1721. These "R. & O.," as they will be indicated hereafter, bear no signature, nor is the first part, referring to lower Louisiana, dated. The second part, dealing with the Illinois district, is dated "in March, 1722." The second part was, therefore, written much later than the official census report; and the first part, too, can not have been written earlier than February, 1722, because it mentions the exodus of the Germans from the Arkansas River as an historical event, al- though it did not take place earlier than February, 1722.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Of the Germans on the German Coast "R. & O." say that "they may be composed of about 330 persons of both sexes and of all ages."
We are also told that there were then still eighty German people left on the Arkansas River. As La Harpe found only forty-seven Germans there on his arrival, on the 20th of March, 1722, "R. & O." must have been written after the removal of the people from there had begun and before it was completed.
"R. & O." AND THE CENSUS REPORTS.
February, 1722, "R. & O." Estimate of population of Ger- man Coast, 330 persons.
May 15th, 1722, Official census of German Coast :
Karlstein = D'Arensbourg and an orphan boy 2 persons,
Mariental = 26 men, 30 women, 26 children 82 persons, Hoffen = 25 men, 29 women, 49 children. 103 persons, Augsburg = 17 men, 20 women, 33 children. 70 persons.
69 men, 79 women, 109 children 257 persons.
The census of 1722, which is really a continuation of that of 1721, covers the territory from Cannes Brûlées to the village of the Tounicas, and the whole right bank besides. On the right bank, two lieues above New Orleans, at a place called "Le Petit Desert" (near Westwego) three German families are men- tioned : three men, three women and seven children, who are not included here as residents of the German Coast.
November, 1724. Official census :
German Coast-53 men, 57 women, 59 children, in all 169 persons.
1731. Official Census :
German Coast-42 men, 44 women, 88 children, in all 174 persons.
There is a great discrepancy between the figures of the writer of "R. & O." and those of the census of 1722, although there were scarcely three months time between them :
330 given by "R. & O.," against 257 enumerated in the census.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Although the mortality among these Germans was very great, as we can see by comparing the official data of the differ- ent years enumerated above, this alone would not explain the difference between the estimate of "R. & O." and that of the census of 1722. There must have been some other cause.
And there was. There was an exodus, of which the official census of 1722, enumerating only those actually present on the day of enumeration, did not take notice, but which is mentioned in other official documents.
On the first of December, 1722, Governor Bienville wrote to the Superior Council that he intended to place from twelve to fifteen German families upon his land between New Orleans and Chapitoulas, and he specifies :
"Of those Germans who lost their subsistance by the great hur- ricane and are now compelled to seek employment in order to pro- vide for their families".
He would not enter into contracts with them, however, with- out the consent of the Superior Council. Ten days afterwards the council approved these contracts
"With the Germans who have engaged themselves to begin a new establishment on account of the bad situation and the difficul- ties they encountered on the lands which they occupied 'aux Ten- sas' ".
"Le village des Tensas"3 was part of the German Coast, known as the concession of M. De Meure. This De Meure, in 1721, sold the whole river front of his grant ( four lieues square) to La Harpe, leaving a passage of only three arpents from the river front to the land in the rear, which latter he retained. The front lands were then taken up by the Germans. 35
This correspondence between Bienville and the Superior Council proves that there was an exodus, and also establishes the fact that a number of Germans, who had been habitants were
34 The Tensas Indians were removed, in 1714, to Mobile County, because the Oumas constantly and habitually waged a relentless war against them.
35 As La Harpe also appears in March, 1722, on the Arkansas river, depos- ing Levens, the agent of John Law, taking the inventory, and placing Dude- maine Dufresne in charge, he seems to have acted in these transactions under the authority of the Compagnie des Indes.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
compelled to become engagés. It also explains the apparent dis- crepancy between the estimate of "R. & O." and the census of 1722. The writer of "R. & O." did not know that so many storm victims had left their places to become engagés, and the census enumerator took cognizance only of those present on the day of enumeration.
The great mortality mentioned before appears when the census reports for 1722 and 1724 are compared. In these two years the number of the men decreased from 69 to 53, the women from 79 to 57, and the children from 108 to 59. Then came a change. The adults, not being reinforced by new immigra- tion, continued to decrease in numbers, while the number of children born in the colony rose from 59 to 88, more than making up for the loss of grown people. We may well assume that from that year on the population of the German Coast con- tinued to increase.
In connection with the census of 1731 an important fact must be mentioned. The large concessions granted in former years in Louisiana had not proved advantageous to the colony. Many concessioners did not come to Louisiana at all, holding their grants only for speculation. Others had not the means to im- prove them, and still others abandoned them after experimenting on the ground with insufficient capital, and experiencing all kinds of difficulties, and because of the unwise administration of the colony. So the, Superior Council petitioned the king to cancel all concessions between Manchac and the gulf, in order that a readjustment could be had.
This cancellation was done by an edict issued on the 10th of August, 1728; and even Bienville, who in the preceding year had sold to the Jesuits some of his land above New Orleans, lost his concessions, although in his brief of remonstrance he cited the placing of twelve German families on that land as an evi- dence that he had tried to improve it.
Many lands, especially on the left bank of the Mississippi, opposite the German villages, were now open to bona fide settlers, and many changes in the occupants of the land occurred. Am- bros Heidel, the progenitor of all the "Haydel" families in Louis-
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
iana, crossed the Mississippi and settled on the left bank. So did his old neighbor Caspar Dubs, the progenitor of all the "Toups" families, and so did Nikolaus Wichner, the progenitor of the "Vicners," "Vicnaires," and "Vickners," while all those German families who had settled on Bienville's lands between New Orleans and Chapitoulas, the storm victims, also went fur- ther up the river to live among their compatriots.
NAMES OF GERMAN HABITANTS ON BOTH BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI ABOVE NEW ORLEANS.
Official Census of 1724.
The official census taken in November, 1724, must always be the principal source of information concerning the founders of the German Coast in Louisiana. It will, therefore, be treated here at some length; and such notes will be added to it as were taken from other census reports, from church registers, and other official sources.
The official census of 1724 embraces the concessions and habitations on both sides of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to and including the German Coast. It consists of two parts of sixty entries each. The first part covers the right bank from the upper limits of the German villages (upper side of Bonnet Carré bend) down to a point nearly opposite New Or- leans; and the second part begins at the upper town limit of New Orleans on the left bank (at what is now Bienville street) and follows the left bank up the river to a point ten lieues above and opposite the German villages, where the first part began.
Concerning the spelling of the German family names the reader is referred to the section of this work on the changes German names suffered at the hands of the French officials. Having met these names in many official records and church registers, and having found the same names spelt differently by many officials, and having also found original signatures of the German people, the author was in many instances able to restore the original German names. Where this was not pos- sible, a question mark follows the name here.
Arkansas R.
John Lan's Concession
Arkansas Post + 1685
THE PRINCIPAL FORTS AND TRADING POSTS OF LOUISIANA. 18TH. CENTURY. BY J. HANNO DEILER.
Black Warrior F.
Fort Toulouse 1714/+
Mississippi River
Yazoo Post (Vicksburg) 1720
Fort Tombeche 1735
+
(Montgomery)
(Meridian)
Fort Rosalie (Natchez) 1716
..
Tombigbee R.
Red
River.
Amite R.
Boque Chitto
-Pascagoula R.
Fort Louist 1702-1711 Mobile+ 1711
16.98 Pensacola
Baton Rouge 1720
Bay
of Mobile
+ Fort Do Pascagoula
Manchas
L. Pontchartrain
Deer L
5
New Orleans 1718
cati.
Pelican ! .
Des Allemands
L.
Salvador
English Turn John Law's Concession.
Chandelier 1.
Bayou urche
Bienville's Fort 1699
+
Iberville, March 2nd. 1699
La Salle April 9th. 1682
0.
Mississippi Delta.
Mexico
of
Gulf
s Manchae
1718 New Biloxi
1699 Y+ Krebs
Bayou
Maurepas
Maurepas (Ocean Springs) 0 Ship . Hornl.
Dauphine I.
Perdido R.
Alabama R
Pearl R.
Escambia R.
Des Allemands
1
Yazoo R.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
As to the names of the birthplaces, also, a few words of explanation are needed. As the German people pronounced these names usually in their home dialect, the French officials were entirely at sea as to their correct forms, and wrote them down so that, in many cases, they cannot be recognized. Many people also came from little hamlets the names of which are not to be found even in such works as Neumann's "Orts- und Verkehrs- Lexikon," which contains 75,000 names of places in the Ger- man empire, and gives the names of all places of 300 and more inhabitants.
Of frequent occurrence in this census, and of special im- portance, are the names "Palatinate" (Pfalz), "Mayence" (Mainz), and "Spire" (Speyer). The Palatinate of the eighteenth century was much larger than the present Palatinate. It included the northern portions of Baden and Wurtemberg, extending nearly to the towns of Heilbronn and Wimpfen, and the Elector Palatinate resided then in Heidelberg. Accord- ingly, some places given in this census as belonging to the Pala- tinate may now have to be looked for in Baden and Wurtemberg.
The name "Spire" may signify the city of Spire and the small territory that belonged to the bishop of Spire. But if Spire means the diocese of Spire, then the whole Palatinate is included. The bishop of Spire at that time resided alternately in Spire and Durlach.
The name "Mayence" may mean the city of Mayence; it may mean the electorate of Mayence, a much larger territory, and it may mean the archdiocese of Mayence. The last included, also, the whole of Franconia, with the dioceses of Wuerzburg and Bamberg, which now belong to Bavaria.
Of the names of the three German villages, "Hoffen," "Mariental," and "Augsburg," on the German Coast of Loui- siana, and mentioned in the census of 1724, two, Hoffen and Augsburg, occurred before in the passenger lists of the four pest ships which sailed from L'Orient, in France, on the twenty- fourth of January, 1721. They were used in the passenger lists to indicate the parish of birth of some of the emigrants.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
RIGHT BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
The German Village of Hoffen, 10 Lieues Above New Orleans. November 12th, 1724.
Simon Lambert is mentioned as "premier habitant et le plus haut sur le fleuve," the habitant living highest up on the right bank of the Mississippi. This location was on the upper side of Bonnet Carré Bend, about four miles below Edgard in the parish of St. John the Baptist. Lambert's habitation bears the number one. Thence the census enumerator proceeded down the right side of the river.
I. Simon Lambert, of Oberebesheim, diocese of Spire, Catholic ; 40 years of age. His wife; and a son, 18 years of age. Five arpents cleared. Gave up his first place on account of inunda- tion.
1726: Six arpents cleared.
1731 : Occupant of this place, Jean Martin Lambert, son of the aforementioned, with wife and child.
1764 : Bartholomew Lambert, son of Jean Martin Lambert and Anna Eve Lambert, married Margarethe Troxler, daughter of Geo. T. and Marie Agnes Troxler.
2. Conrad Friedrich, of Rothenberg, diocese of Spire. (There is one Rothenberg east of Mannheim.) Catholic; 50 years old. His wife and three children. A daughter of 18 years; the youngest child five years old. Gave up first place on account of inundation. "A good worker".
1726 : Six arpents cleared.
1726: Daughter Anna Barbara married Friedrich Merkel from Wurtemberg, and, after whose death she mar- ried Nikolaus Wichner. Nikolaus Wichner and Anna Barbara Friedrich were the progenitors of most of the "Vicners", "Vicnaires" and "Vickners".
1728: Daughter Anna Maria married Edw. Poupart, of Paris.
1731 : One child at home. Two negroes; one cow.
About 1750 Sebastian Friedrich, son of Conrad Friedrich, married Regina Heidel (Haydel), daughter of Ambros Heidel, of St. John the Baptist. They lived below New Orleans.
3. Johann Georg Troxler, of Lichtenberg in Alsace. Catholic; 26 years old. A mason. His wife. "Fort bon travailleur". Two and one-half arpents cleared, on which he has been only since the beginning of the year having left the village in the rear.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Exposed to inundation. Absent because of bad health. His wife is also sick. Lost his crop and his house. A neighbor, who cooked in a shed attached to Troxler's house, accidentally set fire to it.
1731: Two children. Two negroes; one cow.
Johann Georg Troxler was the progenitor of all the "Trox- ler" and "Trosclair" families in Louisiana.
4. Johann Georg Bock, from the neighborhood of Fort Kehl in Baden. Catholic; 38 years old; weaver. His wife with child at the breast. One and a half arpents cleared. Two years on the place.
1729: Marie Francoise, daughter of J. G. Bock and Cath. Hislinger, baptized.
1731 : Three children. One negro.
Now come the two tracts of land abandoned by Lambert and Friedrich.
5. Wilhelm Ziriac, also "Querjac", "Siriaque", and "Siriac", of Ilmenstadt, near Mayence. Formerly coachman to King Stanis- laus. Catholic; 50 years old. His wife and daughter, seven years old. Two and a half arpents cleared. Two years on the place. "One of the more well to do people of the community. A good worker."
1731 : Only husband and wife mentioned. His daughter became the first wife of Ludwig Wiltz, the progenitor of the New Orleans branch of the Wiltz family, which is now extinct in the male line. All of the name of Wiltz now living belong to the Mobile branch of the family.
6. Johann Callander, of 'Aubrequin (Ober ... ? ), Palatinate. Catholic; 26 years old. His wife. A daughter. Sister-in-law ; mother-in-law. One year on the place. Six arpents cleared, two and a half of which he bought from Peter Schmitz, and two and a half of which belonged to his mother-in-law and his children.
1731 : One child. One negro; one cow.
7. Stephan Kistenmacher, of Cologne. Catholic; 39 years old. His wife and a daughter of 10 years. One and a half arpents cleared. Two years on the place. "Sick, broken down, miser- able."
1728: His daughter Margarethe married Louis Leonhard, from the Arkansas post.
1731 : Husband, wife and child. One engagé. One negro; one cow.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
8. Jeremias Wagner, of Orensburg (?) in the marquisate of Ans- bach (Bavaria). Lutheran ; 27 years of age. Hunter. His wife with a child at the breast. Sister-in-law. Two arpents cleared. One year on the place. "Very good man and a great hograiser". 1726: Six arpents cleared.
9. Leonhard Magdolff, of Hermnnse (?), Wurtemberg. Catholic ; 45 years old. His wife. An adopted orphan boy, 10 years old. Two and a half arpents cleared. One year on the place. "A good worker. Has a very fine garden, is well lodged, and very prosperous in his affairs."
1726: Six arpents cleared. 1731: No children. Three cows.
IO. Andreas Schantz (Chance), of Hochhausen, Franconia. Catho- lic; 25 years old. Miller. His wife with a child at the breast. Stepdaughter of 15 years. "A good man, well lodged." Has a cow from the company and a calf of eight days. A big hog and two little pigs.
1726: Andreas Schantz married Maria Magdalena Gaffel, daughter of Leonhard G. and Cath. Wolf.
1731: Two children. Four negroes; four cows.
II. Johann Georg Betz, of Weibstadt, diocese of Spire. Catho- lic ; 32 years old. Butcher and prévôt. His wife with a child at the breast. An orphan girl, nine years of age. Three arpents cleared. Three years on the place. A cow, a calf, and two pigs.
1727 : On the first of July, 1727, Betz, his wife, and two children are reported as inmates of the hospital in New Orleans, and on the 24th of August Betz died. His widow, who was a sister of Ambros Heidel (Haydel), then married Caspar Diehl of Alsace. The whole family, Diehl, his wife, two children, "a brother" (whose brother?) were murdered in 1729 by the Nat- chez Indians in the great massacre in Natchez.
12. Johann Adam Matern, of Rosenheim, in Upper Alsace. Catho- lic ; 26 years old. Weaver. His wife with a child at the breast ; two sisters-in-law, 18 and 20 years of age. One and a half year on the place. Two and a half arpents cleared. "A good worker", who deserves some negroes. Three pigs.
1731: Three children. Three negroes; seven cows.
13. Caspar Dubs (Toups) from the neighborhood of Zurich, Switz- erland. Protestant; 40 years of age. Butcher and prévôt. His wife; two boys, 10 and 12 years old. Two years on the place. One and a half arpents cleared. Three pigs.
1728: Caspar Dubs married Maria Barbara Kittler, from Wurtemberg.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
1731 : Six arpents cleared.
Caspar Dubs was the progenitor of all the Toups families in Louisiana.
14. Ambros Heidel (Haydel), of Neukirchen, electorate of May- ence. Catholic; 22 years old. Baker. His wife; his brother, 18 years old; his brother-in-law, aged 13, crippled. One and a half year on the place. "Good worker, very much at ease." One pig.
Ambros Heidel's younger brother is mentioned for the last time in 1727. It is possible that he was murdered by the Natchez Indians with the family of his sister. See No. II. From the entry there it does not appear whether the brother murdered was the husband's or the wife's brother.
I731: Ambros Heidel, wife, two children. One engagé. Three negroes and two cows.
15. Jacob Ritter, of Lustuen in Wurtemberg (Lustnau near Tubin- gen?). Catholic; 28 years old. Shoemaker. His wife. One and a half arpents cleared. Six months on the place. One pig.
1726: Four arpents cleared.
I731 : Two cows.
16. Michael Vogel, of Altdorf, Suevia, Germany. Catholic; 40 years old. Cooper. A little hard of hearing. Son of two years, daughter of eleven years in New Orleans. Sixteen verges cleared. (Ten verges=one arpent.) Two years on the place. One pig.
1726: Four arpents cleared.
1726: Margarethe Vogel, his daughter, married Jean Bos- sier, farmer from Natchitoches.
1731 : Two children. One negro; two cows.
17. Sebastian Funck, of Hagenau, Alsace. Catholic; 30 years old. His wife. Child of one year; orphan girl of 16 years. Two years on the place. Five arpents cleared, which he bought from two Germans, of whom one went to Natchitoches, while the other took land from Governor Bienville near New Orleans, which he has now held two years. One pig.
1726: Husband, wife, two children. Four arpents cleared.
18. Michael Horn, of Limbal, near Mayence. Catholic; 39 years old. His wife and a daughter of eight years. Fifteen verges cleared. Fifteen days on the place. Came from "the old vil- lage". His sickness prevents him from succeeding. Michael Horn's daughter married Louis Toups.
1726: Four arpents cleared.
19. A strip of land of eight verges for the surgeon of the com- munity. A hut on it. Abandoned.
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The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana
Here ends the village of Hoffen, and the census man now leaves the river front and proceeds to the two old villages in the rear, which were mentioned before.
Old German Village (i. e., the "second" one. See before. ). Three-fourths of a mile from the Mississippi.
20. Balthasar Monthé, of Troppau, in Silesia, Germany. Catholic ; 42 years old. His wife. Daughter of 13 months. One and a fifth arpents cleared. Three years on the place. "A good worker. Everything well arranged on his place. Was sick the whole summer." Two pigs. He died in 1727.
21. Johann Georg Raeser, of Biebrich, in the electorate of Mayence. Catholic; 32 years old. Blacksmith. His wife. An orphan girl of 18 years. Two arpents cleared. Three years on the place. "Well arranged. Good worker."
1726: Husband, wife, three children, brother-in-law. Six arpents cleared. One pig. 1731 : Husband, wife, one child.
22. Johann Jacob Bebloquet ( ?) of Lamberloch, Alsace. Lutheran ; 36 years old. Hunter. His wife. Three children, two boys and one girl, ranging from two to thirteen years of age. One and a half arpents cleared. Three years on the place. Two pigs. "Well arranged. Good worker."
23. Johann Cretzmann (Kretzmann), of canton Berne, Switzer- land. Calvinist; 46 years old. His wife; son of five years. One and a half arpents cleared. "His affairs well regulated. Demands his passage." Did not get it.
1726: As widower of Barbara Hostmann, Johann Cretz- mann married Susanna Rommel (Rome), daughter of Heinrich Rommel, and sister of Johann Rommel. See No. 26.
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