USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 20
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 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103
In 1808 Cuming visited Little Prairie of which he gives the following account: "We landed at the town of Little Prairie on the right containing twenty-four little log cabins scattered on a fine pleasant plain. Inhabi- tants chiefly being French creoles from Can- ada and Illinois, we were informed that there were several Anglo-American farmers all around in a circle of ten miles. We stopped at a tavern and store kept by European- Frenchmen, where we got some necessaries, everything is excessively dear here as in New Madrid, butter a quarter of a dollar per
108
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
pound, milk half dollar per gallon, eggs a quarter of a dollar a dozen and fowls half to three-quarters of a dollar each." #
Cuming says that at this time there was a camp of Delaware Indians about one mile be- low Little Prairie.
Besides this settlement at Little Prairie there were some three or four other settle- ments within Pemiscot county. One of them was in the vicinity of the town of Gayoso, afterward the county seat; another in the western part of the county on Little river; the third was just north of the lake called Big Lake and the fourth was located on Port- age Bay. All of these settlements suffered greatly from the earthquake and most of them were practically depopulated by its ef- fects.
With the opening of the King's Highway from Ste. Genevieve to New Madrid in 1789 there sprung up a number of settlements along the line of this road, some of them be- ing in Scott county. One of the first of these was made in the vicinity of Sikeston by Ed- ward Robertson and a son-in-law, Moses Hur- ley. Robertson was a shrewd and capable man. He traded with the Indians and also kept a stock of goods which he sold to other settlers, but he accumulated the greater part of his wealth by land speculation. At his death he left a considerable amount of property.
Another one of these early settlements was made in Scott county in 1796 near the pres- ent town of Benton by Captain Charles Friend, who was a native of Virginia. He received a grant from the Spanish govern- ment near Benton and located there with his family. There were nine sons and two daugh-
* Cuming's "Tour to the West," p. 283.
ters in his family and most of them remained in the vicinity of the Spanish grant. Another settler in this neighborhood who came in 1811 was John Ramsay of Cape Girardeau.
Perhaps the most distinguished and influ- ential family in Scott county in this period was the family of Joseph Hunter. He came to New Madrid in 1805 and located on a grant near New Madrid, but soon afterwards re- moved to Big Prairie not far from Sikeston and continued to reside in Scott county until the time of his death. The family of Joseph Hunter was a large one and was always wealthy and prominent in this part of the state ; he, himself, was a member of the terri- torial council after the transfer to the United States and his son, Abraham, was one of the best known politicians in Southeast Missouri, holding office in the state legislature for about twenty years. He was the second son and married Sally Ogden. Their family con- sisted of three sons and three daughters; the sons were Isaac of Scott county, Joseph of New Madrid county, who has recently died, and Benjamin F., who lives near Sikeston. One of the daughters, Catherine, married Marmaduke Beckwith, Mary married Archi- bald Price. Another son of Joseph Hunter was named James; he married Lucy Beck- with. The youngest son of Joseph Hunter was Thomas; he married Eliza Meyers and to them were born two children, a daughter who hecame the wife of Colonel Thomas Brown, and Senator William Hunter of Benton. Of the daughters of Joseph Hunter, Mary mar- ried Andrew Giboney of Cape Girardeau, their daughter is the wife of Hon. Louis Houck, and Hannah married Mark H. Stall- cup of New Madrid.
Another of the early settlers of Scott county was Captain William Meyers, who
109
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
came to Missouri from Tennessee and made his home at what is now Benton.
Settlers began to locate in Tywappity Bot- toms as early as 1798; among them were James Brady, James Curran, Charles Find- ley, Edmund Hogan, Thomas, John and James Wellborn and the Quimbys. Thomas W. Waters was the first settler on the site of Commerce, arriving there in 1802, here he began the sale of goods in partnership with Robert Hall and also operated a ferry across the Mississippi.
The first settlement in Mississippi county seems to have been made in 1800 by Joseph Johnson near Bird's Point. Other early set- tlements were made on Mathews Prairie called in the early times St. Charles Prairie. Those who lived there were: Edward Math- ews and his sons Edward, Charles, Joseph, James and Allen, Charles Gray, Joseph Smith, John Weaver, George Hector and Ab- salom McElmurry. Johnson sold his land in 1805 to Abraham Bird whose name was given afterwards to the settlement known as Bird's Point.
All of these settlers whom we have named and many others whose names we cannot give were farmers and traders. Most of them were engaged in the actual cultivation of the soil. Even those who lived in towns and carried on trade with Indians and with other settle- inents in Louisiana owned and cultivated farms. With the well known liberality of the Spanish government, grants of land were very easy to secure. Anyone who had per- formed a service for the government or who promised to perform such a service in the fu- ture could obtain a grant of land. These grants were also given for the purpose of en- couraging the development of industries. It
is recorded in some cases, in connection with these grants, that they were made because the grantee expected to cut down timber on the land or because he expected to use the wood for smelting lead or other ores. These Span- ish land grants varied in size. It was a cus- tom in the mineral district to give every dis- coverer of a mine at least four arpents of land. Outside the mineral district large grants were frequently made. Twenty thou- sand and even thirty thousand arpents was not an unusual grant. These grants were made without any reference to the French sur- veys or to any particular system of lands sur- veyed. Generally they followed a line of a creek, or the meanderings of a swamp, or they included the tillable land in a certain valley, or they stretched from hill-top to hill- top in a most irregular way. It is a rather curious thing that practically the only trace of Spanish occupancy in Missouri consists in these old land grants. The name of New Ma- drid, of course, perpetuates the attempt of Morgan to found a great Spanish town and a few other settlements bear Spanish names. Outside of these, however, few memorials of Spain exist. No great public works were un- dertaken or carried through, no codes of laws were made, no great industries developed, only the grants testify to the presence of the Spaniard. These Spanish grants, owing to the irregularity of their boundaries and the apparently careless way in which they were recorded have been one of the most fruitful sources of legal controversy within the state. It has required a great deal of litigation to determine the ownership of much of the land covered by these grants.
About 1789 the Spanish government laid out a road running from New Madrid to St. Louis. This road crossed Big Prairie, passed
110
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
through the "Rich Woods" across Scott county to Cape Girardeau and thence to St. Louis by way of Ste. Genevieve. Through the greater part of its course it followed the old Indian trace along which De Soto very probably travelled. The route was deter- mined by the Spanish as it had been for the Indians by the great sandy ridge which stretches from south the "Big Swamp" south of Cape Girardeau to Caruthersville in Pem- iscot county touching the river at New Ma- drid. This road was called by the Spanish "el camino real" the King's Highway. In 1803 the expedition which De Lassus led to New Madrid passed along this road, cutting it out wider as they went. In 1808 the Terri-
torial assembly of the District of Louisiana which was the name by which Missouri was then known, ordered that a road be opened between St. Louis and New Madrid. This road, doubtless, followed the old Spanish road, the King's Highway.
Between Cape Girardeau and New Madrid the road is still in use for a great part of the way. Between Cape Girardeau and Perry- ville there is a part of the road still in use ; that part between the Maramec river and the City of St. Louis is also used now. Its name is perpetuated in a boulevard in St. Louis, called King's Highway. This is, perhaps, the oldest road in the state.
CHAPTER VIII
GOVERNMENT UNDER FRANCE AND SPAIN
LOUISIANA UNDER LA SALLE-THE PROVINCE OF LOUISIANA-CAPITALS AND GOVERNORS-CES- SION TO SPAIN-PROVIDENCE OF UPPER LOUISIANA - LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS OF UPPER LOUISIANA-DISTRICTS AND COMMANDANTS-SYNDICS-AUTHORITY OF OFFICIALS -- FRENCH LAW RETAINED-CHARACTER OF GOVERNMENT-THE CABILDO AT NEW ORLEANS-ORGANIZA- TION OF MILITIA-"L'ANNEE DU COUP" ATTACK ON ST. LOUIS-TREACHERY OF GOVERNOR LEYBA-ACTION OF THE STE. GENEVIEVE COMPANY-EXPEDITION TO NEW MADRID-PUNISH- MENT OF INDIANS-ORDERS CONCERNING TAVERNS AND SALE OF LIQUOR TO INDIANS.
We have seen something of the formation of the various settlements of Upper Louisi- ana, of the character and life of its people, and it is desired in this chapter to give a brief account of the government exercised by both France and Spain over the territory be- fore its transfer to the United States.
In 1682, when La Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi river, he took possession of all the territory drained by it and its tribu- taries in the name of the king of France. He bestowed upon this vast region, which was as extensive as the valley of the Mississippi, the name of Louisiana, and claimed to exer- cise over it authority as commandant of Louisiana.
In 1698 the French organized the province of Louisiana with the seat of government at Port Biloxi, near New Orleans. The capital of the province was kept here until 1701 when it was moved to Mobile, Alabama. There it remained until 1723, when it was returned to New Orleans. The governors of this prov- ince of Louisiana were as follows: Sauvolle.
1698 to 1701; Bienville, July 22, 1701, to May 17, 1713; LaMothe Cadillac, May 17, 1713, to 1717; De l'Epinay, March 9, 1717, to 1718; Bienville, March 9, 1718, to January 16, 1724; Boisbriant, January 16, 1724, to 1726; Pe- rier, 1726 to 1733; Bienville, 1733 to May 10, 1743; De Vaudreuil, May 10, 1743, to Febru- ary 9, 1753; Kerlerec, February 9, 1753, to June 29, 1763; D'Abbadie, June 29, 1763, to February 4, 1765; Aubry, February, 1765, acting governor.
In 1763, France ceded to England all of that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi river. She had promised by the secret treaty of Ildefonso to give to Spain the western part of Louisiana, but the fact of this treaty was not generally known for many years and France continued to exercise authority over Louisiana west of the Mississippi river. Just before the transfer of the territory to Spain the province of Upper Louisiana was organ- ized, including all that part of Louisiana north of the Arkansas river. It was some- times called the country of the Illinois. The
111
112
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
capital of Upper Louisiana was St. Louis. The government was administered by a com- mandant. Only one served; he was Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, from July 17, 1765, to May 20, 1770 (de facto).
On May 20, 1770, the Spanish officials act- ing under the treaty of November 3, 1762, took possession of Upper Louisiana. They styled the commandant of Upper Louisiana, the lieutenant governor of the province of Upper Louisiana, with capital at St. Louis. The following were the lieutenant governors of this province: Pedro Piernas, May 20, 1770. to May 19. 1775: Francisco Cruzat. May 19, 1775, to June 17, 1778; Fernando De Leyba, June 17, 1778, to June 8, 1780; Francisco de Cartabona, June 8, 1780, to September 24, 1789 (acting) ; Francisco Cru- zat, September 24, 1780, to November 27, 1787; Manuel Perez, November 27, 1787. to July 21, 1792; Zenon Trudeau, July 21, 1792, to August 29, 1799 ; Carlos Dehault de Delas- sus, August 29, 1799, to March 9, 1804.
These lieutenant governors of Upper Lou- isiana were sometimes called in the Spanish official documents, lieutenant governors at St. Louis for "San Luis, San Genoveva and the District of the Ylinneses." The lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana was regarded as subordinate to the governor and captain gen- eral of Louisiana who had his seat at New Orleans.
This province of Upper Louisiana under the authority of the lieutenant governor was, as we have seen, divided into districts. Over each one of these districts was stationed a commandant who had both civil and military authority. He was regarded as the subordi- nate of the lieutenant governor at St. Louis. An exception, however, was made in case of
the commandant at New Madrid. He was a sub-delegate, was the direct subordinate of the governor general at New Orleans and was thus independent of the authority of the lieu- tenant governor at St. Louis. Each of these commandants had under him one or more subordinate officers known as syndics. In each one of the various settlements within the district there was appointed a syndic, usually the most prominent and influential citizen in the settlement, who became a personal rep- resentative of the commandant exercising a part of his authority.
Each commandant was charged with the administration of the law in his district. He had authority to try minor cases, both civil and criminal. His jurisdiction, however, was limited by the amount of property involved, All cases which involved a considerable amount fell under the direct jurisdiction of the lieutenant governor. The commandant was also charged with the care of all govern- ment papers relating to his district and was required to take possession of the estates of deceased persons and to make an inventory thereof. The commandant was, also, com- mander of the military force consisting, usu- ally, of one or two companies of militia.
The law administered by all of these vari- ous officials, governors, lieutenant governors, commandants and syndics was very largely French law. When the province of Louisiana was granted to Cruzat it was with the express understanding that the law of Paris, called by the French "coutume de Paris," was to extend over Louisiana. It was clearly with- in the province of the Spanish authority to have entirely changed its law and to have substituted for it the Spanish system of law ; this, however, they did not do. They made certain changes in the law, especially with
113
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
regard to the granting of land and to the col- lection of revenue, but so far as those great provinces of the law which define the rights and duties of individuals and the holding and transfer of property were concerned, the Spanish retained almost unchanged, the French law. They did this because the set- tlers were, many of them, French ; they were acquainted with the law of France; they had acquired and held property under it, and it was really less difficult for Spanish officials to continue the administration of this law than it would have been to make a change. They were the more inclined to this course because of the fact that the Spanish law and French law are quite similar. They were both derived from the old Roman civil law and in their fundamental principles were the same.
This law derived from the civil law is still in force in Louisiana, which is the only one of the states in the union where the English common law is not in force. The civil law differs from the common law in many vital respects, and it was this law; whether French or Spanish in its form, that was administered by the Spanish officials in the province of Louisiana. The question of language gave considerable trouble. There were three principal languages spoken in Upper Louisi- ana-Spanish, which was the language of the officials, and French, and English, the lan- guage of the settlers. Spanish was the official language, and trials and other official pro- ceedings were supposed to be conducted in Spanish, but very frequently, owing to the prevalence of the French language, it was used even in the official proceedings. In each one of the districts there was an official in- terpreter who assisted the commandant in the hearing of cases by translating from one lan- guage to the other as necessity required. Vol. I-8
Cousin, it will be recalled, acted in this ca- pacity in Cape Girardeau; he drew up pe- titions and other official papers for settlers, both French and American; these petitions were presented to the commandant, and were in French or Spanish, either being acceptable.
The government exercised by all of these various officials was in theory a practically absolute despotism; the power being in the hands of the officers. In fact, however, the rigor of the law was tempered to suit the times and occasions and the government was often paternal in character. The thing which bore most heavily on the American settlers and which made them most impatient of Spanish control was the dilatory character of some proceedings. This statement does not, however, apply to the proceedings before the various commandants. They were usually transacted with commendable despatch. In fact, most of the trials and other proceedings before the commandants are rather remark- able for the speed with which they were con- ducted. It was not unusual for the issues to be joined and a decision to be rendered within a very short time. Execution of the sentence was usually summary, but the authority of the commandant was sometimes exercised in order to postpone proceedings and to prevent unnecessary hardship. An instance of this is recorded in the life of Lorimier : One, Jo- siah Lee, had abandoned his wife and was ordered by Lorimier to leave the country. All persons were forbidden, under penalty, to harbor or help him in any way. Lee, how- ever, presented a very humble petition in which he confessed his fault and prayed that he might be permitted to remain, on condition that he should not again offend. This pe- tition seems to have been granted, for the name of Lee is found on the tax records for several years after this incident. It required
114
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
but little time and no further formalities than an expression of the commandant's pleasure to dispose of this infraction of the law of the province.
It was quite otherwise, however, with re- gard to those matters which were within the jurisdiction of the officials at New Orleans. There the governor and captain general of Louisiana was assisted in his labors by a cab- ildo. This cabildo, or council, was composed of eleven persons, including an attorney gen- eral, a syndic and other officers. There was also an officer charged with the royal rev- enne, who was called the intendant. There were many other officers besides the cabildo and they enforced the cumbersome restric- tions of trade with rigor. The Spanish were not a commercial people, and their regula- tions with regard to trade were the regula- tions of the middle ages. To carry a load of merchandise to New Orleans and turn it over for shipment to other parts of the world was a long and tedious process, so far as comply- ing with the regulations of the port was con- cerned. These restricting and hampering regulations much retarded commerce-in fact, more than any other cause, perhaps, made the Americans impatient and intolerant of Spanish control of the Mississippi river.
The Spanish government required the commandant at each post in Upper Louisiana to organize all of the able-bodied citizens into military companies. All persons between the ages of fourteen and fifty were liable to this service and the companies were required to be ready for service at any time they were called upon. There were small bodies of reg- ular Spanish troops maintained at St. Louis and New Madrid; the other posts were de- fended entirely by the military companies. These companies found employment in de-
fending the posts from attack by Indians, and one purpose of their organization and maintenance was to be prepared in case of an attack by the Americans.
The year 1780 was known by the French in- habitants as "L'Annee du Coup," (the year of the attack). This was during the war of the Revolution and the English were stirring up the Indians throughout all the west to at- tack Americans, and it was rumored in the early part of this year that these British and Indians were contemplating an attack on St. Louis. The commandant at St. Louis was Lieutenant Governor Ferdinand Leyba. He was instructed by the Spanish authorities to prepare the post against the threatened at- tack. He accordingly ordered the military company at Ste. Genevieve, which at that time was the only company outside of St. Louis, to be sent to St. Louis. For the pur- pose of executing this order, Don Francisco Cartobona was sent to Ste. Genevieve. He gathered a company together consisting of sixty men under the command of Charles Valle, and embarked them on a keel-boat for St. Louis. The attack upon the town was made May 26, 1780. The attacking force numbered about fifteen hundred Indians, un- der command of a British officer. Governor Leyba acted in a very peculiar manner. Either he was cowardly and afraid to take part in the defense of the town, or else he was a traitor. It appears that on the very day the attack was made he was intoxicated, and instead of making any effort at defense, he merely did all in his power to prevent such defense. The citizens of the town, however, did all in their power to protect themselves. There has been a question raised regarding the conduct of the Ste. Genevieve company on this occasion. They have been charged with cowardice, but this was untrue. The
115
HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
facts in the case as presented by Gen- eral Firmin A. Rozier, are these: Just before the attack was made, Governor Leyba refused to allow the Ste. Genevieve company to be supplied with ammunition. Captain Valle attempted to supply this lack by seizing three kegs of powder in the possession of a lady who resided in the town. She very reluctantly allowed the powder to be taken and conveyed to the company head- quarters. While Captain Valle was tem- porarily absent, Governor Leyba ordered the company to spike their guns and to march up into a garret and remain. Captain Valle, however, returned and refused to allow the order to be obeyed. He and his company, then, did all they could to aid the citizens of St. Louis in the defense of the town ; their ef- forts were successful, and the attack of the Indians failed.
In 1802 there occurred an incident which cast a light on the military arrangements of the Spanish. That year David Trotter, who lived in the New Madrid district, was killed by some Indians; they were members of a band of Creeks who had come from the east- ern states and were engaged in thieving and plundering on both sides of the Mississippi. Through the efforts of Louis Lorimier, five of the Indians were captured and one of them was condemned to be executed. Lieu- tenant Governor De Lassus, who resided in St. Louis, determined to be present at the execution and to take personal charge of the affair. About two weeks before the date, he set out from St. Louis for New Madrid. On reaching Ste. Genevieve, he ordered the three companies of militia at that point to be assembled and to accompany him under arms to New Madrid. He did the same at Cape Girardeau and further increased his army by
the addition of the three companies at New Madrid. He thus had almost a full regiment of soldiers for the occasion.
The order book used by Colonel De Lassus on this expedition is still in existence and it contains a great number and variety of orders. De Lassus was an officer, trained in the Spanish army, and he conducted his ex- pedition after the most approved manner of Spanish warfare. The most rigid etiquette prevailed, and everything was performed with the utmost care. The second in com- mand of the expedition was Don Francisco Valle. Don Joseph Pratte and Don Fran- cisco Valle, Jr., and Don Camille De Lassus were commanders of companies and the last named was also an adjutant. There was a bodyguard for the lieutenant governor con- sisting of a mounted orderly from each com- pany.
On arriving at New Madrid De Lassus ap- pointed officers for the three companies at that place. One of these was a company of cavalry of which Richard Jones Waters was captain ; George K. Reagan, lieutenant ; and John B. Barsaloux, ensign. John La Valle was captain; Pierre La Forge, lieutenant, and John Charpentier, ensign of the first company of infantry. The officers of the sec- ond company were Robert McCoy, captain ; Joseph Hunot, lieutenant; and John Hart, ensign,
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.