USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 21
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The prisoner then under sentence of exe- ention was brought forth and the detail of soldiers was ordered out, who proceeded to execute the sentence by shooting the pris- oner. The corpse was then buried by the soldiers and the other four prisoners were turned over to the chief of the band under his promise that they should not again trou- ble the inhabitants of New Madrid district. The expedition then returned with the same
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care for etiquette with which it had been assembled.
While on this expedition Governor De Las- sus issued some very strict orders regarding the sale of intoxicants to Indians. He pointed out that the Indians were usually peaceful and law-abiding, except when they had been inflamed by liquor. Trotter, him- self, had been killed by the Indians to whom he had unlawfully sold liquor. In view of these circumstances the governor ordered that there should be only a limited number of tavern and dram-shop keepers; that they must have an appointment from the gov- ernor, himself, and must be persons of good conduct: that under no pretext whatever, were they to give or sell liquor to the In- dians or slaves.
They were ordered to give immediate no- tice of any disorder in their houses to the commandant or nearest syndic. Any person
found keeping an unauthorized tavern or dram-shop, or who should have sold liquor unlawfully, was to be both imprisoned and fined, and any person who, whether a keeper of a tavern or dram-shop or any other, should sell or give liquor to Indians was bound to be arrested and sent in irons, at his own ex- pense, to New Orleans; all his property was to be seized until the matter was decided by the governor-general. The commanders of posts were held responsible for the enforce- ment of these orders.
At New Madrid the governor licensed John Baptiste Olive to keep a tavern, in the same district, on the road to Illinois, Mr. Edward Robertson, and at Little Prairie, Mr. Charles Guilbault. The license tax for these persons was to be such a sum as the governor general might fix and this tax was very appropri- ately to be used in the construction of a prison at New Madrid.
CHAPTER IX
SOCIAL LIFE
POPULATION IN 1804-SETTLEMENTS-OCCUPATIONS-DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FRENCH AND AMERICA SETTLEMENTS-HOUSES OF THE FRENCH-STOCKADES-FOOD AND COOKING-DIF- FERENCES IN THE FRENCH PRODUCED BY RESIDENCE IN THIS COUNTRY-SOCIAL LIFE-DRESS -AMUSEMENTS-LA GUIGNOLEE-CONTENTED CHARACTER OF THE FRENCH-TRADE-AMER- ICAN SETTLERS-CHARACTERISTIC LIFE-HOUSES-CLOTHING-FOOD - LAW-ABIDING CHAR- ACTERS-GERMAN SETTLERS-ABSENCE OF SPANISH SETTLERS-MERCHANTS-PRICES-PROD- UCTS-TRAVEL-ROADS -- RIVER TRAVEL-KEEL-BOATS-RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS-FIRST SER- VICES-RESTRICTIVE LAWS OF SPAIN-RECORDS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN STE. GENE- VIEVE-FATHER MEURIN-FATHER GIBAULT-JAMES MAXWELL-FIRST CHURCH BUILDINGS -SUPPORT OF PRIESTS-BISHOP DUBOURG-DE ANDREIS-FOUNDING OF ST. MARY'S SEM- INARY - DANGER OF MISUNDERSTANDING THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE.
By the time of the transfer to the United States, in 1804, there were living in the terri- tory of Louisiana about 10,120 people. Of these, the greater number were in Southeast Missouri. Each of the five districts into which the Spanish had divided the country for pur- poses of administration was in a flourishing condition. There had been a considerable im- migration into the district from the territory of the United States across the river, and, as we have seen, in a few places there were large numbers of French settlers. The following table gives as correctly as can be determined the population of the principal settlements at the time of the Louisiana Purchase: Cape Girardeau district, 1,470; Ste. Genevieve dis- trict, 2,350 whites and 520 slaves; New Ma- drid district, 1,350 whites and 120 slaves.
By this date settlements had been made in most of the present counties of this section.
There were probably no settlements in Dunk- lin, Butler, Ripley, Carter, Stoddard, and Rey- nolds counties, but in all the other counties there were at least some attempts at settle- ment made. There were flourishing towns at New Madrid, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Gene- vieve. Ste. Genevieve was a distinctly French settlement; Cape Girardeau was just as dis- tinetly an American settlement, while New Madrid was in part French and in part American.
As we have seen, these people were attracted here by a number of things. It is, perhaps, true that the greater number of them came on account of the richness of the soil and the pos- sibility of obtaining land on easy terms from the Spanish government. The settlers were largely farmers. This is true of the districts of Cape Girardeau and New Madrid; in fact, outside of trading and the running of an oc- casional mill, there were no other settled in-
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dustries besides agriculture. Some of the in- habitants depended in part upon hunting and trapping, but the greater number of them were almost entirely dependent upon agricul- ture. It was this fact that led the American settlers to open up farms and to scatter out over the country upon these farms, rather than to gather together in larger towns and villages. We find that in the Cape Girardeau district there were settlements iu a large num- ber of places extending over quite a part of the territory of the district. Nearly all the population of the district was to be found on scattered farms. This was, in part, due to that intense spirit of independence which rendered the American impatient of restraint and unwilling to be hampered or hindered in his activities within the towns.
The inhabitants of the district of Ste. Gene- vieve were, by no means, so entirely depend- ent upon agriculture. This was the district that contained the mineral region. Many of the settlers were engaged in mining; in fact, it seems true that more than half the people of the district were supported in part, at least, by the mines. It should be remembered that mining was carried on in a most primi- tive way. They were all surface mines, there having been no deep shafts sunk in the district. There was little use of machinery, so that the production of even relatively small quantities of lead required the work of a large number of persons. We find around each one of the larger mines a group of houses, a little settlement, where there were trading posts for the exchange of goods. We find, too, that considerable numbers of the inhabitants were engaged in transporting the lead from the mines to the river and on the river to the various places to which it was shipped. There were a number, too, who
were engaged in trading. Commercial en- terprises were developed more extensively in the district of Ste. Genevieve than any other part of the territory.
Another striking difference between the Ste. Genevieve district and the others, lay in the greater concentration of the population in the towns and villages. Travelers were struck by the contrast in this respect. This grouping of the inhabitants was a result of the French character. The French emi- grants to America were in a great majority of cases industrious, hard working people. They were perfectly willing to undergo hard- ships and dangers in their attempts to gain wealth, but the French are a distinctly social people, and, while these settlers here were willing to endure privation and to face the dangers of the wilderness and to toil unceas- ingly for the accomplishment of their pur- poses, they were not willing to give up that social life which they loved. It was this so- cial part of their nature which prevented them from scattering over the country and developing farms as did the Americans. The American family was satisfied to live upon a farm a long distance removed from others. Not so with the French family. There must be society and intermingling of the people. While the French developed agriculture and carried on farms in a considerable way, we find them living not on their farms but grouped together in towns. It was this fact that accounts for the common fields attached to the French towns. The people who lived in the town of Ste. Genevieve, many of them, were farmers. They were perfectly willing to cultivate the soil, provided it could be done without causing them to endure the isolation of farming life. A great tract of fertile land which lies just south of the town of Ste. Genevieve, which is now known as the Big
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Field, was owned in common by the inhabit- ants of the town. It was divided up for the purposes of cultivation at the beginning of the year. It provided an opportunity for the pursuit of farming without demanding the sacrifice of social life.
These differences in the spirit and attitude of the French and the Americans was the eanse of a great difference in development of the two sections of the country. It is evi-
ordinarily a considerable enclosure, in which were to be found the family orehard, the gar- den in which was grown a variety of vege- tables, the eabins for servants or slaves, and other buildings for the use and convenience of the inhabitants. The amount of ground depended, of course, upon the wealth of the owner. The well-to-do among the French usually enclosed a considerable space for these purposes. The house and grounds were
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OLD-TIME WINDLASS
dent, of course, that no new country can be thoroughly settled and redneed to the pur- poses of agriculture, except by people who are willing to settle upon the land itself. Here the American settlers possessed a very great advantage over the French.
We have referred to the faet that the French settlers lived in towns. Most of them of the well-to-do elass built for themselves comfortable houses. These houses usually stood near the street or road, the front yard being small, but back of the house there was
usually surrounded by a stout fence. This fenee was in reality something of a stoekade and was strongly built of pickets driven into the ground and sometimes reinforced with earth and stone. It really served as a means of protection against the Indians, for all of the people were exposed more or less to the danger of Indian assault. The various tribes of Indians living in the vicinity of Ste. Gene- vieve were accustomed, at times, when they eame into possession of whiskey, to take the town. On these occasions the inhabitants usually retired within their houses, closed
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OLD-FASHIONED ORE HOISTERS IN ACTION
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the gates of their yards, barricaded the doors and windows and waited until the Indians tired of their pranks.
The houses themselves were usually one story in height. They were long and low, with a porch in front and rear and some- times entirely around the house. They were built of wood, sometimes of logs and more often, perhaps, framed together and covered with boards running up and down on the framing. Plastering was used on the out- side of some of these houses, and sometimes they were weather-boarded, though this was unusual. The houses were substantial and warmly built. Each room was lighted by one window with small panes of glass. There was generally no attie, or else if there was an attic provided for, it was rarely lighted by a window or reached by any per- manent steps. The houses were ordinarily heated by open fires built in the fire places of great chimneys. These chimneys were usu- ally made of sticks and earth. Four great poles were driven into the earth and drawn nearly together at the top and then the struc- ture of sticks and earth built up between these poles. Sometimes, though, there was a stone chimney and fire place connected with the house. That the houses were substantial is shown by the fact that a number of them are still in use in Ste. Genevieve though more than a century old.
One of the differences between the French settlers and the American was in the char- acter of the food and in cooking. The French people are noted for their skill as cooks, and the early French settlers in Missouri were no exception to the rule. American travelers among these French settlers were struck by the variety of food that there was prepared. Instead of the usual dishes of meat variously cooked and corn bread, such as was found on
the tables of the Americans, the French had many salads, vegetables and soups. They cooked meat, it is true, but it by no means oc- cupied so large a place on the bill of fare as it did among the Americans.
It should be said that most of the French settlers were French Canadians. Some of the families came direct from France. Some of these were of the nobility and left France during the turbulent times of the French Revolution. These settled at New Bourbon, near Ste. Genevieve, but the greater major- ity of the people were descendants of the French settlers in Canada. They retained many of the characteristics of the French ; but long residence in America, in an en- tirely different environment, had produced some changes in them. This was noted by early travelers, especially in their language and in their bearing and habits of speech. The natural vivacity and liveliness of the French, especially those of the higher class, was modified among the settlers in Missouri. They were more vivacious than the Ameri- cans, it is true, but there was a suppression and restraint that was not observable among the original French settlers. The language. too, had lost something of its sharpness and had acquired a softness and musicalness in this country.
Contradictory accounts are given by early travelers concerning the habits and character of these French settlers. They impressed some of the early writers by their courtesy, their careful training of their children, their restraint and dignity, their openhanded hos- pitality and real culture and grace of man- ner. Some of these writers declared that nowhere else was to be found greater perfec- tion of manners or of character than among these French. They were said to be very
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moderate in their use of wine; most genial and kind toward all who came in contact with them; crime was practically unknown among them, and the courts had little, even, of civil business to transact. Those who saw them in this favorable light were impressed by the dignity of the people which arose, in part, from the feeling of security in which they lived. They were in the midst of plenty, land was cheap, and the soil produc- tive. The woods were full of game, and trade with the Indians was profitable. There was no reason for any to worry concerning a livelihood. From these conditions there seems to have developed among them an ease of manner and a dignity born of assured po- sition that left its impress upon all that they did. The women were said to possess un- usnal refinement, to be devoted to their fam- lies and to have unusual ability as housekeep- ers.
On the other hand, some of the early trav- elers saw the French settlers with different eyes. They said that they were inclined to be slothful; that they were content with a bare living taken from the soil; that they were given to indulgence in strong drink ; and that the children were not properly in- structed, but allowed a great deal of freedom and liberty in their lives.
The dress of all the French, whether rich or poor, was distinguished by its simplicity. The men wore a long coat and cape, so de- signed that it could be thrown up over the head. From these circumstances it was called the "capote." They wore shirts of various kinds of cloth, usually linen trousers and Indian moccasins. The women, too, dressed with great simplicity, but tried to impress visitors that they were not altogether out of the fashion. The centers of fashion were many hundreds of miles away; yet, in
spite of these conditions, the women of the French communities generally managed to know something of the styles. They, too, wore the Indian moccasins, and it was the custom of both men and women to cover the head with a handkerchief, usually blue in color. It should be said, too, that most of them were able to possess, even when they were comparatively poor, clothes which were set apart for Sunday wear and for holiday oeeasions. The inventory which has been preserved of the estate of some of the French settlers discloses that the love of dress was present among them.
All accounts agree that the great majority of the French settlers were noted for their devotion to truth and for strict honesty in their dealings with one another, and even with outsiders.
It is not to be supposed that, even in these remote places, amusement was not sought after with the same eagerness that it is pur- sued elsewhere. The French settlements al- most universally observed a sort of carnival season, when a large part of the time was given up to celebrations, and to the pursuit of various amusements.
Of these amusements, the one most pas- sionately followed was dancing. Sunday af- ternoon in these settlements was, usually, de- voted to dancing. The children and young people came together under the supervision of their elders, and all of them engaged in that pastime which they most thoroughly loved. Some of the travelers say that these Sunday afternoon assemblies were really schools for the instruetion of the children in good manners. Be that as it may, they were held, and it was a well known custom in Ste. Genevieve and other of the French towns.
The season of the year when amusement
.
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was most sought was the beginning of the year. On New Year's Eve there was a cus- tom, among the young men, to gather in a numerous group, arrayed in fantastie dress, some appearing as clowns, some as negroes, and others as Indians, but each carrying a bucket, box, basket or other receptacle. Thus dressed, the young men made their way from house to house, and at each place they sang what was called "La Guignolee." This was a jocular song in which there was de- manded from the master and mistress of the house their eldest daughter, and also a con- tribution of some sort of food which was called "La Guignolee." After the donation had been given the young men danced before the house and then went on to the next house. At some central point, before day, the whole population of the settlement assembled and heard mass. After mass all the children and grandehildren made their way to their parents where they placed themselves upon their knees and implored a parental blessing. This pleasing custom of submitting them- selves to the authority of their parents and of imploring a blessing upon them was one of the peculiar customs of the French settle- ments.
On January 6th, of each year, there was given at some selected house a supper and a danee. A cake was baked for this occasion which contained four beans. At some time during the festivity the cake was cut into small pieces and a piece given to each girl present. The girls who were fortunate enough to obtain a slice containing one of the beans were hailed as queens. Each queen then selected some young man as king. The selection was made known by the presenta- tion to him of a bouquet. The four young men thus selected were charged with the preparation of the next ball. They made ar-
rangements for it and bore the expenses of giving it. These balls were called Bals du Roi. At each one of them, arrangements were made for the holding of the next .*
One thing concerning the condition of these French people, which struck all observ- ers, was the absence of anything like a caste, or even a class system among them. The people were almost all related by blood or by marriage, and this faet tended to produce a feeling of unity among them which very largely prevented the development of the class spirit. It was true, of course, that men of intelligence and wealth were more highly regarded than others, but this regard was largely a personal matter and was paid to the individual showing great attainments, and not to the class itself.
Innovations were not regarded with favor. There was something of a elannish spirit among them. They were satisfied with their conditions of life and they did not wish for changes. Their wants were easily sup- plied from the produce of the soil, and from the wealth obtained by traffic and from the mines. It is true everywhere, that among a population no larger than that of the French settlement, bound together by ties of blood and language in a country where plenty abounds for everyone, there is an absence of a stimulus to great progress. This feeling that they had no need to display very great activity, a feeling of security and well being, led some who visited the settlements to re- gard the people as lazy. They were not lazy -they were industrious and frugal-but they found that they had time for leisure. and need not devote all of their energies to the acquisition of wealth. They were simple * Missouri Historical Society Collections, Vol. II, No. 1, p. 12.
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people and had little desire for greater things than they found about them. That progress among them was slow is evidenced by the statement of Breckenridge. He was a native of Pennsylvania; and was sent at an early age by his father to live for three years in Ste. Genevieve, in order to study French. His record, in the form of a diary, of those years, is very valuable on account of the light it casts on the conditions there. He says that for many years there was no public bakery in all the French settlements; there was no loom or even a spinning wheel; there was not even a churn for butter making. Butter, when it was made at all, was made by shak- ing cream within a bottle, or a bag. There was very little money. These conditions re- sulted in all material for clothing being im- ported. The French of Louisiana bought the material for their clothing and blankets, their flax, their calimanco, in Philadelphia or in Baltimore. Among them was to be seen no home-spun cloth, such as distinguished the American settlement. Their principal trade, in the absence of money, was carried on by means of barter and exchange. As a substi- tute for money lead was sometimes used and more often peltry, or deer skins, supplied the place.
Among these people wealth was almost en- tirely in the form of personal property. Land was not regarded very highly as a form of wealth. This arose from the fact that land was abundant, that it might be had on very easy terms and was, consequently, very cheap. The principal form of this wealth was household furniture, clothing, and slaves. Some effort has been made to estimate the trade of these settlements. It is difficult to determine how extensive that trade was. It has been said that from 1789 to 1804 the fur trade of Upper Louisiana amounted to $200,-
000. This amount, however, does not repre- sent all of the trade, but only that part of it which passed through the hands of the Span- ish officials. That large part of the Indian trade which went to the English is not in- cluded in this sum. Besides the fur trade, the settlers exported lead and provisions down the river, principally to New Orleans; they sent lead to Canada, and lead and salt to Philadelphia and Baltimore. It was in return for these exports that the settlers re- ceived their supplies of clothing and materials from the cities.
Communities situated as these French set- tlements were, developed a life of their own. They were cut off, as we have seen, from the centers of French influence by hundreds and even thousands of miles. They were divided by the river from the American settlements, and divided even more distinctly by differ- ences in race and language. It is impossible to tell how far a civilization distinct in itself with social and political institutions might have developed in Upper Louisiana, had time been given for its development. We cannot now say that the French might not have cul- tivated institutions similar to those of the American colonies. Doubt, however, is cast on the probability of this, by the fact that they were careless with regard to matters of education. There were some private schools but they were limited in term and seemed to have produced no great results. Instruction in these schools was confined to reading, writing and a little arithmetic.
Matthew Kennedy, an American, was in Ste. Genevieve in 1771; John and Israel Dodge were in New Bourbon shortly after the founding of this settlement about 1794, and in 1774 John Hildebrand was on the Maramec river. In that same neighborhood,
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a little later, was William Boli. These seem to have been the first American settlers in Upper Louisiana. The great tide of American immigration did not begin until about 1790. When Morgan had outlined his scheme for the forming of a great state, with its capital at New Madrid, he advertised very extensively the attractions of his new settle- ment, and induced a number of Americans to become interested in Louisiana. The sur- veyors whom he brought with him, among whom was Christopher Hays, induced many of their friends and acquaintances to settle in Louisiana. It happened that this scheme of Morgan's coincided in time with the great western movement into Kentucky. Some of the Spanish officials, even before the time of Morgan, saw that the probabilities were that the Americans would come in large numbers to Upper Louisiana, and that they would probably be unwilling to live long under the rule of Spain. When Americans became ac- quainted with the territory and all the ad- vantages of life here, they came in large numbers. By 1804 half the population of the Ste. Genevieve district was American, two-thirds of the population of the New Mad- rid district was American, and of the popu- lation of the Cape Girardeau district, all were American with the exception of a few families.
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