USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 18
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In 1795 a new fit of the fever struck the inhabitants. The settlement of Ft. St. Fer- nando occasioned a hasty cleaning out of the little corn there was in the colony. Ken- tucky furnished a little. and Ste. Genevieve supplied a great deal, even to New Madrid, that fell short after having consumed her own supply. This example struck the in- habitants : they saw that if they had harvested extensively, they could now well have dis- posed of their surplus-new desires to go on farms to raise stock and to make crops.
During these occurrances several Ameri- can families came to New Madrid ; some of them placed themselves at once on farms, and like children our Creoles, from a state of jealousy, clamored against the Americans, whom they thought too wonderful. Jealousy
stimulated them, and they would also place themselves on farmns.
It is in reality, then, only since the year 1796 that we may regard the inhabitants of this post as having engaged in cultivation, and that it is but yet absolutely in its in- fancy; a new scarcity they have just experi- enced before the last crops has convinced them of the importance of raising them, not only to provide against such affliction, to en- able them also, with the surplus above their own consumption, they may procure their other indispensable necessaries.
The population of the years 1794, 1795 and 1796 is nearly about the same, but the crops have increased from year to year, and all tends to the belief that this increase will be infinitely more perceptible in future years.
In the year 1794 the corn crop was 6,000 bushels; in 1795, 10,000, and in 1796, 17,000.
It was in this condition of things that M. Portell left his command.
It was, perhaps, impossible, from the fore- going facts, that the settlement at New Ma- drid could have made greater progress than it has up to this time. It was not husband- men who came and laid the foundation, it was tradesmen, cooks, and others, who would live there with but little expense and la- bor, who, being once fixed there, having their lands and their cattle, the Indians having re- moved themselves to a distance, and trade no longer within the reach of all the world, ne- cessity taught them that to procure the means necessary to live, they must resort to tilling the soil. The first attempts were difficult, but the inducement of disposing with ease of their crops determined them to labor.
The first steps have been taken; nothing remains for a wise commandant, but to man- age everything with prudence, according to the views of the government, to firmly repel
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idleness and laziness, to welcome and encour- age activity, and exhibit to the industrious men that he is distinguished above others and has earned the protection of the government, in giving him tangible proof, either by pref- erence in purchasing from him or some other manner of recompense. The honest man, the active and industrious man, is sen- sible of the slightest proceeding on the part of his superior, and it is to him a great ex- pansion to reflect that his labors and fatigues have not been ignored, and that they have given him a claim on the good will and be- nevolence of the heads of a Providence.
What a vast field is open to a commandant who would reap advantage by these means, and gain the benediction of all the worthy in- habitants of a colony.
I stop here, Mr. Commandant; what I might say further would add but little to the good purposes you design for the progress and success of the place. I have made a con- cise narrative of the origin of the post of New Madrid, and the reasons of its slow growth in agriculture. The census which follows, will give you a correct view of its present situation. It will prove to you that courage and emulation need but a slight sup- port to emerge from the giddiness where they have so long remained. But for certain the Creoles will never make this a flourishing set- tlement, it will be the Americans, Germans and other active people who will reap the glory of it.
Observe, if it please you, sir, that amongst the habitations granted long since, those given by Francis Racine, by Hunot, Sr., the Hunot sons, Paquin, Laderoute, deceased, Gamelin, Lalotte, etc., have not yet had a single tree cut on them; that those of the three brothers, Saint Marie, Meloche and other Creoles are barely commenced.
You will see, on the contrary, that the Americans who obtain grants of land have nothing more at heart but to settle on them at once and improve them to the extent of their ability, and from this it is easy to draw conclusions.
Another observation which will surely not escape you, sir, is that the total head of fam- ilies amount, according to the census I ex- hibit to you, to 159, and that in this number there are fifty-three who have no property. This, I think, is an evil to which it would be easy for you to apply a remedy. In a county destined to agricultural pursuits, and to the breeding of domestic animals, it is too much that one-third of the inhabitants should stand isolated from the general interest, and that the other two-thirds should be exposed to be the victim of a set of idle and lazy peo- ple, always at hand at their slightest neces- sities to satiate their hunger by preying on the industrious.
I think, Mr. Commandant, that several habitations left by persons who have ab- sented themselves from this post for a long time should be reunited to the domain.
The following are of this class :
One Enic Bolduc, absent for over two years, had a place at Lake St. Francis No. 2.
One John Easton, absent for over three years, had a place at Lake St. Eulalie; it is now abandoned. One Mr. Waters says he has claims on it. What are they ?
One Tourney had a place at Lake St. Isi- dor; he associated with to cultivate it one Gamard. Tourney returned to France, and Gamard had worked for two years at Fort St. Fernando.
One M. Desrocher, why has he not worked his place in the Mill Prairie, which he holds for over four years? Has he not enough with the one he holds at St. Isidor ?
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One M. Chisholm holds three places; he lives on one he has just commenced to clear ; a second is in litigation, and for over four years he has done nothing on a third near the village-has he not enough with two? Why hold land uselessly, and above all near the village ?
The examination you will give the census, and the information concerning the property of each head of a family will lead you prob- ably to other reflections. I append to the whole a new map of the village and its en- virons, as taken after the last abrasion of land by the Mississippi; this work claims your indulgence; it is not that of an artist, but one of the most zealous subjects of his majesty; and the only merit it may possess is to demonstrate to you with correctness the number of places that have been conceded in the village, the houses that are built thereon, and the names of the proprietors on the gen- eral list which correspond with the same numbers as those placed on each conceded place.
I pray you to believe me, with profound respect, sir, the commandant,
Your very affectionate and devoted ser- vant,*
New Madrid, December 31, 1796. PIERRE ANTOINE LAFORGE.
De Lassus remained as commandant at New Madrid until the spring of 1799 when he was transferred to St. Louis and became the lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana. De Lassus was, perhaps, the most popular official ever in command at New Madrid, as he was, indeed, one of the most popular in all Louisiana. He was succeeded by Don Henri Peyroux who was transferred to the post from Ste. Genevieve. Peyroux landed
* "History of Southeast Missouri," p. 140.
in New Madrid in August, 1799, and was in command four years. He then resigned and returned to France.
John Lavalle succeeded Peyroux as com- mandant of the post and held the place un- til the transfer to the United States in March, 1804.
The emigrants who came to New Madrid with Colonel Morgan were mainly from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Among them were David Gray, Alex Samson, Joseph Story, Richard Jones Waters, John Hemp- hill, Elisha Windsor, Andrew Wilson, Sam- uel Dorsay, Benjamin Harrison, Jacob and Benjamin Meyers, William Chambers, Elisha Jackson, Ephraim Conner. John Hart, James Dunn, Lawrence Harrison, John Gregg, Nicholas and James Gerry, John Wal- lace, John Becket, John Summers, Louis and Joseph Vandenbenden, Joseph MeCourtney, John Pritchett and David Shelby.
As we have seen the earliest French set- tlers were the two LeSieurs, Francois and Joseph. They were not only the first, but perhaps the most influential of all. Many of their descendants are still to be found in New Madrid county. These two were the sons of Charles LeSienr a native of the south of France who had emigrated to Three Rivers in Canada, Francois and Joseph came to St. Louis in 1785 and entered the employ of Gabriel Cerre who was a fur trader. It was in his interest that they visited the place where the town of New Madrid was after- ward located. Joseph died in 1796 and left no children. Francois married on May 13. 1791, Cecile Guilbequet, a native of Vincen- nes. In 1794 they removed to Little Prairie, remaining there until the earthquakes of 1811 and '12 when they returned to New Ma- drid county and made their home at Point
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Pleasant. Francois LeSieur died in 1826; he had been married three times. The chil- dren of the first marriage were Francois, Jr., whose wife was a LeGrand; Colestique, who became the wife of Noah Gambol ; Mar- guerite, who married Hypolite Thiriat; God- frey, who married Mary E. Loignon and reared a family of eleven children; Matilda who became Mrs. W. B. Nicholas; and Chris- tine, who was married to George G. Alford. His second wife was a Miss Bowman, and their son was named Napoleon. In 1820 he was married for a third time to the widow of Charles Loignon. Another member of this family was Raphael LeSieur who was a nephew of the two brothers and came to Ma- drid in 1798.
Another of the other French settlers was Pierre Antoine La Forge who came from France. La Forge was an aristocrat by birtlı, had been educated to be a priest, but fell in love with his cousin Margaret Champagne. He resided in Paris, hut was compelled to leave at the time of the Revolution. He came to America then. At first he lived in Gallipolis, Ohio; he then removed to New Madrid where he was appointed a public writer and interpreter. He was also an ad- jutant of militia and justice of the peace and a notary public. De Lassus thought very highly of La Forge and accounted him one of the best officers in the service of the Spanislı. His descendants still live in New Madrid county and have always been influ- ential citizens. Among them we mention Alexander La Forge, A. C. La Forge, Hon. William Dawson, Robert D. Dawson, Dr. Geo. W. Dawson, and Dr. Welton O'Bannon. Others also have attained prominence and wealtlı.
As we have seen, Francis and Joseph Le- Sieur are the first settlers in New Madrid.
The third was Joseph Michel. Michel's son, also named Joseph, who was born in 1800, lived to be a very old man, dying in 1895. He lived in New Madrid until 1829, when he moved to Hales Point, Tennessee. He was a nephew by marriage of Captain Robert McCoy who was also his guardian. He mar- ried a daughter of John Baptiste Olive one of the early settlers in New Madrid.
Captain McCoy was one of the most promi- nent men in New Madrid, he came to the set- tlement with Morgan, and became an officer under the Spanish authorities, being in com- mand of a Spanish galley, or revenue boat. There were several of these galleys stationed at New Madrid and they were charged with the execution of the Spanish commercial laws. All boats passing New Madrid were required to stop and to give an account of themselves, and to pay the required tax to the government. It was while in command of one of these boats that McCoy captured the celebrated Mason gang of robbers and river pirates who for a number of years com- mitted depredations on the river commerce. Joseph Michel who visited New Madrid in 1887 had a vivid recollection of the encounter between McCoy and the Mason gang. The Spanish governor at that time was Peyroux. He ordered McCoy to Little Prairie where he found and captured Mason and his men. They were then brought to New Madrid, sent from there to New Orleans and were then ordered up the river again, and on the return while their boat was tied at the river bank with most of the crew on the bank, Mason and his men seized the boat, shot and wounded Captain McCoy and made their es- cape. McCoy was commandant at post of New Madrid in 1799, then he was command- ant at Tywappaty Bottom. He died in New Madrid in 1840.
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Another of the early French settlers was Etienne Bogliolo who had been a resident of St. Louis, but early moved to New Madrid and engaged in trading. He seenred some large grants of land from the Spanish au- thorities, but lost his property and died poor.
Another of the French settlers was John B. Olive. He left numerous descendants who still live in New Madrid county. Still an- other was John La Valle. He came to New Madrid direct from France and was a man of education and of superior intelleet. Of his descendants, many still live in the county.
Of the men who came with Morgan, one of the most prominent was Doctor Richard Jones Waters. Waters was a native of Mary- land, he came to New Madrid about 1790 and began the practice of his profession. Besides being a physician he was also a trader, mill owner, and land speculator. He married the widow of Louis Vandenbenden. The Waters family of New Madrid are de- scendants of Richard Jones Waters. He left a large estate and was an energetic, enterpris- ing man. De Lassus rated him as a good officer, but referred to his somewhat extrava- gant disposition.
Barthelemi Tardiveau was a Frenchman who came to New Madrid with Morgan. He was a native of France and lived in Holland and had been a merchant in Louisville. He was a very able, energetic man, and was probably the most cultured man in the early settlement. He was a master of several dif- ferent languages including French, Eng- lish, and Spanish, as well as a number of Indian tongues. The company with which he was associated was, perhaps, the most ex- tensive trading company in New Madrid district. He came to New Madrid after some experience east of the river which satisfied Vol. I-7
him that if the French in America were to prosper they must remove to the west side of the Mississippi. While living in the east he had interested himself in securing large grants of land from Congress for the benefit of French settlers and in satisfaction of their claims which had originated from Indian grants. He was fairly successful in this matter, but he soon saw that the very land he had been granted slipped out of the hands of the French and into the possession of the Americans. This convinced him that the French people would not prosper unless they got further away from the Americans. This conviction led him to give his assistance and influence to the support of Morgan's scheme. lle not only followed Morgan to New Madrid, but he induced others of his friends and ac- quaintances to do the same.
Steinbeck and Reinecke, the traders whom we have noted as being established in Cape Girardeau, had a trading post at New Ma- drid also, they were further interested at Little Prairie. Bogliolo was also a trader as was the firm of Derbigny, La Forge & Com- pany.
About 1804 Robert Goah Watson, a Scotch- man by birth, but who had resided in Vin- cennes, Indiana, and also in Nova Scotia moved to New Madrid. Ile engaged in trade and acquired a large fortune. He was a man of great energy and ability and had the re- spect and confidence of all the people of the community. He was noted for his kind and charitable disposition and rendered such ser- vice to the community that he was affection- ately referred to as the Father of the Coun- try. Watson was killed on his farm near Point Pleasant. He left a large family of children, consisting of four sons and five danghters. One of his daughters married John Nathaniel Watson, another Doctor Ed-
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mund La Valle, a third married Thomas L. Fontaine, a fourth married W. W. Hunter and the fifth daughter married Doctor Thomas A. Dow. Many of the Watsons, Fontaines, La Valles and Hunters of New Madrid county are descendants of Robert G. Watson.
Shortly before his death Judge Watson wrote a sketch of his life. It is inserted here because of the information it contains as to conditions existing in this part of the state, and especially for its presentation of the great difficulty attendant upon travel in that early day.
I am a Scotchman by birth. I left Aul- dearn, Scotland, a small town east of Iver- ness, in March, 1802. I came to this country when a lad with an elder brother of mine. Wm. G. Watson, under the guardianship of an uncle of ours, who had been in this coun- try a number of years previous to our ar- rival, and was doing business as a merchant in Detroit, Michigan, then a small town. We took shipping at Greenoch, Scotland, and landed at Montreal, lower Canada, the latter part of May. From there we took passage on a batteau at a place called Sacchine, six or eight miles from Montreal. We crossed the small lake some six or eight miles wide, which brought us to the mouth of the river Magon. We proceeded on this batteau, which was loaded with merchandise, for Upper Canada, there being no other mode of conveyance at that period. After being fifteen days on the river, contending against a strong current and numerous falls, shoals, and other obstruc- tions, we arrived at Queenstown on Lake On- tario, a small town settled by British subjects, with a garrison containing two or three com- panies. After remaining there four days we took a small vessel for passage to Niagara. a
small town at the head of Lake Ontario, after being out six days. From there we walked to Queenstown Heights, a distance of ten miles. From Queenstown we took a wagon to Fort Erie. When we arrived we found a vessel waiting for freight for Detroit and Upper Canada. We remained some ten days before the vessel got in freight and was ready to sail. While waiting we had nothing to do only amuse ourselves by hunting and fishing. We crossed from Fort Erie to the mouth of Buffalo Creek on the American side and found there a tribe of Indians encamped on a hunt- ing expedition. The city of Buffalo was not then spoken of, or had any connection with the state of New York, either by railroad, canal, turnpike or any other kind of road. The whole Lake country was claimed and owned by Indians, the only white settlement at that period on Lake Erie, was at a place then called Presque Isle, near the line di- viding the state of New York from Pennsyl- vania. It was then the only good harbor on the Lake. After leaving Fort Erie we ar- rived at Detroit, eight days out in the latter part of August. I remained with my uncle, Robert Gouie Watson, in Detroit, one year. He sent my brother and myself to school dur- ing that time, which was pretty much all the school-going we ever received. My uncle had a small trading establishment on the British side opposite Detroit, and he sent me over there to take charge of it. I remained there about a year, he being connected with the Indian trade on the American side at San- dusky and Huron river along Lake Erie, then a considerable trading country owned and claimed by the Indians. I visited that coun- try on business for my uncle in the year 1803. Where Cleveland and Sandusky are now located there were no white settlements or settlers, with the exception of a few In-
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dian traders. My uncle also had an Indian trading establishment at New Madrid, Mo., under the management and control of a Frenchman by the name of Gabriel Hunot, who had numerous connections of that name in that place (New Madrid) and Fort Vin- cennes, Ind. From some cause my uncle was obliged to take charge of the trading estab- lishment, and sent me out with an outfit of goods imported from London, expressly for the Indian trade, to take charge at New Ma- drid of the establishment. We left Detroit, I think, in July, 1805, with two pirogues loaded with Indian goods, myself, and four French Canadians for New Madrid. We found the river Maumee very low, making a long trip to Fort Wayne. No white inhabi- tants were on the banks from the time we left the foot of the rapids, with the exception of one Frenchman-a baker-at the mouth of the river Glase, called Fort Defiance, who furnished the Indians and traders who trav- eled up and down the river with bread. The length of time out in getting to Fort Wayne, I do not recollect. We found some Indian traders and a company of U. S. troops sta- tioned there. We were then obliged to haul our goods and pirogues a distance of ten miles to the head waters of Little river, which empties into the Wabash. Those In- dian traders at Fort Wayne were prepared with oxen and wagons to haul our goods and boats across, for which we had to pay them considerable and sometimes when the waters of Little river were very low, we had to haul our goods and boats a distance of forty miles, to where Little river empties into the Wabash. On one occasion I had to haul my goods and boats a distance of sixty miles to near the Missionary town, an Indian village on the Wabash where a Frenchman by the name of Godfrey from Detroit had located as a
trader. The chief of this village was The- comery, brother to the Prophet who held a power and sway over the different tribes, un- paralleled in the history of Indian nations. I got to Vincennes after encountering ex- treme low water, having to carry our goods which were made up in small packages ex- pressly to be carried from shoal to shoal by the hands, distance of one-quarter to one- half a mile, sometimes longer, and rolling our pirogues on rollers over every rapid until we got them in deep water. This was our daily occupation. We arrived at Vincennes after being out about two months. During our trip we were very much exposed, the weather be- ing excessively warm and not having any- thing to protect us from the hot sun and bad weather; not even a tent, which latter was not used or hardly known at that early period, and being short of provisions, a little salt pork and a few hard biscuit and some lye hominy composed our diet, no tea, no cof- fee, no sugar ; the latter article in those times was in but little use and scarcely known. From extreme exposure and hard living I was taken down violently with chills and fever. My hands knew that Gabriel Hunot, who was trading for my uncle at New Ma- drid, had a sister in Vincennes by the name of Pagey. I sent for one of her sons to come and see me. He did so, and seeing my criti- cal situation invited me to his mother's house, and by his request I went there, and fortun- ate it was for me I did so. If I had remained where I was I must have died. Every care and attention and good nursing was given me night and day, by Mrs. Pagey and her kind sons. I owe my existence now to that kind lady's attention to me, which I shall forever remember with gratitude and esteem. I re- mained at Vincennes for some time to regain my strength. While there I became ac-
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quainted with a good many of the French set- tlers and Indian traders, Rupert Debois, Francois Langois, the Lazells, Bamon-In- dian interpreter for Gen. Harrison-and a number of names not recollected. Not a white inhabitant except Indian traders, from the time we left Fort Wayne till we arrived at Vincennes, and from there to the mouth of the Wabash-with the exception of Coffee island, some French families lived there of the name of Leviletts. We arrived at New Madrid in October and found the place set- tled principally by the French, and the town or village beautifully laid off in lots of two and four arpens, each, well improved and the streets wide and running parallel with the river. The banks of the river then as now were encroaching upon the town. The first town laid off by the Spanish had all fallen in, and at the present writing we are living in the third town carefully laid off back of the second, which has also gone. When the en- croachments of the river will stop is hard to conjecture. After a residence of 50 years in the place I find little or no change in the caving of the river banks. I have moved my possessions back three times and my first residence is now in Kentucky. When I ar- rived in New Madrid I took possession of my uncle's trading establishment and commenced trading with the Indians, French, and Ameri- cans, the place being a considerable trading point principally with the Indians. I con- tinued buying peltries and furs during the winter until March. I then baled all my peltries and furs and shipped them in two pi- rogues containing 24 packs each. I started them in charge of some Frenchmen up the Ohio river, then up the Wabash, some 350 miles from its mouth to Little river, then up that river to its source, where we hauled again our pirogues and furs across to Ft. Wayne
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