Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, Founder of the City of New Orleans. First Planter in Louisiana.
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMESAND
FAMILY TREES
Herman de Bachelle Seebold, M. D. In Two Volumes — Vol. I
PUBLISHED PRIVATELY
Copyright 1941
By Herman de Bachelld Seebold
Printed in United States of America Pelican Press, Inc. - New Orleans
Affectionately Dedicated To
MY WIFE
who has greatly aided me in the collecting of the material for this work.
ACKOWLEDGMENT
rpHE author takes this opportunity of thanking the many families he has come in contact with for the numerous courtesies shown him while collecting material for this work. Their generosity in opening their homes with the same gracious hospitality associated with old plantation days has been greatly appreciated.
These ante-bellum homes have intrigued me time and time again when visiting them. Their before-the-war quaintness spurred me to write of them and their owners. And I am glad that I have undertaken the task of recording their past greatness, as so many interesting old places have disappeared since this work was started five years ago.
The author would like to offer a special word of thanks to those who so generously gave of their time, and put at disposal their treasured family books, family records frail with age, their family miniatures, ancestral portraits and old letters and documents. Others offered able assistance so that this work may be authentic and of service to future students interested in the lore of an age that is gone forever, even the memories of which are rapidly vanishing.
Many of these plantation families have been lifetime friends of our family, and it has made the task easier than it would have been had I been a stranger in their midst; still I have considered it a great privilege to be permitted to choose such material as was found best suited for my purpose.
I wish to thank The Louisiana Historical Society for permission to reproduce portraits of members of distinguished old Louisiana Families in their portrait Collection and for the privilege of reproducing extracts from the “Historical Quarterly.” I have also consulted freely “New Orleans As It Was” by Henry C. Castellanos; ‘“New Orleans the Place and the People” by Grace King; Gayarre’s “History of Louisiana”; Fortier’s “History of Louisiana”; and the New Orleans Times-Picayune; the New Orleans Daily States; and the New Orleans Item-Tribune.
I am indebted to Mrs. Thomas Sloo for permission to use her Family Book to obtain data on the Bringier, Kenner, Brent, Minor, Du Bourg, de Luzon, Trist and other branches of her family, for use of Miniatures, daguerreotypes, photographs, ancestral portraits, memoirs and other private papers of historical interest, for my record of the Bringier Dynasty in Louisiana; to Mr. Trist Wood for his great assistance in correcting data and arranging branches of these families and of the many families to whom he is related; also for the use of many of the reproductions of miniatures, ancestral portraits, and other paintings in his extensive collection of family data, family crests and eoats-of-arms, etc.; also for data on the Trist, Taylor, Stauffer, Wood, and other branches of his family; to Miss Tristy Bringier of Tezcuco Plantation for data on Bringier, Trudeau, Tureaud, and other branches of the family and history of her old plantation home at Burnside, La.; to Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley, Sr., and Sylvester P. Walm- sley, Jr., for data on the Semmes, Knox, and Walmsley families and photos, ancestral portraits, pictures of Knox Hall and Knox Crest and coat-of-arms; to Mrs. Fernan Claiborne for permission to reproduce the de Villere crest and coat-of-arms; to Mrs. A. Sidney Ranlett, Sr., for data on the Ranlett family and family photographs; to Miss Ethel Hutson, Secretary to the President of the Delgado Art Museum of Art, for permission to use her article on Ante-Bellum Artists, (Warrington Messenger, Sept. 1938); also for data on the Artist Association of New Orleans, La.; to Mrs. David Pipes, Sr., for data on the Pipes Plantation, the Pipes family, the Fort, Stewart, and Randolph families, for photographs, miniatures, daguerreotypes, etc., to be used in my article on the above families; to Dr. Rudolph Matas for use of his article on the late Dr. John Smyth; to Miss Nellie Farwell for data on the Milli- ken and Farwell families, and pictures of her ancestral portrait collection, miniatures, and daguerreotypes, and Farwell coat-of- arms; to Messrs. Charles A. and F. Evans Farwell for data and pictures of their families and homes; to Mrs. Henry Landry de Freneuse for data on the de Freneuse, de la Vergne, de St. Paul, Seghers, Schmidt, and Hinks families, also for the use of miniatures, ancestral portraits, photographs, and the various crests and coats-of-arms of the various branches of the family and homes; to Professor Walter Prichard of the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge for use of extracts from his article on J. W. Dorr, in
the “Louisiana Quarterly”; to Miss Marguerite Renshaw of the Howard Library, New Orleans, for assistance in research work; to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dugue (de Livaudais) and Mrs. J. N. Roussel for data on the Dugue de Livaudais, the Forstall, De Dreux families, data on Home Place (Forstall) plantation, also for permission to reproduce letters written by Louis Philippe King of France to members of the de Marigny, and de Livaudais families; to the late Mr. Leak of St. Francisville, La., for data on the Union Officer buried in the Cemetery of St. Francisville, La.; to Miss Eva Scott of the Shades Plantation for data on the Scott family and plantation; to Mrs. Gardner Voorhees (Ninette Chretien) for data and photographs of the Chretien family; for data on the Chretien plantation home at Chretien Point; to members of the Chretien family formally at that place; to Mrs. Joseph Louis Le Bourgeois for data on the Le Bourgeois and Lassasier families, and histories with pictures of Belmont and Mount Airy Plantations; to Weeks Hall for data on “The Shadows” New Iberia; to Dr. A. B. Fossier, Miss Clelie Labatut, Mrs. John Tobin and other members of the family for data on the Labatut Plantation and family pictures; to the D’Estrehan family for family data and pictures; to the late Robert S. Landry for data on the Mizaine plantation; to Mrs. Augustus H. Denis for data and crest and coat- of-arms of the de Marigny family; to Mrs. Robert Ruffin Barrow, Jr., for data and pictures of the Barrow, Perez, and other branches of the family; to Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins for permission to reproduce the portraits of her grandparents painted by Thomas Sully; to the Sparks, Daspit, and Barrow families of Baton Rouge and the Felicianas, also to Mrs. Livina Barrow Mays (Mrs. J. R. Mays) of Rosedale, La., for data that aided me with the various histories of the different Barrow mansions and plantations and article on the BARROW DYNASTY in Louisiana; to Mr. Emile Ducros, Louisiana Historian, for Authentic Notes on the de la Ronde, Plantation mansion. Avenue of Oak trees, the de la Ronde, Almonaster, de Pontalba, family and plantations in the St. Bernard Area, also the de la Ronde Crest and coat-of-arms; to Miss Louise Butler (Louisiana Historian), the family of Judge Thomas Butler, near St. Francisville, Mrs. Edward Butler, Sr., Misses Sarah and Mamie Butler of the Cedars plantation, for their united assistance in furnishing data for the various homes and families and permission to use and reproduce family portraits, memoires.
miniatures, etc., and aiding in compiling THE BUTLER DYNASTY in Louisiana; to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Charles Parlange of Parlange Plantation Home, Point Coupee for data on their old plantation home, the use of old family documents, records, of the Parlange, de Lassus, de Luziere, Reynaud de Cuzot, de Vezin, Van Vrandenburg, de Grand Pre, D’Herbigny (Derbigny) families and a record of “River Lake” plantation, ancestral plantation home of Mr. Parlange’s grandparents the Denis family; to Thomas Hewes family for data on the Pleasant View plantation and Hewes and Grymes families; to Mrs. Breaux for data on Austerlitz Plantation; to Col. Henry Rougon for data on plantation and pictures of home and garden; to Dr. and Mrs. L. R. de Buys and other members of the family for data on the de Macarty, Forstall families and plantations, the de Buys, Rathbone, Duggan and Hicky families, pictures of many of the portraits painted by the late Miss Edith Duggan, also for crests and coats-of-anns of the de Buys, Rathbone, Forstall, Lopez families, and to reproduce part of the portrait collection of the late Mrs. Rathbone de Buys; drawing of the old plantation home of Col. Hicky (Hope Estate); to Mrs. P. L. Howell, Curator of the Louisiana Historical Assn., Confederate Memorial Hall, New Orleans; to Dr. E. D. Fenner for data on the old Payne Plantation home, and Payne Fenner home and families; to Senator Edward J. Gay for data on the St. Louis Plantation and the Gay family and family pictures; to Dr. W. J. Owen for data on Nottaway Plantation; to the Misses Smith for data on Asphodel Plantation and permission to photo home; to the Le Jeune family for data on the old plantation home of the family in New Roads, La.; to Mr. J. Hereford Percy and the family for data on Beechwood Plantation, the Percy Family and kodaks of graves in Beechwood Cemetery; to Mrs. John Smyth for data on the Sully and Smythe families, data on Wavertree manor and plantation, Rosedown plantation with histories of these places and pictures also for family portraits and crests and coats-of-arms; to Miss Julia Sully of Richmond, Va., for history of the Pocahontas picture, etc.; to Mrs. Mabel Richardson for data and pictures of her grandparents plantation and home, “Hickory Hill,” and family civil war record; to Miss Lucy Matthews of “Oakley Plantation” for data on Oakley, history of the fine collection of ancestral portraits by noted artists, data on the Pirrie, Alston, Bowman and Matthew families, etc.; to
Mrs. Edwin Xavia de Verges for her great assistance in compiling the record of the de Verges family and its branches, data on the family plantations, family miniatures, daguerreotypes and other portraits, pictures of Chateau Senlis and of the other ones of the Almonaster and de Pontalba families, coats-of-arms of the de Macarty, de Lino de Chalmette, de Cruzat, de Poupart, and others of her family. The description of the de Verges Crest and coat-of-arms; to Miss Marguerite Fortier of the Louisiana State Museum for photographs of the Edmond Fortier plantation “Concession” known as the Keller Place, also for data on the Fortier family; to Miss Laure Beauregard Larendon for data on the Beauregard Reggio, and de Villere families and family photographs; to the Stauffer family for data on their old plantation Home in Metairie Lane; to Mrs. Helen Pitkin Schertz for data on her old plantation home (Old Spanish Customhouse) record of the Pitkin family in America, for photos of her home, garden and portrait by Allen St. John; to Mrs. John F. Coleman for data on the Rouyer de Villere, Lanaux, Rareshide, Baker, Poujaud de Jouvisy families and crests and coats-of-arms of these families, and family photographs, also for copy of painting of Conseil plantation owned by Mrs. W. 0. Humphries; to the Walter Parker family for data on their old plantation home and family with photographs, crest, etc.; to Mr. and Mrs. Gustaf Westfeldt, Jr., for data on their old plantation home (The Old Dugue de Livaudais Plantation), the Westfeldt, Dugan and Monroe families and family and house pictures; to Miss Edith Kernaghan for data on the D’Arensbourg family and permission to use an ancestral portrait of the D’Arensbourg family; to Mrs. Wilson Williams and Miss Doris Walker for data on Kenilworth Plantation and Wilson family with photographs, etc.; to Miss Louise Crawford for data on Kenilworth Manor and the Bienvenu, and Crawford families; to the von Phul, Cade, Soniat, du Fossat and Allain families pictures, records, etc., of family and home; to Deleon “Belles, Beaux and Brains of the Sixties”; the Frotscher and Koch families for data on the Frotscher Plantation, the Koch home, and both families and photographs; to Mrs. Grady Price (Miss Edith Dart) for data on the Plauche family; to Mrs. William MacCormac Younge for poem on “Molinary’s Grave”; to Mrs. Logan Perkins (Miss Elizabeth Kell) for data on her family’s old plantation home “Point Clear,” Madison Parish, La., and data on the family, also portrait; to Mrs.
Eugene Ellis for data on the Ellis family and Magnolia Plantation; to Mrs. T. L. Raymond for memoirs of her grandfather's plantation and home “Evergreen,” Rapides Parish, La.; to her sister Mrs. P. L. Girault, now of Chicago, Ill., for data on the family and family pictures; to Mrs. Felix Larue for data on General J. B. Levert; to Mrs. Andrew Stewart for data on the family also of Oak Alley (Beau Sejour) plantation and home; to the various branches of the Prudhomme family for data on the family, the old plantation and home, family pictures and miniatures, etc.; to Mrs. Cammie Henry for permission to visit her old plantation garden and lower floor, the studios, and for picture of home “Melrose Manor”; to Baron Albert deBeaulieu de Marcon- nay of Manitou Springs, Colorado, for data on the various branches of his family and pictures of the family and chateau; to Charles Konzelman for data and pictures of his family; to Miss Vera Morel for permission to use her drawing of Kenilworth Plantation Manor; to Rev. Father Eck for history of St. Catherine’s Chapel, False River; to Mr. Allan Wurtele for pictures of Ramsey Plantation home; to B. R. Foster of the Louisiana State Museum for use of portraits for illustrations; to Mrs. O. LeBlanc and Mrs. H. Lorio for aid in obtaining data; to Mrs. Flo Field for article on Molinary; to Mrs. Adel Lebourgeois Chapin for extracts on “Their Fruitless Ways” (Henry Holt & Co., N. Y.); and to many others — some of whom are mentioned in this work — for information and assistance in compiling this data.
Naturally in a work of this kind, in spite of great care and thorough checking a few errors will creep in. Because of the thousands of details, names, dates, etc., it is impossible to avoid a few mistakes, also the spelling of names varies — even when spelt by different members of the same family.
I therefore ask the reader's indulgence for such errors or failings as this work contains. I will endeavor to correct such mistakes in future editions.
Herman de Bachelle Seebold, M.D.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION .
Earliest settlements in Louisiana and the class of people who became the great planters of the State — Why their apparent haughtiness at an early date
The furnishings and entertainments on an old plantation in ante-bellum days which continue in a modified form at present
Life on a great plantation in ante-bellum days
Garden and plantation tours and present fashionable diversions
Old plantations and their mansions at present. Their destruction by Union soldiers during Civil War days when the mansions were burnt and the sugar-houses and cotton-gins blown up
Social life in the North and South in ante-bellum days and later
“Cotton is King” — Its demand by England enriching the entire Southland
Chapter I
EARLY LOUISIANA ARTISTS .
Isaac Delgado Museum of Art (By Ethel Hutson)
The Art Association of New Orleans The Ganglionics and Art Association (By Kate Monroe Wesifeldt)
Art in New Orleans — Andres Molinary (1872-1915)
The Grave of Molinary
(By Lilita Lever Younge)
Chapter II
HONORABLE THOMAS J. SEMMES .
Chapter III
NOTES OF A JOURNALIST. . 37
Chapter IV
THE ST. GEME PLANTATION . 40
Chapter V
THE OLD HURST PLANTATION HOME — NOW THE STAUFFER FAMILY HOME . 42
Chapter VI
BAYOU ST. JOHN AREA . 48
The Ducayet Plantation Home The Old Blanc Plantation Home The Schertz Villa
(1800 Moss St, Bayou St John . Said to be the ancient Spanish Customhouse)
Casa Solariega — “The Shady House”
(Walter Parker Home)
Chapter VII
FAUBOURG DE MARIGNY . 54
The de Marigny Plantation Bernard de Marigny
Chapter VIII
PLANTATIONS OF ST. BERNARD . 58
Three Oaks Plantation Bueno Ritero
(The Old Beauregard Place)
Versailles
(Plantation Home of Major General Pierre Denis de la Ronde)
Conseil Plantation
(de Villere Plantation Home)
Kenilworth
The Old Antoine Bienvenu Plantation Bienvenu - Crawford Families The Wilson Williams Family- Concord
(The old Plantation of the de la Vergne family) Chapter IX
IN NEW ORLEANS . 72
The old de Lord - Sarpy Home (Howard Avenue)
Soniat Du Fossat
(Old Saulet Plantation — now Mercy Hospital)
The Dugue de Livaudais Plantation Home
(The Gitstaf Westfeldt home, Garden District.
The Monroe Family)
Bel Air Plantation Home de la Chaise Plantation The de Bore Sugar Plantation (Audubon Park)
Chapter X
ON THE EAST BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER NEAR NEW ORLEANS . 86
White Hall Plantation (de la Barre family)
Elmwood Plantation (Jefferson Parish)
D’Estrehan Plantation (St. Charles Parish)
Ormond Plantation
(Si. Charles Parish)
The Mizaine Plantation
(Near Ormond Plantation) de Trepagnier Plantation (The Spillway)
D’Arensbourg Plantation (German Coast)
Chapter XI
OTHER PLANTATIONS IN ST. CHARLES PARISH . 103
Red Church
Welham
Angelina
Chapter XII
IN ST. JOHN PARISH . 105
Mount Airy
(Joseph Louis LeBourgeois Plantation)
Lesassier
The Waguespack Plantation Home De Montegut
Chapter XIII
IN ST. JAMES PARISH . 110
Jefferson College Sacred Heart Convent Belmont Plantation Mansion
(Joseph LeBourgeois family)
Constancia
(Uncle Sam Plantation)
Chapter XIV
BURNSIDE PLANTATION MANSION . . 117
Chapter XV
THE BRINGIER DYNASTY . 122
Colomb Plantation
(St. James Parish)
Union Plantation
(St James Parish) Tezcuco Plantation
(Ascension Parish)
White Hall Plantation (St. James Parish)
Town Houses of the Bringiers
Bocage Plantation
(Ascension Parish)
The Hermitage
(Ascension Parish)
Chapter XVI
DUNCAN F. KENNER . 139
Ashland Plantation
(Now called Belle Helene)
Memoirs of Madame Joseph Lancaster Brent (Miss Rosella Kenner)
Linwood Plantation
(Ascension Parish)
Chapter XVII
NEAR BATON ROUGE, LA . 156
Chatsworth Plantation The Cottage Plantation
(The Conrad Plantation)
Chapter XVIII
ON THE WEST BANK NEAR NEW ORLEANS _ 163
Belle Chasse Plantation Manor Seven Oaks Plantation (Westwego, La.)
Ellington
(Witherspoon)
Ranson Plantation Concession Plantation Home
(Now known as the Keller Place)
Chapter XIX
ON THE WEST BANK BELOW DONALDSONVILLE . 163
Evergreen Plantation Valcour Aime Plantation (The Little Versailles)
Beau Sejour
(Now called Oak Alley Plantation)
Home Place
(Choppin Plantation)
Gov. Andre Roman’s Plantation
Chapter XX
ON THE WEST BANK BELOW DONALDSONVILLE . 170
Evan Hall Plantation Belle Grove Plantation Nottaway Plantation
(Called White Castle by Mistake)
Chapter XXI
ON BAYOU LAFOURCHE . . . 195
Belle Alliance Plantation Maidwood Plantation Woodlawn Plantation Rienzi Plantation Ducros Plantation
Chapter XXII
THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY . 206
Tale of Evangeline St. Martinville
The Old Duchamp Colonial Home (St. Martinsville, La.)
Oak Lawn Plantation Home (Near Franklin)
Mary Plantation Darby Plantation
(On the Teche near New Iberia)
The Shadows
(New Iberia)
The Gray Home (Lake Charles)
Chapter XXIII
IN TERREBONNE PARISH . 220
Southdown Plantation Magnolia Plantation
(Built for the Ellis family)
Chapter XXIV
PLANTATIONS NEAR CLINTON .
Clinton, Louisiana
Asphodel Plantation Home — built in 1835 (East Feliciana Parish)
Hickory Hill Plantation — built in 1810 (East Feliciana Parish)
The Shades Plantation — built in 1808 (East Feliciana Parish)
Chapter XXV
THE AUDUBON COUNTRY .
Oakley Plantation
(West Feliciana Parish)
Beechwood Plantation Cemetery
Chapter XXVI
THE ST. FRANCISVILLE AREA _ _
Waverly Plantation Oak Grove
Rosedown Plantation — built in 1835 (West Feliciana Parish)
Chapter XXVII
THE BARROW DYNASTY .
Afton Villa
(West Feliciana Parish)
Ellerslie Plantation Greenwood Plantation Manor (Built in 1830)
Chapter XXVIII
THE BUTLER DYNASTY .
The Cottage Plantation
(Old family home of the Butlers)
Greenwood Plantation Home
(Edward Butler Plantation Home)
Catalpa Plantation Home
(Memoirs of Mrs. Thomas Butler)
Chapter XXIX
IN THE FALSE RIVER SECTION . 290
The Old Labatut Plantation Home (Built for Evarest de Barra)
Lakeside Plantation
(Above West Baton Rouge)
The LeJeunne Plantation Home (New Roads, La.)
The Maryland Oak Tablet (False River)
St. Catherine Chapel (False River)
Ramsey Plantation (False River)
Poydras Plantation Alma Plantation
(Pointe Coupee Parish)
Chapter XXX
THE PARLANGE FAMILY PLANTATION HOME . 301
(Gn False River, Pointe Coupee Parish)
Chapter XXXI
SEEBOLD PLANTATION . 311
(Country home of the Seebold family — False River area)
Chapter XXXII
OTHER FALSE RIVER PLANTATIONS . 323
Austerlitz — the Locke Breaux Plantation Home (Now the home of Col. Henry Rougon)
Pleasant View Plantation Home
(Old Plantation of the Thos. Hewes family)
River Lake Plantation — built for Isaac Gaillard
(Later Arthur Denis Plantation — now the Major Plantation)
Chapter XXXIII
IN THE GROSSE TETE SECTION . 328
Live Oak Plantation
(J. R. Mays home, Rosedale)
Shady Grove Manor
(On Bayou Grosse Tete)
Belmont Plantation
(The old Wyley Barrow Plantation)
Chapter XXXIV
IN PLAQUEMINE PARISH . 336
St. Louis Plantation — West Bank of the Mississippi (Originally called Home Plantation)
Chapter XXXV
CHRETIEN POINT PLANTATIONS _ 340
Chretien Plantation
Chretien family
Williams family
Grand Coteau
Jesuit Seminary
Fusilier de la Claire Plantation
Chapter XXXVI
PAYNE - FENNER PLANTATION HOME . 351
(Near Washington , La.)
Jacob Upsher Payne Captain Charles Fenner Fenner family
Chapter XXXVII
CANE RIVER SECTION . 358
Marco Plantation Home
Magnolia Plantation (Herzog family)
Yucca Plantation
(Now known as Melrose Plantation — home of Mrs . Cammie Henry)
BERMUDA (La Cote Joyeuse)
(Plantation and home of the Prudhomme family)
Town of Natchitoches Grand Encore
Chapter XXXVIII
EVERGREEN PLANTATION — RAPIDES PARISH . 374
(Memoirs of Clara Compton Raymond)
Chapter XXXIX
POINT CLEAR PLANTATION — MADISON PARISH . 379
(The Thomas Phares Kell Plantation — Kell and Perkins families)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
pp.
Frontispiece — Sieur de Bienville, the first planter in Louisiana.
Sugar and cotton did not make the Louisiana aristocrat _ 8
Cutting sugar cane . opposite 9
Separating seed from cotton . ” 16
Weekly shipments of cotton to England . ” 16
A Plantation Garden . ” 17
Governor Villere . ” 17
A Creole Belle . ” 28
Mrs. Andres Molinary . between 28-29
A sketching party at Mandeville, La . ” 28-29
Andres Molinary in his studio . opposite 29
The Grave of Molinary . ” 29
The White House of the Confederacy . ” 32
Mrs. Thos. J. Semmes . ” 33
Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley, Sr . ” 40
Knox Hall . ” 41
The Old Hurst Plantation Home (Stauffer Home) . ” 48
Ducayet Plantation Home . ” 48
Blanc Family Plantation Home . ” 49
Old Spanish Customhouse (Schertz Home) . ” 49
Garden Party, Spanish Customhouse . ” 56
Casa Solariega — Parker Home . ” 56
Mantel — Casa Solariega . ” 57
Stairway — Casa Solariega . ” 57
Plantation Home of the Marquis de Marigny . ” 60
Loggia — Casa Solariega . ” 60
Three Oaks Plantation Home . between 60-61
Bueno Ritero Plantation Home . ” 60-61
de la Ronde Oak Avenue . ” 60-61
de la Ronde Mansion . ” 60-61
Crest and coat of arms of de Villere’ Family . opposite 61
Overseer House Villere’ Plantation . ” 64
Kenilworth Plantation (Bienvenu) . 99 64
Mrs. Wilson Williams, Miss Doris Walker . ” 65
Pages
Wilson Williams . opposite 72
Peter Little . ” 72
Delor-Sarpy Plantation Home . ” 73
Soniat-du Fossat Plantation Home (Mercy Hospital) ” 73
A corner of the Gustaf Westfeldt Home . ” 76
Garden of de Livaudais Plantation Home . ” 76
Mrs. Thomas Duggan . between 76-77
Gustaf Westfeldt, I . ” 76-77
Mrs. Gustaf Westfeldt, I . ” 76-77
Judge Frank A. Monroe . opposite 77
Gustaf Westfeldt, II . ” 77
Overmantel panel, Bel Air Plantation Home . ” 80
Belair Plantation Home . ” 81
Belair Hallway (Von Phul) . “ 81
Etienne de Bore . “ 84
White Hall Manor (de la Barre) . between 84-85
Elmwood Plantation manor . “ 84-85
Noel D’Estrehan . “ 84-85
D’Estrehan Plantation Manor . “ 84-85
Ormond Plantation house . opposite 85
Capt. Richard Butler’s family carriage . “ 85
Gov. W. C. C. Claiborne . “ 88
Trepagnier plantation house . “ 89
Mademoiselle Livie Darensbourg . “ 96
Welham Plantation home . “ 97
Mount Airy Plantation Manor . “ 97
Bocage Plantation Manor (see 131) . ** 104
Sugar mill . . . “ 104
Union Plantation house . “ 105
Ellington Plantation house . “ 105
The Waguespack Plantation Home . “ 112
de Montegut Plantation Home . “ 112
Jefferson College . “ 113
Grounds and Sacred Heart Convent . “ 113
Sacred Heart Convent . “ 120
Belmont Plantation Mansion (Joseph LeBourgeois) .... “ 121
Pigeonnaire at Constancia . “ 128
Manor House Constancia . “ 128
Burnside Plantation Mansion . “ 129
Colomb Plantation Home . “ 136
Pages
The Hermitage . opposite 136
Entrance to Tezcuco Plantation . “ 137
Tezcuco Plantation Home . “ 137
White Hall Manor (Bringier) . “ 144
Detail of White Hall Manor . “ 145
Extensive view of The Hermitage . “ 152
Ashland (Belle Helene) plantation manor . between 152-153
Linwood Plantation Mansion . “ 152-153
The Cottage (Conrad) plantation home . “ 152-153
Washington’s Tomb . “ 152-153
Sugar house of the Hermitage Plantation . opposite 152
Concession Plantation Manor . “ 160
A garconnier, Concession Plantation . “ 160
Old LaBranche Mansion, New Orleans . “ 161
Judah P. Benjamin . “ 164
Belle Chasse Manor . “ 165
Seven Oaks Plantation Manor . “ 165
Evergreen Plantation Manor (Brou) . “ 168
Petit Versailles Plantation Mansion . “ 169
St. Joseph Plantation Manor . “ 169
Valcour Aime . “ 176
Madame Valcour Aime . “ 176
Madame Valcour Aime and her mother . “ 176
Old rustic stone bridge in garden of
Petit Versailles . between 176-177
Oak Alley (Beau Sejour) Plantation Mansion . “ 176-177
Oak Alley seen through the oak avenue . .opposite 177
Dining-room of Oak Alley Mansion . “ 177
Avenue of oaks, Oak Alley Plantation . “ 184
A drawing-room at Oak Alley . “ 184
Entrance doorway of Oak Alley Mansion . “ 185
Nottaway Park . “ 185
Eugene Forstall ( (Madame Valerien Choppin) . “ 192
Home Place Plantation Mansion (Valerien Choppin) “ 192
Belle Grove Plantation Mansion, front view . “ 193
Belle Grove Mansion, side view . “ 200
Nottaway Plantation Mansion . “ 200
Belle Alliance Plantation Manor . between 200-201
Stairway of Marble House (Kock) . “ 200-201
Maidwood Plantation Manor . “ 200-201
Pages
Wood Lawn Plantation Manor . between 200-201
Rienzi Plantation Manor . opposite 201
Oak Lawn Plantation Mansion . “ 201
Duchamp Plantation Manor . “ 208
“The Shadows” Plantation Manor . “ 208
Rear view of Oak Lawn . “ 209
The Evangeline Oak . “ 209
Negro church on Sunday . “ 209
Views around Clinton and Jackson, La . “ 224
Hall of Magnolia Plantation Manor (Shaffer Home) “ 225
Magnolia Manor (Ellis Plantation) . « 225
Oakley Plantation Manor . « 232
Greenwood Plantation Mansion (Barrow) . « 232
Asphodel Plantation Manor . « 233
Hickory Hill Plantation Manor . " « 233
The Shades Plantation Manor . « 233
Side view of Oakley . « 240
James J. Audubon . « 240
Isabelle Bowman (Mrs. William Wilson Matthews).... “ 240
Graves of Ann and Alexander Stirling. . “ 241
Graves of Eliza Pirrie and William R. Bowman, D.D. “ 241
Oak Avenue, Rosedown Plantation . ** 241
Grave of the Union Officer, Capt. John E. Hart . “ 148
Architectural details of Rosedown Manor . “ 248
A garden house, Rosedown Garden . ** 249
The Cottage (Butler Plantation) . “ 256
The Cedars . « 256
Mrs. Thomas Butler (Mary Fort) . “ 257
Thos. Butler Plantation Home . “ 257
Judge Peter Randolph . « 264
Mrs. Peter Randolph (Sallie Cocke) . “ 264
Oak avenue, Thomas Butler Plantation . “ 264
Greenwood Plantation Manor (Butler) . “ 265
Wakefield Plantation Manor (see Vol. II) . “ 265
Mrs. Jack Lester . « 272
Waverly Plantation Home . “ 273
Mrs. Robert Ruffin Barrow I (Volumnia Huntley)
and daughter . “ 280
Madame Manuel Perez . “ 281
Don Manuel Perez . “ 281
Pages
The Myrtles Plantation Home (Stirling) . ^...opposite 281
Locust Ridge (Barrow) Plantation Home . “ 284
Rosedown Plantation Mansion . “ 284
Afton Villa Plantation Home . between 284-285
Ellerslie Plantation Mansion . “ 284-285
Greenwood Plantation Mansion and lake . “ 284-285
Bennett Barrow . “ 284-285
Capt. John Barrow . “ 284-285
Robert Ruffin Barrow, I . opposite 285
Robert Ruffin Barrow, II . - . “ 285
Lodiska Perez . “ 285
Volumnia Huntley as a young lady . M 285
Four generations of the Labatut family . “ 288
General Jean Baptiste Labatut . “ 289
The old Labatut Plantation Home . “ 289
Miss Euphemie Tobin . “ 296
Lejeunne Plantation Home . “ 297
Maryland oak tablet . “ 297
Driveway to Ramsey Plantation Home . “ 297
Ramsey Plantation Home . “ 300
Rev. A. J. Eck, S.S.J., of St. Catherine’s Chapel . “ 300
St. Catherine’s Chapel, False River . “ 300
The young Marquis de Ternant . between 300-301
A garden party at Parlange Plantation . “ 300-301
The Parlange Family Plantation Home . “ 300-301
A pigeonnaire at Parlange Plantation . opposite 301
Mausoleum of the de Ternant - Parlange family . “ 301
Entrance gateway, Seebold Plantation . “ 312
Plantation home of the Seebold family . “ 312
Old Negro cabin, Seebold Plantation . “ 312
Rear of Seebold Plantation Home . between 312-313
Oak and Pecan trees, Seebold garden . “ 312-313
A pigeonnaire, Seebold Plantation . “ 312-313
Mrs. W. E. Seebold (photograph of 1870) . “ 312-313
Mrs. A. Molinary (Marie M. Seebold).... “ 312-313
Mrs. Geo. O. MacPherson (Stella L. Seebold) . “ 312-313
Old home of the Seebold family, Canal St., N. O.... . opposite 313
Mrs. H. deB. Seebold (Nettie M. Kinney) . “ 320
Achille Perelli . “ 321
Bror A. Wikstrom . “ 321
Major B. M. Harrod, C. E . opposite 321
Mrs. Geromina Molinary (mother of the artist) . “ 321
Madame Mojeska . “ 324
Joseph Jefferson, Sr . between 324-325
The Locke Breaux Plantation Home . “ 324-325
Interior, Austerlitz Plantation Manor . “ 324-325
Col. Henry Rougon and Austerlitz Manor . “ 324-325
River Lake Plantation Manor . opposite 325
Pleasant View Plantation Home (Thos. Hewes) . “ 325
Pigeonnaires flank the entrance of River Lake . “ 325
Live Oak Plantation Home . “ 328
Stairway, Live Oak Manor . “ 328
Shady Grove Manor . “ 329
The Wyley Barrow Plantation Home . “ 329
Trinity Plantation Manor . “ 336
Stairway of Campbell town house . “ 336
Spring Fiesta party, Magnolia Plantation . “ 337
General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A . u 337
Andrew Hynes . “ 340
Manor House, St. Louis Plantation . “ 340
Edward J. Gay . between 340-341
Andrew Hynes Gay . “ 340-341
Chretien Plantation Home . “ 340-341
Oak trees at Chretien Point . “ 340-341
Drawing-room, Chretien Manor . opposite 341
Celestine Cantrell (wife of Hypolite Chretien,
died 1870) . “ 341
Mrs. F. D. Chretien (Blanche Williams) . “ 344
Mrs. Gardner T. Voorhees (Ninette Chretien) . “ 344
Mrs. Ginder Abbott (Stella Chretien) . “ 344
Mrs. Warren Stone Patrick (Bertha Chretien) . “ 344
Hon. Frank D. Chretien . “ 345
Jesuit Seminary of St. Charles . “ 352
Cemetery at Grand Coteau . “ 352
Plantation home of Payne family . between 352-353
Town-house of Payne -Fenner family . “ 352-353
Jefferson Davis . “ 352-353
Sarah Knox Taylor (1st Mrs. Davis) . “ 352-353
Miss Winnie (Varina) Davis . “ 352-353
Jefferson Davis and Varina Howell Davis . opposite 353
G. L. Fusilier Plantation Home . opposite 360
Overseer's house, Frotscher Plantation (see Frotscher,
Vol II.) . between 360-361
Marco Plantation Home . “ 360-361
Yucca (Melrose) Plantation Home . opposite 361
The Good Darkie, Natchitoches . « 301
Spiral Stairway — Iron . «
Bermuda Plantation Manor . « 333
Mrs. Emanuel Prudhomme . “ 333
Emanuel Prudhomme . « 3gg
Phanor Prudhomme . « 339
Mrs. Phanor Prudhomme . « 359
Gen. Horatio Stephenton Sprigg . « 339
Mrs. Horatio Stephenton Sprigg . “ 339
Mrs. T. L. Raymond (Clara Compton) . “ 389
Mrs. P. L. Girault (May Eliza Compton) . “ 389
Mrs. Logan Perkins (Elizabeth Kell) . between 380-381
Old Point Clear Plantation Home (Kell family) .... “ 380-381
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Phares Kell on Horseback,
home in rear . opposite 381
CHAPTER HEADINGS AND OTHER LINE DRAWINGS
Page
Relics of Confederate Days . 1
Carved woodwork, Hurst Home . 43
Old houses, Bayou St. John . 48
Old slave bell, de Marigny Plantation . 54
Old plantation house, St. Bernard . 58
Birthplace of General P. G. T. Beauregard . 59
A pickaninny . 61
Old sundial, Delor- Sarpy Plantation, Howard Street . 72
Ornamental balustrade Pontalba buildings . 76
Wrought-iron balcony, French Quarter . 81
The old de Bore sugar-kettle . 83
Sugar houses near Kenner, La . 86
Relics of a tragedy . 96
Ruins of plantation cabins near Red Church . 103
A relic of the Civil War . 105
The Harp of Belmont . 113
An early type student’s lamp . HO
Burnside Manor in the distance . 117
All Negroes go to church on Sunday . 119
Old slave cabins, Belle Grove Plantation . 123
Old kitchen fireplace, Ashland Plantation . 140
A small cotton-gin near Baton Rouge . 156
Sugar-cane cutters . 163
An old boat landing near Donaldsonville . 170
Plantation buildings near Donaldsonville . 187
Negro cabin, Belle Grove Plantation . 190
Along Bayou Lafourche . 195
Bird Haven . 206
Darby Plantation Home . 213
Fairfax Plantation Home . 214
A cotton plantation . 224
Reminders of early days at “The Shades” . 232
There were many fine swords in the Butler famliy . 276
Old plantation kitchen . 289
The Union and Confederate forces tented in Parlange grounds 301
The Locke Breaux Parrot could swear like a sailor . 323
Indians camped near Live Oak Plantation . 328
Old slave cabins still in use . 336
A great banquet was served to the Union troops . 342
Old houses near Washington, La . 351
Garden seat, Cote Joyeuse . 358
Rapides Parish suffered greatly at the hands of the Union forces
.374
INTRODUCTION
AT the time that the colonists were rebelling against the English,
a large number of loyal British subjects sold their lands and improvements, converting as much property as they could into gold coin which they put into their strong-boxes, and departing from Maryland, Virginia and Carolina, headed for the English possessions in the South. (The Feliciana Parishes and the vicinity of the present city of Baton Rouge, La.) On this trek South, most of these planter families took with them their movable property, forming caravans which included ancestral portraits, crested silver, household articles, their numerous slaves, cattle and animals, travelling part of the way by water on flat-boats and part of the way overland in covered wagons. It must be remembered that the records of that day show that many of these families were English aristocrats who had fled England at the time of the execution of Charles I.
In the army of slaves that each of the wealthy planters took with him were many skilled mechanics, costing several thousands of dollars each, who soon were to show their ability in the new country. At that time little thought was given to the possibility that the Union Jack would soon cease to float over this beautiful land. In this way the section that was soon to become the state of Louisiana, gained a large number of aristocratic families with immense wealth who had large plantations of thousands of acres, and who had erected palatial mansions, magnificently furnished, and surrounded with beautiful gardens. These citizens of good birth, culture and wealth added to an earlier crowd of patrician settlers from France and Spain, at once gave Louisiana a class of people who formed an aristocratic element.
From the first they proceeded to establish themselves on their estates, and, secure in their social position, conducted their busi-
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
ness and social affairs with as much formality as their ancestors had done in Europe. They made their plantations centers of distinctly genteel gathering. One then can see readily that it was not as is so often stated by writers unfamiliar with the aristocratic class of Louisiana, “that it was the great plantations and sale of large crops of sugar and cotton during the Golden Era that made the Louisiana planter an aristocrat,” but it was the plantations that proved a means of permitting the born aristocrats to live as their families before them had lived in their former homes in Europe.
The settling of the earliest Louisiana colony was somewhat different from the English ones of Maryland, Virginia and Carolina, as that in the far south was the outcome of a plan of the King of France to scheme that country out of debt. King Louis XIV by many costly wars, and the erection of the fabulously extravagant palace of Versailles — a strategic move to break up the power of the wealthy and powerful nobles by concentrating the Court and all its social functions, as well as official residences in the immediate vicinity of the palace as a center with the King of France supreme. The unbridled extravagances continued when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy, and generation after generation ground down the middle classes and peasantry by unbearable taxes and finally brought on the French Revolution.
When the King of France, represented by the Regent, with the aid of the Scotch wizard, John Law, (see “The Mississippi Bubble”) organized the Mississippi Land Scheme, France and all Europe rushed to purchase stock. He pictured in the most extravagant terms the vast territory of Louisiana as being a veritable el dorado of gold and silver mines with an ideal spring climate and a luxuriant growth of tropical eatable fruits — all to be had for the picking. All this appealed strongly to the unsuspecting French aristocracy, and the population in general who were anxious to get away from the awful taxes. The result of all this advertising was the selling of vast estates to French patricians. They and others who came to Louisiana and later with the aid of slave labor found that many of these plantations were veritable gold mines.
In 1793 during the French Revolution any number of French aristocrats sought refuge in Louisiana. Having fled France, taking part of their wealth with them, they settled here and be-
INTRODUCTION
3
came planters on a large scale. Again during the uprising of the slaves in San Domingo and the other neighboring islands hundreds of other French patricians came to Louisiana and bought plantations.
Even though there were undesirables in the colony, with so many aristocratic families, it was not long before a strong class demarcation was in evidence, especially since from the earliest days of the settlement the passengers on the various ships were registered on their arrival in the colony — their names, sex, color, occupation and class. All of the details were carefully recorded as they had been in Canada in earliest days. Thus it was a difficult matter for one to pass as an aristocrat unless his claim could be verified, for the colony was in close touch with Europe. In the West Indies a similar check had been kept on the families. So when one made claims to be a member of the aristocracy, like Bienville, the founder of New Orleans, the son of an ambitious father who had his children christened with the titles of noble families attached to their names to aid them socially, he had to prove his claim. It was not long before it was known that the names that Bienville’s father had given his sons were not hereditary ones, and they were so registered as such. Despite the fact that he was Governor of the colony, historians make no attempt to misrepresent his true origin. Miss King gives a detailed account of the naming of Bienville and his brothers.* So particular were those in authority in the earliest days on these matters, that it became a routine thing for families to bring to French America with them their family record. Today in hundreds of Louisiana families these old family records, telling of their good birth, are among the family's most cherished possessions. I have been shown any number of them in my studies of old families, some of these documents falling to pieces with age, but still bearing the signatures of French and Spanish royalty.
In contrast to the better born planter families, were the small farmers and planters, who purchased their parcels of land bit by bit, and who made but little attempt to attain social recognition from the prominent families. Between the two a friendly acquaintance existed, but all attempts at familiarity on the part of those of lesser birth were frowned on, for democracy as yet did
(New Orleans the Place and the People” by Grace King).
4
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
not play much part in the plantation life of those days. According to the late Charles Gayarre, noted Louisiana historian, it only really appeared after the sixties.
When the refugees from the West Indies arrived in Louisiana, many of them purchased the plantations of the small planters, and throwing a number together, formed extensive holdings which soon became notable places of their kind.
FURNISHING OF AN ANTE-BELLUM PLANTER’S HOME
Pen pictures do scant justice to many of these old Southern Homes in the midst of their endless estates. Old prints, drawings and detailed descriptions which ante-date the Civil War, tell in a measure the beauty and glory of it all — faint reminders of how they appeared in the hey-day of their glory. It is not the grandeur of palace with pomp and stately dignity of castle hall, but rather the charm of perfect taste that was displayed in their homes and furnishings.
One gets a good idea of how the finer of these old Greek Revival mansions looked on the inside, especially the homes of those who had come from what had been the English colonies. They have an air somewhat like but less staid than that found in the various rooms of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, where such charming furnishings are shown, most of them showing the English influence. In the old plantation homes of the French and Spanish families — the representative Creoles — a blending of the two styles developed to be supplanted later in most instances by examples of furniture from the New Orleans ateliers of Signorette and Prudence Mallard. These styles replaced the earlier quite simple furnishings of the first homes of the early Louisiana plantation settlers. However, previous to the founding of the two famous French furniture establishments, fine furniture from France had been brought to Louisiana, and when the immense rooms began to appear both in city as well as in plantation homes, these French designs were reproduced on a much larger scale and in original designs of the most magnificent sort. With the rebuilding of the area destroyed by the great fire in New Orleans in the year 1788, and a new type of home was developed, the houses being built of brick, many of them three storied in height having immense rooms with very high ceilings,
INTRODUCTION
5
some eighteen feet in height. The long warm summers caused the owners to plan their houses along the lines of those in Cuba.
To suit these large-room houses, at first furniture of a larger size was ordered from Europe. This furniture in many instances replaced the slave-fashioned articles that were made in the early days of the settlement. One rarely finds any of this kind of furniture today except in the small homes of poorer planters in the interior parts of the state. These large splendidly built brick homes erected after 1788 reflected the Spanish influence in many instances, but as a whole, it is a development of a mixture of French and Spanish which gives the “Vieux Carre” an individuality that is generally termed the Creole type.
These homes for the most part were the town houses of the richer planters. While the Spanish Crown ruled Louisiana from 1762 until 1800, on the whole Louisiana was influenced but little by the Dons. After the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, and Americans began to pour into the newly annexed territory, great activity was noted throughout the section. With the start of the “Golden Era” of the South, there began the trips to Europe by plantation families who, selected more costly furnishings for the new palatial mansions that were replacing their first plantation homes. Costly furniture, art objects and the finest of lace curtains, linen, satins, brocades, and draperies of all kinds were imported. Magnificent mirrors, pier glasses and cornices, beautifully carved in Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI designs gilded with real gold leaf; the finest of oriental rugs and carpets, paintings, crystal, silverware in fact, everything to embellish a wealthy home were ordered. Louisiana was long considered by the French as their best customers, and the French porcelains and crystal ware rivaled the German and Venetian.
Finally the volume of fine furniture that was being made for Louisiana in France became so great that a Frenchman named Francois Signorette saw an opportunity and came to Louisiana. He located in New Orleans and erected a large brick building at what is now 520 Royal Street. On the ground floor was his factory or atelier where the making of the finest of furniture was done by skilled artisans from Paris, France. In this building he also had stored vast quantities of the finest of rare wines, special vintages that he disposed to his wealthy customers.
With the planters erecting such immense plantation homes
6
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
Monsieur Signorette soon found that he was unable to supply the demand for this fine large furniture. Soon another Frenchman started a similar atelier, and he was followed by a man named Charley Lee.
By this time England was clamoring for millions of pounds of cotton, the sugar industry was at the height of its success, and the lands of Louisiana filling up with great plantations on both sides of the Mississippi River and every one of its larger bayous. The “Golden Era” was in full bloom. As a result a hundred other fine furniture establishments filled the old city and overflowed into the newer section on the uptown side of Canal Street, New Orleans. The furniture of Siebright, Signorette and Mallard was of the finest. It was magnificently carved and brought immense prices. As the house servants were slaves, each house had large quantities of money, jewelry, and silverware as well as other valuables, it was the rule when ordering furniture to have made into some pieces secret drawers. These secret places were hidden behind mouldings, in the bases, behind columns and in secret panels. Some of the beds were ten feet in height with columns ten inches in diameter. So unusual and beautiful were these plantation homes that visitors from other parts marveled at it all.
One finds in many of the old city homes as well as in those on old plantations, little mahogany and rosewood ladder-like steps that are used to get into these high old beds — quite quaint in this day and age.
LIFE ON A GREAT PLANTATION IN ANTE-BELLUM DAYS
Plantation families in olden days as a rule were large, and a house full of growing children led to a variety of amusements, depending on the ages of the youngsters. Private tutors became the rule in many of the wealthy homes, the young folks later going to college or convent and in many instances to colleges or finishing schools abroad. It was when the sons and daughters of the household returned at holiday season and during vacation that dances, balls, parties, etc., usually took place. The older members habitually entertained with a series of dinners, balls and similar festivities, especially if there were grown daughters to bring out in society. Life on a great plantation in those days permitted leisure for the pursuit of the arts, good music, books,
INTRODUCTION
*
and the gathering of a congenial company by the planter' and his friends.
As time went on with increasing wealth coming to the South, this ample leisure brought about a brilliant social life at home and abroad, many of the families having homes both in America and in Europe. This was especially true of the wealthy Creoles. Up until the present war, many Louisianians visited their relatives abroad yearly.
Unlike the rustic squires of England who remained on their estates the year round, the majority of these great plantation owners also had town houses to which they came in the Winter season to hear good music and drama and to enjoy the city’s social life. Many of the richest Creole planter families had opera boxes, both in New Orleans as well as in the French Capitol. In many instances, in fact as a general rule among the richest planter families, the lives of the men were so arranged that financial matters were attended to by capable and trustworthy overseers, who kept the family from coming in contact with “business”, and who prevented any scheming individual from getting the best of any of its members. This also permitted luxury and ease, with time for fox hunting and other out-door sports. The smaller planter, of course, attended to his own business affairs, which accounts for so many of them eventually becoming quite wealthy.
The continuous round of costly entertainments, the elaborate carriages, coaches with handsome harness trappings often held together with silver and gold plated buckles; their fine strings of blooded horses and their stables; the appearance and training of their numerous servants (slaves); the beautiful and costly clothing, gowns and wearing apparel of the family; their bearing, dignity, culture and luxuriant ease all seemed to enjoy, made life in old Louisiana idyllic for those fortunate people. It is little wonder then that visitors to the South in days antedating the War Between the States, carried away with them the memories they did of the stately elegance of the aristocrats and their families, as well as the grand manner in which they were housed and entertained.
In the earliest days in Louisiana, compared with the English colonies, the number of very rich planters were not nearly as great, or the larger mansions nearly so numerous or handsome as those of the British. However, with the arrival in the colony
8 OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
of the Marquis and his Marquise deVaudreuil, the new governor, who had brought a ship load of fine furniture and handsome equipment for the court he intended to establish in New Orleans as the capital of the colony, a new era began. Planned as were the courts at the smaller continental capitals of Europe, deVaudreuil had brought with him imposing chairs, draperies, pictures, etc., and at the court balls, he insisted that all present come de rigeur, or in military uniform. Thus the year 1737, with the arrival of this French nobleman, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, began the first real social life in Louisiana. Besides the court balls and levees, the first attempt to establish a theatre was made.
After the “Golden Era” had set in, it was soon noted that an opulence in the style and manner of living existed and great attention was paid to the details of high bred courtesy which we find lacking at times in the highest circles of wealthy present-day patricians. Throughout the plantation area good living with the polish of continental etiquette based on tradition, backed by well stacked pantries and cellars, could extend to the assemblies gathered about the mahogany, the choicest delicacies and rare wines of the world.
The planters of the wealthier class took advantage of their leisure to study law, politics and the sciences generally. Naturally they became very proficient in the administration of governmental affairs when elected to office, being graduates of the best colleges of Europe and America.
It is little wonder then that stories dealing with old plantation days in the South possess a glamorous fascination peculiarly their own. Miss Louise Butler (Louisiana Historian) describes* life as it existed on old plantations, her own old plantation home in which generations of her family were born, being one of the most interesting old places in West Feliciana parish.
Centers of gracious hospitality were most of these home in days gone hy. Let us recall a (shall we say happily?) lost custom and ‘spend the day’ as one of the guests who arrived in the family coach which (the coach, not the family) was usually upholstered in soft grey broadcloth, as the owners had too much pride to be ostentatious, and was provided with embroidered strap by which to hang, for roads were rough and the vehicle swung high on prodigious springs, so the lurching was frightful and the occupants usually reached their
* In the Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Jan. 1924.
The oldi Milne Sugar Plantation, now Belle Chasse Plantation. The Sugar and Cotton Plantations did not make the Louisiana Aristocrat, but gave the born aristocrat an opportunity to live in America as his ancestors had done in Europe. See page 2. (From an old print.)
CUTTING SUGAR-CANE BY HAND (From an old print.)
INTRODUCTION
9
destination suffering from mal de mer, slight or violent, according to their powers of endurance. The ladies were taken to the company room to remove their bonnets and pelisses, which careful maids laid on the white counterpane of the silk-hung old four-poster bed of ample dimensions. After surveying their charms in the Psyche, adding a dab of pomatum to smooth their disarranged curls, they adjourned to the parlour, which was usually furnished in rosewood, intricately carved above the satin brocade of medallion backs. Then, according to invariable custom, cordial. Maraschino, or Curocoa, was served with fruit cake in winter or orange flower or raspberry syrup with a lighter cake in summer, different members of the family taking turns in entertaining while others, in private, were superintending the elaborate menu or beating the egg whites for the floating islands with peach switches or showing Delphy, the perspiring cook, how to sear the Spanish cream with a red hot salamander. Meanwhile the men of the party were inspecting the crops, or passing judgment on the stock, but returned to the parlour just before the door of the diningroom opened to give passage to Nathan or Preston or Jeems bearing a silver salver laden with crystal goblets surrounding the julep bowl that rose from the center like a bouquet, being filled with crushed ice in which was stuck sweetpea blossoms, or any flower in season, and mint to flavor t;he contents. After this was partaken of dinner was announced, and the guests entered the large dining-room that was furnished in massive mahogany, the sideboard alone long enough to fill one wall of a modern apartment and broad enough to support the splendid silver and cut glass and a punch bowl, as mammy often said, ‘big ermuff to swim de baby, effen he tuck his baff in hit/ At the dinner was served claret, as per usual, sherry with the soup, Roman punch with the meats and, on gala occasions champagne, then with the coffee came in a silver dish with lumps of loaf sugar blazing with spirits to be put; in the tiny cups, often of old Chelsa or Sevres. You may credit my statement that the gentlemen, especially departed with eyes considerably brighter than when they arrived.. Dear, generous, lavish, warmheartedly hospitable old giver of pleasure! Many a one of you literally entertained himself out of his home and into the poor-house.
GARDEN AND PLANTATION TOURS FASHIONABLE DIVERSIONS
Plantation gardens have always been noted for their quaint beauty and romantic charm, and now that garden tours are the present rage, the country homes and plantation mansions too are in many instances shrines to which pilgrimages are made regularly. No longer are these old mansions closed most of the year. All of the fine old things that escaped when Sherman spread his fiery torch throughout the Southland, that were formally per-
10
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
mitted to be seen by a selected few, now are viewed by a world of eager appreciative sightseers, who for the first time are getting glimpses into old plantation homes of which they have been reading about. These old estates were in many ways like the feudal estates of Europe. Especially so previous to 1914 in Russia was a great similarity noted. They were conducted with this difference however. The Southern planter realizing that his slaves were valuable property and was governed as they were by “slave laws”, which held the owner strictly accountable for any neglect or abuse of them. Almost without exception every large plantation had its own church, hospital, and place of amusement, private slave cabins, poultry and pig-pens, as well as vegetable and cotton patches. These latter gave the slaves an opportunity to make a little extra money for themselves and perhaps little luxuries for his family. Today visitors to the old plantations of Louisiana like those of Virginia, Maryland, Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee find them open throughout the year.
In making these tours of the old plantations one comes across old places completely run down. In many instances these places show what happened after everything but the old house and a little of the once vast acreage had been swept away as a result of the Civil War and reconstruction days. The men all killed off and with no help to work the land, all went to seed — nothing remained but a once great name. An occasional relic from the past tells of its once glorious furnishings. Visits to neighboring cemeteries, often will reveal from the crumbling old marble of the once magnificent tomb and lengthy wording on the old time-stained slabs, how prominent and prosperous these old families were. The destruction of the plantation areas was so complete that one wonders that so many of the old places survived at all. Leaving these wrecks, the pilgrimage takes a more delightful turn when it reaches the old plantation homes still preserved with open, spacious hallways and great spiral stairways winding upward, finally reaching observatories on the roof from which the planter could survey his endless acres and know that all was going well. Here in these immense mansions one finds gorgeous drawing-rooms, banquet-rooms, libraries, reception and bed-rooms galore, all furnished in the period of a century ago. They take on new life and as of yore azaleas, gardenias and japonicas mingle with sweet olive, making of the spacious
INTRODUCTION
11
rooms delightful, alluring retreats. They are filled with beautiful costumed hostesses, negro mammies, and old black Jo's, for the darkies delight in dressing as their folks did before the war and taking their part in the pageant. One sees century-old crystal chandeliers of (Warterford) sparkling and scintilating, their lighted tapers reflected again and again in immense mantel and console-mirrors, in gilded frames with rich ornamentation; epergnes and tall alabaster urns, numberless rare ornaments and signed bronzes, with finest of furniture; ancient spinets, old square pianos with pearl keys, zithers, and century old music boxes. Or perhaps one hears a mechanical singing bird "in gilt cage, their plaintive thrills filling the air as of yore, while the strains of Ben Bolt, Flow Gently Sweet Afton, and old army songs come from the music boxes. All this creates an ante-bellum setting for the beautiful girls and stately ladies in hoop-skirts, in creations of Worth, Madame Olympe, and other noted modistes of that era. Old wedding gowns, and ball dresses that have been laid away in lavender and rosemary for over half a century, are unwrapped, brought forth again, once more to be worn by granddaughters in these candle-lit rooms. Dozens of ladies, young, middle-aged, and elderly, all costumed in period of the long ago, and looking as if they had just emerged from the pages of a “Godey's Lady's Book”. We find them resting on little mahogany and rosewood 1840 sofas, and love-seats with gowns wide-spread fan fashion, or strolling about in little groups wearing lace mantillas, or quaint dolmons giving them a sedate appearance. Many Scarlett O'Haras, and Melanies in these crowds, for crowds they are.
Many hundreds of these aristocratic planters of the South when compared to any standard were immensely wealthy. They were reared in the culture of the manner born as was but natural, which included education at the best schools of Europe and America and yearly trips to Europe. The Grand Tour meant the taking of the entire family, their valets and maids, with especially built carriages strongly made so as to make tours about the continent and to visit the continental capitals. It was on these trips that so many unusual articles, and art objects were purchased, which at that day as well as this made these plantation homes outstanding places of interest to visitors. One finds in a number of these homes immense dinner sets of finest Havaland china,
12
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
decorated by the naturalist James J. Audubon while he resided in the Feliciana area, with hundreds of pieces each bearing the birds of America beautifully painted on them. Other dinner sets costing thousands of dollars were painted by noted French artists, with the family crest and coat-of-arms on each piece. Visitors marvel at the vast quantities of costly ornaments to be found in these homes. Records now carefully preserved in historical museums, show wills, diaries and bills of sale and ship inventories, which prove that to Virginia and the Carolinas in early days came boat load after boat load of household articles of every description. Besides the most beautiful and costly furnishings, there were imported elaborate costumes of cut velvet, gold brocade and other priceless fabrics. These were made to order by the leading fashionable tailors and modistes of the day in Europe. Rarest of hand made lace for every use, costly brocatelles with applique of gold and silver, gorgeous table services of sterling silver, all crested and monogrammed; in fact everything that was newest and best was shipped to these great planters who desired to live in America as their families had done abroad.
Much of this has found its way to Louisiana, brought to this state by the aristocratic families from the English settlements at the time that the colonies rebelled against the English tyranny. Many of these articles tourists now see when visiting these old plantation homes, especially in the Feliciana areas and in the vicinity of Bayou Lafourche where so many fine people of English extraction settled. Some of the things have become faded and worn in the three quarters of a century since the cessation of hostilities between the North and South. However, the galleries of old family portraits by celebrated artists, fine old furnishings, miniatures, daguerreotypes, silhouettes and the hundred and one articles that are to be found in these places having been cherished all these years as mementos of the glorious days when life in the South on a great plantation was to some a continuous holiday.
With the passing of three quarters of a century, during which time almost all of our fathers who were engaged in the conflict of the Sixties have passed on, one feels safe in reviewing the true story of the old plantations of Louisiana without fear of being accused of opening old wounds. The true story of the happenings on these places could have been told by eye witnesses to the
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events, but they modified and toned down their writings so as not to antagonize Northern magazines and newspapers who bought the stories for publication. The impoverished South was not in position to publish or give to the world in books information or the truth of which it was already too painfully conscious, and the publishers of the North did not want stories which truthfully told of the horrors of it all. Reconstruction saw some of the worst happenings when the whites were put under the black yoke. Under the circumstances much that would serve as valuable historical data has had to be left unwritten, and with the deaths of able writers who could have told, it must now remain a closed book. One feels safe now in reviewing incidents of days long past, filled with pleasure, pain and joy and sorrow, and tragic horror of the worst sort.
A NEW SOCIAL ORDER
The Mississippi River was filled with thousands of crafts from St. Louis to the gulf during the “Golden Era”. The rapidly growing wealth meant keeping the South a land of slave labor, and slave labor had the effect of keeping the South for most part free from so much of the undesirable element that poured into America. The immigrants that flooded the country were mostly peasants dissatisfied with their curtailed freedom in their homeland. Within a few years these newcomers became naturalized and lost no time in getting into politics. When the aristocracy of North, East and Middle West came to a realization of what a powerful group this new immigrant element formed, and that politics were being taken out of the hands — not partially but completely of the better element, who had controlled the welfare of the country since colonial days, they saw how helpless they were to prevent it. The better element in the cities felt that family prestige at least could be preservd with exclusiveness, if they for most part withdrew from civic gatherings. (Democracy as we know it today had as yet not arrived.) Even before the Civil War exclusive sets were formed which was necessary, if they were to maintain any social standard at all. While these sets, taken as a whole, were smaller in number than those of the South, the former were just as jealous of their exclusiveness as were the Southerners.
However, the great wealth that flowed into New York City,
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Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and other of the larger Northern cities, made itself felt by enriching a new element. In spite of all the protests of the “Old Guard” who at first with thumbs down, flatly refused to have anything to do with the newcomers, or to accept their hospitalities. But gradually they had to give in and accept the changing times. However, it was apparent that they feared what would happen to the politics of the country, knowing what had occurred in the past — of the awful graft and political steals thafr had taken place in the cities and towns of the North, over which the better element no longer had control. The West and Middle West long had endured and graciously submitted to the snubs and insinuations of the North and East, and listened to the taunts of “beef barons” and “woolly West.” But with the passing of the “Old Guard” in the North and East and its counterpart in other sections above the Mason-Dixon line, replaced by the estimated standard of society throughout the country.
After the days of Reconstruction had ended, the entire South was too impoverished and sad to have any heart for society, the newcomers to the South for most part doing the entertaining. The South’s bitterness towards the North (the Union) persisted for many years. It felt, not so much the outcome of the war and its effects, but the great injustice that had been done them by Sherman, in his determination to completely ruin the Southern Country for generations, and later the attempt by those in charge of reconstruction to exterminate the Southerners. The efforts of carpetbaggers and politicians to Africanize the South, while the North looked on indifferently at the defeated country being crucified, horrified the rest of the world. For the first time in the world’s history the victors of a defeated nation placed it under and at the mercy of semi-civilized negroes. The Southerners, noting this indifference, held aloof when it was all over, and established a social class where money played but a small part in their scheme of things, thus preserving for many years their old social standards. Sad to say since the great “World’s War” this too has in a great measure given way to the age of jazz and the modern trend.
It is no longer the brilliant South of Ante-bellum days, so changed and desolate looking has the plantation country become. The splendid manors were numbered by the thousands, while the smaller ones were almost numberless, many still being in exist-
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ence. Most of the golden empire of the South was wiped out in a spirit of vengeance, little of its once great glory remaining. Ancient maps show how numerous were these old places and their magnitude. For hundreds of miles along Southern water-ways, fringing both banks — plantation touching plantation with hardly half dozen acres frontage not under cultivation; they are fully named and designated in detail, so valuable was land at that date. It is not unusual to see the remnant of some famous plantation mansion with tall crumbling columns surrounded by a park of ancient oaks, and great trees a half century old growing within the foundation walls of what was a spacious drawing-room where a future king of France once danced. Tourists visiting these old places marvel at the sight of palatial mansions with exquisitely carved woodwork and marble mantels, abandoned and gradually falling to pieces, housing tramps during the winter who come South to escape the severe weather. It takes a fair-sized fortune to maintain these great houses, so long ago many owners have had to mortgage them for what they could get, and the present owners live in the hope that oil will be found on their land.
A lover of the beautiful in architecture, a writer of ability, and who probably does not know much of plantation history, states that America anxiously awaits an architectural development by which all who build will desire homes of a dignified type solidly built and beautiful. If Americans would cease their reckless waste of money expended on speed and noise and devote it to a more sane manner of living they could look forward to an improvement on what we have known in the past, and a new era of beauty would be the result.
In the South up until the time they were destroyed by the Union forces in the Sixties, there existed on a magnificent scale, in sumptuous settings modelled after the finest of European country homes of the gentry, in endless numbers in each of the Southern states all that the poet heart of this able writer now wishes for. Today as one wanders through areas again claimed by nature as woodland, one comes across ruined palatial mansions with massive walls heavily coated with stucco, enclosed by twelve-foot verandas from which rise on each facade eight or ten massive columns crumbling like the entire structure, long since abandoned to the elements after the family fortunes were swept away by the war.
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Alas! In a spirit of vengeance when the power was placed in his hands to do so, a celebrated General with flaming torch wiped from the Southlands a wealth of architectural treasure which can never be replaced. These magnificent homes filled the needs of an aristocracy that still cherished the cultured home life of the best that was in Europe, and which replanted it in the New World. Estates designed and laid out by the finest landscape artists of Europe added to the magnificence of the finer of these splendid mansions.
A story is told in the deep South by distant relatives of the young lady whose families are mentioned in this book, and who lived in the locality where he visited, about the celebrated general mentioned above. While teaching in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a position obtained for him by the fathers of some of his classmates while a cadet at West Point, he fell in love. The father of the young lady he was in love with refused to permit him to attempt to gain her affections so that he might marry her. This young lady, the daughter of one of the most aristocratic families in America, was from Virginia and was then visiting in Mississippi. When refused the hand of this aristocrat’s daughter, the officer became embittered and swore that should it ever be in his power “he would burn every damnable aristocrat’s home in the South.” This he came pretty close to doing when the power was placed in his hands. The daughter of this proud family who knew the future general then but slightly, and who frowned at his presumption afterwards stated that, “she would have married the devil himself rather than have the South suffer what it did”. From the tales of his own men who witnessed many of the mansions burning when this general was present, to quote them, “never did a pyromaniac gloat in greater glee, than did this general from whom the world would have expected a more sane warfare”. Thus glorious mansions were put to the torch, against the wishes of officers and soldiers in his command, who were forced to make helpless old people and children, often sick and crippled, get out of their homes with only the clothing on their backs, so that the homes could be stripped of their contents before being fired.
Thus was wiped from the South a wealth of magnificent homes unequalled in its day anywhere for architectural beauty, leaving only the grandeur of the conception of a type of country home that has never been improved upon for beauty or comfort.
During the “Golden Era” Steamboats loaded with thousands of bales of cotton reached the port of New Orleans weekly to he shipped to England.
(From an old print.)
A Plantation Garden on the east bank of the Mississippi.
GOVERNOR VILLERE First Creole Governor of Louisiana. (See page 65). Courtesy of Mrs. E. X. de Verges.
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The mansions that remain are now selected by the United States Government as examples for posterity to be guided by. They are being carefully photographed and copied by architects in the United States employ, who are taking careful measurements, noting details and structural materials, all of which are being carefully preserved in the archives of the Library of Congress at Washington, D. C.
Paintings and drawings of the most important of what is left of these old places being carefully treasured together with what data obtainable about their history.
The plantation mansion of the southern planter was a type of country house unique in America, and it was indigenous to the South. As a rule it was spacious, and its type, mostly Greek Revival, gave it stateliness. With much fine building materials on his land, and in an age when distinguished architects were planning some of their most attractive as well as practical designs for country homes, the southern planter builded well. Stately columned verandas, a general classic air, guest houses and kitchens all carefully planned so as to avoid noises and odors, the combination of buildings was designed generally so as to form a harmonious whole and give magnificence to the ensemble.
COTTON IS KING
One is interested to know what it was that sustained the great wealth of the Southern planters and permitted culture to develop as it did in a newly settled country.
English inventors were experimenting with weaving machines as early as 1725. Spinners and weavers had grown weary of the inefficient methods then in use when Paul Wyatt developed the method of “roller spinning” as it was then termed. Later a method which permitted the spinning of a great number of threads on one machine was called the Hargreve Jenny. It had a rotating carding machine engine. One invention after another improved upon the previous ones as the years passed until the Arkwright machine was able to produce a great number of threads of various thickness and hardness was invented. Then Cartwright’s power loom was finally combined with the Wyeth steam engine and this brought on a ravenous demand for more spinning material.
The fact that cotton was hard to remove from the seed made the supply of this material in large quantities a difficult matter.
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In 1795 Eli Whitney, a New Englander, patented the cotton gin that he had invented, and the export of cotton to Europe from the Southern part of the United States rose from nothing in 1790, when as yet no cotton from America was exported, to five million pounds in 1795 when that quantity was shipped to England. Just before the South was practically wiped out by the North, that section was supplying England alone with two thousand million pounds of cotton annually.
Such cotton crops yielded princely fortunes to the South and these enabled Southern planters to live in the ways of the aristocracy of Europe — that of a country gentleman and his famliy. As the climate and soil of the South were peculiarly fitted for the cultivation of cotton, it was not long before thousands of plantations had their entire acreage planted in cotton. Realizing that this staple was a crop that produced a greater return than any other grown in the South, planters from all parts of the United States flocked to Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama to help make the “Golden Era”.
The great mansions to be detailed in the following chapters sprang up like mushrooms, along all the waterways of the state, as wealth poured into the Southland. In the far South where the French influence is noted, one finds pigeonnaires, mostly in pairs, flanking the mansions. They are as a rule delightfully planned — octagonal, round or square buildings with turreted tops crowned with attractive finials. When well located these little buildings enhance the grounds, and lend an air of the old chateaux country of France, full of charm and reminiscent of old feudal days. With the burning of these plantation homes, and after the war, reconstruction following in its wake, there was wiped out a culture that never has been replaced. With it went much of the social life and the high standard of that day uniquely Southern in America. Union Histories in their comments on the state of Southern society at that time, the era of the great fratra- cidal strife of the sixties, devote much space to this subject. See “The Civil War in America” by John W. Draper, published by Harpers Brothers, 1868.
The plantations in Louisiana in ante-bellum days were numerous, and as a rule the great land owners were not only wealthy but well bom, cultured and well educated, despite the fact that many uninformed writers lead one to believe differently A good-
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ly number of them, under the circumstances possessed a natural pulchritude inherited from a long line of distinguished ancestors.
Coming from homes that were adorned with the portraits of their forebears, it was but natural that they like their parents should likewise hang their walls with family portraits, and we find in the homes of many of these old families splendidly painted portraits of themselves, as well as of past generations all beautifully portrayed by notable artists. This vast number of fine old portraits give us a fair idea of what the members of these old families looked like. For while artists like Rembrant Peale, Sir Thomas Sully, Arman, Healy, Gilbert Stuart, and many others equally as famous may have flattered their subjects, there is no doubt that many of these ancient portraits bear a resemblance to those that they are supposed to represent.
Like most important European families, the more important old Louisiana families had veritable portrait galleries in their spacious homes, both on their plantations as well as in their city homes. The result was that Louisiana is very rich in magnificent ancestral portraits, painted by the greatest artists of the day as well as older ones by the greatest painters of Europe.
In a study of old family records one finds that previous to the Civil War most of the patrician families married into their own class, and after hostilities despite the resultant impoverishment, for most part they refused to better their financial status by an alliance outside their own circle. Where we find marriages with others than Southerners it was invariably with patricians, and not with upstart new-comers.
Chapter I
EARLY LOUISIANA ARTISTS.
.:\S so many of the notable families of Louisiana in early days when their homes and plantations had been established, began to improve the furnishings of their homes. Family portraits, miniatures, daguerreotypes (later) and silhouettes began to appear in the colony along with other articles of luxury, being brought to America with the owners when they came or brought later when the families made trips abroad.
As Miss Ethel Hutson has written a splendid article on this subject covering the ground thoroughly, and for fear of omitting important parts, as so many of the families appearing in this book on the old plantations loaned family portraits, etc., to the various exhibitions she mentions. I therefore have obtained her permission to reproduce in full her article on the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art appearing in the September number of the Warrington Messenger, 1938.
ISAAC DELGADO MUSEUM OF ART .
By ETHEL HUTSON
Though New Orleans has long had a reputation as a center toward which artists tend to gravitate, and though it has a tradition dating back to the early days of its first prosperity, — when sugar and cotton and steamboat brought wealth and encouraged luxury, of art patronage and connoisseurship, yet few of us today know much about the art which laid the foundations for this reputation and this tradition. Old families still retain handsome old portraits of their ancestors, cherish exquisite miniatures, bronze, fans, and jewelry, and recall the stories in connection with these heirlooms handed down from great-grandparents. But few recall the names of the artists who executed these works of art;
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and of the dozen or so names of 19th century artists, such as Jarvis, Jouett, Sully, Bernard, Amans, Vaudechamps, Healey, Moise, Clague, Poincy, Perelli, Molinary, Wikstrom, and Buck, which are known to the general public, hardly any biographical details are available in print.
This lack the Isaac Delgado Museum of Art has undertaken to supply, with the assistance of the research workers supplied by the Works Progress Administration, who for two years and a half have been compiling lists of artists who have worked here, and securing biographical and critical data about them. Over 700 names have been listed from the earliest days — the latter part of the 18th century — down to the present time. Of these, many are so far only names, from old city directories or newspaper advertisements; but examples of the work of a good many have been found in private homes and public institutions, and this summer it was decided to try to gather together a loan collection of work done by artists working in New Orleans prior to the present century, and, with the consent of the Board of Administrators of the Delgado Museum, to display them in three upper galleries.
Beginning in July, therefore, the Delgado Art Museum Project, W. P. A., assembled some 30 examples of work done here before 1830, in one of the smaller rooms. Portraits in oil, sculpture in wood, and miniatures on ivory were arranged so that they present a picture of changes in style and costume, from the closing years of the Colonial period (1785), with scarlet-faced coats, frilled shirts, and elaborate hair-dressing, down to the simple “Directoire” modes, with white stocks, short hair, and short- waisted gowns, that came in after the turn of the century. F. Godefroid, Louis Godefroy, Louis Collas, French artists who worked here; F. Salazar, a Spanish painter; and the Americans, Wheeler, Jarvis, Jouett, Audubon, Sully, William West, are among the painters who are represented in this early group; quaint carvings in native woods by Pierre Landry lend interest by their “primitive” naivete; and miniatures by Collas, J. F. de la Vallee, Ambrose Duval, Mr. (or Mrs?) Antoine Meucci, and Mrs. J. Reynes, give a picture of the art of New Orleans in the time of our great-grandparents, more than 100 years ago.
Traditions that certain artists had painted here have been verified with care before the work was admitted to this exhibition, thus, there was doubt whether Thomas Sully was eligible, though
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it was known that he had a sister and a brother living in New Orleans, and that many portraits of New Orleans people bore his signature, with dates before 1830. Yet he had not been found in any directory or newspaper of the period. But Mrs. John Smyth, whose father, Thomas Sully, has lent four of the five “Sully” items in the exhibition, produced a photograph of a sketch by her famous great-grand-uncle, of “General Andrew Jackson,” with the notation in the artist’s handwriting “taken immediately after the battle of New Orleans,” — which is held to prove that he must have been here in 1815.
A portrait of Etienne de Bore, first Mayor of New Orleans, and “father of the sugar industry in Louisiana,” lent by Miss Nina King, is of special interest, not only for its subject, but for the excellence of its executions. The artist is unknown, but it is regarded as certain that it was painted here.
August saw the opening of the long gallery with more than 40 additional examples of the work of artists who were here between 1830 and 1860 — the time of New Orleans’ great “boom” when money and trade and population were pouring into Louisiana and it was no uncommon thing for portraits to be ordered at prices ranging from $500 to $1000 — a large sum of money in those days!
From France came such accomplished painters as Jean Joseph Yaudechamp (1770-1866), who worked here from 1820 to 1834, with a studio at 147 Royal Street; A. D. Lansot, introducer of the daguerreotype, the earliest form of photography, in this city in 1837, just seven years after its invention by Daguerre in Paris; Francisco Bernard, an exhibitor in the Salon who came at the invitation of a group of sugar planters to do their family portraits; and Alfred Boisseau, (1823-1848) who sent his Louisiana scenes of Indians and Creoles to the Salon in 1842; Ernest Ciceri, decorator of the French Opera House; Philippe Gabrielle, sculptor; Jules Lion, lithographer (1810-1866), Gaston de Pontalba, and many more.
From Italy came Dominique Canova, (1800-1868), also decorator of the French Opera House, and of the Saint Louis Hotel, who is also believed to have painted the altar-piece in the Saint Louis Cathedral; and Peter Cardelli, whose bust of “Pierre Soule” is from the collection of the Louisiana State Museum.
From Belgium came Jacques Amans (1801-1888), a most
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conscientious and capable painter; whose portraits are full of personality, — especially when he painted himself, and his brother artist, Alexander Charles Jaume (1813-1858), a youth almost as handsome as Raphael!
From Germany came Peter Schmidt, (1822-1867), and Francois Fleischbein, of the school of Munich, who had a studio in Paris under Girodet but painted in New Orleans from 1830 to 1866. German in style, but Italian in name, was L. Lotta, a sculptor who worked here in 1842, with a studio at 67 St. Peter Street, but who also painted portraits of Mrs. Leonard Wiltz and others.
A. D. Rink was another artist, and exhibited in the Salon, but worked here from 1841 to 1856, and did a number of admirable portraits and miniatures.
Artists who came here from other parts of America during this period were many. John Vanderlyn of New York, Chester Harding of Massachusetts (1792-1866), Henry Byrd, James Henry Beard (1814-1867), of Buffalo, N. Y., Stephen Williams Shaw of Vermont (1817-1900), G. P. A. Healy of Boston (1813-1894), Benjamin Franklin Reinhart, N. A., of Pennsylvania (1829-1885), and many more.
Theodore Sydney Moise (1806-1883), was born in Charleston, S. C., and came here in 1836, to paint many noted men, women and horses! For he was noted for his ability to make spirited likeness of a favorite racer or war-horse. With Amans, he made a likeness of General Jackson and his charger in the City Hall which won a $1000 prize in 1844.
But New Orleans had her own artists at this time, too. Foremost among these was Richard Clague, who was born here in 1821, and died about 1874. Landscapes showing the typical live-oaks, the bayous, cattle and horses and hogs and other farm surroundings were done by Clague with artistic insight and skill, and that he was also a portrait painter of distinction is shown by his own self-portrait, dedicated “A Ma Chere Grand Mere” and signed “R. Clague, 1850”, which is one of the many unique items lent by the Louisiana State Museum. In addition, the Delgado Museum possesses Clague’s own “Sketch-Book”, in which he recorded sights in Morocco, Algiers and other foreign places visited when he went abroad to study under Ernest Herbert and in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and also, on the reverse pages, scenes on
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the Gulf Coast done after his return. This was given to the Museum some years ago by the late S. A. Trufant, a member of the Board of Administrators.
Another New Orleans-born painter was William H. Baker, (1825-1875), who studied here, became associated with E. Wood Perry, and became a successful portrait painter. He went to New York in 1855, helped organize the free Schools of Design of Brooklyn Art Association, and in 1872 was appointed head of those schools. Jules Hudson, an octoroon, and a ‘Tree man of color”, was another native New Orleans artist of this period. His self-portrait shows pronounced Jewish as well as negroid characters. He was a pupil of Abel de Pujol in Paris, and on his return to New Orleans in 1821, taught art as well as painting portraits and miniatures, George D. Coulon being one of his pupils !
THE ART ASSOCIATION OF NEW ORLEANS
By ETHEL HUTSON
Secretary to President of Artist Association. New Orleans, La.
The Art Association of New Orleans was formed by the merger of two organizations in 1904. The Artists’ Association of New Orleans, which held its First Annual Exhibition at Nos. 51 and 55 Camp Street in the State National Bank Building, (presumably in 1887, as the Eleventh Annual Exhibition, the first one which had a date on its catalogue, as far as we have been able to find out, was held in March, 1897) was the oldest of these. The second was the Arts and Exhibitions Club founded in 1901, with Judge William Wirt Howe as President. He served for two years, and on his death in 1903 was succeeded by Mr. Gustaf R. Westfeldt, who was serving as President when the merger took place between the Artists’ Association and the Arts and Exhibitions Club, and when the name of “The Art Association of New Orleans” was thus formally adopted. He was thus the first president of the new organization.
Records of the Artists’ Association so far found do not show who the early presidents were: in 1897, William Woodward is given as president, but the date of the foundation of that body is given in some records as 1885, and it is likely that both Andres Molinary and B. A. Wikstrom served in that capacity previously.
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THE GANGLIONICS AND ART ASSOCIATION.
By KATE MONROE WESTFELDT
It was early in the 90’s that a group of cultured people, men and women, organized a club known as the Ganglionics among whose members were Miss Grace and Nan King, Prof, and Mrs. John Ficklen, (co-author with Miss Grace King of a History of Louisiana). Dr. and Mrs. Sharp, afterwards President of Tulane University, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Low, Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Smith, (noted mathematician), Dr. and Mrs. Ellsworth Woodward, Prof. Orr, Mr. and Mrs. Gustaf Westfeldt I, Major Harrod, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Westfeldt; Mrs. Gertrude Robert Smith, Miss Mary G. Sherer (Newcomb Crowd) and several others, for the discussion of things Literary and Artistic.
Out of this group in conjunction with the leading artists of the city and those deeply interested in the future of art, emanated the nucleus of the New Orleans Artist Association which sur- planted the original group that had organized the Art Union the first association of Artists and those interested in Art to form as a body in the state of Louisiana. Mr. Gustaf Westfeldt I became the first president of the new Artist Association which replaced the old Art Union which dissolved during an era of great depression in Louisiana.
Mr. Alfred Penn became the treasurer, succeeded by Major Harrod, Ellsworth Woodward, Hunt Henderson, etc.
Mr. Samuel Delgado, a bachelor, and his brother Mr. Isaac Delgado were wealthy sugar merchants and having no heirs were anxious to leave some lasting contribution to this city. (Andres Molinary, artist who had painted some portraits for the Delgado family, learning that Mr. Delgado contemplated leaving money for an Art Museum for this city, having been broached on the subject by Mr. Gustaf Westfeldt I, was worried what to do with the contents (art objects) in his beautiful home. Mr. Molinary told him to build the museum during his lifetime, so he would know that his wishes were carried out as he wished them to be.
After a conference with Mr. Westfeldt and other members of the group that had urged him to leave money for the Art Gallery he decided to have it built while he still lived. Mr. P. A.
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Lelong who was then a prominent member of the Directors of the City Park was greatly instrumental in getting the Art Gallery for its present location instead of its being placed in Audubon Park, as well as one who urged the gift to the city by the Delgados.
ART IN NEW ORLEANS Andres Molinary 1872-1915
Although removed by death from Art Circles in New Orleans for the past twenty-four years, the strong vibrant figure and cheerful personality of Andres Molinary, still stands undimmed in his home by adoption.
Born in Gibraltar, November 2nd, 1847, of an Italian father and a Spanish mother, his parents had distinctly other views for his future than that of the palette.
His father and older brothers were in command of the department supplying the Military with uniforms, and it was hoped that, after graduating from the Academy in Gibraltar, he would enter the School of Engineering there, and prepare for a Military career.
He, however, had been ambitious to be an artist from early boyhood, even at school, being often censured for making drawings of his class-mates on the margins of his books instead of studying what was in them.
Finally, after many heated family sessions, pro and con, ending always, in his determination to learn to paint — and particularly, after winning a competitive scholarship to the San Lucas Academy in Home.
Then, it was decided to let him have his way. He studied there under Valias and Alvery, later, at the Academy of Seville. Fortuny was among the students and they became fast friends. With Escault, Reginald and Delageau, happy days were spent sketching scenes filled with brilliant sunlight, going into East Africa and Morocco and thereabouts.
After a while, Gibraltar called him back. While there, a letter came from America — from his mother’s brother, Mr. John Brunasso, of the Spanish importing firm of Brunasso & Fat jo, conducting business in New Orleans.
Mr. Brunasso, having heard from his sister of affairs at
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home, thought perhaps to help matters by inviting the young man to visit him in America, hoping to interest him in business with the firm. This was about 1872.
Molinary accepted — and landing at New York, spent sometime there — finally came to New Orleans.
Office work did not make a great appeal, but it was agreed that it be tried out — though he was often missing from his desk, and when sought for, would be found far up in the storage warehouse, where he had rigged up his easel among the boxes and barrels, painting away, unconscious of the lapse of time or the entries and bills below.
Finally, to his great delight — he was dismissed. His uncle, thinking that Art was all he was fit for anyway. Then he opened a small studio on Camp street. Later, he took a larger one, left vacant by the death of Julio. Young and gay, he soon drew an artistic circle about him. Here, they came for talk and criticism. The first Art Club was formed — “The Cup and Saucer Club”, gaining its title from the necessity of each member bringing a cup and saucer — when the membership grew beyond bounds.
Here came the Bakers, Page and Marion, Mary Ashley Townsend, Catherine Cole, George Cable. Cora Townsend, Livingston and many others not remembered, who came regularly or just dropped in. Molinary made the tea and it was good tea, flavored with reminiscences of many lands.
After this he was called to Mexico and Central America to paint some portraits, and remained there almost a year, doing both oil painting and crayon, finding everything very agreeable because of his Spanish affiliations. The Art Spirit had spent itself by the time he returned so he started afresh, and in a few months the Art Union began to be talked about. This was followed by the Art Association which still lives, and thrives mightily under the care of a large membership, with exhibitions in the Delgado Museum. It was his greatest pleasure to spend each Sunday morning looking over the various paintings and chatting with friends. He had almost a paternal feeling for the Museum, for it was while painting the portraits of the Delgados, uncle and nephew, for the Delgado Memorial Hospital, that the subject was broached, of what would ultimately become of all the many objects of Art contained in the Mansion on Philip street? Endow
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a Museum and reserve a large space for your beautiful things, was the answer — and the thought grew.
Many portraits were painted at this time, some for organizations, some as memorials — Judges for the Court Building — Sugar planters for their meeting hall — Mayors for the City Hall — -Doctors for Hospitals — Governors for the Cabildo — donors of Memorial buildings. Art was in the ascendency.
Molinary was his own model on two occasions, with the aid of a looking-glass. As he said to his wife, “It is great, when the painter is ready to paint, the model is always in the mood to pose.”
He also made a wonderful thing of his portrait of Perelli, the Sculptor and painter of game and fish. The Perelli hangs in the museum, as does his own portrait; the latter, a gift to the Museum from his wife, who was first his student, then assistant, and towards the end, as his health failed, finished many commissions and painted outright many others, and still goes on. A prized possession, is a portrait of Mrs. Molinary in an old fashioned Gown, painted many years ago by her husband as an exhibition piece, while she was still Marie Seebold.
One of the outstanding examples is the portrait of Mayor Mims, of Atlanta. Other portraits that gave great pleasure in the doing were of the Hill family of Port Allen. Two were painted for the Hill Memorial Library in Baton Rouge, three others were also painted and are in the homes of the family, on the plantation at Port Allen. Mrs. Thos. J. Semmes, widow of the Jurist, ordered six portraits of her husband to give as memorials to various institutions. Everywhere one finds examples of his brush.
Following is a list of prominent Louisianians painted by Andres Molinary:
Gov. W. C. C. Claiborne, Gov. Jacques Villere, Gov. O’Reilly, Gov. Veudreuil, Gov. Antonio de Ulloa, Gov. Estavan Miro, Gov. Barnado de Galvez, in State Museum, N. 0.; Judge Nicholas Henry Rightor, Judge Pierre Adolph Rost, Judge Robert Hardin Marr, Judge Albert Vories, Judge Alexander McKensie Buchannon, Judge Felix Pierre Poche, Judge Thomas J. Semmes, Chief Justice Thomas Merrick, McC. Hyman, Clerk of Supreme Court of Louisiana; Wm. J. Behan, John Fitzpatrick, Mayors of New Orleans; Dr. Albert B. Miles, Dr. Picard, Alexander Hutchison, Dr. Stanford Chaiile, in Charity Hospital; John Hill of Port Allen, La., (full
A CREOLE BELLE — A portrait by Francisco Bernard, 4x5 feet. From the Seebold Collection, now in the Art Collection of the Rice Institute, Houston, Texas — Donated by the Seebolds.
A Sketching Party at Mandeville, in the early days of the Artist Association of New Orleans. Standing — Viva Saxon, Edward Shields, Marie Seebold (Mrs. A. Molinary), Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Edward Shields, Charles W. Boyle, Andrew Saxton.
Sitting — Walter L. Saxon, Mrs. W. L. Saxon, Margaret Coles, Andres Molinary.
“I Came from a Rock, Place a Rock on My Grave.”
EARLY LOUISIANA ARTISTS
29
length); John Hill, Jr., Port Allen, La., Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. Dr. B. M. Palmer, Peter Helwege, W. 0. Hart, J. M. Quintero, J. B. Sinnott, C. E. Chapman, C. V. Moore, E. J. Gay, S. 0. Thomas, W. E. Seebold, Lawrence Fabacher, Mr. and Mrs. John Hill, Sr., Mr. John Hill, in possession of family, Port Allen, La.; Mrs. H. P. Dart, Mrs. Lamar Quintero, Mrs. Durant Da Ponte, Mrs. W. 0. Hart, Mrs. W. E. Seebold, Miss Alice Bloomfield, 'Miss Cora Townsend, Miss Marie Seebold, Mrs. Geromina Molinary, the artist's mother.
THE GRAVE OF MOLINARY
By LILITA LEVER YOUNGE
“Let a staunch rock be hewn from the mountains , to lie At my head”, quote the Artist, and sighed,
For the splendor of mountain-tops, piercing the sky.
Was the vision he glimpsed ere he died,
Who had loved the high places where God seems to walk And commune with His likeness in clay,
And the angels and archangels silently stalk,
In the primeval hush of the day.
So they fetched him the boulder to lie at his head.
From the mountains he loved; and they came To the place where he bides, in the House of the Dead t And they carved on a tablet his name.
And they left Molinary to sleep, *neath the stone.
That slumber unbroken, profound,
In his bed in the earth, with green ivy o’ergrown.
And the symbols of death all around.
Chapter II
HONORABLE THOMAS J. SEMMES.
A born aristocrat of the old school, as he grew older and noted the vast changes that had taken place during his lifetime, he often talked of ante-bellum days, of the life he knew and loved so well. To quote a few remarks of this loved advisor and jurist, who had reached the pinnacle of his profession as President of the American Bar Association: “No life could be like the life of those old days. The South had an element in its society — a landed gentry — which afforded ample opportunity for extraordinary culture, elevated the standard of scholarship in the section and emancipated social intercourse, while it established schools of individual refinement. We had a vast agricultural country, and the pursuit of agriculture in the South had its fixed features.”
Having in his home the old negro mammy that had nursed his wife when she was a little child, and in turn nursed his own children as they arrived, notwithstanding several other servants sought that privilege, Judge Semmes, like all true southerners accustomed to slaves in their households, was bound by a strong tie to this faithful old servant, a reminder of the vanished glory of another time. Firmly believing that no life was like that of the life of a cultured wealthy planter’s family and no one but the southern child that had experienced the kind and thoughtful care of an old negro mammy could appreciate the bond of sympathy which then often united the races, he said: “The thought of wounding the feelings of that faithful devoted old woman was appalling, even to outsiders much less a member or employee of this household.”
In early days before the days of automobiles, even though all households of pretentions maintained their own carriages, street cars were used generally. It was no uncommon thing to see Mrs. Semmes, or other Southern ladies of her class give their old negro mammies their seats in the car if crowded, and stand, letting
HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES
31
the faithful old black women make themselves comfortable with the bundles on their laps. In those days the faithful old negro women followed their mistresses closely when shopping — a sight one no longer witnesses in the South, the faithful old souls having all passed away. At Mammy’s death the Semmes boys acted as pall bearers for the faithful old woman, and genuine sadness cast a gloom over the household for a long period. Her portrait hung in Judge Semmes’ library and he always proudly pointed to it, never forgetting to extol her virtues.
‘‘The people of the north could not understand all this, the landed gentry of the south had pursuits, their love of field sports: they were a prodigal aristocracy that dispensed their stores in constant rounds of hospitality, and gayety. The south had a rich population then, and dispensed baronial hospitality. No traveler was ever allowed to go to a tavern after he had been the guest of one of these old families, but was handed over from family to family through entire states. The holidays were celebrated by masters and slaves with feasting and music, great balls and banquets given in the old spacious mansions, while the sugar houses and cotton gins provided large areas for the banquet boards of the slaves groaning under the weight of Christmas foods in ample quantities and variety, and allowances of wines and liquor.”
Dancing too followed for the slaves, from which many of our modern cabaret novelties get their origin, especially the crooning blues stepping, and questionable gyrations, which find their fountain head in the wilds of Africa among the voodoo cults.
Among the true aristocrats of the old school “There was an unwritten code of honor, but that code was so beautiful, (states Judge Semmes) that no one who called himself a gentleman would have dared to break it.” The south of those days yielded to none in her love for the union, but state’s rights were the most marked peculiarity of her politics, and it was this doctrine. Judge Semmes always maintained, that gave to the Union its moral dignity. Judge Semmes was a member of the convention, and was proud of the fact that he was one of the committee that drafted the secession ordinance. His wife had him bring her the pen that he used on that occasion and it has always been carefully preserved as a historical relic in the family.
The family also have a letter from Mr. Knox, father of Mrs. Semmes, who made the first loan to the Confederacy through the
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bank of which he was president, as testified by Mr. Memminger in a letter to the Confederate Congress, after Judge Semmes had been called in 1861 by Jefferson Davis to Montgomery to consult with him as Attorney General of the state about the suspension of specie payment by banks. In his letter Mr. Memminger, knowing that Mr. Knox also had contributed an immense sum from his plantation fund, justly praises the devotion of this patriotic gentleman.
When brides began in the presence of Judge Semmes to dilate on the magnificence of their trousseaus, in a teasing manner Judge Semmes, beaming on his lovely wife, would tell of the ‘‘beautiful outfit that Mr. Knox had given his daughter, Mrs. Semmes, when her husband was elected as a member of the Confederate Congress at Richmond, and took his seat with his colleague from Louisiana, General Edward H. Sparrow.” So delighted was this ardent Confederate that a son-in-law of his should have this high honor conferred upon him, he stated that his daughter should have a trousseau befitting the wife of “a Confederate Senator.”
The Semmeses occupied the Cruikshank home in Richmond, a beautiful mansion quite like that occupied by President and Mrs. Jefferson Davis (The White House of the Confederacy) and directly opposite it. In fact it was a facsimile of the one occupied by the Davis family, and Mrs. Semmes said she preferred it to its counterpart. Both were among the finest and stateliest mansions in Richmond.
The social life of the Semmes home at that time was somewhat that of the life of a European court, for until reverses began to be felt to maintain the establishment records show that the yearly expenses amounted to about one hundred thousand dollars. With ample room to house his friends, it was not long before Alexander H* Stephens of Georgia, vice-president of the Confederacy, who was a bachelor, and a close friend of the Semmeses, Mr. Garland who was later a member of President Cleveland’s cabinet, and General Sparrow, colleague of Judge Semmes and close friend of the family, teased both Judge and Mrs. Semmes until they finally said they could become “their boarders”. By boarders Judge Semmes meant that fine old Southern hospitality that gave all and asked nothing in return.
In speaking of running the place at the rate of one hundred
Wm*i
MRS. THOMAS J. SEMMES, ne6 MYRA EULALIE KNOX of Knox Hall, Montgomery, Alabama. A painting by G. P. A. Healy, noted American portrait painter. (Courtesy of Mrs. Sylvester P. Walms- ley.)
HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES
33
thousand dollars a year. Judge Semmes used to say, “we used Confederate money, and Mrs. Semmes used to state that she sent a whole basketful of money to market in exchange for provisions. Our boarders knowing that I was not a rich man insisted in paying something which amounted to about one hundred dollars a month each. However, my father-in-law who was one of the wealthy men of the South insisted in supplying us freely with money”.
In telling of old times Judge Semmes told about the wonderful supplies of provisions of all kinds that used to come to them for their Richmond table, and how they never could understand how they got through so safely for everything at that time was contraband.
He also told how bountifully their table was supplied, of their continuous series of dinner parties attended by less fortunate senators from the border states. These states were divided and fared very badly. Their people lived on the simplest of rough food, as their food supply was cut off. They had a very hard time of it, but stood it all courageously until the end.
His memory was as clear as a bell about the many happenings of those Richmond days. He recalled how the air was filled with shells and shot, filling all with terror, and despite this in order to keep up the spirits of the people, how the ladies went ahead with their entertainments to raise funds for supplies for the soldiers. He related that parties were given every night so that the boys passing through the town might have some diversion to keep up their jaded spirits. “Of how groups of handsome officers would dance the hours away at the Semmes mansion, and go forth to fight on the morrow and be buried in the evening shadow on the blood soaked battle field”. There was General J. E. B. Stuart, the Rupert of the Confederacy, the dashing cavalry officer, who played charades at the home of Judge Semmes’ sister, wife of an officer on President Jefferson Davis’ staff, and that night left the smiling throng with a flower some pretty Richmond girl had just pinned in the lapel of his coat. The next day the news came that he had been mortally wounded at Yellow Tavern. Mr. Semmes was very fond of General Stuart and often recalled the night he saw him last, dancing and making merry with the most beautiful girls in Richmond. It was a gala night, and there were present at Mrs. Ives charade party, Mr. Jefferson
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Davis, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Mallory, Judah P. Benjamin, in fact all of the cabinet officers and their wives, the representatives in Congress, justices of the Supreme Court, and so on, and General Stuart — laughing, dashing General Stuart — was the observed of all observers. He was so brilliant, so handsome and used to dash around Richmond on his noble charger with his black plumes flying in the breeze, and all the town on tip toe — to catch a sight of him. The body was brought to Richmond the following day for burial; and every eye was dimmed with tears as the military funeral of their dead General wound its way through the streets of the Confederate capitol, while the strains of “Maryland my Maryland” were his funeral dirge. “Only a few hours before,” said Judge Semmes, “the stalwart soldier had been singing ‘Old Joe Hooker, Will You Come Out of the Wildemess,? And now he was dead, and the world would never look upon his like again.”
Judge Semmes was a close friend of Stonewall Jackson, and in speaking of this great soldier said, “his death cast a shadow on the fortunes of the Confederacy that reached to the catastrophe of the war.” “Richmond refused to believe the news of his death, and could not bring itself to the realization that ‘the noblest Roman of them all' had passed from life. Mrs. Semmes would not believe it, and went out to hear for herself that the terrible news was only too true. As she approached the capitol she met some soldiers carrying a covered corpse, marching with bowed heads to the notes of the muffled drum. ‘Who are you carrying?’ she asked with whitened lips, and the simple answer came back: ‘Stonewall Jackson’.” Continuing he would tell of the great General’s funeral where thousands consecrated his grave with their tears.
General Robert E. Lee was a close friend of the Semmes household, and visited the family frequently. He was the ideal of Southern chivalry and truth, and his visits when in Richmond, meant a gathering of special notables. All of the great men of the day were friends of this distinguished family — Slidell, Mason, Breckenridge, Yancy and Beauregard, not forgetting Johnston. Judge Semmes often recalled the day that a special messenger from President Davis arrived announcing the death of his honored friend. General Albert Sidney Johnston, and how the eyes of strong men glistened with tears as with a sob-choked voice Jeff. Davis announced the sad news.
HON. THOMAS J. SEMMES
35
Warrenton Virginia, the old home of the Semmeses during these hectic days, was the scene of death and suffering. The Semmes family rendered undying service to the Confederate cause, even to turning the family homes into hospitals, and lodging and feeding the Confederate soldiers. The siege of Richmond caused the Confederate Congress to abandon their seats to shoulder guns and mount guard around Richmond. Often when seated at a banquet table and glancing round the heavily laden mahogany, Judge Semmes would tell of the siege. "For days,” he said, "these volunteer soldier-senators had nothing to eat,” and he would declare that the heartiest meal that he ever enjoyed was a piece of dry bread and a raw onion that he asked of an old market woman who passed the spot where he was keeping guard.
At last the surrender came, and then the greatness of his character came forth in its true light, when stripped of all his worldly possessions as was his own family and the family of his wife — everything confiscated because the entire family had been such loyal Confederates.
Being in the bad graces of the victors for his devotion to the Confederate cause, Judge Semmes was in danger of arrest. In order to obtain a pardon he left Montgomery, Alabama, where he had gone, and went with his wife to Washington, and after a five-minute interview with President Johnson a pardon was granted him. During that interview, as related by Judge Semmes the President asked him what he had done, and he replied: "All that a man could possibly do by deeds or words to promote the Confederate Cause; but the Cause having been defeated I desire to practice in peace the practise of my profession in order to support my family.” The President smiling said, "Well, go to work.”
Returning to New Orleans with Mrs. Semmes, he resumed practice with his old law partner, Mr. Robert Mott, the firm continuing until 1875. In 1873 he was appointed to the chair of Professor of Civil Law at the University of Louisiana, holding it until 1875, when owing to the pressure of other duties he resigned. From the time of his return to New Orleans his law practice grew by leaps and bounds. He became the head of the bar in Louisiana and his name appeared as counsel in many leading cases in Louisiana court annals. Judge Semmes’ death was sudden and his funeral was one of the largest seen in the city in years. Representatives from all of the professions where brilliancy made their
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friendship acceptable to the friend who was leaving them forever attended. He was given full military honors due a great Confederate who had used to the full his brilliant mind in behalf of “The Cause.” A guard of honor watched by the Confederate flag- draped casket as thousands marched by to get a last look at their friend, embowered in a wealth of floral tributes, all realizing that a great and good man was being taken from them. As the burial service ended, the last notes of taps sounded and proclaimed the passing of a soldier.
Chapter III.
NOTES OF A JOURNALIST
WALTER PRICHARD, in the Louisiana Historical Quar- terly of October 1938, Vol. 21, has quoted a series of articles written in 1860 by J. W. Dorr, who was connected with the New Orleans Crescent. Mr. Dorr made a trip over the state with a horse-and-buggy and reported on the condition of the state in general.
His reports are reliable, as he carried with him letters of introduction and all the necessary credentials to obtain accurate information on the subjects of which he has written. His pen pictures convey a true picture of the plantation country of the era, for as yet the ruin that was soon to destroy most of this magnificence had not disturbed its beauty or tranquility. Believing that his simple descriptions are far more convincing than any report of its former beauty written after hostilities, I have quoted at length from Mr. Prichard’s article.
NUMBER 1. UP THE COAST.
There are many in New Orleans who have lived there many more years than your correspondent, who have a very poor idea as to what the “coast” is. They fancy they have seen it from the deck of steamers plying on the river, but they are mistaken. They have only glimpses of the country and dissolving views of the tops of houses behind the high levee as they dashed past. To see and appreciate this Acadian land they should be behind a good horse and rattle along the levee road, which is now as smooth as the New Canal Shell Road. A constant succession of wealthy estates keep the interest alive, for there are few of them that will not repay pausing to admire. Splendid old homesteads dot the road at the distance of a quarter of a mile
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apart, the out buildings, negro quarters, etc., forming at each a considerable Tillage, so that the road up the coast is almost like a street of a vast, thinly built city.
The plantations having a narrow front on the river and running far back, the homes are thus brought close together and render the levee road a suburban avenue unequalled in the world, bordered on one side, as it is, by the unequalled river of the world, the clustering steamers and other crafts on which give an animated variety to the changeful scenery.
It is no sort of use for me to attempt to describe any of the splendid residences of the princely planters, for during yesterday’s journey I passed dozens, each worthy of more than a passing notice. All that, tasteful architecture, ornamental shrubbery and magnificent moss-hung trees can do towards the beautifying of the sugar planter’s residences in Jefferson and St. Charles Parishes as far as I have been, is effected. The farther I go from the city, the more costly, elaborate and extensive the planter’s houses seem to be. Seven or eight miles above the city the estates begin to show the more striking evidences of wealth and refined occupancy, though there are a few fine places in the lower part of Jefferson Parish.
Along the pathway of the wide river, a constant current of cool air pours above its rolling tide below, and thus the temperature is kept comfortable in the warmest season. A continual draft is created by the cool air of the river rushing across the banks to supply the heated interior.
There are a large number of fine estates in St. John the Baptist parish as “Belle Point”, place of A. Deslonde, “Mount Airy”, owned by Joseph LeBourgeois, “Esperance”, place of Dr. Loughborough, and others not inferior, if not dignified with names. The planters, constituting a staple population of the parish, are almost to a man, of the old Creole type gentleman, hospitable, chivalrous and high spirited. The Anglo-Americans are few.
NUMBER 2 . PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
But let them travel inside the levee, and through this paradisa- cal climax of luxurious plantation rurality, and if they do not admire the aspects of the scenery — the splendid villa-like or castle-like mansions of the planters, the cheerful and comfortable villages of negro houses, the magnificent old trees with their wavy glory of moss, the beautiful gardens filled with rarest shrubs and plants, the affluent vegetation of the broad fields, the abundant greenery with which lavish nature coats every inch of this prolific soil.
In this manner throughout his entire trip about the state he describes the glory and magnificence of it all — the immense wealth, the endless acres under cultivation — now nearly all gone.
NOTES OF A JOURNALIST
39
Many hundreds of these handsome old mansions and splendid sugar-houses and cotton gins fringed the banks of rivers and bayous, and made easy targets for the gun-boats of the Federal fleet after the fall of New Orleans.
A book printed many years ago, and recently reprinted, “Forty Years of American Life 1821 - 1861”, tells about the plantation country of Louisiana in minute detail. The writer tells of how, after a fifteen-day trip, their steamer at last came to the plantation country of Louisiana. He tells what a pleasant surprise it was to him to find himself in a land, to use his own words “with enchanting scenes” which he cannot find words to adequately describe. He tells how for miles lining both banks could be seen the magnificent plantation homes with their splendid gardens, and beyond and between the manor houses and the cane fields the slave quarters. He compares the waving sugar cane to a vast green ocean, bright as an emerald. He tells how when the steamer stopped for wood he got out and saw at close range the glorious plantation gardens where flowers and fruit of every description were within reach of all who chose to pluck them. With its mild climate the whole country was a veritable garden of Eden.
From his rhapsody brought on by so much beauty he roused himself to note that he was in a Creole land where little but French was heard, and where even the negro slaves driving the cane carts joked and laughed as they worked. Here he found the fire wood brought down as driftwood by the great river which seemed to lay it at the planter’s door. He seemed delighted with everything that he saw — the planter that appeared as if created especially for his work of being a kind and careful master, and the darkies, as if made to drive the mules, and as for the mules they too seemed designed by nature to be handled by their dusky drivers. He came from the North, but disagreed with the people of his land. He believed that any change that might be made would be a grave mistake. Seeing their comfortable little cabin homes, their gardens, poultry pens, and realizing that all responsibility was assumed by the planters, he thought it an ideal existence.
Chapter IV
THE ST. GEME PLANTATION.
The St. Geme plantation, an ancient one in Louisiana, occupied the site of the present Edgewood Park on Gentilly Avenue in New Orleans, and the family a wealthy as well as aristocratic one, who owned it had a large “early type” plantation residence and which was a most important social center in old plantation days.
The first one of the name of St. Geme to come to Louisiana was Chevalier Baron Henry de St. Geme who traced his family back to the year 1500. At New Orleans he married Madame (widow) Jeane Francois Dreux, nee Delmas, of the patrician families of Dreux and Delmas. A son, named for his father and who later made his home in the family chateau de Barbazin in France, married Melle. Eugenie de Puech, daughter of Louis de Puech and Althee D’Aquin of New Orleans.
The de Puech family were prominent Huguenots who had come to America and located in Boston, Mass., after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The family later became planters in San Domingo, where they owned immense plantations. However, it was not long before the negro uprisings in the Islands caused the family to flee from that place. Going to Philadelphia Louis de Puech and his wife and their children were registered at the French Consulate as subjects of France, where the children were later sent to be educated. In 1878 the revolution in France which overthrew the Republican Government and substituted in its place Louis Philippe as Citizen King, at which time Ernest de Puech, a student at the Ecole de St. Cyr, returned to New Orleans and later became one of the leading citizens of the city. Always alert to matters pertaining to the growth of the community, and prominent in social activities, he became the organizer and was made President of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. At that time New Orleans was becoming the greatest cotton port in the world. In the long list of prominent citizens of this state few have exceeded him in ability as an executive. All his actions brought honor, and credit to his state. He was among the first to enlist at the outbreak of the Civil War, and as a Major in the Garde D’Orleans, was in the thickest of the fighting. In later years
MRS. SYLVESTER P. WALMSLEY, Sr., ned MISS MYRA E. SEMMES, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Semmes, in her wedding dress.
THE ST. GEME PLANTATION
41
he was a strong friend of the soldiers of the “Lost Cause”. At his death he was sincerely mourned by the city for which he had done {so much, and given the funeral of an honored soldier and citizen. The floral tributes were magnificent and his casket laid in state draped with a Confederate flag. His funeral was immense, with a large number of Confederate soldiers and a guard of honor. As taps were sounded all realized that a man of unusual ability had been taken from their midst.
Chapter V.
THE OLD HURST PLANTATION HOME — NOW THE STAUFFER FAMILY HOME, METAIRIE LANE.
A visit to a new suburban section of New Orleans, a fashionable development among magnificent oak trees named Metairie Lane, brings one to a splendid old plantation home of unusual beauty.
The home attracts by the charm of its setting, and the purity of its architectural lines and detail, all of which have the appearance of being quite old but carefully cared for. The house was originally built in Hurstville, an early Louisiana settlement above what was then the city of New Orleans, for the Hurst Family. The old plantation house was transplanted to its new site, and so carefully and perfectly has the work been done, that the mellow time stained brickwork of the foundations and chimneys lead one to believe that the old place has stood in its present location a century. The owner, Mrs. I. H. Stauffer wished for the plantation type of country home befitting the beautiful oak grove she owned. This lady had often driven past the old Hurst house long for sale and wished that it could be moved to a spot among her beautiful oaks.
The old Hurst house was finally purchased and when the required photographs, drawings, measurements, notations and all necessary data taken, the house was dismantled and moved piece by piece. The architects (Koch and Armstrong) in rebuilding achieved splendid results. For the house outside and inside in its charming new setting has the appearance of having been originally built on this site in 1830, the date it was constructed in Hurstville. The Patina of time has truly been preserved, and nature coming to the aid of the architects has in the shady damp places of the basement deposited a rich velvety green mould which truly completes the illusion of great age. As one strolls about the walks close to the house, on all sides are evidences that would
THE OLD HURST PLANTATION
43
readily mislead the observer were he not aware that it is an old house that has been rebuilt. Old brick walks, curbing, drains and a hundred little points insignificant in themselves, as a whole create in this instance a work of perfection.
The original owner for whom the house was built, having accumulated an immense fortune at the very beginning of the boom days of the plantation era of Louisiana, had this beautiful home built, and for reasons that the writer has been unable to learn lost his fortune a few years later. The plantation as it is shown on maps of that era joined Rickerville which lay to the South of Hurstville, its Northern boundary being Bloomingdale. Foucher, and Greenville following in succession as one drove South on the River Road. As the city grew the Hurst plantation, which had passed into other hands, as was usually the case at that date, was cut up into city blocks. With the rapidly growing city spreading out in all directions the vast sugar plantation became a thing of the past. However, the splendid old home which fronted the river some distance back from the river-road was kept intact, with it the rest of the land which formed the city block. The house became the home of a family who wanted a large home in the new residential area with a vineyard and garden.
Many years ago Casper Wild, the noted grape culturist who also had a fine vineyard corner of Bellcastle and Magazine Sts., New Orleans, had charge of the old Hurst vineyard. He specialized in fine white wine made from grapes grown in his own and on the old Hurst place. Joseph Jefferson, the famous actor and a close friend of my father’s, frequently visited Casper Wild and sampled his vintages. The artist actor also painted a portrait of the old vine culturist.
As the years passed the neighborhood declined, the old house became a tenement house and was beginning to fall into ruin when purchased by Mrs. Stauffer.
At the time that the Hurst plantation was cut up into city blocks, one of the streets was called Hurst, after the planter, another named Arabella, and still another Eleanor, for the planter’s daughters.
When the house was built in 1832 the Greek Revival type of architecture was at its height and had already gained a strong foothold in the South, and the greatest of care was displayed in
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
the perfection of the details of the mansions being built. Such was the case quite evidently with the Hurst plantation home. As one notes the beauty of the ornamentation, mouldings, and interior woodwork they afford an architectural charm that is unique. The house is unusual in many particulars, deviating just sufficiently to make it an example of unusually good architecture of that type of plantation home. The body of the house was constructed of brick with heavy walls painted white on the outside. All of the woodwork above the columned cap line including the gables was painted white to match. On the cornice beautifully executed by the wood carver, is a pedimented frieze with tryglyphs, above the white columns also of choice cypress of the Greek fluted design.
The house is the raised basement type, having a typical stairway with broad easy treads easy of ascent, leading up to the wide gallery surrounding the house. The facade shows a central hall entrance doorway quite wide with side lights and panels below. The heavy knocker is attached a little below the upper second panel, a low fan light surmounting all. A heavy pure Greek cornice with dentils recessed over the door opening, supported by fluted Doric columns on either side of side lights, completes a most inviting appearing entrance. A paneled casement frames the door showing the thickness of the brick work. Latticed blinds are fitted to all of the long windows, dormers also where we find the central dormers above the entrance doorway, and each of the others above a column, showing careful spacing so that the view from the windows below is not blocked by the column shafts.
In the large arched windows of the gables a somewhat similar arrangement of columns and entablature is noted as is found about the main entrance. Here we find recessed spaces on the cornice above the two side lights, as well as above the central larger window. In this place also are found Ionic pilasters on the outside of the side lights and Ionic columns on the inner side, and bars instead of fan ribs over all. Within, one is greeted with the kind of rooms and finish one might anticipate from such an inviting exterior. Here we find doors with handsome paneled casements, the frames with facings of a fluted design, having beautifully carved corner blocks, center ornaments and acanthus- leaf swirls which twine the fluting. All of this is carved with
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skill in a delicate manner and forms a most charming finish, not over-elaborate, as one might suppose, but quite elegant and distinctive. Below some of the shorter side windows cabinets with paneled doors have been fitted, and high baseboarding with a design of fluted mouldings completes a most satisfactory woodwork planning. An arched doorway quite wide with Ionic pilasters divides the hallway from the spacious drawing-room which overlooks the beautiful garden in the rear. At the east end of this spacious room is a splendid black marble mantel surmounted by a handsome antique mirror having a gilt frame which reflects many of the choice family heirlooms to be found here. The long French windows open onto the wide rear porch with an inviting vista in every direction, for on all sides are masses of fragrant blooming plants and attractive lawns of the immense garden.
This large drawing-room like the other leading rooms of the house has the beautifully carved acanthus scrolls twining the fluting of door and window frames.
It is altogether a charming salon, restful and interesting. Handsome pieces of choice antique furniture, ancestral portraits painted by celebrated artists, rare pieces of bronze and beautiful bric-a-brac, with attractive window drapes and rugs create an ante-bellum setting of great allure. The effect of spaciousness prevails, for the large dining-room almost the same size owing to the interior plan, connects with this drawing-room, both of them being quite light and sunny. This dining-room, the scene of many notable banquets, is equally as handsome in its appointments, having the same attractive wood-work. The dining-room furniture is of mahogany of the Adam period, and the mirrorlike waxened surface tops of buffet and dining table reflects the choice examples of rare old family silver. More portraits by celebrated artists, antique crystal and chinaware, complete an unusually charming ensemble. Tucked away in an alcove is a winding stairway which leads to the rooms above. A living-room on the left of the wide hallway as you enter the main door-way contains much of interest, showing a discriminating taste and rare judgment in the selection of its furnishings which are for most part heirlooms. The bed-rooms too are all of great interest with typical plantation pieces from the ateliers of Mallard and Signorette.
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The original old Stauffer mansion, which stood on the present site of the Orpheum Theatre, was a splendid spacious three-storied brick structure with a high raised basement. In this part of the Stauffer home at Metairie Lane all of the brickwork is of the same heavy construction as was found in the original structure, having a solid brick wall in the front of the basement with lunettes fitted with iron grilles. The doors are found on the sides of its walls.
On the original site the basement plan contained dungeons to imprison unruly slaves. Iron barred openings permitted air and light, and deeply imbedded in the brickwork was found remnants of chained manacles and other instruments of punishment to be used when vicious slaves planned murder, mutiny or unusual trouble on the plantation. These gruesome finds many years ago gave this old plantation house the reputation of being haunted, and another old plantation manor not far away, the old de la Chaise home, bore the same reputation. Here, too, it was due to a discovery of the same sort in the basement. The newspapers of that era stated that these dungeons were a necessity at the date these plantation homes were erected. They were built in order to keep the negroes of the plantation cowered as well as for punishment. Plantation history is replete with the plottings and crimes of unruly slaves.
The murder of a neighboring planter by a petted slave, and the massacre of the whites during the San Domingo slave uprisings were still fresh in the memories of the Louisiana planters when the Hurst plantation home was originally built. In the new plan of the Metairie Lane house, the dungeons were eliminated, culinary and service departments being established in this part of the building. Originally, as in most plantation houses, the kitchen and service rooms were in a separate building. This out-building was omitted in the new plan and the space added to the garden grounds.
To return to the old Stauffer home in what was then known as Dryades Street, New Orleans, now called University Place. This old mansion was the scene of some of the most noted social events of New Orleans of its era, and the neighborhood contained the homes of distinguished families. It remained a fine residential section until some thirty -five years ago, when along with the first block on the South side of Rampart it became a business area.
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The garden plan of the Metairie Lane house of the Stauffer family, planned so as to be typical of similar plantation places has many of the details that go to complete such a setting. Hedges of Louis Philippe roses, jasmine, camellias and the usual plantation shrubbery to be found in plantation gardens are found here. The beautiful grounds with the century old oaks gave the opportunity to accomplish such delightful results. The splendid collection of artistic treasures, paintings, antique furniture and furnishings from the old Stauffer home in town now fill these rooms. It is as of old one of the most important social centers in New Orleans.
Richard Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor, married Myrthe, youngest daughter of Aglae and Michel Douradou Brin- gier of the wealthy aristocratic plantation family of St. James Parish, Louisiana. Richard Taylor during the Civil War was known as the dashing Dick Taylor. “Following the battle of Baton Rouge during the Civil War, he was appointed commander of the District of Louisiana having already served with distinction in Virginia. His campaign in Upper Louisiana and on Red River was one of the brilliant military episodes of the Confederate War.”
After the close of the war he returned to New Orleans and lived in the old Bringier home in Melpomene Street. He had three daughters; one of them Bettie, married Walter R. Stauffer; her sister, Myrthe, married Isaac H. Stauffer — sons of the prominent and wealthy merchant and philanthropist Isaac Stauffer, of New Orleans. The children of both sisters still proudly maintain the prestige of their blood and name in New Orleans. Louisette, the eldest daughter, died unmarried.
Chapter VI.
BAYOU ST. JOHN AREA.
THE DUCAYET PLANTATION HOME
Originally built for a planter of that name who with his family occupied the place for many years, the Ducayet house shows its century of age in a pleasing manner. It is in good condition, and the colors of the old house have been toned down to blend with the foliage which shade its spacious front and rear grounds.
Several tall palms also add a tropical touch to its West Indian type of architecture, as also does the outside stairway on the uptown side of the house that leads to the broad encircling gallery above. Its architectural details are perhaps not as pretentious as some of the other similar places along the Bayou, but there is much room in its pretty garden, and the grounds enhance the charm of the place. Therefore its rivals do not diminish its attractiveness by comparison.
During the occupancy by the original owner it was a social center, and a show place, as the family owned many beautiful things in the way of antiques and art objects. Later the family of the distinguished Louisiana Judge John L. Tissot, purchased the place. The banquets given by this family to important members of the bar and their friends formed noted gatherings and were among the social events of each season.
Like the Ducayets the Tissots were great collectors of beautiful things. So much so was this the case with Judge Tissot, that in many a private collection in this state today the owners point with pride to a number of old articles in their collection as having come from the Tissot collection.
The rooms, divided by spacious hallways, lead to a rear porch. The ground floor rooms have been converted into living quarters — forming living-room, dining-room and library, all of which have been fitted with black marble mantels. Upstairs, the original
The Old Hurst Plantation Home — now the Stauffer family home, Metairie Lane, New Orleans. — Rebuilt by Koch & Armstrong.
The old plantation home of the Ducayet family, Bayou St. John, New Orleans.
Old plantation home of the Blanc family, Bayou St. John.
The old Spanish Customhouse, Bayou St. John. Plantation home of Mrs. Helen Pitkin Schertz.
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living rooms were converted into sleeping quarters, and have white marble mantels and interesting plaster work.
The gallery plan of the house shows brick-paved lower galleries and an encircling wide gallery resting on circular solid brick plaster-covered Doric columns with colonette above the gallery line supporting the roof.
An old photograph of the place shows it as it appeard before the present high brick wall in front enclosed the place. A light wood and metal fence permitted a view of the lower front of the house and garden, and the original wooden balustrade surrounds the gallery. The place now belongs to the Catholic Church that owns the adjoining villa, the fence screen that closes off the view of the yard having been put up lately.
THE OLD BLANC PLANTATION HOME
This splendid old residence is of a more imposing type of the same style of architecture, and is a delightful example of the plantation houses of this period. Its front enclosure, part heavy masonry, half wood paling fence, is at once distinctive, and makes of its large grounds an arresting vista when viewed from across the bayou. The history of the place is that of the distinguished family whose descendants reside in New Orleans proper, for the property was willed by a member of the family to a religious order, on condition that at no time should the architecture be changed, thus assuring to posterity the charming view we have today.
THE SCHERTZ VILLA , 1300 MOSS STREET ,
BAYOU ST. JOHN.
SAID TO BE THE ANCIENT SPANISH CUSTOMHOUSE
The old plantation house which later became a customhouse, where the inspection of goods coming to New Orleans by way of Lake Pontchartrain took place, laid empty for many years and gradually fell into partial ruin. Its distinctive architecture finally attracted the attention of the present owner. The date of its construction was somewhere between 1721 and 1734 (according to the Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C.), making it the oldest house on Bayou St. John. It still maintains its dignity and offers shelter as in old plantation days when it was the property of a Creole family by the name of Roux.
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Originally, according to the owner, the ground floor was laid with slabs of pink marble, and the exposed beams are the original hand-adzed cypress ones placed there 150 years ago. Slave-made brick was used mostly in the construction, the walls being two feet thick; the lower floor finished with stucco while as was commonly done at that time weather-boards were used over the brick (the red brick being soft and easily eroded) as a protection. The pink marble slabs were found when the house was being restored, some of them still below the wooden floor that had been placed above them at a later date.
The free-growing fiscus repens vine fairly blankets the structure which is set in a formal garden of the old plantation type. Here one finds magnolia fuscata, hollyhocks, dahlias, iris, a large variety of roses, geraniums, hydrangeas, sweet olive, day lilies, myrtles, and in autumn, a riot of chrysanthemums of many hues. There are two fountains — gold-fish pools with flowering lilies and lotus blooms, cypress plants and the delicate bloom of ‘arrow heads”.
The hardware was all original and hand-made by slave labor at the date of erection of the house. It comprises ‘H’ hinges, great bolts on batten doors and windows. Oval brass knobs were imported from France and attached to the hand-made iron work. “Jalousies” or quaint mullioned transoms supply the interior with daylight. Wisteria and a mass of honeysuckle vines give shade on loggias. One of the traditions of the house is that Jean Lafitte made there his proffer of aid to the American army just before the Battle of New Orleans (Jan. 8th, 1815), submitting to a grilling interview with General Andrew Jackson and the territorial governor, Claiborne, who distrusted the sincerity of the buccaneer. Governor Miro, under the Spanish domination, used the house as a duana or customhouse, as Bayou St. John was the main artery for traffic into the city. Contrabandistas were incarcerated in a small cell with a brick floor and with a slit a few inches wide in the outer wall protected by a bar of heavy iron. A story is also told that Lafitte secreted a treasure behind a heavy mantel-piece made of mahogany wood in an upper room, and this matches exactly an old marble one there now stained by time, probably of later date.
The music room is 31 feet in length and rises above the main house roof. Its base is pinkish flagstones and a mezzanine floor
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is outlined by design in old iron. There is a wall fountain on the main floor, souvenir of a winter spent in North Africa. A huge brazier designed by Benvenuto Cellini is heavily silvered on copper, also a silver basin for coals and large silver spoon of size to stir them.
A portrait of the grandmother of the owner of the house, hangs on an inner wall, the work of Sir Thomas Sully painted at the time he was doing Queen Victoria in her coronation robes. Another portrait by Julio, over the mantel, is the mother Mrs. Schertz in the lace and rose of the gay 70’s. A third portrait is that of the hostess done life size in a standing posture by Allen St. John, picturing this gracious lady in Empire gown and mantle. There are also “II Pognomara”, the piper by Julio, a pastoral by Richard Clague, “The expulsion of the Jews” unsigned from the Burnside collection, and “The Spanish Dancer” by Edouard Antonin Vysekel. A splendid study of roses painted by the mother of Allen St. John, is also an important item of this collection which is a veritable art-gallery. The furniture here too, is most attractive, all being museum pieces. In the dining-room all sorts of delightful surprises await one: beautiful carved antique Flemish pieces of dark oak, rare crystal and quantities of quaint old family silver. A wealth of fine old china at every turn, and many objects reminiscent of plantation days make the room a charming one indeed. In the drawing-room are many lovely things in the way of rare antiques: pieces of Buhl and other inlaid furniture, quantities of bric-a-brac, much of it the gifts of notable people, autographs of celebrities, the handsome harp of the owner who is an able harpist. Miniatures and many heirlooms too go to complete the collection in this interesting home.
Upstairs in the main bedroom is an immense four-poster bed with heavy cornices, and many other pieces of crouch mahogany to match — all from the magazine of Prudence Mallard, period furniture like that of Signorette that will never become out-moded. The furnishings of this old plantation home are typical of the early period of the house and the culture of old Louisiana. The study, workshop and library are all in one in the adjoining room, for Mrs. Schertz is not only an able harpist but a writer of distinction. She has ability as an organizer too, and has had much to do with the early success of the Little Theatre. She was like-
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wise the main spirit in the organization of the New Orleans Spring Fiesta and its tours.
Among the prominent latter-day visitors to this charming old home may be named the Prince and Princess de Ligne, Maurice Maeterlink, Edward A. Southern, Julia Marlowe, Gertrude Franklin Atherton, Minnie Maddern Fisk, General and Mrs. Smeedley Butler, Sir Bertrand Russell, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Dr. Arnold Genthe and many eminent divines, architects, actors, musicians and singers.
CASA SOLARIEGA “THE SHADY HOUSE,f The original land grant of Casa Solariega was made to the Almo- naster family, and later sold to Mr. Louis Blanc, Feb. 8th, 1789, on which he shortly afterwards had this old plantation home built.
At present the home of the Walter Parker family, this house has been restored to its original beautiful condition. While the rear buildings that had fallen into a ruined state have been rebuilt, the main house has only been restored to its pristine charm. In this manner is preserved its ancient atmosphere.
This old plantation house is one of the spacious ones of the vicinity, and like the others in later years underwent changes in its basement planning, the lower or basement floor in all of these houses in this section being converted into living rooms. This arrangement gives a great deal more room for family use than the house had when first planned. Originally this basement space was used for the carriage, garden implements, etc., as in French and Spanish places in Europe today. At present in the Parker home this ground floor space is occupied by the living room, hallway and dining-room, all well planned and comfortably spaced.
The front of the house presents an unusually attractive appearance with a thick growth of wisteria and other blooming vines and tropical shrubbery beyond the handsome ornamental iron fence. A wide brick-paved loggia front and rear is bordered by a luxuriant growth of tropical plants, fragrant with perfume. The beautiful bayou in front, a vista of open spaces, and similar villas nearby add to its charm.
The main hallway is entered through a wide doorway, transom lighted with side lights as well, the same fan light and door arrangement repeated in the rear. Towards the back of the hall the space widens to receive the spiral stair-way specially well-de-
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signed, being of a graceful swirling curve twining to the floor above and terminating in the wide hall. The entrance doors front and rear are repeated on the second floor, and these when open furnish attractive vistas with the garden in the distance. The greater part of the garden is in the rear, and the long line of brick arcaded rear buildings form a charming back ground to the immense patio court-yard. All here is very interesting as the brick is unpainted and old looking and great masses of tall trees, wide spreading shrubbery and climbing vines create a tropical effect Garden furniture and urns flower beds, and innumerable other attractive conceits make this patio one of the most attractive spots in New Orleans.
Downstairs the rooms are spacious. Antiques, good paint- tags, ancient rugs and carpets, fine old draperies, choice books, beautiful old silver of antique design, crystal and china, handsome antique oak furniture lend interest to the lower apartment Upstairs the rooms are also large and furnished with heavy mahogany furniture of proper period with all of the accessories in keeping. As a whole the house and contents harmonize well. It is a natural and livable home, not having the appearance of a place arranged for sightseers.
One may be sure such an old house and such an old garden must have witnessed many a pleasant gathering when belle in wide spreading gown and powdered hair danced with her ardent swain caparisoned in knee pants, silk hose, buckled shoes and ribboned queus at a time when these old plantation homes were summer retreats for the elite of Bienville’s city. It is doubtful, however, whether even in the hey day of its glory when loggias, house and garden were crowded, did as great and select a gather- tag ever fill the old place as does it now, when Mr. and Mrs. Walter Parker and her sister. Miss Hester Hernandez entertain. On these occasions a background similar to the courtyards of Italian villas in the long ago is reproduced with fine effect.
In the court-yard a raised stage is set against tropical greenery and tall cypresses forming a truly delightful vision with the electrical lighting cleverly hidden in the foliage. When the improvised stage is enlivened by gaily costumed characters in brig silk, satin and velvets appearing as the occasion demands, the remembrances of these evenings recall the Fetes Champetre, Italian Pastorals and woodland comedies of Shakespeare.
Chapter VII.
FAUBOURG DE MARIGNY
THE DE MARIGNY PLANTATION
The old de Marigny plantation, located a little below the present Esplanade avenue, fronting on the river and extending almost to the woods, is today but a memory.
The plantation house was of the early Louisiana type with a high basement below and a series of square brick pillars on which rested the wide gallery that encircled the house, the overhanging roof line supported on collonettes. A wide stairway led up from the garden to the gallery entrance, the veranda bright at all times with a quantity of blooming plants in flower pots.
The residence was about the size of two ordinary early plantation homes, containing a number of large rooms, the ceilings made of cypress boards so carefully matched that after being painted they looked as if they had been plastered. The wooden mantels had columns and the door frames and window casements were substantial but simple in design. All of the windows were of the French type, that is a double-glazed door arrangement, which opened inward, while heavy solid batten shutters opened on the outside. A large central hall room and sitting room in one and the rear gallery served as dining-room in warm weather when guests were numerous. George W. Cable has a good illustration of the old house in his “Creoles of Louisiana”, showing the old house after it had been fenced in when the plantation had been cut up into city blocks.
It was handsomely furnished with European furniture. As the family was an immensely wealthy one, yearly visits were made
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to Europe and gradually the house became a vertitable treasure house of fine furniture and objects of art. Fine ancestral portraits painted by noted French artists adorned the walls of all of the rooms. Many of these portraits now are in the possession of descendants or in the Cabildo collection as is much of the fine bric-a-brac from this home. A quantity of the finest carved rosewood now in the homes of relatives, is part of the rare, museum- piece furniture which replaced the early slave-made furniture that had been in their earliest home. It was in this second home that the Duke of Orleans and his two brothers, who were exiles in Louisiana after fleeing France at the time of the Revolution, were housed and lavishly entertained by the Marquis and Marquise de Marigny de Mandeville, who at the time of the visit of the royal visitors to Louisiana, were the richest couple in the colony. Later when these royal exiles returned to France and Louis Philippe King of France, they sent their host and hostess, and numerous others who had befriended them, costly presents which today are priceless heirlooms treasured by the descendants of the ¦families to whom they were sent. The King of France also had the son of Philippe Enguerrand Marquis de Marigny educated and given a commission in the Royal Troops, but the princely fortune loaned to Louis Philippe at the time he departed from New Orleans was never returned.
BERNARD DE MARIGNY, THE GREAT SPENDER OF HIS ERA WHO SET A PACE FOR ELEGANCE
Born of wealthy parents who gratified his every wish, later on as one might expect from the spoiled son raised like a prince, Bernard de Marigny became a wastrel, squandering the vast fortune placed at his disposal. On his return to New Orleans to live, after his life abroad where his contact was with royalty and all of the extravagances attached to it, he set a pace for extravagant entertainment and a general mode of living that caused many wealthy Creole families to emulate the ways and extravagances of the French Court itself. Whatever may have been his faults, he was always a gentleman and one feels that he spent his money on beautiful surroundings, fine clothes, horses, etc., wherein lay his extravagances, and the joy of entertaining on a regal scale and not in immorality. He loved gaming, but it was an age m which gentlemen played for high stakes.
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He surrounded himself and his family with the finest of furniture, bric-a-brac, costly articles of all kinds, a taste that was partly natural and partly acquired from the French Court where he had been educated. He never caused his old home to be modernized or changed in any way, but he made of it a veritable jewel case, each of its many rooms being compartments which he filled to overflowing with priceless articles of every description. He never considered the cost of an article, provided it was fine and what he wanted. He was generous to a fault, and many households in this state contain priceless gifts from him. When the Civil War had swept the fortunes of the South away, it was not long before the curio shops were flooded with treasures such as only the capitals of Europe had at that day. These articles had been purchased by friends and relatives of Bernard de Marigny who tried to emulate his standard of living. The Marquis de Vaudrieul ini all his glory, did not at any time live as extravagantly as did this son of the old nobleman. De Marigny’s manners were polished, and his education made him a scholar as well as a gentleman. He spent much time duelling at which he was an adept. In his old age having but a small remnant of his col- lossal fortune of eight million dollars, he spent his time paying social calls on old friends. He used to walk to and fro from their homes to his own, and on the 4th of February, 1868, on his way homeward he slipped and fell, striking his head and died shortly afterwards.
Bernard de Marigny was buried on a cold wet day. Somehow it seems that Heaven weeps when a favorite dies. In spite of the weather his funeral was a large one and was attended by many of the most important people of the city. In fact the whole town felt it had lost one whose memory will linger.
Towards the end of his life, he was very much like another prominent French nobleman who died a few years ago in Paris. This nobleman too was a lover of beautiful things and fine living, but Bernard de Marigny always remained the gentleman, while the other Duke proved to be otherwise.
In 1910 Prosper de Marigny, the last of the de Marigny name, died and the name became extinct, two hundred years and over having passed since the first one bearing it had come to the colony. To Bernard de Marigny in 1830 King Louis Philippe “After a faithful correspondence sent him a magnificent dinner
The old Casa Solariega, Bayou St. John. Walter Parker home.
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service of solid silver, each piece bearing a portrait of the royal family. The King also insisting on Bernard, and his young son paying him a visit. It was then that Bernard and his young son Mandeville, then 19 years of age, accepted the invitation, both were received at the palace where they remained six months enjoying the hospitality of the French Court.”
(From Miss Marie Crusat de Verges’ letter to the New Orleans Picayune).
Chapter VIII.
PLANTATIONS OF ST. BERNARD THREE OAKS PLANTATION
The plantation having been cut up to make a canal, the old Three Oaks Plantation mansion now stands in the shadow of an immense sugar refinery and is all that remains. The plantation house is an ancient place, for during the Battle of New Orleans one of its massive solid brick columns heavily coated with cement was demolished by a cannon ball.
Mr. Edgar Dahlgren, nephew of General Dahlgren, occupied the home and maintained the plantation as a going concern for many years previous to the Civil War. (Mrs. Frank Dahlgren is the authority for this statement) . General Dahlgren of Natchez, Miss., rebuilt “Dunleith” at Natchez after the first beautiful home that had been given his wife by her father, Job. Routh, had burned to the ground. The Natchez mansion was struck by lightning in 1857 while General Dahlgren and his wife were away visiting a spa in the North. The Dahlgren’s plantation home was handsomely furnished, but nothing was saved from the flames, the house and contents being a total loss. After Mr. Edgar Dahlgren and his family moved from Three Oaks Plantation, the Cenas family became owners, and lived there many years during which time it was noted for its beautiful garden. The interior with ante-bellum furnishings was also very lovely. It is still a spot that is much visited by tourists, and one of the fine old plantation houses of the state. It is typical of the true Louisiana home of the more pretentious type.
The only reason that this old mansion escaped being burned by Sherman's orders, was because it was like several others in the vicinity needed by the Federal officers after the fall of New Orleans. No sooner had this occurred than the family then re-
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59
siding there were ordered out and they were not permitted to take any of their belongings. When the house was finally returned to the family it had been swept clean of all that had been in it.
BUENO RITERO (The Old Beauregard Place)
In St. Bernard Parish a short distance from the Three Oaks Plantation, almost hidden from view by the moss hung oaks that surround it, lies Bueno Ritero plantation home, built in 1840 from a design by James Gallier, Sr., noted architect of that day, for his friend the Marquis de Trava. It was a beautiful old place, and it lies almost in the shadow of the Chalmette Monument, being a stone's throw from that historical edifice. Entrance to the old plantation house, which is open to visitors to view, is through the wire enclosure, by way of the pathway leading to the river road through the monument grounds gateway.
The house is in a dilapidated condition, especially the ground floor. It has been vacant for a number of years, and is now the property of a railroad company.
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over hand-made laths within. The cement coating on the exterior is in reality a combination of burnt oyster shell lime combined with sharp sand — very durable and used as a means of preserving the soft brick used. The soil in Louisiana and Mississippi afforded only this material, as the brick as a rule were slave-made and not imported as some writers contend.
The long heavy Doric columns that support the front and rear galleries give great dignity to the place. The simple entablature supports a nicely pitched roof pierced by two dormer windows front and back and one at either end. The attic is immense and high and one can see much of the fitted and pegged wood structural work as it is unfinished. A lightning rod of good design is placed on the roof ridge to the right side. A chimney juts from the center of the roof and in the attic we can see the construction design used at this date, generally used, as I have noted it in many places, with specially heavy brick work as at the old Andrews place, Belle Grove, on the west bank of the Mississippi. It is a method of connecting the chimneys of either side of the house which supply a means of heating by fireplace the six rooms comprised in the main house — three on each floor excluding the hallways on the right side as we face the place. In this hall we find a simple winding stairway now quite dilapidated. It has a nicely finished unpolished mahogany rail, and with a sweep winds to the floor above — repeating this again to the attic. The facade presents a simple dignified appearance the diamond arrangement of the wooden balustrade relieving the severeness of its classic lines. The wide balcony downstairs, laid in brick on the same level with the floor of the house, is but slightly above the ground. The floor which has badly rotted with age and neglect shows that the area below was slightly excavated — not sufficient for a cellar, but in order to ventilate the floor beams, and flooring. The rear downstairs veranda which is also very wide, was bricked as is the front one.
The two columned sections, being almost identical in construction with the exception the upstairs wide rear porch, is enclosed in a carefully detailed manner with wood panelling as high as the balustrade rail, and glazed upright panels reaching to long transom lights above — enclosing the entire rear upstairs balcony. This makes an immense solarium and keeps the house free from the northern exposure. All the woodwork of this enclosure is
Home of the Marquis de Marigny, Faubourg de Marigny. (From an old Print — Courtesy of Mrs. Edwin X. de Verges.)
Loggia opening on to Courtyard: — Walter Parker Home.
Rear view of “Bueno Ritero”. Built for the Marquis de Trava in 1840 by Jas. Gallier, Sr. Later belonging to the Rende Beauregard family.
Magnificent oak avenue of the de la Ronde Plantation — miscalled “The Packenham Oaks”.
Ruin of the old de la Ronde Plantation Mansion as it appeared before the storm of Sept. 29th, 1915.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Rouyer de Villere family. (Courtesy of Mrs. John F. Coleman.)
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done in a way to enhance the charm of the old house, as no doubt the place, in a great measure, was used as an out-door reception room. Below it is all fitted with a cross moulding forming a base to the casement which encloses the ends of the balcony also.
Within on the ground floor the space is divided into the stair — hallway and three fairly large rooms, one room in depth with French door having batten shutters opening to the wide galleries. These rooms which have high ceilings are connected by a wide classic door casement with dog ear mouldings; the second and third room by a smaller doorway and similar casement.
The floors have rotted away in this part of the house and the front doors are at present nailed up.
A Pickaninny
On the second floor we find the plan much like the floor below, the rooms connected by regulation-sized doors. The rooms being square and high — the one towards the left as you face the house is very long with windows at the end as in the room below.
It must have been a very comfortable place, delightfully cool in summer, with the river breezes sweeping through the rooms. We are told that the Marquis de Trava was a Spaniard of the old school, a Spanish Grandee with very strong adherence to the Castillian etiquette even in small matters of social affairs, and rigid about the pomp of stately functions.
He is pictured as a proud grandee and his Marquise equally as exacting.
Their receptions (as there were still in the state many old Dons and their families at that date) reflected much the air of a minor European Court. A bid to their gatherings was consid-
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ered a special mark of honor. Many a pompous grand dame vied with her neighbor in the magnificence of her toilette, and the habiliments of her slaves that accompanied her to the entrance of the mansion, for all knew the circle in which the Marquis and his family moved was considered the haughtiest in the state. Garden parties at that period found a special way of entertaining, and one can visualize the grounds as they must have appeared in those far-off days.
The house has the simple lines one finds in old Spanish homes. It became the plantation home many years later of Judge Rene Beauregard (who married Alice Cenas), the Judge being a son of the famous Confederate General. It also was a social center while occupied by that aristocratic old family during which time it contained many family heirlooms and mementos of both the Cenas and Beauregard families.
Its garden was a delightful spot, Louis Philippe roses edging the walk leading from the river to the house. Traces of the ancient garden and old walks still can be found in the rear of the house where the oak trees are thickest forming great spots of shade. One hears that a movement is on foot to restore the old structure and convert it into a Confederate Museum. Let us hope so — anything to preserve an old plantation house so close to the city.
VERSAILLES
PLANTATION HOME OF MAJOR GENERAL PIERRE DENIS DE LA RONDE
This is an historical place situated about one and one-half miles below the Plains of Chalmette. At the end of a magnificent avenue, a double row of Centenary Oaks extending from near the river front, for quite a distance, at the extremity of which are the charred remains of the once palatial home of Major General Pierre Denis de la Ronde.
Among the priceless objects of historical interest on exhibition in the amoral section of the Louisiana State Museum, otherwise known as the Cabildo two pictures arrest attention of the visitors. They are excellent specimens of the photographer’s skill. One represents a brlight cheery edifice, an old plantation house possessing to perfection all those picturesque characteristics for which that particular type of architecture was so remarkable throughout the South in pre- Civil War days; the other an old vine-clad ruin amid picturesque surroundings, leading to which, from its river side, is one of the most beautiful oak avenues in all the world. — J. E. D.
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* The mansion had two stories of cement-covered brick, containing a total of sixteen rooms. On its four sides were spacious galleries supported by a beautiful collonade, the whole covered by a sloping roof with vertical windows projecting.
Numerous stories have been written about this old house, its origin, its history and the circumstances attending its destruction, all absurdly incorrect, the merest fiction. Few houses in the country have suffered as this old de la Ronde mansion has in this respect and genius of fabrication, invention or hallucination, or whatever it is, is still alive. The only justifiable reason for its being called the “Packenham House” might be to the fact that when Major General Sir Edward Michael Packenham, the hero of Salamanca and Eajadoz, commander-in-chief of the British Army of invasion, was mortally wounded on the Chalmette battle field, January 8th, 1815, and died under one of the four gnarled and venerable live oaks (which are still standing, their site at the time of the battle was the Bienvenue Plantation, subsequently Mercier’s Place now known as the Colomb Place).
The shells of the enemy made a hole in the roof of Versailles Mansion, but beyond this little physical damage was done the property. The English, however, emptied the well-stocked wine cellars of the mansion, the product of which, they frankly admitted, was of choicest vintage. The family was at the time, which was during the social season, spending the winter in New Orleans, their city abode being 35 Conde Street, now Chartres Street, new number 1021, near Ursuline Street.
Finally, this lovely mansion became the property of a Mr. Luaga, a dairy-man, who stalled his animals on the first floor of the mansion and in other ways desecrated the premises. It was during his ownership, subsequent to 1876, that the house caught fire and was destroyed, a rather ignoble end of one of the proudest edifices at that day in the land. The walls were still standing, however, until the storm of September 29th, 1915, when sections of them were blown down, leaving the ruin as it is today.
In one of the rooms of the de la Ronde mansion lay gallant Major General Samuel Gibbs (of the second brigade) second in command; in another room was Major General Kean who was
* This description of Versailles Plantation was written by Emile Ducros and is used with his permission.
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seriously wounded, and many of the British officers mortally wounded on the field here breathed their last. From the de la Ronde family Versailles Plantation passed to Norman Story, a brother of Benjamin Saxon Story. Subsequently the property, including the Versailles Plantation, its manor and wonderful collection of art objects and furnishings was acquired by Armand Heine, at one time a citizen of New Orleans, but then a resident and banker of Paris, France, who was familiar with the Louisiana Versailles and its wealth of beautiful things. The decorations and objects of art and much of its interior embellishments and appointments were utilized by him in the rehabilitation and redecorating of his Parisian residence. This gives an idea of the interior grandeur of the old mansion whose pathetic ruin has become a sort of shrine in Louisiana.
The mansion called Versailles (at times “the Palace”) was known for many years of its existence, although incorrectly designated by many writers not familiar with its history, nor that of the family who occupied it. It was constructed in 1805, just two years subsequent to the memorable event which made Louisiana a part of the United States. Ante-dating all homes of its type, the old fashioned plantation house, it was nevertheless not only comfortable, but interiorly was magnificently embellished and most substantially constructed. It was said architecture was at its best in the house. Its owner and builder (Pierre Denis de la Ronde) was perhaps the wealthiest planter of his time in this part of Louisiana. Versailles plantation, twelve arpents front and extending in depth to the prairie, containing twelve hundred and forty-six arpents bounded originally on the upper side by land of Francisco Maria de Reggio, and on the lower side by land of Chauvin Delery, (Confirmation in 1812 appears in third volume American State papers) and was cultivated with scientific skill, and with success quite remarkable in those days.
The famous plantations and property owners of St. Bernard Parish in 1815 in order of the distance from the city to Bayou Terre Aux Boefs were, Montreuil, Macarty, Lavau, Duplessis, Butler, Dupre, Solomon, Prevost, Piernas, Dezilet, Delere, (acres) Sigur, Languile, Macarty, Chalmette (owned by Ignace Martin de Lino de Chalmet). Antoine Bienvenu, (1425 acres), Versailles (owned by Casmir Lacost, son-in-law of Pierre Denis de la Ronde) , and subsequently acquired by Drauzin and Ereville Villere).
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Conseil (owned by Jacques Villere and his son Rene Philip Gabriel Viller6, Major of Third Regiment First Battalion of Louisiana Militia, and son-in-law of Pierre Denis de la Ronde). Joumoville, later acquired by M. Cuculli, and subsequently by A. W. Walker, a Parisian of English descent, who had cut a wide swath in olden days of the parish. The next place was that of Rodolph Joseph Ducros, Jr. It subsequently passed to Captain Henry Clement Story, finally to his brother Captain Benjamin Saxon Story who acquired his holdings. The next was the Celestin Lachapelle (Chiapelle grant of 1896 acres), patented May 19th, 1882, later acquired by Capt. Henry Clement Story, finally his brother. Captain Benjamin Story acquired his holdings. The next was the Celestia Lachepelle and Magloire Guiehard grant (1445) acres, a part of this property was covered by probably the oldest French grant (dated July 6th, 1723), in the parish. The next was that of Magloire Guiehard (531) acres, this property was acquired by Dr. Knapp, the dentist, and finally to its present owners. Magloire Guiehard was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Louisiana, 1812-1815, and gave much concern to General Jackson, belonging to the opposition political party, and suspected of English sympathies. The next tracts in their order were, the old Antoine Philippon claim (5270) acres, later known as Merrit plantation, widow Michel Louis Toutant Beauregard (bom Vic- toire Marie Ducros, grandmother of Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard), claim 1625 acres, Rodolph Joseph Ducros (a pioneer settler in St. Bernard parish), claim 1645 acres, eight arpents front by a league and a half in depth, confirmed prior to 1832. It was inherited by Marcel Joseph Ducros, Attorney, State Senator and planter, who figured largely in legal matters of St. Bernard. Laise (2252 acres), acquired by B. Morgan and known as Magnolia Plantation, and subsequently passed to Jourdan Brothers, John Davidson, Poydras planting Company, (called Poydras Plantation), and finally to Russel and son. A portion of the Poydras plantation is in Plaquemine Parish, Louisiana.
CONSEIL PLANTATION
In another early type cottage plantation house quite similar to the one in which he was born, Jacques Philippe Villere and his bride started their married life at Conseil. Surrounded by large trees as was customary, and with garden shrubbery the house
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with wide porches and overhanging roof made a comfortable home on their sugar plantation. Located as it was among the estates of the de la Ronde’s, Bienvenu and Chalmette families all owning fine homes and large plantations, land that was later to go down in history as the famous battlefield on which General Packenham, leader of the English army was to be killed and the English army defeated by the Americans under command of General Andrew Jackson.
The Villere Plantation Home on Conseil plantation, was burnt many years ago according to a newspaper article which appeared at the time that the fire occurred. The name Conseil was given to the plantation by the owner because the old planter always counseled his sons about the management of their plantations near by, these meetings occurred regularly at Conseil. The above mentioned article which gives a vivid description of the burning of this historic homestead is in the scrap-book family file of this noted family owned by the great grand-daughter of Governor Villere, Miss Laure Beauregard Larendon formerly of New Orleans, at present residing in Atlanta, Georgia. Conseil plantation home has been replaced by a similar one to the one destroyed, and within walking distance of the crumbling ruin of the ancient de la Ronde mansion.
KENILWORTH
THE OLD BIENVENU PLANTATION
Some distance out on the road known as the St. Bernard Highway, eighteen miles from New Orleans to be exact, can be seen distinctly, as you drive from the roadway, a beautiful old plantation house sheltered by a grove of oak, cedar and pecan trees, and surrounded by a luxuriant wealth of blooming greenery and palms.
Pierre Antoine Bienvenu, who came from Quebec, Canada, in the year 1725, built the house in 1759 according to the best available record.
It is of the high basement type so prevalent at that day — the lower floor rooms having been converted into living quarters in later years. Massive wall — heavy batten shutters and an attractive outside stairway, which rises from the brick-paved lower gallery — are all typical of this type of cool and comfortable mansion. The walls of the lower floor are of brick cement-finished, while the walls of the upper floor have a weatherboard surface
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in lieu of the cement — a feature quite common in many Louisiana plantation houses. It is of mortised peg construction with most of the labor done by slaves.
During the period the plantation was occupied by General Albert Estopinal — who purchased it in 1887 as a home — changes in the attic were made so it could be used for bed-rooms — and the more modern window frames in the attic substituted for the original ones. Now the property of Mr. Wilson Williams, and after a considerable outlay the house has again been restored to a beautiful condition. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have restored the gardens, and planted old fashioned roses and fragrant flowers until it again appears no doubt much as it did in the original owner’s day. It looks very lovely and inviting from the roadway, with its plantation and out-buildings stretching far rearward.
The room arrangement is the same upstairs and down. The kitchen as usual is an out-building connected by a covered passage way. The pigeonnaires and stables are gone as are the garcon- naires, but enough remains to give a very good idea of what these old places looked like originally. Most of the slave-made heavy hardware, hand-made, on doors, windows, etc., is intact.
Filled as it is with a nice collection of antiques by the Wilson family, many of the pieces having historic association. This house has been known by numerous names — for many years as the Estopinal place, later as Kenilworth, a name by which many know it today. Another property, the Gothic place some distance away on the Mississippi River around the bend, also called Kenilworth, is of distinctly Gothic type. Both belonged to an English syndicate that at one time operated a chain of sugar plantations, most of them being purchased after the Civil War when sugar and cotton plantations could be purchased for a song.
PIERRE ANTOINE BIENVENUE.
After the transfer of Louisiana to the Spanish the French were given and accepted representation in the Cabildo according to old records of the Louisiana Historical Society. This Cabildo met in New Orleans December 1st, 1769, and besides the governor, included among others was Antonio Bienvenue (all names Latinized in this ancient record). This Mr. Antonio Bienvenue, owner of the Bienvenue Plantation on which stands the white marble mark-
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er referred to in the following article, was the father of Melicourt Bienvenue owner of Kenilworth Plantation and was the first one of the Bienvenue family to locate in Louisiana.
A bronze tablet marks the spot where the white marble marker formerly stood that is mentioned further on in this article. The father of Melicourt Bienvenue was the largest land owner in this area as the family was a wealthy one. The old plantation home was destroyed at the time of the Battle of New Orleans. Later the home was rebuilt on simpler lines.
Vincent, Chevalier de Morant, married twice. His first marriage was to Madame Constance Volant Marquise, widow of the martyred Pierre Marquise, issue one child Constance de Morant who married twice: 1st, to M. Landier, and to M. Magloire Guichard, issue one child named Josephine, who married Melicourt Bienvenue, a son of Antoine Bienvenue who was the father of twelve sons.
Antoine Bienvenue lived with his wife and large family of twelve sons on the Bienvenue plantation located in St. Bernard Parish, La. — a plantation that has gone down in history as being part of the Battle-field of the Battle of New Orleans. On the old Bienvenue Plantation one sees a marble tablet telling of the owner of the plantation, and of its being part of the battle-field. One of his sons Melicourt Bienvenue owned Kenilworth Plantation which he had acquired shortly after the beginning of the 19th century and enlarged it for his wife and family. His daughter, who had been educated in England noting a bayou in front of the plantation that reminded her of the moat around Kenilworth Castle, named the plantation Kenilworth.
From the marriage of Melicourt Bienvenue and Josephine Guichard, six children were born. 1st, Delzira who married Archibald Montgomery of Ireland, their daughter Lydia, married James Moore of Ireland; 2nd, Alcee; 3rd, Amanda; 4th, Guichard; 5th, Leontine, who married Henri Boucher, and became the parents of two children, Augustus and Charles. 6th, Louise, who married first William Crawford, and became the parents of William, who married Kathleen Owen; and Louise. Louise married secondly, Charles C. Crawford, and they became the parents of Charlotte, who married Pierre Joseph d’Heur, and became the parents of Joseph, who married Jean Martin, and became the parents of Micheline and Allard, unmarried. 2nd, John; 3rd, James;
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4th, Josephine; 5th, Lewis Bienvenue, who married Louisiana Foster, daughter of the late Honorable Murphy J. Foster, Governor of Louisiana. Dr. Lewis Bienvenue Crawford, ranks high among the medical men of Louisiana and at present is located in New Iberia, La. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Crawford are
Manen, Louise, and Lewis. 7th, Charles, who married Cornelia omith.
Miss Josephine Crawford of New Orleans, La., first attended the Cenas Institute for Young Ladies; later the McDonogh High School, after which she finished at the Newcomb College of Tulane University. Studied Art at the New Orleans Art School. Also studied m Vienna and with Andre Lhote in Paris, France. Exhibited at Newcomb; the Arts and Crafts of New Orleans; at Exhibitions at Baton Rouge, La., at the Louisiana State University; also in Baltimore, New York City; and with the Central American Art Circuit.
According to family records the de Morant family came from Normandy, and were prominent Crusaders, being among the Norman gentlemen who in the year 1096 attached themselves to Robert Courte Heuze following his banners into Palestine. The archives of the Church of St. Laurence in Paris France, prove members of this distinguished family among these crusaders. In the year 1621 Thomas de Morant, Marquis d’Estreville, and Count de Montignac acquired the estate of du Mesnil in Normandy, which was elevated to a Marquisate, and the title of Marquis de Morant was conferred on its overlord. Alliances with such notable families of France as the Dampierres and with the princess de Beauf- fremont placed the already noble family high in the social calendar. One of the name founded a monastery for the use of the Dominicans; additional titles borne by members of the de Morant family were Count de Pences; and Baron de Thenon, among them were marechaux de camp of the King’s army, and Gentlemen ordinary to the King.
The family of Wilson Williams of New Orleans, present owner of the beautiful ancient plantation home in St. Bernard parish, stems to the Virginia family of that name, his father being Frederick H. Williams of Richmond, Virginia, and his mother, Sarah Margaret Christian, also of that Southern city. His wife is Rebecca Wilkerson Carradine, a daughter of Leonard Wilker-
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son Carradine and Mary Emma Rivers, of Natchez. Mrs. Williams’ parents, living in the beautiful old Natchez mansion known as “Rosalie” at the time of her birth. Leonard Wilkerson Carradine was born at Roakley Plantation, Washington, Mississippi, and Mary Rivers was born at “Rosalie” in Natchez, Mississippi. Mrs. Wilson Williams has one daughter, Miss Doris Rebecca Herbert Walker, and one son, Jeptha Freeman Walker, Jr., (by a former marriage).
Mrs. Wilson Williams nee Miss Rebecca Wilkinson, is the daughter of Leonard Wilkinson, who was born on Roakly Plantation on St. Catherine’s Creek at Washington, Miss. His ancestors are numbered among that patrician group of people that we find listed as the First Families of the state of Mississippi. The family came down from Maryland and settled at Washington, Miss., where they became large planters. One of their plantations, located where we find the present “Brandon Hall”, named for the famous Virginia plantation, was called “Chincapin Grove Plantation”, originally laid out for William Locke Chew, a wealthy planter of that time.
Mrs. Wilson Williams’ mother was Miss Mary Rivers fcarra- dine, who was born at Wigwam, the family plantation at Natchez, Miss., the family owning several other plantations in Louisiana, among them one called “River Landing” and another named “Fish Pond Plantation”. Her great grandfather, Peter Little, was the one for whom was built the beautiful Georgian mansion “Rosalie” in Natchez, Miss. The manor was named after the old Natchez fort which was located close by. It was here in early days that occurred the terrible massacre of the whites by the Indians. The lovely old home has now become the property of the Mississippi D. A. R’s.
Mrs. Williams’ first marriage was to Jeptha Freeman Walker of Mansfield, La., who was born on Delray plantation, near Bam- ville, Georgia. The two children from this marriage are Miss Doris Walker, and Jefferson Walker. Her second marriage was to Wilson Williams of Richmond, Va., now a prominent citizen and business man of New Orleans. The city home of the Wilson Williams family contains many heirlooms from these various plantation homes of their families. Many beautiful ancestral portraits by noted artists are among them, one on the stairway wall of Peter Little, painted by the naturalist Audubon. There is also
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much fine old mahogany and rosewood furniture, old lamps and candle-holders, ancient crystal, silver and chinaware.
CONCORDE PLANTATION
The de la Vergne Plantation was on the Lower Coast below New Orleans. It was a very successful sugar plantation with about fifty slaves including those working about the house. The plantation home was the usual ‘early Louisiana type”, that is, a raised basement home with an encircling wide gallery from which rose a series of collonettes supporting the wide-spreading roof. Like most of the plantation homes of its era, it had a shingled roof, brick chimneys and dormers piercing the roof. It was a fairly large home with numerous outbuildings and a spacious garden. Up until the Civil War the plantation made money, but with the freeing of the slaves, loss of the sugar mill by bombardment, and the general property destruction at that time the place was practically abandoned and gradually fell into ruin .
The home of the de la Vergne family, prominent and connected by marriage to other aristocratic families, became in olden days a rural social center. There one met the Creole families of distinction who kept up a continuous round of social activities to break up the monotony of plantation life.
Chapter IX.
IN NEW ORLEANS.
THE OLD De LORD SARPY PLANTATION HOME HOWARD AVENUE , NEW ORLEANS, LA.
Standing like an impoverished aristocrat among old sheds and shabby buildings, in Howard Avenue, near Camp Street, this ancient home at once impresses one as being a good example of the early plantation house of a substantial type. It is an architectural tragedy that such a fine example of our city’s early history should be permitted to fall into ruin. Now that there is a wave of restoration of ancient buildings rising over the United States, it seems a pity that this relic could not be preserved for posterity.
One can visualize the old place as it must have appeared in early days, after seeing maps of the early plantations of this section of that era. At that day an avenue of trees reached from Tchoupitoulas Road, the present street by that name, to the front entrance door. This old house was a handsome place in its day, that surrounded the place originally, resting on tall heavily built with the rows of medium-size solid brick columns heavily stuccoed, brick ones. The place faced the river before the later entrance was planned, and had a beautiful garden in front. The rear gallery upstairs now enclosed, originally was closed only in the central part, the gallery on either side opening into it. Below in the rear a series of arched openings fitted with windows, but originally the plan was somewhat like the upstairs, for the lower central doorway opened on to the rear garden. This garden, according to members of the family, extended far beyond what is now Carondelet Street. The garden grounds were about an acre in width, with fruit orchards on either side, having much the
WILSON WILLIAMS, owner of Kenilworth.
PETER LITTLE. By Audubon.
Old Delor-Sarpy Plantation Home, Howard Avenue, New Orleans. Built about 1760.
Mercy Hospital — Formerly the old plantation home of the Saulet family, later Soniat du Fossat family.
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same plan in front extending to the river road. A picket fence enclosed the grounds in a line with the highway. Large cement coated brick pillars supported the wide carriage gate, which was in two sections opening inward. The avenue of trees extended from the entrance to the front door of the house, a line of them on either side of the driveway. This driveway divided as a fan and encircled the house, and until the latest shed which completely covers the front yard was erected, several of the old trees and a number of the stumps were still there.
During the rat-proofing, with fire laws demands, and general remodeling that the house has undergone in past years much of both interior and exterior has been changed. The old house is a splendid example of the early home of the wealthy planter, and well merits preserving.
According to the ground plan, in the hall is located the original stairway which winds in a graceful curve to the floor above. The woodwork throughout is of good design, and the circular driveway originally was planned along the lines of the old plan of encircling the house as we learn existed at the old Chretien plantation house at Chretien Point, Sunset, La., and at Ellington on the west bank of the Mississippi River, near New Orleans. At Ellington one can still see the long avenue of trees extending far back into the plantation grounds, the large front garden and long avenue of oaks has disappeared, swallowed by the river. At the Chretien House one can trace the garden and driveway that formerly opened to the rear of the house where there is a stairway planning quite similar to that at the De Lord Sarpy plantation.
To return to this old place and its changes, one can readily detect the bricked-in alterations, that were apparently necessary when street lines were drawn and the house itself made a boundary line. The interior too, underwent some changes with the appearance of gas in New Orleans. Gas pipes were installed throughout the house, and at the time of plaster repairs, centerpieces of plaster work placed on ceilings of the center of the rooms. The wooden mantels were replaced with black marble ones of later date and chandeliers added. The house is rather a large one, conveniently arranged, firmly built of heavy brick walls heavily stuccoed and fine cypress timbers and woodwork. All of the walls are thick ones, the batten shutters and doors fitted with
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hand made hardware of good design. The dormer windows are especially good in design, showing them planned with double Ionic twin collonetts supporting the crown, having carefully moulded panel-caps, with expanded head moulding. Semi-circle top mul- lion window-pane arrangement below the gable facade completes this attractive dormer design. The whole house, even in its neglected condition, seems to indicate that the place was planned and built with the same care. A number of years ago, before it became a tenement house and part of the Sarpy family still lived there, the old house contained many beautiful pieces of old mahogany and rosewood furniture, family, portraits of past generations, fine old clocks, and bric-a-brac, and was a sketching ground especially liked by the students from the Art School in Camp Street, close by.
SONIAT DUFOSSAT (OLD SAULET PLANTATION) THE OLD SONIAT PLANTATION HOME Opposite the Texas & Pacific Railroad Station can still be seen the splendid old mansion of the Soniat family which is now the Mercy Hospital, the immense buildings and grounds, a gift to the city to be used for hospital purposes. Originally it was a country home about which gathered much that was best in society of city and state, and the old place still presents a fairly pleasant picture with its tall trees and shrubbery.
It is of the high basement type with immense side galleries hung from the heavy two-storied Doric columns that surround it on all sides, as well as in front. A wide hallway upstairs in the center of the building separates the rooms all of which are quite large. It was one of the splendid old places that surrounded New Orleans in early days, and the city is very fortunate in being able to preserve the ancient home which again has regained a semblance to its original appearance.
A family record of this distinguished family is given in the rear of this book devoted to this purpose.
ORIGINALLY THE OVERSEER’S HOUSE ON THE SPLENDID DE LIVAUDAIS PLANTATION The de Livaudais plantation is another of the land grants that was not far removed from the old French city which we now know as “the Vieux Carre”, originally enclosed by a moat and palisades. The ancient house, the subject of this sketch, was
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originally built in 1813, the newer parts of the old structure date from the days of the “Greek Revival” for the date of this architectural change is given about 1830 and James Gallier is named as the one who drew the plans and supervised the changes. The work on the house is of the same high class and the simplicity of the plan as a whole seems to point to its being the work of Gallier Pere. Originally it was the regulation overseer’s home on the plantation of a wealthy planter, constructed along the lines of the earlier type plantation homes on a raised basement.
Later when the plantation manor-house was destroyed by fire this overseer’s home was enlarged and remodelled on the lines of the newer dwellings being erected at that date (Greek Revival type). The de Livaudais family then occupied this home until the plantation was divided and sold this home to Mr. Toby, the grandfather of Mrs. Watts Leverich and Miss Campbell and the place became known as Toby’s corner, it being in a scarcely populated area.
This section long ago became the famed Garden District of New Orleans where are still located the homes of the parents and grandparents of the first families of American New Orleans. Many families have never moved out of their beautiful old homes. The section has an aristocratic air peculiar to itself. It is distinctive and a stranger can at once see that it was and still is the center of culture and wealth.
In the Garden District are many splendid old homes mostly of brick several stories in height, the brick for most part finished in cement and tinted or painted. There is much beautiful cast iron in the form of balconies with a lace like mesh and iron columns, and tall ornamental iron fences of good design. There are flowers everywhere in the gardens beneath the great oaks and magnolias.
In this charming locality we find this unpretentious old plantation home in its own beautiful setting. It lies far back from the bricked sidewalk, great glossy magnolia and other tall trees with festoons of wisteria and jasmine and other equally beautiful and fragrant vines vainly striving to enmesh in their long curling tendrils, this architectural relic of a past era. Great clusters of butterfly lilies, cannas and crepe myrtle, all add their charm and foliage until the house is almost hidden in the blooming greenery.
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The cornice of the Greek revival period and parts of the facade and side are about all that is visible from the street, their snowy whiteness contrasting strongly with the dark glossy green of the foliage. The house, which is spacious, more so than one would suppose from the outside, is of the raised cottage type, the heavy cornice surrounding the front and First Street side severely plain save for a dentil course. Square brick pillars support the wide galleries about the house from which rise medium size square posts with caps reaching to the cornice, giving an air of unpretentious dignity to the place. Matched boards of cypress ceiling face the front so beautifully done it simulates plaster. A graceful curving hand-railed stairway leads up to the main entrance gallery where an attractive doorway greets the visitor.
It was in the early fifties that Mrs. Thomas Duggan bought the place from Mr. Toby, and moved down from her earlier plantation home near Donaldsonville, La. She died in 1907 bequeathing the property to her daughter, Mrs. Gustaf Westfeldt, who lived here until 1923 at whose death the present owner, Gustaf R. Westfeldt, acquired possession. The home is a social center and the basement which is a finished one forms a meeting place for the “Garden District” Library.
The main hallway, quite wide, divides the suite of rooms. All is very comfortably arranged within and the beautiful pieces of antique furniture of Westfeldt, Monroe, Blanc, Duggan families present vistas recalling the rooms of lovely old plantation places one has visited while on the garden tours. Fine paintings, too, are found here with the numerous heirlooms of these old families.
Elaborate iron ornamental balustrade with monogram A P on Pontalba buildings.
The Garden of the Westfeldt Home — the Old de Livaudais Plantation Home.
MRS. THOMAS DUGGAN.
GUSTAP WESTFELDT, SR.
MRS. GUSTAF WESTFELDT, SR. (ne6 Marie Louise Duggan.)
JUDGE FRANK ADAIR MONROE — 1st Louisiana Cavalry, Confederate Army of America.
CAPT. GUSTAF R. WESTFELDT, JR., H3th Field Artillery, U. S. A. — World War.
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MONROE .
A family of distinguished ancestry tracing to Andrew Monroe a Scotchman and member of a Highland clan, who came to America in 1650 and settled in Virginia, and became the progenitor of the distinguished Monroe family of the Old Dominion state, of which President Monroe was a member.
Thomas Bell Monroe, a direct descendant of Andrew Monroe, a native of Albemarle County, Virginia, became a lawyer of distinction in Kentucky, and recognizing his ability, was appointed by President Jackson judge of the United Stated District Court, a position which he held until the election of Abraham Lincoln as President. Near the end of the Civil War he came South and decided to locate at Pass Christian, Miss., where he remained until his death. His wife also of distinguished parentage was a daughter of John Adair, a planter of South Carolina, and a patriot of the American Revolution who after hostilities had removed to Kentucky, where his ability soon brought him into prominence, he soon becoming an early governor of the state, later becoming a United States Senator. Judge Victor Monroe, son of Thomas Bell Monroe, and Mary Townsend (Polk) Monroe. Judge Victor Monroe a native of Kentucky, born in Glasgow, Barren County, was appointed by President Pierce as the first Federal judge for the territory of Washington. In going to the territory in the early part of the Fifties, he went in company of Governor Stephens, and after a year or two reaching Olympia, Washington, his death occurred.
Honorable Frank Adair Monroe, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana for over twelve years, was bom at Anapolis, Md., on August 30th, 1844, and was reared at the home of his parents at Frankfort, Kentucky. The mother of Judge Frank Adair Monroe was a native of Maryland and her father was Admiral Polls of the United States Navy. Judge Frank A. Monroe had one brother, William Winder Monroe, and a sister named Mary Eliza, who married George Vincent, and later became the wife of Judge Joshua G. Baker of New Orleans, La.
Judge Frank A. Monroe received his early education in private schools at Frankfort, Ky., and then entered in 1860 the Kentucky Military Institute when he had just begun his sophomore year he entered the Confederate States Army in which he served
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four years, first in Co. E., 4th Kentucky Infantry, then in Co. C., 1st Louisiana Cavalry. He was wounded and captured near Somerset, Kentucky, on March 1863, and was exchanged in October, 1863.
For many years following the cessation of hostilities, Judge Monroe was prominently identified with the United Confederate Veterans organization of the Army of Tennessee, Camp No. 2, U. C. V., and for many years as a member of the Board of Governors, Confederate Memorial Hall, New Orleans. After the war. Judge Monroe returned to the home of his grandfather at Pass Christian, Miss., and shortly afterwards took up the study of law, and in 1867 became a member of the Louisiana bar.
Upon being admitted to practice law, he entered on his professional career in New Orleans, and rose rapidly in his profession, and in 1872 he was elected Judge of the Third District Court, but was dispossessed of the office after a month’s service by the “carpet-bag” regime. He took active part with the White League in the action of Sept. 14th, 1874, which overturned the “Packard government, and on Nov., 1876, was reappointed Judge of the Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans; was reappointed in 1884, and in 1889. In March, 1899, he was appointed an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Luoisiana. Judge Monroe had a long and honorable career and it was his ability that won for him the appointment to the bench of the Supreme Court for the term of 1908 - 1920.
In 1914 he became Chief Justice succeeding Judge Jos. A. Breaux, retiring. Throughout his long career Judge Monroe remained a staunch Democrat, he took an active part in the antilottery campaign of 1892, and has always stood for those men and measures, by whom he believed the public interest would be best served.
On January 3rd, . 1878, Judge Monroe married Miss Alice Blanc, a daughter of Jules Blanc, they becoming the parents of ten children, five boys and five girls. The sons being Frank Adair Monroe, Jr., J. Blanc Monroe, Winder Polk Monroe, William Blanc Monroe, and James Hill Monroe. The daughters are Alice, who became the wife of S. S. Labouisse, Kate Adair, became Mrs. Gustaf R. Westfeldt; Gertrude, the wife of T. M. Logan, Jr.; Adele, wife of Geo. E. Williams; Marion, wife of John T. Chambers.
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The home of Judge and Mrs. Frank A. Monroe noted for many years as one of the social centers of the city where a generous hospitality at all times awaited a large circle of appreciative friends and acquaintances, for the Judge and his gracious wife and their large family had made number 847 Carondelet Street a bright spot in the social life of New Orleans.
BEL AIR .
In a beautiful residential section of New Orleans — at number 1530 Calhoun Street we find an old plantation house that has been transported, as it were, on a magic carpet from its original site on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge to its present location. According to family records the house originally was built on the old plantation in the latter part of the 1700’s or early 1800’s.* The house was said to have been erected for Gayoso de Lemos. The land grant by Governor Unzaga and the original survey of the plantation are framed and placed on the wall and on the table in the hall.
The house is of a type influenced by the Greek Revival, de void of the formal cornice and other impressive architectural details usually found in classic structures. When it was found that the Mississippi River threatened to swallow the house as it had done the large garden in front of the house and the oak grove that had added so much to the appearance of the place in olden days, the old plantation house was dismantled. All of the important parts were salvaged and were brought to the present site where the house was reconstructed on the original lines, making of it again the fine old place it had been.
It is again the home of the von Phul and Cade families, filled with the same charming furnishings that have always made the place so attractive. The entrance hall, one of the large ones in the vicinity, is filled with historical belongings of both families, and arrests one’s attention immediately on entering. The photomurals are enlargements from small negatives taken by Mr. von Phul, except the one above the mantel-piece. This is a huge pen-and-ink drawing with antique effect as to design, for it is a reproduction of the frontpiece of the old family bible of the von Phul family that was brought to America by the first von Phul that came across seas.
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A large figure of Captain von Phul who came to America in 1764, later serving as a Captain under General George Washington. Besides the figure of Captain von Phul, are several smaller figures of members of the family in the distance. Below this is a lengthy family record in German, the Gothic lettering making the ensemble unusually atractive. The wooden mantel, a handsome one, is replaced as it was in the old house plan. The andirons are attractive and originally belonged to a brother of Henry Clay who married into the family. On both sides of the central mural over the mantel hang in long narrow frames, old bonnet ribbons from a bonnet that belonged to the wistful-looking ancestress whose miniature hangs below as a pendant, a companion miniature of her husband hanging opposite. Choice pieces of mahogany furniture fill spaces in this hall on both floors. The mural on the right side is a picture of this home on its original site, the one on the left being the old Cade plantation home, Mrs. von Phul having been a Miss Cade before her marriage. The walls of the dining-room are of panelled Louisiana cypress and the soft tones of the wood form a splendid background for the fine ancestral portraits that hang in this attractive room. The large portrait on the left as you enter, is by Amans the famous Belgian portrait painter. The old French crystal oil lamps are exceptionally fine and attractive, and the old mahogany console sideboard was another antique from the Clay family. All of the fine mahogany furniture of this room harmonize and the fine Limoge fret work fruit and flower baskets are very attractive and add greatly to the atmosphere of. the room. The boat S. L. Elam fills a panel and the old oak tree above stairs is a view near Versailles plantation.
Much fine furniture, rare crystal, and silver, miniatures, and a large collection of daguerreotypes add interest. Mahogany furniture of ante-bellum design — from the studios of Mallard and Sig- norette — fills the large bedrooms upstairs. Here, too. more ancestral portraits adorn the walls. Ancient clock sets, quaint bric- a-brac and innumerable other interesting articles make most interesting rooms. The old forty-thieve jars in the front yard, two in number, originally were buried in the ground for over a century to keep the drinking water cool. The large iron sugar kettle from Bel Air Plantation now serves as a gold fish pool. Cane juice in olden days was boiled in it and the juice was transferred
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The over-mantel panel of the old plantation home of the Von Phul family. Copied from a front page of the Family Bible brought to America by the first Von Phul. See Vol. II, Von Phul Family.
The wide hallway of the von Phul Family plantation home.
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from one sugar kettle to another and the different kettles bore the following names: 1. LaGrande; 2. Propre; 3. LeFlambeau; 4. LeSirop, and 5. LaBatterie.
During the Spring Fiesta period this home which is always in the tour becomes a lovely place indeed. The garden, too, is at its best with flowers blooming below the weeping willows. Masses of spring flowers bank the mantels and tables, and lovely girls and ladies in quaint hoop-skirts and pantelets and wide spreading crinolines fill the rooms, recalling ante-bellum house parties. Hundreds of visitors gather here daily and enjoy the charm of this old home that again has taken on a new life.
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Wr ought-iron balcony of the Yvonne Le Monnier family.
DE LA CHAISE
The late Charles Gayarre, Historian of Louisiana, in writing of Jacques de la Chaise who was sent by the Company of the Indies to Louisiana as Commissioner in 1722, says: “Invested with the power to obtain information on the behavior of all officers and the administration of the colony and to report to his majesty’s government, reports — ‘He was of patrician birth, a nephew of the confessor of Louis XIV. The chateau D’Aix, the feudal castle of the family, was situated in the Province of Forez. His father was the son of George d’Aix, Seigneur de la Chaise, who married Renee de Rochefort, daughter of one of the noblest houses of France.’ In the time of the Regency, one of them died a Lieutenant-General, leaving a reputation for uncompromising integ-
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rity and unflinching attachment to duty. Family records show that his town residence was in Chartres Street, New Orleans — a rather large and imposing place, which he occupied with his wife and two children. The de la Chaise plantation was located in the upper part of what is today known as the uptown section of New Orleans. The present Audubon Park covers part of it. The plantation itself, never a large one like most of the ones in this area, faced the river. The slaves owned by the planter were not numerous.
Dying rather suddenly in 1730, it was rumored at the time that de la Chaise was poisoned by his enemies. Through the familes of his daughters Marie Louise, Alexandrine, Felicite, Marie Marguerite, and a son Jacques who left children, many connecting links were formed with a large number of aristocratic families of Louisiana. August de la Chaise was killed in 1803 in San Domingo following his promotion to generalship. The family name has been perpetuated however by a street in the uptown section of New Orleans.
Family portraits of the de la Chaise family are in the home of their descendants, where they adorn the wall of the handsome de la Vergne, and Landry de Freneuse mansion on St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans.
THE DE BORE SUGAR PLANTATION
The de Bore plantation, according to the grandson of the old planter, Etienne de Bore, “was situated on the left bank of the Mississippi River about six miles above New Orleans”, having a starting point the outer edge of the old city which is now Canal Street. The plantation above the de Bore place belonged to Paul Foucher, a son-in-law of de Bore, and the other one above that belonged to Lafrenier, who held the position of Attorney-General under the French Regime and who later became the main leader of the rebellion when Spain took over Louisiana from the French. He was shot by order of the Spanish Governor along with a number of others. The Lafrenier plantation was acquired later by the Macarty family, an ancient patrician family who became allied to the leading families of Louisiana. A daughter of de Bore’s married Don Carlos Gayarre who with the Spanish Governor, Ulloa, was to have been the first Spanish governor. Don Carlos, son-in-law of Etienne de Bore, resided on his father-in-law’s plan-
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tation with his family. As judge Gayarre writes “in tribe fashion all those related families were grouped about a central point, the head and patriarch of the family and the branches.”
In early days indigo was the leading staple, (used as a dye for clothing, military uniforms especially.) Finally a worm that destroyed the indigo plant threatened to ruin the planters. For years the various planters had been experimenting and trying to make sugar granulate without success. When almost ruined, Etienne de Bore suggested to his wife, a daughter of Jean Baptiste d’Estrehan, that he use the last remnant of her once large fortune in a final experiment. She begged and implored him not to do so as did their relations and friends. They told him how her father and many others had lost fortunes in these sugar-making experiments. But de Bore persisted, risked all, and succeeded. His success changed conditions at once in the colony and he became the idol of the state.
The original kettle in which Bore first granulated sugar — now on the L. S. U. campus.
Etienne de Bore in his younger days while in France had been a musquetaire noir, or guardsman in the household of the King Louis XV. Watching over the safety of the majesty of France, little he dreamed that the day would come when three princes of royal blood would be his guests on the banks of the Mississippi River.
In describing his grandfather’s plantation the late Charles Gayarre gives a vivid pen picture of the place in detail. It had spacious garden grounds, avenue of shade trees, vineyards, orchards, large barnyards, poultry-pens, and pigeonnaires, with numerous herds of cattle, sheep, horses, mules, etc. Gayarre recalls that his grandfather made the farm both plantation and farm. In his reminiscences of olden days on the plantation. Judge Gayarre
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tells of the regular Sunday visits of a number of distinguished gentlemen wearing their Legion of Honor ribbands and war medals and their courteous ways reminding him of his life at the French Court. He tells of the dinners and receptions at his grandfather's home on the plantation and at their town house. Of the time after the Battle of New Orleans how he watched the army parade through the main streets of the city. Continuing he says:
One day as our family seated on the front piazza enjoying the balmy atmosphere of a bright May morning, there came on a visit from New Orleans M. de Bore’s favorite nephew, Bernard de Marigny. He was one of the most brilliant, as well as one of the wealthiest young men of the epoch. He drove in a dashing way to the house in an elegant equipage drawn by two fiery horses. Full of the buoyancy of youth, he jumped out of his carriage and ran up the broad steps of the brick perron that ascended to the piazza. As he reached the top of it he said, with a sort of careless and joyous familiarity: “Bon jour, mon oncle, bonjour’’ and bowed slightly around to the family without removing his hat. “Chapeau has, monsieur!” responded a calm voice of command. “Tourjours chapeau bas devant un femme, et il y en a plus d’une ici”. (Hat off sir! Always hat off before a woman, and there are more than one here.) A fitting apology was instantly made by the youthful delinquent.
He describes the grounds about the plantation house thusly:
From the river road an avenue of great pecan trees formed an avenue to the house enclosure (a fenced garden with a beautiful assortment of flowering plants). This enclosure was rather unusual and not noted on many plantations. The vast enclosure, with its numerous dependencies that part of the enclosure which faced the river presented a singular appearance when approached from the public road through the avenue of pecan trees. It was that of a fortified place, for there was to be seen, wtith a revetment of brick five feet high, a rampart of earth about fifteen feet in width and sloping down to large moats filled with frogs, fish, and eels. The rampart was clothed in clover, and at the foot, on the end of the moat, there grew a palisade of plants common in Louisiana under the name of “Spanish Dagger”, through which it would not have been easy to escalade the parapet. In their season cf effloresence their numreous clusters of white flowers were beautiful. They stood in bold relief from their background of green clover and towered proudly above the street and sharp-pointed leaves by which they were protected.
This picturesque and uncommon line of fortified enclosure extended a good deal more than three hundred feet on both sides of the entrance gate that opened into the courtyard at the end of the pecan avenue.
Etienne de Bor4, who discovered the pi ocess of granulating sugar. From a drawing given to the author by his grandson the Hon. Charles Gayarre. Drawing now in the Cabildo collection.
Elmwood Plantation Manor, as it appeared before the fire in 1939. (Courtesy of Bryan Black.)
NOEL D’ESTREHAN,
Son of Jean Baptiste d’Estrehan. (From an Oil Portrait.) Courtesy of the family.
D’Estrehan Plantation Manor, D’Estrehan, La. Dome of the D’Estrehan Des Tours family.
Ormond! Plantation Home, originally built for the de Trepagnier family, later purchased by Capt. Richard Butler, who named it Ormond after an ancestral castle of the Butler family in Ireland.
Old family carriage made for Captain Richard Butler in Philadelphia. It is now at the “Cottage”, the Butler family plantation. West Feliciana, La. (Courtesy of Miss Sarah Butler.)
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This may have been reminiscent of France where such chateau-like sights were frequent. While one does not meet with the moat arrangement about the mansions, it is of common occurrence to see vast hedges of this Spanish Dagger arranged as a protection against intruders on some of the plantations in Louisiana.
During the days of the Civil War Gayarre writes that at the rumored advance of the Federal Army in camps not many miles away, he thought it only an act of the commonest prudence to follow the example of his neighbors and hide, that is, bury his valuables. He therefore packed in a secure tin box all that he considered most precious to him; his wife's jewelry and diamonds and his treasured heirlooms; the shoe buckles and sword hilt studded with brilliants that belonged to his father; his grandmother's miniature in a frame surrounded with diamonds; de Bore's snuff box; in short, all the priceless, innumerable trinkets kept in his family for generations. Selecting a good spot for the purpose under a tree that he could easily identify afterwards, accompanied by his wife, he stealthily crept out to it in the dead of night, taking a lantern with them. His confidential body servant, “the most accomplished valet and rascal in the world”, according to his master, easily suspecting what was in the wind, played the spy and watched the burial of the treasure. Gayarre could not sleep for thinking of his precious box under the tree. By morning he was at the spot to discover that it was gone, and with it the valet and carriage and horses as well. The plunder was sold at the Union soldier camp, and for years afterwards in New Orleans William, the confidential servant, lived on the proceeds.
It is a great pity that Judge Gayarre did not safeguard his valuable property as another Louisiana Judge did, who buried a quantity of family silver and gold coin on a spot in front of his home, on which he built a tall chicken pen which he filled with guinea hens. The latter Judge unearthed his valuables when the storm clouds of war had blown over.
Chapter X
ON THE EAST BANK, NEAR NEW ORLEANS.
WHITE HALL PLANTATION
rjtHE old White Hall plantation manor still stands on the East bank of the Mississippi River a short distance from the new bridge. The old place, the ancestral home of the de la Barre family, was built, according to Dr. Frank de la Barre Chalaron, a grandson of the planter Francois Pascalis de la Barre, in the year 1850. Monsieur de la Barre, the original owner, was the first member of the family to settle in Louisiana. For years previous to the construction of the house, the usual routine of having the material prepared on the grounds by slave labor was followed. As depicted on Norman’s chart of the plantations on the Mississippi River in 1858, the plantation consisted of two tracts extending from the river to the lake, the land on the New Orleans side belonging to the noted lawyer and planter Christian Roselius, while that on the upper end was the property of J. B. LeBreton. According to Dr. Frank Chalaron the de la Barre’s also owned the St. Peter and the St. George Plantations beyond this site, neither of which is in existence today.
The sugar house of White Hall Plantation was operated until 1886 when it ceased to function, but the land continued to be cultivated as a sugar plantation and the cane sold until 1891, when an uncle of Dr. Chalaron’s, the last of the de la Barres, sold the place at a price consistent with the depressed land values of that date. Dr. Chalaron, who was born in the old plantation manor, recalls the charm it had while he still lived there, and its present attractive appearance does not belie his praise. At that time
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there was an avenue of oak trees, extending from the front steps to the river road, and gone with the oak avenue is a large tract of land that fronted the house. At the corners of the garden were large Lebanon trees, orange, myrtle and date palms. Mingling with these a large assortment of fragrant blooming shrub and evergreen plants which every mistress of the plantations incorporated into her garden plan. It was a veritable fairy land to the eyes of Dr. Chalaron and today it lingers only in memory.
Some minor architectural changes have been made but fortunately these additions have not ruined the beauty of the main house. The ancient entrance steps have been somewhat altered, but can without great trouble or expense be restored to their original form. The old house, empty for a while, was later converted into a casino with gaming tables, etc. After this venture it was closed and Jesuit priests took control. Then the house was converted into a “retreat”, where mentally weary business men who sought rest and freedom from everyday cares and worries might rest both mentally as well as physically. The Jesuits have since taken over the old Jefferson College at Convent, Louisiana, the de la Barre home has again changed hands. At last it has been acquired by an institution where mentally defective children can be properly treated. Here under the kind and able management of Mrs. Louise Simon Davis in a pleasant environment these unfortunates are properly cared for in a kindly manner and treated under the scientific instruction of capable medical men. The old plantation home again appears fresh and appealing in its new white paint and repairs; the flowers adding greatly to the charm of the grounds; the children are taught a little about flowers along with their other studies, including gardening and the care of plants.
During the days following the fall of New Orleans when so many magnificent plantations were destroyed and manors burned, and with few exceptions the great sugar houses and cotton gins blown to bits by the fleet of Union gun-boats going up the river. White Hall escaped all of this. General Morgan chose the de la Barre manor as his headquarters, and his Union troops were quartered on the plantation. General Morgan, a member of the House of Morgan of New York City, chose the site because it was close to New Orleans. Before the ladies of the de la Barre family left the house, they instructed their servants to look after the
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officers billeted in the home. So efficient did the slaves prove to be, and so greatly impressed was the Northern General by the high toned atmosphere of the de la Barre household, that instead of allowing their home to be pillaged, he placed guards about the manor and grounds to protect it until peace was declared. At that time the house and grounds, all in good condition, were returned to the de la Barre family.
ELMWOOD PLANTATION JEFFERSON PARISH , LOUISIANA
The old Elmwood Plantation home as it was called in late years was originally built for the Lafrenier (Chauvin) family. The land grant, being an original concession, was quite large and Colonial records show that this family was one of the six early pioneer families in Louisiana to settle in the Southeastern part of the state. During the month of March in the year 1719, Joseph Chauvin (Delery) filed an application for a concession of six arpents with the Superior Council of Louisiana, the land fronting on the Mississippi River in the Tchoupitoulas section. On the same date other members of the Chauvin family also filed application for concessions, there being three other Chauvins, brothers of Joseph Chauvin (Delery), also a nephew.
This made the Chauvin family one of the earliest landed proprietors in Louisiana. Old maps show their land close (bordering) that of Bienville, at that date Governor of the Colony.
Since that date the manor and lands have passed through many hands. The old house was occupied as a residence by the Durel Blacks when a fire occurred in the early part of 1940. The house was partly destroyed, but is being restored.
d’ESTREHAN DES TOURS dfESTREHAN PLANTATION LISTED IN 1858 ON NORMAN’S MAP AS d’ESTREHAN BUT OWNED BY A RELATIVE , P. A . ROST
Now the property of an oil company, the old d’Estrehan mansion has been renovated. Without changing the building, it has been converted into a recreation place for officials and their families connected with the oil concern, many of whom live on the grounds.
GOVERNOR W. C. C. CLAIBORNE (Courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans.)
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The restful, ancient, aristocratic look of the place that marked it formerly is in a great measure absent now. It is marred by a long row of small buildings in the enclosure below the line of century old oaks that fringe the large park garden along the river road.
But the new white paint of a few years ago has begun to mellow and the brickwork a little stained, adding somewhat to the charm. The garden, too, while well kept, has not the barbered look of the days when the restoration began. It is to be greatly regretted that the frames for the extensive mosquito screening could not have been planned so as not to cut up the “facade” like a checker-board, ruining the beauty of its stately architectural lines.
The d’ Estrehan house is unique in that it is a development of the early Louisiana type as can be readily seen from its roof lines, which are very similar to plantation homes in San Domingo.
According to Judge Gayarre, the plan is similar in some respects to his birthplace, the old Bore plantation house, which was surrounded by a moat and which was located in a part of what is now Audubon Park in New Orleans.
Great live oak trees surround the house and tall bushes, evergreens and other plants make a charming setting to the old place. A long wide driveway between the flower beds lead to the house from the attractive gateway at the river road shaded by oaks.
The house is comparatively large with huge rooms. It appears firmly set on the ground. The brick-paved veranda fronts the lower floor on the same level, the basement rooms used as they were formerly. In the rear rooms of the left wing is a huge white marble bath tub cut from a single block of that material about one hundred years ago. The wide entrance way on the ground floor leads back to a cross hall containing a double stairway, well designed, of mahogany leading to the floor above where lies the main house.
Tall, solid-brick Doric pillars are stuccoed and finished as is the entire exterior of the house and wings. The front presents a stately appearance and the wings constructed of the same material are said to have been added twenty years later. If such be the case, the architect who made the addition did it so well that one would not know it unless told so, since the wings look as if they were a part of the original structure. The general floor plan
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has much in common with a place above called Ormonde, but the latter was never as attractive.
A classic transomed side-lighted doorway, upstairs and down, front and back admits and exits one to both floors. Wide galleries and the many rooms of the house are spacious and have nice plaster work. The handsome marble mantels are in beautiful condition, but must be replacements of original ones. The diminutive dormer windows cause many to wonder whether they were not used as ventilators. They seem to small for the attic to be utilized. Th woodwork of doors and window frames is of good design with fine mouldings, much of which is worked by hand.
Originally, pigeonnaires flanked either side of the house and the garden grounds were enhanced by summer houses, mazes and garden urns, but these things have disappeared with the passing years, as have so many other attractive features. Few plantation homes in Louisiana have a more colorful history than has this old place, once so beautiful.
The d’Estrehan family descends from a noble French family that came to Louisiana with Bienville, founder of the City of New Orleans. They brought wealth and position as did many of the settlers in early days.
Among the distinguished personages who visited the d’Estre- han plantation were three house guests who were entertained there in 1798 as well as by the leading patrician families of the colony. These guests were the three sons of Philip Egalete — the Due d’Orleans, who later became King of France, the Due de Montpensier and the Comte de Beaujolais — who were entertained everywhere in a manner which befitted their station. On their return to France when that country had begun to recover from the Napoleonic splurge, they sent valuable tokens of appreciation to those who had befriended and entertained them during their exile in Louisiana. Many an old family of this state today treasures these mementos as priceless heirlooms, and carefully preserve their letters of gratitude.
If one lends a credulous ear to the people who live near the old d’Estrehan house, you will hear the tale of the ghost of the manor. The story is about a later resident who lived there after the d’ Estrehan’s had moved away.
A relative of the family living in the house at the time came to pay a visit. While seated in the drawing room awaiting her
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hostess, she saw an old gentleman of distinguished bearing with a long white beard come, walk around the room and then leave the room by the door he had entered without saying a word. When her hostess had greeted her, the visitor told of the old gentleman s strange entrance and exit. Her hostess, after hearing a detailed description of the old man said, “There must be some mistake, as the person answering to that description lies very ill at this moment in a sanitarium in New Orleans.” A few minutes later a message came telling that the old gentleman had just died. The time of his death corresponded to the time of the vision.
In the quaint old cemetery of St. Charles Parish at Red Church, near the d’Estrehan plantation can be found the tomb of the d’Estrehan family. Jean Baptist d’Estrehan gave the cemetery to the parish before his death.
The d’Estrehan High School in the parish near the old mansion is a gift of the planter’s son, Noel d’Estrehan, who for many years managed the plantation. The site of the town of Gretna, opposite New Orleans, in the Parish of Jefferson was also a gift of his son, made before his death in 1848.
ORMOND PLANTATION St. Charles Parish
This plantation derives its name from Ormond Castle in Ireland, the home of James, son of the sixth Butler of the Peerage of Ireland, created Earl of Ormond in 1321. It became the home of the McCutchon family, who were related by marriage to the Butler family through Eleanor Butler of Dangan Castle, who was descended from the Earl of Ormond. The family traces back to one Theobold Fitzwalter, who was made Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II whom he accompanied to Ireland.
The McCutchon family formerly owned other large plantations on the Mississippi River. They are closely related to the d’Estrehan family by marriage, as well as to many of the other leading plantation families of the state. Adel d’Estrehan des
i °Uj.ithe ful1 Dame °f the d’Estrehan family), daughter of Nicholas d Estrehan, a direct descendant of the Royal Treasurer of Iouisiana, married Samuel B. McCutchon, and became the mother of Samuel B. McCutchon, Jr., Amelia McCutchon and Azby d Estrehan McCutchon.
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The old plantation house originally was a notable place, but in the course of time, it has been allowed to fall into ruin. It is one of the plantation houses of which scale drawings have been made showing front and rear views, also ground and second story floor plans.
Included in the sketches are detailed drawings of mantels, stairways, and architectural features generally, all of which are beautifully pictured in (Italo Williams Riccuti’s) “New Orleans and Its Environs — The Domestic Architecture 1727-1870”, one of the most complete books of its kind ever published in America.
The floor plans are similar in many respects to those of the old d’Estrehan plantation home. The mantels are of good design, quite similar to those of some eighteenth century ones in the “Vieux Carre”. The broad acres around the Ormond house are planted in sugarcane and are now managed by a syndicate. It is doubtful if any attempt will ever be made to restore the old place because of its dilapidated state.
The early history of this old plantation house was lost in obscurity but by chance I found a member of the family from whom I obtained the following story.
The old plantation house that is now known as Ormond House was erected for Pierre Trepagnier, an army officer of the Louisiana Militia, who served under the Spanish governor Bernado de Galvez, when the Spanish forces joined with the Colonies at the time of the American Revolution against the English. As was customary in part return for his service, Pierre Trepagnier was deeded the large acreage on which he erected the plantation manor and laid out the plantation that we now know as Ormond. The plantation, under the management of a relative who lived on another smaller plantation nearby, proved a great financial success, and in a very short time Pierre Trepagnier became quite wealthy. Having “friends at court”, as it were, he had means to dispose of his crops and buy slaves all with great saving to the plantation. Pierre Trepagnier, or de Trepagnier as the name occasionally appears on old records, was of distinguished appearance and of an adventurous disposition. He had no fear of danger and was somewhat of a Don Juan. He had been the instigator of a plot to get rid of individuals who were plotting against the inter-
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est of his Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain. One morning while at breakfast with his family a Spanish calash or state carriage bearing on its door panel the arms of Spain emblazoned in colors, drove up to the main entrance. An official-looking individual in uniform, with the customary long mantle, got out and requested to speak to the planter. The negro butler admitted the stranger and going to the dining-room where the family were at breakfast announced the caller. Captain Trepagnier arose and entered the room where his impressive visitor awaited him. After a few words whispered by the stranger, Captain Trepagnier reentered the dining-room where his wife and children were still seated. He bade them a hurried good-bye, and promising to return shortly, entered the calash and drove off with the mysterious stranger never to be seen or heard of again.
The afternoon of Captain Trepagnier’s disappearance the negro gardener in cleaning the grounds about the front of the house discovered a letter addressed to Madame Trepagnier containing the one word “Adios”, and signed in an unknown hand writing: “Pierre”. Investigation proved that the calash did not belong to the Spanish authorities in Louisiana. After waiting for months without any word from her husband, Madame Trepagnier, heart-broken, discouraged and disconsolate, disposed of her plantation home and moved to New Orleans.
At that time the renowned army officer, Richard Butler, had just recently married the beautiful and wealthy ward of the Spanish Governor, Dona Margareta Fara. The bridegroom was the son of Colonel William Butler who with his five sons had gained for the family the title of “The Fighting Butlers”, all of whom held high rank under Washington in the War of Independence, and were later to be extolled as shining examples of bravery and gallantry. At a banquet which Washington gave to his officers the great Chieftain, happy to show his appreciation of their valor, with upheld glass toasted “The Fighting Butlers”. Later according to the Butler genealogy Lafayette following Washington stated, “Whenever on the field I wanted a thing well done, I had a Butler do it.”
Later on Richard Butler resigned his captaincy in the army and decided to become a planter, naming his home after the ancestral castle of the Duke of Ormond in Ireland. The bom
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soldier surprised many of his friends and relatives who scoffed at his becoming a planter. However, he made a large fortune and later invested large sums of money in plantation lands in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Besides the plantations in Louisiana, he owned jointly with his wife a plantation near Pinkney, Mississippi, called the Woodstock Plantation, also another called the Clarksville Plantation. Together these were valued at about one hundred and thirty thousand dollars.
In the year 1805 during a yellow fever epidemic, Colonel Thomas Butler, an uncle of the Fighting Butlers, died at Ormond House. Later the same dreaded terror, now eradicated entirely in this section of the country, again swept through the state and the gallant Captain Richard Butler and his beautiful wife died of the yellow fever. Captain Butler at the time being only forty- three years of age. His wife’s brother, Captain George Farra, while visiting them was also stricken with the fever and a few days later died.
Having no children the large property holdings were divided between members of Captain Butler’s family, his mother and his two sisters, Rebecca and Harriet. Rebecca Butler who married Captain Samuel McCutchon, a naval officer, became the owners of Ormond Plantation and manor. Their son, Samuel McCutcheon, Jr., married the daughter of their planter neighbor, d’Estrehan, thus uniting two prominent aristocratic families. Adel d’Estrehan, Captain McCutchon’s bride, possessed all of the charm and beauty of Etienne de Bore’s wife, who also was a d’Estrehan and a noted belle of her day. The plantation was operated successfully until the middle of the 1870’s. As a result of all the horror, suffering, robbery, and every villainy one can imagine that flourished during Reconstruction Days in the South, the McCutchon’s feeling that it was useless to try and retain the plantation any longer, disposed of it.
Evidently nothing has been done to the old manor house since the family moved away, for it has gradually disintegrated for want of needed repairs during all of these years. From its general appearance it is apparently in the last stages of decay. In type it has the architectural features of a blending of French and Spanish, neither of which is distinctive. Comfort and roominess are the two main features, although an attempt was made
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to simulate stone construction, and a few extraneous details on the exterior give it a certain distinction. Interiorly the finish originally was typical Spanish, the mantels, the chimneys, wood trim and mode of openings all possessed merit. When we remember the Spanish influence, devoid of arcades, fan windows, etc., one might readily class it an unpretentious plantation house. The d’Estrehan house on the plantation close by, of earlier construction served in a way as a model, as the houses have a number of parts in common. The main house or central building was planned as a two-storied structure originally, the same can be stated for the two buildings on the sides joined by galleries which are covered. Across the front of the main building the arrangement is quite similar to the raised-basement type homes. The upstairs gallery extending across the front has the regulation small collonettes, the upper surface being chamfered with flattened surfaces. Below, rising from the bricked loggia and supporting the gallery on low square bases of brick, rise seven Doric columns. These columns are constructed of brick and are heavily stuccoed. Within the last two years the well designed wooden mantels have been removed. The main building with its four large rooms connect at the rear on either side with the corridors which are arched passage ways. Each of the wings or garcon- niers contain two rooms on each floor. The entire building at present sags, and the stucco has fallen in many places. The old house because of its strange history and tragic story has been sought out by artists, writers and camera men, and many are the questions that are asked about it.
Some have thought that this house is the second built on the site. After much investigation I have come to the conclusion that the present house known as the Ormond Plantation home, is the original and first plantation home to be erected on this site. According to a member of the de Trepagnier family, the original plantation home consisted of the center building, with square pigeonnaires to either side. Later after it had passed into the hands of the McCutchon family the two wings were constructed, at which time the two pigeonnaires were demolished. Those that state that the old Mizaine plantation home occupied this site evidently have confused this place with another close by of which nothing remains, and which was called by old residents the Mizaine place until its disappearance a number of years ago.
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THE MIZA1NE PLANTATION.
Near Ormond Plantation, St. Charles Parish.
An old plantation mansion that went into the Mississippi River a number of years ago forms the subject of a tale of “Old Louisiana”. It is based on the gruesome find of the owner’s skeleton in his New Orleans mansion in the French Quarter.
It is the story of Major Hamicar Mizaine, who had lost an arm in the Mexican war. In his salad days, a friend had married the young lady to whom he had been engaged, and at once he swore that he would be avenged — no matter what the cost. As time passed he married a young lady, who also had had a disappointment in love, and who married him to avoid being a spinster. The young woman who had jilted Major Mizaine became the mother of a fine boy, and in due time, his wife presented him with a daughter. At once in his evil mind he planned that when the girl grew up she should break the heart of his rival’s son as his former friend had broken his.
As time passed all turned out as he desired. Both families being in the same circles socially and the city comparatively small they were thrown in close contact. But when the time came for her to jilt the young man with whom she was very much in love, she would not do so. She married him despite her father’s threats. A widow with a small babe, she returned after the Civil War to her father’s home in the hope of a reconciliation, as she and her child were sick and starving. It was midwinter and pushing her out into the cold, Major Mizaine slammed the door. He evidently killed himself shortly afterwards for he was not seen again. The mother and child died the next day according to the neighbors who found her huddled in a doorway near her former home. Both mother and child were buried by the city.
Mademoiselle Livie D’Arensbourg, daughter of Gustave D’Arensbourg and Mathilde Perret. Reproduced from the life-sized portrait by Amans in the home of her granddaughter, Mrs. W. A. Kernaghan. See page 102. (Courtesy of Miss Edith Kernaghan.)
The old plantation home of the Welham family.
The Mount Airy Plantation House — home of the Joseph Louis Le Bourgeois family.
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For many years the house remained empty after the disappearance of Major Mizaine, for his wife had died during the Civil War days. A later owner of the property, decided to build a business place on the site. When the house was demolished to make room for the drygoods store, it was discovered that a secret cabinet had been built into the wall and hidden in the concave section to which the winding stairway clung in its sweep to the floor above. When the panelling was ripped out in this secret place was found a sofa on which lay the skeleton of a man fu]]y clothed, all heavily covered with dust. On the floor lay a rusty pistol with one chamber empty.
The newspapers of that date paid little attention to the matter, simply mentioning the discovery of the suicide, as the papers were filled with accounts of the bitter political fight then on. The body was ordered buried in the potters field. Later when old residents of the locality began to discuss the strange find, some of them recalled the family feud and the disappearance of Major Mizaine and his bizarre story. Putting together the facts, they concluded that in a fit of remorse after ejecting his sick daughter and child, he had gone to the cabinet and killed himself. Later on when the French Quarter was ratproofed a number of secret cabinets were discovered in the old buildings which were demolished. One was found on Royal Street in a building that for years stood in ruins, located a few doors from the ancient Le Mon- nier home, corner of St. Peter Street, now occupied by an antique shop in the one-storied building built on its site.
The original house is illustrated in Miss Grace King’s “New Orleans The Place and The People” as the home of the first Mayor of New Orleans. The iron work of the hand-wrought balcony is now to be seen in the collection of Newcomb College, having been rescued by the late Dr. Ellsworth Woodward of New Orleans. Many contend that these cabinets were constructed to hide valuables from slaves, as were the secret drawers in old furniture.
All of the families connected with this article are extinct.
TREPAGNIER
Alone and forlorn, in the last stages of decay, and cut off from a passable road, this old house now lies in the area given over
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to the spillway. Lying a short distance beyond Ormond the place was built during the Spanish occupation of Louisiana. The de Trepagnier house, now known as Ormond, was built for Pierre de Trepagnier, while the house described here was built by a relative of Pierre de Trepagnier, who had his own plantation, but who also was manager of the Pierre de Trepagnier place.
Up until about ten years ago the old place presented a fairly attractive picture, but it was found that the river was rapidly cutting into the land so all attempts to save the place were abandoned. It is of the smaller type of early Louisiana plantation home, of which in olden days hundreds could be seen along the Mississippi River and bayous of Louisiana. Many of them were replaced by finer homes when the “Golden Era” of Louisiana dawned. Many of these houses are still to be found in wandering through the plantation country.
This particular place now so dilapidated-looking, originally was quite an attractive and simple home. The woodwork of the doors and window frames was carefully made by hand, with neat hand — made mouldings. The glazed doors were attractively designed, and the mantels had shelves extending around three sides of the small chimneys, as we find in so many of the fine earlier homes of the French Quarter in New Orleans.
The de Trepagnier family in Louisiana stems to one Romaine de Trepignier, or Trepagay, as it is written in old records in Canada, was born in France in the year 1627. His Canadian record shows that he migrated to Canada in early times, became attached to Chateau Richer where he died on the 20th of March, 1702. The church records show that he married in Quebec, Genevieve Drouin, a native of Canada, on the 24th of April, 1656, who died there on October 4th, 1710. From this branch of the de Trepagnier family numerous members of the family descend. From Pierre de Trepagnier, who married Elisabeth Reynaud, and for whom the old plantation house we now know as Ormond was built, a numerous progeny descends, their seven children marrying into numerous prominent old Louisiana families.
D’ARENSBOURG
Johan Leonard von Arensbourg was master of the Royal Mint at Settin, as well as a director of minting concerns in Pommerania.
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He had married Elisabeth Eleonora Formant - Manderstrom, who was born July 17th, 1678, and who died on October* 10th, 1710. According to family records her father, Wrik Forsmander, was chief inspector of customs at Wismar, in the department of Mecklenburg, and had been ennobled in 1703 with the name of Manderstrom, which at present is that of a baronial family.
The subject of this article Karl Frederik von Arensbourg (Charles Frederic dArensbourg) was one of seven children, among whom are mentioned Charlotta or Carlotta as she was called, Lovisa and Christian Ludwig, both born in a German parish in Stockholm — the first in 1699 and the second in 1706. Charles Frederic dArensbourg, who was born in Stockholm in 1693, received a military education, later becoming a lieutenant in the Sodermandland Battalion of Boarders (naval) and was granted a captaincy, the promotion being granted per his request of May, 1719. He then served in the army of his Majesty, Charles XII, during which time he had been made a prisoner of on two occasions, and had been wounded several times. Following the Battle of Pultava, he was granted leave to visit Germany, but being without the necessary funds, and the opportunity presenting itself, he obtained service with the West Indies Company, coming to Louisiana at the age of 28 years. He landed in Biloxi in 1721, according to Hanno Deiler in his article on “The German Coast Settlement” in Louisiana.
As Russia in 1721 had gained the Cession of Livonia (which territory had belonged to Sweden) , meaning that the Swedes that remained in this area would come under the domination of Russia, Swedish officers, some twenty in number, accompanied von Arensbourg to America, preferring exile to the Russian yoke. On reaching Paris they learned of the settlements being made in Louisiana by the Company of the Indies, organized following the collapse of John Law’s “Mississippi Bubble”. DArensbourg obtained a commission in Paris from the new company. They placed him in command of a large number of German settlers in readiness to be sent to the French Concessions of Law on the Arkansas river: by way of Havre from whence they were to embark.
The Portefaix on which they sailed arrived finally at Biloxi in the month of October, bringing with them a detailed account of Law’s failure and flight from France. The news threw the
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colony into great confusion, finally reaching the small colony of Germans who had already settled on the Arkansas River and started planting vegetables and so on, preparatory to laying out plantations. Terror-stricken with the news they at once abandoned their farms, and taking their families they hurried back to Biloxi, the capital of the settlement. Intending to demand passage back to their fatherland, they stopped at New Orleans where the new city that was to succeed Biloxi as Capital of the settlement was in the process of being laid out by engineers under Bienville. At once these distraught Germans were told of the newly arrived band of their countrymen, and the plans Bienville had for them. They were finally induced to join the new arrivals under the charge of d’Arensbourg. Bienville then decided to change the original location of their settlement to that of the much preferred area on the banks of the alluvial Mississippi river, the site to be about twenty miles above his new town of New Orleans. It was here amongst these settlers that Charles Frederick d’Arensbourg planned his own plantation on the concession that he had obtained from the French government.
Tales of the suffering of others that had been shipped by Law to the Louisiana colonies brought back to them memories of their sorrows and trouble. They recalled how they had been herded like cattle after almost fighting to get places on the ship bound for America, the filth and stench of their quarters on shipboard, the sick and dying, and how disillusioned were those who had believed Law’s enticing pamphlets. They had belonged to the throng of starving German peasants that daily left for French ports in the hope of bettering their condition. The Rhineland, wrecked and impoverished by the wars of Louis XIV, was better than this awful suffering. So it is little wonder that these unfortunate people were terror-stricken when they heard of Law’s flight and what it might mean. Hanno Deiler, historian, writing of the early colonization by Law states:
No pen can describe, nor human fancy imagine the hardships which the German pioneers of Louisiana suffered even after they had survived the perils of the sea and epidemics and starvation on the sands of Biloxi. No wonder that so many perished. Had they been of a less hardy race, not one of these families would have survived. It should be remembered that the land assigned to them was virgin forest in heavy alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi, with tremendous germinating powers awakened by a semi-tropical sun. Giant oaks.
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with wide spreading arms and gray mossy beards stood there as it from eternity, and defied the axe of man. Between them arose towering pines with thick undergrowth, bushes and shrub and an impenetrable twist of running, spinning and clinging vines under whose protection lurk a hell of hostile animals and savage men. Leopards, panthers, wild cats, snakes and alligators and their terrible allies, a scorching sun, the miasma rising from the disturbed virgin soil and floods of a mighty river — all these combined to destroy the work of man and man himself. There were no levees then, no protecting dams, and only too often when the spring floods came, caused by the upper flooded areas by the melting of snow in the vast regions of the Mississippi, and its tributaries, that the colonists were driven to climb upon the roofs of their houses and up into trees, as hundreds of miles of fertile land was inundated.
Karl Frederick d’Arensbourg proved a mighty father to these helpless people, most of them peasants, who asked but little, and the opportunity to earn that. They proved to be mighty workers, the men seemingly never tiring, while the women, equally as hardy, often in earliest days, allowing themselves to be hitched to improvised plows as did the peasants of old Russia. All of them would work in the fields, -and in the evenings cook and prepare the meals, also attend to what mending had to be done. d’Arensbourg spent much time amongst his people, encouraging them in their work and in the building of their simple homes, in organizing classes for the children old enough to go to school, aiding parents in their purchases, etc., so that they would not be swindled.
When Chevalier d’Arensbourg planned his own residence he had one built larger but on the lines of the simple plantation houses that were being erected at that date. It was a simple unpainted cottage, with a front porch and overhanging roof, supported by small posts. His home finished and his official duties moving smoothly, he married in the year 1722 Margaret Metzer of German birth. However, the lady frequently signed her name Metzerine, according to some of her descendants. They became the parents of two sons and four daughters, and left numerous descendants who married into many prominent old Louisiana families. One can best describe this intermarriage by stating that their names are interwoven into the social fabric of city and state like the threads of an ancient tapestry.
Along with ruling his colony (the German Coast), for over fifty years again and again d’Arensbourg took part in wars
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against the Indians. He also took part in the rebellion of the colonists against being transferred to Spain, and was fortunate enough to escape punishment. On August 31st, 1765 he was made a Chevalier of the French Military Order, St. Louis. For half a century he acted as judge for his little settlement, straightening out their differences when they arose, and acting as their leader when their interest was at stake. Chevalier Charles Frederic d’Arensbourg died in 1779 at the ripe old age of eighty-four. He' was loved and honored by all the people, and was buried with pomp and ceremony in the cemetery at Red Church, near his plantation. The larger plantation that he occupied later, and the house he had built for his family were still standing until the Civil War. It was bombarded along with the others near by They have never been rebuilt, and their sites are marked by avenues of oak trees leading from the river road far inland to where the plantation houses stood. At present there is nothing left of the old place, but another plantation home belonging to the d’Arensbourg family, located on the West bank of the Mississippi River is still standing and the plantation is still conducted in that name.
Charles Frederick D’Arensbourg married Marguerite Metzer. Their son Charles Frederick D’Arensbourg married Marguerite de la Vergne; their son, Gustave D’Arensbourg, married Mathilde Perret. Their daughter, Li vie D’Arensbourg, married James F. Freret; their daughter Mathilde Freret, married Joseph Mitchel, and their daughter, Georgine Mitchel (who owns the picture) original of this mother and daughter, married W. A. Kernaghan.
Chapter XI.
OTHER PLANTATIONS IN ST. CHARLES PARISH.
RED CHURCH
The tract of land on the northern extremity of d’Estrehan is called Red Church. A building of that character indicated on the map of the year 1858 with plantation in the rear and side. On the map of the year 1858 the large plantation acreage of the Ormond plantation was listed as the property of J. W. and C. McCutchon. This tract, with a smaller one separated by another small tract belonging to Widow D. La Branche, extends from the river to Lake Pontchartrain.
WELHAM
This name appears a number of times in connection with large plantation holdings indicated on Norman’s map of the Antebellum plantations on the Mississippi River. However, this particular Welham plantation home has been the one that has managed to retain its original name while so many of the others were being changed.
It is a fairly large house and a comfortable one apparently. Of solid brick construction at present in a freshened condition after having been thoroughly restored a short time ago, fortunately nothing of its attractive architectural planning has been changed. Its front still has the white plaster-finish and its sides are of red as always, while the back of brick with the white trim completes the attractive unpretentious old manor. The garden once so beautiful which added so much to the place is no longer here, as the hungry river has eaten into the grounds the last few years. The house now stands close to the river road. The
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white columns, wide fan-transomed and side-lighted entrance, and the balustraded observatory are features that add dignity to the place and class it as one of the outstanding old plantation houses of the vicinity. There still seems to be a great deal of life about the place for a number of neatly dressed white children were playing within the fenced enclosure while the distant plantation grounds are alive at present with cane cutters singing as they work.
ANGELINA
Angelina Plantation is the home of the Trosclair family who own other plantations on the Mississippi River. Up until a few years ago it was a good example of its kind, but left on the outer side of the new levee, it was finally demolished when condemned.
Built in 1852, it was solidly constructed of brick with a heavy plaster finish. It was of two stories and an attic in height, with a large central hall upstairs and downstairs and wide verandas on both floors. It had many rooms, all spacious and well finished. Altogether it made an attractive comfortable mansion for a large family.
The house had many interesting detailed features, the lower columns being of the Ionic order, while those on the floor above of the Corinthian order. The Troxler family long ago knew that the old place would have to be torn down — so had not made any attempt to keep it in repair.
Shortly before the land finally caved into the river, the place was demolished so as to salvage as much material as possible. The picturesque pointed hexagonal pigeonnaire, one on either side of the house, with their ornamental weather vanes attracted passing motorists long after the house was gone, but both of them have now disappeared, only a little garconnier remaining to recall the passing of an ancient landmark of the German coast. A later visit to the old place revealed that the old garconniers, the attractive pigeonnaires, and their attractive weather vanes had disappeared, the latter at least reaching the hands of one I am told who appreciates their historical and artistic value. Also gone were the gilded race-horse and the crowing cock, nothing remaining but the little playhouse where in years gone by, have played so many generations of the Trosclair children that lived in the old mansion.
Bocage Plantation Manor.
Union Plantation House.
Ellington Plantation House — ancestral home of Cora Witherspoon of motion pictures. See page 166.
Chapte XII.
IN ST. JOHN PARISH.
MOUNT AIRY
Plantation Home of the LeBourgeois Family.
Located in the Parish of St. John the Baptist, the LeBourgeois plantation lands originally formed the northern boundary line. This old plantation home was originally built for a Mr. Fortin, also a planter, who occupied the place with his family previous to its becoming the home of the Joseph LeBourgeois family; and later, the home of Jie Joseph Louis LeBourgeois family who occupied it for many >ears.
The old place is still in beautiful condition, freshly painted white and in good repair, and from all appearances carefully tended. In days gone by it was surrounded by a heavy growth of oak trees, some of them of great age and spread. At that time, the place was enclosed in a beautiful wicker fence made of intricate mesh which terminated in pointed finals giving the entrance an elegant appearance. An imposing gateway opened on to a walkway some distance to the stairway placed between flower beds filled with fragrant blooming plants. The stairway is especially beautiful, being in part hand-made fret work, fashioned by slaves on the plantation.
The fence rested on a cemented brick coping and extended several acres across the front of the grounds on the river road line. The fret work iron stairway is quite attractive, a similar one of cast iron can be seen at the entrance of the old plantation home of Batchellor Plantation above Baton Rouge, on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
During the Civil War, like most plantation houses, Mount Airy was swept clean by the Union troops — stray soldiers, men from the string of barges and gunboats — who took everything
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they could lay their hands on, even refusing to leave a single cow on the place to furnish milk for a large family of children. Not being able to make the cow follow, one of the Union soldiers shot the animal and had the men cart it away. Bayonets were driven into every wall in search of treasure or even hidden persons and things were mutilated generally.
During this ransacking of the house, Madame LeBourgeois, who had been surprised by the visit of the Union soldiers, at a moment when the troops were in the front of the house, handed a faithful slave a large package of silver and told her to hide it at once.
Seeing a large hay stack in the back of the yard — the silver was thrown beneath the newly cut hay. Later, when the soldiers wrecking the house had grown tired, they spied the hay stack and piled on to it, joking and romping like children. They little suspected that the hidden silver was so near. Today this silver is in possession of the family of Mrs. Joseph Louis LeBourgeois, who laughingly tells how her husband’s mother had saved it by her presence of mind and the help of her faithful slaves.
The family home of the LeBourgeois in New Orleans has many interesting and beautiful souvenirs of the old plantation.
Louis Sosten LeBourgeois married Erasie Becnel. They were the father and mother of Joseph Louis LeBourgeois who married Noemie Arceneau, daughter of Felix Arceneau and Domitile Arceneau.
The children of Joseph Louis LeBourgeois and Noemie Arceneau are as follows: Louisa LeBourgeois, who married Vincent Green of Mobile, Ala; Noemie LeBourgeois, who married F. W. Quackenboss; Georgine LeBourgeois, who married Joseph Wal- thew, an Englishman; Joseph Louis LeBourgeois, Jr., who married Mademoiselle May LeSassier; Felix Albert LeBourgeois, who married Mademoiselle Lise Hewett; Lucile LeBourgeois — single.
LE SASSIER
Henry LeSassier was the son of Louis LeSassier and Carmi- lite Behn. He marrid Emma Prichard. Their children are: Georgine, unmarried; Anglice, unmarried; Emma LeSassier, married W. B. McCaw, from Yorkville, South Carolina; Richard Prichard LeSassier married Ada Dangean; Louis LeSassier married Louise Dwyer; May LeSassier married Joseph Louis LeBour-
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geois, of Belmont and Mount Airy Plantations; Margaret LeSas- sier died at the age of 16; Henry LeSassier, who married Emma Prichard, owned Trinity Plantation, located in St. Charles Parish on the Mississippi River, and at one time was president of the Citizen’s Bank, New Orleans. He was a member of the Stock Broker firm of Henry LeSassier and Geo. Bender, with offices at 30 Carondelet Stret, New Orleans.
During the Civil War, after the fall of New Orleans, the handsome family home at the comer of Ninth and Prytania streets in New Orleans, was seized by the Federal Troops, and the furnishings were confiscated, and sold at auction, being bought back by Miss Georgia Prichard for the family. Much of it is in the home of Mrs. Joseph Louis LeBourgeois nee May LeSassier.
After confiscating the furnishings of the home, the house was converted into a smallpox hospital for Union Soldiers. While used as a hospital, in the spacious parlors, before each of the handsome white marble mantels, the handsome floors were used to test the searing irons, for the doctors attending the men used the searing method with red hot irons to destroy the poison, as they called it, at that date — burning each pustule. The burnt stripes caused by the searing irons were never removed, as Mr. LeSassier wanted his friends to know how his home had been abused.
THE WAGUESPACK PLANTATION HOME St. John the Baptist Parish.
The site of this stately mansion, erected in 1907 for the Wagues- pack family, was occupied formerly by the old Servell Plantation home — the plantation known as Sport Plantation. Much of the material used in the construction of this handsome place came from the old plantation mansion of the C. M. Shepherd family, relatives of the Minor family, known as the Golden Grove Plantation. On the site is a comfortable-looking house which serves as a country tavern for the area.
de MONTEGUT
St. John the Baptist Parish , La.
The de Montegut Plantation home is listed on Norman’s Chart of Plantations on the Mississippi River in 1858 as belonging to L. Montegut.
Today the quaint old plantation home of the de Montegut
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family, even in its ruined condition, is very attractive and unusual in its planning. Like many of this type of ancient home found scattered about rural France, it too has fallen from its high estate, becoming the home of a simple farming people. Even in its dilapidated condition, one can see that it was once a charming roomy livable place until allowed to fall into ruin.
The first of the de Montegut’s to come to Louisiana in 1760, was Raymond de Montegut, a native of Rocas in the Department of Artnagnac, France, as shown in the records of the Charity Hospital of St. Charles, as the early hospital of New Orleans was termed then.
Count Louis Philippe de Roffignac, born in Perigod, France, having served as a lieutenant of the French artillery one day while on the street in Paris during the days of the “Reign of Terror” with his friend, Jacques Pitot de Beaujardiere, another young nobleman, approached the Tower, the prison where Marie Antoinette, the unfortunate queen of France was confined awaiting death. As they drew nearer, the noisy shouting and swearing of the rabble increased. Louder and louder grew the noise, and soon the two young men were engulfed by the mob. Unable to move they were forced to witness a horrible sight — the beautiful head of the Princess de Lamballe, with hair dressed high, carried by the mob on the point of a long pole. After the Princess had been guillotined, the crowd had put the blood-dripping head on this pole and had thrust it in front of the window of the room where the former queen was imprisoned, so that she might know what they had done to her friend, and realize that her turn soon would come. Losing control of himself young Pitot gave vent to his feelings loud enough to be overheard. A moment later a stranger touched his arm and whispered to him that he should leave at once — “flee from France as he had compromised himself”. As he turned he saw his informant in laborer’s clothing, no doubt another nobleman in disguise. Both young men heeded the warning and sailed the next day for Louisiana. Reaching New Orleans they joined other emigres and their experiences added to the list of numerous tales of horror that came to Louisiana during those terrible years.
The ancient plantation home of the de Montegut family shows from the type of its construction that it is of great age. It is said to have been erected between 1770 and 1775. Its lines are
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much like those of the rural homes of French aristocrats as opposed to the more pompous chateau type, with the difference that stone is generally used in France instead of brick as is the case here. It is quite a large, roomy structure, as like a French country home, with wide chimneys, deep embrasured window casements, a wide hall-like room and ample apartments on either side. The deep brickwork is heavily built along European lines coated with a thick stucco. Like typical ancient Latin houses, the main rooms are all on thei second floor, while the rooms generally found in the basement occupy the ground floor which is paved with brick. An attractive stairway originally led up to the second story, but all of the balustrades have disappeared. One finds traces of former flower-beds and garden walks. Old people of the vicinity tell of its past glory and what an attractive place it once was.
Stories are told of the Duke of Orleans and his two brothers, exiles at the time, being entertained at this plantation home, but I have been unable to confirm this. What is an historical fact, however, is that they were entertained by Dr. Joseph de Montegut in the City of New Orleans at his then new home at number 731 Royal Street, which building is still standing in good repair. In this ancient mansion in the French Quarter these royal visitors were entertained in a lavish manner on several occasions. The site of this home was included in the area destroyed by the second great fire of 1794, and shortly afterwards Dr. Montegut had the present home built which he occupied until 1815. The court-yard of the old home in the French Quarter is especially attractive.
Louis Philip Joseph de Roffignac, who had dropped his title of “count” when he came to Louisiana, married a daughter of de Montegut, who had Louis Philippe for her godfather. Later when an aunt living in France died, de Roffignac inherited a chateau and a large fortune, the chateau being near Prigux, and when he visited Paris with his wife was welcomed by King Louis Philippe, who entertained them both at luncheon at the Tuilleries. During the luncheon the King mentioned to Madame de Roffignac that he was her godfather, and remembered how very gracious her father. Dr. de Montegut, had been to his two brothers and himself during their exile in Louisiana. Later de Roffignac’s daughter married the King’s sister’s secretary, and both of his sons married daughters of distinguished families. A street in New Orleans is named for the Montegut family.
Chapter XIII.
IN ST. JAMES PARISH.
JEFFERSON COLLEGE St. James Parish
Originally this magnificent group of buildings formed the Jefferson College where were educated by the Marist Fathers (Catholic) the sons of wealthy planters from Louisiana and Mississippi.
As so many of the sons of wealthy planters were being sent abroad or to the great colleges of the North to be educated, the Jefferson College was being abandoned as a place of education, previous to 1860. At that time Valcour Aimee, an immensely wealthy planter of St. James Parish, West Bank, bought the college buildings and plantation attached, had the place put in perfect condition, and gave sufficient funds to assure the Marist Fathers of the best teachers, when the college was again resumed. It remained as such until 1928 and since then has become a Catholic retreat for men. It is now called Manresa House and is conducted by the Marist Fathers at Convent, Louisiana.
SACRED HEART CONVENT
Convent , Louisiana — St James Parish
At present a lease for four years has been made between the Sacred Heart Association of Louisiana, and the N. Y. A. — State
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Commissioner of Welfare, who have agreed to restore the ancient building with materials furnished by the state. “Youths between 18 and 25 receiving N. Y. A. aid, will furnish the labor for rehabilitation of the 90-year-old building.”
The ancient convent was built in 1848. It is of French- Gothic design, and the school which was originally started in 1821, took possession of the building when finished, and continued until about 1928, as a Catholic Convent, where thousands of planter's daughters were educated.
Previous to the Civil War the standard of education at the old convent was very high, as the wealthy planters demanded that the instructors be highly educated women and the letters of these ladies that attended this convent gave evidence of the culture and polish of the writers.
After the convent was closed, the buildings were separated and the convent used as a refuge f or nuns and children and priests fleeing from the persecution of the Catholics by the Mexicans.
The present undertaking intends to have the 190-acres attached to the convent, farmed as an agricultural project for young men receiving N. Y. A. aid.
BELMONT
Belmont Plantation which belonged to the LeBourgeois family, located on the East Bank of the Mississippi River in St. James Parish directly opposite to the beautiful plantation home of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart, near Vacherie, Louisiana, now known as Oak Alley, is but a memory.
Belmont replaced a former plantation home of the LeBourgeois family, and was built by Madame Louis LeBourgeois (nee Erasie Becnel) whose husband had died previous to the erection of the mansion. She planned this magnificent home so that her children should have the full benefit of her great wealth during her lifetime. Belmont was undoubtedly one of the finest plantation mansions in Louisiana, being a magnificent example of a wealthy planter's home, with its group of accompanying buildings. It typifies the luxurious scale of living during the golden era of the state. This palatial mansion, for indeed it was such, was erected without regard to cost, no expense being spared to make it both beautiful, as well as comfortable.
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The cypress was gotten from the plantation woods, as were the bricks that were made on the place by slave labor, from native clay. Cabinet work, hardware, etc., were bought from further north, while the white marble mantels were imported.
Outside of the above mentioned articles, a first outlay of sixty thousand dollars was made, with another payment of eight thousand four-hundred-dollars, for the fluting of the twenty-eight massive cypress columns that surrounded the building.
A great deal of slave labor was used in the building of the mansion, and a fabulous price was paid for the twenty-eight hand-carved monster Corinthian Caps that surmounted the great columns — the caps being equally as ornate and large as those that we see today on the columns of the old John Andrews mansion at Belle Grove Plantation on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.
The architect, to avoid a too severe form of classic Greek Revival cornice, took poetic license, for a cornice of the magnitude required by a mansion the size of Belmont probably would have appeared flat. The observatory, as well as dormers, are not visible in the photograph, and the architectural deviation not sufficiently marked to mar the grandeur of the appearance of the place.
The buildings that were grouped about Belmont were arranged somewhat along the lines of those of the old Constancia, or as it is called today “Uncle Sam” for short.
The ornamentations which were carved by hand, the broken classic lines and curved brackets on the dentil course, are creations of that era which was beginning to free itself from the rigid demands of the Classic Revival in its true and more formal form. This latest architectural style lent itself to the grandiose elaboration that harmonized with the Corinthian Columned “facades” of the four sides.
Magnificently constructed, with brick walls two feet in thickness — inner walls as well as the rooms were palatial in size, height and finish — all constructed like a fortress. Even a great crevass failed to undermine it, and it only fell at a later period, as had the earlier home, a victim to flames. The hallways were equally as imposing and spacious. Its furnishings were in keeping with the grandeur of the place as is attested by what has survived in the homes of descendants. Its garden, limitless in area,
The Waguespack Plantation Home.
Ancient plantation home of the de Montegut family. East Bank of the Mississippi River.
Grounds and Convent of the Sacred Heart, Convent, La.
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was its crowning glory if we are to judge from the description found m the writings of a member of the family, Adele LeBour-
-1" her b0Ok of memories> “Their Fruitless Ways” edited by Christine Chapin (Henry Holt & Co., New York)
But to go back to the attic (at Belmont) and grandma LeBourgeois. There was a harp that our father’s sister, little Aunt Louise, who died at the Convent de Saere Coeur, used to play, and this harp we heard at night, played by invisible hands. This belief was based on some fact, for the strings snapped in the night, and to our childish imagination, assisted by our darkey mammy, this was quite enough.
We learned from our mother the story of grandma LeBourgeois, r rather °ur mother gave us a glimpse of her. She was tall, thin and stately, and wore a three-cornered shawl about her shoulders crossed in front, on which she folded her hands. Her old slave Lucindy, in a red turban always followed her and went before her
at th?Wk tb\a°0I"bea she entered a room, and sat on the floor at the back of her chair.
t„ JJ7 ®ra“dTther rareIy smiled> rarely spoke, grief for the daugh- «wbit° ^ 7 m°ther knew ber- had robbed ber of all
mtmol °nt’ With 311 its magnificence, was a void, the
the hem of th y0UtfhUl “ daughter wh0 had died, so saddened Sat oniv whom this great house had been built
that only m prayer did she find consolation.
^he “ever went out again, except to church on Sundays in the
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Hour after hour she would repeat her litany and the rosary, also spend much time reading the lives of the saints. “This, she says, was as our mother knew her”. However, Inhere were stories of a pleasanter sort when this aged heart-broken mother was a young lady, who played the violin, danced the minuet and broke hearts of the gallant young swains who crowded about her, with her radiant smiles”.
In telling of her (Grandfather Charles, our mother’s father) his influence was greatly felt throughout the West” — And recalling a Civil War incident states: “A gunboat stopped in front of Belmont” after the fall of New Orleans”, and an officer came to the door asking to see my mother, and when she appeared, he enquired where my father was. My mother answered that she did not know, my father purposely not having told her.
The officer went back to the boat and after a while returned and said to my mother, who was standing with her children about her, the baby in her arms, (I being the baby) and grandmother Charles by her side: “Unless Mr. LeBourgeois gives himself up immediately, or you tell me where he is, we will give the women and children an hour to leave the house, after which will fire the house.”
(The houses on both sides of us had been shelled). My mother answered, “I do not know where my husband is, and the women and
children will not leave the house, if you fire, you fire into women and
children”.
The officer answered: “you Me”. Whereupon, the old black nurse, shocked at such language being used to her dear mistress,
turned to my grandmother, and said: Mrs. Charles, don’t let that
man speak like that to Miss Lizzie (all negro servants call their mistresses “miss” — a contraction of miistress) more anxious for her mistress’ dignity than frightened at the threat.
Instantly, the officer turned and looked up and said, Charles — did you say Charles?” “That is my name. I am the widow of Joseph Charles, and this is our child”.
“Great God!” the officer exiclaimed — “I owe everything to that man — he paid for my education, and I shall never forget his kindness to me”.
“Madame, this house shall be protected”, and so a guard was
sent.
Plantations and houses as large as Belmont required a supervision and routine that made the system much like that of the old feudal days.
Even when the horror of the Civil War had passed and the carpet bag period was drawing to a close, when many of the planters again made an attempt to save what was left of their once immense fortunes — old ways were resumed.
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Edward Everett Hale, who was an acquaintance of the LeBourgeois family, and who visited Belmont, wrote:
23 April 1876
Whether the state of society and civilization which reigns at Belmont is to continue or not, is an open question. I look more favorably on the prospects than they do themselves, and they do more favorably than they did a year ago. However that may be, it is on the whole the most finished feudalism now to be seen in America. It is more like the life I saw at Lord Hatherton’s than Nellie is likely to see anywhere, and in many regards it is more feudal than that was.
Mr. LeBourgeois is one of the most satisfactory men I have ever known. He is an accomplished gentleman; I think I said before that he is four days older than I.
Now, observe that this man, like all sugar planters, has to be a farmer on the largest scale, say 800 acres under cultivation, a manufacturing chemist, in the most delicate processes known to manu-
tU.r:;f“nt Wh0Se combinations may result in a profit annually of $75,000, or a loss of the same amount.
He is requested at the same moment by philanthropists like you and me to supervise in its detail the greatest problem of the age which changes untaught negro slaves into voters, and to adjust the labor problem which results from this without losing one day’s work on his farms, or the proper bubble of one of his great sugar kettles.
At the same moment, under our system, he is of course expected to attend to the politics of the parish, state and country, to thwart the Kellogs and Warmouths when they needed thwarting; and encourage tnem when they need encouraging.
For recreation, he has five sons and two daughters, much the same ages as our children.
Of course, he would not approve these duties, but that he had a cheerful active, inteUigent, prudent, careful, spirited wife who is also very beautiful.
Nothing remains of this splendid mansion. It was an out- standing plantation home in a great throng of magnificent places, many of which remain, soine in beautiful condition, but the great majority in various stages of decay.
UNCLE SAM’S PLANTATION —
ORIGINALLY CALLED “CONSTANCIA”.
In the latter part of 1940 this splendid group of plantation home buildings were demolished as the owners wished to salvage what they could of the bricks and building material before the place
WPTlf in+A ^
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
As individual architectural examples they did not perhaps compare with many other plantation places in Louisiana, but taken as a unit, they formed one of the most atractive pages from the architectural history of the domestic plantation life of the "Old South”. Even in their dilapidated condition they formed the most convincing piece of evidence of the truth of the stories told of the wealth, magnificence, beauty and grandeur which went into the lavish scale of living of these, one would almost call, legendary people of that nearly forgotten day. To the present generation many of these stories of that day seem like story-book tales, but standing before this ancient mansion and its group of surrounding buildings, lonesome and forlorn looking, nothing but its magnitude left, at once we began to realize that there must be some truth in what we have heard of the vanished magnificence of the South of yesterday.
It is stated that it took eight years to complete these classic buildings, and the graceful minor ones which added a quaint charm to the ensemble. Everything outside and in was on a splendid scale, and the history of the place is one of grandeur and wealth, wiped away for most part by the Civil War. Madame Falgot, who lived through the trying days of that era, died in 1870 while the carpet baggers were still plundering the state. With both parents dead the two daughters married the Jacob boys, who later sold the place and immense land holdings to a commission merchant in New Orleans, and moved away with what was left of the handsome furnishings. With their going, life in the old mansion ceased, leaving only the shades of the past glory of the place to hold high carnival as the wintry winds rattled the windows and whistled about the columned galleries and spacious rooms and corridors. These two daughters were grandchildren of the family for whom this old mansion had been built.
Chapter XIV.
BURNSIDE
JgURNSIDE Plantation adjoins the lands of Orange Grove plantation on the north as is shown on the Norman Map of 1858 depicting the plantations on both banks of the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Natchez. The large tract is nnnam^ and the map gives Col. J. S. Preston and Widow Wm. Hampton as owners. The tract is made up of the Donaldson Place, the Clark Place and the Conway Place, Bayou Conway running through the rear part of the land. Colonel J. L. Mannering’s land on the opposite bank of the Mississippi River was called Houma Point.
At the time of its greatest glory Burnside Plantation was considered not only the finest but the largest sugar plantation in Louisiana, numbering some twenty thousand acres in Ascension Parish and stretching into neighboring parishes. Colonial archives show that it was a part of a colonial grant awarded to the Marquis d’Auconis. Other owners were John Wren Scott, who later transferred it to William Donaldson for whom the town of Donaldsonville is named. Daniel Clark, who owned so much valuable plantation land on the banks of the Mississippi River, was the next owner. In 1811 he sold the place to General Wade Hampton who had come to Louisiana from South Carolina where he had a large plantation and a palatial home in the City of Columbia. General Wade Hampton had been placed in full command of the United States troops in this territory by President Madison when General James Wilkinson was removed for having been implicated in the Aaron Burr Conspiracy.
The first mansion on the place was the old plantation home that had been occupied by M. S. Bringier and later occupied by
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General Hampton. Parts of this building still remain in perfect condition. It is of a simpler type of construction than the handsome mansion to which it was joined when the latter structure was erected. The architectural arcade converted into a porte- cochere is of the type of vaulted arcade found at Linwood nearer Baton Rouge. The newer front mansion was erected in 1840 by John Smith Preston who married Caroline, daughter of General Wade Hampton.
It was likewise for General William Preston that the magnificent mansion (now the Baptist Center) was erected in New Orleans. This mansion originally was one story above its high basement with its cornice similar to the one it now has. The building was enlarged when it became the Newcomb College for women. It was a magnificently finished mansion, the entrance hall being frescoed in Pompeian design on a black background. The rooms contained a valuable collection of oil paintings and much fine furniture. With its oaks and large grounds laid out in lawns and gardens, for over a half century, it was one of the most beautiful places in New Orleans. Much fine ironwork and imposing gate-urns and pillars composed the impressive entrance.
The first part built of the original plantation house of General Wade Hampton is of a much earlier type of architecture, the wide arcade below the span of the old building, being of a somewhat different period to that constructed in 1840 — a heavy Spanish type. But the ensemble forms a delightful skyline. The newer mansion was built on a magnificent scale, recalling English mansions, and the great town homes of Charleston, S. C. Like Bell Grove the mansion was designed on grandiose lines with wide porches on the three sides supported by massive brick stuccoed Doric columns — producing an effect certainly very impressive. The whiteness of the glazed observatory which crowns the massive roof contrasts sharply with the dark velvety greens of the canopy of oaks surrounding the place. The jasmine and other fragrant vines that drape the front perfume the grotto-like porch closed on the side by latticed shutters forming a delightfully cool and private outside sitting room.
In 1857 the old plantation was sold to John Burnside, who had come from Belfast, Ireland, and accumulated a large fortune while still comparatively a young man. Old records show that he paid three quarters of a million dollars for the plantation which
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consisted of the mansion as we see it today, ten thousand acres, four large brick sugar houses, fully equipped boiling houses, laboratories, crystallizing sheds and out-buildings — fire-proof office buildings, splendidly planned — and an avenue of well constructed cabins that housed his numerous slaves, each cabin with its own garden for vegetables and poultry. Shortly after purchasing the Houmas plantation, Burnside also bought the plantation which joined it — this added eight thousand acres more to his original holdings which eventually became the most important sugar plantation in the State of Louisiana.
Life on the Burnside Plantation, as he later called it, was lived in lordly style. For while John Burnside had been a self- made man — he had come from good stock and had availed himself of educational opportunities — he had hundreds of friends among the cultured planters and business men of the section. He entertained on a lavish scale, and his banquets, dinners, parties, balls and other entertainments were attended by the leading people of the State. The magnificence of his plantation, and the manner in which it was conducted won admiration of all his friends and acquaintances.
All Negroes go to church on Sunday.
He was a kind master to his thousands of slaves. He treated them with great humaneness — seeing to it that they were well fed and warmly clothed — had means of enjoyment, and churches to attend on Sundays. He personally visited their cabins from time to time to show them that he took an interest in their welfare. He saw that they had ample seed for their gardens, poultry and hogs for their yards, and he appointed fishermen from
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amongst the slaves to furnish fish and crabs so that they might have a varied diet. Possum hunts, and fish fries, etc., were permitted as they afforded amusement and were a means of keeping the negroes contented.
At Burnside's death, he leaving no relatives, Oliver Bime his closest friend and faithful business partner, fell heir to his colossal fortune. Burnside finally came into possession of the Miles family. William Porcher Miles, who had occupied the chair of professor of mathematics at the College of South Carolina, later becoming Mayor of Charleston, S. C., and a member of Congress from South Carolina, became a member of the Confederate provincial government when that State seceded. Later donning a uniform, he was a colonel on General Beauregard's Staff.
After the War Between the States, Col. Miles again taught at the College of South Carolina, remaining in that position for two years. He resigned that he might save what remained of his family's cotton plantation, ruined by the war. He moved shortly afterwards to Louisiana where he married the daughter of Oliver Birne who had inherited Burnside's fortune.
A typical “gentleman of the old school” Colonel Miles, possessing an unusual business brain, was not slow in organizing the Miles Planting and Manufacturing Co., which was shortly to prove how efficient was his management by producing twenty million pounds of sugar annually. He purchased one plantation after the other, until a dozen more had been added to his original holdings. He proved to be a wizard in the sugar industry, as one great plantation after another rivalled the older ones. His sugar domain was the greatest in the State and the pride of all Louisianians.
Of distinguished bearing — always wearing a winsome smile and as generous and kind to his free negroes as Burnside had been to his slaves — he was held in reverence both by white as well as blacks. At his death in 1899 at a ripe old age, his magnificent library was divided between the Colleges of South Carolina and Tulane University, and is said to have been at that time the largest private library in the State. At his death his son, Dr. William Porcher Miles, Jr., inherited the plantations and in order to properly attend to his large inheritance, abandoned the practice of medicine.
Like most of the plantation mansions of the period, the gar- connieres flanking either side provided for the older sons of the
Sacred Heart Convent,
f-
' ‘ v' '«•" *
.
, St. James Parish.
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121
family and their college friends. At Burnside they are unusually artistic — being hexagonal in shape with cement finish — painted white with leaf -green blinds and each crowned by a hexagonal cupola cone-shaped roof. The usual ornamental “pigeonnaires” and the cisterns five in number with ornamental finials add to the charming ensemble — immaculate in the freshness of its white beauty with well-kept garden and splendidly cared-for lawns. Climbing roses, fragrant jasmine and other blooming vines form a leafy canopy about the front and sides of the porches, delightful retreats even at mid-day in hottest summer. Surrounded as it is by an ancient grove of trees a soft greenish twilight pervades the place, enchanting and mystic.
The main and newer building has on the lower floor a wide hallway which extends the entire length of the house, dividing the six spacious apartments, planned with equal grandeur as the beautiful exterior. Spacious drawing rooms, the library, diningroom and billiard room are downstairs. The sleeping rooms upstairs, six in number, are equally as beautiful and all elegantly furnished with rosewood furniture. Each room is charming — with paintings, rare artistic treasures, all in period and in perfect accord, portraying faithfully the splendid old mansion as it appeared in the hey-day of its glory.
Chapter XV.
THE BRINGIER DYNASTY COLOMB PLANTATION St. James Parish.
J /IS TED by Norman on his Chart of 1858 as the property of
O. Colomb, this unusual plantation house was built between 1835 and 1840. Originally about two acres of land with a grove of trees, stood in front of the place, and in the grounds was a well kept garden, with a variety of blooming plants which greatly added to the general appearance of the place. All of this land, garden and trees have since then been taken by the river.
The Colombs, a distinguished family, were related to the aristocratic, wealthy Bringier family, who owned, one may say, the greater part of Ascension Parish on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The family formed a veritable dynasty in that day. The Colomb home has never passed out of the possession of the Colomb family, or its lands transferred, and descendants of the one for whom it was built still reside in the place.
The architectural arrangement is somewhat different to the general run of plantation homes. Across the facade eight Doric columns, with bases arranged in pairs, reach to the cornice of the roof, the gable ends sloping upwards to a large enclosed observatory. The front wall is pierced by three doorways, each with side lights and transoms over all. The interior arrangement shows a wide central hallway having double connecting rooms on each side of this roomy passageway.
One is told that what now appears as a wing, was the original house, dating from the eighteenth century. This original part of the house is beyond the spacious apartment referred to as the
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sitting room, which extends the complete width of the place. The front is reached by a small stair leading to the main part. This front is the later remodeling which was done between 1835 - 1840. Climbing a narrow stairway one reaches a large square room now used as a bed-room, but undoubtedly used in the early days as an observatory from which to watch the plantation, the steamers on the river, or those going to and fro on the river-road. From below, its size is underestimated and it looks like a regulation “lookout” which we find on so many plantation houses.
The finish of the woodwork is simple, but substantial; the roominess of the house and its attractive facade, etc., are its chief charm, now that the garden and trees have disappeared.
Like the nobles of old came these patricians from old France carrying with them the code that ruled the upper classes, so to speak, and up to the present has been their guide, confirmed by the high-bred standards of the present generation.”
“Early America.”
UNION PLANTATION St. James Parish
A romance hangs like a halo about the old Union Plantation manor house, now empty and gradually falling into ruin from neglect. Its original roof has been replaced by one of galvanized iron, which has rusted and detracts greatly from the general appearance of the place. The home is located far back in what was originally the garden grounds which are stiU attractive with shade trees about entrance and rear. Descendants of the original slaves still live in the little houses to either side front and back. These little houses with fronts of (brique en porteau) brick between posts were guest houses in olden days, as the slave quar- ters were in the rear.
It was an attractive place, originally unpretentious, but well built on artistic lines, with an enclosed balustraded observatory The original entrance gate for the carriage, and a smaller pte to either side create an attractive ensemble, which even in its dilapidated condition still has charm. The front fence is of latticed bands of sheet iron, carefully done and form a most at- traetive way of enclosing the grounds. It antedates the Civil War and is still in good condition.
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This plantation and manor house, like so many others in the state, was a wedding gift from the fabulously rich planter, Marius Pons Bringier, owner of White Hall plantation and its splendid mansion, to his daughter.
The first Tureaud appearing in America, later settling in Louisiana, was Augustine Dominque Tureaud, whose Huguenot family had become Catholics. He possessed all of the qualifications of a romantic hero — good birth, education, good looks and an adventurous spirit. When he came to Louisiana he had already encountered many thrilling adventures, escaping the horrible massacre during the negro uprising in San Domingo that sent so many planter families to Louisiana.
After many other adventures, he drifted to New Orleans and met Marius Bringier, who was so impressed with his new friend (at that time thirty-seven years of age) that he insisted that Tureaud accompany him to White Hall plantation, and remain there as his guest that they might become better acquainted. The family were delighted with their new visitor and listened attentively to his narratives. Marius Bringier, who had been a planter for a short period in Martinque, realized that the gentleman told the truth as he related his adventures, and was modest when speaking of his own feats of heroism.
During the period that he remained on the plantation, M. Bringier observed his prospective son-in-law carefully, noting his habits, his choice of companions, etc., and studied his character. Trips about the plantation were made to find out whether he was interested in agriculture and other plantation matters. Evidently Tureaud gave promise of being a good son-in-law for we learn that later great pains were taken to make a successful match.
When the family had reached the conclusion that Tureaud was eligible, and the occasion presented itself, handling the matter as it had been done for centuries in aristocratic circles of Europe, an alliance was arranged. Once satisfied that the roving cavalier was ready to settle down and become a planter, agreements satisfactory to both sides were arranged. It was agreed, however, that another year should pass before the prospective bride be acquainted with her family’s plan for her future.
Marius Bringier and his wife were sensible as well as wealthy. They had witnessed among their friends and acquaintances too
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many wrecked marriages, to allow a young girl, without any knowledge of the world, to select any Romeo that might suit her fancy. The one thing that the fond father and mother wanted was happiness for their children. When their daughter at last learned that her husband had been selected for her, she wept and complained that she wanted to marry some one nearer her own age. At last she consented, and the marriage was, of course, a prominent one socially in the colony, and was celebrated with pomp and ceremony at White Hall. The Union plantation with the manor house, was a gift of the bride’s parents to the couple.
The marriage turned out to be a most happy one and their lives on the beautiful plantation one of unending pleasure, until his old age, when Monsieur Tureaud suffered pain as a result of a wound received in a duel while a young man. For many years he was Judge of St. James Parish. At his death the plantation became the property of his widow.
TEZCUCO PLANTATION*
Ascension Parish
Tezcuco Plantation was acquired by Dr. Julian Trist Bringier, son of Stella Tureaud and Colonel Louis Amadee Bringier, in 1888, from the estate of his great-uncle Benjamin Tureaud, son of Elizabeth Bringier, daughter of Marius Pons Bringier of White Hall, and Judge A. D. Tureaud of Union plantation. Benjamin Tureaud married his cousin Aglae Bringier, daughter of Aglae Du Bourg and Michel Douradou Bringier of the Hermitage. Mr. Tureaud built Tezcuco by slave labor with cypress from his own swamps and bricks frofm his own kilns. The house was completed about 1860 after five years spent in building it.
Far ahead a great mass of trees appear in the distance, beyond the great patches of corn and limitless acres of sugar cane. Approaching the spot we note what a truly charming place it is. A gateway with ornamental top posts, beside which are smaller gates and a hedge of Spanish dagger, or Yucca plants, invites us to enter.
* Since this article was written a great sorrow has entered this charming home, for the gracious chatelain, Mrs. Bringier, of this old house has passed away leaving a void which cannot be filled. She was so much a part of the great charm of the place.
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The driveway, a circular means of entrance and exit, winds below a cathedral-like park garden to the front of the house which blends so perfectly in coloring with the densely sheltered garden that it all seems a composite picture of rare beauty.
A velvety lawn edged with a thick growth of aphrodista lilies and endlessly long vines of English ivy combine with the festoons of moss in giving a delightful effect. One notes how charmingly the century-old trees melt as it were into the twilight dimness that lingers even at mid-day. The house, quite unpretentious, has about it the homey quality and roominess that one finds in the usual plantation home. The wide stairway leads up to a spacious porch, and a central large hallway reception room, charming in its choice furnishings of delightful pieces of quaint mahogany and rosewood.
The rooms, each in turn, have an interest of their own. Fine old silver, crystal and rare porcelain — ante-bellum bric-a- brac of exceptional beauty make of it a treasure house of interest with unlimited souvenirs of the many plantation homes listed under the Bringier name. In one corner hangs a portrait of the first Bringier to come to America, while close by is another beautifully painted portrait of a distinguished looking young man. In this room too, we find the century-old water-color painting of beautiful White Hall Plantation, the work of a son-in-law of the owner, Christopher Colomb, whose many talents and romantic disposition have given him his niche in the records of the notables of St. James Parish. The bedrooms have massive four-posters with matched pieces while the dining-room is especially attractive with its quaintly beautiful service pieces, antique furniture and pictures.
The rear of the house, too, is charming where a twilight hue also reigns at mid-day. Individual stairways lead from the rooms to the yard, with fine effect, and a large variety of garden plants make of the area a delightful spot.
To return to the park-like garden of the front, one is captivated by the grotto coolness that pervades the place. In all this drapery of wisteria, moss and honeysuckle, a fragrance prevails, and the great intertwined oak branches, like the cathedral arches, are a veritable bird haven as the great leafy canopy is alive with these feathery songsters. From the garden the lacy ironwork of the side porches recalls Belle Alliance plantation manor. How-
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ever, Tezcuco plantation has a charm that is lacking in the more pretentious house. The Bringier place (Tezcuco) has much the same intriguing attraction that is to be found at Rosedown plan- tation, on a smaller scale than at the Feliciana plantation, but the same garden magic that captivates is found at both places.
WHITE HALL PLANTATION MAISON BLANCHE St. James Parish , Louisiana.
The Bringier family, who have been so prominent in the State of Louisiana from the time of their coming to this state until the present, have been like a number of other families of the state's past history, great plantation makers. They were splendid plantation home builders, leaving many fine mansions behind that tell of the wealth and culture of their dynasty. The influence of the Bringier family on the culture of the people of our state is shown in many ways.
They came as wealthy aristocrats, bringing with them the ideas and ideals of the nobles of old France. Not the foppish, fawning, ingratiating noble of a decadent crown, they followed the substantial high bred code of the noble on his estate, independent of his King's favors. The family branch in Louisiana maintained in their home the same high standard as did the seigneur in his chateau.
The Louisiana Bringiers start with Ignace Bringier, a prominent Judge of the Limogne- Auvergne district, France. He was the father of Jean Bringier, who married a daughter of Baron Douradou d' Auvergne, named Marie Douradou, whose home was the Chateau Douradou d' Auvergne. Jean Bringier was related to the Counts of Rochebriant. The son by this marriage, Pierre Bringier de Lacadiere became the father of Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier and nineteen other sons, among them, one who later became the Canon of the Cathedral of Marseilles, giving rise to the pun, “that Pierre Bringier was the father of nineteen sons and a Cannon". Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier, after an adventurous early life was to become the founder of this distinguished family in Louisiana at the time of Spain's domination over the colony.
Disposing of his estate, called Lacadiere and located near Auvergne, Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier and his wife (Francoise
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Durand) sailed in his own vessel with their furniture and effects for Martinique. There a brother named Vincent, had gone sometime before to work a plantation owned by them jointly. This brother Vincent, or Victor as he was sometimes called, was lost at sea a short time afterwards. Marius, as he called himself, noting the unrest among the negro slaves on the island, as it was evident that they were being stirred to rebellion, disposed of his interest in the plantation. Hardly a day passed but what some trouble occurred. Murder and bloodshed were common. Realizing that he and his family could not continue to remain in such a place, he reloaded his vessel with his furniture and other belongings, and with his family sailed for Louisiana. He purchased a plantation near the settlement of New Orleans in the Tchoupi- toulas District, but as that land frequently became inundated, he again sold and moved to what is now known as St. James Parish. There he invested on a large scale because of the fine quality of the soil, and little trouble from high water.
Here he purchased in rapid succession five fairly large plantations, combining them into one which he named White Hall plantation — one of the largest and finest plantations Louisiana ever possessed.* (Maison Blanche as it was known by the French and Creoles of the state.) In construction the house differed somewhat from the earlier type plantation homes, or those being constructed by other Louisiana planters at that date.
From a painting made of it by the owner’s son-in-law and descriptions left by Mrs. Louise Bringier Trudeau, a granddaughter of the builder, who lived there each summer as a child, it was a Gothic and Romanesque combination type villa. It was two- storied with an attic, the lower floor enclosed by arcades having capitals on the pillars. Its outside surface front and sides had a veneer of a light-greyish white marble slabs over-laying front and sides. A black and white marble pavement of slabs square in shape extended entirely around the house, and the ground floor which was about six inches higher than the cloister like arcade was also similarly paved. The ceilings of the three large rooms forming the ground floor space were beamed, and the ceilings of the three large rooms made of closely fitting boards so well fitted
* The Burnside Home in New Orleans with roof balustrade used White Hall as a model.
Manor House Constancia Plantation.
Burnside Plantation Mansion — erected 1840.
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that the ceilings appeared as if plastered. The central room served as a salon and hall, having the stairway in the rear on the left side leading to the porch above, which, opened in to each of the three rooms upstairs. A stairway on this rear porch also led to the rooms in the attic. A larger salon was on the right of the central one as you entered, and the dining-room on the left. “As I remember them on each side in front of the earlier buildings were brick buildings cement-covered and in the rear of these buildings were other structures in which were kitchen pantries, wme cellars, and house-slave living quarters. The house was handsomely furnished, mostly with European furniture of rosewood and mahogany and carved dark oak which the owner brought to America with his family in his own vessel when he left France.” Much of it was of rosewood with some carving, to quote Mrs Trudeau, but not very elaborate. The bed-rooms had sets with our-posters but, the furniture was not as massive as in some of tiie later plantation houses of various members of the family. To continue to quote this grandaughter of the owner of White Hall, “In the dining room were a number of ancestral portraits, while m the salle and other rooms were many fine portraits of the owner and his children, also his wife painted by noted European artists and other noted portrait painters that had been brought from abroad to paint the planters’ families.” Many of these ancestral portraits, family miniatures, silhouettes and daguerreotypes are scattered among the various branches of this distinguished family who have homes in the various parts of this
SJ®* “ ?Sfn.d’ and ma“y in New Orleans. The painting of White-Hall ( Maison Blanche”) by Christophe Colomb, painted in 1790, now is the property of the family of the late Mrs. J. T. Brin- f16*, of Tezcuco plantation, where it has hung for so many years In this dining-room at White Hall plantation, where so many notables have been entertained, was a large ancient black oak arm chair of French Gothic design, that was given to Marius Bringier by his brother who was the Canon of the Cathedral of Marseilles, r ranee, it originally having come from the chapel of the Chateau Rochebnant. It descended to Mrs. Louise Bringier Trudeau, who gave it to the writer, who in turn, has had it properly restored and presented with its history to the Delgado Art Museum of New Orleans. In the days that Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier doubled his fortune, indigo was still a great money-making staple, and
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with the growing of tobacco in conjunction with indigo, he soon became one of the most important planters in the South.
Even after a most diligent search, very little can be learned about the time that White Hall “Maison Blanche” was demolished. However, Mrs. Louise Trudeau stated that during the days of Reconstruction, much of the marble was stripped from the mansion and shipped North by carpet baggers who had taken possession of the place following the bombardment of the plantation, and the blowing up of the sugar-house and other buildings. Today only the site bearing the name White Hall remains. No trace of its former splendor is to be seen, or of the ancient garden visible, but the people of the vicinity remember the tales of its past glory.
In 1798 Marius Pons Bringier entertained the three brothers, Louis Philippe, Due d’Orleans (Later King of France), the Due de Monpensier, and the Comte de Beaujolais. Later on and subsequent to the Battle of New Orleans, Mr. Bringier was host to General Andrew Jackson. Mr. Bringier died in 1820, and in 1821 his son Michel Doradou Bringier, bought the place from the other heirs. He sold it to Wade Hampton in 1825; and Mme. Aglae Du Bourg Bringier, widow of said Michel Doradou Bringier, bought the place back from the Hamptons in 1848. Her son Marius Ste. Colombe Bringier, next owned it. Previous to the Civil War the dwelling house was partially destroyed by fire, was restored and again damaged by a shell from a Union gun-boat, and eventually demolished after being stripped of its marble veneer by Union men (Carpetbaggers) and shipped away.
TOWN HOUSE OF THE BRINGIERS
In old plantation days all planters of wealth in Louisiana had city homes in New Orleans. Here they came each winter with their families to enjoy the French Opera and the social season, for society at that time in New Orleans, as now, held great allure.
The town house of the Bringier family was one of the three splendid old mansions on Canal Street between Dauphine and Burgundy Streets. One of these stately places, with its heavy cornices supported by great Ionic columns, later formed the entrance to the Grand Opera House. The other two eventually were also included in the site of a great commercial and office structure. I distinctly remember them, as I was born directly across
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the street in a three-storied brick structure, old number 166 _
new number 912. This building in the last few years has been remodeled into a moving picture house.
The other city home of the Bringier family, named Melpomene, stood in the street by that name and in its day, was a great social center in the uptown area.
BOCAGE PLANTATION Ascension Parish .
Bocage Plantation was a wedding gift from Marius Pons Brin- gier and his wife to their daughter and son-in-law, Christophe Colomb, a young nobleman who it is stated traced his lineage to the great discoverer, and who after his marriage became a planter Ever a dreamer with the spirit of the artist in his makeup he somewhat neglected the duties pertaining to the management of the plantation, caring much more for the social happenings of t e colony. In the family traditions of this romantic young man they tell of his little painted boat or barge. This water-craft was gaily decorated and gilded, and had a silken canopy with crimson fringe. The barge was fitted with velvet cushions, and he with his lute presented the appearance of a veritable noble of the Brenta whom he had tried to emulate. His slaves rowed him from one plantation to another and he spent much time, both day and night visiting his relations and friends.
Madame Colomb, however, was of a more practical turn of mmd — she employed a competent manager for the plantation and with him supervised the management of the plantation with great success, leaving her cavalier to his music and his pleasures Christophe Colomb painted a picture of White Hall manor showing his boat in the river in front of the house. The painting is re- produced on another page.
THE HERMITAGE PLANTATION Ascension Parish , Louisiana .
Built in 1812 , James Gallier , Sr., Architect .
Michael Doradou Bringier, son of Marius and Fran$oise Bringier, who was born at sea while his parents were making the voyage to America, later was sent abroad to be educated. After graduation he came home by way of Baltimore. His father and the
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Abbe Du Bourg had arranged that Doradou stop on his way to the plantation to see the Abbe's niece, the beautiful Aglae Du Bourg. As everything had been arranged by the elders, there was little to be done by the young people but comply with the wishes of those who had made the plans. To allow them time to become properly acquainted, entertainments were given by the Abbe. A series of dinners and parties followed, and shortly to the great satisfaction of both families it was noted that they appeared much in love with one another. The news was quickly communicated to the families of all concerned. They were married in Baltimore as had been planned, and the great beauty and charming youth of the bride ,and the immense wealth of the bridegroom's father and his good looks gave society a pleasant topic to talk about.
The Hermitage was a bridal gift of the groom's parents, while a large doll presented to the young bride is said to have contained in its body a treasure — family jewelry and heirlooms. The marriage proved to be a most happy union, Madame Bringier living to a great age. She preserved her beauty and charm and vivaciousness to the very end, where in her town house, Melpomene, in New Orleans, surrounded by her large family, peacefully she died in 1878. During his lifetime with a pride in all he undertook Doradou Bringier carried on in the Bringier manner of living, both at the Hermitage and his town house. While in New Orleans, where he made lengthy stays, he became prominent in its public life. He was an aide to General Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, and tendered the General a banquet at his home shortly afterwards. Doradou Bringier did not live to see his beautiful plantation overrun by Union troops, who seized a cargo of indigo, worth two hundred thousand dollars, and also carried away everything they could lay their hands on in the way of food stuffs, cattle, horses, bedding and clothing, etc. It was only because Madame Doradou Bringier, who at the time was at the Hermitage, demanded from the authorities (Union) in New Orleans that they remember that she was a British subject, that the house was not blown to pieces by the Union gunboats. As it was, a cannon ball tore through a window doing great damage to the house and furnishings.
After Michel Doradou Bringier died in Memphis, Tenn., in 1847; his body was brought to Ascension Parish and placed in the
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handsome family tomb. Louis Amedee Bringier, son of Michel Doradou Bringier and Aglae Du Bourg, took over the management of the plantation with great success, until the Civil War, when he became a colonel with Scott’s Cavalry of the Trans-Mississippi, stationed for a while in West Texas and North Louisiana. Madame Louis Amedee Bringier and her children, terror-stricken at what was happening to the nearby plantation homes, left the plantation with its contents, taking with her what money and valuable jewelry they could secrete, and joined Colonel Bringier in the Trans-Mississippi.
Returning to the Hermitage after cessation of hostilities, Colonel Bringier and his wife, who had been Mademoiselle Stella Tureaud, whose father owned Bagatelle plantation, again took up their life at The Hermitage. The Bagatelle Plantation home up to a short time ago was a veritable shrine of the famous naturalist, James J. Audubon. Here the noted artist spent much of his time, and the walls of the various rooms of this unpretentious plantation home were beautifully decorated with scenes of bird life by the naturalist. These were in a fair state of preservation until the building was moved back to keep it from being swallowed by the Mississippi River. During the moving the ancient plaster walls cracked badly and destroyed the artist’s work. An attempt was made to save the cracking plaster, or even part of it for the value of his frescoes was great, but all to no avail, as the plaster walls literally crumbled into powder. This home never generally known as a haunt of Audubon until it was about to go into the river, otherwise it would have been saved.
After an enormous amount of work and due to the loyalty of his former slaves, Colonel Bringier surprised himself with his success, as now cane had supplanted other crops, and it appeared as if once again a golden era was in store for the South. The former slaves, realizing that their new freedom in many instances was anything but a happy state, worked with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. The great sugar house was active and all was life and prosperity about the place. The great globe coated with real gold leaf that Col. Bringier had placed on the weather vane shaft as an emblem of prosperity still glistened in the sun, but an enticing offer was made by Duncan Kenner, who too had resumed the life of a sugar planter, and in 1881 the place was sold to Mr. Kenner (who was Col. Bringier’s brother-in-law).
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Colonel Bringier removed to Florida to start a sugar plantation and experimental station. As a result of his activity, there are today two great sugar companies in Florida with many thousands of acres in cultivation. It only waits the removal of quota restrictions to increase the acreage enormously.
The family never recovered much of the treasure that was hidden from the Union troops. That buried at the Hermitage was not found — nor were the great quantities of crested silver brought from France and buried along the Bayou Lafourche ever discovered.
The ancient mansion built in 1812, still standing like a great villa of the Brenta, glorious in its old age, is gradually falling to pieces. Built in the costly manner that it was, today the timbers show the 130 years that have elapsed since they were installed — slowly crumbling and too costly to replace. The place was sold to the Maginnis family of New Orleans. The present owner is Mr. W. B. Duplesis.
The great groves of oaks are rapidly dying — a few only remaining — the others are mostly stumps and dead trees. The costly furnishings also have vanished, but in the charming plantation home of Mrs. J. T. Bringier at Tezcuco Plantation, are some of the very fine rosewood pieces, and beautiful family portraits by celebrated artists. One of these famous artists was Amans, who was brought from Europe by the planters to paint various members of their families. Here, too, is the oil-color painting of White Hall by Colomb.
This beautiful old home, this ancient columned mansion, the Hermitage, will some day form a scene for an ante-bellum story — as this whole Ascension Parish is saturated with romances and tragedies and it would take the pen of a Fennimore Cooper to do justice to the theme.
Madame Michel Doradou Bringier, who had been the beautiful little Aglae, and whose future husband remarked that she was the most beautiful child he had ever seen, lived to a great age, spending her last years at her town home, Melpomene, where up to the last she retained the patrician beauty that had made her famous in her younger years. She ever remained the social queen, and at the end was surrounded and mourned by a throng of relatives and friends. She died in 1878, leaving a large family of sons and daughters. The eldest daughter Rosella married
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Hore Browse Trist, a relative and ward of Thomas Jefferson. He owned Bowden plantation. Octavie married General Allen Thomas, who became United States Minister to Venezuela. Louise married Martin Gordon, Jr., of New Orleans, and as a wedding present was given the beautiful Bringier residence which is still standing — number 606 Esplanade Avenue. Later on the ground on the side was purchased and an addition in the shape of a large octagon was made. Michel Doradou Bringier bought the house in 1885 from Henry R. Denis, who had it constructed in 1832.
Another daughter of M. D. Bringier, Myrthe, married a son of President Zachary Taylor, Richard Taylor who later became General “Dick” Taylor of the Confederacy, born in New Orleans in 1826. Nanine married Duncan Farrar Kenner, who presented Ashland plantation to his bride as a wedding present.
Mr. George H. Maginnis, of New Orleans, gives the following interesting account of the Hermitage:
“Our family bought the Hermitage in the early 1880’s. The mansion was then in a fairly good condition, and an architect informed us that in each of its massive brick pillars which surrounded the house was contained enough material to build a moderate-sized brick residence.
The rafters, I noticed, were held together by large wooden pegs, instead of nails. Facing the house from the river, the ground plan was as follows: A hall ran through the center — on the left being the parlor and back of it, another chamber. On the right was the dining room, and back of it, the kitchen. On the upper floor, access to which was gained by a stairway leading from the hall just mentioned, were the bedrooms.
To the rear of the house, and adjoining it, was another building, containing a large room, about 60 feet in length, in which were black marble mantelpieces. We were told that the Brin- giers had used this room as a ballroom.
In the parlor was a beautiful set of rosewood furniture, pieces of which are still treasured in branches of my family.
No, none of the treasure said to have been buried, or otherwise secreted, by the Bringiers at the time of the War Between the States was ever recovered by us — unfortunately.
But there was one piece of treasure throve that did come to light. To the right and left of the dwelling but some distance away, were two ponds. The one to the left was not far from the
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sugar house, which lay nearer to the river than the house. It was found necessary to drain this pond. Negroes were employed to do the work, and I may mention that liberal and frequent drinks of liquor were given them to prevent their contracting malaria. On the bottom of the pond was found a sword in a rusting sheath. On the blade was inscribed the name: “Zachary Taylor”.
What became of the sword, I cannot say.”
“The Hermitage” (See page 131.)
Plantation Home Tezcuco. (Page 125.)
Chapter XVI.
DUNCAN F. KENNER.
ASHLAND PLANTATION Ascension Parish .
Now Called Belle Helene Plantation
Y^HEN the late John B. Reuss, a prominent Louisiana planter, bought the Ashland plantation he combined it with the others that he owned on the West Bank of the Mississippi River under the name of “The Belle Helene Sugar Planting Company”. On the 1858 plantation map of the Mississippi coast we find Ashland Plantation adjoining the land of the old Bowden Plantation — the Trist estate.
Visiting the spot one sees far in the distance the house safe from any threat of encroachment by the great river that has destroyed so many of these beautiful old places. Located half a mile or more back from the River Road, surrounded by its grove of ancient moss-hung oak trees, gleaming in the sunlight, the immense bulk of the white mass stands out like an ancient Greek temple. The huge, tall, stuccoed-brick Doric columns that surround the old mansion on all sides silhouetted against the house of deeper tones bring out the simple classic beauty of the fine old plantation home. In the bright sunshine the contrast of the classic facade against the dark green of the oak grove makes an impressive sight as one enters the immense grounds.
At the end of the wide hall one finds a splendid mahogany stairway which winds against the cove wall to the second floor.
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and then on to the immense attic space. The steps are of solid cypress, each step a solid block, massive in construction, showing able engineering ability in the suspending of this great weight without loss of beauty to the spiral. This splendid old home must be examined closely, for much of its beauty lies in the details of its classic plaster-work, door and window-frames, etc. One must walk about its stately rooms and immense loggias to really appreciate its architectural charm, for a casual glance from a sightseeing bus gives no idea of its beauty. Glancing out of the great windows and doorways, one no longer sees the immense tapis vert through which the long driveway cuts a wide path. All has been a wilderness for years. Gone too, are the box hedges for which this garden was famous. Vanished also are the botanical gardens, marble statues and urns, the former dead from long neglect or parts of it carried away from time to time by tourists, while the marble statues were carted to the North along with much of the other plunder during Reconstruction days.
This dignified temple-like old mansion is a home of much history. The man for whom it was built was a peer among the peers of his era. This home with all its costly furnishings, was a gift to his bride, the beautiful, vivacious Nanine Bringier, a daughter of a wealthy plantation family that descend from one of the proudest families of old France. The wedding of this distinguished couple was one of the most notable in the state.
Ashland became a famous social center, for surrounding this vast estate up and down the Mississippi River, and along plantation-fringed bayous were the homes of distinguished families. It became a center where one met the beauty, brains and wealth of the day. Some of the mansions of the families and friends of this distinguished couple still remain, but alas! many others are but memories.
It is a great pity that homes with historical associations such as Ashland should not be preserved for posterity. The crumbling walls of old Ashland, its falling plaster, rusting iron work and decaying wood-work, the uprooted trees and overgrown garden, circular driveway and pigeonnaires falling to pieces — all seem to murmur of its past glories, as the wind whistles through the great house and the gaunt branches of dying oaks. Deserted rooms are haunted by memories of gala days, and the banquet hall is visited by the shades of the brilliant assemblages of pre-war days.
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Even in its total neglect one finds odd specimens of its once botanical rarities struggling to survive, while fragrant odors of jasmine and rosemary fill the air about the overgrown flowerbeds. On the day of my last visit, for the intriguing old place draws me to its site again and again, while walking about and studying its fading beauty, I met the old negro watchman. He was the son of the previous keeper, both descendants of the slaves of the original owners. He told me how his father had related to him that after the fall of New Orleans (see memoirs) Federal troops invaded Ashland and raided the house. After taking what they wanted, they tore up the floors of the out-buildings and pigeonnaires in search of buried treasure. They found some silverware and a quantity of fine wines and liquors. They drank bottle after bottle until they were unable to move from stupefaction. Then some of the faithful slaves got the silver back and buried it in a thicket behind the slave quarters where it stayed until removed to the home of a man in whom the family had confidence. (See the Memoirs of Madame Joseph Lancaster Brent, the former Miss Rosella Kenner.) The old negro grew enthusiastic while telling about the private race-track on the plantation, and the great string of fine racing animals.
The honorable Duncan F. Kenner was a connoisseur in many ways. With his background and the educational advantages he enjoyed, he was a judge of the good things of life. His library was one of the finest in the state. The books were kept in beautifully carved Gothic-design book-cases now in his grand-daughter's home. His stock of blooded horses was as fine as his library.
The architect, Jas. Gallier I, who designed this plantation home, knowing the serious-minded disposition of Hon. Kenner, did not attempt elaborate ornamentation, but used rather the simpler classic elements of interior design, such as dog-eared door and window frames, dentil cornices, etc. Elegant white marble mantels of .simple design are found in all of the rooms. Duncan F. Kenner was a son of W. B. Kenner and Mary Minor, a daugher of Major Estaban Minor in charge of the Spanish forces of Louisiana and Natchez. They were the parents of seven children, six reaching maturity.
Duncan F. Kenner was one of the ablest lawyers in the America of his time. He was deeply interested in the sugar industry, spending a fortune to advance it, and was looked upon
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as one of the best informed men on the subject in the state. In Feb. 1861 he was elected as a delegate to the Convention of Secession held in Montgomery, Alabama. He was later named by Jefferson Davis as plenipotentiary to England. The Federal authorities confiscated all of his great land holdings and property, not excluding his large holdings in New Orleans. The family had to leave Ashland Plantation, and after peace was declared, Mr. Kenner returned to the plantation with his family and tried to resume in a modest way his manner of living. He even made an attempt to restock his famous stables, which had been completely emptied by the Federals, but he soon abandoned the idea, as his losses had been too great and the Reconstruction period made life unbearable for him.
Of the marriage of this noted Confederate patriot and Mademoiselle Nanine Bringier, three children reached maturity, — a son, named George Duncan Kenner, and two daughters. Rosella, who married General Joseph Lancaster Brent, who became master of Ashland Plantation, when Mr. Duncan Kenner retired to New Orleans to spend his last days of his life in his Carondelet St. Home, and a daughter named Blanche who married Samuel Simpson, a New Orleans cotton factor. Duncan Kenner died in 1887 at the age of seventy-four. Notwithstanding Mr. Kenner was one of the largest slave holders in Louisiana, he suggested to President Davis of the Confederacy, that he issue a proclamation, freeing all the slaves in the Confederate states as a means of ending hostilities. A splendid oil portrait of this great Con-
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federate hangs on the wall in the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. Thomas Sloo of New Orleans. Mrs. Sloo also has lovely miniatures and many fine portraits of her distinguished family painted by noted artists, also a vast treasure of souvenirs of this old plantation mansion, and other plantations of her family.
MEMOIRS OF MADAM JOSEPH LANCASTER BRENT
(MISS ROSELLA KENNER)
RECOLLECTIONS OF A GRANDMOTHER
New Orleans fell on April 25th, 1862. However, though my mother and her children were in the city, we left before the actual surrender took place, but after the passing of the forts by the Federal gunboats made it certain that the actual surrender would only be a question of days, perhaps hours.
All those persons who could then leave New Orleans did so, not knowing what fate was in store for them, and perhaps, “as coming events cast their shadows before," a presentiment of military rule administered by Genl. Butler was urgent in sending away all who were not obliged to remain in the city.
With us, there was no doubt or question as to going, if go we could. Our home was at Ashland, a sugar plantation some 80 miles up the Mississippi River. We had been spending the greater part of the winter in New Orleans, as usual, with my grandmother, Mrs. M. D. Bringier, whose spacious mansion, surrounded by large and beauti- . ful grounds, was the winter resort of her children and grandchildren, though their “name was legion". My grandmother, whom we called * Bonnemaman" after the good old creole fashion, was absent from the city, having gone to visit one of her sons who lived, as did several of her children, “up the coast", (on the banks of the Mississippi), their plantations being within driving distance of each other.
She had left as her representative in housekeeping, etc., my aunt, Mrs. Richard Taylor, who was living with her mother in the absence of her husband, then Brigadier General in the army of Northern Virginia, and who had been in active service for some time.
The household comprised just then, another aunt and two cousins. The aunt was Mrs. Allen Thomas, whose husband was Colonel of the 28th Louisiana Infantry. This regiment had then just been organized and was still in New Orleans, tho ready to move at the order of Governor Moore. The cousins were Trists, — Bringier Trist who belonged to the Crescent Regiment and had been brought horn© after the battle of Shilo, wounded in the arm. He was still confined to his room and devotedly nursed by his sister Willie. Of course he must not fall into the hands of the enemy, and my aunts were not to be cut off from their husbands, or my mother from hers, for my father was a member
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of the Confederate Congress then in session at Richmond. The Federal fleet had for some days been actually bombarding the forts, Jack- son and St. Philip, below the city. It had been agreed by the city authorities that if the enemy’s ships should pass the forts, the city bells, constituting fire alarms, etc., and to be heard all over the city, should be rung 12 times sounded three times in succession, with a short interval between each 12. This order had been published and was familiar to all.
One reason why mother spent the winters in New Orleans was that we children might have the advantage of lessons from good teachers and accordingly, on the morning of the 24th we were as usual in the school room with Professor Melhado. He was an Englishman by birth, but long residence in New Orleans had made of him a warm Southern sympathizer, and his eldest son was in the Confederate army. The lessons were often interrupted by discussions on the war and news as it came from the front. Perhaps the old gentleman was less enthusiastic than his young scholars, perhaps also he was better informed, for when, soon after we had settled to our usual routine, the City bells began to ring, it was he who counted them, and with a growing dismay, which we shared as the fatal number rang out. As soon as he was certain that the bad news had come, and come officially, Professor Melchado took up his hat, and bidding us a most informal good morning, hurried away to ascertain what was about to happen to the city and its inhabitants.
I have no clear recollection of what we did the rest of the day, but a dim picture is in my mind of n great deal of confusion and packing going on in the house, and outside groups of men standing in the streets discussing in tones “not loud but deep” the trouble that had come, and other troubles that must follow. I remember that the carriage was ordered, and that I went in it with my aunt Octavie to a fashionable boarding school kept by Mme. Dearayaux. There we had an interview with the principal of the school, and with her permission withdrew a young girl, Miss Lydia Pickett, the daughter of Col. Pickett, a friend of Col. Thomas. She had been left, in a measure, under the care of the Thomases, and they thought it best to take her with them into Confederate lines, for it had been at once determined that we should all go to the country, to our respective homes. Col. Thomas owned a large sugar plantation, on which he resided, near Opelousas, and his wife and children were going there. Miss Pickett accompanying them, as did also Mrs. Taylor and her family. Bringier and Willie Trist were going with their brother Browse and his wife and child to a plantation owned by the latter on the Atchafalaya. The youngest Trist, Nicholas, was with the Army of Tennessee. During the day, Willie remembered that one of our cousins, Valentine Tureaud, was at the Ursuline Convent. The carriage was sent for her, and she joined our party and left the city with us. Thus we formed a large family party, of about 20, not including the various
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servants, who in those days were considered indispensable. Uncle Allen Thomas had arranged for us to take passage on a steamboat leaving that afternoon, and taking up the river the families of various officers. Among them was Mrs. Lovell and her children. General Lovell was in command of New Orleans and the adjoining district. I forget the name of the boat, it may have been the Pargoud (the Old Pargoud). There were quite a number of people on board and the hour came for leaving, the partings were most touching, between the wives who were going up the river, and their husbands, left with the army, which was on the point of evacuating New Orleans and going into the interior, finding their way later to Port Hutson and Vicksburg, and remained there until the surrender of that city on July 4, 1863.
The rest of the family were going further up the river, but we and Valentine, were to land at the plantation of Uncle Amedee Brin- gier, The Hermitage, situated opposite the town Donaldsonville. We reached our destination early the next morning, so early that “the dawn was glimmering gray” as we were landed on the levee and left with our trunks besides us. We were unexpected guests, and there was no carriage nor any one to meet us, so there was nothing to do but walk to the house not a very long distance. We were about to start when we heard the sound of horses’ feet, accompanied by the jingling of sabres, etc. At least we thought so, for our minds were filled with thoughts of war, and it was evident that a body of horses were approaching. It could not be Federal cavalry, for nothing had passed us on the way, and New Orleans was still in Confederate possession, when we left the previous evening. But we were only women and children with nerves on edge, and we did not wish to encounter strangers so very early in the morning, so with natural impulse we ran up the levee, intending to hide behind it until the horsemen had gone by. We had forgotten, however, that the river was at its height, and that the levee was entirely under water on the other side. Therefore, we were constrained to emulate the King of France who, in the nursery ryme, rode up the hill, only to ride down again. By this time the horsemen had come up, and we saw with relief that they were peaceful plowmen, negroes from the Hermitage, who were riding their mules over the river field, with the plough chains hanging and jingling. Reassured, and feeling that we were on “native Hearth”, we walked on to the house, where we aroused Uncle Amedee and his family and had the melancholy satisfaction of being the first to announce the bad news of the fall of New Orleans.
We remained some days at the Hermitage, and then went on to Ashland. We had not been there long when we had a visit from Uncle Amadee, who came bringing a letter from one of our connections, Mr. Wilson, who lived on Bayou Boeuf in the Opelousas country. This letter was addressed to the whole Bringier and Tureaud connections with all its branches. Mr. Wilson stated that fearing
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that the fall of New Orleans would make it certainly unpleasant, and perhaps unsafe for them to remain in their homes on the banks of the Mississippi, he wrote to propose that they should migrate in a body, to his part of the country and locate themselves near him at the Belle Cheney Springs, a summer resort consisting of houses, rude but comfortable, built in the pine woods, round a spring of purest water, all of which could be rented at nominal price. There, with the advantage of a healthy situation in a country filled to overflowing with all of the substantial necessities of life, they could pass in peaceful seclusion, the whole period of the war, the faint echoes of which would scarcely penetrate the pine forest which surrounded the springs.
We resumed the ordinary routine of plantation life at Ashland where my father joined us after the adjournment of Congress. He ran a great risk in coming back, but did so intending to put everything in order on the plantation, and then take us away with him. At this time, the river parishes were at the mercy of the Federals whenever they chose to occupy them, but as yet, no soldiers had been seen except those we caught glimpses of on the gunboats and transports as they went up and down the river. I remember well the feelings of dread and anxiety with which we saw the first gunboat go up the river, and they also seemed apprehensive and moved cautiously. But after a time it became a common spectacle, and as they had not yet landed anywhere, we ceased to take much notice of them, and went about very much as usual, exchanging visits with our neighbors and driving up and down the public road.
The planters, and the managers (who remained in charge where the owners had joined the army) organized a patrol corps which was to be called out in case of disturbance, keep the peace generally, and have good effect in quieting the negroes, though indeed I can recall no instance where they gave us trouble. The high water gave us more concern just then than anything else. The levees had to be watched carefully, and the back water that came from the McHattan crevasse near Baton Rouge was in our back fields about ten acres from the Ashland sugar house, and only kept from advancing further by a protective levee, built and kept up with great expense.
One afternoon (July 27th) we rode up the river on the public road, returning rather early, as we had been told that summer to do always. Removing our riding habits, my sister and I went out to the front gallery upstairs where my mother was sitting, and where in summer we usually spent the evening. We sat talking to her while the short southern twilight deepened into dark, and we noticed that a steamboat, whose repeated whistles had attracted our attention, seemed to be landing at our warehouse. This was no unusual occurrence, even then, and we did not think much of it, but gave our attention to the passing of a horse that someone was riding on the road at full speed, not galloping but running, and so fast that the desperate pace attracted our attention, and we listened until the sound died
View of White Hall Manor, Cradle of the Bringier family in America. From painting by Colomb. (Courtesy of Miss Tristy Bringier. Photograph by Richard Koch.)
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away, my mother remarking, “11 est bien presse celui la” (that man is in a great hurry ) . Little she thought who the rider was. We resumed our chat, the calm summer evening settling into peaceful darkness, sweet with perfume of flowers, and the quiet rather added to than broken by the hum of the insects. Suddenly we heard someone enter the house by the back door of the lower hall, come up the winding staircase and along the upper hall, towards us where we were sitting near the front door on the front gallery. It was a man’s step but not my father’s. His was light and quick, and this was slow and heavy, almost as if the man were staggering from being hurt, or carrying a burden too great for his strength. Peaceful and quiet as were our surroundings, we know that we were standing on the brink of a volcano, and my mother, quick to take alarm, sprang up and we followed her. As we reached the doorway, we saw Mr. Graves coming down the hall, looking indeed like a man stricken by a heavy blow. When he saw us, he put up his hands to his mouth so as to form a sort of speaking trumpet, and in a hoarse and scarcely audible whisper said, “Mrs. Kenner, the Yankees have come. Mr. Kenner has gone away.” If a thunderbolt had fallen upon us from the clear sky, we could not have been more horrffied. Mr. Graves had received the full force of the shock, and was entirely overcome. He told us as well as he could, for he was almost breathless from emotion and exertion, what we afterwards heard more fully related.
My father had been riding over the fields with Mr. Graves and a neighbor, Mr. Henry Doyal, and about dusk, when the latter was going home to his plantation a few miles up the river, the three rode towards the river gate, my father saying there was a steamboat at the landing and. he would see if some freight that was expected had come. However, before the gate was reached, they met a negro, who was coming rapidly towards them, and he called out “Mars Duncan, for God’s sake don’t go to the river. Dat boat is full of Soldiers, and dey is all landing.” No further information was needed, and my father, realizing that it was not only unsafe to proceed further, but also to remain on the place, hurriedly gave Mr. Graves a few instructions, to go to my mother and tell her he had gone to Stephen Minor’s, and then he turned his horse and attempted to ride away. That evening he was riding Sid Story, a race horse of his own which had been retired from the track, but was still sound in wind and limb, and had been selected as a riding horse in case of emergency like the one at hand.
However, Sid Story refused to start, and for some incomprehensible reason would not move in spite of coaxing and urging. Then Mr. Doyal sprang to the ground saying “Mr. Kenner, take my horse, he will go and fast. I hunt deer with him.” My father mounted Mr. Doyal’s dun hunter, and he was the horseman whose rapid pace had attracted our attention. My father told us afterwards that he felt confident that he could not be overtaken, with a fleet and willing
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horse under him, and on his own plantation, the roads of which he had laid out himself, and knew better than anyone else. He therefore stopped, nearly a mile from the river, at the house of the overseer, Mr. Brag, and calling him out, told him what had happened, and that he was going away — he did not tell him where — and gave him such instructions as he thought would help to preserve order on the plantation, for he supposed that the soldiers would remain hut a short time. Then my father continued on his way to Stephen Minor’s, taking the shortest of the back roads, and where he passed houses, being careful not to make his passing known.
Waterloo was reached, and might have been considered a safe refuge for the night, but my father and Stephen, after some discussion, thought best to make assurance doubly sure. The carriage was ordered, and Anthony summoned to drive it, as being a trustworthy man who would give no information even under pressure. Anthony was one of Capt. William Minor’s negroes and the trainer of the race horses under the captain’s supervision. The carriage was driven to Indian Camp, the plantation and residence of old General Camp, who was a staunch friend. He also helped my father on his way to safety by sending him in a skiff (row-boat) across the river to the house of another friend, and the latter sent him further on and more into the interior, where gunboats could not penetrate.
In the meantime, the Federal soldiers, some 300 of the 111th Indiana regiment, commanded by Colonel Keith, had landed and marched to the house. Their orders were to raid the place and capture my father. The transport on which they came was an ordinary Mississippi river steamboat, which the United States Government had impressed into service. The Federals had then no knowledge of the plantations. And they had instructed the pilot, also impressed into service, to reach the Kenner landing after dark, in fact well into the night, and to land silently, without whistling or making any unnecessary noise. Fortunately, the pilot was friendly to my father, and disregarded the instructions. He wished my father to escape and gave him the opportunity, of which he availed himself.
When my mother had been assured that in all probability my father was safe, she began to think of the safety of her household, and had the silver consisting of forks and spoons, for all the other silver had been packed and sent away, taken upstairs. She went downstairs to make sure that all the doors had beeD fastened, and me followed her closely. I remember that we were in the dining room when we heard the tramp of many men crossing the yard and coming up around the house; this was followed by a knock at the front door. Leaving Mr. Graves to open the door my mother and her three children and the maids who had gathered around us, went upstairs to my mother’s bed room, and there waited — waited — in great suspense — for what was to follow. My mother was sitting, outwardly calm, when Mr. Graves appeared, accompanied by several Federal
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officers. Indicating one of them, Mr. Graves said, “Mrs. Kenner, this is Colonel Keith, who is in command, and who wishes to speak to you."
Colonel Keith advanced and said “Mrs. Kenner, I am in command of this expedition, and have been sent here to arrest Mr. Kenner, and •take such of his property as the Government requires for its use. Can you tell me where Mr. Kenner is?” “No”, said my mother, “I have not seen him since he left the house after dinner.” This was a fact. We dined about three o’clock and my father usually rode out in the afternoon.
“It is very strange”, replied the Colonel, “that I have met no one who has seen Mr. Kenner. However, in pursuance of my orders, I must institute a search for him, and also take possession of what I think advisable”. My mother answered, “I am powerless to prevent you from taking what you please. Mr. Kenner is not here”, turning towards him, “Mr. Graves will you be kind enough to show these officers all over the house, through every part of it. Let the search be thorough, so they may be satisfied that Mr. Kenner is not hidden”. Mr. Graves with his military escort proceeded all through the house, and the servants who went with them to carry lights, told us that some of the men looked under beds, and in all places, possible and impossible.
They found nobody, of course, and went downstairs after the Colonel had assured my mother that she and her family would be treated with all due regard. But though satisfied that Mr. Kenner was not hidden in the house, Colonel Keith kept up an energetic search on the plantation until late in the night, and resumed it as soon as daylight enabled the searching party to look into the buildings that were not much used, and even under bridges and in the fields of cane, which at that season was tall enough to conceal a man in hiding. The neighboring places were also searched, Waterloo among others, and Mr. Minor’s race horses “captured” and brought to be shipped, with my father’s on the transport at Ashland landing. But Anthony did not go with his horses, and proved a true and silent friend.
Col. Keith was as good as his word and we were in no way molested. The next day, one of the soldiers having made his way up stairs and walked around in an inquisitive and annoying manner, it was reported to the Colonel, who placed a guard at the front of the staircase, and no one was allowed to come up without permission, and nothing in the house was destroyed or taken away. However, he was equally exacting in carrying out his instructions concerning the property that was to be confiscated for the use of the Government. The soldiers also were permitted to go all over the grounds and take or destroy whatever they pleased. My father’s wine of which, he had a good supply, had fortunately been removed from the house and put under the flooring of one of the large brick out-houses which stood at a little distance from the main house. This had been done with
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the hope of preventing any depredation in the house and also in the hope that perhaps it might escape observation altogether. It proved to be a wise measure, for it was one of the “supplies of war" that Col. Keith demanded. He was informed of the location of the wine by the negroes, who were well aware that it had been moved, and who assisted the soldiers in taking it out, and in drinking it, which they did to some extent, when it was carted down to the transport. But it pronounced to “be thin weak stuff". Some other things had been removed from the house by way of putting them in greater safety, and unfortunately, among them were the family portraits and other paintings. These h ad been stored away in the house occupied by Mr. Graves. Somehow it had been considered that as he proposed remaining at Ashland, happen what might, he could take better care of them if they were in his home.
But the poor man was imprisoned in the main dwelling, and his house was broken open and everything in it was taken or destroyed. I can remember peeping under the curtains that shaded and screened the upper gallery, and seeing below a soldier with his penknife busy cutting an oil painting from its frame. It was the picture of one of my father's race horses, and a good painting. The silver, with the exception of the forks and spoons, had also been sent away. The trunk in which it was packed had been taken in a cart to the house of Jerry Segoud, who lived some miles away on New River, an out of the way place. He had lost a leg, and could ont join the army, and therefore would remain at home during the war. He was under obligations to my father and therefore it was thought he would prove a good custodian. However, the negro who had driven the cart came forward and informed the Federate that a trunk, which probably contained valuables, had been left with Mr. Segoud, and he was arrested and I am told, actually maltreated and beaten until he told where the trunk was hidden.
All the white men, overseers, etc., on the plantations in our neighborhood, were arrested and brought as prisoners to the Ashland- house. They slept in the lower hall, on a double row of mattresses, which had been brought down from -the garret, and also from the bed rooms upstairs and on each side of the wide hall. The prisoners took their meals in the dining room, the cooking being in our kitchen, which was in an outbuilding. Our meals were served in the hall upstairs, for we did not leave the second floor at all. Henry Hayman, my father’s body servant, a most trustworthy faithful man, assumed charge of the kitchen. He had followed my father in all his travels and had been with him in Richmond, where, as Henry said, “we kept house with Mr. Benjamin" (J. P. Benjamin, Secretary of War.)
Therefore Henry was accustomed to soldiers, and their ways, and knew how to safeguard his provisions. He was a good caterer and an excellent cook, and we and the other prisoners were well fed. Mr. Henry Doyal, who had changed- horses with my father, was one of the
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first persons to be arrested and brought in, and he was soon followed by Stephen Minor. The latter was allowed to come upstairs occasionally and talk with us, but he was always accompanied by a guard. When Mr. Doyal and one or two of the other men were arrested they were wearing pistols, and they contrived that these should not fall into the hands of the Federals, but sent them to my mother giving them to the colored maid, Nancy, who went down every morning to make the beds and sweep the lower hall, and she wrapped the pistols in her apron and brought them upstairs.
The Federal occupation lasted four days and during that time, everything was taken that could be moved, and put on board the transport and another steamboat which had come to the Ashland landing. The plantation was well stocked, as my father had laid in large supplies previous to leaving Mr. Graves in charge, and being absent himself for an indefinite period. In the pasture there were herds of cattle and sheep, to furnish fresh meat for the hands. The storehouses were full of salt meat and the corn cribs of corn. And last but not least, there were about three hundred hogsheads of sugar in the sugar houses. All this was shipped, and some of the things that could not be taken were destroyed regardless of the fact that there were on the plantation a large number of hands, many women and children, all of whom were accustomed to be provided for, fed and clothed. Some of the negroes went with the Federals when they left, but the majority remained at home. The soldiers had, as a rule been unkind and harsh, and the negroes were not tempted to follow them and encounter the fortunes of war. What we children felt most was the taking of the horses, except a few old mares that were not in the stables, and that the race stable boys had hidden in the woods. All the carriage and riding horses, even our ponies, were led, in what seemed to us as a funeral procession, as we saw it go down the road to the river. There were probably sixty horses in all. However, there was one horse that was not taken, because no one could ride or manage him except the grooms, who were accustomed to do so, and they refused to help in getting him off.
This was Whale, a large, powerful animal, difficult to control. He had never lost a race, though he ran many, of four miles heat. My brother’s pony was given back to him by Colonel Keith, who when he heard of the little boy’s distress at losing his pony, gave orders that the horse should be restored.
At the end of four days, the 111th Indiana received orders to move to Baton Rouge, where a battle seemed impending. Consequently, about dusk one evening, the whole expedition left Ashland. Colonel took with him many negroes and all the white men who had been arrested. This meant, that for miles around us, there remained, to our knowledge, no white men, and we were entirely in the hands of the negroes, of whom there were hundreds in our imme-
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diate neighborhood. However, there were many of the colored men who were trustworthy and devoted to our i nterests, and foremost among these was Henry Hayman. With him my mother consulted, and in consequence, the foreman of the field hands was summoned. He engaged to select several good men, and place them as a guard around the house, acting as their captain. My mother gave him one of the pistols that had been sent upstairs by the prisoners. To Henry she gave another pistol reserving one for her own use in case of necessity. Phil, the foreman, was very confident that he and his men would be good protectors, and assured my mother that she could go to bed and rest quietly. But she did not even undress.
And Henry spent the night sitting at the door of the upper hall. We children had no thought, except that the hated invaders had gone, leaving us in possession of our own house and premises and we went to bed anjd slept as soundly as usual, and the night passed without incident.
The next morning, a little after breakfast, a carriage drove up, and from it alighted to our surprise, my grandmother and one of our cousins and his wife. They told us they had come to beg my mother to pack up and go home with them, as it would be very imprudent for her to remain longer at Ashland. Mother was easily persuaded, and agreed to go if she could get transportation. The carriages had not been taken, and there were still a number of mules upon the plantation. But it was found that the harness had been destroyed. However, by sending some miles away, other harness was borrowed, and that evening, we started off with another train of wagons and servants, very similar to the one which had failed to get across the river in the spring. Our first stopping place was the Hermitage, where my grandmother Bonnemaman, as we called her, was staying temporarily with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Amedee Bringier, my uncle having rejoined the army. We remained two or three days at the Hermitage, and during that time heard from my father, who sent us word that he was waiting for us, some miles down Bayou Lafourche, and to come to meet him and go with him into the Confederate lines. My grandmother decided to go with us, and her carriage, coachman and maid being added to our train, we crossed the river at Donald- sonville, where the ferry easily took over our wagons, etc. We continued down Bayou Lafourche, and met my father not very far from Donaldsonville, for the Confederate lines expended as near the river as was consistant with keeping out of range of the gunboats. Father told us that he had been as intensely anxious on our account as we could have been for him, and had kept as near as was safe, so as to hear what was taking place at Ashland. Many rumors had reached him, one of which was that the house had been burned and my mother taken on board the transport as a prisoner. This report had been so harrowing that he had ventured near enough, being on the opposite bank, to look over the river with a strong field glass, and seeing the
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house standing, apparently untouched, he had comforted himself with the assurance that the other statement must also be false.
He proposed to take us some distance into the interior to a plantation owned by William Minor, in Terrebonne parish, which was still held by the Confederate forces. We journeyed down Bayou Lafourche, stopping the first night at the Tournillon plantation, and going on from there to Mr. Henry Foley’s. His mother, old Mrs. Foley, gave us a most interesting account of her experience at Last Island, when that place, then a summer resort, had been submerged in a terrible storm. The hotel was swept away and many persons were drowned. Mrs. Foley and her husband had been saved by clinging to a log that floated them to a place where the water was shallow, and when the storm subsided and the water receded, they were picked up by some fishermen, but not before they had suffered much from hunger and exposure. Further down, near Thibodeaux, we stopped at the Guion plantation, and when we reached the town of Houma, we were met by William Minor, Jr., who was then living at Southdown plantation. He took us into his house, which was newly built, large and comfortable, and gave us a hearty and cousinly welcome. We remained at Southdown about three months, my father leaving us there while he returned to Richmond. My grandmother remained with us only a short time. She joined another daughter, Mrs. Benj. Tureaud, who with her husband and family passed through Terrebonne on their way to Opelousas.
My father returned to us at the end of October, by way of Vicksburg. He found us in a state of great excitement, as the Federals had advanced a large body of troops into the Latourche country, and notwithstanding that several engagements had taken place, they were still advancing. General Taylor had shortly before this taken command of the Confederate forces, opposite to this advance. We packed up and left very early one morning with our wagons following the carriage. We went on to Berwicks Bay, where we crossed over, and then travelled slowly through the beautiful Teche cuontry, and so further along until we reached Opelousas. My aunt, Mrs. Allen Thomas, had opened her home, New Dalton, on the Courtbleau Bayou, to her family, going herself to Vicksburg to be with Colonel Thomas. We found at New Dalton, my grandmother and the family of Mr. Benj. Tureaud, and we formed part of the household until we moved to Moundville. Near the town of Washington, which is also on the Courtableau, my father and Mr. Tureaud rented together, a large house with some land attached, at Moundville. There we settled, hoping that we would be able to remain in peace and quiet. My lather returned to Richmond after a short stay with us.
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Linwood as it was before the Civil War.
LINWOOD PLANTATION Ascension Parish .
Built for Philip Minor.
In the life of the artist Rubens, we learn that when he visited Genoa in 1607, the splendor of its great palaces so impressed him that almost at once he started work on a series of detailed architectural drawings, views, and perspectives of this most magnificent Strada Nuova. These he published in 1622 at Antwerp with the title “Palazzo di Genova”. Would that some artist or architect of ante-bellum days, had left some such set of drawings depicting the splendor of the old plantation mansions of Louisiana in the hey-day of their glory ! This hey-day Mr. Dorr wrote about while reporting on the plantation country of 1860. This was before the time when the Union forces were to wreck and impoverish this “land of milk and honey”. How very interesting would be illustrations of the many unique and fine old palatial plantation homes that now are but memories, — places like Linwood that recall the glory of that day.
The decoration of the walls of this magnificent old plantation mansion were reproductions of the frescoed walls and ceilings of the splendid villas of the Brenta, so famous in their day. Today one rarely sees these landscape wall paper panels, save in museums or in stores like Marshall Field, where a few are to be seen costing a small fortune. In referring to these panels, the late Mrs. Eliza Ripley in her “Social Life in Old New Orleans” has the following to say :
The culmination of landscape wall paper must have been reached in the Minor plantation dwelling in Ascension Parish. Mrs. Minor had
Linwood Mansion, built for Philip Minor. As it appeared after the destruction of one wing during the Civil War. (See page 152.) Photograph taken shortly before it was demolished in June 1939.
Tomb of George and, Martha Washington, Mount Vernon, Virginia. Front shaft to the right marks the graves of the New Orleans branch of the Conrad family, related to the Washingtons. (See page 157.)
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received this plantation as a legacy, and she was so loyal to the donor that the entreaties of her children to “cover that wall” did not prevail. It was after that of mural decoration was of the past, that I visited the Minors. The hall was broad and long, adorned with real jungle scenes, scenes from India. A great tiger jumped out of dense thickets towards savages who were fleeing in terror. Tall trees reached to the ceiling, with gaudy striped boa-constrictors wound around their trunks; hissing snakes peered out of the jungles; birds of gay plumage, paroquete,s parrots, peacocks, everywhere, some way, almost out of sight in the greenery; monkeys swung from limb to limb; ourang-ou tangs, and lots of almost naked, dark-skinned natives wandered about. To cap the climax}, right close to the steps one had to mount to the story above was a lair of ferocious lions! I spent hours studying that astnishing wall-paper (hand-painted) and I applauded Mrs. Minor’s decision, “The old man put it there; it shall stay; he liked it, so do I”. It was in 1849 I made that never- to-be-forgotten trip to jungle land.
The decoration referred to by Mrs. Ripley, in the original frescoed form painted by the most noted fresco-painters of that date can still be found in great number throughout Italy, especially in the region of the Brenta, where on the crumbling walls of the palatial villas still can be traced many of them.
The plantation land was acquired by Philip Minor in 1816. It remained in the family for seventy-five years, and according to records was abandoned in 1900. The old plantation mansion after serving as a home for this distinguished family for three- quarters of a century remained idle and was used as a stable until it was demolished.
Linwood, almost theatrical in its magnificence and setting, originally built for Philip Minor, joins Ashland, which was erected as a bridal gift from Duncan Kenner to the beautiful Nanine Bririgier. It was once surrounded by a splendid grove of oak trees, now rapidly disappearing. Like one of the great villas of the Brenta, which served as summer homes and pleasure houses of the Venetian nobility, stands this magnificent old place. Like the villas immortalized by d’Annunzio, it too, is falling into ruin so completely that in a few years more the great classic pile, as with beautiful White Hall (Maison Blanche), Valcour Aimes’ “Petit Versailles”, and so many others, soon will be but a memory. Magnificent in its conception, it was to have been when completed the most palatial mansion on the east bank of the Mississippi River.
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Such was the dream of the owner. And it was to be made a reality by the architect, the famous Gallier, pere who designed Linwood, Ashland, Belle Grove and a score of others, as well as the beautiful City Hall in New Orleans. It was cnosidered one of Gallier’s greatest triumphs in plantation domestic architecture. In it he combined the grandeur of Oaklawn on the Teche with the splendor of the Brenta Villas. Instead of having his collonaded wnngs as subordinate structures, he planned the extensions of either side with spectacular effect. So well has he succeeded that even in its greatly ruined state, the building is magnificent to behold, and frescoed like the Brenta Villas.
The great porte-cochere, arcaded with vaulted ceiling, rings with the echo of the glajnorous days that are no more. It forms a driveway through the building which was damaged when the Civil War wrecked the fortunes of its owner. The vaulted arcade gives the stately pile quite a distinctive foreign air, and one feels sure that the Spanish influence of the early Natchez, Mississippi days of the Minor family, had a great deal to do with the design of this mansion being selected.
The great pile contains many stately rooms, which have been stripped of the marble mantels, silver-plated door knobs and other hardware. It now serves as a place to shelter cattle, unbelievable as it seems. Hogs wallow in the corridors where the pavement has been removed, and the beautiful large pediment window with fan-transom and side lights, has few panes left and the place is flooded by each rain.
The building was another that fell a victim to the raids of Union soldiers when they found that Duncan Kenner had escaped. Mr. Kenner had angered the Federal authorities by his activities in behalf of the Confederate Cause. The Union soldiers, learning that he was at his plantation, landed at the private dock of Ashland Manor. Some of. his old slaves hearing that they were trying to make him a prisoner, knowing that Mr. Kenner was out in his field, sought him out and told him what they had overheard. Mr. Kenner immediately took refuge in Linwood Manor and watched from a high point of the building. He later rode to General Camp’s place, some distance below, where he rowed across the river in a skiff, going to the Lafourche District, where he remained until the troops had moved further up the river and it was safe for him to leave. When the Federal troop!
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sacked beautiful Linwood, they took with them everything of value they could find. The Union troops removed quantities of furniture that they did not want, destroying much in their search, and as at Jefferson College, piled it high and applied the torch, burning fine pianos, furniture and paintings. Much of it they burned in a room, but slaves, returning after the Union soldiers left, extinguished the flames and saved the main building. Later when Mr. J. S. Minor returned he saw that it was impossible to continue with so large a place after having lost his great fortune. He sold the entire estate.
A newspaper of June 16th, 1939 brings the news that LIN- WOOD is no more and that it is now but a memory. The stately old pile was demolished a few days ago when the latest owners found that their architect told them that it would cost at least $30,000.00 to restore the mansion. The new owners, Oscar Geren of New Orleans, D. A. Vann and D. A. Vann, Jr., will mah an immense stock farm of the place.
Chapter XVII.
NEAR BATON ROUGE.
CHATSWORTH PLANTATION
(Formerly located 15 miles from Baton Rouge)
jgUILT in the early part of 1858, but not quite completed when Norman made his map that year it is listed with name, owner and acreage. In spite of the constant threat of war, work went on, but the house was of such massive size and the plans called for so much detail, that war broke out, the South was defeated, slaves were freed, the owner’s fortune swept away, and the old place was never completed.
Its facade presents large Corinthian columns across its central section sustaining the Greek Revival cornice. Spaced in the center the wide steps rise to the wide gallery. All is impressive, the wings of either side of the house relieved by mouldings and pilasters enhancing the effect. The Greek Revival carried throughout, for on entering we find endless rooms palatial in their size and magnificent in finish as the detail of woodwork and plaster work is very beautiful. The hardware consists of heavily silver- plated ornate hinges and doorknobs with escutcheons. In a mansion of this sort the upkeep was immense, as rooms ranging from 30x40 feet to the smaller ones 15x20, some fifty in number, could only have been maintained during the “golden days” with its numerous slaves. The Chatsworth mansion lay idle for a long time and was never completed. It typifies the grandeur of the day at its best, and was built to house immense house-parties of weeks’ duration as was customary in that era.
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The family, a prominent one socially at that day, has lost none of its social lustre with the passing years. The plantation at that time as befitted a mansion of such huge proportions was large and its garden grounds beautiful.
THE COTTAGE PLANTATION (The Conrad Plantation)
The last great plantation mansion, that we pass on our way to Baton Rouge, La., and it is indeed a grand old mansion, with its wide spreading front making a magnificent showing from the river, is the Conrad place, about ten miles below the state capi- tol. Built along lines that typify the luxurious comfort and cultured life of the wealthy planter in the days that plantations were plantations. Yet it was planned, first of all as a home of a family accustomed to the good things of life, who felt no need to sacrifice comfort for style.
To begin with its location, is a magnificent one; the house is far back from the river road and set in a grove of magnolias and oak trees, with much in the way of blooming greenery and shrubs scattered about at random, adding great charm to the grounds. Leading from the main gateway the wide drive is edged with yucca plants, uniform in size on both sides of the driveway, giving a spectacular effect that is most pleasing. They would gladden the heart of any lover of flowers when the plants are in bloom. It has always been known as the “Bridal Walk” as the spikes of white waxen bloom appear as pyramids of silver bells, arrayed for a joyous occasion. Maintaining all the lines of the Greek Revival, the massive classic cornice which surrounds the building rests on long collonades of solid brick columns, cement-coated and, crowned with Doric caps. The greater part of the massive brick mansion is also heavily cement-coated, and the columns eight in number, ranging across the front like those of the sides and back, support what is probably the widest balcony in the state of Louisiana, almost surrounding the entire building. The wings, designed with architectural correctness, permit the central section of the back to remain open, forming a porch of the same width with spacious rooms to either side. Heavy Doric pilasters finish the corners of the enclosure, and complete the
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Greek Revival design of the mansion. A spacious roof of good design, covered with slate, has two dormers (windows) projecting from each of its four sides with good effect. The gentleman for whom this mansion was erected was Mr. Abner Lawson Duncan for whom Duncan Point was named. Mr. Duncan was a distinguished Louisiana lawyer, who lived in New Orleans, and the plantation was built in 1824, when the wealth of the South was beginning to grow. Cotton and sugarcane plantations were veritable gold mines, and Mr. Duncan, a wealthy Pennsylvanian who had come to Louisiana shortly after 1803, an Aide-de-Camp to General Jackson in 1815, invested in plantation lands on a large scale. He owned the plantation on what is now known as Conrad Point, and so as not to confuse Conrad's Point and The Cottage, the home on Conrad's Point was known as The Cottage. Later by [mistake, people began calling the place which is the subject of this article The Cottage. The name stuck, and the place is now, and has for many years been known by that name. It was originally built by Mr. Duncan as a bridal gift to his daughter when she married Frederick Daniel Conrad, who had read law in Mr. Duncan's office in New Orleans. Frederick Conrad was the brother of Charles M. Conrad, who was a member of the famous New Orleans law firm of Slidell, Conrad and Benjamin. Charles M. Conrad was Secretary of War, during President Buchanan’s administration, and was appointed Confederate States Minister to Germany by President Jefferson Davis. Mrs. Charles M. Conrad before her marriage was Angella Lewis of Virginia, a great niece of George Washington and a great-grand-daughter of Lady Washington. The Conrads are related to the Washingtons, the Lewises and other prominent Virginia families.
Mr. Duncan not only gave the newly married couple his blessing, but the plantation, the manor and a full quota of slaves for the house and plantation. To the plantation was attached in the rear a village of brick plantation cabins for slave quarters, a large sugar house and a cotton gin.
In construction the house is massive, having brick walls two feet in thickness, the partition walls being equally as thick, reaching from the ground to the rafters in the attic. The entire outside walls of brick are thickly coated with cement, with the exception of the upstairs wings where a weatherboard surface is
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used. The home contains some twenty-two rooms, most of them very large, as there are eleven rooms to each floor. The wide hall extends from the front to the rear veranda. The large fan- transom lights and side lights, upstairs and down are exceptionally fine, the lower ones of the entrance having handcarved fluted Doric columns, while upstairs pilasters are used. When the mansion was finished, the Conrads furnished it in a magnificent manner. It still possesses some of the articles that were hidden by the slaves at the time the house was swept clean by the Union forces after the fall of. New Orleans. At that time its valuable contents were put on flat boats and shipped beyond Union lines. The first owners, the ancestors of the present ones, occupied the mansion for nearly half a century, during which time many nota- bles were entertained as house guests, among them General Lafayette, President Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, Judah P. Benjamin, and other prominent people too numerous to mention.
Mrs. James J. Bailey, the present gracious chatelain of “The Cottage,” tells of several incidents of Civil War days that have been related to her by the family. One is how the jewels of the Conrad family were saved from the Union soldiers. Mrs. Conrad had presented her husband with a daughter (Mrs. Bailey being the . daughter) a short time previously, and was still in bed when raiding Union soldiers came to “The Cottage”. Having put her diamonds, family heirlooms of great value, in a chamois bag she suspended it from her neck and hid it by the elaborate lace folds of her robe de nuit. When the soldiers invaded her bed room, summoning all of her strength, she let out several piercing screams that caused them to flee in confusion, telling her that they would leave at once if she would only cease screaming as if she was being murdered.
Far back in the grounds of the rear garden, on the left side as you face the house, is a small cemetery where the Union soldiers are buried. It is a small cypress grove and the graves are all unmarked. The Union soldiers spared The Cottage, because its planning and spaciousness made it possible for them to use it for a hospital. When an epidemic of yellow fever broke out among the Union troops near the plantation, the house was at once converted into a hospital. The little cemetery in the grove of cypress above mentioned is where the yellow fever victims are buried.
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The Cottage was the plantation home of the Conrads, wealthy planters, whose fortune was estimated at something over three millions of dollars, not including what would now be classed as “personal property”. The jewels of the Conrad family at that date represented large sums and the costly carriages and horses, a string of racing stock and other thorough breds amounted to another fortune. The family had its own splendid coach and four, and a Virginia atmosphere pervaded the place because of the great wealth of the family and the luxuriant manner of living at all times. With so many heirlooms and other souvenirs of the Washingtons, the Lewises, Duncans and Conrad families, this home became a veritable museum of priceless treasures. The family and its branches entertained continuously throughout the year, as the home was a rendezvous of the intelligencia of the state, who knew that a house party was in progress here nearly all the time. When the Union soldiers learned that the house was one containing endless treasure, they literally swept the place clean of its costly furniture, furnishing and objects of art. The Washington, Lewis and other mementos were hidden away, but most of the contents of the house were taken. What pieces of handsome furniture that were saved, were brought out later from their hiding places by the slaves that had hidden them. Comparatively little of the once magnificent furnishings remain, few of the great array of imported sets of imported palasandre rosewood and mahogany are to be seen. A few handsome pieces which show the beauty of the periods are scattered about the different rooms. A specially fine carved rosewood etagere, a museum piece, and a number of others equally as attractive are scattered about the halls and other rooms. In the dining room are some very fine old English pieces of mahogany, making this a splendid old room.
The light graceful lines of the wood-carver and cabinet maker at their best are in evidence, while the family portraits, mantel ornaments, china, silverware, and crystal all hearken back to old plantation days. Above stairs the rooms are all large and airy, having large windows and doorways, permitting the continuous flow of river breezes through the house on the hottest days of the long summer months. Vistas of charm present themselves in every direction, especially the view up and down the river where there is an apparent continual change of scenery. The
at “Co?cessi<>n”, now a negro cabin. (Courtesy 0f Miss Mari guente Fortier, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans,)
Old La Branche Mansion, Rue Royale, New Orleans.
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plantation acres with their endless fields of cotton, make other interesting scenes reminiscent of the good old days “be fo de war”.
Having heard that the kindness of the Conrad family to their Slaves would naturally make the blacks loyal, the Union officers planned unusually severe tactics to intimidate the negroes. They instructed the Union soldiers to spread the report, that unless ttie slaves run away, or if they remained on the plantation, the Sn j™ate S0W*rs would put them in the front ranks to be killed first. In this way hundreds of the Conrad slaves were scared away, who would have remained had not this report been circulated. After stripping all of the storehouses, and taking the live stock, they blew up the sugar house and cotton gin.
When the mansion was threatened with bombardment Mr Duncan, who had given a great sum to aid the Confederate cause! (being seventy years of age at the time and too old to enlist) with is daughter left for St. Helena parish which was considered a safer place at that time. Before leaving “The Cottage”, Mr. Duncan came near being captured by Union soldiers, and was saved by the action of a faithful slave, who hid him and prevented his being caught and probably executed for his aid to the Confederates. The old gentleman’s health had been undermined by trials brought on by the war, and he died shortly after hostilities ceased. The loss of his fortune and his other worries all aided to hasten his death.
In the great garden today are traceable the glorious garden of ante-bellum days. A century-old sweet olive tree perfumes the air about the house — it is one of the largest trees of its kind in the state. Many other trees bearing fragrant blossoms make of the place a beauty spot. Some of the rosebushes have stems that are two inches in thickness.
For many years following the war the place lay empty, having only a keeper on the grounds. The fact that the home had been used as a yellow fever hospital, made it a place that tramps avoided, and looters shunned it, fearing to enter, treating it as an accursed place. Thus the beautiful old mansion was saved from having its marble mantels, beautiful ornamental doorways fine transomed entrances, costly hardware, and many other valuable parts stripped as had been done with so many other fine old places. At the death of Mr. Conrad, the property passed to his heirs, who never have permitted the house to fall into ruin.
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Even now it needs only a few minor repairs. At present Mrs. James Bailey, who was the baby of this story, with the aid of her brother and his farm hands, maintains the place on a paying basis. Her brother gave me most of the data about the house and family, when I visited the place on several occasions. He told me that making the place pay is quite an achievement because of the way planters are discriminated against at present, of which fact I too am well aware, and with the competition of sugar from the tropics. Mrs. James J. Bailey, her son and her brother (with her house servants, descendants of old family slaves), live here now and the old place is gradually being carefully restored.
The usual farm noises add to the hominess of the place. A large number of fine looking cattle graze in the field, poultry and pea fowl range about the lawns, in the rear yard an old turkey cock spreading his fan shows the peacock that he too has something to be proud of, while a flock of geese and noisy ducks seem to enjoy the turkey’s performance. Pigeons in great numbers, guinea hens and other denizens of the barn-yard, show that “The Cottage” table still can boast of being well supplied, as in olden days, with a great variety of choice meats, farm delicacies, pigeon pies, squab, roast duck, goose, etc.
“The Cottage” today still remains one of the homes that has held and still holds great allure for tourists, and no doubt will for another century so substantially is it built.
On the monument flanking the Washington tomb at Mount Vernon are carved the names of the members of this branch of the Conrad family who died in Louisiana but were brought to Mount Vernon to be buried — George and Martha Washington alone being buried in the large red brick tomb of the Washingtons, now covered with a heavy mantle of vines.
For many years a large part of the collection of papers, and heirlooms of the Washington and Lewis families belonging to the Conrad family reposed in a fire-proof box in the Art Store (See- bold’s) 166 Canal St., New Orleans, La., until presented to the Mount Vernon Museum by the family of Mrs. Conrad, who lived in the fine three-storied brick mansion facing Lafayette Square now occupied by the new addition of the New Orleans Post Office.
Chapter XVIII.
ON THE WEST BANK — NEAR NEW ORLEANS.
BELLE CHASSE PLANTATION MANOR.
gTANDING alone in but a small part of its once wide spreading acreage, Belle Chasse Manor, at one time the splendid home of Judah P. Benjamin, evokes memories of a man who became a peer among men of two countries.
Belle Chasse is a place of much history and for that reason has been rescued and restored to its present condition. It is hoped that ere long the Judah P. Benjamin Memorial Association, whose able President, General Allison Owen has accomplished so much, may be able to carry to fulfillment the finishing and appropriately refurnishing this ancient home, that it may become a shrine to the memory of this brilliant man who has done so much for Louisiana.
As stated before, it is a place of much history — history of a man of unusual ability, whose devotion to family and state is unsurpassed. A man whose intellect at once caused his rise to fame to become meteoric, and when needed, laid at once his unusual talent undivided at the altar of the “Southern Cause”.
Judah P. Benjamin, distinguished statesman from Louisiana, the son of English Jewish parents, was born on the island of St. Thomas, West Indies. His parents having come to America with their family he was enrolled at Yale University, where he
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displayed unusual ability at the age of fourteen years. Financial difficulties of the family cut short his college course, and feeling confidence in his ability, he started Southward, landing in New Orleans, and with little but his wealth of grey matter that soon made his worth felt.
Obtaining a position in a notary’s office as notarial clerk he soon was able to send himself to law school, attending night classes. Realizing that language was an essential accomplishment, he devoted all of his spare time to this field — and at the age of twenty-one was admitted to the bar.
When he reached the age of twenty-three, with John Slidell, he compiled a digest on the laws of Louisiana. Before long he became a United States Senator, and after some years of unusual success, having accumulated a fortune, decided to purchase a plantation near New Orleans, where he could rest from time to time; and later built the mansion we see today. When the thunderous war clouds threatened to break, he gave his knowledge and sympathy to the Confederate cause, and defended in able and eloquent addresses in the Senate Chamber at Washington, the Cause of the South. At last when he saw that the die was cast, in 1861 he resigned from the United States Senate, and was appointed by the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, Attorney General of the Confederacy. Later he was appointed Secretary of State.
At the collapse of the Confederacy he fled to Florida in disguise, and then to England, where in a few years his brilliancy as a lawyer was recognized by the British. He rapidly rose, later becoming counselor to Queen Victoria, and attained the highest prominence at the English bar. Continuing in active practice until the year 1883, he was made the recipient of the highest honor, a complimentary banquet given in the great hall of the Inner Temple (recently demolished by German bombs), to which some of the greatest legal lights of that date came to do honor. Sir Henry James, rising, after a few preliminary words, asked in ringing tones, “Who is the man, save this one of whom it can be said that he held conspicuous leadership at the bar of two great countries?”
He married Natalie, daughter of August St. Martin, who lived at number 327 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, later the family lived in Paris after Mr. Benjamin retired from his law practice,
Portrait of Judah P. Benjamin, by Rinck. To be hung in the Judah P. Benjamin Plantation Home, now a museum to the memory of the distinguished Statesman from Louisiana.
‘Belle Chasse”, the Old Judah P. Benjamin Plantation Home, as it was originally, showing garden and Box Hedges.
Seven Oaks Plantation Mansion. Built in 1830 for Madame (Widow) Michael Zerinque, later owned by the LaBranch family. (Westwego, La.)
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in a beautiful villa in the Avenue d’Jena. He died in 1884 and is buried in Pere la Chaise Cemetery, where so many immortals lie.
SEVEN OAKS .
Once a magnificent plantation — Seven Oaks now belongs to an oil company whose high oil tanks group themselves about the seven huge oak trees that encompass the splendid old mansion to which they give their name. Known as the old Zerinque Mansion it was built for the widow of Michael Zerinque in 1830. Later it became the home of Lucian LaBranche, a wealthy planter, one of the richest in the state, whose family have married into many local prominent families.
Monsieur LaBranche also invested heavily in the latter part of the 1830’s in property in the French Quarter. An ancestor on his father’s side who came from Germany in 1724 bore the name of Johan Zweig. His son, also named Johan, married a young lady, an orphan brought up by the Ursuline Nuns whose convent was then in Chartres Street. The notary, a Frenchman, drew up the customary marriage contract, and as the notary had trouble in spelling the German surname he translated it into French — the Johan for John being Jean and the Zweig for twig, translated LaBranche — leaving it Jean LaBranche, which it has remained ever afterwards. .Many of the later LaBranches were unable to speak anything but French.
The house, a rather large square structure containing eighteen rooms, quite distinctive, is of the Greek Revival devoid of elaborate details. Its handsome colonnade of immense circular columns of heavy brick work, slate roof and dormers, etc., crowning observatory — all are substantial and dignified in construction. A simple balustrade and plain cornice belies any attempt at ornamentation.
It is a typical home of a wealthy planter and a type one associates with the stories of plantation life. It accords with the riches that poured into Louisiana during its golden era and the large manner of living of that day. The garden is still attractive and the immense old oak trees with their banners of moss give a distinctive, charming note to the settlement of Westwego.
The ancient property holdings of the LaBranche family in the rue Royale New Orleans close by comprise some of the most
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interesting as well as artistic of the more important old residences of the French Quarter. The lace-like iron of balconies and balustrades is some of the finest of its kind in America. These ancient buildings are as beautiful as they were when first completed and cost a fortune at the time they were erected.
ELLINGTON (WITHERSPOON)
^pHIS name does not appear on map of 1858. However, there
is no question but that this interesting plantation house was erected prior to that date.
Framed in a luxuriant growth of foliage, high oak trees, evergreens, tropical greenery and hedges as a center piece it forms a vista from the river road charming indeed. In itself, this beauty spot seems all the more attractive as the surrounding landscape is somewhat neglected acreage, showing signs of long neglect. Enclosed as is the entire house and garden area by a newly painted picket fence, the landscaping of the clumps of foliage is emphasized by the different color values and contrasting greens. With great oaks forming the background and its shading greys, a delightful effect is obtained. Blending with the dark green, the well-kept lawn stands out in the sunshine like velvet carpet. The boundaries of the path leading to the house from the roadway are broken by hedges of green foliage with flowering plants.
A curving stairway leads up to the gallery from either side somewhat after the Italian manner — a type of stairway found from time to time on the fronts of plantation homes.
This graceful stairway leads to the principal rooms of the house located on the second floor, it being of the high basement type house. The facade presents a somewhat classic revival cornice, with a balustrade crowning it, adding to the Italian appearance referred to. The first story finished in a rustic block design of stucco is a little unusual but not pronounced. It all hangs well together, as there is no feature distinctive enough to mar. As a whole the house is in good taste and is a country home unpretentious but of distinct charm. The ground floor is arranged, as houses of that type generally are, with the basement rooms located there. Here is a paved lower gallery and most of the features of the early Louisiana type plantation home.
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The house appears bright and clean from the road side, and in its setting is a pleasing contrast to so many fine old places in utter ruin that one passes on the way. The distant fields give promise of a bumper crop and the great seas of waving cane and the silhouette of sugar house and smoke stacks in the distance add interest to the scene.
The basement is some eighteen feet high with a pavement of twelve-inch squares. Much worn marble slabs form the flooring of the hall way leading across the entire front in the enclosure within the original rustic heavy piers, behind the double front stairway — the former grille area is now entirely closed by a cement facing. Within, a handsome Greek Revival entrance doorway leading to the lower hallway is found where originally were handsomely finished rooms. However, of late years, these rooms have been utilized as a regular basement in which to store farm implements, etc. Above, the many rooms are large and imposing with columned mantels, large sliding doors and good woodwork.
The sides of the house have balconies and the rear of the house has an attractive stairway and rear cornice giving it a handsome appearance. Leading up to this rear entrance is a wide driveway running beneath an avenue of great oak trees that originally connected with the circular driveway from the river road which rounded one side of the old place and made its exit at the other leading to the house from the rear. Beyond this rear avenue of moss-hung oak trees on either side of the road leading to the old sugar house are long rows of ancient slave cabins still in good condition.
RANSON.
On the West bank of the Mississippi River, opposite the d’Estrehan Plantation is the former plantation of the ante-bellum millionaire planter Zenon Ranson who had married Adel Labatut, daughter of General J. B. Labatut, and Marie Felicite St. Martin.
One of their daughters named Lise, married Emile Fossier, and another daughter named Clelie, married Jules Labatut. The marriages of the two heiresses at the same Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans and celebrated at this plantation home with all the pomp and circumstance that an occasion of this kind warranted. It was an era of doing things on a princely scale and Zenon Ranson was profuse in his hospitality.
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
THE KELLER PLANTATION HOME.
Originally built for the Fortier family, according to Miss Marie Marguerite Fortier of the Louisiana State Museum, who furnished photographs for this article, the Keller house, located on the West bank at Hahnville in the St. Charles Parish, La., was built in the latter part of the eighteenth century. It has been occupied by the Keller family for over half a century. Originally this old Louisiana plantation home had many architectural features in common with the Parlange house and Elmswood which burned a year ago. It too like the old Parlange place had originally the usual garconnieres, Pigeonnaires, Coach house and horse stables and other buildings found on large plantations. Here originally were located on the ground floor basement level, the dining room, and wine and service rooms. The kitchen was in a separate building to avoid the danger of fire. We find also quarters for special servants (slaves) . The wine cellars were large and fitted to contain thousands of bottles of wine, and the barrels and hogsheads rested on platforms. The floor of this room is of green and white marble squares, as this was an important department in every wealthy planter’s home. It opened onto the wide brick- paved gallery also into the dining-room. On this ground floor are an immense dining-room, serving room, a service hall with stairway leading to the hall upstairs. A large fireplace in diningroom with one also in each room above. Two sleeping and an auxiliary wine room.
On all sides a wide brick-paved porch surrounded by circular pillars with bases and caps. Upstairs are a large living room or parlor which opens from a small square hall with stairway, six bed chambers and the usual wide gallery surrounded by the usual collonettes. Two stairways lead to this floor from the floor below. The floors of the galleries are of wide cypress planking above exposed beams, with beams exposed also in other parts. The stairway of good design is well placed to show the charm of the fine construction and beautifully modelled handrail and balusters, all of choice wood. The interior upstairs, like the rooms below, has a simple dignified finish, all rooms leading to the gallery. Simply designed mantels, door and window frames with woodwork are of cypress sparingly used. The side walls which are plastered, still retain the original wall paper. The window
EVERGREEN PLANTATION, built about 1840 for Ralph Brou. (For details see “White Pillars”
by L. Frazer Smith, A, I. A.)
St. Joseph Plantation Manor, a -gift of Valcour Aime to his daughter.
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draperies and furnishings are mostly the original ones which it is stated were imported from France, as were the marble floor pavement squares and slates that covered the roof.
The Keller Plantation was once called the Pelican Plantation and even before that “Concession”. It was a grant from the Spanish government and it was built by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Edmond Fortier in 1801. Their ten children were born on this plantation. Louis Edmond Fortier was the first son of Colonel Michel Fortier, Sr., who was Captain in the Campaigns of Bemado de Galvez — 1779-81.
Five generations of the Haydels and Brou families were born on this plantation. Last owners of the old plantation were Mr. and Mrs. Ambroise Brou, Mrs. Brou having been a Miss Seraphine Becnel of St. Charles Parish. (Information in this chapter was obtained from Miss Marie Marguerite Fortier of the Louisiana State Museum.)
Chapter XIX.
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EVERGREEN PLANTATION.
THE attractive old mansion attached to this plantation was built about 1840 for Ralph Brou. It is of the Greek Revival type of two stones, brick construction. Tall Doric columns of brick stucco support the wide galleries. An attractive dormered-hipped roof crowned by a balustrade, and the beautiful single-curved out- side stairway make of the house an unusually attractive one. Before being allowed to fall into ruin it was a most attractive place having all of the out-buildings usually attached to a fine country home well designed and well built of brick. Here we find the carriage house, barns, pigeonnaires, and toilet house, planned in attractive Greek Revival design.
Without a doubt Evergreen is one of the most interesting of the old plantations on the West bank of the Mississippi River. It is located in the Parish of St. John the Baptist. While not built on the massive scale of Oak Alley, Belle Grove, or Nottaway, it was a place planned with equal elaboration of house grouping as at Constancia. Like Constancia the garden plan was most elaborate, and it must have been very beautiful in the heyday of its glory, only traces of which now remain. Driveways, walks and communicating pathways were laid out in a formal manner, as one finds frequently in Italy in the ancient gardens attached to the great villas. Instead of the great oak avenue leading to the plantation manor, a typical garden plan similar to Versailles in France fronted the manor with numerous flower beds, fountains mid other garden conceits outlined by gravelled and bricked walks. The avenues of trees were on the outer edges of the garden and
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extended far beyond the manor in the rear where another smaller garden similarly planned was found. These avenues, three on each side of the Manor, extended back to the cane fields, enclosing the entire garden plan front and rear. Important garconniers, pigeonnaires, offices, and additional buildings set in the grounds with mathematical precision and designed along classic lines, formed an imposing whole as at Constancia. The rows of slave cabins, planned between the last two avenues of great trees faced each other. They were located convenient to the fields and far enough away to prevent any odors reaching the big house.
On close inspection one finds that the present manor house which with its attractive roof deck dating from the early part of the 19th century, is of later construction than the surrounding buildings in the plan just described. From the details it apparently belonged to a house which this present one replaced.
In the vicinity are other plantation homes built along the lines of the old Fortier house, at present called “Home Place” or the Keller place, with out-buildings showing the same details as is found in those attached to Evergreen. It is possible that the Evergreen manor was remodeled as The Hermitage in Ascension Parish had been when the great wave of wealth prompted the planters to improve their plantation homes. This had been done at Elmwood near New Orleans, destroyed by fire a year ago, but since rebuilt on a less pretentious scale last year.
Evergreen recently was used as a school building, but at present lies empty.
Among the papers of many old plantation families one often finds plans of these splendid old plantations with detailed descriptions.
VALCOUR AIME PLANTATION “The Little Versailles ”.
No plantation in all Louisiana has about it as intriguing a history as has this ancient place, which today is but a memory. Whether it be in the plantation country, New Orleans, or some smaller Louisiana city, one invariably meets with some handsome piece of furniture, or other article that is associated with this famous plantation.
It seems to be not definitely known whether this handsome
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old plantation mansion was built for Don Francisco A imp, and later altered, when inherited by his son the princely Valcour Aime, known far and wide for his courtly manners, great wealth, and extravagant manner of living. Don Francisco Aime was an immensely wealthy sugar planter whose fortune had been doubled in the days when indigo was the leading industry in Louisiana, and before the invasion of the indigo bug which threatened to ruin Louisiana.
Don Francisco Aime, or as the French have it, Francois A imp, married Maria Julia Fortier, only daughter of Michel Fortier and Marie Rose Durel — Michel Fortier having been a merchant who became a ship owner and amassing a fortune in this venture. Valcour Aime was bom in Louisiana, but it is not positively known, whether on his father’s plantation or in New Orleans where his parents had a town house. The year of his birth is given as 1798, and he was christened Gabriel, which name later was changed to Valcour. Later his own son was named Gabriel
Valcour Aime was in many ways like the son of another immensely wealthy planter, Bernard de Marginy. Both highly educated, cultured gentlemen loving the fine things of life, lived the lives of extravagant noblemen with no thought of the cost, providing pleasure and beauty were there, be it feast or costly gift to friend or some member of the family.
But Valcour Aime created a vast fortune out of his inheritance of one hundred thousand dollars, instead of squandering it as Bernard de Marigny did his many millions left him by his father. Once having full sway over the plantation Valcour A imp managed it in a manner that made it a veritable gold mine. His father had died while he was quite young, and his mother had him educated by special tutors brought from Europe. They apparently did not neglect their duty, for Valcour Aime was a highly educated gentleman. Shortly after reaching manhood and coming into his inheritance he married Josephine Roman, a sister of a neighbor, the immensely wealthy Telesphore Roman who owned a palatial home on an adjoining plantation. It was then that the original plantation home of his father, Francois Aime, was practically rebuilt. When completed it was considered the most costly and elegant plantation home in Louisiana, a state known far and wide for the grandeur and size of its plantation homes.
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Thousands of acres were added to the already large plantation until Aime’s acres numbered some nine thousand, most of which were under cultivation. He also greatly increased the size of his sugar mills and the number of his house slaves, garden and yard men, and field hands so that all could be properly attended to. He provided comfortable cabins for his slaves as he was a kind and generous master.
Great rear wings were added to the mansion, forming a court in the center, where the pavement was of black and white marble. Elaborate large parterres were laid out between the marble walks, and an elaborately carved marble stairway replaced the original mahogany one. Marble hallways were on the lower floor and a large number of white marble urns and statues surrounded the several circular fountain basins placed about the grounds. There were eight immense rooms in the main building, with four more on each floor in each wing. Kitchen, service quarters and slave rooms were in separate buildings some distance from the house. Rebuilt on palatial lines, it was refurnished in a regal manner, and so beautiful and costly was its interior and furnishings, that many of his friends felt that he was ruining himself in his extravagances. The marble mantels and crystal chandeliers wTere magnificent, and the immense mantel and pier mirrors with real gold leaf frames were some of the finest ever imported. The mirrors in the dining room reflected the guests at table, as in the ancient chateau de Rochefocault in the Rue Varennes Old Paris of which this room was a reproduction.
Many are the stories told of the banquets given by Valcour Aime in honor of the three royal refugees. And it is true that some of the greatest banquets ever given in America up to that date were given by Valcour Aime in this dining room. But as Valcour Aime was an infant at the time the royal visitors came to America, he did not entertain them.
In this prosaic age, the stories of his endless magnificence and extravagance seem like fairy tales, but a half dozen well- known writers whose veracity we do not question, confirm them.
This plantation was a good example of the immense fortune to be made easily from a large plantation properly managed and slaves kindly treated and cared for.
It was not an unusual thing for a wealthy planter on return-
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in g from his yearly trip to Europe to bring back to family and friends magnificent gifts costing many thousands of dollars, splendid mantel sets worth thousands of dollars, beautiful jewelry, rare and costly laces, silverware, in fact anything that was fine and beautiful regardless of cost. The libraries of Southern planters at that date equalled any of the private ones in the world, with the exception of those of the royal houses and the greatest nobles of Europe. Millions of dollars worth of fine and rare books were shipped North when taken from the great plantations, when Sherman began his March to the Sea. All of the fine libraries of every plantation in every Southern state was stripped of their books before the building was put to the torch. The value of rare books was well known in the North and hundreds of libraries intact were shipped there from the South. Today comparatively few of the original great number of fine old libraries remain.
Those unfamiliar with the lavishness of ante-bellum plantation days, readily scoff at the tales that are told of the wealth of the era, just as they do at any reference to ancestry of outstanding families. They prefer to hold up some insignificant wealthy upstart as a type of the ante-bellum planter.
Adjoining the land of splendid old “Oak Alley” plantation, or Beau Sejour as it was originally called, is “Little Versailles” in the midst of an ancient grove of old oaks dying from neglect. In an overgrowth of underbrush is all that remains of Valcour Aime’s magnificent home. All that can be seen is the crumbling brickwork, outlines of old flowerbeds once filled with a riot of costly plants, marble statuary, fountains, winding walks, streams, and grottoes — all densely hidden in a thick growth that forms a wilderness. Nothing remains of the mansion with marble floors where the banquets were on a par with the state banquets in the royal palace of France. A French gardener, a landscapist, was imported to lay out the grounds, and surrounding the mansion was one of the finest botanical gardens in America of that day. Among the trees and underbrush one still can find traces of many garden conceits, broken marble urns, stained and crumbling marble garden benches, parts of old fountains of which there were many about the grounds, and parts of an old masonry bridge of elaborate design near the ruins of an old gazebo. The place no doubt
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as elaborate and beautiful as its name suggests. The stories told about the ancient mansion, are legion, for in reality it was a veritable palace within as well as without.
On Norman's map of 1858 the Valcour Aime plantation is located directly opposite to Belle Alliance Plantation, one that was equally fine as the old mansion of the same name on Bayou Lafourche, but owned by another family — G. Mather & Son and of Madame (Widow) Trudeau. On the Valcour Aime place was the St. James Sugar refinery (largest in America at that date), and the acreage of the plantation was some 9,000 acres. At that date the plantation of Fortier Brothers, and that of the William Priestly Heirs, separated the land of Valcour Aime from the estate of Jean Telesphore Roman (Oak Alley Plantation) belonging at present to the Andrew Stewart's.
In 1860 J. W. Dorr, a newspaper man, correspondent for the New Orleans Crescent, writes in reference to Jefferson College, across the river.
This institution was not in operation for a lengthened period, but the buildings and grounds having been purchased by Mr. Valcour Aime, a wealthy and public-spirited gentleman of the parish, it was reopened later in the fall with Mr. Hugue as President. The buildings are roomy, substantial and in thorough repair, and every way calculated for the purpose of an educational institution. There are about fifty students attending this first term of the college. If there were enough such men in the South there would be no lack of educational advantages.
At that date most of the sons of the wealthy planters were educated either abroad, or at colleges further North, or in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Many like Valcour Aime had private tutors.
CIVIL WAR DAYS WITH THEIR TERROR AT THE VALCOUR AIME PLANTATION
Alcee Fortier, son of Edwige Aime, a daughter of Valcour Aime, writes :
How well do I remember of the flight of our whole family (while the Federal Troops during the Civil War were bombarding the plantation) to the river front to seek protection of the levee whenever a gunboat was coming
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There where we stood behind the levee, my sisters and myself, our schoolmistress and our nurses, while our father stood on the levee to look at the gunboats and at the shells that generally passed over our heads, but occasionally were buried in the levee and covered us with dust. Our home was never touched by the shells, but the houses of a number of our people, our relatives, were considerably damaged.
I remember seeing cart loads of shells strewn in the yards. I remember also the holes dug in the ground covered with beams and several feet of earth, the inside arranged like a comfortable room and filled with provisions of all kinds.
Then came the Federal soldiers in garrison on the plantation spurred on by the Federals, the insolence of some of the liberated slaves, the temporary arrest of my father and grandfather, almost laughable, the serio-comic scenes at the provost marshalls court. Then the flight of the family to the Teche and the pillage by the conquering army; the return home, and then complete ruin.
From this ruin we sons of rich planters, have now partially recovered, and the men who were boys in 1862 do not keep any unkind remembrances of war times.
The Valcour Aime plantation was purchased by the Miles Planting & Manufacturing Company while the Houmas plantation was under the management of Colonel Porcher Miles, and added to the holdings of the plantation now known as the Burnside Plantation at Burnside, Louisiana.
The late Madame Andrew Fortier, mother of Andrew Fortier and Mrs. Mortimer Walton — a relative of the late Professor Alcee Fortier — gave the following vivid account of the destruction of the plantation after the fall of New Orleans which she read in her father’s diary, he being an eye witness to the occurrences:
Barge after barge chained together forming a long line between the Albatross and other gun boats, drew into sight. Many of the barges were piled high already when they reached my father’s plantation. Great masses of plows, cutters and agricultural implements of all kinds that had been confiscated at the different plantations and were being taken from Louisiana plantations to the farms of the North in the Union area. Other barges likewise were piled high with household furniture of every description, and one could see that it consisted. of the finest kind of beautiful carved mahogany and rosewood furniture. Great elaborately carved pieces of finest workmanship that must have cost a small fortune. Sofas, arm chairs, tables and bed room pieces, all magnificent, of their kind covered in finest brocade, piled high with large gold leaf mirrors and pier glasses. Family portraits and other works of art and a large number of barrels filled with fine bric-a-brac and clocks. Also hogsheads filled with family
VALCOUR AIME.
MADAME VALCOUR AIME.
Melle. Josephine Roman who became Madame Valcour Aime, with her mother. (Courtesy of La. Historical Society.) (Courtesy of B. R. Foster Historical Museum.)
Old rustic stone bridge-garden of “Petit Versailles.”
OAK ALLEY (BEAU
St. James Parish.
Dining Room of Oak Alley where great banquets were constantly held ini antebellum days. Much entertaining is still being done at Oak Alley. (Courtesy of Mrs. Andrew Stewart.)
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silver and china, all taken from homes they had swept clean thusly before they were fired on and burned. Other lines of carts and wagons to which were joined the long strings of cattle, horses and mules on the river road were being driven northward. These carts and wagons were being filled with the contents of the smoke houses and plantation store rooms. It seems that only the pigeons escaped, they fleeing from the vicinity, when the booming started.
On the barges were large placards hearing the wording: “To the captor belongs the spoils”.
With the stripping of the plantations of everything movable and destruction of the sugar mills and cotton gins, the Union forces were making sure that the South would be unable to carry on.
The loyalty of the old negro slave house servants was a thing that the Union forces could not understand, as in innumerable instances they suffered all kinds of indignities even death in striving to save the lives and property of the masters and mistresses. One old negro butler on a plantation belonging to the Forstall family, allowing a Union soldier to shoot him, rather than tell where his master was hidden, or where his mistress had secreted her money, jewels and silverware. Madame Forstall not being on the plantation, having gone to Bayou Lafourche, and Mr. Forstall being ill had come back to the plantation on a furlough. Another family slave relating the incident, the dying faithful slave telling it before breathing his last. (For further data on Valcour Aime Plantation see Mrs. Ripley’s “Social Life in Old New Orleans” — Her visit to the plantation.)
OAK ALLEY Originally BEATJ SEJOUR St. James Parish.
Once again restored to its original magnificence, Beau Sejour mansion, as it was called when first completed, stands today in all the glory of its pristine beauty, one of the most satisfying examples still remaining in Louisiana of the homes of the Golden Era.
For a number of reasons this ancient plantation and its stately manor form such a splendid page in the history of old Louisiana plantation life. First of all, because Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart, who have owned the plantation for a number of years, have restored the old mansion to its original beauty and charm. Secondly, in the furnishings they have adhered closely to the style in which it was equipped originally, and the choicest furniture still fill the splendid spacious rooms throughout. Thirdly, the plantation of some two thousand acres is in many ways
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typical of the great ante-bellum plantations. Its various departments furnish besides great crops of cane, corn, rice, fruit and vegetables of all descriptions, nuts, timber, cattle, pork, poultry in a great variety — in fact everything needed to supply the needs of a menage such as is conducted by the Stewarts who entertain on a lavish scale throughout the year — both host and hostess being popular members of the social sets of New Orleans and other Southern cities. Mrs. Stewart’s gardens, a paradise of beautiful flowering plants and greenery, are famous, and pilgrimages are made there constantly by visiting strangers as well as by members of the local garden society to view their beauty. Mrs. Stewart, a member of the Garden Society of America, is a most gracious hostess, and most agreeable about permitting visitors who come introduced to view her beautiful garden grounds.
When a banquet or entertainment of any size is in progress, in the house and grounds is recreated the atmosphere of old plantation days. In the setting that this home provides again are reenacted scenes of long ago when the ancient home was in the hey-day of its glory. The spacious hallways, lofty drawing-rooms and banquet room scintillate with the brilliancy of reflected light and color from the thousands of crystal prisms. Again charming vistas are reflected in the great mirrors in gilt frames that adorn mantels and walls. The rooms, planned as they were for entertaining on a large scale, when filled with beautiful costumed figures flitting back and forth create a picture of surpassing charm. Outside the wonderful avenue winds through a setting which is almost theatrical when enlivened by groups strolling among the garden beds and pleached walks.
Oak Alley is named from the magnificent avenue of oaks that lead up from the river-road to the mansion. The ancient avenues of cypress and other trees found on the country estates of Italy are the nearest in magnificence to this venerable oak avenue near Vacherie. The only rival in Louisiana is the one of the “Pack- enham Oaks” at Chalmette, named for the British General who fell mortally wounded there.
There are numerous oak avenues still standing in Louisiana, but they are not nearly so perfect or well kept. In riding through the plantation country of this state one is surprised at the number that are left. In many instances no plantation house at all
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remains — only charred and blackened foundations and the remnants of chimneys. Invariably one is told the mansion was burned by Federal soldiers on Sherman’s order — a few places accidently fired. Here and there in an old negro cabin one detects what was once a handsome piece of rosewood or mahogany furniture. When they see you admiring it they will tell you, “Grandpa sneaked these pieces when the Yankees made us give them a hand in putting the master’s things on the flatboats before burning the big house.”
At Oak Alley the number of old oak trees correspond to the number of great columns around the house — and the number twenty-eight is again repeated in the original number of negro cabins in the rear. The oak avenue is estimated to be 250 years old. Who was the early colonist that planted the great avenue of oaks? Historical research has failed to shed any light, and at present his name is not known. Many of the courthouse records showing the titles to great estates were destroyed during the carpet bagger’s reign in the South.
The Oak Alley mansion has often been mistaken for the old plantation home of Andre Roman, twice Governor of Louisiana from 1831 to 1843. Norman, on his detailed map of the plantations on the Mississippi River from Natchez to New Orleans, published in 1858, shows the present Oak Alley plantation to be the J. T. Roman plantation, which was much larger and which lies some distance to the north. In this order there are Bay Tree plantation, the property of Choppin and Roman; then the large plantation of Delongny and son; next a small plantation owned by V. Choppin; another large plantation holding of Choppin and Roman; and then the plantation of the widows C. M. and L. A. Cantrell, which brings us to the very large acreage of Governor A. B. Roman.
Jacques Roman, the builder of Beau Sejour, or Oak Alley as we now know it, was the grandson of Jacques Roman a Frenchman who had come to Louisiana in 1740, locating in New Orleans where he reared a family in what is now known as the “French Quarter.” A son, named after his father, having finished his education and preferring the out-of-doors life of a country gentleman to that of the city one, after visiting various sections of the state decided to locate in the Attapas country. This is the
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finest cattle grazing section of the state, in fact by many it is considered the best land for raising cattle in the South.
This adventurous member of Jacques Roman's family visualized the opportunities that lay ahead. With a new country opening up and thousands of people to be fed daily, he chose then, instead of being a sugar planter, to become a cattle rancher, as he felt he could always become a sugar planter as members of his family had done, if he did not succeed as a rancher. His choice proved to be wise for in a few years he had amassed a great fortune. With money at his command, a fearless spirit and a determination not to be outwitted by simple brute strength, he dealt with cattle thieves in a ruthless manner, always seeing that no injustice was done. He soon had little to fear from their depredations.
His herds soon made him cattle king of the region. He treated his numerous cattle men, cow boys as they were termed in the West, with consideration, paying them a yearly bonus which gave him protection for his property, and enabled him to amass money readily.
. While his greatest interest lay in his cattle ranch, he spent a great deal of his time visiting his relatives, who like the Brin- gier family, were founding a dynasty on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It was among these relatives that the grandson of the Jacques Telesphore Roman the I, the third of the name, born in Opelousas was never allowed to forget that being a planter was a calling that befitted his station as long as he had not chosen a learned profession or the Army. Planting had always been considered the occupation of a gentleman when the menial work was supervised and done by others. Jacques Roman III was to become a planter as well as cattle man. Having amassed a fortune in sugar also which combined with his ranching money and a large inheritance from his father, he proposed to build a fine house, and chose a site among the plantations of his relatives for the new home. The place he selected was that built upon in 1690 by an early French settler. This pioneer, whose name is unknown, had cleared the land and had built a primitive dwelling on the spot where the present mansion stands. This early type of house eventually developed as the years passed into the one
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known as early Louisiana type, and of which many are still standing.
In front of this primitive home he planted an avenue of trees that led down to the front entrance at the river side for as yet no river-road existed. He had seen avenues in France which he had tried to copy, but it is doubtful if he had ever seen any that was to compare with what his avenue turned out to be.
These trees had already become great oaks when the place was purchased in 1832 by Jacques Roman III, and it was their magnificence which attracted him. Throughout the entire length of the long avenue of oak trees, Jacques Roman with slave labor laid a wide brick pavement of herring-bone design, as a walkway on either side with a driveway in the center paved with clam shells. This afforded a delightful promenade in olden days but now is replaced by a velvety carpet of Bermuda grass, for the bricks were eventually carted away during the many years that the place was unoccupied. The primitive house was demolished and an architect named George Swaney was given the commission of planning and supervising the construction of the new mansion. In spite of these facts for many years guides have been calling the place the old Governor Roman home and saying that it was designed by James Gallier.
As in the case of most of the great mansions, this place was erected in part with slave labor. It had its own brick kiln and saw mills, the boards being sawn by hand, from which came the material used in the building, while the factory work all handmade, marble mantels, etc., came from the North or were imported. When completed the mansion was practically as we see it today with the exception of service buildings that have been removed.
That no expense was spared in the construction of the home can be readily seen if the details are examined. It must have taken a number of years to build, so solidly and beautifully has everything been executed.
The mansion, surrounded by its twenty-eight massive columns, is architecturally without a peer in the state. Restored* as it has been by Armstrong and Koch, New Orleans architects, with * On an inner side of a large panelled door on the right wall of the upper hall, as you face the river, carefully preserved, is a record of when the old mansion was restored on various occasions.
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nothing changed, it is a magnificent example of the Classic Revival in Louisiana with great care given to the perfection of its details.
It stands four square — its wide galleries supported by the massive columns which completely surround the house. These wide galleries are as cool as a grotto even on the hottest days, as river breezes temper the atmosphere at all times. The exterior balustrades are of beautifully carved cypress and show a design of wheat sheaves. The wide side lights and fan-transomed doorways of upper and lower entrances, front and rear, have classic columns and delicately carved beading. From the brick-paved lower verandas one enters an immense hall towards the rear part of which the stairway winds from the left to the floor above, and again to the attic where one finds that another equally long and wide hallway divides the space into a number of rooms. From these attic rooms a total of twelve dormer windows jut out from the roof furnishing air, light and comfort to these various rooms. Another stairway leads to the balustraded observatory on the roof.
Throughout the house today one finds that the furnishings are of the proper period and very beautiful. Each of the rooms is fitted with attractive antiques, fine paintings, rare bric-a-brac, handsome mirrors, drapes and carpets.
While the rear buildings which contained the service quarters and garconniers no longer stand, they are not missed. Corresponding to the oak avenue in front is a long avenue in the rear edged with a wealth of tropical greenery.
Planned for entertaining on a lavish scale, this old home was for many years the scene of an almost continuous whirl of social activity. Madame Jacques Telesphore Roman, assisted by her able husband, entertained many distinguished personages then. However, the Royal Trio who came to Louisiana, and were entertained on such a regal scale by the wealthy planters did not visit Beau Sejour, for the simple reason that this house was not built until 1832. Nevertheless, it was one of the greatest social centers on the West coast of the Mississippi River, continuing as such until the outbreak of the Civil War. As a result of the Southern reverses and their determined adherence to the Southern Cause, the once great fortune of the entire Roman clan was swept away.
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During the Reconstruction Period and the years following, the plantation and the fine old mansion was shifted from one owner to another until finally it was purchased by a gentleman named Sobral. This family once again gave life to the place while the new owner by his wise management caused the plantation to flourish as formerly. He refurnished the mansion, and attempted to restore the old social life but it was too soon after hostilities. The neighboring plantations were still mostly wrecks and all of the great families were impoverished, in deep mourning and took little interest in the social affairs of that era. The Sobrals, who were from the tropics, after a few years saw the uselessness of trying to bring back the old social life, again abandoned the place to a series of new owners. During all the years that the various occupants lived in the place after the Sobrals left, no attempt was made to keep the place in repair. Roofs began to leak, windows were shattered and rain wrought havoc with the splendid rooms. Bats, birds and even reptiles made it their habitat. Plaster had fallen in all of the rooms and much of the fine hardware was being stripped from the house and carried away. Moss gatherers made the empty old mansion their headquarters, and the making of fires on several occasions came near being the cause of setting the place on fire. Finally it was boarded up and the moss gatherers compelled to find other quarters. At this time neglect too began to tell on the magnificent oak avenue which gave evidences of the ravages of decay. The trees were literally covered with moss which sapped the vitality of the stately avenue. A wild tangle of weeds and underbrush was rapidly destroying every vestige of the once beautiful garden. Marble statuary, seats and ornamental urns had been carried away and it looked like the old mansion would be dismantled. Then in the nick of time, as it were, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart, the present owners, bought it. They employed a local architectural firm that specializes in restoring homes and buildings, and told them to restore the old house to its original beauty and charm. The moss was removed from the trees and tree surgeons were put to work pruning and trimming with the beautiful results we see today.
All rotted and termite eaten wood-work was removed. At all times the greatest care taken to remove only what was absolutely necessary and it was replaced exactly as it was originally. With
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a new roof of the same material as the originally one — work was started in earnest, and while the cost was enormous, results proved so satisfactory that little heed was given to outlay.
Today Oak Alley is a “piece of the old South” and future ages will see there how people of that day lived. As a period of American life and a culture unrivalled now so completely annihilated that only straggling fragments remain, Oak Alley is a complete museum, a historical record, a treasure house of Louisiana's Past.
HOME PLACE
The owners of Home Place on the west bank of the Mississippi River were Eugenie Forstall Choppin and her husband, Valerian Choppin, who built the magnificent mansion as a present for his wife. As was the custom when slave labor was partly used, most of the fine cypress, bricks, etc., came from the land, the beautiful white marble mantels imported from Italy and the silver-plated hardware and cabinet work bought from factories in the north.
The house was unusually handsome within, with much fine carved woodwork about the door frames and window casements. All of the rooms were of immense size and the very wide winding stairway was imported from France. When finished Mr. and Mrs. Valerian Choppin spent a year in Paris selecting magnificent furnishings for the home, most of which were of the Empire period with costly hand-chased fire-gilt mountings. Much of this was later scattered among descendants.
The family, one of the most aristocratic as well as wealthiest in the state at that time, fitted up their plantation home on the same scale of magnificence displayed in the Forstall mansion in St. Louis Street, New Orleans. The clock sets on the mantels of the various rooms were magnificent, as were the bronzes, paintings, bric-a-brac and silver. The dinner sets had the crest and coat-of-arms on each piece. Home Place was indeed a palace within.
The receptions, balls and soirees were attended by the exclusive social set of the South, and in this beautiful home there was a continual whirl of social events throughout the years.
An attractive Reception Salon of Oak Alley. Portrait of Mrs. Andrew Stewart by Edith Duggan, over mantel.
( Courtesy
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GOVERNOR ANDRE ROMANfS PLANTATION
Governor Roman’s plantation is shown on Norman’s Plantation Map of 1858 to be an immense place located directly opposite to St. Michael’s town — across the river now known as Convent.
According to his grand-daughter, the late Madame Anna de Lavillebeuvre Hyman of New Orleans, the ancient home of her grandfather was constructed very much on the same lines as “Oak Alley.” It was probably not so large, as the Governor also had a splendid home in the Rue Royal — number 611 which is still standing — where he did the greater part of his entertaining dur- the winter. He preferred to recuperate at his plantation home in the summer time when he did not go abroad.
Madame deL. Hyman described the place as being very beautiful with great oaks about it, but did not say it had an avenue of oaks. This was in 1915. The place had passed out of the possession of the family, but it was still standing in a very dilapidated condition at that tim**
The de Lavillebeuvre Hyman’s old fashioned home in Second and Prytania Streets at that date was filled with a magnificent collection of family heirlooms from the Roman and de Lavillebeuvre families. Most of these were museum pieces.
In the ancient three-storied brick structure at number 611 Rue Royal, Governor Roman gave many a grand banquet for government officials, important visitors, and the social elite of the state. Balls for the belles of the city and debutante receptions for members of his large family were numerous, and throughout the year the mansion was the scene of continuous festivity. The plantation — one of the very large ones of the state — supplied most of the game, poultry, meats, vegetables, and fruits for these occasions. But of all the great affairs that he and his gracious wife gave in this interesting home none appeared to give this distinguished host and hostess as much pleasure and satisfaction as the banquet given in honor of James J. Audubon, the great naturalist, when he again returned to New Orleans in 1837, after he had successfully published the elephant edition of his “Birds of America”.
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From the first, Governor Roman had been an ardent supporter of Audubon, and not only aided the struggling artist from his own purse, but made his family contribute, and was instrumental in having the state of Louisiana officially subscribe to the publication of this world famous work.
Chapter XX.
ON THE WEST BANK — ABOVE DONALDSONVILLE.
EVAN HALL .
QRIGINALLY a plantation belonging to Desire Le Blanc who
had received the land as a grant from the Spanish Crown, Evan Hall later was purchased by Evan Jones from the heirs of the first owner.
Evan Hall Plantation from the time it was first laid out has always been one of Louisiana’s great plantation properties. About fifteen years ago it was sold by the McCall family. Until then it was a notable social center, as the McCalls are related to many of the leading families of the state.
The present plantation home built many years ago is of a modified Greek Revival type of architecture. Several feet from the ground, there are the regulation wide galleries, and the house is surrounded by an attractive garden.
BELLE GROVE PLANTATION
West Bank of the Mississippi River
Belle Grove is unquestionably the most ornate plantation mansion ever built in Louisiana. It stands today in its crumbling state as a symbol of the dilapidation and ruin that followed the Civil War.
Mansions like this were meant for days of the “ancient regime” when thousands of acres worked by hundreds of slaves produced incomes sufficient to maintain homes of this sort in the grand manner. Household slaves were numbered by the dozen and stable men, yard servants, gardeners, etc., were twice as numerous.
John Andrews, aristocratic millionaire of Virginia, following
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the example of so many prominent Virginians and Carolinians, came to the far South, where the rich alluvial soil produced crops that doubled a fortune in a year. He brought with him his slaves and money and in 1850 purchased a seven-thousand-acre tract on the Mississippi River in the parish of St. John the Baptist. He called in James Gallier, Sr., the noted architect of that day, and told him to build as magnificent a home as possibly could be constructed. From what we have seen of the Gallier’s (father and son) architecture, we must conclude that Andrews definitely told him to make the building ornate.
In 1857 John Andrews’ mansion stood complete. It is one of the most ornate of all the plantation homes in the South. Constructed at a time when wealth accumulated quickly and plantation mansions on a grander scale than ever before were being built. It would seem that each newly finished mansion was more elaborte than the one finished previously, some of them becoming “show” mansions instead of the dignified and substantial homes planned in the pure Greek revival style which had distinguished the houses in the beginning.
Belle Grove exhibits the full-blown floral exuberance of the Greek revival with all the elaborate ornamentation that the sophisticated Corinthian design has to offer. Harmonious as a whole when viewed from the lawn, its immense proportions in its original setting of oaks and splendid garden seemed magnificent.
However, after we study the overwrought grandeur of Belle Grove we feel grateful to the Galliers, father and son, as well as to the other architects, who reared so many beautiful mansions in the South that the taste for sumptuous plantation houses was tempered by designs with lines of simpler form.
An architect, viewing the place when I visited it last, stated that “he had heard” that the semi-circle addition on the left side of the building near the front was a later addition — to supply a bath room which had been omitted on the original plan. But even the Corinthian columned and pilastered entrance to it from the drawing room, failed to convince me that the unsightly protuberance was a part of the original residence. Anyone familiar with Gallier’s work, knows that it was not his work. His plan of the City Hall in New Orleans precludes the possibility of Gallier being guilty of such an architectural atrocity. Gallier was too good an
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architect to have his memory marred by attributing such a monstrosity to him.
Considering that Mr. Andrews, like many Virginians and Carolinians — admired this ornate type of home — Gallier has come away a winner. One doubts if any architect of his time could have done nearly as well as he has under the circumstances. All the elaboration melts away in the distance owing to the huge size of the mansion.
Originally an avenue of oak trees a mile long lead up to the entrance steps, and it widened out in front to allow a full view of the mansion from the river and road. A wide space was reserved for the lawn parties and games so popular at that date.
The place, constructed with the strength of a fortress, rests on basement foundations ten feet high. In this basement as in most large plantation houses of that and earlier dates, were dungeons with barred windows to provide for unruly slaves. Other basement rooms also occupy this area. On the north side of the house is a wing with two great verandas enclosed by tall fluted columns with Corinthian caps and pilasters, which support a cornice as do the thirty-foot columns in the front.
Rotting on the ground are elaborately carved acanthus leaf brackets that once supported the gallery above, and there are remnants of what were beautiful little garden enclosures. The elaboration of the facade is repeated on the porches on the right side but it is handled in such a splendid manner that it in no way detracts from the imposing front. The great wings of the house project to the side in the rear, but the opposite one is torn down and leaves a big gap in the place. The home has all the ostentatious pomposity of a sophisticated town house. No one could feel at home in this big house so it has not appealed to a purchaser in recent years. Besides with its 75 rooms it is entirely too large to be maintained by any one in this day of high priced domestics.
Within the house a greater dissolution greets the eye than we find on the outside. Goats and chickens roam the spacious columned and pilastered rooms and hallways, and bats fly from drawing rooms and spacious banquet hall.
The banquet hall ceiling drops plaster as do most rooms of the place, an evidence of the damage wrought by the elements during the past twelve years. Decay has played havoc everywhere.
The detail of wood carving and plaster work is very fine
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throughout employing Grecian motives. From the lunettes one can get detailed measurements of the monster hand-carved cypress Corinthian capitals which are six feet in height and apparently in good condition. In the attic one sees construction so massive that if it is not demolished its walls and chimneys will stand another century.
A color print of Belle Grove in 1858 shows the mansion, its great sugar house and mill, its fields of cane and the slave quarters. It is also shown on Norman’s map. When completed stables were erected to house the owner’s blooded stock from which came many famous winners. His private race track was one of the finest in the state.
Once finished the mansion was furnished in a luxurious manner — in keeping with its palatial rooms. The furniture was ornately carved instead of the simple designed rosewood and mahogany furniture usually found in plantation homes. There was much use of gold leaf, and there were costly brocades and paintings by noted artists.
. J3eu.e
Mr. Andrews and his family enjoyed but a brief stay in their great mansion, for hardly had he gotten everything in working order when the thunderous guns of war boomed, tearing the social structure of the South asunder and impoverishing land owners far and wide. John Andrews had his fortune swept away. His plantations, his home and its contents passed to Henry Ware, a capitalist whose family had been prominent in Louisiana since the American Revolution. In 1868 Mr. Ware became the owner of Belle Grove plantation. It remained in the possession of the Ware family, James A. Ware finally becoming sole owner.
When the war clouds had cleared the mansion again became a great social center. The marriage of Colonel Ware to Miss Eliza Stone, daughter of the wealthy and socially prominent physician
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and planter of Iberville Parish, took place there. Now began the real social life of Belle Grove. The many beautiful wedding gifts, together with heir-looms that came from the Ware and Stone families combined with fine silver, crystal, etc., selected from original furnishings of the home made it a palace indeed. Banquet followed banquet, ball followed ball, reception followed reception — the gala days of old seemed to return again. However, such gaity existed only in spots in the plantation area, as the destruction of the South had been too complete, and too many families still in deep mourning for lost father, husband, sons and brothers to have much heart for such gaiety. Colonel Ware’s stables were famous for his many thoroughbreds.
Mrs. Tilton, who gave the Tilton library as a memorial to her
husband to Tulane University, also a close friend of Mrs. Ware _
entertained jointly with her at magnificent banquets in later years in New Orleans after Col. Ware’s death. They used their own splendid silver, crystal, china and napery. On these occasions the greatest quantity of flowers were brought from the conservatory at Belle Grove.
At Mrs. Ware’s death the property became the heritage of her only son Stone Ware, who had married Miss Gourrier of Plaquemines, Louisiana. The couple kept the place until 1925, when it was sold, the furnishings being sold at auction. Since then the house has gradually been stripped of all movable parts.
Today in its decrepitude ghostly echoes reverberate through its spacious rooms and hallways where danced each season the throng of debutantes that came to Belle Grove week-end parties. Silence reigns where walls rang with merry laughter and witty repartee. In its crumbling magnificence it forms a splendid setting for a story of plantation days. In its mournful solitude and faded majesty, one cannot but recall D’Annuncio “II Fures” and his descriptions of the Vanishing Villas of the Brenta.
“In the great banquet hall no one dines In the ball-room only ghostly shadows dance.”
A recent visit to the place found men stripping the mansion of all the metal work. It looks much more severe and less elaborate now that the heavy lace-like iron-work of balconies and lower balustrades is gone. The great scrolls of acanthus leaves on the ornate brackets are missing in many places. In the rear
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of the back hall was a magnificent spiral stairway, equally as beautiful as the one in the old St. Louis Hotel in New Orleans. The hail, the banquet room and the service rooms beyond have been demolished. With them too the dungeons that were in the basement have been removed. As all of the debris has been cleared away, one can walk in this lower space which is quite high and well paved.
One can hardly believe that in the space of a few years such a magnificent place could have fallen into such utter ruin. The great garden is gone leaving, however, many fine ancient oaks.
Belle Grove in the midst of its empty acres truly looks like a ruin of Ancient Rome. Its grove of ancient oaks is rapidly disappearing, for at present men are engaged in cutting down the foremost ones to make way for a new levee that will be located nearer to the old mansion.
NOTTAWAY — BY MISTAKE NOW CALLED WHITE CASTLE
This beautiful old plantation mansion is known by a number of names. It is often called Nottaway, Bayougoula, or Randolph, named for John Hampden Randolph for whom it was built by Henry Howard, architect of New Orleans, in 1857. And now it is Llanfair as as it has been rechristened by its present owners, who have restored the place to its original charm. Built one might say while the impending war clouds were gathering with a fury that threatened to wipe out the lives and fortunes of the South, this magnificent mansion was to enjoy only a brief period of the lavish hospitality for which it was so carefully planned. Its wealthy owner spared no expense in building this house. It was designed in a regal manner — as was the fashion of that day of easy fortune making. Almost all of its forty rooms open onto the magnificent park which surrounds the place and there is a charming vista at every turn.
A Randolph of Virginia came to Louisiana and brought with him all the prestige of his family name, a prestige which this family of wealth and position had been accustomed to for centuries. Along with his good name he brought fine ancestral portraits by noted English and American artists, crested silver, magnificent clothing, household furnishings and hundreds of slaves from his plantation in Virginia.
Original oil portrait of Eugene Forstall who married Valerien Choppin. Owned by Mrs. J. N. Roussel, a member of the Dugue de Livaudais family.
“Belle Grove”. Completed in 1857. Designed by James Gallier, - - Sr. Standing in its wide acreage like an ancient Roman Ruin.
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After arriving in Louisiana and viewing the splendid places that so many of his Virginia friends had already built, he wondered why he had delayed so long. Selecting a section of the country not far from the palatial new home of his friend John Andrews, also from Virginia, he employed Henry Howard of New Orleans to plan and build for him the mansion we see today. He invested a large part of his fortune in this plantation, the house and its furnishings.
• Its great size> height and whiteness are its chief characteristics which gave it the name of “White Castle” later on.
In all respects it resembled the villas found at that date on European estates more than it did a plantation home. The plan of the facade and buildings is too complicated, the architectural details too numerous and variety too great to permit of a clear description. One has to examine the house leisurely and closely to appreciate just how great has been the task of its construction A booklet, written about the time it was finished, describes in detail the charm of the place, in the elaborate manner of that day.
Nottaway is not really a plantation house at all, as we in Louisiana understand that type of house, but a palatial country house such as is found in early days in Virginia, Carolina, Mary- and and m Europe. Resting on a high basement, with a charmingly designed double entrance and a curved iron stairway, it is a stately building. The greatest quantity of beautifully designed cast-iron filagree work-similar to that found in various parts of New Orleans — appears on the veranda and balconies which surround the house. The effect is quite intriguing.
The story of Nottaway is quite similar to that of the other great houses like it. As an aftermath of the war when fortunes were swept away, the place was sold. Its distance from the river saved it from destruction by the gunboats after the fall of New
Orleans. It lay idle for many years during which time it fell into partial ruin.
When Dr. W. G. Owen, a wealthy physician and planter of Iberville Parish purchased it, he at once set about having the place restored. This took a fairly-sized fortune before it looked as we see it at present. Here this cultured family continue in a less lavish manner the hospitalities of Llanfair, as the family now called the place in preference to its former pompous title.
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The town of White Castle takes its name from another plantation close by owned by Thos. Vaughn. Llanfair is in a beautiful condition and it still has its old charm. Although spacious, it is delightfully livable. While its hallway is wide, it does not appall, and so it is with other parts of the house.
The plastic work is magnificent — no other adjective seems adequate. This applies also to the interior frieze and center ornaments of all the main rooms on the first floor as well as main hallway upstairs. While certainly ornate a restraining feeling is maintained throughout, and the interior, while elaborate, is in absolute good taste. The fine ornamentation is joined with an exuberance found in some Corinthian interiors. There is no overcrowding or tawdy addition to mar the composition.
The spacious drawing room, no larger than many to be found in most plantation houses, is often referred to as the White Ball Room. It has the same type of plastic work, columns and pilasters with Corinthian capitals. An archway separates the front portion of the room from the rear which is in an octagonal form. This in a way somewhat detracts from the stately dignity of the salon, as one finds that feature in so many houses of less importance.
Elaborate mantels of white marble and crystal chandeliers with many prisms, lend charm, while the nice woodwork of the room forms an appropriate setting to the handsome furnishings.
The library and dining room, like all the main rooms, have splendid marble mantels and, as on the opposite side of the hall which is in turn is separated by a side hall to the left. In this hall is the staircase, which is a fine one, with spiral turns in parts, leads to a series of six individual apartments — three to each floor, so arranged as to be absolutely private, with individual fireplaces and baths.
The service rooms to the rear, are extensive and spacious. Another room in the rear of the dining salon now used as living quarters, originally was a smaller reception room. Endless wings on all sides house endless rooms, and much fine antique furniture, good paintings and other household belongings complete a charming home, in a gorgeous setting, as one can readily see from the illustrations. The mansion, for such it really is, has much to commend it.
Chapter XXI.
ON BAYOU LAFOURCHE BELLE ALLIANCE PLANTATION Bayou Lafourche.
Built on Almost as Magnificent a Scale as Beautiful Marble House.
CHARLES KOCK, a wealthy Belgian aristocrat, came to Amer- ica in 1830 and located in New Orleans. Shortly afterwards he purchased several large plantations and combined them under the name of Belle Alliance. The plantation house on the place was burned in 1849 and the fine old mansion that we see at present was erected shortly afterwards.
At that date the planters were reaping rich returns from their investments and money was plentiful in Louisiana. Charles Kock had inherited a fortune from his family which he had invested wisely, and in the building of his new home he spared no expense.
Belle Alliance has twenty-four rooms in the main house twelve rooms on each floor, and in the wing four on each floor,' making a total of thirty-two rooms, each one carefully finished in plaster. It was built regardless of cost but planned on conservative lines, having none of the flamboyant exhuberance that is to be found on some of the other great plantation mansions. Its construction is of brick throughout and the heavy walls have their outside surfaces thickly coated with a plaster finish lined off so as to simulate stone, a style in vogue at that date. Its general style is the Greek Revival and, as in so many fine old New Orleans homes, there are ornamental iron balconies and balustrades.
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These have been used without creating a discordant note as such combinations were the usual architectural acceptance at that date, having been generally used in the domestic architecture of Europe as well as in America. Within the woodwork is handsome with just enough elaboration to be in perfect taste.
This also can be said of all of the plaster-work ceilings, ornamental arches, friezes and center ornaments. The mantels are all of the finest materials, those in the main rooms being extremely beautiful. A wide central hallway extends from front to rear, and insures cool rooms in warm weather as well as privacy to each apartment. It was magnificently appointed during the occupancy of the Kock family who lived there until 1915, at which time it was sold to the present owners.
In Civil War days Belle Alliance was one of the few large mansions that was not bombarded after the fall of New Orleans, although in the archives of the Louisiana Historical Society there is a record of a battle having taken place on the plantation grounds of Belle Alliance. However, no data can be found which tells of anything being stolen or destroyed on the plantation or in the Kock home.
Like other wealthy southern planters families the Kock’s visited Europe yearly and maintained their box at the opera in Paris as well as at the French Opera in New Orleans. They had a home in the French capitol as well as their splendid one in New Orleans known as Marble House.
The plantation consisted of some 7,000 acres, most of which was planted in sugar cane. It continued to function after the Civil War, and in recent years under the able management of Messrs. Edward and James Kock it was operated profitably.
The grandsons of the builder of Belle Alliance own much of the splendid family silver and costly crested crystal formerly used at Belle Alliance. In the days when the family still resided in the old mansion their entertainments were known throughout America for the brilliancy and elegance of their table appointments.
The spacious gardens of this mansion, like all else in connection with it, had about them an aristocratic air, reminiscent of old world gardens on the Continent. Like the garden on his father’s estate, Mr. Kock, when his plantation home stood com-
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plete, erected handsome masonry pillars at the entrance and exits of his large grounds on which were hung splendid ornamental iron gates surmounted by an iron arcade of ornate design supporting the crest of the Kock family — two rampant lions charging each other below a golden crown. While they remained in position these handsome gateways always excited the admiration of visitors. Beneath .preat moss-hung oaks the gates opened into a garden fragrant with jasmine and sweet olive. Dove cotes hidden by wisteria and honeysuckle, an ancient marble fountain gleaming urns and statuary of stained and chipped marble helped to make of the place a fairyland of beauty.
Today its grandeur is desolated but much garden magic lingers here. Discolored garden vases lie broken on the ground, and the fountain is now silent and dry, but the woodland orchestra that has always been a part of the place breaks the stillness. In its partly neglected condition it has a charm that fascinates. The Churchill family, who now own the entire plantation estate, have furnished the house with their own collection of antiques, family heirlooms and family portraits, and again the old mansion is quite attractive.
Marble House, the New Orleans town house of the Kock family, was erected during the golden era and was considered one of the finest private homes in America. Palatial in its appointments like Belle Alliance, it was the scene of some of the most magnificent receptions given in the South in olden days. Marble House was demolished recently, and many in New Orleans who know its history greatly regret that it could not have been preserved. So well had it been constructed that notwithstanding its abuse while serving for years as a cheap rooming house, its splendid fluted Corinthian columns, entablature and magnificent interior woodwork were all in a splendid condition the day it was turned over to the wreckers to be torn down. It only needed cleaning and repainting to restore it to its pristine splendor.
MAIDWOOD
Maidwood was the plantation home of Thomas Pugh, who came from Albermarle County, North Carolina. Thomas Pugh, visiting William, his brother, was captivated with the plantation site his brother had purchased, and on which he had built Woodlawn.
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He returned to North Carolina, disposed of his plantation as his brother had done, and returning with his money, belongings and slaves purchased a plantation also on the east side of Bayou Lafourche, a short distance from where his brother William lived.
He built his house in the prevalent classic Greek Revival style — its lines presenting the more sophisticated ancient Greek Temple appearance. Its facade has massive Ionic columns and heavy lunetted pedimented cornice with beautiful moulded gable ends towards front and rear. On a more magnificent scale than his brother William’s house, using his own slave labor in part, he spent nearly five years in the completion of the mansion.
Like his brother’s home, the wood used in the building was mostly cypress. In construction, it is perhaps the more solid of the two mansions, as its brick plastered walls are from 18 inches to 24 inches thick and all partition walls from ground to attic are of a thickness of eighteen inches.
While Woodlawn’s interior was beautiful, Maidwood’s interior is on a magnificent scale; it is still one of the most beautiful of the ante-bellum plantation homes remaining in Louisiana.
The mansion was begun in 1850, but its owner who had spent so much time and care in the choice of materials for it, contracted yellow-fever during the terrible epidemic that was raging at that time and died in 1854 without seeing the mansion finished. The widowed Madame Pugh, as soon as the epidemic had subsided and conditions had returned to normal, superintended the finishing of the work.
But few changes were made in the original interior arrangement. She enlarged the north wing so as to include the large ball room and service section. When completed, the mansion numbered some twenty rooms of importance. These were eventually occupied by some of her children after they married.
Already the storm of war had shown signs of its approach, and Madame Pugh, while still a strong adherent of the Confederate cause, when hostilities eventually reached the Lafourche country, determined, if possible, to save her family and home. Now that all the able men of the family were in service, she instructed the family and servants to refrain from antagonizing the Union soldiers. So tactfully did she manage that not only was she and her family undisturbed, but the Union General placed a guard
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in charge of the mansion to make sure that no damage was done to the property.
The plantation continued as one of the largest of that section until it was sold by the Pugh family in 1920. The beautiful old mansion was transferred to Robert L. Baker. At present it is owned by his widow, who with great expense was able to modernize the lighting and plumbing system after great difficulty owing to the great thickness of the walls.
The entire house is very fine, and is at present kept in very good condition. The plastic work on the interior is exceptionally beautiful and in keeping with its lovely classic exterior, the detailed ornament having the chasteness of the Greek Revival. The large hallway has wide door-ways opening into the spacious rooms on either side. A beautiful mahogany semi-spiral stairway of unusually fine design, very wide below, narrows as it sweeps with a graceful curve to the floor above. A wide classic columned entrance way leads to the spacious rooms in the rear; the wide cross hallway at this point leading to the apartments of the wings, equally as handsome on the interior as the main house. The splendid mansion has at no time been permitted to fall into ruin, but has always been carefully attended to and kept in repair. This is likewise true of the beautifully planned garden. The place is almost exactly as it was when completed by the widow of Thomas Pugh.
It is an aristocratic mansion that has never housed any but aristocratic persons from its earliest days to the present, and still is considered one of the social landmarks of the Lafourche country.
The Pugh family have married into many important Southern plantation families, and for years there has been a conundrum associating the family name with Bayou Lafourche. “Why is Bayou Lafourche like a church aisle? Because there are Pugh’s on both sides of the Bayou.”
WOODLAWN PLANTATION Bayou Lafourche .
Woodlawn plantation manor, now in such a dilapidated condition, a little over a decade ago was one of the charming old places of great beauty that still held allure for the passing stranger in its
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unpretentious splendor. It was then the property of the Munson family and like its neighbor, a great social center. It was built originally for Colonel William Pugh of a distinguished Virginia family.
In the year 1830 the opportunity offered in Southern Louisiana to the planter exceeded that which was held out by Virginia and Carolina. Colonel Pugh sold his holdings in North Carolina and came to the Bayou Lafourche country, where he purchased a large plantation and built a home.
Selecting a spot with a heavy growth of oak trees with space reserved for the garden on front and sides, he had his architect and builder erect there the handsome old mansion we see today.
Although much of the labor used on the mansion was done by his slaves, he spent over seventy thousand dollars in the building of the place, and another immense sum for the furnishings and the laying out of the garden, which when finished furnished a gorgeous setting for the home.
Even in its dilapidated condition one can still trace some of the original beauty of the old house. The facade presents at either end of the spacious porch a massive pier with pilaster to correspond at the inner house wall. Four massive columns with Ionic caps and bases fill the intervening space of the center, supporting with paneled corner square piers an immense entablature, giving it the dignity of an ancient Greek temple.
Everything was constructed on a massive scale of durable materials. The stucco of the heavy brick walls which are still intact is a discolored greyish white, while the shutters are a faded blue green. The balcony rails which have fallen and lie on the ground below are a diamond lattice form of construction. Beneath, a wide paved veranda extends to the edge of the column bases and the large entrance door is almost as wide as the hallway. Within, other large doors lead to the spacious rooms on either side, upstairs and down. They are very high, and have partition walls of brick eighteen inches in thickness. The plaster work is simple, but beautiful in detail.
The mantels of white marble have been removed, and the rear hall, which opens from the square one in front, contains a simple lined stairway, which continues to the ample attic.
Advancing to the rear of the house a wide back gallery is reached through an attractive old bluish green doorway, giving
Nottaway built in 1857 by Henry Howard, archi- tect for John Hamden Randolph.
A. S V- \
“Belle Alliance”, Bayou La’fourche, La.
“Marble House”, palatial town house of the Kock family in New Orleans.
Wood Lawn Plantation Home in ruins.
Rienzi Plantation Manor, built for a Spanish Queen
“Oak Lawn” Plantation home of Judge Porter.
ON BAYOU LAFOURCHE
201
a view of what was the old rose garden at the end beyond an avenue of foliage. This rear is a recessed porch enhanced by square columns, and at the end of the gallery is another stairway with a brick enclosure. The wings or garconniers are very attractive even in their dilapidated state and are rather roomy, their pedimented roofs and classic facades must have made a most attractive appearance before falling into their present condition.
A negro caretaker lives in the rooms that were formerly used as a library and dining room, while the rest of the house is used as a hay bam and a place to store farm products. Even in its desolate condition a fragrance is detected coming from the
sweet olive and jasmine, mute reminders of its past glory _ of the
days when the aristocratic Pugh family made merry within the ancient walls now so illy used.
The old place is still visited once in a while by Dr. Thomas Pugh, son of the planter for whom the old mansion was built. The doctor now resides at Napoleonville, a short distance away, and is still hale and hearty at the ripe old age of 85. He tells many interesting stories of his earlier days on the old plantation. And also of the splendid balls and receptions, soirees, etc., held there from time to time. This was a very aristocratic community, he says, and life was very gay and beautiful before the Civil War.
How completely the sugar industry was destroyed as the result of hostilities and the reconstruction era that followed, may be understood from the following report published in the Times- Picayune of the meeting of the Southern Historical Association, held on November 4th, 1938, at New Orleans.
Describing the effect of the war between the States on the Louisiana Sugar Industry, Walter Prichard of the Louisiana State University , told how production had been cut down “from 460,000 to some 10,000 hogsheads, almost annihiliating the industry” “It was not until 1893,” he said, “that it regained its pre-war level ^ and was ready for further advances.”
“Scarcity of labor and capital militated against it during and after reconstruction,” he added, “necessitating the introduction of labor-saving methods and the elimination of many small mills.”
Until about two decades ago, Woodlawn plantation was a going concern, managed by the Munson family, and its garden
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
was a riot of blooming plants and fragrant greenery. The depression which swept the country at that period sounded its death knell for when the plantation was visited again in 1929 the beautiful old house was empty. The ruin has been rapid since then.
The hordes of ruffians that swamped the South during the early days of the depression sought shelter in every available empty house, and it was not long before Woodlawn, somewhat remote from its neighbors, became a refuge for them. Soon the mob began destroying the house, pulling off its hardware and whatever copper work they could find and selling it. They even stripped off the gutters and plumbing fixtures. Since then a keeper has been placed there, but too late, as the damage had been done. The place leaked with every rain and the weather has played havoc with the house since then.
The planters, for most part, were ruined by the Civil War, but the family of General William Pugh managed to hold on to the mansion and plantation until 1910 when his heirs sold the place to settle the estate. General William Pugh died in 1906 at the ripe old age of 95 years. After being in the front with the boys in grey for four years during which time he again and again was cited for distinguished service, he returned to manage the plantation which he did with success.
He took part in civic affairs and aided his fellow townsmen in overthrowing the tyranny of Reconstruction Days.
His life was full of honor. He was a member of the State Legislature and speaker of the house, and for many years he was President of the Levee Board of his district. At his death he was buried with military honors and a sorrowing crowd of friends following his remains to the grave. In the history of the state, he has a niche as one of Louisiana's most distinguished citizens — a prominent planter, honored soldier and respected politician.
RIENZI PLANTATION
Rich in romance and legendary lore, this ancient Spanish-type plantation villa overlooks sleepy old Bayou Lafourche. The old house was built, according to the best available information, one hundred and forty-three years ago for the Queen of Spain by her orders. As her colonies in their restless condition were slowly slipping from the grasp of unhappy Spain, its rulers prepared this place as a retreat in the event of abdication.
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203
The history of the early days of this old mansion is closely interwoven with Concord, the ancient plantation seat and home of the Spanish governor at Natchez, Mississippi.
Concord, when turned over to his successor, Don Esteban Minor, was refinished upstairs and down and splendidly furnished that he might live as befitted the representative of Spain. Con- cord was destroyed by fire some years ago (1902) and only the splendid wrought iron stair rails and stone stair foundations re- mam; " }s stlU a treasured historical landmark of Natchez. It
St?* T 178°’ u Spanish version of the Classic Revival, as it had tall columns which rose from the bases in front of the raised
asement supporting a gabled pediment front resting on a cornice.
or many years, it was the leading social center of the Natchez colony.
Rienzi, sometimes classed as Greek Revival, is a distinctive type of tropical architecture, very much like the Cuban and Central American type with but few traces of Greek Revival in its composition. It is stated that a Spanish architect designed the Place, and no one would doubt it. Like Concord and all raised- type Spanish houses, Rienzi was a one-storied structure resting on tall pier-like foundations of brick. Enclosed at a later date and stuccoed lower rooms were finished inside making the house larger. Originally, the basement was used for basement purposes as at Concord, where the horses and carriage were kept.
„;hloRp®nZ1, Wa® -bml* for Queen Maria Louisa, consort of the iras-
*V! WJhof i^ational diplomacy antagonized both
^ ’ bringing 011 a war and causing him to lose
most of his colonies. Defeated by the French armies and eventually having to flee from Spain after abdicating, the queen, fearing just such an outcome had prepared a retreat. Unfortunately
colomes had Passed out of the possession of Spain and thus she was deprived of this refuge.
Many Spanish citizens had emigrated from Spain and engaged m the sugar planting industry in Louisiana through her influence. A glance at an ante-bellum map will show how strong influence hftd been. John Ignatius Egana, who was the first occupant of the mansion is said to have been her Majesty’s repre-
blnmS! mAmTICa/- and l6gend teIIs of taIes of the gr^t balls, banquets and festivities given to the representatives of the Span-
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
The attractive stairway of double curves that leads to the second story is reminiscent of the early Spanish house plan and is an attractive feature of the facade. Egana and his family resided in the mansion for half a century. He purchased the place when Napoleon transferred Louisiana to the United States, and was a successful planter during his occupancy. The grove of oaks that he planted or added to has now become over a century old, so that now this collection of monster trees is one of the finest in this section, a number of the trees being listed by the Louisiana Live Oak Society. I was present when the President of the Society, told Mr. Laurence Levert that several of the trees are noteworthy as being among the largest in the South.
From the time it was vacated by the family of de Egana until it became the property of the Levert family, the place passed through many hands, among them Judge Richard Allen. The Levert family who owned and still own a number of plantations bought the place over a quarter of a century ago. It was badly in need of repairs, and some additions that had been made have been removed, as the owners are restoring it to its original condition, without removing the improvements made in the basement. The work that the Leverts are doing has been carried on understanding^, and a small fortune has been spent in the restoration and beautification of the place.
Rienzi is a typical plantation home, well arranged, with large rooms and hallways all of which are furnished in plantation style. Much fine antique furniture and other interesting household articles are in the house. Modernized, without lessening the charm, it is one of the places generally listed in tours of the plantation country. With spacious drawing rooms and banquet halls which lend themselves for entertaining throughout the season, Rienzi is located near enough to New Orleans for short visits. Owned by a socially prominent family, it is a favorite place for plantation parties.
Its gardens are charming and are beautiful most of the year. The whole layout of the place is typical of the plantations of olden days, and great pains are taken to retain the ancient charm of the old house and garden that was designed as a home for a Spanish Queen.
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205
DUCROS
Near Thibodaux we find the old plantation home of the Ducros family. It is one of many fine old plantation homes that have been built for the Ducros family, one of the oldest of the aristocratic families of Louisiana. There is hardly a prominent old family in this state but what has a Ducros on its branches.
There is a tradition in the locality of this old home that its original owner used the home of Andrew Jackson “The Hermitage” at Nashville as the model for this house. The Hermitage is a brick building while this house is built of choice heart cypress. It is two-storied with eight large square columns which support the wide galleries. At a later date a wing with roofs joining the original was added to each side when the galleries were extended across the entire front. Six long French windows hung with heavy green shutters on each floor flank the massive entrances.
Old records show that the plantation site was a grant by the Spanish Government to M. Ducros, a successful planter, who, owing to reverses caused by a yellow fever epidemic, was forced to dispose of the place in 1846. Colonel Van P. Winder, who bought it, added extensively to the original acreage. Records show that the Ducros place was the first large sugar plantation in Terrebonne Parish, at Colonel Winder’s death it comprised some 3,300 acres. After Colonel Winder’s death his widow remodelled the house to its present appearance, it having been occupied by both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War and greatly abused.
The plantation and home was sold again in 1872 to two brothers, R. S. and R. C. Woods, who were the husbands of the Misses Margaret and Frances Pugh, of the distinguished Pugh family, members of which owned large plantations and handsome homes on Bayou Lafourche. For almost thirty-five years the two families lived in the great old plantation home, rearing large families. They finally disposed of the plantation and home to its present owner Leon Polmer, a distinguished planter of that section.
Chapter XXII.
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY.
THE TALE OF EVANGELINE
J>REVIOUS to the dispersion of the Acadians in 1755 by the English from the happy land of Nova Scotia, among the peasants of Grand Pre lived an aged farmer, Benedict Bellefontaine by name and his daughter Evangeline.
This belle of the community married Gabriel Lajeunesse, a blacksmith’s son, and soon afterwards Gabriel, with the others, received the notice to meet at the Church to hear the Governor’s message. Benedict, too old and feeble to stand the strain of imprisonment, when told the news that all that he owned was to be confiscated and that he was to be exiled for the remainder of his life, shortly before the men were marched to the ship, dropped dead and was buried hurriedly without service of any kind.
As the exiles were being marched aboard ship, Englishmen were busily putting the torch to the homes that the Acadians had left and in the turmoil Gabriel and Evangeline were separated. From that time on the two lover exiles spent the greater part of their time searching for each other.
As year after year rolled on Evangeline finally devoted her time to nursing and doing little acts of charity, but always with the same quest in view. At last in the land of the Quakers, after years spent in her vain search, when as a Sister of Mercy grown old and grey, on her usual mission of charity, she came upon the bed where Gabriel lay dying in an almshouse hospital. Evangeline recognizing her loved one so close to death, whispered: “Gabriel, oh, my beloved one”. A loving smile played on his lips
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY
207
as vainly he tried to utter a word, but in a moment his smile died away with his last breath.
ST. MARTINSVILLE.
During the days of the French Revolution towards the end of the eighteenth century, a great number of the wealthy French nobles fleeing from France after landing at New Orleans, learning of St. Martinsville, moved on to this section where they located, forming what they thought would be a temporary refuge. Once settled they at once proceeded to maintain their former ways of life as far as it was possible in the new country. Their elegant ways and manner of living, their costly clothing and jewels made the natives soon call their settlement “Little Paris”. All went well as long as their money and jewels lasted, the titled Royalists easily marrying into wealthy aristocratic families, the others finally became tradesmen or farmers, while some, once the Revolution was settled, returned to France. Among the old records of that date is a letter from one Suzanna Bossier, who with her father and sister Francoise, in the year made a trip through the wilderness of Louisiana.
In this missive she states that she discovered “a pretty little village . . . full of barons, marquises, counts, and countesses.” Also, George W. Cable’s “Strange True Stories of Louisiana”, published in 1889, referring to the diary of Francoise, describes this settlement at that date, giving detailed descriptions of balls where the minuet in courtly style was danced by ladies and gallants dressed in costly costumes embroidered elaborately with jewels and gold.
It tells of lavish picnics given in sylvan glades on an elaborate scale, of brilliant night performances of operas by the French Opera troupe who were summering at St. Martinsville, the village theatre serving as an opera house. Specially noted was a delightful presentation of “The Barber of Seville”.
THE OLD duCHAMP COLONIAL HOME St. Martinsville, Louisiana.
The duChamp house stands as a mute reminder of the glory that was St. Martinsville’s in the days that the ancient town was “une autre petit Paris” with a culture formed from what was best in Louisiana, San Domingo and Martinique.
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
The old duChamp plantation home was built for the wealthy French aristocrat, whose family coming from France had first settled in Martinique and leaving that place on account of negro disturbances had gone to San Domingo where they had owned immense plantations on the Island. When Mount Pelee something over seventy-five years ago became another Vesuvius, de- troying much property around it. Monsieur duChamp, who had already come to Louisiana, having sold his plantations in Martinique, because of the negro rebellion, wrote his friends there telling them of the glories of St. Martinsville, his present home. He advised them to leave the Island on account of the dangers of the negro uprisings, but they paid no heed to his letters.
In the town of St. Martinsville were at that day a number of planter families who had their homes in the town and their plantations, a continuation of their back yards as it were, as we find today on the edge of the town of New Roads in Pointe Coupee Parish. Many who came to Louisiana after the eruption of Mount Pelee three quarters of a century ago settled in St. Martinsville.
The beautiful home that Mr. Eugene duChamp had built, was planned along Greek Revival lines, and the front of the garden was enclosed with a fence designed as we see it today, but according to old residents of St. Martinsville, it extended an acre on either side of the arpent of land on which the house stands. Later on when the town grew and streets were laid out, requiring a change of property lines, the fence was changed as we see it today.
Eugene duChamp was wealthy when he came to America and his mansion has always been considered one of the finest in St. Martinsville. Built by a capable architect, it is a stately mansion with central wide, hall upstairs and down and contains many beautiful spacious rooms. Like numerous plantation homes it has a cupola crowning the roof, adding dignity to the mansion.
In 1885 the house was sold to Husville P. Fournet, a wealthy resident of St. Martinsville, his daughter, Miss Eliza Fournet now being the owner.
It is interesting to know that many of the families of Martinique who had been friends of the duChamp family notwithstanding repeated warnings, remained on the island and rebuilt their homes and replanted their plantations only to lose their
“The Shadows”, Plantation home of the Artist Weeks Hall, New Iberia, La.
Rear view and immense lawn of “Oak Lawn Plantation” on the Teche River near Franklin, La.
Crowds of negroes gather about their churches on Sunday afternoons and holidays.
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY
209
lives, property, or both, by the eruption of Mount Pelee (naked) mountain in the year 1902.
, , many years the volcano had 13111 dormant, a beautiful lake Mmg its crater. In all these years its peak had become a veritable garden spot, and all had considered it an extinct volcano. Pleasure parties of all kinds sought this spot for their outings, little dreaming that some day it would again burst into life and with its fiery fury destroy all of
The history of its last eruption is a tragic one indeed, because the fiery old mountain again in volcanic spirit sounded a warning m ample time to allow all to escape. However, the narrow-minded French Governor Montet, became alarmed, fearing the place would be depopulated. When he saw the natives flee- mg af the first rumbling — in fear for their lives, and thinking that their absence would mean an island deserted, called out the troops to prevent the people from leaving. He remained with his own family to assure them there was no danger, telling them if there were he and his family would also flee.
Newspapers of the day inform us that a shower of sparks on the night of May 7th, 1902, which caused the greatest alarm, was followed on the morning of the 8th about 8 A. M. by an explosion that could be heard for a distance of over a hundred miles. Lava, brimstone and ashes fell on the settlement, burying it as Vesuvius had buried Pompeii and Herculeum.
_ n^Final Place the number of dead between 35,000 and
40,000 people who might have been saved if they had been permitted to escape when they wanted to.
OAK LAWN Near Franklin , Louisiana .
Judge Porter* s Mansion.
In the latter part of 1925, I visited the Teche country and while there had the good fortune to see the original old Porter plantation mansion. It was then a venerable mansion, magnificently planned on a grand scale. Superlatives are warranted, yet the house was simple in many ways, which gave it a charm that is lacking in many more elaborate show places, where all restraint is lost in an attempt to achieve grandeur.
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
Oak Lawn was built without the thought of cost for comfort of the owner’s family and his many friends, whom he constantly had as guests. Its magnitude, when we consider the date of its erection, far out-distanced country homes as a rule, and even today when country places cost millions, its size is striking.
To reach Oak Lawn one passes Caffery plantation, which is complete with sugar house, black-smith shop, etc., and follows a side road along the Teche with true plantation country on all sides. There are endless cane fields like vast emerald water rising and falling in waves, while snowy cotton fields near by appear as foam.
Finally the visitor sees a great grove of oaks — today all in order with a newness apparent on all sides. When visited in 1925 there was a great growth of underbrush on the grounds, and plantation darkies, the counterparts of “Lightning” of the radio lolled and enjoyed an endless siesta.
I questioned one of them, as it was not noon hour, and his reply was : “No sah we doan works here, we lives in de big house we keepen, we doan pay rent, and all we eats grows in de place”.
The great house then faced the Teche river, and what I mistook at first for the front proved to be the rear portico, which was an exact duplicate of the stately columned front. What made it more impressive was the wing of the house, a smaller duplicate of the larger building, reached by a stairway leading down. It all had a pastel greyish yellow appearance from a distance, but when I came closer, its shabbiness became apparent. The window blinds, a soft tone of blue green, forming an attractive contrast. All in all, it struck me as a magnificent place, and one could readily appreciate why so massive a house had to be abandoned for the upkeep must have been collosal. Its great row of columns, soft white, against the faded pastel tan, was beautiful to behold, and the negro men and women seated and standing on the huge veranda appeared as pigmies against the great height of the building.
The entrance door which was very wide, struck me at the time as being very beautiful and well designed — no doubt imported. The side light and arch fan — ribbed window transoms, with elaborate carved rosettes, placed where the joints met, gave a specially pleasing effect — the rear duplicating the front, with a century of dust apparently settling on all this beauty of detail.
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY
211
For a small fee I was gladly taken through the place, palatial in its spaciousness. An immense hallway like the nave of a cathedral, very wide and high, extended the length of the building, which was practically empty save for a few sticks of furniture placed there by the negroes. In an angle formed by a cross section of the hall under an archway filled with a fan light, a beautiful mahogany spiral staircase wound to the floor above where the rooms were arranged much as they were below. Handsome marble mantels were in every room, the front one on the left facing the Teche is a room said to have been occupied by Henry Clay while a guest of Judge Alexander Porter, who had built the place.
The entire top floor formed a ball room — in the attic space — all in carefully plastered finish. In this ball room, say the people of the nearby town of Franklin, in the days of the Porter occupation, great balls and lavish entertainments were of regular occurrence, and the elite of the plantation world, of neighboring towns, and even from Baton Rouge and New Orleans came for the affairs. A similar but smaller top floor ball room is to be found in the old Burton plantation home near Woodville, Miss.
Before entering the rear door that I had mistaken as the main entrance, I noted the ancient dairy or milk house, once a quaintly beautiful little place of brick construction, with marble slabs to hold milk products, all gradually crumbling. The slave quarters and pear orchards are beyond.
In the front of the house are traces of what had once been a beautiful old-fashioned garden, oval in shape, with part of the ancient hand-wrought fence still enclosing it, at some distance, but directly in front of the main entrance steps. In the enclosure was a tiny wilderness, where many varieties of plants crowded each other — blooming crepe myrtle, cedars, pink and white mimosa, oleanders, sweet olive, and wild heather. All about the grounds edging the old flower beds ancient box cropped up, damaged by the cattle that grazed in the yard and lawn. Festoons of wisteria, white and lavender, draped the oak branches. “Dats de grabe yard and its hanted”, said a darkey, pointing to the enclosure. Another black boy contradicted him, saying — ‘"taint so, mister, das no goses dar”.
Another day, another visit, thirteen years later — all is newness and all serene. The great columned front mansion now
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
houses a museum — admittance to grounds 50c and another 50c to go through the house, or really to be correct, palace, for it is truly a palace in appearance in its rebirth.
A fire swept the place after it was purchased by Mr. Claude Barber, while the house was being restored. The original heavy brickwork, heavily stuccoed, and great Doric columns of stuccoed brick survived the flames. With the aid of his architect, the owner has had the place rebuilt on the original plan but thoroughly fire-proofed. Now marble floors replace the cypress ones, and an ornamental iron stairway surplants the beautiful mahogany spiral one that was there originally. So too with the furnishings all of which are too palatial for a plantation home. It is all magnificent but the place never again will look like a plantation home. However, it is well that the old mansion has been rebuilt in a fireproof manner as it is a type well worth preserving.
The grounds are beautiful, and the little dairy beneath the trees still stands with brickwork crumbling and marble slabs time-stained — but charming as a relic of the ancient days. The rows of old slave cabins beneath the oaks give atmosphere. They are picturesque, and harbor descendants of the original slaves who lived there.
However, the charming enclosed garden in front of the mansion is gone, and with it the quaint hand-wrought iron railing, the blooming greenery, the urn and the “hants”.
MARY PLANTATION
Continuing on the road to Morgan City we reach the broad Atchafalaya. Then going up a narrow bayou for a distance of two miles, brings us to the old Mary Plantation house, which lies beyond the broad fields, where a row of low cottages, placed at right angles to the road, identifies the place.
The residence or “grand maison” as the hands call it, is somewhat different from the medium type ones we have become accustomed to on the trip. Its roof line coming down as it does in a gradual sweep extends beyond the wide gallery attached to which is an individual balustrade and stairway. Continuing beyond, the roof stretches out to a line of pillars which reach upward from the ground connected by a picket fence like the one at the family plantation home at Oak Grove near St. Francis- ville, La. The house is an artistic old place, like the Butler Home.
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY
213
DARBY PLANTATION On the Teche near New Iberia , La.
The Darby plantation home was a splendid example of an early Louisiana residence built before the details of the Georgian type began to influence its architecture, as we find at the old Labatut home on False River, making us conclude that Darby antedates all of these fan-window type homes.
The history of Darby is interesting, having been built by an Englishman of patrician birth for his beautiful bride, a French lady of noble ancestry, bearing the attractive name of Felicite de St. Aman.
Francois St. Mar Darby had obtained a Spanish grant on the Teche, where he had his slaves lay out his plantation and aid in the building of his home. As years passed, he became wealthy and his family increased. Like many Louisiana planters of French extraction, once having accumulated wealth, instead of lavishing it on his home as others were doing, he maintained a home in Paris and another in New Orleans, where the family visited yearly. Their children were educated in Paris, and during the social season the family spent much time in New Orleans.
What happened to the St. Mar Darby family as a result of the Civil War has been repeated in innumerable cases in the South. Proud and temperamental, the family withdrew to themselves when their former friends, unable to continue as planters, abandoned their plantations as they did not wish to make new friends with the poorer class, who in many instances replaced their former friends, dividing the plantations into smaller farms.
It is a pathetic story of the last three surviving members, growing poorer and poorer as they aged, and becoming suspicious
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
of each other until death claimed the sister and a brother, leaving the last of the line, Francois Darby, who clung to the old house till it became a total wreck, there being no means to pay for repairs. At the time I visited Oak Lawn (before the fire); I also visited Darby, and the old house still contained a number of pieces of mahogany furniture and many books mostly French in fine bindings, but at my last visit most of this was gone and the old house was in a bad state of repair. The great oak trees, still very fine, heavy with banners of moss, made the place an eerie appearing spot — the ensemble a fitting setting for an interesting story with the psychological effects of the war brought to a tragic finality.
Up until a few years ago, on the site of what is now a small negro settlement could be seen in a greatly ruined state the old Fairfax plantation home, the lines of which always attracted by the contour of their classic appearance. For many years it has been allowed to fall to pieces, at last being demolished and the present settlement replacing the old plantation house and garden grounds.
One could see at a glance it had been an important place in its day, for it was over a century old and had been built for the family of Dr. Thomas Bisland, a prominent ante-bellum sugar planter of the Teche area. A successful planter and doctor, when the War between the States was declared Dr. Bisland became a surgeon in the Confederate Army, and his cultured family left the plantation, going to Natchez. The plantation home at various times became the headquarters of the Confederate and Union forces and was known far and wide as “Camp Bisland.” The old plantation showed evidences of the skirmishes that had taken place on the place both within as well as on the outside.
IN THE EVANGELINE COUNTRY
215
After the cessation of hostilities the family returned to their old home to find it practically in ruins. Repairs were made and an attempt was made to resume life as it had been before hostilities, but with their fortune swept away and slaves freed it became a difficult task to continue. Elisabeth Bisland, an unusually gifted young woman, born in 1861, became a notable figure after being attached to the staff of the Picayune . At the time that Nellie Bly made her tour Around the World, Miss Bisland was the other opponent in the contest of the newspapers.
Another sister, Miss Nan (Anne) Bisland, also became prominent in the South. Miss Elizabeth Bisland married a Mr. Wet- more, and later tells in her “A Candle of Understanding”, appearing in 1902, about the return of the family to the old plantation home and the ruin encountered at the time. Mrs. Wetmore died in 1929, but the old plantation house “Fairfax” was always pointed out as one of the old houses of the locality with an interesting history.
THE SHADOWS New Iberia, Louisiana.
After seeing so many of the fine old plantation mansions falling into ruin it is rather a treat to find the beautiful Weeks Hall place in New Iberia so well cared for.
The town of New Iberia has crept up to the very garden gate, but fortunately the house is surrounded by ample ground, and there is a screen of bamboo some twenty to thirty feet high enclosing the garden park of four acres. So secluded in this ancient manor that having entered the driveway, one readily imagines that he has left the town miles away. The birds, too, seem to feel that they are in a woodland retreat, and there is a constant twitter in the branches of the high oaks that are in fact a grove in front of the house through which a circular driveway has been planned reaching in wide expanse of the grounds from entrance to entrance. Cardinals, mocking birds and golden orioles break forth from time to time in melody, and at dusk, as the shadows lengthen and the light is softest, the trees, shrubs and walls of bamboo cane suggest an arcadian restfulness that is delightful.
On entering the grounds one catches a glimpse through the century-old oaks of the soft yellow-pink bricks and stately white
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
columns. Between the last two columns at each end of the house upstairs and down the spaces are enclosed by movable green shutters, creating a delightful, cool shaded retreat with absolute privacy. The stairway, which is an outside one, located in the farthest enclosure, has charming lines. The details of the house are beautiful. From the dull blue slate roof to the brick pavement, all seems perfection, and the setting is ideal to display to advantage its full charm so carefully preserved in its restoration.
Within all is very chaste and beautiful. The large pair of sliding doors between the rooms have fluted pilasters supporting a simple moulding facing as a frame — the smaller doorways with fluted-moulding frames, having carved corner blocks. The ceiling frieze, too, is equally fine, and the classic-columned mantels show to advantage in these rooms that are apparently some thirty-feet square. The house is plastered throughout, with much classic detail of ornamentation. The ground floor, as in so many other important old homes, is slightly raised from the ground. In the Weeks Hall house the floor is of brick and marble.
The sitting room — or small parlor as it was called — occupies the spaces of the two front rooms. Here is found much that is quite interesting and which pertains to the house itself. There are two specially attractive colored views of the mansion as it looked in the days before the growth of the trees obscured its view from the river.
The plantation grounds up to a number of years ago encompassed much of what is now taken in by the thriving town of New Iberia. On the ground floor also are found a dining room, guest rooms, and culinary department. Changes made in the rear of the house about thirty years after it was built, which enclosed the two end rear sections, formed the present loggia or square back hall with three sets of double doors, that when thrown open, converts the space into a large room, with windows seven in number, opening onto the garden and overlooking the bayou-like river, offering enchanting vistas day and night. A stairway leads to the floor above, where another wide hallway is located, with doors opening into the bedrooms and reception room, now used as a studio by the artist owner. Three dormers of simple design break the roof line in the rear, as on the front of the roof, and the beautiful frieze of classic triglyph on cornice extends
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around the entire building, adding a touch of refinement not found in the usual plantation home of classic design.
The massive brick stuccoed columns are of the pure Greek Doric order, with smooth surfaces and finished bases, resting on square blocks at the edge of the brick pavement. A beautiful garden in the rear, tempts one to wander out to the edge of the Teche, but instead, we will visit the upstairs rooms.
There we find enormous wardrobes, heavy four-posters, where the beautiful Crouch mahogany reflects in its shining surface the other details of the rooms.
There are portraits of ancestors and grand aunts of a century ago, in the quaint costumes of the period, old oil lamps and ancient what-nots usually found in a century-old house that has not changed hands.
The Shadows of the Teche house was built in the year 1832, and has been in the family ever since. Unfortunately for a long period the caretaker who was placed in charge permitted the house to fall into a state of ruin. However, on the return of the present owner, a grandson of the one for whom it was built, an architect who specializes in restorations, was selected to restore it. The work he has done has again brought new life into the old home, while in no way marring its aged beauty. Nothing was changed in the building, and but few changes in the park gardens, where classic marble statues peer out from the dark greenery. The oaks in the rear garden, stretch across the narrow stream where small steamers and tug-drawn barges of cane and other produce break the stillness with their chugging.
Under the shrubbery in a corner of this park garden, sleep members of the family who have passed on, small bits of stained and crumbled marble marking their resting places.
The copper water head with leaders to the yard below, shows a motive of three stars above a spread eagle, typical of the era in which it was built. In spite of this, Riccuti in his "New Orleans and Its Environs, the Domestic Architecture 1727-1870” says in a caption below a front view of "The Shadows of the Teche”: "An Eastern Georgian House, not typical of Louisiana Plantation Buildings.” We Louisianians who have seen so many of these mansions, most probably not so beautiful as to details, but of the same general design, like to think that it was a type
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chosen by the planters who did not want wide galleries surrounding them on all sides.
The Shadows is certainly an ideal home in an ideal setting for a wealthy planter. At least it must have been in the days it was built. Its wide front porches and its latticed enclosures are certainly typical of the South. It is a home that could readily lend itself as a setting to any Southern story and achieve acclaim for its selection.
GRAY PLANTATION HOME Lake Charles , Louisiana .
One of the leading architectural attractions of the Lake Charles area is the handsome Georgian-type home known as the Gray Mansion. It is a most distinguished appearing house built of red brick two and one half stories in height, having a gabled roof with a large central dormer and a smaller one on either side. A typical fan-transomed entrance and tall white Doric columns create a most attractive facade, all enhanced by the beautiful grounds. The whole comprises an estate of some forty acres laid out, as many of the more pretentious old plantation gardens were, into an old fashioned rose garden, a formal garden and another garden devoted to camelias, japonicas, azaleas, etc. This latter is one of the finest in the state. Splendid trees afford charming vistas at every turn, and the gardenias make it fragrant. A deer park gives this large estate a truly Virginian atmosphere, where one may roam for hours and enjoy its endless charm.
Within again one is greeted by a dining-room panelled in walnut, reminiscent of Virginia banquet halls. There is a winding stairway of delightful lines, and much in the way of interesting antiques. There are fine paintings, a large collection of beautiful miniatures, priceless fans, a great number of them inlaid pearl with elaborate attractive designs of burnished gold. A large assortment of fine silver, crystal, fine china and numerous art treasures collected in Europe complete this most attractive country home.
In New Orleans, too, Mrs. Gray owns and in winter occupies one of the most attractive of the large old mansions fringing the “French Quarter”. This home, too, is a veritable museum of art treasures housed in beautiful rooms which are numbered among
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the handsomest in the city. This house, a very large one, was planned during the golden era of the South, and has large outbuildings that formerly housed family slaves. Mrs. Gray, prominent socially, entertains extensively and these old homes are again scenes of a brilliant hospitality.
Chapter XXIII.
IN TERREBONNE.
SOUTHDOWN PLANTATION
and Sugar Refinery Founded 1828
The Crest of the Minor family is as follows : A bourrelet argent and gules with a mailed forearm issuing therefrom holding a battle-ax argent. The motto is Spes et Fidelis.
The coat-of-arms : On a field of gules a bar argent with two besants argent en chef and a besant argent en pointe.
Stephen Minor (Don Estaban Minor) who had been secretary to the Spanish Governor, Gayoso de Lemos, purchased the tract on which this plantation, etc., are located in the year 1828. Here he started an indigo plantation; and not finding it profitable had his lands planted in sugar cane which has continued to be the staple crop of the plantation to the present day. The first plantation home planned along Spanish lines was a one-storied rambling Spanish plantation home erected for a son of Don Estaban Minor who had become governor of Natchez. Erected in 1858 and called Southdown because a large flock of Southdown sheep grazed on the lawns and grounds of the home which were raised by the owner who greatly admired that special breed. This first home with walls very thick — one foot in the thinnest part, remained unchanged until 1893 when a second story was added. Somewhat after the Virginia fashion collonaded walks lead to
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the two-storied brick building housing the kitchen, laundry, dairy and servants' quarters. While occupied by Mr. William J. Minor as a residence during the season while grinding was in progress, the manor house was a scene of constant entertainment. South- down was a scene of constant entertainment, in fact through the entire history of this old plantation its record is one of continuous lavish hospitality — for the balls, banquets and receptions during the years that Miss Kate Minor was the chatelain of the old manor have become social history of that area. Situated in the heart of the plantation country amid endless fields of sugar cane and groves of oak trees at present is the charred ruins of the great sugar mill of Southdown Plantation.
Great oaks at intervals on each side bespeak the location of the manor. Built in 1860, the house partakes of the architectural innovations that were supplanting the strict Greek Revival style. It somewhat resembles a villa with its turret ends and spacious verandas. It is two-storied, of brick construction and finished in white. The Minor family, like the Bringiers, the Barrows, and other great ante-bellum plantation families, were great builders and have left a number of splendid mansions. Most of these houses are entirely too massive and costly to maintain in this age of small families and high-priced servants.
The Southdown garden is part of the great charm of the place. Save in mid-winter it is a vast flower-bed framed in a generous hedge not too closely trimmed. It partakes much of continental gardens, but has the vigor of a Louisiana garden with roses of every variety and size.
At different angles the house offers delightful combinations of architecture and foliage studies — collonades on side galleries where a riot of pink ramblers vie with beautiful rose of Montana draping the two-storied rear. The garden with its fragrance and beauty holds you in its spell as you pass through it to enter the house.
(Within one finds a treasure store of rare portraits by noted masters, costly crystal, silver and bric-a-brac articles that have been handed down for generations — finest of antiques, rosewood and mahogany and other rare woods in beautiful and quaint design.
The great oak shaded lawn like an emerald carpet is cut by a pathway that leads to another rose enclosed garden where mock
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orange and bridal wreath, oleander and althea form hedges. In this floral enclosure the roses bloom year in and year out. All the choice varieties are found here at their best. Here it is a continuous flower holiday.
Here we find old sugar kettles forming gold fish pools, with waxen water lilies reflected in their depths, while the fire of a gleaming gold fish assures one that wiggle-tails do not breed here. Wisteria riotously climbs and twines through the crepe myrtles, blending the lavendar and pale rose, while various shades of oleander vie with each other in the shadow of the palms.
Southdown has always been a great social center, and until recently was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Pipes, Jr. Mrs. Pipes was Mary Minor, a direct descendant of the first owner, and it was she that planned and grew the beautiful gardens just described.
MAGNOLIA PLANTATION
Magnolia plantation manor, named for the grove of magnolia trees that surround the old mansion and are scattered about the beautiful old garden, was erected in 1858 for Richard Ellis, a wealthy planter. It is of the modified Greek Revival style, built somewhat along the lines of Rosedown Plantation manor near St. Francisville, La.
On the rear walls still can be seen the old slave bells. Like most old plantation homes the kitchen and service quarters are found in a separate building. The slave call bells, each with a different tone, operated by special wires in working order form an interesting relic. These ancient slave call bells are of different sizes and tones, and are connected by a wire arrangement to the various rooms. Each slave (servant) was familiar with the tone of his or her bell, and each personal maid or valet knew exactly where to go when called. These slave bells, which in some of the largest of the old homes numbered at times as many as twelve in a row, as a rule were placed in the service quarters above the kitchen window and were sheltered by the overhanging gallery of the upper floor.
Up until a quarter of a century ago, many rows of these old slave bells were still to be found in most large Southern cities as well as on the larger of the old plantation homes. A BELL MAN, as he was called, made a business of keeping these bells in order.
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going on calls both in the country as well as in the city as do the men who attend to the gas and electric meters today. They were arranged in a row and were picturesque in appearance. A similar arrangement can be seen below stairs in the moving picture, ‘Wuthering Heights”, so the American way of calling servants must have found its origin in Europe.
Seized by the Federal troops during the Civil War the home was converted into a Federal hospital. At that time the furnishings of the handsome mansion were badly abused and damaged. Not having a feed trough handy the grand piano was hauled to the yard, the works removed, and it was used as a feed box for the horses. Among the many attractive architectural features of this interesting old manor house is the magnificent solid rosewood winding stairway. It is always beautiful but specially so during the Fiesta when lovely Southern belles in wide spreading crinolines bank the steps.
Tradition has it that the marriage of General Braxton Bragg (whose ante-bellum plantation manor on Spring Hill Avenue, Mobile, Alabama, still stands) to Miss Ellis took place in the spacious drawing room of Magnolia Manor.
It was purchased in 1874 by William Alexander Shaffer, who restored the old house and garden to its present beautiful condition. The first floor front is of brick heavily plastered, the rest of the structure of choice heavy heart cypress lunber. Like most large plantation homes the kitchen is in a separate building. A special cooling system to keep the drinking water at a low temperature was installed in the early days. It consisted of double brick walls tightly packed between with crushed charcoal and well shaded. It is a home where much entertaining is done, the old mansion being well adapted for that purpose.
o
Chapter XXIV.
PLANTATIONS NEAR CLINTON.
CLINTON , LOUISIANA.
|>ATON ROUGE, the State Capitol, in early days was a center of a wealthy plantation country. It is a city, that unfortunately in its growth sacrificed many ancient Spanish and Greek Revival homes, plantation houses and business places that would make it a famous sight-seeing place had they not been demolished, for the background of many Baton Rouge families is equal to that of any in America. But progress had to be satisfied, and unlike New Orleans, the American invasion swept aside proud homes and other beautiful structures and replaced them with the more modern, though less attractive buildings.
From its beginning it was a wealthy community, and one that retains many of its old aristocratic families. Among the comparatively few old plantation mansions remaining is the Lay- cock house, about which the town has grown. Its architecture is commanding, having large Doric-capped columns reaching to the cornice of the second story. There are wide verandas on both floors, and the house contains much of its original fine furnishings. The Prescott plantation mansion, another splendid old place on North Street, dates from 1840, according to the family who still dwell there. It is a fine example of a wealthy planter’s home, its heavy square brick posts supporting the roof. Here one finds a veritable museum of magnificent antiques, family portraits, and reminders of Audubon in the way of a splendid dinner set painted by the naturalist and decorated with birds.
Heading across: 1 — Old Chase Mansion, Clinton, La.. 2 — Row of Ante-bellum “Greek Revival” buildings, Clinton. 3 — Century-old church, Jackson, La. 4 — Old Bennett Mansion, Clinton. 5 — Columns of the old Wyley Barrow Home, Bayou Maringouin. 6 — Ante-bellum bank, Jackson. 7 — Dormitory of Old Centenary College, Jackson. 8 — Ancient Courthouse, Clinton. 9 — The old home of the Stone family, Clinton.
Magnolia Manor, old plantation home of the Ellis family.
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Innumerable other ante-bellum articles of great interest fill the various rooms. There are still a number of other interesting old houses and buildings, and one must roam around leisurely to enjoy them.
Leaving the State Capitol and travelling in a northeasterly direction for a distance of forty miles on good roads all the way, one reaches the little town of Clinton. One feels rewarded for the trip, for this place was a very wealthy community in the days before the hostilities of the 1860’s, and it still retains much that is attractive. Its old buildings remind one of Williamsburg and Petersburg, Virginia. Clinton was a charming little city. Mrs. David Pipes recalls the life there over half a century ago. It suffered greatly from and as a result of the Civil War. Most of the town was burned by the Federal troops, and what survives gives one a fair idea of the type of homes and buildings that made up the lovely old town. There are still a number of fine old residences, a courthouse, and a row of old brick stuccoed buildings opposite, and a large brick warehouse which tell of the past glory of this aristocratic little community. All of these buildings are well worth preserving because of their charm and historical interest. Now that America has become conscious of the worth of these ancient structures there is a movement everywhere to protect and preserve them.
Clinton was the center of a vast cotton growing area, and money was plentiful from 1830 until 1860. The planter families had their town houses here, and for the most part they were true aristocrats and wealthy. As a result the community was a cultured one, and the social life was brilliant and gay. While these town houses were used by the planter families for a comparatively brief period, important events were planned and arranged to take place at the time that the city was filled, and when Court was in session. The social life which was gayest when the planters families were in town, and these homes became great centers of social activity, especially during the winters when life on the plantation was dull for the most part. While a few were the homes of artisans, professional men and merchants, most of them were the homes of planter families.
With the Civil War, death and destruction visited the town and impoverished the planters, for all were made to suffer greatly during and after hostilities. The surviving relics of the old town
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give evidence of what a charming place it must have been. The old classical courthouse in the square was carefully restored by the U. S. Government. It is beautiful in the white freshness that it originally possessed, the massive columns on its four facades strike the eye from any angle of the spacious square. Nearby is the old “Chase House”, a framed two-storied structure, a typical ante-bellum manor of ordinary proportions but with beautiful and correct details of the Greek Revival. The wealth of this family was swept away and unfortunate conditions have not permitted them to preserve this architecural gem as it should be. Few houses of the period have better details. The Bennet House, built of brick stucco finish, another Greek Revival place, has fared better as it is in good condition and contains much that is interesting in the way of ancestral furnishings.
The old Stone family residence unfortunately has had its original lines so altered that its greatest beauty has been lost. More the pity, because a large sum has been spent on repairing it. Originally the Stone manor was located in beautiful grounds. It has been a great social center and has a very interesting history. One also finds in the town a number of other places of interest, old homes and public buildings of ancient construction, among them a large brick, stuccoed-finish cotton warehouse which is very tall and has a pleasing facade, a row of Doric columns making it quite distinctive. The Silliman College building is handsome and noteworthy as are many others.
Altogether the town of Clinton, La. appears a contented, serene little community where the old time courtesy noted in Southern cities uncrowded and unhurried is still quite apparent. Even the old time darkey is emulated by the younger generation of colored folks, for they bare their heads when in the presence of white people if addressed, while the colored girls and women are politeness itself in their attitude towards the whites. This region is a veritable story-book land of the “Old South”, for driving out of Clinton on a straight well-paved highway a distance of five miles in a westerly direction one comes to the old town of Jack- son. Here again one comes across much that is interesting in the way of old architecture with good lines and historic old buildings. Many of them have great charm and their interiors are filled with antiques of every description. In these old homes one finds fine ancestral portraits painted by noted ante-bellum art-
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ists, rare pieces of richly-carved mahogany and rosewood furniture, heavy ancient silver table services, century-old dinner sets, crystal and ornaments of rare design. The slaves as a rule were very loyal to their masters, and when certain articles were shown me, I was told that many beautiful articles had been saved by being hidden in the woods or buried on the plantation by the faithful blacks when it was learned that the Union troops were invading homes, carrying off most of the contents and burning many of the dwellings.
Of the once magnificent old Centenary College where Jefferson Davis attended college, only one of the wings which served as a student dormitory remains. It is an old red brick two-storied structure with a long row of tall Droic columns across its front. It is at present a “Veterans Hospital”, having been repaired instead of being demolished, thereby preserving one of the town's historical buildings. It presents a stately appearance in its new freshness and fine setting, for the original large lawns are still intact and well kept. A gentleman who stepped out of the old mansion opposite that, at one time had been the home of the Pipes family, seeing that I was taking a kodak picture of the dormitory offered the information that the entire graduating class of the year 1860 were among the first soldiers to enlist in the Confederate Army from the State of Louisiana at the outbreak of the Civil War and all were killed in action, an uncle of his being a member of that class.
ASPHODEL PLANTATION HOME BUILT IN 1836.
East Feliciana Parish .
A mile from the interesting old town of Jackson one comes to an oil station bearing the name Fluker, located at the junction of the road leading to the private entrance road to Asphdoel. At the oil station turn to the right and continue until a bridge is passed, and a short distance beyond is the entrance to the private road to the old house. This road winds for about a mile through a thickly wooded area, crossing Carr's Creek before reaching the manor which sits high upon a bluff, the front of which has been walled with brick to prevent its washing away. The house has quite an imposing appearance from below.
The old manor, for it is rather a pretentious country house,
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recalls plantation homes of Virginia and Carolina, being of the Greek Revival period with details carefully planned and executed, a most agreeable find among plantation homes. The facade is imposing as well as interesting, and the rear porch, very long as well as very wide, is a most agreeable feature of the place. All of the rooms of the first floor open on to this porch, a most convenient arrangement. The house is of brick construction, having beautiful detailed woodwork within as well as without, handsome white marble mantels, nicely panelled doors and window base panels. The house plan shows a central main house with wings on either side. The rooms on the floor above are lighted by large dormer windows. As one faces the road the right wing contains the large dining-room and library combined. That this is as originally planned is shown by the built-in book cases which fill the side-spaces joining the chimney. In this room one finds much that is interesting in the way of old silver of good design, its polished beauty gleaming in the changing shadows of this splendid room. Irish and English crystal of quaint design, old china and many pieces of old mahogany, rare old volumes, a century-old mahogany writing desk and ancient pictures complete what must be very comfortable quarters.
The parlour, as they call it, has a quantity of attractive rosewood and mahogany furniture, many fine old chairs, sofas, etagerres, book-cases, desks and tables with a quantity of bric-a- brac quite similar to much that one sees in the finer old plantation homes that were not completely cleaned out by the Union troops. What collectors of beautiful things these old plantation families were! One sees at a glance that all the objects in this home are the original furnishings, in most instances occupying the same places they did a century ago. The main bed-room has a very fine Signorette bed-room set, massive in size, but very graceful in design, all beautifully carved. It is of choice rosewood, a relic of its past glory when the mansion was the pride of the vicinity. Family portraits, old pictures, and a hundred and one odds and ends in the way of mementos of past generations to which great sentiment is attached, fill cabinets and corners. The rear grounds are reached by a high step, as the house has a rather high basement. The surrounding grounds form a typical farm-yard with quantities of poultry, etc., and the accompanying noises add life to the place in its isolation.
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Asphodel was erected in 1835 for Benjamin Kendrick, at a time when some of the best of the Greek Revival houses were being built. However, Mr. Kendrick did not live to enjoy the attractive home he had built, for he died about the time it was completed. The house and plantation became the property of the Fluker family and has remained in the hands of that family ever since. The present chatelains of the place, patrician ladies, gracious in manner, the Misses Katherine and Sarah Smith, have lived here all of their lives. They remind one of the ladies one meets on a tour of the old plantation homes of Virginia and the Carolinas, who for most part remain on their estates, seldom visiting places of amusement, but occupying themselves with the management of their homes.
Although no longer young, both are gracious and charming in their hospitality, love their old home and its contents, and enjoy the visits of the numerous callers who seek out this ancient home in the wilderness made bright and cheerful by a splendid array of house-plants. These ladies have always been great lovers of plants and flowers, for at every turn, on the wide porches and in the spacious rooms we find rare botanical specimens, many of them of great age and worth a great deal of money. The rooms and porches are fragrant with the perfume from these floral beauties.
Well protected both physically and financially, life to these ladies is a happy one, for they have many friends and relatives who see to it that no danger lurks in this remote locality. Asphodel is the type of house taken all in all that Myrtle Reed loved to weave a story around. One unconsciously forms mental pictures of its past glory and history. Its romantic setting, details and furnishings are all intriguing. The plantation grounds lie in the rear, and the notes of the old plantation bell wafted inward on the pine laden air, bring up visions of the high hopes of the original owner, Benjamin Kendrick, had when he planned and built this quaint architectural gem in the wilderness.
HICKORY HILL PLANTATION
East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
Not far from the quaint old town of Wilson, Louisiana, to be exact, some two miles further on and about three miles from the
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main highway on the road that leads to the private one that winds through the woods to the Shades Plantation is Hickory Hill manor. It is a solidly built structure of dignified lines constructed of red brick, and erected in the year 1810 for David McCants, who had come from Carolina seven years after the transfer of Louisiana to the United States. In type the structure is unique, as the Greek Revival was in its earliest stages of development and just beginning to replace the “Early Louisiana” type farm-houses in the plantation country.
It was erected at the time that great wealth was beginning to come to the South. Instead of hardy pioneers who were to hew logs for their log cabins, men of wealth and position were opening up great plantations, manned by hundreds of slaves.
Built above a high cellar basement on rather severe lines, relieved by a strikingly attractive classic facade. Hickory Hill Manor was elegant looking when it possessed the pair of classic urns, no longer in position, that originally occupied the caps formed at each end of the brick wall and forming as it were classic finals with dignified effect. The facade presents a classic pedimented cornice, resting on four large pillars, the two outside ones being square; the inner two circular ones, all having Doric caps. A fan window in the pediment front above the central entrance, with the high basement steps, and double balconies simply balustraded, leaves little to be desired. The ends of the porches are enclosed by the continuation of the heavy walls of the house, in which are fitted completely — glazed windows and atticed shutters with good effect, creating a distinct type. However, from the sides the house appears without porches and is quite severe looking.
According to Mrs. Mabel Richardson, daughter of the late Mrs. Blanche McCants Freeman, who owns the plantation and which she herself manages; originally the kitchen and diningroom were in an outside building some thirty feet away from the mam house — a precaution used generally on plantations against n-e. Later on as the family increased in number, this outside building was demolished, and four more rooms added to the main
house, leaving it as we find it today with a small wooden struc- ture on the side.
David McCants became a soldier in the war of 1812, and
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years later his wife and six children, four boys and two girls, all became ardent Confederates. Mrs. McCants distinguished herself by her activities during the blockade carrying medicine and bandages to the sick and wounded soldiers. As in many another Southern household, the McCants made buttons of quinine, cloth covered, which Mrs. McCants took into the lines. During the campaign around Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, her four sons, Robert, Thomas, the youngest, and William enlisted. The plantation suffered greatly. It was raided, much property stolen, the house practically swept clean of furnishings, house greatly damaged, and plantation buildings burned. The family never relinquished their hold on the plantation. It still has much of interest in the way of antiques and other souvenirs, dating to the time the house was built. Above the mantel in the parlor hangs an oil portrait of David McCants, a gentleman in the middle period of his life, the canvas still showing traces of abuse by the Union troops when they wrecked his home.
Among special articles of interest owned by Mrs. Mabel Richardson, are several fine miniatures — one of the first Mrs. David McCants, grandmother of Mrs. Richardson, painted by this great Confederate lady, who was quite an artist, judging from the art work that she left to her descendants. The other miniatures are by other artists, one quite beautiful, of a great, great grandmother as a young lady. On the walls are several large needle-work pictures made in ante-bellum days. At that time this type of fancy work was very much in vogue, and the ladies of that period spent much of their spare time working tapestry pictures. Authentic antiques are scattered about the various rooms, where also are found many ante-bellum pieces of bric-a- brac. The garden is an attractive one, with typical old plantation garden plants, and altogether it is a noteworthy old plantation home typical of the culture of the century in which it was erected. The house has always been kept in repair.
There is an attractive painting of the old house and garden from the brush of one of the leading artists of the art colony in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Miss Alberta Kinsey, who has also a large sketch of “The Shades” hanging on the walls of that interesting old home. Both paintings are delightful examples of this artist’s work. Being easy of access Hickory Hill Manor should be included in the “Old Plantation Homes Tour”.
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THE SHADES PLANTATION Built for John Scott in 1808.
Truly a story-book house if ever there was one, “The Shades” has for its setting the kind of location that movie directors seek for dramatic pictures. Far away from the great highway it is reached by an overland road over a rolling wooded country.
Having visited the plantation home known as “Hickory Hill”, to reach “The Shades” you continue on the highway to the private woodland road that offers wonderful opportunities ^to the landscape artist. The striking contrasts of the rich reds and ochers against the varied greens and yellows make it indeed an attractive country, and one can readily see why the cultured Scotch gentleman, John Scott, chose this woodland spot for his roof-tree. The present chatelain, his gracious grand-daughter Miss Eva Scott declares that John Scott chose this site having an eye for business, for it was trees he was looking for. Walnut trees at that date were numerous and large in this location. From the sale of the lumber he made a tidy fortune, which, he with Scott thrift added to his already comfortable bank account, this assuring him the comfortable life that his ancestors before him were accustomed to. For he was a true Scotch gentleman who liked to entertain as real Scotch gentlemen do — well and often.
On the way to “The Shades” riding merrily along knowing that it is the ancient abode of a distinguished family of Scotch descent you are to visit, as your car speeds onward, you seem to note the bits of heather mingling with the wild flowers of the roadside, or is it iron weed that we mistake for the Scotch bios-
Truly a poem in architecture, Greenwood is magnificent to behold.
Hickory Hill Plantation Manor, built in 1810.
The Shades Plantation Home, built in 1808.
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som. They resemble each other so botanists say. Anyway, unconsciously you find yourself humming the ancient Scottish refrain of Annie Laurie, and the words of the song form themselves in your mind. When you are thoroughly enjoying your rhapsody, the huge bulk of the old manor looms on the horizon, crowning the hill out of which it appears to have grown, so buried is its mass in the dense growth of great trees which like forest giants spread out around it. The road winding towards the hill presents the old house in all the magnificent artistry of its captivating architectural lines, a real study in graceful grouping well worth copying by architects searching for a model.
The rear building reached first from the road, contains the large dining-room and massive kitchen, its different levels outside, steps of old red brick, the warm tones of the century-old brick walls against the deep green foliage presents a true picture of parts of rural Scotland or old England. Rounding the road to the front, in its glorious setting on the hill top it looks for the world like an ancient New England manor-house that might have been immortalized by Hawthorne or Longfellow. All thoughts of the regulation Southern plantation house vanish as one sees The Shades. Instead visions of “Bonnie Scotland” are conjured up, with bag-pipe music, and kilties, Scotch plaids, banquets and feasts.
The stories and legends about this ancient home are known far and wide. In days gone by its hospitalities seemingly were never ending. At Christmas time this feast was celebrated in true Scotch manner, and as social lines were understood better in those days, the entire countryside came, each keeping nicely into his own groove, thereby assuring a good time to all. As the old-time planters as a rule “carried their liquor” like gentlemen, there was much jollification and merriment, and all knowing the strictness of this household, never infringed on the families’ generosity — a fine record for so generous a hospitality during so many years.
The great charm of this house lies in its unpretentiousness, being splendidly built, and of a rambling type that permits a pleasing exterior as well as interior arrangement. Constructed mostly of brick the heavy walls reach from basement to roof in front, and to the porch line of the roof on the sides. The framework of the house is full-sap, choice cypress and much walnut is
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used for the interior finish, as there was a great walnut grove on the place when the house was built. It is a rather long-fronted structure with an ell in which is located the dining-room with the kitchen adjoining, having its floor on the ground paved with brick with steps leading up to the dining-room. The lines of this rear building are rather artistic, and the surrounding yard quite attractive. The whole design of the place seems most satisfactory, the facade presents a terrace-like arrangement, steps leading up to the front and side. Rising from this porch are six squatty Doric columns which support the porch roof that tapers back to the bright red brick wall of the second story front where three windows with latticed blinds rest, as it were, on the upper line of the porch roof.
A central double door below a transom opens into the hall that widens in the rear where a stairway winds to the floor above. The living-room and library, filled with interesting articles of every description, has an immense mirror of which the present chatelain is justly proud. The great book-cases are filled with valuable volumes, and a portrait of the original owner hangs above the mantel. Fine old mahogany furniture fills the rooms and beautfiul large brass fenders and andirons gleam in the fireplaces. Outside in the rear hall suspended from the ceiling is a candle lantern having a round globe, it is a prize relic of the old house, and is fully one hundred and thirty years old, having hung in the same spot since 1808. In talking about this old lantern, the eyes of the present owner grew misty, and she slowly said, “What happiness has not that old lantern witnessed”. And then seeing that I was interested told me much about the lovely old house, its past and then its later history. And the ancient rifle of the old hunter about whom Miss Scott talks freely — the hunting piece six feet long if an inch is still in its usual corner — and recalls tales of the ancestor, a pioneer from Carolina, who 130 years ago, came across the wild country to locate a plantation site in the West Florida section.
The dining-room of The Shades is a fitting one for such a home, its heavy walnut-beamed ceiling of immense timbers darkened with age. Its size is impressive and recalls the dining halls of old Scotland in the section about the moors. Its furnishings are fitting and in keeping. It makes no pretense to castle grandeur, but it has the solid practical furnishings one sees in the
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manors of the Lairds of the Low-lands countryside. The furniture is rather massive and one finds quantities of pewter platters, tankards, and silverware, glassware from Ireland, and crystal of rare design, and chinaware from which many a great feast was served. Here in olden days in the candle-lit room sat the Squire and his Lady doing the honors of The Shades, while the assemblage feasted on venison, partridges, quail, and other choice game brought in from hunting trips.
This grandfather of Miss Eva Scott was a typical Highland gentleman of the old school, free from the frills and pretentions of less genuine folks. He was the proud father of four sons, one Major Edward Alexander Scott, another Captain Gustave Scott. His two daughters, Mrs. Marian Scott Bradford and Mrs. Iowa Scott McKneely were representative ladies of their era. Major Edward Scott and Captain Gustave Scott served during the entire duration of the Civil War, with the First Louisiana Cavalry.
Miss Eva Scott tells of young Alexander Scott, who fired with patriotism, joined the Confederate Army, and got beyond the restraining influence of his family. At the time the plantation homes, cotton gins and sugar houses were being shelled by the gunboats in the river The Shades too had a visit from a Federal detachment bent on cleaning out the supplies of the plantation. Major Scott, at home on leave at the time came near being captured, but made his get-away by crawling through the rose garden. Spied by a raider, he received a shower of leaden bullets which did not hit him but their marks are still visible on the house.
The kitchen of The Shades is the perfect type of farm house and plantation kitchen, built with floor on the ground level, brick- paved, thus minimizing the danger of fire, a fear of which forever hovers about homes in remote places. Constructed so as to be warm in winter and cool in summer, it is artistic both within as well as without. There is an immense open fireplace at the end of the room and the entire wing upstairs and down is constructed entirely of brick and fire-proof materials. In this great open fireplace are the original andirons made by slaves when the house was finished, a fire crane and complicated pot hooks — all complete and in place. A large number of relics are found in this interesting kitchen; the old spinning wheel used by the first Mrs. Alexander Scott; much interesting slave-made kitchen ware;
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ancient chairs and tables; also stools and kitchen cabinets. Friendly cats lie about in corners while a number of dogs sleep on the floor. Some cuddle up in the huge fireplace, its immense crane reminding one of fireplaces of feudal days when an ox was roasted at one time.
There is an old plant-house beneath a great tree which affords just the needed shelter and moisture to assure a tropical growth. This green house, constructed of soft brick, is filled to overflowing with wax plants, begonias with coral red and pinkish hues attractive color tones contrasting with the varied greens of the surrounding foliage. All about is a luxuriant growth of trees and bushes. There are fig and pear trees large in size and filled with fruit. One senses at a glance that this is not a place that has been neglected at any time since it was first started. In the fields one sees a number of sheep grazing in the sweet smelling clover. The lowing cattle with the long line of cattle sheds m the distance suggests prosperity. Peacocks and turkey cocks apparently on parade vie with each other in the spread of their tail plumage, the turkey cocks’ wattles bursting with indignation at being outshone by the brilliancy of the peacocks’ tail-spread.
The usual plantation farm noises are heard on all sides, a plantation bell tolls in the distance, while the clarion call of a rooster starts a series of answers. A pet hobby of Miss Scott is her collection of bells, a noteworthy one of which she is justly proud. They fill two large glass cases, one on either side of the library. Many of these bells are historic as well as attractive. Many are quaint in design and beautiful in tone — Camel bells recalling desert songs, date palms of an oasis or a mirage, and one originally worn by an elephant, whether it be a circus animal, or beast of burden. They are made out of all kinds of materials — silver, copper, brass, bronze, bell metal and even glass. There are Oriental bells from Buddha temples, bells from monasteries and various cities of Europe, Asia, Africa and the South Seas. One bell is from a noted plantation no longer in existence, and another from the flag ship of Admiral Dewey, used in the waters of Manila. The garden is another hobby of this gracious lady, so capable and entertaining. Like many old plantation gardens it is filled with rare and beautiful flowers, roses, camelias, fragrant lilies in fact all the attractive specimens found in a carefully tended century-old garden.
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A visit to this quaint old house is a treat, the memory of which lingers long after. Like charming old Oakley, one must see it to appreciate its intriguing qualities, and one does not readily forget its rare charm.
The more one familiarizes oneself with the histories of these old plantation places which date back to the days that the history of this part of the South was in the making, one wonders why those in search of themes for moving pictures and books have ignored this section. A world of materials awaits the novelist who has only to delve a little into the records, or wander about the country-side while a story of great fascination and historical interest unfolds itself.
When England and Spain were making desperate efforts to hold on to their American possessions rapidly slipping from their grasp, many a thrilling episode fit for a dramatic picture fills the pages of Louisiana’s history of that date. There is not a single one of these old houses but what could furnish fine material for at least one good plot. There are the tales of loyal Englishmen who after fleeing England at the time of Cromwell, and establishing their families in the English possessions in America for the second time gave up their homes when they “saw the handwriting on the wall” as the colonists rebelled and moved South. The stories of the earlier settlers of this area offered much valu- ble material.
The family records of these people read like romances, and are filled with thrilling incidents, such as the story of a parent who gave himself up that he might claim the reward offered for his capture, in order that he might give it to his children who were in dire need — willing to sacrifice his life to relieve their starving condition.
Chapter XXV.
THE AUDUBON COUNTRY.
OAKLEY PLANTATION Built in 1808.
West Feliciana Parish , Louisiana.
^ITH St. Francisville as a starting point, one drives on the main highway in the direction of Baton Rouge for about three miles when a country road on the left known as the Oakley Road is reached. Turning into this gravelled byway and driving about two miles, one notes the sign on the right bearing the word OAKLEY. Entering this woodland driveway one continues on through a thickly wooded area of virgin forest until at last Oakley is reached.
No place in the State of Louisiana is richer in memories of the naturalist John J. Audubon and his charming devoted wife than is this lovely old plantation known as Oakley or The Matthew Place. It is now the home of Miss Lucy Matthews. It is a large plantation and there are many negroes on it which provide the usual amount of amusement and activity, besides keeping the plantation and home in good condition.
Oakley plantation manor had been completed when Ruffin Gray, its owner, feeling his health failing returned with his wife to the Homochito country from whence he came in the hope of regaining his health in the hills of Mississippi. He died and later his widow, the beautiful Mrs. Lucy Alston Gray, married James Pirrie, a Scotch gentleman of means. The plantation remains in the family until the present time.
Oakley is hidden away and as secluded as it was the day
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that Mrs. James Pirrie returned from New Orleans accompanied by John J. Audubon who was to be the teacher for her daughter. The beautiful vivacious Eliza would have the benefit of his instruction in drawing and painting as well as the other arts of which he was master. Mrs. Pirrie met Audubon while on a visiting and shopping tour in the Crescent City. She found the portrayer of birds in a greatly depressed state and almost penniless.
After talking with him for a few moments she discovered him to be a polished and educated gentleman, and decided that he was just the teacher she was looking for to instruct her daughter. After much persuasion Mrs. Pirrie finally induced Audubon to accompany her to the plantation on the promise that he was to devote only half of his time to teaching her daughter, and that he might have the other half of the day free to use as he wished. Mrs. Pirrie accompanied by Audubon and her retinue of servants returned by boat from New Orleans. The naturalist was overjoyed to find Oakley ideal for his purpose.
He could wander leisurely through the woodland countryside in search of birds. The naturalist at once realized that this was the opportunity that all his life he had been waiting for. Here in this spacious unpretentious plantation home, this man who was devoting his life to enlightening others, spent many months of unalloyed happiness. Here undisturbed he pursued his work uninterrupted and with a wealth of choicest materials at his very doorstep. Situated as is quaint old Oakley in the midst of a wide tangle of both white and purple wisteria whose twining vines a hundred feet long and four inches thick, hang in graceful festoons from the branches of a grove of magnolia trees, the woods of this section of Louisiana is a Paradise that one has to see to fully appreciate.
Wild honeysuckle, wild jasmine and other fragrant vines and plants that perfume the air make the woodland a truly delightful spot.
Audubon’s diary of these happy days, yellow with age, is replete with charming notations and none is more pleasing than the tribute to his idolized pupil “My beautiful Miss Pirrie of Oakley”.
This ancient plantation and home is now, and for many years, has been known as the “Matthew Place”, so named after its present owners who are descendants of the original family.
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The name OAKLEY hangs as it has always done at the entrance to the spacious grounds. The old manor is dignified and almost stately in its unpretentiousness and the simplicity of its planning. Nevertheless it is quite charming in its individuality of design which blends so perfectly with its woodland setting.
On the way to the house through the woods one follows a narrow stream with the usual growth of plants indigenous to narrow waterways. Rushes, wild iris, and pitcher-plants are noted along the water’s edge. The woodland is a veritable birds’ paradise. Feathered songsters enliven the entire area — red birds, wrens, mocking birds, etc., all happy in their freedom. Long leaf pines mingle with the lighter greens of the tropical plants and create beautiful color effects. The fragrance of woodland balm pervades the place, and mocking birds mimicking the flute-like notes of the oriole and the call of the Bobwhite makes one envision the happiness of Audubon in this environment. At last, from behind thick veils of greenery the house appears stately and serene. Attractive masonry pillars support the wide gateway, with smaller gates to either side joining the fence enclosure. The entire ensemble is one of restful seclusion, charming and unique for only in spots does color really appear, so blended together are the tones of the place.
Oakley is without doubt, one of the most artistic plantation houses in the entire South. With its latticed enclosed porches of great width it possesses a charm that is lacking in many of the great columned houses. These latticed verandas make the house a most intriguing one. The high basement of brick construction supports two top floors and high attic, making the house a large one and assuredly a most comfortable country home. A wide entrance stairway leads to the main porch and the usual exterior plantation stairway on the left of the porch in front leads to the floor above. Like most of the very early plantation houses Oakley has no central hall, instead a large room serves both as hall and library with a larger one adjoining it as the drawing-room. The house has only two rooms on each floor one room in depth, and a large third floor or attic. The very wide latticed porches make it quite ample. The chimneys placed on either side of the buildmg are heavy brick placed with good effect, and the mantels of the house are very wide and of good design. The woodwork
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Graves of Ann and Alexander Stirling, Beechwood Cemetery.
Avenue of Oak and Magnolia trees leading to Rosedown Manor.
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throughout the house is well designed and carefully finished in white tones. The doorways are wide and high, and all floors are made of carefully selected wide cypress boards that now have a high polish from wear. The library hall is on the right as one enters, and throughout the house one finds the original century- old furnishings generally in beautiful condition. In this library hall we find a large mahogany book-case reaching almost to the ceiling, surmounted by a heavy cornice and occupying a rear wall panel. It is filled with old volumes, precious possessions associated with memories of Audubon, and celebrated portrait painters who were housed here while painting the ancestral portraits that now adorn the walls, and generations of the family.
The hall contains a number of antique chairs, graceful in design of carved rosewood and mahogany; swan chairs and fiddle- backs, Signorette and Mallard examples; also roomy colonial rockers; a large mahogany sofa made by Prudence Mallard’s studio; a big mahogany center table with a black marble top holding antique treasures; corner cabinets and what-nots; also a large assortment of costly, unusual bric-a-brac dating to ante-bellum days when planters brought back yearly from Europe rare and beautiful ornaments and art treasures for their homes.
Throughout the house the spacious walls are hung with ancestral portraits, all of them painted by notable artists, a number of them of great value, and enumerated seperately in this article. The drawing-room is a large and rather long room, extremely attractive and interesting. It is a salon with its original furnishings all mellowed by time but still very beautiful. One can readily visualize those days that have immortalized this shrine to Audubon and his beautiful pupil, the vivacious charming Eliza Pirrie, whose portrait painted by the celebrated Amand hangs on one of the walls of this room. Above the wide mantel hangs a very large and elaborately framed mirror, the century-old real gold leaf as bright and beautiful, and the mirror as clear as when first put in place in the long ago when this home was new. One wonders how many distinguished personages have seen themselves reflected in it. Oakley was a leading social center before “Civil War Days”. A gorgeous lacquer desk, a priceless heirloom, fills a corner, and a large and very handsome mahognay Empire sofa with fire gilt hand-chased mounts in flat gold occupies the rear wall panel. Above it hangs a large portrait of a beautfiul young
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woman. The ensemble is quite captivating, for the large mantel mirror’s reflections glorify this aggregation of quaint and lovely things and their artistic arrangement. Near a front window stands an antique tea wagon on which rests the tea service waiting to dispense the hospitality for which Oakley is so famous. This splendid heavy tea-service escaped being carried away by Union soldiers at the time the house was raided after the fall of New Orleans. With other family silver and jewelry this silver service was hidden below a floor board of the attic by an ancestress, thus preserving for her descendants these priceless jewels and heirlooms. An old piano on which many distinguished people have played has beside it an old music rack holding many Civil War songs.
There are numerous souvenirs of Audubon and his wife who lived at Oakley while he taught the charming daughter of the household. Among these mementos is a study of tomatoes and cucumbers painted by Audubon, and I was told that another painting of a mocking-bird by him which formerly hung on the wall was stolen many years ago.
A hushed aristocratic air envelopes the place, and the cathe- dral-like silence and coolness in the dense shady places about the grounds, remind one of old English country places. The original Oakley land-grant bears the date 1770, and the large acreage is still intact.
Miss Lucy Matthews, a cultivated lady of the old school, a raconteur of tales of old plantation days handed down by older members of her family, tells many stories of Civil War days and the carpetbag period. In an interesting manner she makes them quite realistic in this setting with an ante-bellum atmosphere.
On the division wall as you enter the library from the front veranda hangs a life-sized bust portrait in oil of the Rev. William Robert Bowman of Brownsville, Penn., who became the second husband of Audubon’s pupil, Eliza Pirrie. They were married in 1828 while Rev. Bowman was rector of Grace Episcopal church at St. Francisville. She became the mother of two children, one of whom, Isabelle Bowman, married William Wilson Matthews and became the parents of six children, among them the present gracious chatelain of Oakley. Mr. Bowman’s portrait is a splendidly painted one in oil from the brush of a noted Boston artist. Beside it in another panel, vividly portrayed in a very life-like
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manner, is a portrait of Mr. James Pirrie, who became the second husband of Lucretia Alston, painted by Audubon while he lived at Oakley as the teacher of Eliza Pirrie.
In a corner panel on the same wall is a very lovely portrait, three-quarter length, of Miss Isabelle Bowman who married Mr. William Wilson Matthews. In the- beautiful aristocratic face of this portrait one sees a resemblance easy to trace in the countenance of her gracious daughter Miss Lucy Matthews. This portrait is by the noted Belgian portrait painter Amand, whose work is found in so many homes of the old aristocrats. Amand was brought to America by a number of wealthy Louisiana planters who guaranteed him a certain number of commissions. It was the golden era of the South, and when Amand arrived in Louisiana he found that he had more work than he could do. He remained in the South for many years painting family portraits for the prominent families. While in Louisiana he painted several portraits for this distinguished family, among them another charming portrait of Mrs. Matthews as she appeared before her marriage when she was about eighteen years of age.
On a rear wall of this room is an attractive portrait by Amand of Eliza Pirrie, the belle of the Felicianas, who appears a few years older than in her portrait by Audubon. The Audubon portrait that now hangs on the wall in the dining-room of Rosedown Plantation manor located near St. FrancisviUe was painted while Audubon lived at Oakley, where the portrait hung until its removal to its present location. Near by in another panel one sees a quaint and charming portrait of an ancestress of Miss Matthews beautifully painted by a Scotch or English artist. It looks like the work of the celebrated Raeburn, and pictures a dainty little old lady in an antiquated lace cap with her hands folded in her lap smiling wistfully at those who pause in admiration. This jewel is unsigned but one can see at a glance it is from a master’s brush. Another corner panel contains a distinguished-looking young man, rich in coloring and graceful in his easy pose. One sees at a glance the handsome features found in so many members of the Barrow family of Louisiana. He is portrayed in a Byronesque pose and shows vividly the fine heritage of both parents, as he is distinctly patrician-looking. The portrait is that of the son of Eliza Pirrie, who eloped with the handsome and dashing young Robert H. Barrow, who was a son
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of the wealthy William Ruffin Barrow for whom was built magnificent Greenwood plantation manor, the finest and most perfect example of the Greek Revival period to be found in Louisiana. The portrait is another example of Amand’s work. A later portrait of young Robert H. Barrow was painted by Sir Thomas Sully in Philadelphia while young Barrow and his bride were on their honeymoon in that city. This later portrait and its companion of his young wife, who was his cousin Mary Barrow, a daughter of David Barrow who built Afton Villa plantation manor near St. Francisville, are reproduced here. They originally hung on the walls of beautiful Rosale Manor their plantation home which was given to the bride as a wedding gift by her father along with an immense plantation and a large number of house and plantation slaves. When Rosale Manor burned many years ago these two portraits and some very fine family silver were saved — the only articles rescued from the fire. They were later inherited by a talented grand-daughter Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins, one of Louisiana’s poets.
Quaint, historic old home of interesting rooms, of lovely memories, filled to overflowing with rare art treasures of every description, a fitting environment for the present gracious chate- lain who is the personification of all that was best of the Old Regime! As one rests on the wide veranda listening to the muffled drone of plantation noises alluring as music in this sylvan retreat, and is attended by unspoiled negroes with simple courteous ways of old, the old house with its charm recalls better than pen can picture, the home life of a real aristocrat on a plantation of the “Old South”.
Lucretia Alston, born in La Grange, Homochito, Mississippi, in 1772, and died May 13, 1833, married Ruffin Gray of Homochito first, and after his death married James Pirrie, of a distinguished Scottish ancestry, who was born in 1769, and died March 7, 1824. During the Spanish regime, he had been an alcalde. The children by her first marriage were two that died in infancy, named Edmond and Elizabeth. Another son named Ruffin, died October 12, 1817, at the age of twenty-two. Another daughter, who was named Mary Anna was born a short while previous to her father’s death.
From her marriage with James Pirrie three children were
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born, two of which died in infancy, but the daughter, born October 6, 1805 and named Eliza, was to become a famous beauty and one of the most charming and sought-after belles of the Feliciana area. She was the daughter who became the pupil. of Audubon and later when her father and mother had planned that she should marry Dr. Ira Smith, the vivacious Eliza and her sweetheart cousin, young Robert H. Barrow of beautiful Greenwood plantation, eloped in the month of June 1823 — going to the town of Natchez to be married. Enroute they encountered the flooded Homochito Bayou, which seemed as if it wished to prevent them carrying out their plans. Young Barrow, undaunted by the high water, carried his bride-to-be in his arms, as he waded up to his chest through the stream. They were finally married but from the undue exposure in crossing the Homochito Bayou he developed pneumonia and died on July 18th, just six weeks after their wedding. A posthumous child, Robert H. Barrow, Jr., was born, who married Mary E. Barrow, a daughter of David Barrow of North Carolina. Their home was Rosale, and they had nine children.
Eliza Pirrie was married three times. Robert H. Barrow was her first husband. Her second husband was Reverend William Bowman, bom December 7th, 1800, died August 30, 1835. He was a native of Brownsville, Tennessee. They were married in Grace Episcopal Church at St. Francisville. By this marriage there were two children. Isabelle Bowman, who became the wife of William Wilson Matthews, six children were the issue of this marriage. Their son, James Pirrie Bowman, married Sarah Turnbull.
Eliza Pirrie Barrow Bowman’s third husband was Henry E. Lyons of Philadelphia, whom she married in 1840. She died April 20, 1851, and is buried beside her second husband in Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
BEECHWOOD PLANTATION CEMETERY
In the little cemetery plot of this old plantation home are iron railing enclosures, three in number, creating individual burial plots. It is a calm tranquil spot in the midst of a thick growth of beautiful trees in a far corner of old Beechwood Plantation, a haven for birds apparently, for one finds the trees full of them. Somehow one feels that the spirit of the great lover of birds
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hovers near to the grave of his vivacious pupil of whom he wrote in his diary “My beautiful Miss Pirrie of Oakley”.
In the grave nearest to the present home which replaces the original Beechwood Manor repose the mortal remains of Lucy Alston who married Ruffin Gray for whom Oakley Plantation was laid out and manor house built, and after his death married James Pirrie. The ancient cemetery shows its age by the time- stained marble slabs on the graves, the two graves besides her own in the same enclosure, are those of her two children from her first marriage to Ruffin Gray.
In the second enclosure is the grave of the daughter by her second marriage, the “beautiful vivacious Eliza”, the pupil of Audubon. Beside it is the grave of her second husband, the Rev. William Robert Bowman, rector of Grace Episcopal Church at St. Francisville, La.
In another enclosure in the rear of these graves is another plot and on the marble slab is cut:
Ann Stirling
Died Jan. 2nd, 1802, Aged 35.
On another marble slab is cut:
Alexander Stirling Died Jan. 8th, 1808, Aged 55 years.
Set into the tall marble headstone is the circular medallion emblem placed there by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Around the central portrait of Washington, on the bronze disc one reads: Alexander Stirling 2nd Lieutenant Expedition Revolutionary war, NATIONAL SOCIETY AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
History tells us that Alexander Stirling was a second lieutenant in the first company, third battalion of the First Regiment of Grenadiers under the command of Henry White, that smelled powder under Governor Bernado Galvez, at the time the English under Colonel Dickson met defeat at Baton Rouge and the British colors ceased to float over Louisiana.
We return to the graves of Rev. William Robert Bowman and his wife. The marble monuments above these graves are
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handsome ones and designed with good taste. On Eliza Pirrie’s grave is cut into the marble:
Beneath
Repose the mortal remains of Eliza B. Wife of
Henry Lyons. Bom October 6th, 1805. Departed April 20th, 1851.
Thou shall be recompensed at Rise of the just. Rise He calleth thee.
On the monument adjoining in the same iron enclosure and on the surface facing Eliza’s grave is carved:
William Robert Bowman of Brownsville, Pennsylvania born Dec. 7th, 1800. Died August 30th,
1835. Rect. of Grace Episcopal Church,
St. Francisville, La.
Being the second Protestant church built in Louisiana.
On the front surface of the monument is the following :
Is it nothing to you all ye who pass by to behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto me wherewith the Lord has afflicted me in his fierce anger.
According to Mr. J. Hereford Percy who resides at Beech- wood Plantation, the home of his ancestors, Rosale Plantation, originally named Egypt, was the first plantation acquired by Alexander Stirling, who at his death left endless acres of valuable land to be divided between his seven children who survived him. Rosale Plantation with its beautiful manor house was later purchased by David Barrow as a bridal gift to his daughter Mary, who married Robert H. Barrow II. Accompanying the plantation was a full quota of house and plantation slaves.
Rosale manor later was destroyed by fire, the only articles saved being some family silver and the two portraits painted by Sully in Philadelphia of Robert H. Barrow and Mary Barrow while they were on their honeymoon in that city. These beautiful portraits eventually descended to Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins
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their grand-daughter, whose poetry has been greatly praised by prominent critics.
Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins was bom and reared at Rosale, which now forms part of Beechwood Plantation.
Grave of the Union Officer who was given a Masonic Funeral by the Masons of St. Francisville, while the smoke from the bombardment of the town still filled the air. (St. Francisville Cemetery).
Architectural details of Rosedown Plantation Manor.
A beautiful old garden-house of “Rosedown”, haunted by the shades of the Belles and Beaux who gathered here in ante-bellum days. (Photo by Leon Trice, N. O.)
Chapter XXVI.
THE ST. FRANCISVILLE AREA.
Bayou Sara and St. Francisville — They are one in many things and two in some things. Apparently they are as much the same place as “Natchez on the hill and Natchez under the hill” are, for Bayou Sara stands at the foot of the hill and St. Francisville on the top of the hill and the two places run together and mingle on the declivity. They are one in having but one post-office, which is in Bayou Sara on the water side, and they are two in Bayou Sara being incorporated and St. Francisville not; and rather a keen operation of the St. Fran- cisvillian is it, in keeping outside of the corporation, for being upon a lofty hill they have not the least use for the costly levees which are necessary to the existence of the settlement below the hill and which, therefore, they are not at all inclined to assist in paying for, as they would have to do, as well as be under other expenses, were they incorporated with it.
St. Francisville is the parish seat of West Feliciana, and has the fine court house and many handsome residences to adorn it, and in the central plateau of the lofty location stands the splendid new church edifice, Grace Church, of the Protestant Episcopal congregation of the place, of which Rev. Daniel Lewis is rector. It occupies the site of the old church which it replaces, and will rank among the most tasteful and substantial church buildings in the country. It would be an edifice of note in any city of the South. In this parish the Protestant Episcopal seems to be the prevailing denomination, though there are a number of other sects scattered through the country.
— J. W. Dorr.
In the days that the above was written (1860) the Mississippi River was the chief means of transportation and the Feliciana parishes rose to the height of their prosperity. St. Francisville, the parish seat, became its main commercial center and the
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largest river port between Memphis and the Crescent City (New Orleans). With plantations unrivalled in any part of America, and an enormous cotton crop yearly, the Feliciana parishes were assessed for more than thirty millions of dollars.
Continues J. W. Dorr:
If St. Francisville is stronger on the oranmental. Bayou Sara is out of sight ahead of her on the practical — for she does all the business and a great deal of business is done too. It is a thriving and bustling place, and contains some of the most extensive and heavily stocked stores in Louisiana, outside of New Orleans, and there are few in New Orleans even which can surpass in value of direct importance.
[Here, a long list of business firms anfl banks.] A prominent object in the town occupying a very handsome building is Robinson, Mumford’s Bank of Exchange and Deposit, W. T. Mumford, Teller. China Grove hotel is a principle house of entertainment, there being besides smaller establishments, a very large and comfortably arranged wharf boat, which, however, is not doing a very prosperous business, the majority of citizens being opposed to the location there.
There is a Methodist Church on Bayou Sara, Rev. Thomas Donner, pastor.
Bayou Sara, located somewhat as Natchez-under-the-hill, was a much higher class place and did not have the reputation of being a nest of thieves, with dens of sporting women and gambling halls, or for being the refuge and hideout for criminals of all sorts. Like all river towns, it had “spots”, but these were well policed and in no way interfered with the enormous amount of business carried on. Many fine families had homes in the section and the people of the town were law-abiding. J. W. Dorr says:
Among the prominent business interests of Bayou Sara is horse dealing, it being a great horse market for the surrounding country. Large droves of horses are brought here for sale from Kentucky and elsewhere. Messrs. Henshaw and Haile have very extensive stables and do a great deal in horse flesh. Bayou Sara is the terminus of the West Feliciana Railroad. The depot stands upon the levee in the lower part of the town, having been moved from the upper part, above Bayou Sara, a troublesome unnavigable estuary, which would not be permanently bridged, save at great cost. This railroad runs to Wood- ville, Mississippi, a distance of twenty-eight miles. A good steam ferry boat plies across the river to Pointe Coupee, and ought to be a paying institution, for passengers are charged fifty cents each for the luxury of riding over on it, and two dollars if they have a horse and buggy. The Bayou Sarans ought to amend this matter, for the
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heavy ferriage prevents much custom from reaching their market. The boat has been run a number of years and it is the property of one person. The merchants ought to form a company, buy the boat, and run it at lowest rates that will pay expenses. They might even afford to afford a little, but it would pay better at half the present rates than now.
Today nothing remains to tell of Bayou Sara’s greatness and prospects at that date (1860). For years and up until recently one took his life in his hands in making an attempt to cross the river from the little flat below St. Francisville. Not long ago the flat boat that made the crossing became submerged when several automobiles were driven on it. Generally one made the crossing and returned by the Baton Rouge ferry or the one above at Natchez. But all that is changed now. Continues Dorr:
West Feliciana is one of the wealthiest parishes in the state, being considered the second rating in wealth and population next to New Orleans. The total assessed value of property is about $8,200,000.00, on which it pays a state tax of over $26,000.00, of which over $8,000.00 goes to the public school fund. There are thirteen public school districts in the parish and about five hundred educable children.
The total population of the parish is 12,000 in round numbers, of which about 2,000 are white and about ten thousand slaves, the free negroes being few.
A comparatively small portion of the land of this parish the upper border of which is the state line, between Mississippi ’ and Louisiana, is adapted to the growing of cane. Cotton is the principal product. Of the 227,367 acres forming the entire area, about 35,000 are in cotton, 5,000 in cane, and 19,000 in corn, leaving 165,- 000 or 170,000 uncultivated.
There is much barren and sterile land in the parish, but enough that is very prolific to yield a large crop as its aggregate product. Many of the planters grow both cotton and cane, but they are generally engaged exclusively in raising one or the other rather than both.
Some of the planters of this parish rank among the largest in the state, and among the extra heavy men may be mentioned Messrs. Joseph A. S. Acklen, David Barrow (of Alton Villa), William Ruffin Barrow, Sr. (of Greenwood Plantation), William J. Fort (of “Catalpa” and ‘‘Magnolia” plantations), John Scott Smith, William Stirling, Daniel Turnbull, etc.
Hardly had our narrator concluded his trip through the State of Louisiana, when the guns of war were directed on these twin towns, so attractive and so prosperous.
St. Francisville at that day was very beautiful, with splendid homes, well laid out gardens and thriving stores.
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These two places were settled for the most part by families that came from Virginia, the Carolinas, and other Northern places, not as hardy pioneers to carve their fortunes out of the wilderness, hewing the logs for their cabins with their own strength; but by a class for the most part that stemmed back to the aristocracy of England and Ireland and Scotland, who brought with them great chests of gold and silver coin, hundreds of slaves, wagon loads of fine furniture, paintings and household furnishings, and who built palatial mansions on tracts of five to ten thousand acres. Many of the mansions, still standing, bear witness of the above statements. These aristocratic families established a culture unsurpassed in America, the center of which revolved about beautiful St. Francisville.
In the little cemetery of St. Francisville, Louisiana, is a simple grave of a Union officer, on which fresh flowers are still placed. The story of this grave hearkens back to the hour that this beautiful Southern town was being torn asunder by the roaring balls from Union cannon fired from gunboats lying in the river. Year after year, it has never wanted for attention or flowers, and it is cared for far more carefully than many of its aristocratic neighboring tombs. For three quarters of a century on all occasions, Memorial Day, All Saints Day — it has had its share of floral decorations.
The story of the stranger’s grave is connected with the shelling of St. Francisville in 1863 when that beautiful place of wealth and culture — defenseless save for those too old to go to the front and a few disabled soldiers home on furlough — was blown practically to bits.
In the midst of the awful carnage hysterical women and children speechless from terror vainly sought spots of safety in the midst of the falling brick walls and gutted buildings, as slate, crumbling brick and timbers crashed about them. Even after so many years some did not want to revive the memory of it. One old gentleman, a small boy then, said “Read what they are doing in Spain at present and you will get a true picture of it all.”
Those awful days of 1863 followed the fall of New Orleans. The army of Butler terrified the people of New Orleans, bullying and robbing, while the fleet of Federal gunboats kept continually going up and down the river, bombarding recalcitrant Confeder-
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ates. In this fleet was the U. S. S. Albatross, with Captain John E. Hart of Schenectady, New York, as Lieutenant Commander.
When in the locality of St. Francisville, after doing untold damage to numerous plantations on its way up the river the Albatross slowed her speed and like a caged lion maneuvered for ward and backwards for hours.
Among those representing St. Louis firms that had been shipping thousands of horses to this section, stationed at Bayou Sara, were many from Illinois and naturally they leaned towards the Union. These men and a few others became friendly with the Union officers and men when they came ashore to look for provisions, and horses and mules; in fact to find out where wealth of any kind could be had at the town above or on the various plantations.
The fact that there existed a rivalry between the two places. Bayou Sara and St. Francisville, furnished the reason for the destroying of St. Francisville.
In the archives at Washington, D. C. can be found the official report of the incident. It is the report of Lieutenant Commander P. Foster, U. S. Navy to Rear Admiral David D. Porter, under the date of Jan. 29, 1864, almost seven months later. The following are quotations from the report.
Enclosed I send you a copy of a letter I was induced to write to General Wirth Adams in relation to raids made upon this place (Bayou Sara, Louisiana, close to St. Francisville) also the reply of General Adams.
Before I received this reply, I was telegraphed from Baton Rouge to repair to that place immediately with two boats if possible, as it was in danger. The request was immediately complied with.
On my arrival there I found the commanding officer was more frightened than hurt and accordingly, I returned next day. During my absence the reply of General Adams came to hand and was opened by my clerk.
On the receipt of it my executive officer, Mr. Neeld, sent an order to St. Francisville, allowing the women and children 24-hours to leave the place. This order was subsequently prolonged and ample time given. When the allotted time* had elapsed, the shelling commenced at noon the 16th, continuing about four hours. In all 108 shells were fired slowly and with very great accuracy, each one telling.
* During this time the banks, homes, stores and warehouses of the town and the plantations nearby were being raided and robbed of all movable valuables — according to some of the descendants of the planters.
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Proving the inaccuracy of this report is the experience of Mrs. Wm. Walter Leak, who is a daughter of Captain Robinson Mumford, the leading banker of Bayou Sara. She and her three children were in their home located on the bluff overlooking the river, awaiting the arrival of her husband — Captain William Walter Leak, C.S.A., who was coming home on a brief furlough — as well as innumerable others, were caught in the havoc wrought by the exploding shells. Mrs. William W. Leak (nee Miss Margaret Mumford) and her children fled to a place of safety beneath a stair leading to the cellar of their large brick mansion, which threatened to collapse every moment during the bombing, while the town was being demolished.
Continuing the report reads:
The town of St. Francisville has been a hot bed of secession ever since I have been in command of this place, and has been the constant resort of Confederates, where they were continually entertained and urged on acts of plunder and abuse upon the people of the lower town.
Union sympathizers from Missouri: Bayou Sara, for their Union proclivities. Moreover there is not one inhabitant of the place of (St. Francisville) who has ever shown himself favorable to the Union, while a majority of those in the lower town (Bayou Sara) have ever proved themselves good and loyal citizens.*
The cavalry principally concerned in these acts of abuse and plunder is largely composed of citizens of St. Francisville, who own property and have families residing there.
The shelling of the town has not injured a single Union man, while it has broken up a harbor for most violent secessionists, and driven away from there only those who are immediately concerned in the success of the Confederate cause. The result will be very beneficial, as it will show those engaged in this illegal warfare of robbery unoffending citizens and firing upon unarmed transports that they cannot do it with impunity and that they themselves will be made to suffer the penalty in their own homes and families.
In conclusion, I sincerely hope you will approve of the course I have pursued, as I think it will prove beneficial and secure quiet to the Union citizens of the lower town (Bayou Sara) who are deserving of all the protection that lies within my power.
The above is the reason given in the official Union Report in explanation for the reason that St. Francisville was annihilated
* The latter statement is disputed by old residents who knew the history of Bayou Sara.
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and practically wiped off the map by shell fire in 1863. The reader can draw his own conclusions.
To return to Captain J. S. Hart who lies buried in the little cemetery of St. Francisville, Louisiana. From the records in the archives at Washington:
On Board the Albatross,* June 16th, 1863, 4:15 P. M. the report of a Pistol was heard in the Captain's stateroom. The steward at once ran in and found the captain lying on the floor with blood oozing from his head and a pistol near him one barrel of which was discharged The surgeon was at once called, but life was extinct.
We then got under way, and in rounding to get around the steam- er Sachem, General Banks and Bee came to our assistance.
And on Captain Hart’s personal official record in the Navy Department archives is the notation: “Died of wounds”.
There is nothing in the record to throw light upon the burial of this Union officer by Confederate Masons, almost in the shadow of the falling shells, as there was not a piece of artillery in the town with which to answer them.
It seemed as if the end of the world had come to those who stood helpless by as the court house, Grace Church and mansion after mansion and places of business crumbled.
The handful of old men, hysterical women and children and one or two Confederate soldiers on leave could do naught but watch the scene of destruction.
After what appeared as an interminable period while desolation lay everywhere, the cannons ceased and those watching the Albatross saw a life boat leave the ship fully manned with a United States officer in the stern, with a white flag floating in the breeze.
They saw them land at Bayou Sara where they inquired if there were any Masons in the town and learned that there were two brothers, Samuel White, who owned the little ferry, and Benjamin, who owned the steamboat “Red Chief” at Red River landing. These Masons told the officer that in St. Francisville, the place they had just shelled, was a Masonic Lodge, and informed him that S. J. Powell, who was away with the Confederates, was its Master, but that Captain W. W. Leak of the Confederate Army is home on furlough and can convoke the lodge.”
* This was the Albatross that did the shelling o£ St Francisville.
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The officer sent word to Captain Leak that the commanding officer of the Albatross was dead, and requested that he be given a Mason’s funeral and be interred in the earth instead of being sunken in the Mississippi River. “We have Masons on board who can vouch for him and his standing. We will await your answer”.
When the emissaries had imparted their information to Captain Leak, the gallant Confederate replied, all the while scanning the desolation about him: “As a Mason it is my duty to accord a Masonic burial to a brother Mason without taking into account the nature of our relations in the world outside Masonry. Go tell that Union officer to bring his Captain’s body ashore. There are a few Masons left in town, most of us are at the front. I shall assemble all I can.” Speaking to the White brothers he said: “You too are Masons, I shall want you at the funeral services.”
Then the body of Captain J. E. Hart in his uniform was brought ashore, and in their Confederate uniforms, with their Masonic regalia worn above — was received by four members of Feliciana Lodge No. 31 of St. Francisville, and the two brothers, Samuel and Benjamin White. The Masons of the U. S. S. Albatross identified themselves to the Masons of the Confederate Army. Together they bore his body to the little Masons Lodge still standing — now the town library — and when the full Masonic funeral rites were completed, they carried the body to the newly dug grave, placed among others that were torn and broken. Here, they with “Masonic ritual consigned all that was mortal of Lieutenant-Commandant John E. Hart, United States Navy Commander of the U. S. S. Albatross gunboat to sleep his eternal sleep”.
As the last clod of earth had been placed above the newly made grave, those who had come from the Albatross saluted and departed, and reaching their ship, sailed down the river.
Many have said that the suicide was the result of a fever. Some have doubted it, believing that remorse brought about such an end, especially as Captain Hart had friends in St. Francisville and had been entertained there. There are even hints that he was in love with a young lady who lived there. He was forced to bombard the city because ordered to do so. One theory is that this preyed on his mind and he took his own life.
Captain Leak, who died in 1912, after living to become worshipful Master of Feliciana Lodge No. 31, was honored on his
‘‘THE CEDARS”, Plantation home of the Misses Sarah and Mamie Butler of New Orleans. (See page 249, Vol. II.)
Mrs. Thomas Butler ne<§ Mary Fort, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Johnson Fort of Catalpa Plantation, West Feliciana, La.
Thomas Butler Plantation Home.
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55th Anniversary as a Master Mason in that Lodge. His son. Hunter C. Leak, became honored in that same lodge on his 55th Anniversary as a Master Mason.
It was Captain Leak who first started putting flowers on the Union officer’s grave, a practice that has been kept up ever since.
Today as one motors to St. Francisville, be it from New Orleans or from Natchez, the impression is much the samp ,, W,e,fl?d St Francisville the aristocrat still, but now grown o a and helpless against the invasion of new comers. A different element entirely threatens to abolish the faint aristocratic traces of its ancient regime entirely. Could those who lie in the old cemetery by the church, who passed on just prior to the destruction of this fair town return they would not believe it to be the same place. No more stately homes shaded by ancient oaks, and no more do we find business places and banks peopled by the class of denizens of that day.
Here were the haunts of Audubon, when after a day’s tramp through the forest and glen in search of new subjects for his brush he rested and refreshed himself as he was wont to do before returning to the plantation mansions where he and his wife lived. She had been Lucy Blakemore, a young English girl who became his wife in 1808. She, realizing his genius, did all that lay in uman power to aid him. While he roved the woodlands, she teught the children of the different plantations, earning the family living. First, according to a copy of part of an old diary of Audubon (copied by Miss Felicie Bringier) he taught at Oakley, “the shutter house” as it is entered in his diary, forever cool and delightful. Here he taught painting to the children of the family dancing also, while his wife taught the more essential studies. He remained here during the summer months of 1821 from June to October, as the family then went to New Orleans for the winter season. Another entry — after a lengthy description in the shadow of the giant oak trees, recalls in a quaint way, its past glory and culture.
Most of the old places have about them an individuality. One seeks out the old plantation places of the neighborhood still rich in historic interest, beauty and individual charm, rare in their glorious settings. A culture is found in the Feliciana parishes that readily recalls that found in older parts of Virginia and the Carolinas, where survivors of the Civil War, though im-
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poverished, never have lost their family prestige — where family traditions, good birth and breeding come first — then the means to sustain these things follow as best they can. Care must always be taken not to tarnish the family escutcheon. Somehow one still senses this attitude when visiting these old homes, as the atmosphere is entirely foreign to the up-to-date ways of the city.
Here in this St. Francisville country is recalled from the faded grandeur of the days when the Barrows, Pipes, Butlers, Stewarts, Sterlings, Bowdens, Forts, Percys, Bains, McGeehees — all names with historical associations — owned these glorious old gardens and ancient homes, the brilliant history and achievements of these people.
Of Bayou Sara nothing remains. The terrible bombardment of St. Francisville also spelt its doom. Shortly after the destruction of that beautiful place great fissures appeared in the sandy soil of the lower town. These fissures gradually grew larger forming rivulet like places that were filled with the debris taken from the ruined buildings which the people of St. Francisville knew would never be rebuilt. It also meant the end of its prosperity as well as that of Bayou Sara whose existence too was to be short lived. Left like a wrecked barge to rot on the shore, the place was practically abandoned for years, and later during a very high river, all that was left of Bayou Sara was swept away, leaving the coast much as we see it today.
WAVERLEY PLANTATION
Rescuing it from ruin, the Jack Lesters have gradually restored the old Waverley place. Like most of the plantations in this area, Waverley lies in a semi-secluded spot some distance from St. Francisville — in a section where electric lights as yet have not replaced the oil lamp and candle. The lack of modern lighting lends it a charm in keeping with the history of the place.
For a few years following the Civil War Waverley was inhabited, but for over a quarter of a century the old house lay hidden and almost forgotten in the jungle that had grown up about it. In the years following the exit of the carpetbaggers, when planters tried to recoup their scattered fortunes, Waverley’ s acres yielded a fair return from cotton. But it became harder to contend with the difficulties that yearly arose, and finally the owner gave up its cultivation but held on to the land. He removed
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a few belongings to one of the little houses that formerly was one of the slave quarters, and closed the manor, abandoning both house and garden to ruin and neglect. Such its condition was when the Lesters purchased it, and they have done much restoring since owning it.
The original Spanish Land Grant of the plantation later known as Waverley was made to Patric McDermott in 1804. His daughter Emily later married a young Englishman named Dr. Bams, and Waverly was built in 1807 and named after his English residence. Soon the place became a great gathering place for the cultured colony that had come to this area. Great man- sions were springing up on all sides, and the section became important socially as well as financially.
Sheltered as it is by the grove of trees, the appeal of hominess is intensified by the border of blooming plants fringing the pathway leading up to the front steps. From the traces of ancient flower-beds the former glory of its garden can be surmised. From these quaint century-old flower-beds where “flying Charlie” so often landed, today the perfume of old plantation flowers greets one on all sides, as cape jasmine and other fragrant blossoms pour their perfume into the air. Flower-beds of oval, diamond, and circular-shape tell of the old formal garden.
The house is designed with the grace and lightness of a piece of Chippendale furniture. It has simple, square collonettes and a plain balustrade. The entrance doorways are unusually beautiful and correct in detail with overhead fanlight transoms and side lights — all true to form, with carefully moulded trim finely proportioned, and planned to show to advantage the pure Georgian details beautifully executed. If one is conversant with hand- carved mouldings, he will recognize in the irregularities of the lines here and there that it is real hand-carving. The door and window trim too have the same perfection of details as we find on the mantels in the various rooms. A hallway is moderately wide, and at the rear is a graceful stairway with handrail and balustrades of mahogany. The rooms are all well proportioned and have the same careful treatment as have the mantels of Adam design, which have typical country fire-place openings built for burning logs. In the rooms above stairs the woodwork is not as fine as on the lower floor. The rooms are large, well lighted and ventilated, and like the rest of the house are furnished with ap-
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propriate mahogany plantation pieces, and many souvenirs of Audubon who here taught the children of the aristocrats of this vicinity to dance.
OAK GROVE
Oak Grove is properly named and properly placed in a country long famous for its beautiful trees. A long walk or drive brings one to the house where the road widens out as is customary in many of these old park-like gardens.
The size of the house is indicated by the careful placing of a pair of unusually attractive pigeonnaires, octagonal in shape with cone tops. These architectural bits do wonders in adding charm to the place, the gleaming whiteness of the bricks contrasting with their green trim.
Three nicely planned dormer windows crown the roof, the slope of which is quite marked — the outer slope reaches out beyond the house porch, a line of collonettes on bases support it.
Entirely of brick is the body of the house, except that part just above the porch. It is quite simple in plan, but charming and of good construction.
Oak Grove is the home of the Butler family who trace their lineage to Theobold Fitzwalter, who went to Ireland in the train of Henry II, in the capacity of Chief Butler of Ireland — hence the name. He died in 1206. Later in 1321 James, son of the Sixth Butler, was created Earl of Ormonde (Peerage of Ireland).
ROSE DOWN PLANTATION Built in 1835.
West Feliciana Parish , Louisiana .
Not far from Afton Villa lies Rose Down, as beautiful as its name, deeply hidden away from the roadside. Its very seclusion adds a charm to the place, which it would forfeit if situated on the highway flaunting its grandeur in the face of every passing stranger. Its setting is considered one of the finest in the United States. The mansion, built in 1835 for Daniel Turnbull, has caused globe trotters to state after visiting house and garden grounds, that it is one of America’s most beautiful ante-bellum homes.
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James Pirrie Bowman, born in 1832, the venerable stately- looking old gentleman, who was so much a part of Rose Down, the father of the Misses Bowman, passed away several years ago, aged 94 years of age. Up until the end of his days he used to jokingly tell how it happened that Rose Down was spared by the Union soldiers when they were setting the torch to most of the fine plantation homes of the South. Always immaculately clad, and during warm days, in white linen accompanied by his golden collie, he could be seen walking about his wonderful old garden enjoying the beauty of his flowers, or sitting on his wide front gallery with some visitor, who had come from afar. On other occasions with neighbors or members of his family, he would reminisce and tell of the time when the Union scouts searching the countryside for what they could commandeer, steal, destroy or burn, on seeing the marble urns and statuary at Rose Down, fled from the place thinking that they had invaded a cemetery.
Retaining most of its original charm, Rose Down is, if anything more beautiful that it was in the days of its making. Like a beautiful old piece of furniture, the years in their passing have added a patina. The gardens of Rose Down possess all the charm of old world gardens that have been carefully but not over tended. There is an air of mysticism in its restful quiet, its great shaded places, and its soft grey green and endless pennants of moss swaying in the fragrant breezes. Azaleas and camelias ten feet high in season are converted into great masses of gorgeous bloom. Night jasmine, gardenias, magnolia fuscati and endless fragrant blooms, make of the grounds a delightful spot indeed.
For almost half a century the birds have never been disturbed, so there are thousands of feathered songsters nesting in the trees, and at times a dozen crested cardinals sway on branches about the house awaiting to be fed. The place is like an enchanted garden for nothing seems to have been disturbed for a century, except the grandeur of the grounds which have been enhanced by the passing of time. The small twigs have become great oaks, arching and entwining overhead like the groins of a vast cathedral. The stillness of the place is broken only by the song of a mocking-bird, a bob-white, or the cooing of wood doves - Its great grove of oaks set back from the roadway is well spaced, and forms a continuous leafy canopy over the long avenue which widens out as the driveway reaches the house.
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No longer do fete champetres and gay parties break the stillness of a cathedral-like silence that pervades the place. The Misses Bowman, grand-daughters of the original owner still dwell there. They are quiet, unassuming ladies who time and time again have refused huge sums for their lovely old home and grounds — even when the proviso was made that they be permitted to live there during their lifetime undisturbed, the land, house and garden to be relinquished only at their passing. Being financially well situated they preferred not to disturb the tranquility of their lives and as a matter of pride they wish the place to go to relatives and thus remain in the family.
Rose Down is a place to inspire a poet, a novelist, an artist — a place about which much romance and history could be written. The material is abundant, especially if the scene is laid in antebellum days. The place possesses much garden magic and allure and would make a marvelous setting for a story.
There is the story of the beautiful Eliza Turnbull (grandmother of the Misses Bowman) whose wealth and beauty and intellect made her nationally famous. The costumes she wore at balls, receptions and for street wear immediately became the vogue. The famous watering places of the East and South thrilled to learn of her arrival, for her presence insured a delightful time for all the guests — so great was her vivacity, charm and personality. She was always accompanied by members of her family and a number of colored maids — slaves from the household as well as her own personal one. In her father's coach and four, with trunks filled with finery she would saunter along leisurely, stopping to visit at the plantations of friends en route. The Misses Bowman always beam with pleasure when showing the beautiful portrait by Sully of this ante-bellum belle, which hangs in their dining-room.
The old plantation mansion was built in the mid-thirties — to be exact, in 1835. The house is still in a very good state of preservation, although here and there age has began to tell, for it is a frame structure. Of a pleasing type of the Greek Revival, with a double tier of Greek Doric columns and balustrades of the same period, the entire house is built of solid cypress with the exception of foundations and chimneys.
The main entrance door, placed in the center, has the classic sidelights and transom fitted with leaded glass. The entablature
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of cornice like the rest of the house is correct in every detail and shows strongly the Virginia influence where so much thought was given to these matters. The window blinds are of the movable type throughout the house except where they act as louvres in the gables at either end of the building. The cornices of the wings of the house have each a frieze of classical triglyphs — with details absolutely correct. They support a porch with balustrades similar to those on the front of the main house.
When the family traveled afar they collected for their beautiful home rare objects and works of art. While they spent lavishly they practised a cultivated discrimination and used rare judgment in their purchases. At Rose Down there are heirlooms, too, for many generations have added to this collection of rare and beautiful objects where in a subdued light in the old rooms hung with antique brocades and old lace, exquisite crystal and silver gleam. Family portraits and other paintings by noted artists grace the walls above polished mahogany and rosewood furniture, signed bronzes and rare bric-a-brac vie with each other for the attention of the connoisseur. All are mementos of the happy days in this old home now so quiet. Old carpets with velvet softness evoke the shades of the distinguished company that gathered here for generations before the recent days when the doors are now thrown open to the public so that it might too enjoy the glories of the past. Rose Down is still the home that it always has tyeen, probably showing its age a little, but it is not a place tidied up for exhibition purposes.
There is a needle point fire-screen worked by Martha Washington, descending through a member of the Custer family. There are rare engravings galore in folios dating back to the days when Queen Victoria started the craze of collecting and showing them to visitors.
In the library is an elephant edition of “Birds of America”; also a painting by Audubon — -a portrait of the vivacious Eliza Pirrie.
Having viewed the various apartments, you are treated on your return to a view of the garden. The great charm of the garden is the diamond-shaped space in front enclosed in a box a century old. Pathways lead in every direction through the trees to garden houses latticed and moss grown. Marble urns and statues are placed among the tropical greenery. Splotches
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of sunlight filtered through the dense foliage, create delightful effects and one is held spell bound by the rare beauty of it all. All parts of the world apparently had been combed for rare and beautiful plants to make this wonderful garden. These pathways lead one to encounter all kinds of pleasant surprises — grape arbours, orchards, lily ponds and a little villa where the Misses Bowman learned their three R’s. One also finds the old plantation bell, a pleasant reminder of the days when thousands of acres were worked by hundreds of slaves.
When the avenues of camellias and azaleas are in bloom and the fragrance of jasmine and sweet olive fill the air, the fanciful tales and stories of ante-bellum days assume reality, and it is easy to believe that such a place with the wealth of those days and hundreds of slaves to do their bidding, existence was indeed far removed from this prosaic work-a-day time of ours.
These ladies will tell you, “It is a beautiful, dear old place, but it takes lots of work to supervise and keep it up, and neither of us are young any more, but we love it.”
Share croppers cultivate the land now which for most part brings in the revenue.
As they retrace their steps after showing you where their father had his huge hot-houses for rare plants and roses, in the twilight caused by the overhanging oaks, you realize that old plantation days have not been exaggerated in song and story — only we have not known before how truly beautiful it all was.
Judge Peter Randolph of Virginia and Mississippi.
Miss Sallie Cocke, who married Judge Peter Randolph.
Oak Avenue — Thomas Butler home.
“GREENWOOD MANOR”, Plantation home of the Edward Butler family. Built in 1820. Contains rare antiques and a splendid collection of ancestral portraits.
“WAKEFIELD”, built for Lewis Stirling in 1833. Constance Rouke, novelist, has dedicated to Miss Helen Allain, a part owner of “Wakefield”, his biography of “Audubon”.
Chapter XXVII.
THE BARROW DYNASTY.
^yiLLIAM BARROW, of distinguished English ancestry, married on July 8th, 1760, a daughter of Robert Ruffin and Anne Bennett. He became a wealthy planter and was high sheriff of Edgecomb County, North Carolina. He was the father of eight children and died at his Tarborough homestead on January 27, 1787.
In 1798 his widow, Mrs. Olivia Ruffin Barrow, in consultation with her three sons, Bartholomew, John and William, when many of their friends were migrating to Louisiana, decided that they too, would go South. Getting their business affairs in order, and disposing of all their immovable property, converting their lands and improvements into cash, they organized a caravan. First in covered wagons and then on barges they with their chests of gold and silver, furniture and belongings, slaves, came down the Mississippi River through Tennessee to Nuevo Feliciana, then under the domination of the Spanish. On this lengthy, hazardous trip with Mrs. Barrow came three daughters and three sons. Two of her sons who remained in North Carolina later came to Louisiana. Here they took up extensive Spanish grants of land and shortly began to erect splendid plantation mansions. Purchasing other land, their tract soon amounted to seven thousand acres. Many of the splendid plantation homes built by this family still remain.
The first family home was built and named Locust Ridge — which is still standing and renamed later Highland Plantation. It is a large house, simple of line but magnificently constructed
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of choice cypress lumber. The floors throughout the house are very heavy, in the main rooms being two inches in thickness, and are still in a splendid state of preservation. The rooms of the house are quite large, several of them being 22x24 feet. All of the materials were made on the plantation except the windows and window frames, which were shipped from the North.
Olivia Ruffin Barrow, died April 2nd, 1803, five years after she had settled in West Feliciana, and is buried at what is now Highland Plantation, in the ancient cemetery which lies north of the old manor house. Here she rests with a number of her descendants.
These pioneers, proud descendants of noble English lineage, who settled in Nuevo Feliciana, or “Realm of Happiness” were stars in the brilliant pages of Louisiana history. Their bravery, chivalry, intellect, talent and beauty served the State in good stead.
The children of William Barrow and Olivia Ruffin Barrow, were: (a) William Barrow, born November 29, 1761, died November 27, 1762; (b) Robert Barrow, born Feb. 18th, 1763, died Nov. 9th, 1813 — he married Mary Haynes, no children; (c) William Barrow, born Feb. 26th, 1765, died Nov. 9th, 1823. The second William married Pheraby Hilliard, in North Carolina, June 26th, 1792. Pheraby Hilliard was born Feb. 10th, 1775, and died Oct. 10th, 1827. (See genealogy rear of book.)
William Ruffin Barrow, born December 21, 1800, died March 22, 1862, was a son of William Barrow and Pheraby Hilliard of Highland Plantation (formerly Locust Grove). He married a cousin, Olivia Ruffin Barrow, who was born April, 1806, died June 1, 1857 — who was a daughter of Bennett Barrow and Martha Hill. William Ruffin Barrow became the father of six children by this marriage.
Other plantations belonging to the Barrow family are Ambrosia and Independence owned by Mrs. (widow) Nicolo Hall Barrow, who also owned the old Live Oak plantation home recorded as one of the oldest in that section.
AFTON VILLA .
West Feliciana Parish , Louisiana.
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes.
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
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My Mary’s asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
Located in what is known in Louisiana as “Audubon’s Land,” this quaint old mansion, possesses an individual charm entirely different from that associated with the other great plantation mansions of the state. The original home named “Afton” was an old type Louisiana plantation home, which has been enclosed by this later Gothic Villa structure.
The Barrow brothers, good business men and keen planters, prospered from the first, investing the gold they had brought with them in some of the finest cotton land in Louisiana. Early in 1800 William Barrow purchased the older simple type plantation home and land of John Croker, whose large plantations were near the settlement of St. Francisville ,and in the parish of Pointe Coupee. Later on William sold his brother, Bartholomew, the St. Francisville Plantation (the present Afton Villa) on which was the old house consisting of four large rooms upstairs, and an equal number on the first floor. This first house had been built in a substantial manner by John Croker in 1700. The years passed by and the family grew richer, and in 1820 Bartholomew Barrow sold to his son, David, the plantation and house for $100,000. David Barrow married and by that marriage became the father of two children. His daughter Mary, was a beautiful sentimental young lady, who loved the tender lament of Burns for his Highland lassie, in “Flow Gently Sweet Afton”, which she sang so sweetly that her friends and admirers soon began calling the place “Afton” while only the first house was here. Mary was not only very beautiful, with a lovely voice, and a wealthy father, but best of all possessed a charming disposition that made her loved by all. She was the toast of the countryside, and sought in marriage by a throng of the most desirable young men of the South.
Following the example of many of the Barrows, she married her cousin, the handsome, wealthy young Colonel Robert H. Bar- row. As a wedding present her father gave her a large plantation, Rosale, well equipped with slaves. Here she reigned as queen, dispensing a lavish hospitality. The home burnt to the ground some years ago. Among a few things saved were two splendid portraits reproduced in this book, fine examples from
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the brush of Thomas Sully, now in the possession of their granddaughter, Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins. With the portraits of young Colonel Robert H. Barrow and his wife Mary Barrow, a number of costly pieces of silver were also saved from the flames. From a description of Rosale, it was a splendid example of the Greek Revival type of plantation home. Part of the plantation land is now incorporated in what is known as Beechwood Plantation. After Mary’s marriage David Barrow a widower at the time felt the need for companionship, and a wife to care for him and his home, and soon married the beautiful young widow, Mrs. Susan Wolfork Rowan of Kentucky. She later became the mother of two more Barrow children: 1, Florence Barrow who became Mrs. Maximillian Fisher, mother of David B. Fisher of New Orleans, La.
Now David Barrow’s young bride, seeing great plantation mansions being built in all parts of the state, being wealthy in her own right, and having a wealthy husband, expressed the desire for a new home in keeping with their wealth and social position. This wish, David Barrow granted, with the proviso that the old mansion in which he and his family had been so happy would not be demolished, but should be incorporated in the new building.
It was the year 1849 and the vogue of French Gothic architecture was beginning to appear in some of the states further North as types of country homes. So instead of selecting the Greek Revival type for their new home Mrs. David Barrow II, selected a design of French Gothic villa, with all of the elaborate detail in evidence at that time. (It is stated that the model selected was a chateau villa in Tours).
A fortune was spent in the remodelling of the place, the French architect and landscape gardener spending years in the completion of the work. True to her promise, the original walls, and framework of roof of the pioneer plantation home remain, and when finished the new appearing mansion held on to the name, becoming Afton Villa, as we know it today. The home became one of the greatest social centers of the South, people coming from Kentucky to attend the great balls and endless series of entertainments.
Another fortune was spent in furnishing the place in keep-
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ing with its elaborate architecture. All were chosen with great discretion, as one finds upon seeing remnants of the original furnishings scattered among David Barrow’s descendants. In St. Francisville can be seen two handsome Gothic chairs at Grace Church, that were given by Mrs. Barrow’s daughter. Originally these carved Flemish oak chairs graced the spacious hallway of Afton Villa. Gorgeous mirrors in handsome real gold leaf frames, crystal chandeliers, cut velvets, brocades, real lace window curtains, in fact all of the costly articles, and art treasures that went to furnish the palatial home of a wealthy planter were to be found here. Music was dedicated to the new chatelain of Afton. The “Afton Villa Waltz”, the theme of which is a sad lament, was dedicated to Mrs. Susan Barrow. The descriptions of the great balls, banquets, and soirees read like those held in old castles in Feudal Europe. Afton Villa is rather too elaborate to describe in detail, as the latterday French Gothic usually is, with much carving, etc.
After the Civil War the fortunes of the family being swept away, the place naturally suffered greatly from neglect. When the Union army, bent on burning every Southern mansion passed the place it was saved, because the immense elaborate Gothic gateway, appeared to them as the entrance to a cemetery, instead of the entrance to a plantation home.
Like most of the great plantation homes in Louisiana, Afton Villa has its own cemetery enclosed by elaborate iron work. Here lie a few members of the numerous Barrow family. Buried beside his first wife lies David Barrow, the second Mrs. Barrow being buried in Lexington, Kentucky, the place of her birth. Close by Mr. and Mrs. Barrow are two of their children. Near by lie the graves of the mother and father of Mr. David Barrow. Bartholomew Barrow, his father was born in 1766, and close by is the imposing monument erected by Congress to the memory of Senator Alexander Barrow, an early U. S. Senator who died in office in the year 1846. The senator like many of the Barrow family was noted for his culture, handsome stature and manly beauty.
The gardens of Afton, are beautiful, and the present owners Dr. and Mrs. Robert Lewis, have spent a fortune in restoring Afton Villa and its beautiful garden. They have made of it one of the leading show places of the Feliciana country, and deserve
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great praise for preserving this relic of the golden era of Louisiana.
ELLERSLIE
Olivia Ruffin Lane, daughter of William Lane and Mary Barrow, born May 16, 1771, married first William Ratcliff, and for her second husband chose William Wade, who with his wife's financial assistance, was able to build lovely Ellerslie, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
Beautiful and stately of line, occupying a prominent site high up on a bluff in the Tunica hills about ten miles from St. Francisville and far from the highway, it is considered a perfect example of the Classic Revival. It was erected in 1885 for Judge William C. Wade and his family.
Like many another rich planter who came south in the early thirties, Judge Wade, with a caravan, chests of money, a train of slaves and household equipment, joined the throng of Virginians and Carolinians who were settling in Louisiana. Many located in West Feliciana, others on the banks of the Mississippi and still others in the Bayou Lafourche section.
Reaching the West Feliciana area he found a large settlement of distinguished planters and their families, whose mansions bespoke wealth and culture.
Purchasing twelve thousand acres he at once laid out his plantation and built a house, the one we see today. The house cost about one hundred thousand dollars, besides the timber from his land, and a great deal of slave labor in the making and laying of bricks. The facade of the house presents eight long heavy solid brick circular Doric columns supporting a heavy cornice and nicely lined roof surmounted by a balcony enclosed observatory all cement finished.
Completed, Judge Wade furnished his home in a fitting manner, and his family joined the social colony formed by the Bar- rows, Ratcliffs, Scotts, Lanes, Hamiltons, Perceys, etc. Judge Wade lived only fifteen years to enjoy the beautiful home which he had built. He was buried in the family burial plot to the rear of the house. His wife, who had been Miss Olivia Lane, with his son, inherited the place. Under their skilful management the plantation was continued on a successful basis, until the Civil War broke out, when her son, who had studied medicine, became a surgeon in the Confederate army.
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As usual, the house was raided by the Union soldiers and large numbers of the cattle stolen and carried off. With the freeing of the slaves and the immense losses incurred by the war, there was left neither money nor labor to run the plantation and the place began to disintegrate. Mrs. Wade dying first, and her son in 1900, the heirs moved to a smaller home that they were able to maintain. They sold the house and 2,000 acres of land to Edward M. Percy in 1915. Mr. Percy found that the place he had purchased was literally falling into ruin, and set to work at once to have the needed repairs made. He has restored the greater part of the old mansion.
As it stands now it is again quite beautiful and impressive. Ivy clings to the great Doric columns and reaches to the roof. The beautiful circular stairway of San Domingo mahogany is lovely again and the great avenue of oak trees are well cared for. The garden too, shows attention and care, blooming shrubs pour forth their fragrance in return.
The plantation, now a cattle ranch, has become a paying investment, and should be included in a tour of the plantation country.
The New Orleans home of Mrs. Robert Ruffin Barrow, who was Miss Jenny Loviski Tennent, daughter of Charles Tennent, and a great-granddaughter of Governor Gayoso de Lemos, is a veritable museum of beautiful heirlooms of the Barrow, Gayoso, DuBoise and Perez families. Among its prized possessions is the splendid carved Spanish bed used by her noted grandparents, the Gayosos. Beautiful ancestral portraits of this family adorn the walls of the many spacious rooms filled to overflowing with the many choice articles that furnish and adorn this most interesting home. Much of Mrs. Barrow’s collection has come from the first Afton Villa, which was originally owned by the father of Robert Ruffin Barrow, Sr., and which later became the home of David Barrow who rebuilt it in its present form when he married a second time.
The following genealogy is found among the family records of Mrs. Robert Ruffin Barrow of New Orleans:
1. Thomas Barrow, a native of Lancaster, England, came to Virginia in 1680. Settled in Southampton County, Virginia, on the Nottaway River where he died when over 90 years of age.
2. A son of the above Thomas Barrow, also named Thomas
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Barrow, married Elizabeth Atkinson, and moved to North Caro- lina.
3. William Barrow, a respected farmer of Brunswick County, Virginia, late in life moved to North Carolina, being a great- great grandfather when he died at the age of 91 years.
4. David Barrow, (great grandfather) born in Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1753.
5. William Barrow, bom in Montgomery County, Kentucky, April 17th, 1835, died January 3rd, 1916. Married Elizabeth Floyd Curry, and Adeline Bush, of Clark County, Kentucky.
(From family record of Mrs. Robert Ruffin Barrow, Jr., of New Orleans.)
GREENWOOD PLANTATION MANOR Built 1830.
Greenwood, the most magnificent example of the Classic Revival architecture in Louisiana, is a poem in architecture. NoWhere in the entire South is there to be found a place so restful and so beautiful. William Ruffin Barrow, cultured gentleman planter, a member of that distinguished family who were to build so many fine homes in Louisiana, came from the Northern part of Carolina to this state and located in West Feliciana Parish shortly after 1803. Selecting a tract of 12,000 acres in the most beautiful section of the Feliciana country, he at once set his slaves to work building brick kilns, cutting lumber and getting ready for the mansion he planned to build.
When completed Greenwood with its twenty-eight massive columns, its wide surrounding porches, its splendid cornice, surmounted by a great observatory, was fine indeed. From this observation post he could readily survey his estate of twelve thousand acres at will, and know what was going on in the various parts of the plantation.
In the center of this great mansion from front to rear extends a very wide hall seventy feet long at the rear of which a splendid mahogany stairway winds to the floor above. A beautiful black marble mantel having Ionic columns, above which was a large mirror in ornate gold leaf frame. This mantel is one of the many lovely ones each of which originally was surmounted by mirrors equally as handsome.
Mrs. Jack Lester in period costume in front of “ Waver ly”, her beautiful plantation home near St. Francisville.
“WAVERLY” Plantation home where Audubon taught dancing to the children of the patrician families of the area.
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Greenwood was about four years in building, and quantities of costly wood-work and other materials were brought from the North for the interior finish.
The mansion stood complete according in the year 1831, when attention was given to the additional buildings attached to the plantation. The immediate grounds about the mansion were planned as a deer park with an artificial lake in which the mansion might be reflected. Here grew a variety of water plants among which swans and other aquatic birds sported. Some distance in front of this deer park a private race-track was laid out, and here a great many races with the aristocracy as spectators took place with fortunes changing hands.
Far to the right was laid out the slave village, remote enough from the house to avoid odors being carried from the quarters to the mansion by the wind. Here a hundred brick cabins, a church, a hospital, a place for amusements, baths, etc., needed by such a colony were found. Large sunken brick-lined cisterns dotted the grounds in goodly number to furnish good water at all times. A great coach house, stables, kitchens and smoke house — in fact some forty extra buildings are recorded as being completed according to the original plans. Most of these buildings were constructed of brick, some of Greek Revival design. Like a great English palace in all its glory each formed a part of the original ensemble when Greenwood Plantation stood complete. When the Union soldiers blew up the sugar houses and cotton gins, most of these buildings were destroyed after their contents had been carried away.
When the plantation buildings were all finished, Mr. Barrow and his family gave a series of entertainments that recalled the ones given in the palatial homes of the old Cavalier Families of Carolina and Virginia.
Wealth poured into the coffers of the planters, cotton and sugar bringing fabulous prices, with England clamoring for more cotton for her mills. The great estates of England were being divided making room for the cotton mills that were springing up on all sides. New Orleans, Bayou Sara, Natchez and Vicksburg — all were busy with shipping plantation products and every one apparently making money.
Gradually the war clouds gathered, and Judah P. Benjamin, the able United States Senator from Louisiana also a planter and
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close friend of the owner of Greenwood Plantation advised Mr. Barrow to dispose of his large holdings even if he had to do it at a great sacrifice. Noting that matters were getting worse, after a consultation with the different members of his family Mr. Barrow decided to follow his friend’s advice. Finding Major Reed anxious to possess Greenwood, reserving a few articles, he sold the place intact to Major Reed who with his son, an able planter, was able to hold on to Greenwood Plantation until the latter part of the war. Learning that plantations were being swept clean of their contents and the mansions burned by the advancing Union Army, and realizing that Greenwood’s turn would soon come, Major Reed sold what cattle and other products that he could. But to protect his beautiful home and its contents seemed an impossible task. Finally he had all of his valuable possessions boxed and crated and shipped to New Orleans where they were put in storage. After the fall of New Orleans Ben Butler seized all the movable property he desired, shipping immense quantities of solid silver table services, barrels of silver spoons (gaining for him the name of “Silver Spoon” Butler) and other valuables to the North. Confiscating the contents of banks, he proceeded to claim bank funds out in the state.
As the Federal troops advanced upon Greenwood, the owner having learned that his belongings stored in the city had been confiscated by General Butler, felt sure that Greenwood would be burned, and he fled to a thicket to watch the destruction of his beautiful home. But after viewing the mansion the Union Officers decided that it would make a good hospital, so spared the building. But everything that could be carried away from the plantation was taken. With the freeing of the slaves, it was impossible to maintain such an enormous place. The Reeds finally seeing no possibility of holding on to it, disposed of the mansion and estate to the present owners Mr. and Mrs. Frank Percy. They have restored the place to its present beautiful condition, and furnished it splendidly with appropriate belongings and many fine antiques, many of them heirlooms from both sides of their families.
The Percy family, another distinguished plantation family of the Feliciana area, is related to many noted families in the state. They are a cultured people, descending from Robert Percy of Shenandoah Valley, who built Beechwood Manor which he had
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laid out in 1804 on Little Bayou Sara, then a thriving place. Beechwood Manor has been replaced with a simpler country home and is at the present the country residence of Mr. and Mrs J Hereford Percy who live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In olden days Beechwood Plantation was a rallying ground for the patri- cian families of the vicinity. Its history is closely interwoven with that of Audubon, and with the romance of beautiful viva- cious Eika Pirrie, who eloped with her cousin, the handsome young Robert Hilliard Barrow, son of the man for whom magnificent Greenwood manor was built. After the elopement Audubon who had been teaching Miss Pirrie, left Oakley, Miss Pirrie’s plantation home, and became the tutor of the Percy children. Mrs Audubon later enjoyed the hospitality of the Percy family while the naturalist sought a publisher in London.
Greenwood manor has been restored beautifully, and it has again become one of the most charming plantation homes in Louisiana.
Chapter XXVIII.
PLANTATIONS OF THE BUTLER FAMILY.
THE COTTAGE PLANTATION.
BUTLER HOME.
West Feliciana Parish , Louisiana.
OTDDEN away deep in the woods some seven miles from St.
Francisville and far away from the main highway, The Cottage is built upon a great burnt sienna colored bluff — the trail’s end of a long sandy road leading to the house.
At Catalpa P. 0. the distance from the highway is about a mile. On the way one crosses Alexander Creek, which like the Homochito Bayou, following prolonged rains assumes the size of an angry stream of sufficient height to isolate this charming old domicile.
The road from the highway is through a woodland country somewhat like that around lovely Old Oakley Plantation Manor, but at times the road to The Cottage becomes a trail. One is well rewarded for the journey, for at the Cottage as at Oakley, one finds the unpretentious old home filled to overflowing with a rare collection of historical and artistic treasures.
In 1811 Judge Thomas Butler, from whom this prominent branch of the “Fighting Butlers” stem, located in this parish and purchased the plantation. He obtained two tracts of land, which the Spanish Crown according to the aged yellowed paper worded in Spanish and bearing the signature of Governor Hector de Carondelet, granted to John Allen and to Patrick Holland in the year 1785.
True to the blood, many of these Butlers have been prominent personages. In this home still live Mr. Robert Butler and his
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sister Miss Louise Butler, the prominent Louisiana Historian, who with their old negro servants, continue to maintain a gay and interesting life in this old Spanish plantation home deep in the woods. Miss Butler's writings are highly prized by the Louisiana Historical Society, for at no time does she permit the romantic to cloud the varacity of her statements. What she writes is authentic, and recognized historians hold her articles in high esteem for that reason.
The Cottage is undoubtedly one of the most charming old plantation houses in the entire Southland. Its history is also interesting. Constructed originally along the substantial, unpretentious lines of provincial Spanish plantation homes in 1811, and added to from time to time by competent builders who retained the original lines in their additions, it is harmonious and pleasing in its simplicity. The woodwork within, as is generally the case in Spanish houses, is simple in design for most part, and shows the handiwork of finished craftsmen. Throughout the house the mullioned transomed windows, hand-carved doors, built-in cabinets, panelling, and unusually handsome wooden mantels are all the work of experienced cabinet makers and wood carvers.
Especially is this the case in the original house where an air of elegance marks the finish of the rooms. The salle or parlour is a rather large room of great distinction. It is a period-room of about 1811, being in great part as it was originally, its draperies having much in common with the beautiful ones in the drawing room at Greenwood Manor the charming home of Mrs. Edward Butler. The handsome furnishings are original, and like those of the Edward Butler home, one is impressed at once by their quaint beauty. The rooms possess the restfulness not obtained where the reproduction of an old room has been attempted. A color scheme of old ashy reds predominate, forming a splendid setting for the pieces of fine old carved rosewood and mahogany furniture, and the paintings of old masters in their handsome real gold leaf frames of a century ago, the freshness not dimmed by the passing years. There are splendid chairs and sofas in their original French and English brocades — individual chairs of beautiful design. There are cabinets and whatnots, all filled with exceptionally rare pieces of bric-a-brac — Dresden, Sevres Doulton, Limoge and endless other pieces equally as fine that were collected
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in olden days, when European tours were made yearly. The bro- catelle designed Brussels carpet matching in tones the voluminous handsome window drapes is as beautiful as when placed in this room a century ago and one marvels at its splendid condition.
In the rear of this attractive drawing-room is the library and music room combined. Here originally was one of the choicest collection of rare books to be found in a section noted for its fine libraries. A large size organ handsomely designed with gilded pipes forms a center of attraction in another room, and opening as it does into the salle, contrasts pleasingly, the immense panelled doors giving a typically Spanish appearance to the room. Among the innumerable articles in this home are dozens that are museum pieces. Of marked interest are the immense Audubon prints (First Editions) , an old curio console, and an immense mahogany couch of colonial design nine feet long that would make the heart of a collector glad — it is massive in construction and long enough to seat the entire squad of “Fighting Butlers”, at a time and still have ample room for Andrew Jackson.
A number of old mahogany bookcases of good design are filled with rare volumes, most of them having costly bindings, a number of them first editions. Among these volumes is an elephant edition of “The Costumes of Ancient England and Ireland”, a magnificent book of its kind. It is profusely illustrated, each of the steel engraved plates colored by hand with the exquisite illumination and perfection of detail found in old missals. These books were retained by the family from the priceless library of several thousand volumes that were collected by the great soldier- statesman, owner of this home. At present it is a part of the fine collection of the Louisiana State University Library and is kept together under the name of the Thomas Butler Collection.
In the dining-room the Hero of Chalmette and his staff of officers, with eight “Fighting Butlers” amongst them, dined and wined during their stay at “The Cottage” enroute to Natchez, after the Battle of New Orleans. In this stately room are magnificent pieces of ancient dark oak furniture elegantly carved, the massive buffet of attractive design with an upper glazed section containing rare pieces of Wedgewood, Spode, Chelseaware, and much fine old Irish and English crystal ware. The matched pieces of the dining-room set and large table are all splendid an-
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tiques of great beauty, and complete a most attractive room. The andirons are all solid brass, slave-made and somewhat unusual.
The bedrooms all have high ceilings, and some of the mahogany four-posters are ten feet high with heavy cornices. The rest of the furniture of the rooms is equally as attractive forming stately chambers wherein have slept distinguished visitors.
The treasures of this interesting home go back to Europe of past centuries, some coming through marriage into other prominent families, brought from abroad by members of the family and admiring friends. All are in harmony with the restful unpretentious surroundings. Above the stairs by way of the hallway what appears to be the attic is in reality a series of rooms ample in size, used in olden days when the family was larger. They are equally as well finished as those on the first floor. All have fine antique furniture, elaborately carved four-post beds, etc.
The estate is almost a village in itself, with its many and varied buildings which always have been kept in good repair and well painted. In the old carriage house, along with two antiquated buggies, is the ancient state carriage built in Philadelphia specially for Captain Richard Butler at a cost of one thousand dollars. This was in the year 1808, when he bought the plantation home in St. Charles Parish which he named Ormonde, purchasing it from the widow of Captain de Trapagnier who was kidnapped some time before. Madame de Trapagnier later married a Monsieur de Macarty, member of the prominent New Orleans family.
In the house are vast quantities of tokens, mementos, old letters — affectionate and dramatic — ancient documents of every description. There are nine trunks full of them, containing a world of data about the Butler family and dozens of other prominent families of the State. All this material was collected for most part by Miss Louise Butler, the gracious chatelain of The Cottage.
In the rear of The Cottage Plantation garden grounds is found a brick enclosure with an attractive iron gate, and here lie many members of the Butler family. White marble headstones mark their resting places, all neatly cared for. It is fittingly located among the trees, and the birds with their cheery song somehow make of it a place devoid of gloom.
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THE EDWARD BUTLER PLANTATION HOME, GREENWOOD PLANTATION AND MANOR,
FIRST REBUILT 1820.
In a group of historic old plantation homes we find an unpretentious one, which replaces the beautiful Manor house built for Dr. Samuel Flower and his family. Dr. Flower came to Feliciana in 1778, when the country was in the making. The second house was further added to in 1850, when a number of white marble mantels were substituted for the wooden ones then in use, leaving the house as we see it today — a comfortable, rambling, interesting home.
A long and pleasing driveway leads from the Woodville Road to the gateway which opens onto a splendid wooded park with sunken garden and other attractive features that are generally found on a large estate. An odor of pines mingles with the fragrance of cape jasmine and sweet olive, for this is an old fashioned garden retaining all of its ante-bellum charm. Great trees are everywhere, which at midday create strong contrasts with their varied hues in the bright sunshine. On moon-light nights while the leaves are still on the trees, if one is in the right mood, in the imagination, one can see the great park peopled with shades of the many distinguished men and lovely ladies that in days long past made merry here, when life appeared like a long holiday, leaving capable overseers to attend to the plantation details.
It is true if you investigate too closely these shades of the ancient gentry may turn out to be only flitting shadows. But watch some night when fragrant breezes stir the air and set the leaves to dancing, and you will see willowy ladies in wide spreading crinolines treading the step of a dance with gallant swains, perhaps in the whirl of a dreamy waltz. Then the great lawn becomes a gala ball-room floor and the park a plantation drawing-room. Of course to visualize these things, one must know the history of this old home, or be told about its olden days in the time when those whose beautiful portraits now adorn its walls walked and roamed about these grounds, gathering flowers or enjoying themselves in various ways.
This is “The land of Audubon” and one can readily understand why, for the air is filled with bird song, and the feathery songsters nest above the wide stairway leading up to the roomy
Volumnia Huntley, who married Robert Ruffin Barrow, Sr., and her daughter, Roberta Barrow, who married 1st, W. J. Slatter of Winchseter, Tlenn., and secondly Albert Woods. (From an oil portrait painted by Amans, and owned by Mrs. W. J. Gui- d«ery. Courtesy of Mrs. Robert R. Barrow, Jr., of New Orleans.)
Mrs' Jeanne Catherine Du Boise, who married Don Manuel Perez.
Don Manuel Perez. Courtesy of Mrs. Robert R. Barrow, Jr.
THE MYRTLES, built for the Stirling family. Located near the “Greenwood Manor”, home of the Edward Butler family. (See Yol. II.)
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porch which stretches across the front of the house. The main entrance hall with an attractive winding stair in the rear leading to the apartments above, is a large hallway in keeping with the rooms of the house. Family portraits of past generations painted by distinguished artists of a century ago adorn the walls. Above a handsome large antique claw foot mahogany sofa, hangs a life- size portrait of Mrs. Harriet Flower, portraying this lady as she appeared later in life, while on the opposite wall is a three-quarter size portrait of Judge George Mathews, a replica of which hangs in the portrait gallery of the Louisiana Historical Society. This fine unsigned portrait is attributed to Jarvis, a distinguished portrait painter of ante-bellum days.
Distinctive pieces of furniture, all genuine antiques owned by generations past, are placed about the hall. The drawingroom to the right as you face the garden is English in style. In the rear of the English drawing-room we find a remarkably fine old concert grand Pleyel piano, of a very graceful design with brass inlays. No doubt it was made for display, for it is one of the finest ever made by that celebrated French piano factory.
In this room we find more fine old family portraits by Armand, Sully and others equally as famous, in fact this lovely old home, like charming Oakley manor, has a fine collection of ancestral portraits all of them painted by distinguished artists. Here again is much quaint rosewood and mahogany furniture, Sevres vases, century-old ornaments of unusually beautiful shape and coloring, along with other articles such as lap desks iniai^ fanciful curio boxes, gaming tables, etc. In the rear of this room is the library, a room that a lover of Audubon would revel in, for on the walls are many fine old Audubon prints, all first editions — those that were first printed and sold to subscribers to enable him to publish his elephant edition of the “Birds of America”. A large case of stuffed birds of various kinds mounted by a man who was taxidermist for the naturalist, hangs above a large antique desk, and all about this interesting room are mementos of the great lover of birds.
The dining-room is large as most plantation dining-rooms are, and is a treasure house of beautiful and interesting things each one a relic of old plantation days, when this community could boast of being one of the most cultured as well as aristocratic m America. The furniture of this room is mostly ma-
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hogany of the early Victorian period before it fell under the in- fluence of the East-Lake style, which became popular during the latter part of her Majesty’s reign. It is distinctly European, a style that was reproduced by Signorette and Prudence Mallard in their studios in New Orleans. The dining-room chairs have spindle or balustraded backs and are unusually attractive in de- sign, while the sideboard and buffets are handsome with their crouch panelling. Both are laden with rare china, fine Irish and F.nglish crystal, and pieces of extremely fine silver with full molded grape design beautifully finished by hand after removal from the molds. In reality many of the articles in this home are museum pieces. Attractive mantel sets, other ancestral portraits add to the interest of this room, while large fruit baskets filled with luscious-looking peaches, grapes and other tempting fruit give a practical touch to a room that is put to daily use.
The drawing-room like the one at “The Cottage” (Butler Home) could be used as a model of the best period of Louis Philippe, devoid of the Empire “mixture” we so often find. The drawing-rooms in the Butler homes are somewhat distinctive, and different from the drawing-rooms one usually sees in the finer old plantation homes of Louisiana and Mississippi. Not that they are more elaborate, but they have a European touch in their decoration while others have less of that European distinction. Especially are their window draperies captivating and they create an individual atmosphere. To the admirer of olden periods they are the appropriate hangings to bring out the beauty of the various articles in these handsome drawing-rooms. The unusually attractive carpet with center medallion is much like some that we see in fine old Virginia homes. In this room again we find ancestral portraits of beautiful women and handsome men, a distinct one is the life-sized three-quarter length portrait of Mrs. Penelope Stewart Mathews, daughter of Colonel Tignal Jones Stewart, and wife of Charles Lewis Mathews. This portrait was painted by Amand, who also painted another one of this lady’s sister in a slightly different pose, but in the same size as that which now hangs in the attractive nearby plantation home of her daughter’s family, the Thomas Butlers. The portrait of Charles Lewis Mathews, son of Judge George Mathews which hangs in the Viall, was also painted by Thomas Sully, while on the mantel of the drawing-room is a portrait of the son of Charles Lewis
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Mathews by Amand. There is also a portrait of Charles Stewart by Amand, and another fine portrait of Mrs. Harriet Flower, as a very beautiful young lady (wife of Judge Mathews). It too, was painted by Amand.
In 1850 when other changes were made in the house, the fine white marble mantels were put in, replacing the original wooden ones. A tall pier mirror of the Louis Philippe period overlaid with gold leaf — the handsome frame is as beautiful as it was the day it was placed in this home nearly a century ago — -adds great dignity to the room and reflects the many attractive articles in it. Filling an opposite wall panel is a fine large rosewood eta- gerre on which are many pieces of bric-a-brac, the most attractive piece being a large Limoge china fruit basket of gold open work, supported by two kneeling angels on a base finished in Roman gold — a most rare and attractive piece. It is an heirloom, as are the figurines, antique lamps and hurricane shades. Each helps to make a satisfactory picture of a drawing-room of a wealthy and cultured family of a century ago.
The original brick outside kitchen of the first Greenwood manor stands some distance from the house. It is an attractive building of simple lines, much in use when the banquets for which this old plantation was famous were prepared.
CATALPA PLANTATION (No longer standing)
Catalpa, a rambling, roomy, comfortable old house in the midst of its fascinating garden, a house in which the old families of the vicinity loved to gather — “there is always such a good time to be had at the Fort's,” was the saying by both young and old who enjoyed its hospitalities.
Built in the days when the Felicianas were one and the best blood of the country seemingly sent representatives to perpetuate names with valor, honor and distinction behind them. Such were the builders of Catalpa and this old plantation that holds such pleasant memories for the surviving members of the family and their friends.
The Forts came from Carolina and as was customary once having finished their manor, filled it first of all with treasured heirlooms, old family portraits, family silver, crystal and china, along with fine miniatures, painted by noted artists.
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This home, the center of life on the old plantation, was a scene of endless gaiety. Vivacious daughters, equally as beautiful and charming as their lovely mother, whose own youth had been a constant series of social triumphs, presided at balls, receptions, banquets, hunting parties, etc. In this prosaic age for those unfamiliar with life as led on an ante-bellum plantation, it is hard to visualize the gay and joyous life led by these favored people.
Charming ladies and gentlemen still in our midst living in homes filled with much of the artistic treasures remaining from the days of which I write, confirmed in their own reminiscences the glories of the era before the Civil War, which wrecked this land once so prosperous. We know that what they tell us of this past era is true.
Mrs. Thomas Butler, a grande dame of the old regime, who passed away a short time ago at the age of eighty-three, in her reminiscences writes of her parents’ plantation and their lovely old home:
CATALPA.
Catalpa, one of the most beautiful places in West Feliciana parish, was owned by Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Fort, who were married in the early forties and being artisitic in their natures and lovers of the beautiful, made it their life work and pleasure to create this lovely and most attractive home, all accomplished with their own slaves under their direction and guidance.*
The gardens and grounds comprised about 38 acres (without plantation lands) of level and rolling land, the house, a large old fashioned Southern home situated in the center of the grounds.
The front entrances through two gateways, about 300 yards apart, opening into two most picturesque windinfe live oak avenues leading up to the house. . These wide gravelled avenues were bordered with large pink lined conch shells, producing a lovely and unusual effect.
It is interesting to note that these shells were washed from time to time by the slaves.
North and South of the house, as far as the eye could reach, was a perfect , landscape of flowers, shrubs of every variety, grass plots and white gravelled walks, intervening, leading through the lawns.
* Among the Fort slaves were expert carpenters, brick masons, and skilled mechanics generally costing as much as $5,000.00 each.
LOCUST RIDGE”, later called “Highland*’ Plantation, was erected about 1800, the first home built by the Barrow family in Louisiana.
“ROSEDOWN” Manor with a garden-party in full swing.
“AFTON VILLA”, West Feiiciana Parish, built in 1849 for the second Mrs. David Barrow.
Old Ellieslie Plantation Mansion. Containing much that is inter esting in the way of antiques and family portraits.
“Greenwood Plantation Mansion”, built in 1830 for William Ruffin Barrow, I. In its setting it is the most magnfiicent example of the Greek Revival in the South.
Bennett Barrow. (From a picture at the Highlands Plantation.)
Capt. John Barrow, son of Bennett Barrow of Highland.
Robert Ruffin Barrow I. (Courtesy of Mrs. Robert Ruffin Bar- row II.)
Robert Ruffin Barrow II. (Courtesy of Mrs. Robert R. Barrow, Jr.)
Lodiska Perez.
Volumnia Huntley as a young girl. (Courtesy of Mrs. R. R. Barrow, Jr.)
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A large fish pond attracted the eye on the North, with a fountain in the center, and swans swimming around an island, with small trees and grass was most alluring for picnics and fish-frys, skiffs and boats a means of conveyance. A smaller island, covered with reeds, was the home and nesting place for ducks. Two large pigeon houses, (typical pigeonhaires as was customary flanking either side of the mansion) overlooking the pond.
North and South, supplying a plentiful lot of squabs, and on the level side a long line of Lombardy poplars added to this beautiful view.
Fondly recalling the memory of those happy years spent on this lovely old plantation, so rich in pleasant memories to all of this charming family who survive, she continues:
I miss those old days — I have heard many a friend say, some of the happiest days of their lives were spent on that old pond.
Near by was a fair sized deer park, most interesting to the young people; this park was also frequented by gorgeous colored peafowl.*
It is needless to say this was the most attractive part of the grounds. Now we will turn to the South of the house, through rose bordered creeks we come to the green house, a magnificent structure of glass and of unusual dimensions. At one end grew a large orange tree, bearing fruit; and at the other end a clump of banana trees bearing delicious bananas. In the center was a large stage with lovely flowering pot-plants of great variety, and through the entire length of the green-house overhead clustering vines with gorgeous blooms, a feast for humming-birds. A latticed walk extended around the stage, the warm air from the furniace coming up through the openings and permeating the atmosphere with warmth and fragrance. Tropical plants, tea, coffee, cinnamon, guava, mandarins and many other kinds grew around the borders; it was indeed a fascinating bit of fairy-land. Mr. Fort bening well versed in floriculture as well as in architecture; this green-house was the wonder and admiration of all who saw it. The genii who presided over all this beauty was an intelligent negro slave. He had charge of all the flowers and decorations when entertainments were given and his artistic arrangements elicited admiration and surprise.
The writer remembers him so vividly, a pompous old negro with a bald head and roll of white hair surrounding it, standing at the green-house door, ushering in “Company” with great ceremony, show- them around and giving as he thought the botanical names of the
* On almost all of the more important plantations peafowl were to be found and still are to be seen on many of them.
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plants. This had a comic side, of course, but his dignity was such that no sign of amusement was shown. But we cannot tarry too long in this fascinating bit of tropical land, for outside new vistas of beauty await the eye. Far down the lawn spreads a green carpet, I visiualize a picture of old Father Time his scythe (The old gardener) an olJd bent slave mowing the grass with ceaseless and perfect rhythm, having a beautiful sward, with blooming flower-beds and foliage of dif- erent hues. Here and there are cosy nooks with iron chairs and sofas, anid in sunny spaces an old fashioned sun-dial. We pause to listen to the singing of birds, riotously happy for they feared neither traps or guns; and the swarms of bees, flying hither and thither, laden with sweets for the bee-hive — an humble tenant of every old time garden. Here is the “Old South”, too beautiful to last. But we cannot dream too long, there is the beautious little summer house, just below festooned with the purple drapery of wisteria vine, a large cistern underneath, supplying water for the flowers. This was a most attractive place, as there were seats around, and ice-cream and fruits were often served there in summer. What added immensely to the view was a patch-work garden of animals extending from the side, and truly the flower catalogue must have been rifled to supply this beauty and color. Just above this garden was a long line of brick cement pits for growing pineapples and ‘forcing vegetables. It was said that there were deciduous fruits, one can hardly realize it now, pears, peaches, plums, and nectarines with a variety of figs and luscious melons. The writer remembers seeing luscious pears gathered by the cotton baskets.
The poultry yards invite our interest, here was variety, the flocks of turkeys, tended by “Espy” a little negro girl and herded to pastures ever new. The great delight of visiting old Aunt Winnie and Uncle Derry (the old slaves) who raised the ducks and who lived in the little hut just down the slope, where a stream of water ran, ideal for ducks and for children too (so thought these youngsters in those days) .
The old couple always had something for the children from the “big house” strings of chinquapins, tiny ears of red pop-corn (which seems to have lost out since the Civil War) and bitter fancy gourds, all bringing thrills of delight to the young folks.
Again this grand dame of ante-bellum days, who was a little girl when the storm of war broke, recalling her happy childhood and the loyalty of the old-time darkie who realized what their master’s protection meant said:
Those were happy days, showing the pliability and adaptability of the old-time slave, whose great incentive was to please the appreciative Master and Mistress.
So true the saying — “A good master made good slaves”. The owners of this lovely home lived many years to enjoy their beautiful
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creations, but alas! the cruel war came on and ruin and wreckage followed inf its wake. Mr. Fort died about that time: most of the slaves grew panic-stricken and fled; (When they saw how plantation mansion after plantation mansion were burned, and how the slaves were being put into corrals and kept there like cattle by the Union soldiers when they would not turn against their masters. How they were dying of Typhoid fever and other diseases, uncared for after the Union troops had driven them off of the various plantations.)
Gateways and fences were tom down by bands of soldiers, letting in cattle, for horses and all destructive elements, trampling and destroying. The green-house was shattered: neglect and ruin everywhere met the eye, where a few months before such beauty and symmetry reigned.
Mrs. Fort with her family of young children passed through the trying vicissitudes of this fearful war, with the courage and bravery displayed by many Southern women, never deserting her home, rearing and educating her children under great difficulties, and living to a good old age, surrounded by her children and grand-children, who now own Catalpa, and served by a few of the faithful servants who never deserted the family and their old Missus.
It is interesting to add that Mrs. Fort, though blind the last years of her life, never lost her artistic tastes and magic touch with flowers as well as music.
As the gracious lady who has penned these memories of her childhood sat reading the original manuscript surrounded by so much that recalled the past, one could perceive a slight tremor in her soft modulated voice and see her gentle eyes grow misty. For again she was transported as in a dream to those glorious days of old, and again for a moment became a little girl with sisters and playmates on the old plantation feeding the peacocks and swans of dear old Catalpa. Across the hall opposite the room in which Mrs. Butler sat while reading, above the mantel hangs a life-size portrait of a lovely young woman painted by the celebrated Belgian portrait painter, Amans. It is the portrait of Mrs. Fort in all her youth and beauty. Continuing her memoirs we read:
Now a lingering good-bye to Catalpa of the olden days, it is past and gone like its creators and lives onjly in the memory of a few who were fortunate enough to enjoy its rare beauty and gracious hospitality. Time brings us to the Catalpa of today, still beautious with its fine old park of forest trees. Time and seasons multiplying new growths. The pond is still there like an old landmark, shrunken with age, only
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a few scattered shrubs of camelias, japonicas, that queen of flowers, once firmly rooted in the soil, defies even the elements of war. A modern house stands where the old one was burned years ago, and I must add, traces of the old home hospitality and good cheer lia'ger around still.
A last farewell to those old days —
Far down the flight of time In some dim halls of memory Those bright visions shine And flit like phantom shadows Through dreams of happy mind.
Four Generations. Mr. Jules Labatut, who married Miss Clelie Labatut. Mrs. Olivier O. Provosty (ned Euphemie Labatut), daughter of Jules Labatut and Clelie Ranson.
In White. — Mrs. John F. Tobin, (ne6 Eliska Paule Provosty), daughter of Mr. Olivier 0. Provosty and Euphemie Labatut.
Baby. — John William Tobin II, son of John F. Tobin and Eliska Provosty.
Old Labatut Plantation Home.
Chapter XXIX.
IN THE FALSE RIVER SECTION.
THE OLD LABATUT PLANTATION HOME Built for Evarist de Barra.
AT first, glance the ancient plantation home on the west bank of the Mississippi River above New Roads, La., built for Don Evarist de Barra, a Spanish nobleman who came to Louisiana during the Spanish regime, appears to be just another of the many- old plantation homes still to be found in Louisiana. However, the student of architecture sees that it is an old plantation home built on charming lines. It is very much larger than one would judge it to be from a casual glance, and its details are many and beautiful and well worth preserving.
The fan-transomed sidelighted doors front and rear are of a very attractive design, and are placed in the center upstairs and downstairs in the front and rear with good effect. Smaller fan lights again above the French windows with blinds, attractive dormers, balustrades and a dozen other architectural features form a notable ensemble, and in earlier days the house must have been quite beautiful. The lower floor is built of brick with a heavy cement coating while the second story is of frame construction. In the rear instead of the porch extending across the entire length from side to side, rooms occupy part of the space on both sides, and a balcony occupies the central area with charming effect. Below a stairway leads to the second floor and a court encloses a part of the large rear area.
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The ancient home was erected over one hundred and fifty years ago, and at present is seen at a somewhat disadvantage, for the hungry river has gradually eaten away the front land and the River Road is now quite close to the house, separated only by a neat picket fence. An old photograph belonging to a member of the family shows the house while it still retained much of its land frontage with a grove of huge oak trees, and it was a charming place indeed. The grove of great oaks that originally fronted the place is gone, and the levee now in front reaches nearly as high as the porch of the second story.
A series of well designed Doric-capped circular columns are to be found front and rear, above which graceful collonettes reach to the eaves. The old place was built for most part by the slaves belonging to the old Spanish nobleman with cypress lumber and bricks prepared on his land. The doors, windows, window-blinds, transoms (fanlights) and other special woodwork, with the mantels and glazed doors and windows, were brought from the north on flat-boats.
There is a wide central hallway, quite wide upstairs and down, and on the upper floor four large bed-rooms and cabinets, while on the ground floor are parlor, dining room, and two pan- tries. The kitchen laundry and what were originally quarters for house slaves are in a separate building as was the plantation custom.
Jean Baptiste Labatut, of patrician birth, came to Louisiana in 1781, and married Marie Felecite Saint-Martin. He became attorney-general of the Cabildo under the Spanish regime, and was made treasurer of the city of New Orleans when Louisiana was transferred back from Spain to France.
When the colony became part of the United States and the English invaded Louisiana, Labatut was appointed an aid to General Andrew Jackson with the rank of general and was given charge of the defense of New Orleans, acquitting himself with honor. His son Jean Pierre Labatut married Euphemie Barra, a sister of Don Evariste Barra, the Spanish nobleman for whom the old plantation house described here was built.
In the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans before the Civil War a marriage ceremony was performed which united at the same mass Lise Ranson and Clelie Ranson, both daughters of Zenon Ranson who had married Adele Labatut, a daughter of
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General Jean Baptiste Labatut — Lise marrying Emile Fossier and Clelie marrying Jules Labatut. Zenon Ranson was an immensely wealthy Louisiana planter, and as a wedding gift in keeping with
his wealth, as was the custom among opulent planter families _
each of his daughters received a dot of one hundred thousand dollars. The wedding reception was one of the most important social events of that year in the plantation country, and terminated with a ten-day house party on the Ranson plantation, given by the parents of the bride to the wedding party.
A daughter of Clelie (Mrs. Jules Labatut) became the wife of Justice 0. O. Provosty of the Supreme Court of Louisiana; their children were: (1) Olive Provosty, wife of Edward Carrere; (2) Adina Albertina, wife of Ulysse Marinoni; (3) Eliska Paule, who married John F. Tobin; (4) Andre Provosty, who married Clifton P. Walker; (5) Michel Provosty, City Attorney of New Orleans.
Lise Ranson and Emile Fossier became the parents of Stanislaus Fossier who married Albertine d’Hemecourt J. Fossier, their children are: (1) Walter S. Fossier; (2) D’Hemecourt J. Fossier; (3) Albert Fossier, M. D.
To the ancient plantation home of the old Don Evariste Barra came shortly after the Civil War, Jules Labatut with his wife who had been Miss Clelie Ranson, and their four oldest children Clelie Labatut, Euphemie Labatut, (Mrs. 0. O. Provosty), Emanuel Labatut and Albert Labatut, all born in New Orleans, their youngest children were born in this old plantation house. To the union of Albert Labatut and Valentine Dayries, who were married in 1900, were born ten children, their first two in this plantation home; (1) Jules Labatut; (2) Celuta Labatut; (3) Emanuel Labatut; Anita Labatut (deceased); Eugene Labatut, Francis Labatut, Cidalise Labatut (who became Sister Marie Adele of St. Joseph’s Academy); Laurence Labatut; Eliska Labatut, (Mrs. J. E. Gondeau of Baton Rouge, La.), and Virginia Labatut.
False River in the Parish of Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, was originally an auxiliary channel of the Mississippi River which was cut off in 1722. The country along the isolated river, now in reality a lake, and the section of land in its embrace is called the Island. It is delightfully picturesque. The scenery on all sides is charming. There are moss-hung oaks in groves, singly
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and forming archways. Water hyacinths and willows edge the river, above whose bank a fine highway winds on past one of the oldest plantation settlements of the state. Many of the homes were erected for families bearing aristocratic names, and are still the roof-tree of their descendants. The town of New Roads, a rather busy place for its size, lies on the road to Morganza and the settlements further along the highway.
LAKESIDE PLANTATION
Above West Baton Rouge , La. -
This old plantation takes its name from the lake-like section of the river in front of the plantation. It is an imposing brick structure of two stories with an attic — the massive house raised high on a well finished basement. Unlike the plantation mansions one usually finds in Louisiana, Lakeside, or the Bachelor Place as it is sometimes called, is built in the sophisticated style of urban homes, instead of that of the usual plantation house. The bricks used in its construction, and the elaborate cast-iron work, of which there is the greatest quantity, came from Pennsylvania, for the place was erected shortly before the Civil War.
Lakeside is constructed in a splendid manner and cost a large sum. It is beautifully finished within, having fine marble mantels in all of the principle rooms. The house has many elaborate balconies of cast iron, with heavy iron columns, recalling many of the similar ones in the Garden District of New Orleans. The high basement is as well finished as the upper part of the house, and serves as living quarters, for this is a plantation where weekend parties form a part of the social season. The oaks are numerous and beautiful, and are a splendid setting for the old mansion, over which a riot of climbing vines twine with abandon.
THE LEJEUNE PLANTATION HOME New Roads , Louisiana.
As one drives through the town of New Roads in Pointe Coupee Parish, a little beyond the Court House far back in large grounds, now a part of the town, can be seen an ancient plantation house. At present in its new coat of white paint, it appears quite attractive, as its garden with large lawn and great trees is well kept.
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Unfortunately the original dormers facing the road have been replaced by the more modern method of affording space in the attic. This change gives the house a modern appearance, and detracts somewhat from the quaintness of the old mansion.
The history of the place goes back to the early part of the eighteen hundreds. At that time the plantation was bought by Francois Samson and on the site of this house he built a two- storied plantation home for himself and his family. This house remained until 1856, when as many of the planters who had made money were doing, Mr. Samson decided to build a finer home.
At that time a newly-arrived builder, Francois Avemant, from Bordeaux, anxious to show his ability, told Mr. Samson that he would build his new house at a very reasonable cost. Mr. Samson agreed to the proposition, and the first house was at once demolished, and work soon started on the new. Avernant took a year to complete the house, as everything about the building was of the best.
The elaborate transom frames of the various doorways, the ornate mouldings, and other carved woodwork was all done by hand, nothing but the finest cypress lumber being used. The result was an unusually attractive house within as well as without. During construction Avernant was often criticized because of the time that was being spent on this elaborate carving, but the builder only replied that the house would be there in generations to come. Today with but few small changes, the old plantation house is exactly as it was when completed.
It is a spacious home of the modified early Louisiana type with large rooms and high ceilings, and wide porches front and rear, having stairways to both porches. The rear porch closed forms a large summer living-room. The dining-room which is quite large, the pantry and kitchen, besides wine cellar and other store-rooms occupy the basement floor with exposed beam ceilings. The parlour, as the French called their living room, is a large rectangular room with an attractive hand-carved mantel of good design. A number of roomy bedrooms on either side are equally as well finished, all with fine hand-carved mantels. A large quantity of well-designed antiques of rosewood and mahogany, are scattered about the various rooms — roomy sofas, arm chairs, cabinets, quaint tables, mantel mirrors and a quantity of
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ancient bric-a-brac. Great four-posters with dressers and commodes to match, also immense wardrobes are in each room.
The Lejeune house has changed little in a century. When the builder, Mr. Francois Avemant, an extremely religious man completed the house, he presented Mr. Samson with a framed carved statute of St. Francis of Assisi, both frame as well as statue carved by himself, requesting that the statue always be left in the house, and so it has remained until the present day. Shortly after the house was completed the builder from Bordeaux died and was buried in the New Roads cemetery.
Mr. Francois Samson died in 1850 and is buried in the family plot of the same cemetery. His grand daughters, Mrs. A. Bernier, Mrs. J. B. Lejeune, and Miss Louise Chenevert inherited the plantation. Mr. J. B. Lejeune managed it for the owners for a number of years. Later several crevasses occurred, and with the depressed conditions that followed, when many large land holders had to sacrifice their property, the plantation became heavily mortgaged, and was later sold to Mr. James Richy, except the home and the large plot surrounding it. This was inherited by Mrs. Francois Lejeune, and when she died in 1909, her husband and children inherited it. At his death the children became the owners, and still retain it as the old family home. By a strange coincidence both Mr. and Mrs. Francois Lejeune were born in this old plantation home.
THE MARYLAND OAK TABLET
Placed by the ladies of New Roads to the memory of James Ryder Randall.
The Poet James Ryder Randall, an English teacher, who also taught Latin in the Old Poydras College lived near the site of the ancient tree we now know as the Maryland Oak. Old residents of Pointe Coupee recall the poet and the tales they heard about him in those seemingly far off days.
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but always claimed a close kinship to the people of the Acadian Lands of Louisiana, whom he frequently visited during his outings, remaining at their simple homes over the week-ends.
He never lost an opportunity to let them know that his family stemmed back to the Canadians who had come as settlers from
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France. Always a great reader, the poet saw in the tale of Evangeline the story of his own ancestors, and read everything he could find pertaining to the expulsion of the Acadians of Nova Scotia by the English. He verified what Longfellow had put in beautiful meter by reference to Halburton’s history — learning that his great-great grandfather, Rene Leblanc, was one and the same person, who drawing himself up and assuming all the dignity he could command, spoke thusly to the English authorities in Nova Scotia: “We hope that you will not plunge both ourselves and our families into a state of total loss; and that this consideration will cause you to withdraw your savages and troops from our district”.
Rene Leblanc, at the time of the English Invasion 1713, was a notary and one of the five most important personages in Grand Pre (Great Meadow) in Acadia, as it had been formerly called by the French. It had been up to 1713 ruled successfully by the French, when as a result of the Treaty of Utrecht, it was given to the English ever to remain a province of the British Empire.
At the date of the expulsion of the Acadians the greater part of the population of Nova Scotia were farmers and fishermen, descendants for most part, of the peasantry of France. They led simple lives, raised large families and dwelt together in peace and contentment.
One will find much the same kind of existence, and simple homes in the Acadia of Louisiana today. They bore no grudge against the domineering English, and only wanted to be let alone. In 1749 began the immigration of the English into this area and the beginning of the settlement of Halifax.
The Latin temperament in the Acadians, began to show itself in some of the younger and stronger men who showed their antipathy towards the English. Finally, in the year 1755, and without taking into consideration that these simple people could not readily understand why they had been handed over to the English to control, the Crown authorities in Nova Scotia, without official permission, “planned the Acadians one and all should go.”
They decided that these Acadians should be exiled to the French lands of America. The one who directed the expulsion was William Shirley, a New Englander, the Colonial Governor of Massachusetts, who felt that their presence in Nova Scotia was a menace to the security of the English colonies.
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This decision was one that demanded rapid action, so on the second day of September 1755 John Winslow, Lieutenant-Colonel of Massachusetts, under orders of Governor William Shirley- proclaimed in the province that “all the men and boys over ten years of age are to meet in the Church of Grand Pre to learn the message which had been sent them from the Governor of Massachusetts.”
Here they were kept prisoners by the soldiers who surrounded the building once that place had been filled. Here, on September 8th, 1755, they were to hear the tragic orders which he read to the Acadians. “Your lands and tenements and cattle and livestock are forfeited to the Crown. You yourselves are to be removed from the province”. According to Parkman, no attention was paid to their pleas or lamentations. The men were held prisoners, and at last when the boats had arrived from Boston, the unfortunates were made to line up and march from the Church where they had been improsoned to the ships. The cries and lamentations were heart rending, according to a witness, as many families were separated, never to see each other again.
Thus by September the 10th, 1755, seven thousand Acadians were sent into exile, eventually landing in various parts of the now United States. Most of them drifted to Louisiana, known now as the Evangeline country. The family of Rene consisted of twenty children, and some one hundred and fifty grandchildren scattered to the different parishes. Some of his descendants settled in Pointe Coupee parish, and judging by the numerous LeBlancs in the State, the strain is as vigorous as ever.
RAMSEY- PLANTATION HOME False River, Pointe Coupee Parish, La .
The present owner of Ramsey Plantation is Mr. Allen Wurtele, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. This 5000- acre tract is one of the finest in the state, and the soil is unusually rich. With the limited cane quota allowed planters, Mr. Wurtele like many others has been forced to diversify his crops, and raise cattle to make his plantation pay. Being of an inventive turn of mind, and an able engineer, his latest achievement is a mechanical sugar harvester, which may not only save his own sugar crop, but that of the other planters of the state. Early freezing weath-
The old Plantation Home of the LeJeune family, New Roads, La.
Driveway to the Plantation Home of Allan Wurtele, Ramsey Plantation, False River, Pointe Coupee Parish, La.
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w °fte,n.means the l0SS of millions of tons of sugar cane, and Mr. Wurteles invention will help save crops and place him in the same class with Etienne de Bore.
The Ramsey plantation home, quite unpretentious looking from the highway is indeed a charming place within. The house is of the early type Louisiana raised basement plantation home. A spirai stairway forms an attractive feature of the hallway, and with its tasteful furnishings it is one of the most charming plantation homes m the False River section. The large garden has an assortment of blooming plants which make of it a beauty spot indeed. *
- loSw? t0 *ev; Father Ecke’ S- J” “n was in September of 1938 that I visited Mr. Allen Wurtele to ask permission to offer
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in one of his tenant houses. Since this section of the congregation of the Colored was the second most heavily populated, and because the people of this section were fairly far removed from the New Roads Church, I thought it might be well to establish a place for divine worship in the (old Mix plantation section) Louisiana section. No sooner did I propose this enterprise to Mr. Wurtele, the present owner of the Ramsey plantation, than he eagerly endorsed the plan. He grant- e permission to use a house for the exclusive purpose of religious services. Since then Mr. Wurtele has presented the building and land adjoining as a Parish Church which is known as St. Catherine s Chapel, Mix Post Office, Louisiana.”
ST. CATHERINE’S CHAPEL.
For many years the chapel was known as the Old Oliver plantation house, located on the bank of False River. The name Oliver unquestionably is a corruption of the name of one of the plantation’s early owners whose surname was Olivette, according to old maps and records of the plantations of this area, a monsieur Olivette having purchased the plantation and home from a Spanish official named Trudeau or Trudo; obtaining a clear title in the year 1791.
The structure, undoubtedly the oldest plantation house in the vicinity, dates from the period that another ancient plantation on the Island owned by the Lebeau family, it being the ancestral home of that plantation family. Both old places being over a century and a half old. It was until recently, when given as a chapel
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for the Catholic colored people of the vicinity, a part of the holdings of the Ramsey Plantation. According to the best available data, this ancient plantation home was built about 1740, and Don Trudeau having been its original owner.
The family of Trudeau in America traces to Canada where a number of the members of the family signed themselves Trudeau de Longeuil, designating their alliance to the noble French house of that name, the crest and coat-of-arms of the family showing in the quarterings the great houses of the French nobility to which it was allied. Other branches of the family spelled the name Trudo on the Spanish documents. It is a family connected by marriage to the most aristocratic families of Louisiana, and are prominent in the various professions as planters, and as residents of Canada, the State of * New York as well as of Louisiana.
The old plantation house of the very early Louisiana type, in structure like many small buildings of its type found in the state, instead of being built of wood, brick or plaster, here we find a doby mixture used, and filled in the framed work as bricque en porte. The interior planned with five medium-sized rooms and two chimneys for heating. It fills the needs of a chapel in order that the colored population of the area might attend Divine Service.
POYDRAS PLANTATION
The Poydras Plantation, on False River, Pointe Coupee Parish, was bounded on the North by the plantation of Arthemize Chutz and on the South by the plantation of Dr. A. Ferrier, the lands of the Poydras Plantation about three times the size of both these plantations combined, according to Norman’s map of 1858.
Julian Poydras de Lalande was born in France, and as a youth enlisted in the Navy of that country, later being captured by an English vessel and made a prisoner. Managing to escape, he fled to San Domingo, where he became interested in plantation life. Learning that money was to be made by bringing ribbons, laces and other necessary articles to the different remote areas, he came to Louisiana in 1786 and started as a traveling merchant, with a peddler’s pack on his back, visiting the plantations. His personality and clean method of dealing with the families he supplied soon gained him the respect of communities
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he visited. His thrift soon permitted him to purchase piecemeal the plantation and home in which later on he was to entertain the Duke of Orleans, who later became King 0f France.
On the plantation of Julian Poydras, where Randall lived for a while, an uprising occurred in 1795 and it was only through the loyalty of a house slave on the Denis plantation that a general massacre was averted.
ALMA PLANTATION.
Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana.
Another plantation belonging to the POET PLANTER and philanthropist who has done much for Louisiana.
This old plantation has a background of historic interest. Julian Poydras, going from place to place, selling ribbons and laces, etc., to the ladies of the various plantations, and saved enough to leave a number of large bequests to New Orleans, and the town of New Roads, La.
This ancient early type plantation home belonging to Julien Poydras had fallen into a ruined condition, but two of the rooms have been incorporated into the plan of the later home now on the site occupied by the family of Mr. Harry C. Pitcher, who lives there at present.
This original old plantation house was built in the year 1789, and the family of the present owners and operators of Alma Plantation for the past seventy-five years have been actively engaged in the planting and sugar manufacturing business, their plantation and sugar mill being one of the largest in this section of Louisiana.
Learning of the massacre of the whites by the negro slaves, and the success of the “Slave Rebellion” in San Domingo a few years earlier, in the month of April 1793 occurred the “Black Rebellion” planned to follow the example of the slaves of San Domingo and exterminate the whites of the area, excluding the adult white women who were to be left to the mercy of the blacks.
The plot had been carefully planned, but the time at which the slaves should strike became the bone of contention, and quarrels soon started among the ring-leaders of the plot, when one of the slaves, dissatisfied at the way he had been treated by one of the black leaders after having been promised absolute pardon
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and a reward of freedom and transportation out of the slave area, obtained an interview with the Commandant (Spanish) of the area and related in detail the plot of slaughter that awaited all of the adult males. After obtaining full details and names of the ring-leaders notices were sent to the planters of the area to fully arm and details of the plot, and precautions to meet the situation were discussed.
Then began a large number of arrests, the ring-leaders being taken first; but learning that their leaders had been taken — the slaves rose up in mass to save their chiefs, causing a great riot at which time a large number of whites and negroes were injured and twenty-five persons killed. The rest of the rebellious slaves were imprisoned and tried, ring-leaders executed, and many of the others severely punished, sold to other plantations where the negroes would be less liable to give trouble, and scattered generally. A driveway through the Alma Plantation known as the haunted road or “Sycamore Cut” is cautiously avoided at nighttime even to this day by the negroes of the plantation, and the stories of the ghost of the white over-seer who was slain by the slaves forms part of local legends as told in the various negro cabins of the area. The negroes will swear by all that is holy that they have seen this ghost again and again, and many of the ignorant whites also believe the tale. The Pitcher and Churchill, both old plantation families of note are related, the latter having a branch of the family now living in the fine old plantation home of the Kock family “Belle Alliance” on Bayou Lafourche owning also the plantation.
The plantation home of the Pitcher family, while not a typical old plantation home has an interior plan quite similar to many of the larger ones. Within one finds many choice old mahogany and rosewood pieces, among them old four-posters, one having the little mahogany ladder step to reach the comfort of its billowy bed. Good paintings, fine crystal and silver and the endless accessories that lend charm to old houses of cultivated people such as we find on Alma Plantation.
REV. A. J. ECK, S.S.J. Founder of St. Catherine’s Chapel
St. Catherine’s Chapel, donated by Allan Wurtele.
The young Marquis de Ternant (with small cravat). A spoiled son of a wealthy mother. (Reproduced from an early daguerreotype — Courtesy of the family.)
A Garden Party beneath the oaks of Parlange park.
The Parlange Family Plantation Home, False River, Built in 1780.
One of a pair of pigeonnaires that flank the old plantation home of the Parlange family. False River, Pointe Coupee, La.
Imposing old Mausoleum of the de Ternant and Parlange families, removed from the east bank of the Mississippi River to the cemetery of the town of New Roads, La.
Chapter XXX.
THE PARLANGE PLANTATION HOME.
On False River , Pointe Cowpee Parish , Louisiana.
Nearly One Hundred and Seventy-five Years Old.
ftfpHIS is to certify that the historic building known as Parlange
Plantation, in the county of Pointe Coupee, and state of Louisiana, has been selected by the advisory committee of the Historic American Building Survey as possessing exceptional historic and architectural interest, and as being worthy of most careful preservation for the benefit of future generations; and to this end, a record of its present appearance and condition has been made, and deposited for permanent reference in the Library of Congress.
Attest : Signed,
Richard Koch, HAROLD L. ICKES,
Dist. officer. Sect, of the Interior.”
The above certificate hangs at present on the wall of the dining-room of the old Parlange plantation home.
Proud indeed must feel the owners of this charming old plantation home which has woven about it the romance and historic lore of over a century and a half.
The house is of a type that was built by the aristocrats of France who had settled on their plantations in the West Indies; combining the comfort, roominess and coolness of a tropical home, with the elegance of the smaller chateaux of France. It is the type of architecture that became the vogue in early Louisiana days, replacing the first simple type of planters home without a basement floor. It was copied on a smaller scale later on in great numbers owing to the inundations of the river, so frequent at that time.
When built in the early decades of the Eighteenth Century, the present city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was but a small village where there was a military post. The Marquis de Ternant
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who had come from Dansviller sur Mars, France, to Louisiana, obtained on account of his prestige, an immense land grant from the King of France, in one of the most desirable areas in Louisiana, on beautiful lake-like False River in Pointe Coupee Parish. There was at that time quite an aristocratic settlement in that locality.
On this land de Temant erected the charming old home that we see today. Much of the lumber, all choice cypress, was obtained from his own land. Here he lived with his bride the life of a wealthy aristocrat in the midst of his great land holdings, as his family before him had lived in their chateau domain of Damsville sur Mars, France. The Marquis died on his plantation on False River in January 1757.
His son, Claude Vincent de Ternant, who inherited his father^ title of Marquis, continued to operate the plantation, and like his father and mother before him, also maintained a home in the city of Paris, France, which he and his wife visited yearly where they entertained on a lavish scale. During these visits to the French Capital many of the choice articles which helped to fill this spacious holme were purchased. It was in Paris that the immense oil portrait of Madame, which originally hung in the old mansion, but, now hangs in the Delgado Art Museum at New Orleans was painted.
In later years when during the social unrest in France Marquis de Ternant following the example of the French aristocrats dropped his title, for the patricians realized that changes were taking place, occasioned by the reckless extravagances of the French Court. However, in Louisiana until their deaths, the Marquis and his beautiful wife continued to be addressed by their titles. Here he lived until his death in 1818, his wife remaining at the plantation a prominent figure in the social life of the state until her death.
Coming to Louisiana with great wealth as did the first Marquis de Ternant, one would expect an unusual home, and we find that this one lives up to our expectations.
While in Spartan simplicity the finish of the interior is all hand work, beautifully done. Devoid of pretentiousness, it has the exquisite grace and charm of a jewel in the pureness of its design which lends it great dignity. The coves and frieze of the various rooms; also the hand-made mouldings about the walls in
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the main house have this same simplicity. The ceilings are of choice cypress and the boards are fitted so perfectly, one is led to believe that they are plaster. This is true of the carved central ceiling ornaments.
A high basement on the first floor has heavy brick walls with thick battern doors barred and bolted with heavy slave-made hardware. The openings upstairs correspond to those below, also with heavy fittings which remind us that in old slavery days houses were partly fortresses. The main floor above, also with white walls, has long French-door-like windows with fan transoms in rectangle frames. The heavy shutters open outward against the house, while the French glazed doors open inward. All is as French and charming as a manor in Touraine. Doric columns of brick, stucco finished, form a colionade about the outer gallery line of the entire house with fine effect, the bricks having been made in triangular moulds by hand. The old moulds still can be seen among other slave-made articles on a shelf in the rear. These columns support the wide gallery which extends around the house, a little narrower on either side, and here one notes that the windows are barred with iron grilles, dating back to an era when in sparsely settled communities extra precaution was necessary. In the rear the dining-room occupies a part of the rear gallery where we find a double row of collonettes similar to the ones that rise from the balcony edge.
The lines of the house are charmingly restful. The slant of the roof is pierced by two typical French dormers which is repeated in the rear. The setting is a park of century-old oaks heavily bannered with moss, and an avenue of cedars leads to the house which is flanked by a pair of octagonal pigeonnaires. The ensemble appears as if it might have been transported from rural France, and forms a grouping that has no rival in the South. There is an aloofness about the house and its setting reminiscent of the old regime that is broken by the cordial greeting of the owners when one enters.
Within one finds all harmony. There are many beautful mantels all of good design and hand carved. The one in the Salle or parlour with double Ionic columns supporting an arch on which the shelf rests, reaches around to each side of the chimney. This quaint type of mantel arrangement, found also in the “French Quarter” of New Orleans, lends a distinct antiquated air to a
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room, and permits of a charming mantel setting. In this room of the Parlange place, the central ceiling ornament above the ancient crystal chandelier of attractive design is of carved wood beautifully executed. There are two sofas that have been in this home over a century. The deep fireplace has slave-made andirons. There are also a quaint spinet on which the first Marquise played, and a very early designed Playel piano, brass mounted, having candle-brackets of ornate fire-gilt in sweeping scrolls. A tapestry frame used by an ancestress in the days that this art was as fashionable as bridge is at present is seen. Adding an aristocratic air is an attractive large, century-old mantel mirror with an elaborate Louis XV filagree scroll and floral design ornament over the entire top, all heavily overlaid with real gold leaf, the most important ornaments burnished. It is a most alluring overmantel decoration.
In this salon also are other long, but simpler framed mirrors in gilt enclosures. Here are many carved chairs in which notable people have often sat, for the house is one where much entertaining took place. There are Fiddleback chairs, Signorette’s, Mallard's, as well as sleepy hollow ones. There is Empire furniture and several Directory tables — one, an ancient piece of four sections, which when fitted together makes a comfortable-sized center table; the sections now filling corners of the various rooms. On the walls one finds ancient wood-block, imported wall-paper of a soft grey tan against which old family portraits, miniatures, and daguerreotypes hang with good effect. One of the daguerreotypes is that of a spoiled son of Madame la Marquise whose history is at the end of this chapter. The house is equipped with electricity, but so skillfully is the lighting done that a candle-light effect is obtained. The draperies harmonize with the general effect of the room, where Louis XIV brass cornices, figurines, and ante-bellum bric-a-brac, bronze whale oil lamps, all original pieces, create a room of great interest. A large spining-wheel that has been in use many years on the plantation, now peeps from behind a roomy mahogany lounge near the mantel.
The large dining-room looks much as it did in the long ago. The mahogany furniture is of the Louis XIV and Empire period. Much fine old French and English china, hand-engraved crystal, large tureens, and immense platters recall the splendid banquets for which this home was famous. The immense brass
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mounted mahogany china-cabinets, hold a wealth of fine crystal, silver, and many-piece dinner sets of rare hand-painted porcelain dating back a century ago. In this dim-lighted room with hand- carved freize and early block wall-paper of pastel tones, a number of rare old decanters of ruby and emerald toned Venetian glass send forth jewel lights from the deep shadows. Dainty cordial and liquor glasses and containers of graceful shapes shed prismatic hues that sparkle like rare jewels and blend with gleaming lights from old silver goblets, recalling pages in Myrtle Reed’s stories, “Old Rose and Silver” and “Lavender and Old Lace”. A restfulness pervades every room of this old house, and the scenes from her books are readily visualized. On the walls are old duelling pistols, a rapier, old slave manacles, and a number of old iron keys large enough to fit a bastile. The crossed swords on the wall were left by Confederate soldiers who found them on the place when the Federals hurriedly left at their coming. There is a sword cane dating to the days of the Code-duello.
To the right of the salon is the bed-room and bed where in turn slept Generals Bank of the Union Army, and Fighting Dick Taylor of Confederate fame, who occupied the room shortly after the former had departed. The room is now a guest room containing two large old mahogany four-posters with heavy canopies having lace valances. Beside each of the beds are spiral-leg tables, holding fine crystal toilet outfits. The master bed-room has a most magnificent carved four-post bed with heavy tester, the carving known as pineapple design. The other furniture of the large room is equally as handsome, and as finely carved. Another room is the son’s room when home from college. Here the furnishings are equally and attractive, as massive and of the same fine quality. Beautifully matched pieces complete both of these sets, and a lit d’nuit is placed at the foot of one of the beds. Pieces of choice bric-a-brac are found in both of these bedrooms, along with the numerous interesting articles found in century-old homes. A fragrant odor of cedar and pine fill the house, wafted in from the great park and garden. One is told that the house originally contained much more but that it has been divided among the different members of this family. It is so well filled, now one wonders where they could have fitted in any more, as most of the contents of the various rooms are original furnishings.
Yearly visits to Paris by Madame la Marquise de Ternant
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would mean a yearly addition of costly treasures for her plantation home, for she had exquisite as well as extravagant taste, and was never happier than when purchasing rare and costly art objects for her various homes.
Like many of the wives of wealthy planters, she maintained her box at the Opera both in New Orleans and in Paris, where she retained a residence, repairing each season during the social whirl. She entertained on a lavish scale during her stay in Europe. Among the very interesting relics of olden days on this plantation, is an unusually elaborate harness equipment, magnificent in design and trimming. It recalls the gala days of coach and four, when the family with negro postillions in uniform in attendance rode about the countryside from plantation to plantation like princes of the realm. All these and many other souvenirs of long ago bespeak the cultured lives of generations. This plantation was well managed but was conducted in much the same manner as were the old seigneural estates of Europe. Old diaries in minute detail, books of accounts and directions, inventories, etc., all attest to the careful way it all was managed.
One prized possession of the family is an old inventory filling the pages of a large ledger, listing all the things on the plantation in the year 1842. In the steel-engraving-like spidery script of that day everything is enumerated in detail. Made at the time of the owner’s death, everything froim attic to cellar is listed, from bedsteads and fine linens to the quantities of rare and aged vintages in the cellar storerooms.
There are detailed descriptions of all the fine laces and linens used in the wardrobe of a gentleman of those days as well as costly silks, brocades and jewels of a belle and grand dame of the time. The names given livestock were, mules — Sasparilla, Bonapart, Papillion, Jupiter, while horses were called Fly, Priscilla, and Fairenough. And the slaves each had a fitting designation.
Here, too, is listed the amount of iron money used by the slaves as well as the gold and silver when the inventory was made, which amounted to $3,000,000.00. Later follow page after page of equipment of every description found on a plantation of this size at that date.
All who visit this home enjoy the rare charm of the environment where everything has been so perfectly preserved, and
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fortunate are those who share the hospitality of this genial host and hostess, and are given the treat of viewing their interesting collection.
Mrs. Walter Charles Parlange, who was Miss Paule Brierre, a member of an old and distinguished aristocratic Creole family of New Orleans makes a most charming chatelaine to this very lovely old plantation home. She shares with Mr. Parlange the wish to preserve the ancient atmosphere of the place. That they have succeeded cannot be doubted, for the home has the charm that most places strive for. Mrs. Parlange, a great garden lover, has gradually restored much of the beauty of the rear garden, which was totally ruined. Following the Civil War when the place was empty for many years, the garden was a cattle grazing ground. When General Banks was sent South to replace General Butler (silver spoon Butler) whose stealing proved too much for Washington, he and his aide were later quartered on the Parlange Plantation in this old home. The troops were tented in the park as were the very welcomed Confederate troops later on.
Madame Virginie Parlange, ever the French woman and Grand Dame, greeted the Union officers with great tact and diplomacy, well knowing that her famed cuisine would cause even the Federals to forget whatever plans they may have had to destroy the house. The Union troops, however, soon left when the Confederate Army under General Dick Taylor advanced into that section. With the exception of the destruction of the formal French garden by the Union cavalry, and the theft of a Shetland pony belonging to Judge Charles Parlange, then a boy of ten, later returned to him by General Banks, no other damage was done to the plantation. When Madame Parlange learned that the Union troops were on their way to False River, she collected all of her fine silverware, and hid it in the wide embrasures above the window casements. Putting all of her gold coin amounting to nearly half a million dollars in a strong box, she buried it beneath one of the great oaks near the house.
Gradually, as the storm blew over, articles of value hidden in the attic, basement and other secret spots, were returned to their places in the house. The silver was brought out and none found missing, but the iron strong box with its precious contents of nearly half a million dollars was never recovered, although much digging and hunting has been done in the hopes of recover-
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in g it. At that date a large quantity of rare wine was stocked in the basement, part of which so warmed the hearts of these Union officers, that for years afterwards Madame Parlange used to say that the wine and her chef had saved the heritage of her children.
Chief Justice Edward Douglas White of the United States Supreme Court learned his early lessons in law on the wide gallery of this old home. Later on he became the law partner of the Honorable Charles Parlange, Judge of the United States District Court, the father of Mr. Walter Charles Parlange.
In the earliest days indigo was the staple crop of this plantation, as with most of the others in the state. It was sold in great quantities to Prussia for the coloring of the army uniforms. When the indigo bug threatened to ruin the planters of Louisiana and de Bore discovered how to granulate sugar, the Marquis de Ternant, who was a very progressive man, ordered two immense sugar houses built on his plantation, and put all of his field hands to planting sugarcane. The result was that his plantation up until the ruination of the entire state by the Civil War and the Reconstruction Days that followed was the largest and finest sugar plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, La.
You will have been fortunate to have found Mr. Parlange in a communicative mood during your visit, for he is a great raconteur and can tell most interesting stories. Having viewed their large and interesting collection of ante-bellum articles, shared their generous hospitality, and then bidden your charming host and hostess adieu, as you leave, the mystic spell of the great park affects you as do ancient historic places of Europe. Your last memories are of the two quaintly beautiful dove cotes in their immaculate whiteness — aristocratic emblems, which recall old feudal days so fittingly — reminders of this ancient home with the air of an antiquated chateau of rural France, beautiful in its unpretentiousness.
In the cemetery of the town of New Roads not far from the old Parlange family plantation home, located near the gateway of this sacred spot, enclosed by a handsome hand-wrought iron railing of unique design, is the imposing family tomb of the de Ternant and Parlange families. Years ago it stood on the opposite bank of the Mississippi River, in a cemetery that has since then been swallowed by the ever hungry river. When the
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Parlange family learned that there was danger of this happening, they had the beautiful and costly mausoleum taken down and removed to its present location.
There is a most interesting story about this tomb before its removal. Undoubtedly it is one of the most attractive tombs in this part of the state, and its time stained marble slab bears the date 1757, the first tomb to be erected in the cemetery of New Roads.
Madame la Marquise Claude Vincent de Ternant who had spent so much of her life on the old plantation, had died, and had been buried with many of her costly jewels, a custom that had been adhered to occasionally in wealthy families at that date. Among the jewels placed in the tomb was a magnificent pearl necklace costing many thousands of dollars. Grave robbers, learning of this, broke open the tomb and stole the pearls, but they left traces behind. The robbery was discovered, and detectives put on the case, which resulted in the robbers being trapped, convicted and imprisoned. The recovered jewels with the pearl necklace, were found in New Orleans, and placed in the Court Registry until it could be determined what disposition the rightful heirs of the family wished to be made of them.
It seems that Madame la Marquise de Ternant had reared her son like a prince, and having great wealth, she granted him his every wish. Like many another spoiled son of wealthy parents, he had grown so accustomed to being supplied with unlimited ready cash from the family coffers for his extravagant expenditures, that when he had recklessly gotten head over heels in debt, he became panic stricken. No longer could he go to the fond mother who was always ready to help him. His creditors knowing the wealth of the family, and their horror of notoriety, taking advantage of his position, threatened him with imprisonment. Being a true de Ternant, terrified at the thought of disgracing the family name, in a moment of desperation, he sold to one John Boudreau all his interest in the entire estate left him by his mother.
At last the time came for the disposition of the jewels held by the Court, and all the heirs presented themselves to claim their share. With the other members of the family came the young man who had been so extravagant and gay; somewhat tamed by now for he now had to live within the sums allowed him by his
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relatives. Like a bird of ill omen also appeared John Boudreau to snatch away what one would almost believe was a last legacy from the grave — a donation that this fond mother, this grand dame of the old regime, had made for the last time so that she could again come to the aid of her errant and idolized son. Young de Ternant’s hopes had risen when he had learned that the jewels had been recovered. He disputed Boudreau's claim, stating that he did not include in the sale his interest in the jewels buried with his mother, any more than he had his interest in the family tomb, as these things, as the French have it, were “hors du commerce” out of the transaction. The Court nevertheless finally decided that when young de Ternant was reckless enough to sign away all his interests with full inclusion of everything that would come to him through his mother’s succession, he left the Court powerless to help him, much as it would like to. To John Boudreau was given young de Temant’s share of the jewels.
On the slab of the tomb of the de Ternant - Parlange family, which stands in the shelter of great magnolia trees, below the name of the mother who idolized him, one reads his name. Many in the vicinity of New Roads know the strange pathetic story of this young man spoiled by his fond mother, humoring his every whim, as so many parents do in their blind love for their children. Visitors who have heard the story come great distances to see the tomb, and get a glimpse of the beautiful old manor hidden by the grove of great trees.
CARVED ON THE SLABS OF THE DE TERNANT TOMB IS THE FOLLOWING :
ICI REPOSENT SAINVILLE TERNANT fils de
Claude Vincent Ternant et
Constance Lacour decede le 24. Decembre 1820. et
Dorothee Legros epouse de
Claude Vincent Ternant fils.
PABLANGB PLANTATION HOME
311
ne le Novembre 1791 decede le 16. Mai 1835.
Ici Reposent Claude Vincent Temant ne a Damvillers sur Meuse France, le 22 Janvier 1757.
Decede le 3. Janvier 1818 et
Constance Lacour son epouse nee le 20 Aout 1766 decedee le 12 Novembre 1837. et
Marius Claude Vincent Ternant ne le 14 Mai. 1836 decede le 14 Janvier 1861.
Chapter XXXI.
SEEBOLD PLANTATION.
Country Home of the Seebold Family Oscar, Louisiana.
JJE PLACING the old Bigman plantation home which was destroyed a number of years ago, the present Seebold country home is a charming place, located far back from the road, hidden by great oak and pecan trees a century old.
Its massive columns and classic facade of gleaming white contrast strongly with the deep green of the surrounding trees. It is a spaciously planned country home with immense hallway having an unusually attractive stair. There are fan windows front and rear, upstairs and down. The very large rooms on both floors with long windows and glazed doors, have old columned mantels, all with interesting histories, having been collected many years ago when these old historic places were demolished. Much that has gone into this later house has associations that hark back to homes that were social centers of the plantation country of Louisiana. There are mantels from the old de Marigny home in the faubourg de Marigny, that had lain in storage from the time the old place was demolished, after a fire had damaged parts of it.
A view of the house is to be seen in Cable’s “Creoles of Louisiana” There are glazed doors from the old de la Chaise plantation mansion, that lay empty for many years and had become known as a haunted house. Other equally interesting and historical parts of famous old plantation homes helped in making this home the beautiful place it is. The garden about the house is an unusually attractive one, a mass of bloom most of the year, and planned as one usually finds them in plantation places. The rose garden enclosed by hedges of althea contains a great many
Entrance Gateway to Seebold Plantation, False River Pointe Coupee Parish, La.
A pigeonnaire in the garden-grounds of Seebold Plantation.
Mrs. George Ossian MacPherson, ned Stella Lisette Seebold. Educated at the Cenas Institute and Newcomb College of Tulane University, New Orleans.
THE OLD FAMILY HOME OF THE SEEBOLDS, 2322 CANAL ST., NEW ORLEANS.
“It was long the residence of the late W. E. See bold and family, and a mecca to which many artists turned their footsteps.” John F. Coleman — Fine old New Orleans Homes series. New Orleans States, May 2nd, 1924.
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varieties of choicest specimens whcih show to advantage against a background of attractive weeping willow trees. The climbers cover the rustic arbors and archways, summer houses and fences. A pigeonnaire, rustic gazebos and trellises are bright with wisteria, rose of Montana, and honeysuckle. Cape jasmine, gardenias, magnolia fuscata and Confederate jasmine add their fragrance making a delightful spot of the wide porches. Immense beds of zinnias, fleur de lys, hollyhocks and china-blue morning glories as large as saucers form spots of color about the grounds most of the year.
The rooms are spacious and contain family portraits of the Seebolds and Kinneys of past generations, quaint old fashioned prints, silhouettes, daguerreotypes and miniatures of both families. Here, too, are heirlooms from both families in the way of articles of furniture — old mahogany and rosewood. In the cabinets are numerous mementos of celebrated personages, in most instances gifts from the distinguished individuals themselves.
The rear enclosed porch, fifty feet long by fourteen feet wide, connects with the service department in an adjoining building — an old one planned in the usual old plantation style, and not altered. This porch makes an ideal place to show moving pictures, for animated scenes on the plantation tours, New Orleans Fiesta, or Garden pilgrimages, showing Southern society in hoop skirts, pan- telettes, and the ante-bellum finery. The service bell is one from a set of ante-bellum bells that hung above the kitchen window of the old Seebold residence on Canal Street in New Orleans. At present this bell is managed by a needle-point pull-cord.
The bed rooms upstairs contain four-posters of old mahogany with the rest of the set to match. Opposite are the guest room and a spare room in the wing. The large dining-room is twenty feet by thirty-six feet, having a fourteen-foot ceiling, with long French windows overlooking the garden. On the walls of this room are ancestral portraits and two large murals from the brush of the celebrated French artist Raphael Collin which originally came from the collection of Senator William A. Clark of Montana. These murals along with others now in the New Orleans home of the Seebolds having been removed from their former New York home. Chateau Fleur de-Lys overlooking the Hudson. In the dining-room is the old dining table from the Seebold family home
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in Canal Street, New Orleans, which can seat thirty persons at a time as was often done in the old Canal Street home.
From 1879 until 1916 nearly every painter of note that visited New Orleans has dined at this table. The dinners, suppers and banquets for artists, who met here regularly in this old home during all these years, were frequent and the guests of honor helped to make the evenings of special brilliancy, for those talented in other directions besides painting did their bit to make the evenings successful. The first artist dinners given by Mr. and Mrs. Seebold in their first Canal Street home before 1879 were attended by Richard Clague, Julio and Roudolph. These three artists like Taffy, the Laird and Little Billee, made the Seebold art gallery their headquarters. This gathering ante-dated any formal association of artists, and these dinners followed later in the second Canal Street house, Number 2322 Canal Street, when a larger number of artists joined the colony that met in this larger home. Each Sunday throughout the year as a rule brought a gathering of artists. In this group there were a number of stags, so it was an easy matter to assemble a congenial company. Those too, were the days when the servant question was not the problem it is today, and Mr. and Mrs. Seebold never happier than when surrounded by this artistic crowd, always found some artist who was having a birthday, or contrived some equally good reason for a gathering. The circle gradually widened, and writers, musicians, and poets began to attend regularly.
At the approach of the 1880’s New Orleans began to plan for the Cotton Centenial Exposition that was to bloom forth a few years later, drawing notables to the city from all parts of the United States, Canada, Central America, and South America as well as Mexico. Mr. Seebold at once took an active part in the organization of the Exposition Art Gallery, and with men like Major B. M. Harrod, the Westfeldt brothers, Thomas Sully, and other representative citizens and leading artists formed committees for the collecting of objects of Art to be placed on exhibition along with the paintings from Europe and America. From that time on the old Canal Street Home became an art center, where for over a half century, this artistic group met not only for companionship, but in all seriousness to encourage art in its various branches.
Mr. Seebold became a charter member of the New Orleans
THE SEEBOLD PLANTATION
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Art Union, the first group of artists and those interested in art to form an association of this kind in Louisiana. Although the city of New Orleans had a well established reputation as an art center with many fine private art collections in wealthy homes, there was no organized interest in art before this.
Even when the Art Union disbanded for lack of interest, these gatherings at the Seebold’s home continued regularly, and finally the artists and those interested got together again and formed the Art Association which has continued as we know it today.
This later Association, which was an organization with an Art School attached, had its headquarters in Camp Street. The regular monthly meetings were followed by exhibitions of the artists and students work, and a formal reception to which the public was invited. Many of the leading merchants of the city contributed articles to help furnish the rooms of the Association. So that the various studios and class rooms might have the appearance of the regulation studios, Mr. Seebold, who had a large assortment of plaster casts of classic subjects, donated a large number of them to the Association, along with easels, palettes, etc. Many of the ladies, prominent socially, donated prizes for the best work shown at these monthly exhibitions. B. A. Wik- strom, artist and musician, for many years selected the musical programme for the evenings, being conversant with good music and in touch with the musical members of the coterie, as well as the members of the Art Association.
Among the many who attended these gatherings during the years were President and Mrs. Jefferson Davis; Miss Va- rina Davis; Lafcadio Hearn; George W. Cable; Professor Alcee Fortier; Samuel Clements, (Mark Twain); George Clements, Artist and writer; Mr. Lamar Quintero, American Consul to the Argentine; Mrs. Quintero, Sr.; Charles H. Chapin, Artist, member of the Lotus Club of New York City, who at the time was painting the portrait of the celebrated Polish actress Mojeska, both accompanied by William Tracey, noted animal painter; General de Trobriant; Archille Perelli, noted Sculptor; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jefferson, the former an artist of ability as well as noted actor; George Innes, celebrated impressionist artist who gave an exhibition of his work at the Seebold Art Gallery, and a talk on impressionistic Art on this occasion of his visit to this home.
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(A souvenir of this visit is a little sketch of his boat used while he sketched in the bayous of Florida, now hanging in the studio of Mrs. Marie Seebold Molinary); McKnight of the same school also lectured in this home on the occasion of his visit when he also gave an exhibition in New Orleans; Major and Mrs. B. M. Harrod, the Major an engineer of Panama fame; Major and Mrs. Davis of the New Orleans Picayune; Judge and Mrs. Gayarre; Eugene and Frank Cox, scenic artists; Palmer Cox, of Brownie fame; Professors Ellsworth and William Woodward and their wives; Charles Boyle, artist; Andres Molinary, portrait painter; B. A. Wikstrom; Mr. and Mrs. Graner, the former a noted Spanish artist; Mr. and Mrs. Gustaf Westfeldt, Sr.; Mr. Patrick Westfeldt, artist; Eugene Field, poet; James Whitcombe Riley, poet; Mrs. M. R. Field, Southern writer; Mrs. Mary Ashley Townsend; Mrs. Flo Field, Southern writer; Charles Dudley Warner, journalist; Dr. Standford Chaille, Dean of the Medical Department of Tulane University; Mrs. Henri Wehrmann; Mr. Henri Wehrmann, violinist; Mrs. J. G. R. Pitkin, vocalist; the Misses Boisseneau, musicians; Edith Sansum, Cora Loyd, both artists; A. J. Drysdale, artist; Theodore Behr, noted mural painter; Miss Amy Bemis; Mr. and Mrs. Emile Dantonet; Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Saxon, the latter an artist; Mr. Lyle Saxon, Sr.; Mr. and Mrs. Zamora, Mexican Consul and his wife; August Norerie, musician and artist; Mr. and Mrs. John Vegas; Dr. and Mrs. I. M. Cline; Judge and Mrs. Frank D. Chretien, and many others too numerous to mention.
Art to an extent at last has gotten a fairly strong foothold in New Orleans. The French Quarter is an ideal setting for the numerous studios where many serious artists and art students now work. In the days of which I write, the quarter had not revived as yet from the depressing effects of the Civil War, for as yet no attempt had been made to take advantage of its artistic possibilities, and Art struggled on. But the people were not allowed to feel that it was dead or about to become a thing of the past, but rather held only in abeyance until conditions could shape themselves, so that artists could command a fair price for their work. The notable artists from other cities whom Mr. Seebold met while he took his yearly business trips North, or who came as visitors to New Orleans, all of them close friends, realized the true conditions of art in this city. So by their presence, with
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talks and exhibitions at the Seebold Art Gallery, they became a great help in stimulating the younger artists and art students, when the art outlook was darkest. Even artist materials, canvasses were furnished or long credits were extended to encourage those who did not have the money with which to develop their talents. Strange as it may seem, I never heard my father mention the name of a single artist or art student that abused his kindness. A favorite Christmas card on many an occasion was a receipted bill to deserving ones.
John F. Coleman, journalist and historian, in his series of articles written for the New Orleans States on notable old New Orleans residences on May 2nd, 1924, had the following to say of the Seebold home.
The house was, until three years ago, the home of an old Confederate soldier who, in the emergency of the situation, could have exploited his alien birth and national predelections had he so chosen, and thus escaped the exactions of the draft, but like Mr. I. E. Glenny, and other distinguished resident foreigners of that day in New Orleans, Mr. W. E. Seebold, when the storm of war broke upon the South forthwith rallied to the defense of its flag and most gallantly fought its battles until the cause went down in unshadowed glory.
The old house has seen; many happy days, and has been the witness of many happy incidents, of happy re-unions, of feasts and festivals and over and all about it there is a lingering of happy memories.
The Seebold home was a place filled with art treasures, Sevres, ornaments of gilded Limoges enamels, silken materials of the finest textures, pictures, statuary, souvenirs and great quantities of bric-a- brac. The furnishings, too,, were costly, and in design and finish of the most exquisite handiwork.
Mr. Seebold was, perhaps, the most prominent art dealer and connoisseur of art in the South. No one knew better than he how to create an art atmosphere and in the conduct of his business everything was subordinate to that end. Mention has been made of the distinguished art gatherings a coterie comprised of such men as Joseph Jefferson, Chapin, Geo. Clemence, Geo. Inness, Tracey, Wikstrom, Boyle, Graner, Molinary and the others. These meetings were always exceptionally bright and enjoyable affairs in which the good things contributed by the gastronomical department of the Seebold home, and the good things said at its table, gave assurance of a delightful evening. Mr. Seebold was a gourmet, and the members of his family no less so. The menu embracing as it did the luxuries and delicacies of the four quarters of the globe, was of course an unfailing feature of the occasion, which, with the scintillating beverages of sunny France threw a gleam of geniality and good fellowship over the assemblage.
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at the same time preserving the flavor of art as well as the spice of mirthful enthusiasm.
It was always with regret that these occasions, so replete with the elements that take the sting from the briars of this work-a-day world, had to have an ending;- and today they live only in the memory of the survivors as among the pleasantest of life’s unforgettable episodes.
Around the hospitable table of the Seebolds, were to be found the wichery of the poet, the reasonings of the philosopher, the culture of the scholar, the tones of the musician, the creators of art in all its varied and enchanting forms, and withal the wit that gave piQuancy and spirit to the feast. — John F. Coleman, New Orleans States, May 2nd, 1924.
After the cessation of hostilities and peace had been declared. New Orleans was flooded with plantation families of good birth who had been immensely wealthy, but had lost their entire fortune as a result of the war and the thieving manipulations of the carpet baggers during Reconstruction Days. With most of the men of their families either killed or wounded, any number of aristocratic ladies, in fact hundreds of them, came from their plantations to the Southern cities vainly striving to earn a livelihood. For without money or slaves and mules and the other requirements to run a plantation, it was impossible to continue. It was at this time that so many formerly immensely wealthy ladies, who had had their own private maids, and every luxury that money could purchase, found that the talents that they had cultivated stood them in good stead. They found that they could put into use this knowledge in helping to support themselves and their families.
In that era New Orleans, like the rest of the country had a goodly number of widows and orphans, as well as a large number of maimed and crippled men. Ladies who were musicians taught music. Those who could draw and paint taught those arts, while others adept with the needle taught sewing and fancy needlework. Others opened private schools, or taught in the other local schools.
These were the terrible Reconstruction Days, when the poverty and hardships came as an aftermath of the long and bitter struggle of war. It was the era, when those who had poured into the South to prey on the wrecked country, reaped great harvests, and bought at trivial prices articles salvaged from the wreckage of splendid homes. Comparatively few .families in New Orleans and the South in general, but what had lost heavily by the War. However, those who had not lost their fortunes were most gener-
THE SEEBOLD PLANTATION
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ous in helping the impoverished ones. Among New Orleans merchants who did a great deal to ease the plight of many families was the firm of D. H. Holmes, then as now an important business firm. The firm made it a point to give positions to as many impoverished ladies as it could afford to do. This gave tone to this establishment which has continued to the present.
W. E. Seebold, who had been honorably discharged at the end of hostilties, had been a member of Scott’s Louisiana Cavalry Company I. Having a knowledge of art and art objects, shortly after his marriage, he opened an art store on Canal Street on the site where Loew’s Theatre now stands. At that date many artists were struggling to carry on, and Mr. Seebold sensed the need of assistance by men who were talented but needed an outlet for their work. Into the Seebold art store came many of the artists of the city. Also there came many members of once wealthy families, bringing their work to be placed on sale. Others came bringing cherished articles they had saved from the wreckage of their plantations to be left on sale, for so many of the dealers who had come from other parts offered so little for them.
Being aware of the value of art articles generally, and with the true understanding of one who had fought shoulder to shoulder with their fathers, sons, husbands or sweethearts, my father took care of their belongings and saw to it that when the objects were sold that those who had left them on sale got a fair price.
New Orleans previous to the Civil War was noted as an art center, for a number of wealthy families living in the city had fine art collections. Many of the plantations also had many valuable paintings, besides the fine family portraits and miniatures. Many of these works of art found their way to the Seebold establishment, and in this way from the very first the place became an art center. Many valuable works of art were placed on sale there. An artistic and cultured element became patrons at once, first because of the attracive goods on display, and secondly, the families and friends of those who were being aided did all they could to help. Here one found besides the regular stock, fine signed bronzes and bric-a-brac and all kinds of ornaments — many with interesting histories attached to
Being an art connoisseur he became not only their friend, but adviser and sought as purchasers for many of the objects
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those whom he felt would appreciate their real artistic value. When some special painting needed appraisal to set its value, he sought the advice of his artist friends, for Richard Clague, Julio, Roudolph and other artists of note came regularly to the establishment all willing to help.
The patronage of the Seebold establishment increased rapidly, and the art store soon found that it needed larger quarters. The business was moved to (old number) 166 Canal Street, now 912 Canal Street, at present occupied by a moving picture theatre. At that date it was a large three-storied structure, the building of brick, and designed along the lines of the large places in the French Quarter. That is, there was a residence above with an entrance vestibule and stairway to the west side, the other space being occupied by a large store extending half of the block back where a wide alleyway afforded light and ventilation to the rear rooms. All of the hardware on doors and windows was like that still to be found in the French Quarter — great bolts and hinges, and immense heavy locks with brass keys almost a foot long.
Among the young ladies that placed their work on sale was Miss Winnie (Varina) Davis, beautiful daughter of President Davis of the Confederacy. A gentleman from the North, learning that the work was that of the daughter of the Great Confederate, wished to purchase it on condition that he might have the letter which she wrote when sending in her painting to be sold. Miss Davis’ permission was obtained, the painting was purchased, and a neat sum turned over to the delighted young lady.
Few commissions were being given for portraits at that date and capable artists found it a difficult matter to make ends meet, so Mr. Seebold had fitted up a large studio on the second floor which he let the artists have free of rent. It was in this atelier started by Richard Clague, Julio, Roudolph, and Moise that the beginning of the art colony that was to develop into the present Artist Association began. From that beginning it was to continue with added members for over half a century. First they gathered here for their art discussions and little reunions, and later at the newer home of the Seebold family, where the family moved in 1879. This later home with its spacious rooms gave better opportunity for their monthly gatherings. Soon the musicians, writers, and poets found this coterie, and regularly made
Mrs. H. deB. Seebold below a portrait of her father painted by J. Raeburn Middleton, a nephew of the noted Scotch artist.
MAJOR B. M. HARROD
MRS. GEROMINA MOLINARY, mother of the artist.
Mrs. Andres Molinary, ned Marie Madeleine Seebold, among the roses in the garden of the old family home, 2322 Canal Street, New Orleans.
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321
this hospitable home a rendezvous. Here for over half a century came every distinguished artist (painter) who visited New Or- leans during all these years.
in the immense front room on the second 1 Street the Art Gallery of the establishment- monthly auctions were held for the benefit of the local artists, fol- tovnng their exhibitions. Mr. Ed. Curtis and Mr. Ben Onorato acted as auctioneers, and often the sales reached large amounts. The auctions gave local and visiting artists an opportunity to dispose of their work. So popular did these sales become that many
t^nTmlafStS fr°m °ther parts of the country came to New Orleans with large exhibitions of their work which they displayed at the Seebold Gallery later auctioning their paintings. In *S ^ay many f tl\e fine art collections of Louisiana were formed. Art was stimulated and numerous art collections started, for at
<f» city were to be fid! Until the interior decorators persuaded the public that bare walls
nltiZ h ^ ^ ^ “ alm0St Wery home g^d
paintings by prominent artists were to be found. However manv
families paid little attention to the decorators and still retain their paintings along with their art objects. Often these auction sales were for the benefit of Confederate veterans and their widows as well as for other charitable objects.
Realizing how much help those in need were getting by being dlsp®se of their belongings, many years ago a number of prominent New Orleans ladies under the leadership of Mrs.
eorge Q. Whitney held a meeting in the art gallery of the Art Store, Number 166 Canal Street, when the idea of the Christian Women’s Exchange was bom.
Later another meeting of the same ladies was held at th* md “ -
a home for the purpose. Then the organization moved to the storieiT t ChSStian W°men’s Excbange which was a onesided 8t^VVrb°n Stre6t’ Wh6re lunches also were in^thS^t V Exchange m°ved to larger quarters comer n South Street, where they remained until their removal to their
“V? h6adqUarters in the fine oId borne of the Grima
Thornes fa iT Stfe^°ne °f the finest of the ^istocratic old homes m the French Quarter with a charming spacious court-
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yard in the rear of the roomy building. Only those who knew the history of this noble organization, are aware of the wonderful amount of good this crowd of ladies have done, and still are doing. I am proud that my mother was a member for many years, until her death.
Chapter xxytt
OTHER FALSE RIVER PLANTATIONS.
THE LOCKE BREAUX PLANTATION HOME False River, Pointe Cowpee, La.
WHI^f newness of ^ restored condition leads one to believe it to be recently built, this old home of the Locke Breaux family antedates the Civil War.
It is a large and well designed country home of the “Old I^uismna Type”, of West Indian inspiration. Its lines are beau-
dSLht f °f the charminS architectural details that gives istmction to the ensemble. In the restoration the present owners have preserved the original charm of its architectural lines. The JJJJJjJ1 ky0Ut °f ^ garden grounds also seem i» have been pre-
. T*}e ten color which the house is now painted does not show tt t0 lose much of ^ charm that it would Hnwl hadihC ,standard colors of these old places been followed. T, ^er’ thls ls f sma11 matter and can always be easily rectified.
ntrance garden, well kept and usually bright with flowering plants, has an enclosing paling we usually find attached to these old places. A wide stairway easy of ascent leads to the wide gaUery surrounding the house. An extremely attractive entrance doorway with side lights and fan light overhead transom^pens into a wide hallway with spacious rooms on each side.
The Breaux family was both distinguished and wealthy, Mr.
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Locke Breaux, being a brother of Chief Justice Breaux of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Quite naturally this beautiful plantation home, like the equally important neighboring ones, in days gone by, was a social center where legal lights, as well as social butterflies gathered to enjoy themselves. Tales are told of the great banquets given here in olden days, when the planters representatives were entertained by the brother of Chief Justice Breaux — when hours were spent at the banquet board enlivened by brilliant repartee.
Turkey, squab, and a whole teal duck to a portion were served along with rare wines. Sometimes one wonders how they reached the ripe old ages they did, eating as heartily as was the custom of those days, when the banquet board literally groaned beneath the weight of delicacies placed before the diners, and wines of rare vintages flowed freely.
The plantation, always an immense one, still yields heavy harvests of cotton, cane and other crops — while a large stock farm has been added by the present owner Colonel Henry Rougon, who, with his family, occupy the place. The garden is specially attractive throughout the year as it always is a mass of blooming plants, which display to advantage the spacious grounds. The plantation became the property of the father of Colonel Rougon in 1886. Mr. Joseph Aubin Rougon lived until his death on Austerlitz plantation (as it had been named when the house was completed in 1832 by its original owner) . He was a great admirer of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the house in early days of its history had many souvenirs of the exiled emperor.
Since the Rougon family have owned Austerlitz plantation, much time and money have been spent on both house and garden. Great masses of azaleas, of many varieties make of the place a beauty spot. The azalea collection numbers some 200 large bushes and trees, many of them very fine. In this beautiful garden are some very large and rare camellia trees, besides a large collection of other attractive garden plants.
Austerlitz plantation, containing some 3000 acres, is one of the large land holdings of this section. Colonel Rougon has some 42 tenant families on his land, all of whom appear to be contented and happy.
€
Madame Mojeska, celebrated Polish Actress.
Joseph Jefferson, Actor and Artist.
Austerlitz, built in 1832.
Col. Henry Rougon at his Austerlitz Plantation Home.
Pigeonnaires at River Lake.
OTHER FALSE RIVER PLANTATIONS
325
PLEASANT VIEW
False River, Pointe Coupee Parish — The Old Plantation Home of the Hews Family .
Pleasant View Plantation is literally named. It affords one of the most beautiful outlooks of the entire False River section. Located on a point of land this pretty old plantation home has about it a rural charm that is quite inviting. Perched high on a heavy brick basement its square brick pillars fore and aft, support the very wide galleries, where typical old plantation stairways lead from the brick paved lower verandas to the floor above.
It is a roomy house, and much larger than these early plantation houses usually were. Also typically French in its Spartan simplicity the real beauty of the columned mantels stand out in their purity of line in the large rooms. Heavy shutters open outward with French glazed and panelled doors folding inward as in most early plantation houses. The central rooms are the living room and dining-room — with bed rooms and bath to either side. Ancestral portraits by noted artists adorn the walls, and ancient bric-a-brac, solid, large brass whale oil lamps, and other ornaments fill mantel shelves and cabinets. An immense mahogany four-poster and matched pieces of crouch mahogany are found in the master bedroom with other mahognay sets in the other bedrooms. Quaint needle point chairs, mahogany and rosewood arm-chairs, tables, couches, and lounges fill the living room.
The garden, always bright with flowers, has many special features, among them the immense sweet olive tree, one of the largest in the state. A magnificent double crimson camellia, bearing thousands of blooms at a time yearly, and other attractive white, shell pink and other camellias vie with azaleas in beautifying the grounds.
The family burial plot, like those of many of the old plantation places is beautiful most of the year, sheltered as it is by luxuriant blooming bushes. Great moss-hung oaks and pecan trees make of it an attractive place indeed, and its extensive plantation acres are fully cultivated. The garden widening around the sides and rear unfolds itself in a series of flower beds each striving to outdo the other apparently, as the masses of color enthrall the eye and spill their perfume into the air. Every flower
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OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
one can think of seems a part of this garden. Vine clad barns and poultry pens, from which issue the droning noises, and cock crows add their own note. A picture of rural content and plantation charm is completed when the old mammy in turban and starched apron feeds the flock of turkeys that assure good dinners from this well stocked poultry yard.
RIVER LAKE False River — Pointe Coupee Built for Isaac Gaillard.
The ancient plantation home of the Arthur Denis family with its pair of time stained pigeonnaires flanking its front garden attracts by the harmony of its setting. The great century-old oaks, both in the ample front grounds and rear yard, with their heavy banners of moss complete a pleasing picture. It is one of the few of the remaining old places in the False River area that retain so completely the air of its earlier days.
Probably not as prim as many of the others, still in its apparently neglected state, it possesses a charm such as one finds in ancient houses of old France in rural sections.
In its unpretentiousness lies its chief beauty for it remains almost entirely the same fine old plantation manor that it was when bought by the Arthur Denis family in ante-bellum days. Fortunately it has not been changed by alterations or improvements that would mar its aged beauty. However, the ancient pigeonnaires housing many pigeons, are beginning to show the need of repairs.
The house is of the typical old Louisiana type, adopted from tropical lands, with wide galleries, overhanging eaves and rows of graceful collonettes. Its history up until the Civil War is that of the home of a successful aristocratic planter, with all the Hfe and gayety that was associated with a home having two attractive daughters who made of such an ideal setting a center about which revolved the social life of the distinguished families on the various large plantations in this section.
The second owner was Mr. Arthur Denis, a wealthy planter and large slave holder, with extensive acreage under cultivation. Patrician born, he was the son of Henry Denis, in turn a member
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of a distinguished family, who had married Mademoiselle Aimee Derbigny, a daughter of Governor Pierre Auguste Charles Bour- guignon d’Herbigny, who was born in Laon, near Lille, in the Department du Nord, France, in the year 1767. Pierre was the son of Augustin Bourguignon d’Herbigny, being the oldest of five sons, his brothers were Alphonse d’Herbigny, aide-de-camp of General Jean Marie Philippe, comte de Seurrier, a Marechal de France, who lost his life during de Serrurier’s glorious campaign while in Italy fighting under Napoleon. Francois Xavier d’Herbigny, became general secretary de Prefecture du Nord, Casimir d’Herbigny, officer de la marine. Antoine Valery d’Herbigny, directeur de l’enregistrement a Bordeau en Arras (Man of letters and a poet of distinction).
In 1792 to escape the guillotine, as the heads of aristocrats were falling fast, Pierre d’Herbigny fled to San Domingo. At the time of the slave uprising he left the Island, going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was married to Mademoiselle Felicie Odile de Hault de Lassus whose father was a knight of the grand cross of the Royal order of Saint Michael. His daughter, Mademoiselle Aimee d’Herbigny, became the wife of Henry Denis, and their son Arthur, who later became a wealthy planter in Pointe Coupee, dwelt in the old plantation house with the attractive pigeonnaires flanking the entrance gateway, which is the subject of this article.
The ancient home during the occupation of the Denis family contained much fine furniture, family portraits and the general furnishings one usually found in the homes of wealthy, cultured plantation families. Much was moved to the old Parlange plantation home later, for Mademoiselle Louise Denis, a daughter of Mr. Arthur Denis and Mademoiselle Antoinette de Beauvais de Cuir, was born in this old plantation home, and married the Honorable Charles Parlange, U. S. District Judge. She became the mother of Mr. Walter Charles Parlange, who with his charming wife and son, Walter Charles Parlange, Jr., now occupy the beautiful Parlange plantation home near by.
The old Denis plantation home, now the residence of the Major family, is extremely attractive in its fine setting. It is well kept and greatly admired by the many tourists that pass this way.
Chapter XXXIII.
IN THE GROSSE TETE SECTION.
LIVE OAK PLANTATION Rosedale, Louisiana On Bayou Maringuoin.
F no section of Louisiana are the oaks grander and more stately than they are along Bayou Maringuoin. If one judges from the old groves still standing, those of ante-bellum times must have been more numerous and even more magnificent. The bayou in olden days was the means of transportation. For a quarter of a century, it has been choked with a wild growth of aquatic plants, but is now again navigable for the cane barges that haul the sugarcane to the sugar-mills. Most of the other products of the farmers is transported by motor trucks. The beauty of the scenery reminds one of the Teche country and its lovely river immortalized by Longfellow. There is an almost continuous fringe of ancient bearded oak trees on both sides of the bayou, and on every plantation there is a grove of oak trees around or leading to the “big house” or to where the manor house formerly stood.
This was once strictly a plantation country, a community of aristocrats, and one can readily see why Bayou Maringuoin was so desirable. The soil was rich and fertile, the climate temperate and the country beautiful. The descendants of these old Bayou Grosse Tete and Bayou Maringuoin planters look back with pride on their ancestral roof-trees. A few of the charming old houses, relics of ante-bellum days, stand forth in their ancient glory, as vivid reminders of the old regime. Alas! They are too few.
Here in this once sylvan community, stands a large old mansion, about which much history hangs. This is the Live Oak Plantation at Rosedale. The house was built for comfort and liv-
Stairway in Plantation home of the J. R. Mays family Rose- dale, Louisiana.
The Wyley Barrow Plantation Home, Bayou Marin- gouin, Louisiana.
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ing on a fine scale, and is devoid of the ostentatious display that we find in some of the other places. It is a home delightfully situated, with wide verandas, upstairs and down, having many spacious rooms, well lighted and ventilated. Its two and half stories are lighted with French windows which make the rooms cool in summer. Each floor has a twenty-foot hall which widens out in the rear, where an unusually bautifully curved stairway winds to the floor above. The stair lines are graceful, and it is unique in the manner in which it is suspended from the inner wall. Two large connecting rooms on either side upstairs and down assure roominess and comfort as well as privacy.
Here have been housed on many occasions, distinguished guests for this home has always been known for its gracious hospitality. Columned mantels of good design, nicely finished woodwork, and silver plated hardware, are all attractive features of the place. Much beautiful old rosewood and mahogany furniture, fine old family portraits, crystal, old silver, and fine china indicate a cultured people, who come of a long line of distinguished ancestors stemming back on both sides of the family to historic names. The house in its rustic setting is the kind of a home that attracts by the dignity of line, and home life environment. Those who live here are calm and unhurried, much as their ancestors lived in the long ago. Colored mammies, turbaned and wearing large starched white aprons, come and go noiselessly in smaller numbers than in old plantation days, but they still maintain deference of manner to their superiors, an attitude that is pleasing to old-time Southerners in this streamlined age of colored college graduates.
Live Oak Manor is delightfully planned for entertaining. It has large drawing rooms, as well as a spacious dining-room. In olden times on gala days the master of Live Oak Manor entertained on a lavish scale, and then the great hall was converted into a banquet hall where many were served at a sitting. A large finished attic gives additional house room when needed for week-end parties. Of the original out-buildings containing kitchen service quarters, laundry, etc., two remain, the kitchen connected by a lattice enclosure which eliminates food odors and kitchen noises. Other buildings that stood opposite have been demolished, and remnants of the old slave quarters are found in the rear by the ancient chapel where each Sunday the slaves worshipped. A
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travelling minister preached each Sunday to the dark assemblage and the slave burial ground was an enclosure in the rear of the little brick chapel.
In 1828 Charles Dickinson and his bride came to the Gross Tete country from Nashville to start a plantation as his grandfather guardian had done years before. He found that a crevasse had just occurred, flooding the entire area. He did not become discouraged knowing that his grandfather lived in this section, and had made a great fortune from his crops. Looking the surrounding country over as it were, young Dickinson noted several spots that were not under water, and he selected the largest of them as a site for his future home. He also noted too that the oaks there were unusually large. There he built a house and his young wife remained at his grandfather's home until it was completed.
A number of fine plantation houses were scattered about the section — all the homes of wealthy planters. Game was plentiful and the woods were filled with beautiful birds of every description. At that date tribes of Indians occupied places along this bayou, and they became so friendly with the Master of Live Oak that they frequently came to the house. Mrs. Dickinson, always afraid of the Red Skins, surprised one day while her husband was away in the woods, at seeing the head of one of the Indians against the window, rushed out the back door into the thicket. The Indians who were very friendly with Mr. Dickinson, fearing she would get lost induced her to return. When Dickinson heard about it, he forbade them ever to come near the house when he was not there.
Charles Dickinson, the owner of Live Oak, was the son of the Charles Dickinson who became entangled in a quarrel with Andrew Jackson. Joseph Erwin had a stable of blooded stock on his plantation, Clover Blossom, not far from the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's plantation home. “Plow boy'' was the pride of Erwin's stable, while Old Hickory's favorite horse was the famous Trux- ton. The two horses were matched in a race which resulted in a misunderstanding between Erwin and Jackson. The son-in-law of Erwin, Charles H. Dickinson, espoused his father-in-law’s cause, later resulted in a duel in which Dickinson was killed, the owner of Live Oak, being an infant at the time. Previous to the duel
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Dickinson made his boy a ward of his grandfather in the event he was killed, and Captain Erwin saw to it that his ward and grandson was reared and educated as a gentleman should be. When the young man had reached manhood, and married, bringing his bride with him to the Grosse Tete country, his grandfather who had charge of the fortune that his father had left him, on the arrival of young Charles deeded to him a large tract on which this plantation was later laid out. Capt. Erwin, himself, owned immense areas in the Grosse Tete section.
The Live Oak plantation house is almost one hundred and ten years old, and since 1915 has been the home of the family living here at present, Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Mays of Rose- dale, as the village that has grown up about the old plantation is called. The Mays came from Baton Rouge, where the family were prominent. They came into the property through Mrs. Lavinia Davis, an aunt of Mrs. Mays, who had purchased it at the time it was sold by members of the Dickinson family Mrs. Mays, a most charming woman, well versed in the legends and history of the plantation country of Louisiana, was Miss Lula Barrow of the notable patrician family of that name, who have left so many magnificent homes in the state of Louisiana.
The beautiful collection of historical treasures in this home for the most part are heirlooms of the Mays and Barrow familes! Ancestral portraits, silverware, crystal and costly china, with rare pieces of carved rosewood and mahogany furniture give the old plantation home the air of olden days. In the rear of Live Oak, or Oak Grove as it is sometimes called, we find the old slave burial ground, in a section far to the rear of the row of old slave cabins. Charles Dickinson has left a record as a successful planter. He was a kind master to his slaves, attending to their wants and spiritual needs. His death occurred in 1848; he left a widow and three children. Mrs. Dickinson proved herself capable of managing the large estate. She was also a prominent leader in social and community affairs, and the principal stockholder of the Louisiana Central Railroad. At Mrs. Dickinson’s death the plantation and property was sold in 1885 to Mrs. Lavinia Davis, later passing to the family of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Mays. The Mays live oak is a member of the “Live Oak Society”, being the largest oak tree in the vicinity.
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SHADY GROVE PLANTATION MANOR On Bayou Grosse Tete.
Facing Bayou Grosse Tete about mid distance between the villages of Maringuoin and Rosedale stands what was once the home of Isaac Erwin, an immensely wealthy planter and great sportsman with a string of famous race horses, and a private race track to which the blue-bloods of the Southern States travelled from afar to witness the famous meets. The old mansion, erected in 1858, was an immense one with many rooms to house the distinguished personages that were Col. Erwin’s guests weeks at a time. The race horses of Lexington and LeCompte were tried out on this track. Monsieur LeCompte being a close friend of the owner of Shady Grove. Like Live Oak near by, Shady Grove has been the scene of innumerable hospitalities for entertaining was lavish in these Bayou mansions. Dr. Campbell, who often attended these feasts, is quoted as saying, “the people of these bayous dig their graves with their teeth.” He tried to introduce the custom of simpler dinners, but without success. The Shady Grove house, constructed of the finest material, a pleasing type of modified Greek Revival architecture, was originally set in magnificent grounds, which unfortunately have been so mutilated that most of the grandeur of the old place has vanished. The building has become a school, and modern-looking buildings have crowded the fine old house so as to make one wonder why steps were not taken in time to preserve the beauty of the mansion’s setting by leaving more ground space between it and the new building.
BELMONT
The Wiley Barrow Plantation Home .
In the Bayou Maringouin (mosquito) country near the bayou, standing like old Roman ruins, one sees a group of crumbling brick-stuccoed columns surrounded by a group of fine old moss- hung trees. This is all that remains of the old home built for Wiley Barrow as the war clouds of the 60’s were gathering, but it survived the wreckage of the Union soldiers, their pillage and destruction. For many years it was the home of the Barrow and Sparks families whose members, still residing in Baton Rouge, recall the happy childhood days spent on that old plantation.
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While built on a less expensive scale than many of the other Bar- row homes, it was a large and very comfortable home. Some years ago the plantation passed out of the family's hands and the house lay empty for a long time. When the purchaser had the place inspected with the idea of restoring it, he found that the termites had so riddled the woodwork that the house would have to be rebuilt. It was then dismantled and the doors, windows, etc., used for repairing old buildings and cabins on the plantation. The wife of the present owner states that some day she hopes to have the old place rebuilt as a summer home, as there is a fine grove of live oaks on the grounds.
Members of the Sparks and Daspit family, descendants of the builder of Belmont, living at present in Baton Rouge, possess many articles that came from this old plantation home, among which is a quantity of fine mahogany and rosewood furniture, and a splendid life-size bust portrait of Senator Alexander Barrow, who is buried at Afton Villa where a handsome marble monument was erected to his memory by the United States Government. There is also a very beautiful ivory miniature of Senator Alexander Barrow which looks like the work of Rembrant Peale.
In this section of the state there are many other old plantation homes of more or less interest, but those described here are the more important. Many that were important in the long ago are falling into ruins, while others have been restored. A grove of magnificent oak trees, almost as fine as that of Oak Alley and the old de la Ronde place can be seen here, the mansion having been burnt during the Civil War. A trip made slowly about this section well repays the visitor and sight-seer.
TRINITY PLANTATION Bayou Grosse Tete, Louisiana.
Trinity House was originally the plantation residence of the late Dr. George Campbell and his artistic family, a daughter later became a prominent portrait painter. Located in the best part of the Grosse Tete country of Louisiana, it has always been one of the show places of that section.
Dr. Campbell, a member of an aristocratic Kentucky family, came to Louisiana and settled in New Orleans as a young man. Good looking, cultured, wealthy, a physician of more than ordin-
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ary ability, he became at once prominent as a medical man as well as a great social favorite. With wealth pouring into the city at that date, it was not long before he had doubled his fortune, already a large one. Plantations were the gold mines of that era, so it was but natural that Dr. Campbell, a Kentucky man of a plantation family, should become interested in a Louisiana plantation. He purchased a place which he named Trinity, and built the charming plantaiton home that still stands and which at present is in beautiful condition.
This home, like his palatial city home in New Orleans, became a great social center. For in the city his drawing-rooms were filled with noted artists, actors, and musicians as well as the elite, for the great mansion comer of St. Charles and Julia Streets at that date was one of the finest private homes in America. It was the rival of Marble House, the handsome home of the Kock family which stood, until a year or so ago, on Rampart Street near Tulane Avenue. Its interior too, was exceptionally fine and beautiful as well as spacious. During the Civil War the Campbell mansion was seized after the fall of New Orleans by “Silver Spoon” General Butler.* Mrs. Campbell was rudely evicted from her city home after she had retired. She was forced to leave the house at once, and allowed to take only the dress that she had donned after getting out of bed and changing from her robe de nuit.
Dr. Campbell's mansion was a treasure house of valuable art objects, many which disappeared with Butler when he was recalled by Washington, when his stealing became so great that the Union authorities themselves had to replace him with General Banks.
* Mrs. Warren Stone, wife of the celebrated New Orleans surgeon, having heard how Butler was taking all of the silverware from every home he searched, to save her beautiful family silver, made a large package of it and gave it to her faithful negro butler saying, “I want to be able to tell the truth if questioned about where the silver is hidden. If I do not know, I can truthfully say I do not know where it is, and can swear to it if they make me. So take this bundle of silver and put it in some safe place, but under no circumstances tell me where it is or what you have done with it.” Dr. Stone operated at the “Hotel Dieu”, a hospital on what then was Common Street. Taking the bundle to the Catholic Sister in charge, the faithful slave told the Sister that Mrs. Stone wanted the bundle put in a safe place.
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When peace reigned again in New Orleans, the faithful black one day brought back the bundle just as Mrs. Stone had given it to him. “Where did you hide it?” she questioned. “The Sisters hid it under the altar of the Sacred Heart/’ the old fellow replied, grinning broadly.
Miss Frances Campbell, a daughter of Dr. Campbell’s, was a pupil of Healy who painted so many fine portraits of Louisiana people — among them, the magnificent life-size portrait of Mrs. Thomas J. Semmes, which at present hangs in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley. In the same room over a mantel is a beautiful portrait of Mrs. Walmsley as a young lady painted by Miss Frances Campbell after she had risen to Other noteworthy portraits by Miss Campbell are those of President Theodore Roosevelt, and one of Mrs. Tilton — the Tilton portrait hangs at the entrance of the Tilton Library of Tulane University in New Orleans, which she gave this institution as a memorial to her husband.
Trinity Plantation a few years ago became the property of Mr. T. G. Markley, who had it carefully restored, and furnished in period; and again it ranks with the fine old plantation homes of Grosse Tete of olden days. Mr. Markley who has oil interests in the Lake Charles area, no doubt will spend much time at the Old Trinity Plantation.
Chapter XXXIV.
IN PLAQUEMINE PARISH. SAINT LOUIS PLANTATION Originally called HOME PLANTATION West Bank of the Mississippi River .
r< APT AIN Joseph Erwin, born 1750, according to authentic family ^ records, comes of patrician ancestry, stemming to Scotch-Irish parentage that had settled in North Carolina. This line continues unbroken to the family of Erwin of the County of Orange in the district of Salisbury whose residence in America antedates the Revolutionary War. Members of this family became prominent citizens occupying distinctive positions in the communities where they resided. Among them were Colonel Robert Erwin, Lieutenant Colonel John Erwin, and Captain Erwin, who later crossed the mountainous country and settled in Tennessee. Captain Joseph Erwin, with his family consisting of father, mother, and six children accompanied by a few slaves in the year 1800, settled in Davidson County, Tenn. His wife was Lavinia Thompson, and these were their children: Isaac Erwin who later built “Shady Grove Manor” on Bayou Grosse Tete; Leodocia Erwin, who married William Blount Robertson; Eliza Erwin, who married Nicholas Wilson; Joseph Erwin, Jr.; Nancy Ann Erwin, who married Andrew Hynes; Jane Erwin, who married Charles Henry Dickinson killed by Andrew Jackson in a duel and whose son, Charles Dickinson II, later built “Live Oak Plantation Manor”, located in the village of Rosedale, La.
Trinity Plantation Manor, built for Dr. George Campbell, Bayou Grosse Tete, La.
Magnificent solid rosewood stairway in the oldi mansion of the Campbell family. New Orleans, still standing.
GENERAL BRAXTON BRAGG
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Reaching their destination eventually Captain Erwin became the owner of a splendid cotton plantation consisting of about one thousand acres in 1806. As the Mississippi River was a means of transporting his cotton to New Orleans where Captain Erwin’s agents were located, his future son-in-law Charles Henry Dickinson accompanied the shipments of cotton to New Orleans, where he represented Captain Erwin in the disposition of his crops. It may have been the glowing tales of the splendid plantations with their magnificent mansions that were being erected on thpmj and the apparent wealth of the state whose soil at that date was rated as being the finest in America, or maybe for other reasons, but it was not many years before Captain Erwin while retaining his Tennessee cotton plantation, removed to Louisiana where he continued in the plantation business. Leaving his married children in Tennessee, Captain Erwin moved by flat-boat taking some of his belongings with him, and after a trip filled with thrilling escapades finally chose a suitable location on the west bank of the Mississippi River about ninety miles above New Orleans which at that date had become a part of the United States and was bustling with evidences of prosperity.
With the same business ability which had distinguished his past career Captain Erwin soon was prospering and became an important figure in the plantation world of Louisiana. His first purchase of plantation land in Louisiana on the Mississippi River amounted to $10,000.00 for which he paid cash. From this start he continued to increase his land holdings until he was reported to be the largest land owner in the state at the time of his death, which occurred April 14th, 1829. He was buried on his plantation.
In Iberville Parish, he resided with his wife and unmarried children on his plantation known as “Home Plantation”, which was located two and one-half miles nearer New Orleans than the entrance to Bayou Plaquemines. The plantation house, like its owner was a substantial unpretentious one. It was well-designed along the lines now known as the “Early Louisiana Type” with a wide hall in the center upstairs and down and four rooms on each floor surrounded by wide galleries, collonettes above square brick pillars. The kitchen was in a detached building to lessen the hazards of fire. His wealth became great, his slaves many, but the ever hungry river finally took the old home, as it had so many others.
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Mrs. Joseph Erwin, nee Lavinia Thompson, died in 1836 and was buried beside her husband on the plantation. Andrew Hynes married Nancy Ann Erwin, daughter of Captain Joseph Erwin, on the 2nd of March 1817, Rev. Gidio Blackburn performing the ceremony at the old home of Captain Joseph Erwin in Tennessee.
Andrew Hynes, had been Adjutant General of the State of Tennessee, and a colonel at the Battle of New Orleans, and had brought General Andrew Jackson’s troops from Tennessee to New Orleans, succeeded Captain Joseph Erwin at his death in the management of the Tennessee plantation.
Edward J. Gay, I, married Lavinia Hynes October, 1840, at the home of Colonel Andrew Hynes located near the state capitol of Tennessee, the same home in which her mother was married. After his marriage Mr. Edward J. Gay, I, bought out the interest of the other heirs in the “Home Plantation” in Louisiana and in 1858 built the plantation house which still stands. He renamed the place the “Saint Louis Plantation”.
Mr. Gay was a very successful planter, and built the first sugar refinery in New Orleans approximately seventy years ago.
GAY FAMILY .
Edward J. Gay, I, son of John Henderson Gay, was born near the town of Liberty in Bedford County, Va., on February 3rd, 1816. The family moved to the state of Illinois in 1820, and later to St. Louis, Mo., in 1824. Edward J. Gay was placed under the instruction of Mr. J. H. Denis, an accomplished teacher residing in Belleville, Ill., and later attended Augusta College, Kentucky, graduating in the class of 1833-34. Young Gay was unusually bright and he was graduated with honor from Augusta College.
From early manhood he manifested a strong inclination towards business, and did not study for a profession. Even while at college his character was marked by great boldness in all that he undertook, and his parents had firm confidence in their son feeling that in whatever life work he chose — he would succeed. Edward J. Gay ,1, liked solitude, for he was a deep thinker, and when after calm deliberation, he came to a conclusion that was satisfactory to himself, he upheld and defended it without change. So it was no surprise then when he embarked in business, his father and friends noted that he conducted affairs in a bold and
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daring manner. With good judgment and ability he soon amassed a fairly good-sized fortune. In 1840 he married Miss Lavinia Hynes, a daughter of Andrew Hynes of Nashville, Tenn., whose mother was Nancy Ann Erwin, a daughter of Captain Joseph Erwin, who had built “Home Plantation Manor” on the Mississippi River near Plaquemines, La.
Ever with the thought of some day becoming a planter, Edward J. Gay, I, moved South to Louisiana where he was to spend most of the remainder of his life. He added to his holdings some of the best sugar land in the state. From early manhood he had been a deep student of industial and political economy knowing its bearing on every type of business. His plantation home, pictured among the illustrations, shows a manor house of the modified Greek-Revival type much in vogue at the date of its erection, a splendid one of its type and typical of the wealthy planter. Located in a grove of moss-hung oaks, amidst a large garden with spacious lawns and with the innumerable accessories of a country home, it is a delightful spot indeed. Among its many interesting mementos were some connected with the early days of the City of St. Louis, Mo., and others dating to Revolutionary times, for a grandfather of Edward J. Gay, I, had been a soldier in the War of Independence.
Always interested but never active in politics, his knowing friends realizing his deep sense of justice and high principles soon sought to have him represent them in Congress. At the time he was advanced in years and was enjoying the seclusion and pleasures afforded by his wise early planning. In the year 1884, having lived through all of the trials and tribulations of the after- math of the Civil War, he yielded to the solicitations of his friends and became the Nominee of the Democratic Party of the Third District of Louisiana for Congress. As his state needed his services at this time, under the circumstances he felt that he could not decline, and he defeated William Pitt Kellogg, the last survivor of carpetbagism in Louisiana for the office. As a Legislator, his record is a vindication of the judgment of his friends, for he did fine work as a representative of the State of Louisiana; his years seemingly not having dulled his keen vision and ability to master difficult situations. As one scans the record of his legislative career, one notes that he was ever vigilant in the interests of the state. He studied deeply the questions most vital
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to the state. His ability was recognized and he was placed on the Committee of Appropriations, which important Committee passed economic questions involving the appropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars for governing the country’s sixty million people.
His career as a statesman, like his entire life, was one of eminent success. He died at his beautiful plantation home, the “St. Louis Plantation”, and the papers of that date said, “One of the chief pillars supporting the social, industrial, and political institutions of Louisiana gave way, his life and character afford a most instructive lesson to the youth and manhood of this country.”
ANDREW HYNES GAY
Andrew Hynes Gay, son of Edward J. Gay and Lavinia Hynes, was bom in St. Louis, Mo., September 25th, 1841. He attended schools of St. Louis, Mo., and left the one at Webster Grove, to volunteer in the Confederate army at the outbreak of the Civil War, entering 1st Louisiana Cavalry Co. A, under Colonel Scott, serving the entire duration of hostilities. After the war he acquired what is now known as Union Plantation, located two miles above the town of Plaquemines. When his father, Edward J. Gay, I, went to Congress in 1884, Andrew Hynes Gay managed all of the plantation properties belonging to his father as well as his own. He never cared for public office, and declined to become a candidate although solicited to run for Congress, and at one time urged to be a candidate for governor of Louisiana. He married Lodoiska Clement, daughter of Dr. Charles Clement, the first physician to practice in Iberville Parish. At the death of his father, he became the first president of the Edward J. Gay Planting and Manufacturing Co., which comprises all of the properties now known as the St. Louis Plantation. He was an authority on Flood Control — and served as president of the Atchaf- alaya Levee Board, and later he was president of the Police Jury in Iberville Parish. He died November 29th, 1914.
EDWARD J. GAY , II.
Edward J. Gay, II, son of Andrew H. Gay and Lodoiska Clement, who was a daughter of Dr. Charles Clement, the first doctor of medicine in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Young Gay attended the
ANDREW HYNES
Manor House, St. Louis Plantation.
ANDREW HYNES GAY.
Old Plantation Home built for Hypolite Chretien in 1835 at Chretien Point. Still standing.
. i
Oil portrait by A. L. Boisseau dated 1865 of the wife of Hypolite Chretien, who was Mademoiselle Celestine Cantrell, a member o’f the prominent plantation family of that name. (Photo by Richard Koch.)
Pr^wing room of the Chretien Plantation home,
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schools of Iberville Parish, and then a preparatory one of Charlottesville, Virginia, from which he went to Princeton University. At that time President Wilson, whom Mr. Gay knew, occupied the chair of jurisprudence at Princeton. As a planter Mr. Gay occupies a prominent place in Louisiana, diversifying with cotton and corn, not confining himself to the growing of sugar-cane and manufacturing of sugar alone. He is the head of the St. Louis Plantation Co., and has been president of the Louisiana Sugar Planters Association, and later the American Sugar Cane League.
He was elected to the Louisiana Legislature from Iberville Parish in 1904 and was returned each succeeding term, serving under the administrations of Governors Blanchard, Sanders, Hall, and Pleasant. He served for four years as chairman of the Committee of Public Works, Lands and Levees; eight years as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, considered the most important committee in the House of Representatives, and as a ranking member of other important committees. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention held in the city of St. Louis in 1908, and chairman of the Louisiana delegation at the San Francisco Democratic Convention in 1920.
Honorable Robert F. Broussard having died in 1918, Mr. Gay announced his candidacy to fill the vacancy to a seat in the United States Senate by the death of Senator Broussard, and was elected, defeating Gov. L. E. Hall and John H. Overton.
Edward J. Gay, II, was married to Gladys Fenner, daughter of Honorable Charles E. Fenner of New Orleans and Carrie Payne, daughter of fMr. J. U. Payne, a prominent and wealthy planter and cotton factor also of this city. The children of Senator and Mrs. Edward J. Gay, II, are two boys and two girls — Edward J. Gay, III, Charles Fenner Gay, Mrs. Carolyn Gay Labouisse, and Gladys Gay.
The children of Honorable Charles E. Fenner are: Charles Payne Fenner, Dr. E. D. Fenner, Guy C. Fenner, Gladys Fenner (Mrs. Edward J. Gay, II).
Chapter XXXV.
CHRETIEN POINT PLANTATIONS.
CHRETIEN PLANTATION Chretien Point, Louisiana .
gTANDING alone in the midst of a wide acreage that dips down to a small bayou running through the grounds some distance in the rear of the old house is the original abode of Chretien family. Surrounded by its grove of ancient oak trees, it appears indeed a restful place that has changed but little since the days that the fortune of the family was swept away as a result of the Civil War. The original land grant dates from 1776,* but the house was not erected until the year 1835, according to descendants of the old planter for whom the place was built. Started in 1835 it was not completed until 1839, the owner Hypolite Chretien died a short time afterwards. Madame Felicite Chretien nee Felicite Neda, now a widow and a very capable one, with the aid of an able manager conducted the plantation as a profitable concern until her death.
A splendid old plantation it was in its day when five hundred slaves worked its fertile fields, one of the greatest plantations in this section. After the death of her husband, following that of her son, she continued to reside on the plantation with her family, until the Civil War freed her five hundred slaves and swept away the greater part of her remaining fortune, all enjoyed to its fullness the great wealth that Hypolite Chretien had left them.
* The original land grant, given to one, Pierre de Clouet in 1776, in Spanish accompanied by an English translation! is in the possession
of one of Hypolite Chretien’s descendants, the present owner, Mrs. C.
A. Gardiner.
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During the Red River Campaign at the time of the Civil War when the plantation houses, gins and sugar mills of the area from Opelousas to the town of Natchitoches were burned to the ground, Madame Chretien's relatives, the Arnoulds, the immensely wealthy Fusiliers, the Dazincourts and others had their handsome homes burned to the ground following the Yankee General's orders “to torch the mansions." Of fifty handsome houses only one was spared. The reason for this, so Madame learned, was because the Mistress of this home had spread beneath the trees in front of the mansion on long tables a great feast, and had emptied her wine cellars to supply the Union officers with choice vintages. This lady, it seems, had heard that during Napoleon's invasion of Germany, a German Countess spread a feast for the French soldiers and officers and Napoleon spared her castle.
From a slave returning from Opelousas, Madame Chretien learned that the soldiers were on their way to burn the Chretien mansion. She decided that if food and drink could save her property, she would give the best she had. She ordered the kitchen force to kill all the poultry they could find on the place, a number of hogs, several sheep and a cow, and barbecue the meats. Then she ordered them to empty the wine cellars and bring out the finest vintages. Knowing that the invaders would soon come, she prepared a great meal for the expected enemy. Never in the history of Chretien Point had such a feast been spread.
As General Banks entered the main gateway, Madame Chretien who appeared to be cutting flowers greeted the General in her most gracious manner in French. The General dismounted as he saw a lady approaching and returned her greetings in English. Reaching in her pocket she took out a bunch of keys and smilingly extended them to him, saying in French (as Madame spoke no English) , “I extend to you and your men the hospitality of our plantation, my servants have prepared food and drink and refreshments for you and your detachment, I hope that all of you will accept. My home is also at your service, on this bunch are the keys for everything, I have disturbed nothing whatever not knowing where to put it. I learn that you have your orders to burn every home, so I am not blaming you, only please let me and my family remain here until we can find somewhere to go.”
“Madame”, replied General Banks, “We must search the
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house for Confederate soldiers, but I assure you that you will not be disturbed otherwise”. A search was made and only a very old man, a distant relative, too old to be in the service, was found hiding in the attic. However, after the Union Officers and men had wined and dined, one of them who had imbibed too freely fired at the old man as he appeared at a doorway on the second floor, but he was not injured seriously.
Even though General Banks had promised that the contents of the house would not be disturbed, the soldiers took with them every movable thing they could carry away, including a large quantity of furniture and household articles which they loaded on army wagons.
The mansion was spared, but the sugar house was set on fire as were the negro cabins after the slaves had scattered and warned not to return or they would be shot. The large storehouse, smokehouse, and cotton-gin were blown to bits, thousands of pounds of cotton hauled away, and all the horses, mules and livestock confiscated.
With the freeing of the five hundred slaves, the death knell of the splendid Chretien Plantation was sounded, for there was no one to work the twelve thousand acres. It was not many years before the place began to show the ravages of time. Gradually the long rows of brick slave cabins, fifty to a row, the slave church, the slave hospital and the many farm buildings were demolished and the bricks sold. Members of the family died, others married and moved away, and a few years ago the last of the family to live on the plantation abandoned the old house. Until they moved away the walls of the ancient home were adorned with old family portraits of the Chretien ladies of olden days and other members of the family of the same era.
The property still belongs to a descendant of old Hypolite Chretien who built the house and who provided so bountifully until the family were despoiled of their fortune as a result of the Civil War. Planned somewhat in the manner of “The Shadows”, belonging to Mr. Weeks Hall, the Chretien place lacks the glorious setting of Mr. Hall’s home. However, it is larger and was very handsome until allowed to fall into ruin, as is evidenced by the fine plastic work and magnificent black Italian marble mantels, On the upper floor the mantels were marble while replicas of them in wood are to be found in the ground apartments. The
MRS. GINDER ABBOTT, (ne6 Stella Chretien.)
MRS. WARREN STONE PATRICK, (ne<§ Bertha Chretien.)
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house plan is distinctly French, having the salon (parlour) on the second floor and the large bed-rooms having ante-rooms attached serving as bath and dressing rooms.
On the ground floor are the central sitting-room and entrance hall combined, with dining-room and pantry to the left, and library on the right. What is still a very attractive stairway winding to the floor above is located to the right in the rear, and a doorway formally opening on to the garden. Very fine is the original woodwork, beautifully carved mouldings, panelling, arched mul- lioned transoms and a dozen different architectural features were all finished in a manner regardless of trouble or cost. There is a large wine cellar, and until a few years ago, a number of outbuildings containing quarters for the numerous house servants, kitchen, laundry store-room and endless other rooms were also part of the place.
Its exterior was imposing-looking with its thick solid brick circular columns heavily stuccoed, and numerous tall arched windows and doors, wide porches and heavy cornice. The great high ceilinged rooms are empty now, the splendid furnishings imported from France that were left behind by the Union soldiers have been divided among members of the family. In the former Canal Street home in New Orleans belonging to the Honorable Frank D. Chretien, Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, were a number of antiques that came from his grandfather’s plantation home at Chretien Point. Among them were several family portraits; a very fine French Clock; a set of Sevres china; a number of fiddle- back mahogany chairs; a dining-room set of mahogany of unusually fine design, all of the pieces being very large with chairs to match; some solid mahogany four-poster beds; and a handsome ruby-glass punch bowl, barrel-shaped with cover and glasses to match. A number of these things now belong to Mrs. Gardner Voorhees of Winnetka, Ill., who is Ninette, the youngest daughter of the late H^on. Frank D. Chretien, and great-great-grand- daughter of the planter Hypolite Chretien who owned the home at Chretien Point.
In the ancient cemetery of Grand Coteau not very far away, are a number of tombs with hand-wrought filagree iron crosses above the graves. In what was originally one of the most imposing burial plots in this cemetery, surrounded by a handsome iron railing, an enclosure some twenty feet square contains four
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low but large tombs, each with a thick marble slab darkly stained with age. On the first one — cut deeply into the slab is the following in French:
Hypolite Chretien Born May 30th, 1781.
Died September 29th, 1839.
This is the tomb of the planter who originally owned the plantation at Chretien Point. On top of the tomb is laid a large cross of white marble many shades lighter than the slab which covers the ton&b. On its surface is carved Hypolite Chretien .
On another quite similar tomb beside it is one containing according to the inscription in French, the body of a son of the planter who built the plantation home. On this slab not quite so dark as the first one, deeply cut into the marble is:
Hypolite Chretien Bom April 23, 1827
Died May 21st, 1870.
Above this tomb is a handsome white marble urn out of which issues a “flame of life”. Beside this is another in which is buried the brother. Deeply carved like the others in French is the following:
Jules Chretien son of Hypolite Chretien and Felicite Neda.
Born May 13th, 1838. Died October 20th, 1838.
Below the inscription on the tomb of Jules Chretien is the following:
Nous l’avons aime, ne le delaisons pas parce que nous ne rayons pas introduit par nos larmes et nos prieres dans la maison du Seigneur.
S’Ambre.
When translated means literally —
We have loved him, let us not forget him, because we would not have introduced him by our tears and our prayers in the home of the Lord.
Placed lengthwise in this iron-railed enclosure across the bases of the first two tombs, having the same height and general
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construction, is another tomb. However, there is no indication of any* one being buried in it, as a large marble slab which is placed on its top is free from any inscription whatever. Jules Chretien died on October 20th, 1838, and the affectionate father following him to the grave the following year. Those were the years of the terrible epidemics of yellow fever, and it is stated by some who profess to know the history of the ancient Chretien Manor that this was the cause of both of their deaths.
CHRETIEN.
Frank Dazincourt Chretien, I, married Eleonore Virginie Briant — their son Frank Dazincourt Chretien, II, who became Judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, married Blanche Williams, daughter of Maria Bushnell and Josiah Pitts Williams; their children are as follows:
Francis Dazincourt Chretien, who died in infancy.
Bertha Chretien, who married Warren Stone Patrick.
Stella Chretien, who married Ginder Abbott.
Ninette Chretien, who married Gardner T. Voorhees.
WILLIAMS.
Miss Blanche Williams, who married Honorable Frank Dazincourt Chretien, had three brothers and two sisters. Archie Williams, Austin Williams, Pintard Williams, and Josephine Williams, and another sister whose name is not recalled.
Austin Williams married Margaret Porter, and they became the parents of two children — Lester Williams, who become a prominent surgeon in Baton Rouge, La.
Laura Williams -
Archie Williams married — - , and they
became the parents of (Minnie) Maria Bushnel Williams, Josephine Williams, LeBlanc Williams, and Rita Williams.
Josephine Williams married Thomas Lewis, and they became the parents of James Lewis, John Lewis, Thomas Lewis, Maria Lewis and Bessie Lewis.
GRAND COTEAU
On the main highway as you leave the False River country headed towards the town of Opelousas, La., on the right hand side, one passes a side road which leads to the section known as Grand
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Coteau, which lies inland about three miles from the main highway. As you reach your destination, the charm of the place is at once apparent for an old world atmosphere pervades, and the section is one of great interest.
The present St. Charles College, a century-old Catholic institution, that is now a Jesuit Seminary for the priesthood, was erected in 1909 replacing the ancient one which was burnt in 1900. The history of the settlement dates back, so it is stated by some of the oldest residents of Grand Coteau, to a very early period almost to the days that Natchitoches was founded. One of its first settlers was an immensely wealthy Frenchman who became a planter — Fusilier de la Clair. He had been a prominent judge in France ,and the name symbolized wealth in this community until his fortune was swept away by the Civil War. It is to planter Fusilier that the honor of first settling the place is given. Among ancient documents in the Cabildo in New Orleans, the name appears from time to time, and one gathers that he was one of the most prominent as well as wealthy men in the section of Grand Coteau. The plantation was an immense one and one concludes that the plantation home was in keeping with his prominence and great wealth. No doubt it was of the “Early Louisiana” type, but we can feel sure it was a fine one of its kind. All that remains of the plantation is one of the very large avenues of oak trees at the end of which originally stood the old house.
The history of the destruction of the old manor is as follows:
In 1864 a number of Confederate soldiers were home “on leave” at the time that the Union troops invaded this area while General Banks’ Red River campaign was in full force. They surprised a dinner party, a rather large one which the grandson of the planter was giving to his friends. Some of the faithful house slaves learned that the Union soldiers were surrounding the house and feared that the young Master and his comrades would be shot. Having heard that some Confederate soldiers had gotten through the lines by disguising themselves as run-away slaves, they blackened the faces of the Confederate soldiers, dressed them in slave working-clothing and as they ran out they appeared to be running away from their owner. The slaves who arranged the escape waited in the dining-room with candles lit and shades pulled down. The Confederates made good their escape to the
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Lafourche country where they joined their company. When the Union soldiers found out that they had been outwitted, their commander ordered the ladies of the household to get out immediately, as the place was to be burned at once. Thus was the home with its entire contents destroyed. It is stated that a great sum of money hidden in the house was never found.
On all sides are magnificent avenues of oak and other century- old trees and a woodland grove of fragrant pines. A large Catholic church built in 1819 in beautiful condition is a prominent feature of the place. At the time it was built the old planter donated to it much land. A little further on in the rear is the ancient cemetery with a large number of interesting old tombs and graves, many distinctly quaint and individual, recalling century-old cemeteries of Europe. The wrought-iron work of the railings and enclosures and the crosses are of exquisite designs. The epitaphs are most interesting and touching, many of them like those of old England and France with distinguished family names amongst theim. On a later grave placed there by a heartbroken son in memory of his mother are the simple words, “Your boy.” One can almost see the tear stains on the marble slab where the pathetic tribute to the mother he loved so well is carved into the marble slab above her grave.
Many prominent old French family tombs are found here with unique given names, some of the graves being close to two centuries old.
RETRIBUTION .
This ancient cemetery is a sacred spot surrounded by a group of buildings devoted to educational and religious purposes. Amongst the dead in this beautiful antiquated cemetery sleeps a son, a good man, far different frofm his vindictive father, the mad Union General, who when power was placed in his hands, crucified the South in a manner that appalled the civilized world at that date. This son devoted his life to the service of God. One hears from those who knew him that time and time again he was horrified upon learning from the families who had been made to suffer the destruction his father had wrought. This man of God seemed distracted on learning these things, and spent much time in prayer, until the other priests associated with him, began noticing evidences of the hereditary curse of a twisted brain. At first his
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condition was mild, but as time passed, he lost his mind completely, was forced to resign his post and became invalided in an institute for the feeble-minded. He remained there until his death, when he was buried in this little cemetery of Grand Coteau — his grave shoulder to shoulder, as it were, to those of the families whose homes were burned to the ground by his father’s orders that “no aristocratic’s mansion be spared.”
Thus in the very heart of the region he laid waste — and his soldiers noted his sardonic glee at the burning of towns and mansions — lies buried his poor insane son. So the scales of Divine Justice are balanced.
Chapter XXXVI.
PAYNE - FENNER PLANTATION
THE OLD PLANTATION HOME OF THE PAYNE FAMILY NEAR WASHINGTON, LA.
^HIS house was originally built for Dr. Archibald Webb about the year 1850. Dr. Webb did not live to enjoy his plantation home, for he died shortly after it was completed. His widow remarried several years later and afterwards sold the place to Mr. Jacob Upsher Payne, a prominent cotton broker located in New Orleans. Mr. Payne, who owned many slaves, built a brick kiln on the plantation and the slaves made the thousands of bricks that went into the construction of the splendid Southern home that he erected in New Orleans at the corner of First and Camp Streets. The bricks were hauled to the city in a plantation wagon drawn by plantation mules and driven by capable slaves.
During the Civil War Mr. Payne converted his plantation home into a hospital for Confederate soldiers and others needing medical or surgical attention. After the fall of New Orleans, the home was filled with sick and wounded, and the Federals, fully aware that the home was being used as a hospital, bombarded it a number of times notwithstanding that pleas were made that the bombing be stopped. A large number of those in the building were killed and wounded and the house badly damaged.
At the time the plantation home was converted into a hospital a number of interior changes were made, and the house never was restored to its original condition. The family of Jefferson Davis, along with many others were house guests on various occasions, and people of the vicinity recall the gala days in this quaint old place — intriguing now in its newly freshened con-
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dition, for again it appears inviting in its gleaming whiteness which contrasts with the rich green of surrounding trees.
After the place was sold by the Payne family, the house remained empty for many years, during which time, as with old houses that are empty, strange stories began to be circulated about it. Somewhat isolated, the old dames and wags of the vicinity made it the topic of conversation, and the weird tales grew with each telling, until the children and ignorant people of the locality considered it a haunted place. It had become the kind of spot that Geo. W. Cable loved to find and weave a strange story around. Several persons have owned the place since it was sold by the Payne family, among them a plantation family by the name of Thistlewait.
A short time ago the place underwent repairs, and at present is attractive and inviting again, and quite an addition to the plantation area, so depleted of fine old places by the Civil War.
Returning again to the city home known as the Payne-Fenner house, we find it to be one of the most attractive of the fine old residences in the beautiful “Garden District” that never has been allowed to fall into ruin. This is an outstanding one in a section of aristocratic homes and it has been a social center almost continuously from the time it was built to the present. It is one of the most interesting homes in the city. While occupied by the Payne-Fenner family during the lifetime of Jefferson Davis, first and only president of the Confederate States of America, the owner always insisted that his close friends make his home their headquarters while staying in New Orleans. Mr. Robert Blakely, who at the time was manager of the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans, likewise a close friend of the Davis family, also wished the Davis family to make his hotel their stopping place while in the city as his guests. President Davis, a close friend of my father’s, on one occasion jokingly told him that the Davis family often had to slip into New Orleans and drive directly to the Payne- Fenner home, where they would remain a while before letting Mr. Blakely know the family were in town, so as not to offend Mr. Blakely who out of admiration for the family was continually planning delightful dinners in honor of them. It was in this fine old First Street home that the “Great Leader” wrote the “Rise and Fall of the Confederacy.”
Somes graves in the cemetery at Grand Coteau are nearly 200 years old.
The Payne - Fenner home, New Orleans, La., First and Camp Streets. Where Jefferson Davis wrote “The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy”. This home has become a shrine to the memory of the great Confederate.
JEFFERSON DAVIS
MISS WINNIE
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Jefferson Davis and his second wife. Miss Varina Howell who became the mother of Winnie (Varina) Davis — Daughter of the Confederacy.
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353
This immense brick stuccoed mansion is quite similar exteriorly to the famous old Rosedown plantation home in West Feliciana, with tall wide windows and doorways, with other attractive features found at that inviting old place. But in this house the hall is much larger and wider. The interior is well arranged and with wide galleries and a spacious garden in which the family entertained. From its earliest days this home has been the scene of many splendid entertainments. But none was more beautiful relates a lady who was present, than the reception given there to introduce the lovely daughter of President and Mrs. Jefferson Davis to New Orleans society. It will ever stand out as an event in the social life of our city.
President Davis died here. The Payne-Fenner family, learning that the “Great Chieftain” was ill on his plantation, had him brought to their house in New Orleans so that the best medical attention that the city offered might be obtained. As he had pneumonia, he was placed in the room that had been occupied by young E. D. Fenner, now a prominent physician, instead of taking him upstairs to the “Davis room”, the front corner room overlooking First and and Camp Streets. In this ground-floor hall room, a large lovely room located on the left side of the wide hallway as you enter, directly opposite the spacious dining-room overlooking the beautiful garden surrounded by his family and devoted friends, he breathed his last. This stately old house of so many memories, both joyous and sad, has again become the home of a prominent Louisiana family, the Forsythe family.
The “Spring Fiesta” brings hundreds of sightseers, when it is thrown open to the public, to view the various rooms containing a priceless collection of antiques and heirlooms. On other days many visit the spot where they carefully read the marble marker, admire the exterior of the house and lovely garden, and perchance pinch a twig of some shrub as a relic of the house where the “Great Confederate” died.
The Daughters of the Confederacy have placed on the outer side of the lawn, edging the sidewalk, a white marble marker which states that President Jefferson Davis died here. This home is a shrine to the memory of the “Great Confederate Leader”. The garden grounds about the mansion are beautiful most of the year with a variety of blooming plants and vines that fill the air
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with fragrance, and the perfume of the Confederate Jasmine wafted towards one seemingly recalls the memory of the “Lost Cause”.
JACOB UPSHER PAYNE
Jacob Upsher Payne, a member of a patrician family of Kentucky was bom in that state, and at an early date evidenced marked ability to deal with matters usually alloted to men of mature years. At the date of which I write the position of High Sheriff was more of an honorary one than a moneyed one, and was purchasable, provided the applicant possessed a good reputation, had physical strength and a pleasing appearance. Evidently young Payne possessed these attributes, for we learn that this attractive, athletic-looking young gentleman was appointed to the position of High Sheriff shortly after he had passed his sixteenth year, a position he held with credit for some time. He later went to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where Mr. Payne engaged in the business of supplying the planters of this section with implements and general plantation necessities. His ability as an executive soon marked him as an outstanding man in this community. It was not long before he had associated himself with such men as Sear- gent Prentiss of Natchez and public-spirited citizens of Vicksburg as a vigilence committee to exterminate the gamblers that had almost taken over the town of Vicksburg. They were driving away the decent element, so rough had the place become. Vicksburg, the center of a wealthy cotton-plantation country, was naturally a magnet which drew the sporting crowd by the thousands. The relentless manner in which Mr. Payne and his associates got behind them soon freed the city of these undesirables, and restored its good name. A bachelor, and living above his place of business, much the same way as families in the French Quarter in New Orleans have always done, Mr. Payne’s apartments became the meeting place for the members of this vigilence committee during their campaign of cleaning out the gambling element.
Later Mr. Payne became a cotton factor and removed to New Orleans, where his firm was known as Payne , Harrison & Co., later to become Payne , Hunter & Co ., and still later J. U. Payne Co. Mr. Payne remained a bachelor until he was about forty years of age, when meeting the charming Mrs. Caroline Downs
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Haynes, a widow of grace and distinction, he lost his heart completely to her. Their daughter became the wife of the distinguished Confederate soldier, judge, and associate justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable Charles E. Fenner of New Orleans.
CAPTAIN CHARLES E. FENNER
Captain Charles E. Fenner, distinguished in the annals of the Confederacy as commander of a famous Louisiana battery, and since the war eminent as a jurist, was bom in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1834. His family moved to New Orleans in 1840. He was' given a thorough education at the Western Military institute in Kentucky, and at the University of Virginia, and in 1855 was graduated in law at New Orleans, where he started practicing ^ April 15th, 1861 he entered the Confederate service as first lieutenant of the Louisiana Guards, which became a company of Dreux’s battalion, and soon afterwards he was made captain. In this capacity he served at Pensacola and in the Virginia Peninsula until April, 1862, when the battalion was disbanded at the expiration of his twelve months’ enlistment. He then organized a company of light artillery from members of the battalion, completing the organization at Jackson, Miss., when he was elected captain.
This battery with the Fourth Regiment and Thirtieth Battalion, Louisiana troops was attached to the brigade of General S. B. Maxey, first stationed at Baton Rouge, and afterwards a part of Gen. W. W. Boring’s division of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s nrmy in Mississippi. Capt. Fenner took part in the campaign for the relief of Vicksburg and the fighting between Johnston’s army and Sherman at Jackson, Miss. In the fall of 1863 the battery joined the Army of Tennessee at Dalton, Ga. Capt. Fenner and his men distinguished themselves in the campaigns which followed, including the siege of Atlanta, and in the Tennessee campaign, winning special renown by their gallant fighting in the rear-guard actions covering the retreat from Nashville. In this campaign Captain Fenner commanded the artillery battalion with which the battery had been associated since joining the Army of Tennessee. The last service of the gallant captain and his men was the defense of Mobile in the spring of 1865, and after the evacuation of that last seaport of the Confederacy, they surrendered with the troops of Gen. Richard Taylor at Meridian, Miss.
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Captain Fenner returned to New Orleans and resumed the practice of law, to which he gave his attention until his death. He was a member of the first legislature after the war. In 1880 he was appointed an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana frdm which he resigned in 1894, after a continuous service of fourteen years. During the era following the Civil War when the negro element became so abusive to the whites and the Crescent regiment of volunteers in old state militia was organized by the White League, Judge Fenner was made Colonel. Judge Fenner was the organ of the Supreme Court of Louisiana which rendered the decision against the Louisiana State Lottery.
FENNER FAMILY
Charles E. Fenner was descended from distinguished Revolutionary ancestry, three of whom were officers in War of Independence. Dr. Richard Fenner, one of these officers, and grandfather of Charles E. Fenner of New Orleans, left a brilliant record as soldier and jurist. After the cessation of hostilities Dr. Richard Fenner was one of the founders of the Society of Cincinatti, George Washington being its first president, the society composed of officers who served in that war. Dr. Richard Fenner, who was born in North Carolina, was the father of six sons, five of whom following in their father’s footsteps became physicians, one of them Erasmus D. Fenner, became the father of Judge Charles E. Fenner, who was bora in Wake County, North Carolina. Dr. Erasmus D. Fenner was graduated from the Medical Department of the Kentucky University, and located in Clinton, Mississippi, at that time the center of a rich cotton country, where lived many wealthy planters. Here he practiced medicine for a number of years removing to New Orleans in the year 1840. Unusually brilliant, it was not long before he became one of the leading medical men of this state. In conjunction with Dr. H. Hester of New Orleans he founded the New Orleans Medical Journal, both being pioneers in medical journalism. Dr. Fenner was ceaseless in his efforts to aid this community with his medical knowledge and that of the other medical men of the state and was one of the leading organizers of the New Orleans School of Medicine of which he occupied the chair as dean for many years. Active in civic and social affairs of the city of his adoption. He married
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Anne America Callier of patrician lineage. Their son, Charles E., becoming in after-years a distinguished soldier and jurist, was born at Jackson, Tenn., on February 14th, 1834, and came with his parents to New Orleans in 1840.
Chapter XXXVII.
CANE RIVER SECTION.
MARCO PLANTATION HOME.
r|’HE old plantation house that was known ns Marco and which was located in the vicinity of the old John Abrahams Plantation home on Cane river, was one of the most artistic of all the “Early Louisiana type” plantation houses in the entire state. It was originally built for Nicola Gracia, a Spaniard of wealth and culture, which accounted for the beautiful architectural lines and the elegant style and finish of its wood-work and masonry. It is an architectural tragedy that the old mansion was not restored, for it had many beautiful architectural features not to be found in any of the old plantation homes of its type.
Nicolas Gracia and his family had called the place “Home Place”, and its name was changed to “Marco” when it was purchased by his nephew Marco Givanovich in 1863 for the sum of $325,000.00. In this sale was included everything on the plantation — lands on both sides of Cane River, the house and other improvements, all of the slaves on the plantation, livestock, etc., including the furnishings which were very fine.
Marco Givanovich, a bachelor not nearly the cultivated gentleman that his uncle had been, led a free rollicking life, with the result that many in the vicinity, claimed to be his descendants. However, he conducted his plantation as a going concern until his death which occurred in 1896, his will showing that Marco Givanovich had left his entire estate to a nephew in Austria. This nephew dying in 1926 left the estate to seven children living in
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Austria who sold it in 1929 (with complications) which prevented a complete sale. Finally the matter was settled, and the old house demolished by the new purchaser who did not care to spend the required amount to restore the old place.
The estate was managed by the law firm of B. B. Breazeale, for the last twenty years, and had been under the supervision of the Breazeale firm all told for nearly forty years. Mr. Phanor Breazeale having much to do with its management.
The will of Marco Givanovich was probated Feb. 24th, 1896. W. Hyams, clerk (at Natchitoches, La.), No. 22918. Book 94, Page 52. Dated Feb. 24th, 1896. Last Will and Testament. The statements of those who claimed descent from old Marco, seemed to have fallen on barren soil, for nothing definite has materialized to have confirmed the truth to any of the claims. The records of the courthouse being a confirmation of the true history of the interesting old house.
The Marco house was of the high-basement type plantation home, with very wide central hallways on both floors, the one on the ground floor being paved with brick, making a porte-cochere, similar to the ones in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
It was a splendidly constructed old house, with large rooms and French windows with transoms and shutters, with a typical outside stairway on the right as one faced the building. Doorways opened on to the wide gallery in front, and both sides of the wide central hallways, upstairs and down. Unusually large fan windows fitted both of these central arcades. Below the transom bar of the second story in the door frame were fitted very wide glazed doors, which opened into the rooms. Latticed blinds opened against the outside walls.
On the ground floor the glazed doors were replaced by a pair of heavy panelled doors which closed the space, and folded inward against the hall walls. In the rear the customary pigeonnaires of the square type flanked either end of the massive old brick house, from either side of which extended outward picket pailings. The house although in a neglected state, was extremely attractive and held great allure for those interested in good architecture of an earlier date.
To reach the old place when it was still standing, was a rather difficult task, and only a light car could have ventured in safety, as it was located far down Cane River at a distance from the
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highway, and in rainy weather the trip was not without danger.
Fortunately much of the woodwork has been saved, preserved and placed where the memory of its pleasing old lines can be recalled. Unfortunately the South has made no attempt to retain in public parks such architectural examples, as Philadelphia has been doing for years, making Fairmont Park of that city a rival to Williamsburg, Virginia. Hardly a month passes but some of these relics of our state's early plantation history is demolished.
MAGNOLIA PLANTATION (HERZOG)
Cane River .
Leaving Melrose Plantation and following the gravel road South, we soon pass an old plantation now occupied by colored folks. Its present condition is deplorable, and soon will, like the artistic old Marco plantation, with the architecture of which it has much in common, it will be but a memory. Restored, it would make quite an attractive plantation home.
A little further on we come to the plantation home of the Herzog family, MAGNOLIA, so named for the magnificent grove of magnolia trees, which with century-old oaks form one of the finest plantation-home settings in the entire South. The fine old mansion, so attractive and comfortable looking, typical of a wealthy planter's home of an earlier date, was rebuilt along simpler lines.
Sharing the fate of fifty other plantation homes, all the great houses with one exception between Opelousas and Natchitoches, Magnolia plantation manor was burned to the ground during the Civil War. The Herzogs, a plantation family of prominence from early days, own the old plantation now in ruins and at present occupied by negro field hands. In ante-bellum days the family was an immensely wealthy one. It is still among the largest land owners in the state.
The Magnolia plantation home that replaced the one burned by the Union soldiers is a splendidly built structure of brick, which, painted grey, appears serene in its gorgeous setting. The approach to the house through the avenue of splendid old trees is impressive and terminates at the stairs which climb above the high basement to the deep gallery, a most inviting spot for lounging. A wide central hall with large rooms on either side allows
Old Plantation Home of G. L. Fuselier de la Clair, Baldwin, La.
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fresh air to sweep through the house and affords privacy to the rooms. High ceilings and large windows add to the general comfort. Appropriately furnished to harmonize with its beautiful setting it suggests in a vivid manner country life on an old plantation as it was in the long ago.
Near by is the Chopin Place, in ante-bellum days the McAlpin plantation about which hot and heavy discussion has taken place, many contending that it was McAlpin that served as model for the despicable character of Simon Legree in the story of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” However, the Louisiana Historical Society has destroyed that myth. The plantation in the story is differently located, and as for McAlpin’s being Simon Legree, it is a case of mistaken identity. Those who knew McAlpin state that he was an inoffensive old man, who would be horrified now to learn that he is said to be the prototype of such a character as some of the people in the vicinity of his old home would have one believe.
YUCCA PLANTATION Cane River.
Now Known as Melrose Plantation.
As we continue northward towards Natchitoches, we reach Yucca Plantation. The old plantation store and post office face the highway. Adjoining is a very attractive country garden of no distinctive plan, but with many blooming plants, shrubs and trees. There are splotches of color in all rainbow hues everywhere, for the garden is permitted to grow in riotous freedom with resultant bounteous bloom throughout the year. This old garden is quite large, covering several acres. Winding pathways thread themselves in and out among the various masses of blooming plants, reaching a brick walk that leads to the old plantation house.
The facade is quite attractive, and before the cone-shaped roof-octagons were added, which somehow do not blend with the architecture of the place, it must indeed have presented a pleasing picture, framed as it was by this old garden. Mrs. Cammie Henry states that they were added many years ago when more room was needed.
0f the “Early Louisiana Type” with high basement, the ground floor is now used as living quarters, and contains a num-
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ber of attractive as well as serviceable rooms. Brick floors and seven-foot wooden mantels of good design are in the study or library which is fitted with built-in book-cases and shelves. The other rooms are equally well modelled in woodwork of the proper period. Mahogany furniture of correct date, bric-a-brac and pictures all go to make harmonious rooms. The quite spacious dining-room with sideboard, serving table, center table and chairs — all of mahogany and simply designed — make a most inviting room. It is well ventilated and lighted, having doors opening on to wide verandas front and rear. An ell, joining the house on the rear on the right as you enter, contains store-room, pantry and kitchen, with other rooms above.
In the rear grounds are a number of interesting old buildings. In one a Southern writer of note has his workshop where he is free from noises and distractions. A cow-bell hung into the framework of the gate warns the writer of the arrival of some one. His den is pleasing, with reference books on tiers of shelves and a few paintings on the walls, having historical as well as artistic value. An attractive French gilt clock and other ornaments, and appropriate furniture complete this most attractive retreat. The building is partly brick and partly timber to reinforce the brick wall, all originally coated with stucco. Its generally antiquated appearance and the fact that it was a slave hospital in ante-bellum days makes it quite intriguing.
There is another quite different building, its real history still an unsettled question. In its architectural make-up it is similar to the huts of San Domingo negroes, only on the Island the roofs are constructed of palm leaves instead of shingles as we find here. Another old building Mrs. Henry moved to the plantation, and she used it as her weaving room. Still another building serves as a retreat for another writer who lives here the greater part of his time.
Yucca, or Melrose as it is now called, was built originally for Louis Metoyer who had come from San Domingo to open up a large plantation in the Natchitoches section on Cane River. As a planter he succeeded beyond his greatest hopes, but old residents of the vicinity will tell you that his first home was an adobe, hut, a small house with but one room, built for most part by his own hands. Others will tell you he was rich when he came to the Natchitoches Country, and had many slaves. Anyway, as
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historians contend that Natchitoches is the earliest settlement in the state, it is a locality full of contradictions, so we will not pry too deeply into planter Metoyer’s private financial affairs. We do know, however, from authentic hearsay that he built this first little house previous to the year 1820, and at that time laid out the plantation today owned by Mrs. Cammie Henry.
Later after prospering, he employed a builder to erect for him the house we see today, without the additions. In its construction it is like the houses of the “Early Louisiana Type”. The basement floor is of brick with walls two feet in thickness, while the second floor is brick entre poteaux covered with weather boards to protect the soft brick. The house is a pioneer-type home, with numerous heavy hand-hewn timbers of choice cypress, hand-made hardware, and slave-made bricks. It is anything but a pretentious house, yet it is quite charming, both without and within. It has the usual row of brick pillars, square in shape, below the wide gallery which rests on them and which support the collonettes with square bases, which in turn support the roof. Plain balustrades enclose the gallery. The roof is high pitched and is pierced by dormers, two in front and two in the rear. The details of these dormers are quite similar to the ones on the old Delord Sarpy Plantation House in New Orleans. Architecturally correct and very attractive, these dormers have carefully planned pilasters and arched windows without shutters, while those of the old Sarpy house have columns. The open space below the wide spreading porch, and the simple-line stairway reaching upward to the porch above forms a charming picture, framed as it is by luxuriant greenery.
Louis Metoyer lived royally in this house with all the elegant equipment that he and his wife deemed becoming to their means. He had hundreds of field hands, and a dozen house servants. Like the country gentlemen of San Domingo from whence Metoyer had come, the Cure dined at his home each Sunday and on holidays. He was generous to a fault, and aided all who flocked to the locality attracted by the stories of his prosperity. He gave to the Isle of Breville on the opposite side of the river the Church that we find there today, and his wife donated the vestments. He was also very kind to his own family. Each had a personal slave- servant as well as generous allowances. The families that lived on “The joyous Coast” as they called this area, enjoyed life
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thoroughly and the Metoyer family were leaders. With few exceptions, the people of the locality looked upon him as an adviser and a friend.
Metoyer’s fortune at one time was estimated at between one- half and three-quarters of a million dollars, a great fortune at that time. A number of reasons are given as the cause for the loss of his fortune, one is that he stood responsible for a friend's debt. But that seems hardly possible. What seems more plausible is the reason advanced for his failure by a distant relative: Some years previous to the Civil War when there was so much talk of freeing the slaves, Louis Metoyer realized that such a step would mean ruination to the South. He also figured that should there be war, the South would be impoverished for a long time. So for years he converted his securities into gold coins, that he carefully secreted, as he did not put much faith in banks. Someone — just who it was has never been determined — learned where he had hidden his strong box with his wealth of gold coin, and when the chance came stole the strong box with all Metoyer’s money. Always in the hope that he would be able to get back at least a part of his fortune, he did not report the theft to the authorities. “Misfortune never travels alone” and when a supposed friend failed to repay the money loaned him, Louis Metoyer was forced to sell his home and broad acres at public auction.
The plantation was purchased by the wealthy planter, Hippo- lite Herzog, already the owner of many plantations in Louisiana. Mr. Herzog managed the plantation successfully until the Civil War wiped away a great part of his large fortune, compelling him to dispose of this as well as other plantations he had owned in Louisiana. However, during all these years of ups and downs of the various owners, the land was not allowed to lie fallow or the plantation house to fall into ruin.
Mrs. Cammie Henry is a serious student on all subjects pertaining to the history of Louisiana, Old Louisiana and especially its plantations and plantation life. She has one of the finest collections of material on this subject to be found anywhere. Her library is also one of the best in the State.
Her son, Mr. Henry, an able planter, manages the plantation which is a thriving concern. Another son, Stephen, has just been made a Brigadier General.
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BERMUDA
Ancient Plantation Home of the Prudhomme Family On the Banks of Cane River — “La Cote Joyeu$eff.
Bermuda, unpretentious and lovely in its old age, is a splendid example of a plantation house of a wealthy planter of early Louisiana. It is a house that was not changed when the wealth that poured into the state after 1830 tempting many to alter or rebuild on a grander scale. Favorably located, high and overlooking Cane River, this old plantation home is the abode of an ancient line, for the Prudhommes have been prominent in this part of the state from the time of their coming. Related to many families in the vicinity and other Creole families directly or indirectly, many bearing the name live in New Orleans as well as in the Natchitoches area.
This old plantation home was built in 1821 for an ancestor of those who dwell here now. The plantation land grant dates from 1787, and since occupied by the Prudhommes, has never changed hands or ceased to operate as a plantation. It has the appearance of having been prosperous for a long time and this tallies with the history of the place. The Prudhommes and other prominent Creole families living in this section named the banks of the then Red River, “La Cote Joyeuse” (The Joyous Coast). It was a happy community living in contentment and luxury, all greatly interested in each other and their doings, giving outsiders little thought.
Bermuda is of the early Louisiana high-basement type of plantation home and covers a large area. Wide galleries encircle the house and furnish entrances to the many rooms. The house is planned for convenience and comfort and protection. The wide spreading roof, which reaches beyond the narrow facing, is supported by the many graceful swelling collonettes which surround the building. The usual simple, square brick pillars and balustrade and a number of attractive dormers make the facade charming, and the wide massively-constructed brick steps reach upward to the wide galleries within the picket enclosure and completes the alluring picture. Placed as it is in the protection of a monster oak that seems to mother the house, it forms a charming scene.
The rooms with high ceilings, most of them quite large, with
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their old mahogany furniture unfold a century of good living, substantial and sane. On the walls hang ancestral portraits painted in Europe in 1821, while the family was sojourning there, waiting for the house to be completed. At that time, as was the usual procedure, clothing, furniture, jewelry, etc., were purchased along with the wines of ancient vintages. Miniatures, daguerreotypes and silhouettes of the family and quaint bits of bric-a-brac, fill the numerous rooms.
A fragrant breath of sweet olive and Confederate jasmine float in as one listens to stories of pre-Civil-War days, told by older members of the family. One is told how the Yankees — some of Gen. Banks’ men — tried to decoy Mr. Prudhomme away from the house so that they could bum the place after having ransacked it for gold and valuables. Having heard that an immense chest of gold had been hidden in the old Metoyer plantation home, they got the houses confused and searched instead the Prudhomme house. Suddenly Mr. Prudhomme, realizing that they were planning to bum his house, grabbed his shot gun and defied any of them to enter the place. Seeing that Mr. Prudhomme meant business, they left for the next plantation.
The real charm of Bermuda is that its original architecture has not been disturbed, or changed with one exception. With no more slaves to do the work, Mr. Prudhomme had the building that joins the original house on the left in the rear erected. So carefully was this addition made, following the declaration of peace, that unless one were told, one would suppose it to be a part of the original building. It is a large kitchen, a typical plantation kitchen, built on the ante-bellum plan and equipped according to the standards of 1865.
Joining the wide rear porch, there is a large pantry and store-room, built at the time the kitchen was. Near by is a large outside chimney and fireplace, that in earlier days heated the office of Madame Prudhomme, to which, as was customary on well-regulated plantations, each morning the house-slaves reported to receive their orders for the day. A wall of the office was lined with book-cases and cabinets, in which were kept the household files and recipe books for the many varieties of preserves, condiments, wines and cordials made on the plantation. Judging from the quantities of aged and yellowed formulas, the women of each generation of the Prudhommes faithfully kept for their
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daughters all the recipes that had been carefully saved for the mothers, adding others from time to time. The banquet room (dining-room) is one of the largest and finest in this area of the “Joyous Coast”, where life appears in ante-bellum days to have been one of continuous social activity. The room is attractively designed for the purpose it was to be put to, with an immense fan transom above an arrangement of French glazed doors, which separated it from the salle or parlor — almost continuously open for the feasts prepared for the throng of guests that ceaselessly visited here. In the rear wall of this banquet chamber other large glazed doors folded back into the room. With the wide covered gallery beyond and the garden in view, it made a most attractive place to dine. A very large mahogany dining-room table fills the center of the room, and originally a set of twenty- four fiddle-back chairs stood about. The number of chairs have dwindled, with the passing years, as members of the family have married, and have taken their quota of family belongings to their own newly made homes. The large sideboard is also of mahogany with its array of goblets, glasses and decanters, carafes and other belongings, all bright and gleaming in the strong sunlight as of yore. In one comer once stood a magnificent grandfathers clock, with its massive case, bright and beautiful, by whose splendid dial the old gentleman of the painting with the cotton boll set his watch. Never in all these years has this masterpiece of the clock makers' art been allowed to run down. It is now a treasured heirloom belonging to a descendant of the owner of the “House of Prudhomme”, now living not far away, only the old plantation store separating them. This home, too, has its quota of antique treasures, originally from the old manor house.
Against another wall of the dining-room is a fine old mahogany secretary with desk combined, cupboard and bookcase above. Here we find rare editions of French books, all having bindings of tooled leather. Below in the cupboard section are record books, folios, receipts, and old pre-war account books. There are old diaries, books and pamphlets and slips with various notations pertaining to matters of the plantation, all time stained and yellow, many fragrant with bits of rose-mary crumbling with age, placed there by some sentimental ancestress of a century ago. Among the articles the writer noted was a copy of the Prudhomme coat- of-arms.
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The century-old punka-fan, swaying from the ceiling in the dining-room, which Nino (the little black slave) pulled back and forth with a cord while the quality folks dined. These little black dining-room attendants were the precursor of our present day electric fans and cooling systems. The “Salle” or parlor, another large room equally as spacious as the dining-room, opened on the wide front gallery. In this room above the wide mantel of good design, hangs a large French mirror in a wide gold leaf frame as bright and as fresh as it appeared when placed there a century ago. What joy and sorrow has it not reflected? Six generations of Prudhqmmes have been born in this old home, and it looks like it could easily weather another century. A tall mahogany book-case occupies the right wall panel as you face the great fan-transomed doorway. Above the book-case hangs an oil portrait of Emmanuel Prudhomme, painted in Paris, France, in the year 1821, picturing him with a cotton boll in his hand. Mr. Prudhomme was very proud of the fact that he was the first one to successfully grow cotton in the Natchitoches area. In the book-cases are a number of fine books. On another shelf is a collection of bric-a-brac, amongst the things some quite attractive French figurines. A black marble clock with antique bronze ornament and companion pieces adorn the mantel shelf. Opposite Emmanuel Prudhomme’s portrait is one of his wife painted in Paris at the same time. Both are interesting as French primitives. Quaint mahogany chairs are scattered about the room, and the arm chairs seem to invite one to a comfortable seat. An old-fashioned upright piano is below the fine oil portrait of Mr. Ambrose Lacompte, owner of the celebrated race horse, and for whom the town of Lacompte was named. Mr. Lacompte had initiative as well as wealth for it was he that built the Lacompte Hotel now the Nakatosh Hotel. Attractive old mahogany tables, what-nots, and other cabinets holding interesting odds and ends.
An immense portable lap-desk is filled with ancient family papers and documents, many fragrant old letters on which the faded writing stands forth like ancient engraving. About the room in various places are numerous old and interesting objects that accumulate in an old home during a century. Another life- size oil portrait of Mademoiselle Lise Metoyer hangs in the center wall panel. During the Civil War the Union soldiers drove their bayonets through the canvas, the rents still showing. In an in-
MRS. EMANUEL PRUDHOMME. Painted in Paris, 1821.
MR. EMANUEL PRUDHOMME. Painted in Paris, 1821.
PHANOR PRUDHOMME As he appeared on his Golden Wedding Anniversary.
MRS. PHANOR PRUDHOMME As she appeared on her Golden Wedding Anniversary.
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laid box are kept a number of treasured family papers, among them a bundle of old letters written by Lestant Prudhomme (a young man of fashion in 1850), which form chapters of Mr. Saxon's “Old Louisiana”.
The bedrooms of the house are many and large, and have the appropriate massive handsome furniture of the period. The bedsteads are of beautiful design, mostly four-posters ten feet in height, the posts ten inches in thickness, and the grain of the mahogany very beautiful. The bedroom sets are completed with handsome dressers, washstands and immense wardrobes. The wardrobe in the second bedroom, massive in proportion with heavy cornice and arcaded facade supported by heavy octagonal columns, forms an unusually beautiful piece of antique furniture. Each of these rooms in this interesting home has its quota of attractive pieces and representative of the Golden Era of plantation days at its best. These antiques appear as beautiful as they must have appeared when new.
The out-buildings are many in number. Among the most interesting is the old carpenter shop, where in slavery days a skilled slave mechanic (sometimes costing as much as three thousand dollars) spent many hours a day making by hand the fine woodwork used in the house, as well as linen presses and wardrobes used in the less important rooms. The brass knobs were purchased in Paris, but all of the iron-work, latches, bolts and hinges were made in the machine shop.
In the smoke house were prepared the hams that would make the mouth of a true Virginian water. Bacon was smoked with wood from chestnut trees to give it the proper flavor. Venison and other meats were as carefully prepared to make them fit for the banquets, dinners, etc. The many pigeonnaires furnished an ample supply of pigeons for pigeon pie, squab on toast, broiled and roasted squab formed part of the regular menu in olden days.
In the basement today we find a museum containing articles made by the slaves. It is a most interesting collection. Most of these articles were made a century ago in the old blacksmith shop which is still standing. Every household article that one can think of appears in this collection, from a primitive coffee pot to an iron horse-collar.
The cattle and poultry pens, horse stables were all well ven- tilated, and well planned for this plantation prided itself on its
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fine stock of all kinds. The quaint old flower beds are outlined with old bottles laid bottom side up, a design greatly used in rural France in the wine sections. These old bottles, in a way, are a record of the vintages used by this hospitable family, who entertained elaborately and frequently. All of the fine old vintages are represented. Cognac, rum, benedictine, the herbs and fruits for making cordials, cherry-bounce and peach brandy, fine dried fruits, and the various confections and delicacies for which plantations in olden days were famous were bought in France. They imported great quantities of fine clarets, sherry, sauterne, the sweet and dry wines, also quantities of sparkling wines, for the community of the “Joyous Coast” was forever celebrating some event, be it birth, christening, first communion, graduation, engagement or marriage. All that was needed for a banquet, party or dance was the excuse of the occasion.
Some day the history of this plantation and the many interesting personages of its gala days will be written by someone capable and with the time to go into full details. There is a world of valuable material awaiting the opportunity to be properly used. Bundles of old letters tied carefully with faded ribbons, old documents, old scrapbooks, faded photographs, daguerreotypes and miniatures, silhouettes, old sheet music and music books used by the “Belles of Joyous Coast” in the long ago, are there. Such a story will unquestionably become a best seller. These old inlaid treasure-boxes wherein have reposed these faded documents are veritable literary gold mines awaiting the miner who can dig out the ore and refine it into gold.
The stables of the plantation were once filled with blooded stock, horses for hunting, and horses for the carriages of which there were a large number. The harness and trappings were elaborate as well as practical, the special harness for state occasions, having costly mountings with initials and monograms. These outfits were a necessity in a household continuously on the go, for the period was one of endless entertainment. The carriages became a necessity as well as a luxury.
As this book goes to press, an invitation has come telling us of the reception of the Golden Wedding Anniversary to be held on Feb. 3, 1941 when Mr. and Mrs. P. Phanor Prudhomme will again, as in olden days, gather about them in the ancient planta-
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tion home where he was born, their many relatives and friends. It will be a happy gathering for the entertainments at this home have helped make local history.
TOWN OF NATCHITOCHES , LA.
When Anthony Crozat leased the Territory of Louisiana in the year 1712, he appointed Cadillac to take charge of the colony. In 1715 St. Denis was sent to the Natchitoches country by Governor Cadillac to establish a post to act as a barrier to the aggression of Spain, as well as to establish trade with the people of Mexico.
In the early part of 1715 St. Denis reached Natchitoches. Leaving shortly afterwards, he left a few of his men to establish a trading post there. This was the beginning of the town and it still retains the name of the original settlement “Natchitoches”, which proves it to be the oldest city in the state. This early settlement never became much more than a post until some families of French origin settled there.
The life of St. Denis is a rather romantic one. St. Denis was quite fastidious about his personal appearance and had an extensive wardrobe. He eventually married Donna Manuela de Sanchez, a grand daughter of Don Diego Ramon, commander of the presidio. The old records of the Court House of Natchitoches and of the Church of the Immaculate Conception help unravel the interesting events which occurred at this time. At the Courthouse is found an itemized statement of St. Denis’ account with the Company of the Indies, and his last will and testament dictated during his last illness and signed simply St. Denis. The yellow crumbly pages of the church French records list births, marriages and deaths of members of this family. They also testify to the popularity of St. Denis as a godfather for his name appears frequently, sometimes acting in that capacity for some friend’s child, sometimes for one of his slaves. He died at the age of sixty-eight in the year 1744, as expressed in the old writings “fortified by all the sacraments of the church”. He was buried by Father Barn- abe near the old church on the site now occupied by McClung Drug Company in Natchitoches. He lives through tradition in the hearts of all who have heard his colorful story. At number
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400 Front St. in the town of Natchitoches is a tablet placed there by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Soon after the settlement of Natchitoches in 1714, a small log church was built by the Catholics on this corner, on the very bank of the then Red River, just back of it was the little grave-yard. In this spot the body of the illustrious founder of Natchitoches, Louis Juche- reau de St. Denis, wis laid to rest in 1744.
In 1823 the little cemetery, the old log church burned down, and started a conflagration that consumed sixty-five houses. A semicircle was laid waste, with the grave-yard as a center. A second church was built nearly a block further back (Church of the Immaculate Conception) from the river. In time business interests encroached upon the site of both log church and cemetery, and the exact location of St. Denis’ grave was forgotten. In 1839 (95 years after the burial of St. Denis), a two-storied building was erected on the corner, but was destroyed by a second fire in 1881, the present building is the second on the site.
Natchitoches is without doubt the prettiest small town in the state of Louisiana. It is also one of the most interesting because of its history. It contained the town homes of prominent planter families and other notable characters of the day when the history of the town was in the making, the homes of those who created the “Joyous Coast”.
In the town of Natchitoches among the many places of interest is the Tauzin House with its sunken garden, built in 1776. Another is the Prudhomme building, 600 Front Street, built in 1853, which has much elaborate cast iron work on its ornamental balconies, and a splendid spiral stairway of cast iron in the rear. It rises from the court-yard for the old place is patterned after the Spanish houses of that day. The statue of The Good Darkie is a monument to the faithful slaves of pre-war times placed there by a citizen of Natchitoches. Sibley House boulder marks the site of the plantation home of St. Denis. At 319 Jefferson Street one finds the summer home, or old town house of the Serdot Prudhomme family. Nearby is the St. Amant home, residence of the aristocratic wealthy family of that name. Mr. Grimmer, who dedicated his waltzes to the “Belles of the Joyous Coast”, later lived in this house as well as did other important personages. A dozen or more historic old homes are to be found in the town, all containing interesting antiques and heirlooms of the families of that section. Many of these places are still in the hands of
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descendants of the original owners who proudly preserve them and keep up the ancient gardens.
Nearby the town is the site of the beautiful and romantic old town of “Grand Encore”. On the high bluffs are located the earth works used by the opposing Confederate and Federal forces that faced each other during General Banks’ Red River Campaign in 1864. They are still in a wonderful state of preservation, but now goats peacefully graze where men fought and died. This town is in that section reaching to Opelousas where under the Union General’s orders every plantation mansion of any size was put to the torch, leaving nothing but the tall brick chimneys to tell of their former grandeur.
Chapter XXXVIII.
IN RAPIDES PARISH.
EVERGREEN PLANTATION (Clara Compton Raymond)
Mrs. T. L. Raymond, in her recollections of Evergreen Plantation where she spent much of her early life has the following to say of Evergreen Plantation, and her family and friends:
Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase a new world was building in the newly acquired territory. From the original thirteen states Americanjs crowded into the new lands and hopes were high.
Family tradition says Horatio Sprigg had run away from his father’s home in Wheeling, W. Va., to join the navy. That he fought with Stephen Decatur and served on board the Constitution (Old Ironsides). In! about 1812 he was commissioned to bring three gunboats from Joliet, Ill., down the Mississippi River to New Orleans and was made Commander.
Louisiana must have seemed beautiful and alluring to him for he obtained permission to retire from the Navy, and went to Rapides. There he bought land and slaves and built a home, married and sent to West Virginia for his belongings, furniture, etc. It is unlikely that he had had experience in planting cotton, or marketing it. He could not have known but of the climate and yet in general he prospered; Horatio Sprigg died in 1847, leaving his widow to manage the plantation: — She is the grand-muzzie of the Recollections I am now to read to you.
THE OLD PLANTATION HOME
My earliest recollections are of sitting in a small chair on the side gallery at Evergreen, having my nurse Nummie brush my hair in rings, round and round a long curling stick. She would dampen
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the brush and smooth and smooth the hair around, then slipping out the stick, leave a stiff curl, like a sausage — a row all around my head; golden in color at that time, brown later in life, and now hard to believe, white, but still rebelliously curly.
In “Pierre Noziere,” Anatole France, tells of a boy that was himself, a shadow playing and walking before him, but of whom he knew all of his thoughts and feelings. So one may write of that little shade without conceit since it is just a far-away shadow — n?o more of the present than a figure of the imagination.
I recall one morning Nummie’s snatching me out of the chair, clasping me in her arms, and having been joined by some of the darkies, who were crying out excitedly, “De yankees is cornin’ she ran to the far corner of the yard, where we could see way over the broad cotton fields, the “Big” road, and the Fork, with its sign-post, pointing to the main highway. Breathless we climbed the fence to see a cloud of dust and many soldiers galloping on horseback, blue coats and shining guns glistening in the sunlight. Trembling, we watched.
They reached the Fork, halted. Would they come on towards us, or would they turn at the Fork? We could hear our hearts thumping with fear, and I clung to Nummie only half understanding what it all meant.
“Dere, dy done turned,” and away they thundered down the highway leaving a cloud of dust behind them — on to ‘‘Inglewood where “Mama” lived, six miles away, and where “Doc” and his three brothers were. Would they stop at Inglewood? Would my cousin Doc see them?
Another vision - 1 was playing on the floor at the long French
window in Grandmuzzie’s room. It was raining. I saw soldiers outside, sentinels, stalking in rain coats, thumping the ground here and there with the butt of their muskets. Searching for buried treasure? (Ed Hobbe, Grand muzzie’s most trusted servant had buried the family silver, except what we used at table, some place only known to himself, back of the garden, where he dug the hole in the dark of the moon, and dug it up again after the war, none the worst for its long interment).
A step — a soldier walked into the room. I hid under the bed. From this point of vantage I saw him look all round the room, and examine a little silver clock that was ticking away on the mantelpiece. He put it in his pocket and walked away.
Life at “Flowerton” in 1868-70.
The Reconstruction Period.
This period was a time of walking on red hot stones for those who had been through the War: But was hardly felt by the young ones whose joys in plantation life were thrilling and adventurous. The tragedy was for those brave men returning to devastated homes. War worn, lame and weary; shorn of all they had held dear. Disfranchised: Having to bear the insults of carpet baggers and politi-
376
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
clans, we seemed to be out of it. The women, the courageous women, everywhere, were busy reorganizing lives, building up new homes out of the wrecks. As time rolled on the fields of Flowerton began to blossom in acres and acres of sugar cane.
I remember once going with Mamma to pay a call on Gov. and Mrs. Moore, in a rather shabby carriage with mismated horses, along the road where she once drove in her Victoria behind spanking bays, holding her tiny little black lace parrasol, with the folding handle. We drove by the beautiful old avenue of oak trees, where three tall chimneys stood up stark and bare, all that was left of the Governor’s once lovely home; burned down during the war (by the Union soldiers). We found the Governor and his wife living in a negro cabin at the head of the quarters. I have never forgotten the stately old gentleman with snow white hair and beard, who welcomed us as if we were entering a palace instead of an unpainted negro cabin. Not a word of apology: (He had been Governor of Louisiana during the Civil War). The dogs hanging around the gallery were ordered off. There was something pathetic in his way of offering Mamma the common rocking chair, and in seating himself in a stiff raw-hide bottom chair. His eyes under the heavy projecting eyebrows looked strickened, his features carved into nobility by the tragic expression. Through the open door I could see his portrait, so out of place hanging on the whitewashed wall, and glimpses of lovely old cups and saucers shining on a home-made shelf: It all made an impression on me I’ve never forgotten. It is good to know that he lived to see better times and his grand children restored to comfort, in possession of their broad acres of land.
The writer of these memoirs of her youthful days on Evergreen Plantation is a daughter of a prominent Surgeon of Ante-Bellum days who was House-Surgeon of the Charity Hospital of New Orleans, La., in 1856, for Dr. T. W. Compton was a noted physician as well as prominent surgeon.
He served during the Mexican War, also as Major in the Civil War with the Confederate forces, his services on both occasions being distinguished. Dr. Compton was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and came to New Orleans as a youth, found a position and financed his own medical and surgical education, graduating 1847, became a successful practitioner, and became house surgeon of Charity Hospital in 1856. He retired from practice after the Civil War and became a planter, but resumed practice in Alexandria, La., in later years, and died in New Orleans in 1889.
It was very interesting to watch aunt Liddy make candles for home use in tin moulds, six to a side. With the cotton wicks threaded in and tied at each end on a cross bar or stick. She would pour the hot melted wax in each mould, and when cool enough she would cut out the lower wick end and very slowly draw on the cross stick, and out would come six shining candles (yellow) which were then hung
IN RAPIDES PARISH
377
up to harden. I recall the dining-room wall-paper at Evergreen; so unique, four large design medallions encircling views of Rome, picturing scenes of Roman ruins. The house was square, surrounded by galleries up and down stairs, twenty feet wide, seventy-five feet long in front. White fluted columns, six rooms down stairs and six rooms up stairs, besides dressing-rooms and library, with books from floor to ceiling, with a ladder to reach the upper shelves and cases of magazines. No public libraries in those days. Every planter had his own complete library. Books, silver, fine linens — were hobbies then. Upstairs my uncle Horatio had his billiard room, with walls hung with racing horse scenes.
You know of course that Grandmuzzie had two daughters, Frances and Clara. Frances (My mother) married Dr. T. W. Compton, a native of Baltimore, but then a young surgeon living in New Orleans. My old nurse took me on her lap once and said “Chile, you know why everybody loves you so much? It’s on account of your mother — everybody, white and black loves Miss Frances.” She married and went to New Orleans to live, they had a house on Royal Street. The following summer she came to Evergreen to be confined, and I was born in her beloved room with sweet jassemine bush near the window. She had puerpural fever and died when I was nine days old. This was a frightful blow to Grandmuzzie and Mamma (her mother’s sister), who adored her sister. Her dying words were: “Mother and Sister, I leave my little girl to both of you.” And so, out of the anguish of their sorrow, they lavished on me the love of two mothers.
The most beautiful tribute to the women of the South, which I think has ever been written, is that appearing on the monument erected:
TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN OF THE CONFEDERACY.
Erected by the Men of the State.
The Women were Steadfast and Unafraid.
They were:
Unchanged in their Devotion Unshaken in their Patriotism Unwearied in their Ministrations Uncomplaining in Sacrifices Splendid in Fortitude;
They Strove While they Wept.
In the Rebuilding after the Desolation:
Their Virtues stood as the Supreme Citadel,
With Strong Towers of Faith and Hope
Around which Civilization Rallied and Triumphed.
378 OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
Clara Compton Vance Raymond, bom at Evergreen Plantation, Rapides Parish, La., July 26th, 1857. Married to Dr. W. D. Vance in 1880; he died in 1881. Later married to Thomas L. Raymond (Civil Engineer) in 1889, and he died in 1901.
Children* — Frances Sprigg Raymond, married to W. Lyall Howell — two sons, W. Lyall, Jr., 19 years; Thomas Raymond Howell, 17 years; Mary Clara Raymond, at present executive of Social Agencies in New Orleans; a son, on staff of Los Angeles Eve Express, California, married to Elizabeth Douglas of West Feliciana — one child, Clara E. Raymond, 13 years.
* Mrs. P . L. Girault, sister of Mrs. C. V. Raymond, resides in Boston with her daughter, Mrs. R. W. Stratton. Her oldest daughter, also her only son and Mr. P. L. Girault died in Chicago.
Chapter XXXIX.
IN MADISON PARISH.
POINT CLEAR PLANTATION ,
Madison Parish, Louisiana .
fJTHOMAS PHARES KELL, son of a Mississippi plantation family, came from his parents’ plantation. Solitude, Miss., twenty five miles from Natchez, Miss., in the early 80*s as a young man, and settled in this part of the Louisiana country and bought Point Clear Plantation.
He married Miss Bessie Evans, daughter of David Mande- ville Evans a member of a prominent South Carolinian family, who was a planter and merchant of Bastrop, La., whom he met when she came to visit her uncle. Dr. William D. Kelley, in Madison Parish, La.
He became a member of the State Legislature where he served for many years and later was president of the Fifth Louisiana District Levee Board. In this position he fought the flood fights of 1912 and 1917, a tragic, losing battle, for a crevasse each time left the rich cotton lands of this section ravaged by overflow.
Mr. Kell cleared more land of its virgin timber and put more and more land into cotton. Point Clear was rather isolated from white neighbors and became a center of hospitality for travelers through that part of the country. No one ever arriving there at time for dinner or at night time was turned aside without food and lodging. The life there was feudal in its adherence to the old pattern of slave days on a cotton plantation.
During influenza epidemics the plantation owner visited his
380
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
sick negro tenants, administering medicine and nourishment because a doctor could not be had. His chief interest, aside from cotton, was in horses and he raised and kept fine saddle horses.
The old house in which all of his children were born was built in the ’40’s on a bluff overlooking Bayou Vidal and the intersection of another small bayou within three miles then of the Mississippi River. It sat back in a grove of live oaks and pin oaks with a side garden of such old-fashioned flowers as sweet- olives, crepe myrtle and quantities of violets, roses and bulbs. Marechal Niel and pink Killamey roses covered the side galleries to the roof.
The house was big and rambling, comfortable rather than elegant, with galleries supported by square wooden pillars around three sides, wide hall through the center and high-ceilinged white plastered rooms. It was two-storied with an attic in which Grant’s soldiers had scribbled their names on the walls.
Chief historic interest in the house was that Grant had camped there or used it for his headquarters on his march through East Carroll, Madison and Tensas parishes. He crossed the river in Tensas Parish to attack Vicksburg from the rear. He burnt almost every house in his path, leaving this and a few others as quarters for his men.
The old house burned and was replaced by a large two-story white columned house with galleries around the side. When the Mississippi River Commission engineers decided that a levee should be built through the site of the plantation house in the middle 1920’s the house was moved into a vacant pasture, the grove of oaks was cut down as were the fruit trees that filled a large orchard, and the flower garden was destroyed.
Point Clear is still owned and operated as a cotton producing plantation by the Kell family as is “Hermione”, a plantation inherited by the four Kell children from their uncle, Elett Kell, which is located in Madison Parish, also, three miles from Tallulah.
Mrs. Kell and her son, Mandeville Kell, live in Tallulah, La., the other members of the family consisting of Elizabeth Kell Perkins (Mrs. Logan Perkins) , Society Editor of the New Orleans
MRS. T. L. RAYMOND, (ne6 Miss Clara Compton.)
An oil painting of Mrs. Logan Perkins, who as the society editor of the New Orleans States writes under her maiden name of Elizabeth Kell. This painting by the New Orleans artist, Nell Pomeroy O’Brien, was exhibited in art shows over Texas and Louisiana.
A view from the side of the old Point Clear house which was General Grant’s headquarters during the War Between the States.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Phares Kell on horseback, across Bayou Vidal, with the house in the background. The type of private levee used in the early ’90’s when this picture was taken is shown. It was later cleared away when the great levee fortresses were built by the Federal government.
IN MADISON PARISH
381
States, her sister, Miss Cornelia Kell, reside in New Orleans, while another brother, Lancaster Kell, makes his home in Baton Rouge, La.
All of the above mentioned children of the Kell family were born and reared on Point Clear Plantation, Madison Parish, La., a plantation which they still own.
Mr. Logan Perkins, descends from the McCutchon, Butler, and d’Estrehan families, all notable plantation families of Louisiana, as well as from the Logan family of Virginia. His mother was Mary Logan, of New Orleans.
END OF VOLUME I
INDEX
INDEX TO VOLUME I
Acadians, 294.
Afton Villa plantation, 266.
Aime, Valcour — plantation — family, 171, 177.
Alma plantation, 299.
Almonaster, Don Andres, 52. Angelina plantation, 104. Andrews, John — plantation, 188, 193.
Arensbourg, von — plantation — family, 98, 103.
Armstrong & Koch, 181, 215, 218. Aristocrats of early Louisiana,
1, 2.
Art in Louisiana — in early days,
20.
Art project — Delgado Museum,
21.
Artist — in ante-bellum Louisiana, 19.
Artist — Association of New Orleans, 24.
Ashland plantation, 137.
Audubon, James J., 12.
Audubon Country — of Louisiana, 238.
Austerlitz plantation, 324. Asphodel plantation, 227.
Barrow — Evarest de, 289.
Barrow Dynasty, 265 Baton Rouge, La., 224.
Bayou Lafourche, 195.
Bayou Sara, 249.
Bayou St. John, 48.
Beauregard plantation, 59. Beechwood Cemetery, 245.
Bel Air plantation homfe, 79.
Bell collection, 236.
Belle Alliance plantation, 195.
Belle Chasse plantation, 163.
Belle Grove plantation, 187.
Belle Helene plantation, 138.
Bells — used for calling slaves 222.
Belmont — (Lebourgeois), 111. Belmont — (Wyley Barrow), 332. Benjamin, Judah P., 163. Bermuda plantation, 365. Bienvenu plantation (Kenilworth) — family, 66.
Bienville — naming family, 3. Bisland family, 214.
Black, Durel, 88.
Black Rebellion, 299.
Blanc plantation, 49.
Bocage plantation, 131.
Bowden plantation, 135.
Bowman — family, 262.
Bragg, General Braxton, 222. Brent, Mrs. Joseph Lancaster (Memoirs), 141.
Bringier Dynasty, 122.
Brou, Ralph, 170.
Bueno Ritero plantation, 59. Butler Dynasty — Louise — Historian, 276.
Butler — Edward — portrait collection, 280.
Campbell family, 333.
Cane River — (Cote Joyeuse), 363 Cantrell Celestine (Mrs. Hypolite Chretien), 343.
Cartwright power loom, 17.
Casa Solariega, 52.
Catalpa plantation, 283.
Cedars, the — Butler plantation, 280.
Centenary College, 227.
Chalaron family, 86.
Chapel of St. Catherine, 297. Chapin, Adel le Bourgeois, 113. Charles I. of England, 1.
Chase House — at Clinton, Louisiana, 227.
Chatsworth plantation, 156.
Chauvin family — plantation, 88.
Chretien plantation — family — Williams family — tombs, 342.
Churchill family, 197.
Civil War Days, 175.
Claiborne, Gov. W. C. C. of Louisiana, 50.
Class demarcation, 3.
Clinton — description of town, 225.
Colomb plantation — family, 122.
Concord plantation (de la Vergne), 71.
Concession plantation, 168.
Conseil plantation (de Villerd), 65.
Conrad — Jewels how saved from Union soldiers — family, 159.
Convent of the Sacred Heart, 110.
Cotton is King, 17.
Cotton — English clamoring for it, 18.
Cottage plantation (Butler), 276.
Cottage plantation (Conrad), 157.
Crawford family, 68.
Creoles, 4.
Darby — family — plantation, 213.
D’Arensbourg — family — Levie,
99, 103.
Daspit family 333.
Davis, Jefferson — family — death, 350.
de Beaujardier, 107.
de Bore’ — plantation — family, 82.
D’Estrehan plantation — family,
65.
de la Chaise plantation — family,
88.
de la Ronde plantation — family — Oak Avenue, 62.
de la Vergne plantation, 71.
de Livaudais plantation, 74.
de Lord-Sarpy plantation — House, 72.
de Marigny de Mandeville — plantation — family, 54.
de Montegut — plantation — family, 107.
Denis family, 326. de Roffignac, Count Philip, 107. de Trepagnier — plantation — family, 91, 98.
Dickinson — family, 328.
Duchamp plantation — family, 206. Ducros — plantation — family, 205. Dugue de Livaudais — plantation, 74.
Dorr, J. W., 37.
Ecke, Rev. Father, S. S. J., 297. Ellerslie plantation, 270.
Ellington plantation — (Witherspoon), 166.
Ellis — family, 222.
Elmwood plantation, 88.
Erwin family, 336.
Evangeline — country — story, 206. Evan Hall plantation, 188.
Fairfax plantation, 214.
Fire — in New Orleans 1788 — town rebuilt, 4.
Fluker family, 227.
Forstall plantation — family, 184. Fortier plantation — family, 168. French Revolution, 2.
Furnishings of plantation homes, 5.
Fusilier, de la Claire — plantation — family, 348.
Franklin — town of, 209.
Garden District, 75.
Garden Pilgrimages and Plantation Tours, 9.
Gaillard, Isaac, 326.
Garconnieres, 201.
Gay family, 338.
Gayar re’, Charles — Historian — family, 4, 81.
German Coast — early settlers, 91. Girault, Mrs. P. L. — family, record, 378.
Givanovich, Marco, 358.
Golden Era of the South, 6. Grand Coteau, 347.
Gray plantation — Home, 218.
Greek revival — type of plantation homes, 4.
Greenwood plantation (Barrow), 272.
Greenwood plantation (Edward Butlers), 280.
Hall, Weeks, 215 Hermitage plantation, 131.
Henry, Mrs. Cammie — Historian 361.
Hewes, Thos. — family, 325. Hickory Hill plantation, 229. Home Place plantation, 184. Hunting, 234.
Hutson, Ethel, 20, 24.
Indians — near Live Oak plantation, 328.
Indigo — early Louisiana staple 83.
Jackson, Andrew, 276.
Jefferson College, 110.
Jefferson, Thomas, 135.
Jesuit plantation, 81.
Joyous Coast — (Cane River), 370. Kell, Thomas Phares — family, 379.
Keller plantation, 168.
Kenilworth plantation, 66.
Kenner, Duncan, 137.
King, Grace — Historian, 3.
Knox, Mr., 31.
Koch and Armstrong, 215, 181. Labatut — plantation — family, 289. Lafrenier plantation, 88. Lavillebeuvre, 185.
Lakeside plantation, 292.
Law, John (Mississippi Bubble),
2.
Le Bourgeois, 105, 111.
LeJeunne plantation — family,
292.
Life, American Forty Years of, 39.
Lin wood plantation, 152.
Live Oak plantation, 328.
Locke Breaux plantation, 326. Locust Ridge plantation Highlands, 265.
Louis XIV. o’f France, 2.
Louisiana — earliest settling of,
2.
Maginnis, Mr. Geo. H. — record of the Hermitage, 135.
Magnolia plantation (Ellis) (Shaffer), 222.
Magnolia plantation (Herzog), 360.
Maidwood plantation — (Pugh), 197.
Mallard, Prudence — fine furniture, 6.
Marble House, 197.
Marco plantation, 358.
Marriages (as a rule at the end of the Civil War), 19.
Maryland Tablet, 294.
Mary plantation, 212.
Mays family, 328.
Melrose plantation, 361.
Mercy Hospital, 74.
Metoyer family, 363.
Minor family, 152.
Mississippi River — plantation along coast of, 36.
Mizaine plantation — Old Romance, 96.
Molinary, Andres (FloField notes) grave, 26.
Monroe family, 77.
Museum, Delgado Art Project, 21.
McCall — 'plantation, 187.
McCutcheon, 91.
Natchitoches — early history of, 371.
Negroes — faithful slaves, 30, 31, 106, 177.
Negroes — Slave Rebellion, 299.
New Iberia — The Shadows, 215.
New Orleans — great fire of 1788,
4.
Nottaway plantation, 192.
Oak Alley (Beau Sejour) plantation, 177.
Oak Grove plantation — (Butler) collection, 260.
Oak Lawn — plantation — Museum, 209.
Oakley — plan tation — p ortrait collection, 238.
Old Guard, 14.
Opera — French — Paris and New Orleans, 55.
Orleans — Duke of — entertained, 55.
Ormond — Duke of (see Butler), 91.
Ormond plantation, 91.
Oscar, La., 312.
Owen family, 192.
Parlange plantation — family — tomb robbery, 301.
Parker, Walter — family — home, 53.
Payne-Fenner — plantation — families, 352.
Percy, 272.
Perkins — Logan family, 379.
Philippe, Louis, 40.
Pipes 'family, 221.
Pirrie — Eliza, 239.
Plantations and homes destroyed by Union troops, 16.
Plantation Homes — what one funds on tours, 10.
Plantation — entertaining (Louise Butler, Historian), 8.
Plantation Homes in New Orleans, 72.
Pleasant View plantation, 325.
Point Clear plantation (Kell), 379.
Porter, Alexander, 209.
Poydras plantation — Julian Poydras, 299.
Preston, General William, 118.
Prudhomme family, 365.
Pugh family, 197.
Randall, James Ryder, 294.
Randolph, John Hampden, 192.
Ranson plantation, 167.
Raymond Clara Compton,374.
Reconstruction, 13.
Red-Church, 103.
Red River — (Cane River), 359.
Rienzi plantation, 202.
River Lake plantation, 326.
Roffignac, Count Philip, 108.
Roman, Alexander — Governor of Louisiana — plantation, 185.
Roman, Jacques Telesphore — plantation — family, 180.
Rosalie plantation — Natchez, Miss., 70.
Rosedown plantation — garden, 260.
Rougon, Col. Henry — family, 324.
Sarpy-Delor plantation — house,
72.
Saulet plantation home (Mercy Hospital), 74.
Schertz, Mrs. Helen Pitkin, 51.
Schertz Villa (Old Spanish Customhouse), 49.
Scott plantation (The Shades), 232.
Seebold plantation, 312.
Semmes, Thomas J., 30.
Seven Oaks — plantation, 165.
Shady Grove plantation, 332.
Shaffer family, 223.
Signorette — fine furniture — rare wines, 4.
Sobral family, 183.
Social Order — new, 13.
Soniat duFossat 'family, 74.
Southdown plantation, 221.
Sparks family, 333.
Spring Fiestas — Plantation Tours, 333.
Stauffer — Home, 42.
Steamboats, 16.
Stewart, Andrew — family, 179.
St. Francisville, La. — destruction by Union troops, 249.
St. Denis, 371.
St. Geme plantation — family, 40.
St. Joseph — plantation, 171.
St. Louis plantation, 336.
St. Martinville — Colony of noble refugees, 207.
Stone — family home in Clinton, La., 226.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher — Setting of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” 361.
Sugar — cane replaces indigo, 308.
Taylor, Zachary, 126.
Ternant, de — family — Marquis — Marquise — plantation, 300.
Tezcuco plantation, 125.
Theatre — the first in Louisiana, 8.
The Shades plantation, 232.
The Shadows plantation, 215.
Three Oaks plantation, 58.
Trepangnier, de — plantation, 92, 97.
Trinity plantation, 333.
Trist, Hore Browse, 135.
Tureaud, 124.
Turnbull, 262.
Town House of Bringier family, 130.
Turnbull, “Eliza the beautiful,” 262.
Tutors, private, 6.
Twain, Mark (Samuel Clements), 315.
Union Histories, 18.
Union plantation, 123.
Versailles plantation — Avenue of Oaks, 62.
Versailles, Little — plantation, 171.
Waguespack plantation, 107.
Ware family, 187.
Washington relics, 162.
Waverly plantation, 258.
Welham plantation, 103.
Westfeldt, Kate Monroe (Mrs. Gustaf, Jr.) The Ganglionics and Art Association, 25.
West Indies refugees, 4.
White Hall plantation — (Maison Blanche), 127.
White Hall plantation — de la Barre), 86.
Witherspoon, 166.
Woodlawn plantation, 199.
Wurtele, Allan, 296.
Yucca plantation, 361.
Younge, Lilita Lever — (Poem),
29.
FIRST TOUR, EAST BANK OF THE MISSISSIPPI NOTE
A tour of the old plantations in and around New Orleans will prove most interesting . Only the sites remain of some of the plantations but their histories are important and this warrants their being included . Even the spot on which a famous old house once stood is hallowed ground .
(Obtain State Road Map)
Leaving New Orleans and taking the River Road leading North one continues for a short distance — the first old plantation you come to is that of the de la Barre family now given over as a school for mentally weak children.
The second plantation home we come to a short distance further North is the Elmwood plantation; the house recently rebuilt as a home for the Durel Black family. If one desires to visit the house they should phone the family first.
The next old plantation Home is that of the Soniat du Fossat family, now remodelled into the Colonial Country Club.
The next Plantation of note is D’Estrehan, which at present belongs to an oil company. It is an old plantation home well worth visiting and is listed among the places that one can obtain permission to visit.
A short distance north is the location of “Red Church” no longer standing.
Ormond is the next plantation house along the route now in a partly ruined condition..
The area that is given over to the Spillway makes the road that passes the old Trepagnier plantation house in ruins impassable, so one turns to the right on the connecting road leading to the Highway known as the new Baton Rouge Highway, to again turn on the connecting road to the left leading to the River Road, at the end of the Spillway. Reaching the river road and turning North — shortly we note the old plantation home of the de Montegut family now the home of a number of tenant families.
Reserve plantation, then looms into sight, a busy place most of the year. Welham plantation house, close to the river road is a pleasing relic of Old Plantation Days in good repair, but all of the front land has gone into the river.
Mount Airy Manor, the old home of the Joseph Louis Le- Bourgeois family is in good repair — and as much of its garden ground is still intact — is well worth the trip to see.
Belmont — a magnificent plantation home of the “Golden Era,” no longer standing, was located a short distance further North.
We are now approaching the College of St. Michael in what is known as St. Michaelstown. No longer an educational institution it has become an institution connected with U. S. Government work, the College Buildings and chapel a retreat for business men who desire a mental rest.
Further on we come to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, now an institution connected with U. S. Project Work.
The next place of interest is the old site of the Constancia Plantation group of buildings demolished last year when it was found that the levee line had to be changed.
The attractive old plantation home of the Colombe family greets us next. — It too stands close to the roadside.
Further on is the site of White Hall Plantation Manor, old home built for Marius Pons Bringier.
Further on we come to the settlement of Union, named for Union Plantation, the Home of a member of the Bringier Family, and a wedding gift of Marius Pons Bringier.
Ahead we come to a great grove of oaks in which is located the lovely old home “Tezcuco” seat of the Bringier Family who still occupy the home and conduct the plantation.
Further on lies Burnside Plantation and its beautiful plantation home one of the finest in the state, open only on special occasions.
Another Colomb plantation Home lies a little further North in its garden grounds.
Beyond — located far back in the grounds among oak trees we find the Hermitage Plantation Manor, the old home of Michael Doradou Bringier and his beautiful wife who was the lovely Aglae DuBourg de Ste. Colombe. It is open to visitors if contact can be made before hand.
Close by is Bowden, the old plantation of the Trist Family. And then Bocage — a large two storied plantation home in a neglected state located far back from the River Road.
Ashland, or Belle Helene as it now known, stands like an ancient Greek temple in the midst of an oak grove — far back from the River Road, magnificently constructed and well worth visiting.
Lin wood, recently demolished, joins the plantation grounds of Ashland.
Further on the site of Chatsworth — a magnificent old plantation home that never was completed owing to the Civil War.
Beyond and about fifteen miles from the city of Baton Rouge lies “The Cottage,” the F. D. Conrad Plantation Mansion in good condition and open to the public — a magnificent type of the home of a wealthy ante-bellum Louisiana planter.
Next is the old Laurel plantation of the Ramsay family; and then we reach the old “Hope Estate,” the plantation of Colonel Philip Hickey, whose beautiful old plantation mansion forms the frontispiece of Vol. II. The ancient plantation home no longer standing, was considered one of the finest of the early Louisiana type plantation homes erected in this state.
A guide book of the town of Baton Rouge will give all the important sights to be seen in this city, among which are several interesting old plantation homes.
Having visited the important points of Baton Rouge we now proceed to visit the plantations in the Feliciana area.
Leaving Baton Rouge on Highway 65 to within three miles of St. Francisville we find the gravel road on the right which leads to Oakley Plantation. Turning into this road we continue for about another three miles when we see the sign OAKLEY on the right. Here we turn into the narrow country road leading to Oakley Manor.
Returning on this road to the highway we continue on to St. Francisville, having seen the points of interest of this place we visit the plantation garden and home of the Thomas Butler family, then Rosedown garden and plantation home which are open to the public for a small fee, then continue on to Afton Villa, another plantation home and garden open to the public for a small fee. Waverley and its garden too are open to the public for the usual fee.
Near by are Greenwood, the Myrtles, the Cottage, and Beech-
wood cemetery where are found the graves of Eliza Pirrie and other notables.
In East Feliciana we find Locust Grove, Greenwood Manor, the old plantation home of the Percy family, also Ellerslie another Percy home. Wakefield plantation lies on the Woodville road beyond Afton Villa, and one can visit Jackson and Clinton, both interesting old-fashioned towns well worth seeing, having attractive ante-bellum houses.
Returning to St. Francisville by the way of Wilson, one can visit Asphodel plantation home, Hickory Hill plantation home, and the Shades plantation home of the Scott family, all interesting.
Returning to St. Francisville by way of Jackson one has the choice to cross the river to New Roads on a small ferry or to cross the New Mississippi River bridge which lies on a road midway between St. Francisville and Baton Rouge.
In the town of New Roads can be found the old Lejeune plantation home on the outskirts of the town. Returning and driving in the opposite direction a little beyond the edge of town one finds the marble tablet to James Ryder Randall and the Maryland Oak a short distance back from the road. Next point of interest is the plantation home of Allan Wurtele, its garden and the little chapel that he donated so that there may be divine services for the colored people of the section. Parlange Plantation and its beautiful park and garden, one of the most interesting old plantation homes in Louisiana, is open to the public for an admission fee, having a large collection of ante-bellum articles in its many rooms.
The Seebold plantation home is open to public on special occasions.
Austerlitz Plantation Manor, private; Pleasant View Plantation Home open to the public for an entrance fee; River Lake plantation Home, private, and Alma Plantation Home some distance away also private. All along False River are many early type plantation homes and beautiful oak trees.
The plantation homes in New Orleans can be visited with a local guide book to best advantage.
SECOND TOUR, WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
Leaving New Orleans on Highway 90 and crossing the Mississippi River Bridge you proceed to Allemans, continuing past Houma and Morgan City encountering small plantations en route — continue on to the town of Franklin near which is to be found the rebuilt old plantation home of Judge Alexander Porter, now a museum well worth visiting. -Oak Lawn”, rebuilt in a fire-proof manner preserves the original lines of the original splendid mansion. Then on to Baldwin where we find the old Fusilier plantation home — and further on we reach New Iberia where in the center of the town enclosed in its own spacious acreage surrounded by a high cane hedge is found “The Shadows”, one of the best preser ved and most pleasing of the old Louisiana plantation houses.
If one wishes to visit the beatiful estate of Mrs. Matilda Gray at Lake Charles (write for permission first) continue west at this point to Lake Charles; otherwise continue to Lafayette and then north on Highway 5 to Sunset and the Old Chretien plantation home at Chretien Point near Shuston will be found.
Retracing to the Highway, the old cemetery and other interesting points of Grand Coteau will be found to the right as one proceeds in the direction of the town of Opelousas, near which are located interesting plantation houses, among which is the plantation home of the Payne family located near the town of Washington.
At Lebeau, which joins Highway 71, continue on 71 to the town of Alexandria where you proceed on Highway 20 to Natchitoches. Visit the main points of the town then take a trip to the ante-bellum settlement of Grand Encore, returning to Natchitoches and cross Cane River and visit Bermuda Plantation, Magnolia Plantation (Herzog), Melrose Plantation, home of the Henry family.
Returning on Highway 20 at Alexandria change to Highway 71 and continue to Lebeau on to Kroth Springs, then going East to Livonia, where you change to Highway 65 on black top road to visit plantation homes of Bayou Maringouin, Rosedale, and Grosse Tete all well worth visiting — the homes in good condition and in-
The oak trees ..on* the ed** of the Bayou a™ ,„ite
Continuing on to Plaquemines — then on to Highway 34 where we pass Nottaway on Highway 168, also McCall plantation on our ay southeast to Donaldsonville. He we cross Bayou Lafourche
breached.116 Bay°U * ^ distanCe when Belle A,liance
Further on down the Bayou we come to Maidwood and Wood-
‘Snz SwT’ frrther 0n opposite the town of Thibodaux is p'antatl<f home, far beyond and still further on Ducros and Southdown plantations all well worth the trip.
Otherwise one can continue on to the West bank of the Mississippi River and visit the old Fortier plantation home near Hahn-
Oak' A^Wpri plantation and home, St. Joseph plantation home. Oak Alley Plantation near Vacherie.
Returning from Vacherie (Oak Alley) on Highway 30 to Luhng and continuing on this road to Westwego we find Seven Oaks Plantation, and further on Highway 31 is located Belle Chasse, Plantation home of Judah P. Benjamin.
Here we may drive to Algiers and cross by ferry to New Orleans and continue on to the plantation country of St. Bernard Parish visiting the ruin of the Old de la Ronde mansion, the Battle- field of Chalmette, the Renee Beauregard Plantation home, the Three Oaks plantation, and Kenilworth Plantation Home.
k'M O P R 8 T\
t r w ^^lyg'-aia
Of the early type Louisiana Plantation Home of the wealthy planter (no longer standing). See page 163, Vol II. Ancestral home of the family of Mrs. Lawrence Richard de Buys, Sr. (Courtesy of the de Buys family.)
OLD LOUISIANA PLANTATION HOMES
AND
FAMILY TREES
By
Herman de Bachelle Seebold, M. D. In Two Volumes — Vol. II.
PUBLISHED PRIVATELY
Copyright 1941
By Herman de Bachelld Seebold
Printed in United States of America Pelican Press, Inc. - New Orleans
CONTENTS
Chapter I.
THE LA FRENIER FAMILY .
Chapter II.
THE DE LIVAUDAIS FAMILY AND PLANTATON Chapter III.
FORSTALL DYNASTY . .
Chapter IV.
THE FORTIER FAMILY .
Chapter V.
DE LA VERGNE — DE ST. PAUL — ©E, FRENEUSE SCHMIDT — SEGHERS FAMILIES .
Chapter VI.
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES Chapter VII.
THE DE TERNANT — PARLANCE — DE RRIEppfi _
DTSERBIGNY — DE VEZIN FAMILIES .
Chapter VIII.
THE DE VERGES FAMILY .
Chapter IX.
THE BUTLER DYNASTY .
CHAPTE8 X.
PIPES FAMILY .
Chapter XI.
THE ELLIS FAMILY .
Chapter XII.
THE PERCY FAMILY .
Chapter XIII.
THE PLAUCHE> FAMILY .
Page ... 1
... 3
... 11
... 16
... 19
... 28
~ 37 - 46
.. 52
. 59
. 65 . 67
. 72
Chapter XIV.
Page
THE BARROW DYNASTY . — - 75
Chapter XV.
BRINGIER DYNASTY
THE BRINGIER-KENNER — DU BOURG — BRENT — TRIST — WOOD — STAUFFER FAMILIES. _ 83
Chapter XVI.
THE KNOX — SEMMES — WALMSLEY — RANLETT
FAMILIES . 104
Chapter XVII.
THE SMYTH — SULLY FAMILIES _ 114
Chapter XVIII.
THE DE MARIGNY — DE LA RONDE — ALMONASTER —
DE DREUX — VILLERE — BEAUREGARD —
LANAUX — RARESHIDE FAMILIES . 130
Chapter XIX.
THE ALSTON — PIRRIE — BOWMAN — MATTHEWS
FAMILIES . . . . - . 152
Chapter XX.
THE RATHBONE — DE BUYS — HICKY — DUGGAN —
DE MACARTY FAMILIES . 158
Chapter XXI.
VonPHUL — CADE — DU BROCCA — ALLAIN FAMILIES..174 Chapter XXII.
D’ESTREHAN DES TOURS — The DE LA BARRE {FAMILY 180
Chapter XXIII.
THE HEWES — GRYMES FAMILIES . 184
Chapter XXIV.
THE FROTSCHER — KOCH — MULLER — BRUCE
FAMILIES . . . 191
Chapter XXV.
THE BOEHM FAMILY
195
Chapter XXVI.
THE SEEBOLD — DE BACHELLE’ — DE VILBISS _ DE
- 'AULIEU DE MARCONNAY — KONZELMAN FAMILIES . 9na
Chapter XXVII.
THE WALTER PARKER FAMILY — THE PITKIN FAMILY _ _
Chapter XXVIII.
THE LEVERT — WARE — PRUDHOMME — WILKINSON _
STEWART FAMILIES — THE MYRTLES PLANTATION AND OAK GROVE PLANTATION _ ?
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Pages
Frontispiece — Hope Estate Plantation Home
Crest and coat-of-arms de la Vergne family . opposite 20
Crest and coat-of-arms de St. Paul family . “ 20
Crest and coat-of-arms de Freneuse de St. Aubin . “ 20
Entrance of Villa de la Vergne . between 20-21
Fountain at Villa de la Vergne . “ 20-21
Count Pierre de la Vergne . “ 20-21
New Orleans Home of the de la Vergne family . opposite 21
Count Charles de Bony de la Vergne . “ 24
Chateau de la Vergne, near St. Priest Ligouri Haute —
Vinn Limousin, France . between 24-25
Madame Henri Landry de Freneuse . “ 24-25
Garden of the de la Vergne home, New Orleans . “ 24-25
Hall of the de la Vergne, New Orleans home . “ 24-25
Charles Edward Schmidt, fro mminiature . “ 24-25
Mrs. Charles Edward Schmidt, nee Leda Hinks . “ 24-25
Mrs. Hugues Cage St. Paul, nee Leda Helene de la
Vergne . “ 24-25
Countess Chas. de Boni de la Vergne (Margurite
de la Vergne . “ 24-25
Interior of the de la Vergne New Orleans home . “ 24-25
Gustavus Schmidt, noted lawyer . “ 24-25
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Dugue de Livaudais . opposite 25
Farwell family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 28
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Allen Milliken . between 28-29
Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Farwell II . “ 28-29
Mrs. John James Blair . “ 28-29
John James Blair . “ 28-29
Martha Shannon Blair . “ 28-29
Charles A. Farwell I . “ 28-29
Mrs. Charles A. Farwell I, from ivory miniature _ opposite 29
Miss Nellie Farwell, from an ivory miniature - “ 29
William Blair . “ 29
Henry Dickinson Blair . “ 29
New Orleans home of Miss Nellie Farwell . “ 32
Charles A. Farwell III . .between 32-33
Pages
New Orleans home of Mr. and Mrs. Chas. A.
Farwell III . between 32-33
Mrs. F. Evans Farwell as Queen of Proteus.... “ 32-33
f; Evaif Farwe11 . ..".....opposite 33
New Orleans home of Mr. and Mrs. F. Evans Farwell “ 33
de Brierre crest and coat-of-arms . “ 35
Madame Avegno nee Melle. de Ternant _ between 36-37
Loading sugar cane . «« 3g_37
Judge Charles Parlange . « 36-37
Walter Charles Parlange, Sr . « 36-37
Walter Charles Parlange, Jr . « 36-37
Mrs. Walter Charles Parlange (Paule Brierre) . opposite 37
Mrs. A. A.. Poirson (Evelyn Humphries) . “ 37
The Marquis Claude Vincent de Ternant II . « 40
Crest and coat-of-arms of the de Cruzat family . “ 41
Coat-of-arms of the de Lino Chalmette family _ " 41
Antoine de Cruzat . *• 4^
Madeline Victoire Heloise de Lino de Chalmette. . « 41
Mrs. Pierre Paul de Verges (Madeline de Cruzat) . “ 48
de Poupart coat-of-arms . « 4g
Chateau Mont L’Evecque, near Paris, France . “ 48
Butler family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 49
Interior of the home of the Misses Butler,
New Orleans . « 49
Mrs. W. A. Fort, by Amand . “ 53
Judge Thomas Butler, by Thos. Sully . “ 56
James Butler, Second Duke of Ormond . “ 56
Adjutant Gen. Robert Butler . " 56
Randolph family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 57
Stewart family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 57
David W. Pipes in Confederate uniform . “ 60
Mrs. D. W. Pipes (Anna Key Fort) at time of
marriage . « gg
William Johnson Fort of Catalpa Plantation . between 60-61
David W. Pipes I . « 60-61
Mrs. David W. Pipes (at present) . “ 60-61
Beech Grove Plantation manor (D. W. Pipes I) . opposite 61
Mary Johnson, mother of Mrs. W. J. Fort . “ 64
Grace Episcopal Church, St. Francisville, La _ 44 64
Pages
Mrs. Walter Crawford (Sarah Pipes) . opposite 65
Gen. J. B. Plauche . “ 72
Mary Barrow, by Sir Thomas Sully . “ 73
Robert Hilliard Barrow II, by Sully . “ 73
Melpomene, city home of the Bringier family . “ 80
Marius Pons Bringier . “ 81
Mrs. Marius Pons Bringier (Marie Francois Durand) “ 81
Madame Michel Doradou Bringier . “ 88
Michel Doradou Bringier, by Amant . “ 88
Hon. Duncan F. Kenner . between 88-89
Madame Duncan F. Kenner (Guillemine Nanine
Bringier) . “ 88-89
Louise Elizabeth Aglae Du Bourg de Ste. Colombe.... “ 88-89
Augustin Dominicque Tureaud . “ 88-89
Mrs. Joseph Lancaster Brent (Rosella Kenner) . “ 88-89
General Jos. Lancaster Brent . “ 88-89
Tristford Devonshire, England . “ 88-89
Birdwood, Albemarle County, Virginia . “ 88-89
Don Estavan Minor . “ 88-89
Miss Mary Minor (Mrs. William Kenner) . “ 88-89
Concord Plantation manor . “ 88-89
“Ma Grande”, mammy in the Bringier family . “ 88-89
Col. Amadee Bringier, by Amans . “ 88-89
Du Bourg family home, New Orleans . “ 88-89
Margurite Amand de Vogluzan (Mrs. Pierre Du
Bourg) . “ 88-89
Madame Francois Charest de Lauzon . “ 88-89
Pierre Francois Du Bourg . “ 88-89
Madame Pierre Francois Du Bourg . “ 88-89
Richard Henry Lee . “ 88-89
Mrs. Ludwell Lee . “ 88-89
Ludwell Lee . “ 88-89
Mary Ann Lee . “ 88-89
Robert Blair Campbell . “ 88-89
Mrs. Francis Campbell, wife of Thos. Sloo I . “ 88-89
Thos. Sloo I . “ 88-89
Nanine Maria Brent, wife of Thos. Sloo II . “ 88-89
Thomas Sloo II . “ 88-89
Thomas Sloo III . “ 88-89
Louis Guillaume Valentine Du Bourg, Bishop of New Orleans ...
Pages
Hore Browse Trist, of Bird wood
Gen. Hore Browse Trist of Bowden Plantation Mane Elizabeth Rosella Bringier
Mary Wilhelmine Trist
— Detween 00-oy
. opposite 89
. “ 89
. “ 89
“ «Q
Major John Wood, bom 1770 Gen. Robert Crooke Wood, bom 1799
Ann M. Taylor _
Col. Robert Crooke Wood, C. S. A .
Seal ring, Taylor family
Knox family crest and coat-of-arms
. “ 97
“ ioa
Robert Miller Walmsley
Hon. Thos. J. Semmes
. “ 105
“ 1 AK
Mrs. David Cattrell, Jr., below portrait of Mrs. Semmes ....
T. J.
Mrs. S. P. Walmsley (Myra Eulalie Semmes)
...between 112-1 IS
Sylvester P. Walmsley I
Sylvester P. Walmsley II
Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley II
Mrs. Thos. J. Semmes
... “ 112-113
-- “ 112-113
- “ 112-113
Mrs. Albert Sidney Ranlett (Cora Semmes) Albert Sidney Ranlett II
. “ 120
« lOA
T. J. S. Ranlett . „
Mrs. Myra S. Curtis . .
David Low Ranlett
-UCl/YVCCU
Mrs. Cora Ranlett Thomson
Mrs. Eleanor Ranlett Kantzler
Adele Ranlett ..
- “ 120-121 120-121
T. J. S. Ranlett II .
1ZU-1Z1 “ i on i oi
Cora R. Blankenship
Albert Sidney Ranlett III
Cora Semmes Curtis
“ 120-121
“ 120-121
Theodora Ranlett . . „
Marie Ranlett .
Eleanor Torrence Thomson
Dr. John Smyth ....
. “ 121
** 1 0J
McMurtrie, crest and coat-of-arms
Wavertree Manor
. “ 124
between 124-125
Pages
Thomas Sully, Architect . between 124-125
Mrs. John Smyth (Jean Sully) . opposite 125
Greene family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 128
Katherine Parr . “ 128
Self portrait, Thomas Sully . . “ 128
Chester Sully, by Thos. Sully . “ 128
de la Ronde Crest and coat-of-arms . u 129
de Dreux family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 129
Baronne de Pontalba . “ 136
Baron Pontalba, Sr . “ 136
Baronne Celestin Pontalba . “ 136
Baron Celestin Pontalba . “ 136
The Duke of Orleans . « 137
Don Andres Almonaster . “ 137
Antoine Marie de Marigny _ “ 137
Bernard de Marigny . “ 137
Monogrammed lunette, Pontalba buildings . “ 144
Race of the R. E. Lee . “ 144
Plantation home . “ 145
Evergreen plantation . “ 145
de Villere family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 148
Mrs. Charles A. Larendon . between 148-149
Miss Laure Beauregard Larendon . “ 148-149
Beauregard monument . “ 148-149
Army of Tennessee monument . M 148-149
Mrs. John F. Coleman (Valentine Louise Lanaux) _ opposite 149
Charles Alfred Lanaux . “ 149
Rareshide family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 149
Poujaud de Juvisy crest and coat-of-arms . “ 149
de Buys family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 160
Forstall family crest and coat-of-arms . “ 160
Gaspard de Buys . “ 131
Henry A. Rathbone . . « 161
Mrs. Pierre Charles Forstall . “ 164
Mrs. Gaspard de Buys . “ 164
Mrs. Henry A. Rathbone . « 164
Mrs. Claude de Jan . « 164
Mrs. Laurence R. de Buys . . between 164-165
Dr. Laurence R. de Buys . “ 164-165
Mrs. Joseph H. Duggan
Miss Edith Duggan
Pages
. between 164-165
Lopez family crest
Donna Bettie Capomozza
Miss Langhorn ..
. opposite 165
William Eno de Buvs _ „
Miss Grace King . M lfei
James Mather, 1807 „
de Macarthy family crest and coat-of-arms
_ “ i fig
de Macarthy plantation home
Mammy Millie Turner
. “ 168
« 1 CO
von Phul family crest and coat-of-arms
. “ i ye
William von Phul
*t t rrrt
Mrs. William von Phul . «
Mrs. Robert Cade . „
Miss Lili Dubroca
William von Phul, Jr.
« lOJ
Madame U. S. Dufossat . . ,11
Dufossat home in Paris
Madame Dufossat and Anna Le Andre
Graves in Pere la Chaise Cemetery Paris
Mrs. Effie Cade Daniels
The Thomas H. Hewes family
Mrs. Richard Frotscher
----- “ 184-185
.... “ 184-185
.... “ 184-185
.... “ 184-185
Richard Frotscher . „ tit
Miss Lydia E. Frotscher
Miss Mary Frotscher ... « tZz
Julius Koch, Architect and Engineer
Richard Koch, Architect
- " 193
A corner of the Koch home. New Orleans « too
Beautiful ironwork on Koch home « Too
Crest and coat-of-arms of Boehm family quartered with that of the de Belasyse, Kirkland, and dAlmont families . „ _
Burgomaster August de Belasyse Boehm
Mrs. August de Belasyse Boehm (Magdalina K. d’Almont) ..
...between 196-197
The old von Dalberg castle near Maintz
Mrs. Francis P. Boehm I (Elizabeth D’Aunoy).
196-197 196-197 . opposite 197
Anna Maria Boehm (Mrs. Pancratious Swendle).
Mr. and Mrs. Francis P. Boehm II .
Memorial Tablet von Dalberg castle . .
John Charles Fremont .
Firemen’s Parade .
Lisette Boehm (Mrs. W. E. Seebold) .
Francis Joseph Boehm .
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Boehm I .
The old home of the Boehm family, New Orleans.
Dominicque Peter Boehm .
Philip Johnson .
Mantle and over mantle in bedroom Seebold home
New Orleans .
Crest and coat-of-arms Seebold von dem Brink family .
. opposite 197
. 44 200
. 44 201
.between 207-208
207- 208
. opposite 204
.between 204-205
204-205
. opposite 205
. 44 205
. 44 205
between 208-209
208- 209
Ancestral home of the Seebold family near Hanover....opposite 209
Burgomaster John William Seebold . 44 212
John Frederick William Seebold . 44 212
Countess Johanne Henriette de Bachelle . 44 212
Sophie Louise Julia Seebold . 44 212
Mrs. J. W. H. Seebold (Henriette de Bachelle
Munchmeyer) . between 212-213
Rev. J. W. Herman Seebold . 44 212-213
Mrs. W. E. Seebold (Lisette Boehm) . 44 212-213
W. E. Seebold, Art Dealer . 44 212-213
Andres Molinary . opposite 213
Mrs. Andres Molinary (Marie Madeleine Seebold) . 44 213
Drawing-room home of Dr. and Mrs. H. deB. Seebold.. 44 216
Drawing-room front view, Dr. and Mrs. H. deB.
Seebold . “ 217
Old home of William H. Kinney, Wichita, Kansas . 44 217
H. deB. Seebold M. D. . " 220
Crest and coat-of-arms of the MacPherson
family . between 220-221
Crest and coat-of-arms of the de Bachelle family 44 220-221
Mrs. John Donald MacPherson . 44 220-221
James MacPherson of Iverness, Scotland . 44 220-221
Mrs. Geo. O. MacPherson (Stella Lisette Seebold 44 220-221
Geo. Ossian MacPherson . “ 220-221
224-225
224-225
224-225
Mrs H. deB. Seebold (Nettie M. Kinney) . opposite^!
Hallway m home of Dr. and Hrs. H. deB. Seebold .. “ 221
Chateau Fleur-de-lys, Former New York home of Dr
and Mrs. H. deB. Seebold . « 224
Carved door, New Orleans home of the Seebolds....between 224-225
Mrs. Jack Kinney Moore (Noville Mock) . <<
Coat-of-arms of the de Vilbis (de Velbiss) family “
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Taylor family . “
Crest and coat-of-arms of the de Warteg-g family .
Minnie Hauk (Baronne de Wartegg)
Souvenir post card . . «
Baron and Baronne de Wartegg <<
Mrs William. Henry Kinney (Jennie Hauk) . “
William Henry Kinney . «
Mrs. John Hawkins Moore Jack Kinney Moore
Mrs. Gustave von Meyer .
Rev. Gustave von Meyer .
Mrs. F. W. Konzelman (Clara B. de Beaulieu de
Marconnay) .
Fred W. Konzelman . .
” 224-225
“ 224-225
“ 224-225
“ 224-225
“ 224-225
“ 224-225
opposite 225 225
“ 228 “ 228
228 228
Mary Baronne de Beaulieu de Marconnay. . between 228 *229
Entrance to the de Beaulieu de Marconnay home “ 228-229
Minnie Hauk as Carmen . « 228-229
Crest and coat-of-arms of the de Beaulieu de
Marconnay .
Chateau de Beaulieu de Marconnay near Poitou, France .
Ehse Antonia Seebold (wife of Baron C. de Beaulieu)
Baron Charles Philip de Beaulieu de Marconnay II .
Baron Charles P. de Beaulieu de Marconnay III .
Baronne Mary de Beaulieu de Marconnay III .
Baron Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay I .
Julie Baronne de Beaulieu de Marconnay I.
Albert Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay .
Baronne Albert de Beaulieu de Marconnay .
William Nichols . .
.opposite 229
229 “ 232
232 232 “ 232
“ 233
“ 233
“ 236
“ 236
“ 236
Carl Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay . opposite 236
Mary Elizabeth Baronne de Beaulieu de
Marconnay . between 236-237
William L. Hill . “ 236-237
Villa Velure . “ 236-237
Mrs. Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman . “ 236-237
Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman . “ 236-237
Albert de Beaulieu Konzelman . “ 236-237
Mrs. Albert de Beaulieu Konzelman . “ 236-237
Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman, Jr . opposite 237
Mrs. Marvin Clark . “ 237
Marvin Clark . “ 237
Mrs. Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman . “ 237
Mrs. Christian Schertz (Helen Pitkin) . “ 240
William Willings Wells . between 240-241
Cotton for England . “ 240-241
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Du Puy family . “ 240-241
Walter Parker . “ 240-241
Mrs. Walter Parker (Anita Hernandez) . opposite 241
Miss Ester Hernandez . “ 241
Andrew Stewart . “ 248
A bedroom at Oak Alley. Plantation . . “ 248
Mrs. Andrew Stewart . between 248-249
Mrs. Allard Kaufmann . “ 248-249
ILLUSTRATIONS FOR CHAPTER HEADINGS
Old Spanish water jars, Elmwood Plantation Pagf
Old iron sugar kettle, Fortier Plantation . ZZZ 16
Crest of the de la Vergne family iq
Crest of the Farwell family . ZZZZZZZZ . 28
Crested monogram from carriage fittings,' ^ Parlange family ' 37
An old plantation home of the de Verges familv ’
Crest of the Butler family . . 5°
Magnolias emblem of the Ellis plantation . . 65
Family tomb of the Plauches . ZZZZZ 72
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Barrow family . ZZZZ 74
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Bringier family . ZZZZ 83
Crest and coat-of-arm of the Du Bourg family . ZZZ 89
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Brent family . ZZZ"’ 93
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Trist family . 96
Carnival emblems . 105
Solid silver heirloom of the Ranfurley family . log
Artist emblems . .
A cotton picker . ^29
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Marquis de Marigny family _ 131
Many families came to the Felicianas in covered wagons _ 152
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Rathbone family . . igg
A cane sugar-cane cutter _ 163
Old Uncle Ned, a typical plantation hand . 170
Red Church from an old sketch . ZZZZ” 180
Front stairway of “Pleasant View Plantation Home’’ ZZZZ. 185
A plantation lantern . 196
Military emblems French Army . ^
Artist emblems . 208
Garden emblem . 212
Crest and coat-of-arms of the de Bachellc family _ 223
Crest and coat-of-arms of the Taylor family (Irish) _ 228
Crest of the de Beaulieu de Marconnay family _ 235
Bayou St. John from an old sketch _ 237
During sugar grinding season _ 242
Wild water hyacinth . 248
Chapter I.
THE LA FRENIER FAMILY
HONORABLE Charles Gayarre (Louisiana Historian) tells us that one Pierre Chauvin, whose birthplace was Aryoa, France, the son of Pierre Chauvin and Catherine Avard de Solesne married Marthe Autreuil and became the parents of: (1) Jacques Chauvin (de Charleville); (2) Joseph Chauvin (de Lery); (3) Nicolas Chauvin (de la Frenier); (4) Louis Chauvin (de Beaulieu; (5) Barbe Chauvin, who married Ignace Robert de Bellair; and (6) Michelle Chauvin, who married Jacques Nepveu.
Their father, who in 1654 had received a Canadian land grant, at their birth named them thusly; Nicolas Chauvin (de la Frenier) married Marguerite Le Seur and had among their children, a son Nicolas Chauvin (de la Frenier) who at the time of the transfer of the Louisiana colony to Spain, became one of the heroic figures m Louisiana history. He was put to death by the Spaniards, and he was one of the first martyrs to Liberty on the American Continent. Members of the Chauvin family married into the most aris- tocratic families in Louisiana.
The Soniat du Fossat Family
The first of the Soniat du Fossat family to come to Louisiana was Guy de Saunhac du Fossat, descended directly from the noble family of Soniat du Fossat, whose ancient Chateau du Fossat near
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
the junction of the Lot and Garonne Rivers, was taken possession of by Francois Saunhac de Belcastle (Saunhac de Belcastel) in 1538 and has been owned by the Saunhac du Fossat family to this day.
Chevalier Guy de Soniat du Fossat came to New Orleans as a young lieutenant in 1751 with the troops sent by King Louis XV in answer to Marquis de Vaudreuil’s appeal for five thousand soldiers. Shortly afterwards, he married Mademoiselle Fran- coise Claudine Dreux, the beautiful daughter of Mathurin Dreux, Sieur de Gentilly of the Ancient house of Dreux, former Sovereign Due de Bretagne.
The Dreux lands on Bayou St. Jean were classed as princely holdings on account of their value and nearness to New Orleans. Guy Soniat Dufossat was an Alcalde, and in 1778 when he had again returned to civil life, purchased a large plantation tract of land below what later became the Faubourg Marigny, exchanging it in 1805 with the Marquis de Marigny for the planation above the city. The Soniat family later owned a number of plantations in Louisiana. The one in Jefferson Parish obtained from Bernard de Marigny in 1805 was within the area of the old Tchoupitoulas Indian Reservation and was named Tchoupitoulas. The record “Titles to the land known as the Jesuit Plantation” is priceless as an historical record, as well as a key to the rightful ownership of this tract was compiled by the late Charles Soniat who died in 1918.
Chevalier Guy Soniat du Fossat was born in the ancient family chateau in 1726, and in 1778 when he had retired from his governmental duties purchased a plantation from the Ursuline Nuns where he erected the ancient plantation home now occupied by the Colonial Country Club of New Orleans.
Chapter II.
DE LIVAUDAIS FAMILY AND PLANTATION
THE flrst de Livaudais to come to America was Jacques Esnould de Livaudais, Chevalier of St. Louis. He was a son of Jacques Esnould de Livaudais, a native of Saint Malo, and Marie Millette le Jaloux.
Jacques Esnould de Livaudais, when grown to manhood sailed with one Lavigne Voison as an apprenticed seaman, and displayed such marked ability during his apprenticeship that at the termination he secured a position with the Company of the Indies on one of its ships. A bom navigator and capable officer, his courage, bravery and general ability being brought to the attention of the Company’s directors in the year 1720 before he had reached his twenty-fifth year, he was appointed a First Lieutenant, with a salary of two hundred livres a month on the “La Decouvertre”, one of the large vessels. On his return to France further honors awaited him as “une gratification” amounting to two thousand livres — which was a substantial acknowledgment of his value to the company which employed him
Year after year he continued his East Indian trips, and at the end of twelve years he was appointed to the post of Pilot of the Port of New Orleans, a great honor in the colony of that day.
The Royal Engineer, de la Tour, accompanied by his assistant Pauger, had already proved that a loaded vessel could be brought through the mouth of the Mississippi River to New Orleans.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
In 1734 Bienville, Governor of Louisiana, wrote the following letter to the Minister de la Marine in France : “We have had the honor, M. Salmon (the Commissary) and I to write to you in favor of M. de Livaudais, sent by the King of France to Louisiana as pilot. He should be made Captain of the Port”. According to Bienville de Livaudais was a nephew of Lavigne Voisin, a famous corsair of St. Malo. A short while afterwards de Livaudais was made Captain of the Ports of Louisiana — bordering on the Atlantic Coast and Gulf of Mexico.
This gallant seaman who time after time had proved his worth by bravery and sound judgment was again in 1760 called upon by Governor Kelerec — who had replaced Bienville — to make a voyage to Vera Cruz for a supply of powder badly needed in the colony at that time. Sailing on an armed transport the gallant de Livaudais left in March and was returning in September, having secured the wanted material, he realized that four British vessels were pursuing him. His vessel, the “Opal”, was able to hold a safe distance until the Balize was sighted. De Livaudais, determining not to be outwitted and lose his precious powder, took a desperate chance and slipped his vessel through the dangerous passes in the dark of night even though the water was shallow at the time.
Jacques Esnould de Livaudais, Chevalier of St. Louis, in 1733 married, in the City of Nouvelle Orleans, Marie Genevieve de la Source, who was a “daughter of an honorable family of Mobile”. From this marriage issued the numerous branches of the de Livaudais family in Louisiana. Their children were: 1st — Francois Esnould de Livaudais, who was born in 1736 and who married Pelogie de Vaugine. 2nd — Joseph Esnould Dugue de Livaudais who married Jeanne Fleurian de Morville.
The eldest son of Francois de Livaudais and Pelogie de Vaugine was Francois Esnould de Livaudais, who became the husband of Charlotte des Islets de Lery (Chauvin). City records show that this Francois Esnould de Livaudais and de Marigny were the two greatest land owners in the city at that date. The (Chauvin) de Lery holdings in the Tchoupitoulas area were quite extensive. The son of Francois Esnould de Livaudais and Charlotte des Islets de Lery (Chauvin), named Francois Esnould de Livaudais fils, married Celeste de Marigny, a daughter of the immensely wealthy Philippe de Marigny. The land holdings of this couple today, if
DE LIVAUDAIS FAMILY
5
they were still retained in the family, would be worth a fabulous price. According to descendants, the de Livaudais heirs disposed of their interest in this vast estate over three quarters of a century ago.
Henry C. Castellanos in his writings of old Louisiana “New Orleans as it Was” describes the old de Livaudais Plantation:
There was but one highway leading above the city along the river, and this was the Tchoupitoulas Road (The French Quarter was the New Orleans of that day). Along this road, commencing about DeLord St., the upper extremity of the Faubourg Saint Marie, (the American section, located between the old city and DeLord St.) and extending towards the magnificent de Livauadis plantation, was a succession of beautifully located villas and agricultural establishments. All along Tchoupitoulas St. there ran a low levee planted with willow trees, and during the season of high water, when the batture then forming was thoroughly immersed, the long Western keel boats and barges, as well as the unseemly flat boats, or char- lands, would make fast to these trees and discharge their cargoes After the receeding of the spring and summer floods, these flat boats, of enormous size construction and unfit for return voyage, would be left high and dry upon the batture front, and then to be broken up for fuel, and building purposes.
The strong side pieces or gunwales, were used in the suburbs as foot paths in lieu of our present brick paved sidewalks. Upon these wooden trails, as it were, pedestrians had to make their 'way towards the rural precincts through immense vacant spaces, for there were few buildings, on the way leading to the de Livaudais plantation, which constituted that portion of New Orleans which now forms the Fourth District. On the way to that wealthy estate, (The Livaudais plantation), the river was lined with a continuous series of delightful rural residences (plantations) surrounded with orange hedges, orchards, and well tended gardens. The great Macarty crevasse, in the spring of 1816, submerged the rear portion of the numerous plantations, for miles around. The de Livaudais estate was one of the heaviest sufferers from the calamity. This was a great misfortune for Mr. Francois de Livaudais, for the planting of a crop or several hogsheads of sugar, and the splendid residence (plantation mansion) commenced about that time, was never finished, affording until a few years ago the spectacle of an abandoned castle, that went afterwards by the name of “Haunted House” located near Washington St. The value of this plantation became greatly enhanced on account of its being raised several feet by the remaining deposit or alluvial settlement, of the Mississippi water. A company of speculators acquired by purchase a great part of this estate which is now the beautiful Garden District, and which took its rise from this very circumstance of the overflow.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Celeste de Marigny de Livaudais, after the death of Francois de Livaudais, gathered together what remained of her once princely fortune, left Louisiana to live in Paris, France, in which city she used her title of Marquise de Livaudais. Her father, Marquis Philip de Marigny, had entertained Louis Philippe and his two brothers as house guests for a long period, both at his plantation and also at his country home in Mandeville, La. At their departure he gave each of them money, to Louis Philippe a princely sum, M. de Livaudais having contributed freely to the fund. Louis Philippe, now King, did not fail to let social Paris know that the Marquise was a close and dear friend of the Royal Family, and her salon became a prominent social center in the French Capital. Here amid the luxuriant furnishing of her beautiful home she received with open arms her numerous relatives and friends from Louisiana, dispensing a hospitality in keeping with her social position, and in a style which in New Orleans the de Marigny’s and de Livaudais demanded.
Of Breton extraction Oliver Fsnould de Parme is the first of the family to appear in history — the jtear 1510, later Oliver Esnould, 1534 and again Francois Esnould in 1559 appear, but according to the family record of Dugay de Livaudais, in 1604 Briand Esnould lived at Saint Malo until 1695, when the continuous family history really begins.
Letters written by Louis Philippe, King of France to the Marquis Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville and to his Sister, Marie Celeste de Marigny de Mandeville, wife of Count Jacques Esnould de Livaudais.
Claremont August 10th., 1850.
My dear Bernard: —
I did not doubt of the faithfulness of your fond recollections and the constancy of all your good and old feelings for me, and I have received the expression with an intense pleasure. I thank you for the interest that you have felt of the news of the malady that I have just endured; my illness has been long and painful, but thanks to the Lord it has yielded to my strong constitution and to the good care of which I am surrounded.
Notwithstanding the slowness of my convalescence the state of my health is today very satisfying; it allows me to enjoy the presence of my family and of numerous friends who come successively with their comforting consolation as has your letter containing your cordial expressions which I felt very deeply
DE LIVAUDAIS FAMILY
7
My children are not leaving Europe; they will continue to live around me and the Queen, but if some of them should travel in America you must not doubt of the pleasure they will have in meeting you as I have myself more than half a century.
Depend my dear Bernard on my friendly feelings and of those of the Queen for you, for Madame de Marigny and for all of yours.
Your very affectionate,
Louis Philippe.
Letter written by Louis Philippe, King of France, to the Marquis Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville, now the possession of Count du Suau de la Croix, and certified by him as absolutely authentic, in proof thereof his signature is affixed.
Comte du Suau de la Croix.
The Marquis Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville was the only brother of Marie Celeste de Marigny de Mandeville who married Count Jacques Enoul de Livaudais.
Chateau d’Eu, September 5th., 1839.
My dear Marquis de Marigny: —
Since I am not sure that you will not have left Paris before I return I want at least to wish you a pleasant voyage and a happy return in your new country.
I hope that you will not forget your old country where I will always be charmed to see you again. Tell to your fellow-countrymen of Louisiana how much I have inquired about every one of the families that I have known and how I shall always remember the warni welcom© that I have received (more than forty years ago) is still very dear to me.
Good-bye my dear Bernard always rely on all my affection for you and for yours.
Remark:
Louis Philippe.
This was copied from a letter belonging to madame nee Anita Eustis, great granddaughter of Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville.
Comte du Suau de la Croix.
Paris, September 1st.,
81 Avenue Bosquet.
You desire, Madame, to have my autograph and I am charmed to offer it to you at the same time expressing the great pleasure at seeing you again and also to remind you of how charmed I was at the
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
privilege of dancing in New Orleans forty four years ago with the one that was so appropriately called la Perle (the pearl)
I wish you bon voyage, and I pray you Madam to always depend on my profound friendship for you.
Louis Philippe.
St. — Cloud.
Samedi 19 Novembre, 1842
Madame de Livaudais bora de Marigny.
The above is a copy of a letter belonging to and addressed to my great-grandmother de Livaudais born de Marigny de Mandeville.
Count du Suau de la Croix.
Paris, September 1st., 1921.
Madame de Livaudais,
I have received your letter written from Florence on the occasion of the marriage of my beloved daughter the Princess Clemantine. I am deeply concerned for your good wishes for her happiness and for the friendly sentiments that you express for me for the Queen and for my sister, may we say that the strong friendship that we have experienced for you for so many long years is most sincere and that it is a pleasure for me to personally remind you of our enduring amity.
Your affectionate,
Louis Philippe.
Neuilly May 23., 1843.
Copy of letter belonging and addressed to my great-grandmother de Livaudais, born Celeste de Marigny de Mandeville.
Count du Suau de la Croix.
Paris, September 1st., 1921.
81 Bosquet Avenue.
Copy of the announcement of the death and invitation to assist to the interment of Mr. Enguerrand Henri Frederic Emmanuel, Count du Suau de la Croix.
Passed away in Paris, 81 Bosquet Avenue, the 19th of March, 1914, in his 74th year, and of Mrs. Pauline Stephanie Enoul de Livaudais, Countess du Suau de la Croix, died in Paris, 55 Pierre Charron St., on the 26th of January, 1897, in her 83rd year.
You are invited to assist to the Funeral and at the interment of Madame Pauline Stephanie Enoul de Livaudais.
Comtesse du Suau de la Croix
deceased having received the last rites of the Church January 26th, 1897 at the age of 83 at her domicile 55 Pierre Charron
DE LIVAUDAIS FAMILY
9
which will take place Friday the 29th at precisely 10:30 at the Church of St Pierre de Chaillet, her parish.
De Profundis
On the part of du Comte Enguerrand du Suau de la Croix, du Baron de Brimont du Baron Dannery, du Vicomte Enguerrand du Suau de la Croix his sons, sons in law and grandsons.
The inhumation will take place in the cemetery of Father Lachaise.
Mile, de la Grandiere, Madame de la Grandiere, Prioress du Carmel de Blois, the Count de Kersanson de Pennandref, ancient Officer of the Legion of Honour and the Countess de Kersanson de Pennandref, the Viscountess de Kersanson de Pennandref and her children, Mrs. Fraval Coatparquet and her children, the Countess de Cellart de la Villeneuve, Mrs. Nouvel de la Fleche. The families de Carcaradet, de Beauvoir, de Breuilpont de Le- guera, de Rosmonduc, Fleuriot de Langle de Bremoy have the honour to impart to you the painful loss that has just befallen them in the person of
Mr. Enguerrand, Henri Frederic Emmanuel Count du Suau de la Croix
While living widower of Mrs. Montigny bom de Vincelles. Their father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother-in-law, uncle, granduncle, great-granduncle, first cousin, “oncle-a-la mode de Bretagne” (first cousin of one’s father or mother) second cousin, died at his domicile, 81 Bosquet Avenue, on the 19th of March, 1914, in his 74th year, having received the last rites of the Church. Pray for him.
Havana, January 7th. 1799
The continual delays of the Mississippi have prevented me to answer sooner to your letter of the 20th.
I have spent the greater part of the time in the country since the banks have started to swell, I went to see some new establishments that are being built towards the south of the coast. There are being constructed water mills that the refugees of St. Domingo have made known on that island, they are very well built and they have lavished for their construction the finest timbers from nature. The Country seems to me the most agreeable and the richest one can imagine. I know here a number of individuals who have started with very little means and who are today very rich. In seeing these re-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
suits I hare often thought your telling me of having had the temptation of settling on this Island; I think that if you had realized this project, you would have made an immense fortune but then you would not be among your people and in your country, and in reality you are already too rich to make such sacrifices. Of all the letters that you mention I have received only the one to which I am replying and which was handed me by Captain Maroteau of the Mississippi. The Captain will bring you my answer, and I regret infinitely my inability to accept your most amiable invitation to spend the Carnival with you. I assure you that I would not have to be urged very much if the circumstances permitted one to travel peacefully, but whether in Louisiana or elsewhere we hope of having the pleasure of seeing you again and we wish you to feel that it will be for us a real satisfaction.
We have heard with a great deal o’f sorrow of the loss you have suffered last summer and we hope you do not doubt how much concerned we are for whatsoever happens to you.
Adieu Sir will you kindly present our compliments to your amiable family and depend forever on our faithful friendship for you.
L. P. d’Orleans.
Copy duly certified as having been written by Philippe d’Orleans, Louis, King of France to Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Man- deville.
Count du Suau de la Croix.
Paris, Sept. 1st., 1921,
81 Bosquet Avenue.
Chapter III.
FORSTALL DYNASTY In Corda Inim Icorium Regis.
“Into the hearts of the King’s enemies”
gO reads the motto of this distinguished family.
Rufus (The Red) King of England, who succeeded William the conqueror, was shot through the heart by an enemy while he was hunting in the forest. The emblazonment of the three pheons (Argent) on the field (sable) — Silver arrowheads on a black background — tells of some service rendered his King by the forester when this tragedy occurred. Like many ancient families the record of the de Forestier, as the name was first written, is one of many notable achievements. In 1066 Guillaume le Forestier crossed the English Channel with William the Conqueror, and became the first ancestor of the English branch of the family. Larry or Laurence le Forestier, nicknamed “Strong-bow”, was a companion in arms of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, in the invasion of Ireland, in 1169. While the Forstalls at that date bore no titles, or displayed no armorial bearings, the family was of the gentry. Of ancient lineage, it was allied to distinguished families, owned vast land holdings and enjoyed the right through heredity to armorial bearings.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The Forstall family in Louisiana, according to the Irish Reg- gister in the office of the Ulster King of Arms, Dublin Castle, stem directly to Peter Forstall Esq., a direct descendant of Larry or Lawrence le Forestier (Entitled to bear the armorial device, “Three broad arrows argent, field sable.) His wife was Mary Aylward, daughter of the Esquire of Shankhill. They had several children, the oldest son being Edmond Forstall of Rinn Kilkenny, whose wife was Eleanor Butler of Dangan, stemming from the noble house of Ormond. One of their sons Edmond by name became a captain of Dragoons in the Army of Louis XIV, after entering the French military service. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Meade, Esq., of Ballyheale, Kilkenny. Of the several children, one of the sons, Nicholas Forstall, received his early training in Gurteen Castle in the year 1700. Becoming of age he removed to France, settling at Nantes and later went to Pierre on the Island of Martinique where he married Jane de Barry, a daughter of the King’s counsellor of St. Kits (Jean du Barry) .
The first Forstalls to come to Louisiana was a son of this couple, his name being Nicholas Michel Edmond Forstall who came from Martinique where he was born Sept. 21, 1727. He became commandante of the Opelousas Post, and about 1762 was married to Pelagie de la Chaise, daughter of Jacques de la Chaise and Margarite d’ Arensbourg, a grand daughter of the Chevalier Charles Frederick d’ Arensbourg. Issue of this marriage were seven children namely: (1) Edouard Pierre Charles Forstall b. Aug. 14th, 1768, who married Celeste de la Villebeuvre and became the father of six children.
(2) Elizabeth Louise Forstall, who became Madame J. B. Poeyfarre, leaving no issue.
(3) Edmond Forstall born July 16th, 1776, married Margarite Adelaide Josephine Melanie de Morant who was born June 6th, 1786 and died Feb. 1831. He died Jan. 18th, 1802; they left no children.
(4) Felix Martin Forstall, born Nov. 24th, 1780, married Marie Celeste Fabre d’Aunoy, and left four children.
(5) Louis Edouard Forstall, born Nov. 28th, 1802, died unmarried.
(6) Emerante Forstall, who married Jacques Montplasir Chau- vin de Lery, issue four children.
FORSTALL DYNASTY
13
(7) Melanie Forstall, died unmarried.
At the time Louisiana passed from France to Spain and Count O’Reilly became governor of the colony, he replaced the Superior Council of the French with the Cabildo which consisted of two regidors, six Alcaldes, an attorney-general and a clerk, over whose deliberations the governor presided.
The first regidors were chosen annually on the first day of the year, and, had by virtue of their offices the full power of judges in civil and criminal cases within the city’s jurisdiction. During the years from 1771 - 1774, 1801, and 1803 Nicholas Forstall was appointed as an alcalde.
(1) Edmond John Forstall, oldest child of the six children, born of the union of Edouard Pierre Charles Forstall and Celeste de la Villebeuvre, was born Nov. 7th, 1794, and married Clara Durel; became the father of four sons and five daughters.
(2) Francis Placide Forstall, born Sept. 30th, 1796, and married Delphine Lopez.
(3) Felix Jean Forstall, bom Nov. 24th, 1800, married Heloise De Jan.
(4) Louis Edward Forstall, born Nov. 25th, 1802, married Mathilde Plauche.
(5) Eliza Forstall, who married Delphine Villere.
(6) Belzire Forstall, married Z. Benjamin Canoge.
E. J. FORSTALL PLANTATION
The Forstall Platnation on the west bank of the Mississippi river, on Norman’s Chart of 1858 is shown under the name of E. J. Forstall, and is located three plantations above the immense plantation of Governor A. B. Roman.
Edmond Jean, the owner of the Forstall Plantation, was the son of Edward Pierre Charles, who married Celeste de Laville- beuvre, daughter of Chevalier de Garros. Edmond Jean Forstall married Clara Durel.
This is another great old Creole family, owning plantations and marrying into numerous aristocratic Louisiana families, forming a dynasty whose reign held sway both in the social as well as the business world for over sixty years, until wrecked by the Civil War. The Forstalls while not quite as prominent now still hold their social position as of yore.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Placide, another of the six children of Edouard Pierre Charles Forstall and Celeste de Lavillebeuvre — married Marie Borgia Delphine Lopez y Angulla de la Candelaria, a daughter of a Spanish Officer of high rank in the Spanish Service, named Don Ramon Lopez y Angullo, and his wife, the beautiful Delphine Macarty. Victor Forstall married Mademoiselle Fannie de Lavillebeuvre; their daughter, Eugenie Forstall, married Valerien Choppin, issue six sons and one daughter. The daughter, Adel Choppin married Robert G. Dugue and they had four children, all still living.
Ninette Dugue became Mrs. Walter G. Cleveland. Amelie Dugue became Mrs. J. Numa Roussel. Robert G. Dugue married Robin Brown of Nashville, Tenn. Maurice P. Dugue married Gladys McDade of Meridian, Miss.
The children of Henry Dugue and Celestine Dreux are: Natalie Dugue, who married Ramon de Gil Tabarado; Lucille Dugue, who married Lucian de Buys; Amelie Dugue, who married Forstall Choppin; Robert G. Dugue, who married Adel Choppin; Adolph Dugue, who married Alice Favre; Randall Dugue, who married Susan Glover.
Charles Edouard ForstalTs other children were: Felix Jean, who married Heloise de Jan; Louis Edouard, who married Ma- thilde Plauche, the daughter of General J. B. Plauche. Nine children blessed the union of Placide Forstall and Demoiselle Delphine Lopez. Anatole Forstall married Pauline Gelpi.
Celeste became the wife of Henry Alanson Rathbone; Emma married Emile deBuys; Pauline married Eugene Peychaud; Laure married Felix Ducros; Julia married Robert J. Taney — a grandson of the Chief Justice of the United States. Detzire married J. B. Canoge — and Delphine remained single.
The union of Mademoiselle Celeste Forstall and Henry Alason Rathbone united this distinguished Creole family with one of equal note of New England parentage. Henry Alason Rathbone being the son of Samuel Rathbone of Stonington, Connecticut, a descendant of Samuel Rathbone, who came to New Orleans shortly after the Battle of New Orleans and married into the then princely house of Forstall. At once the Rathbone mansion in Esplanade Avenue became a center of social activity as was the Forstall home in St. Louis Street. The family noted for its pulchritude, consisted of five beautiful daughters: Mademoiselle Emma, who married J. B. deLalande de Ferrier; Mademoiselle
FORSTALL DYNASTY
15
Pauline, who married Peter Labouisse; Mademoiselle Stella, who married Gaspard deBuys — whose sons are Rathbone deBuys, James Gaspard deBuys, Walter deBuys, and Dr. Laurence deBuys, all prominent; Mademoiselle Alice, who married William Phelps Eno of New York and Mademoiselle Rita, who married Edgar de Poincy.
Chapter IV.
THE FORTIER FAMILY
fjpHE distinguished Creole family of Fortier ranks high among the old colonial families of Louisiana. It has intermarried into prominent old Louisiana families. Many members bearing the name have won distinction in the various professions, in the army, church and in commercial pursuits.
Francois Fortier, a native of St. Malo, Brittany, had a son named Michel Fortier, who was born in 1725. Michel was the first Fortier to come to America. Shortly after arriving in 1740, he established himself as “armurier du roi” in New Orleans. He married the daughter of a distinguished Creole family, a Mademoiselle Perrine Langlois.
In his establishment he not only made arms for the soldiers of his majesty, but he also fitted himself out with weapons, for history tells us he accompanied Galvez in his campaign against the English and aided the Spanish Governor replace the Union Jack over the fort at Baton Rouge with the emblem of Spain. Michel Fortier held the rank of Colonel with the Spanish troops. Michel Fortier died in 1785. By his marriage with Mademoiselle Perrine Langlois he became the father of seven sons : Michel, Jr., Jacques, Honore, who was lost at sea; Norbert, Eugene, Adelard and Ludger Fortier. Michel, Jr., and his brother, Jacques, married two sisters, the Mademoiselles Durel. Mademoiselle Louise Fortier, his daughter, married Michel La Branch. Michel Fortier
THE FORTIER FAMILY
17
II, born in Louisiana in the year 1750, died Sept. 19th, 1819. He was the husband of. Mademoiselle Marie Rose Durel and became a wealthy merchant and ship owner. When the double transfer of Louisiana occurred in 1803, from Spain to France and France to the United States, he was appointed a member of the municipal by the French prefect, M. Laussat. He had two sons, Michel Fortier III,, and Edmond Fortier. His only daughter became the wife of Francois Aime, a prominent Louisiana planter, their son, Valcour Aime, becoming one of the richest planters in the state. In their palatial home they entertained on a scale of magnificence equal to that of the Kings of France. Valcour Aime had the Jefferson College put in perfect condition and endowed it with a princely sum when he presented it to the Marist Fathers of Convent, La. Edmond Fortier, the second son of Michel Fortier, was born in 1784, and died in 1849, became a prominent sugar planter. His oldest son named Edmond, married Mathilde LaBranch; three of their sons died during an epidemic of yellow fever in 1858. One son named Michel M. LaBranche Fortier resided in New Orleans.
After the death of Francois Aime, his widow married Ade- lard Fortier. Michel M. de Blanc Fortier married Mademoiselle Eugenie Garcia, issue three children, Francois Fortier, another son of Edmond Fortier, married Mathilde LaBranche, who died in 1885. He married Louise Augustin, a daughter of Donatien Augustin. Marie Micaela Fortier, a sister of Francois Fortier, married a brother of Louise Augustin, who was Judge Donatien Augustin, and were blessed with eighteen children. Among them were James M. Augustin and George Augustin, both noted writers and journalists, in their time; George Augustin being associated with the Orleans Parish Medical Society for many years.
Florent Fortier, second son of Edmond Fortier and Felicete LaBranch, and brother of Edmond, Jr., was born in St. Charles Parish, on his father’s plantation in 1811, and died in 1886. He married a daughter of Valcour Aime and established a plantation in St. James Parish, which later when fortunes were lost, sold the plantation and then resided in New Orleans with his son, Alcee. His son Louis Fortier, entered the Confederate Army at the age of 17, and died shortly after peace was declared. One daughter, Mademoiselle Natalie, became the wife of Neville
18 PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Leboeuf, Dr. Louis Leboeuf being their son. Amalie, another daughter, married Edward Boman.
Alcee Fortier was bom on the great plantation of his grandfather, Valcour Aime. No longer wealthy, the father saw that his children became well educated. Alcee Fortier began his college career at the university of Virginia, but owing to ill health, had to discontinue his studies. Later, with the aid of private tutors, he finished his education. He became an instructor and then principal of the preparatory department of the University of Louisiana. Always a diligent student, Alcee Fortier was later professor of French in the University, and when the University became the Tulane University, he was appointed professor of Bomance languages. He is classed as one of the three great historians of Louisiana. He died Feb. 14th, 1914. He married Mademoislle Lanauze, a daughter of a prominent French New Orleans Merchant; issue four sons and one daughter, Martemmyiio Jeanne Fortier, who married Paul Cox; Edward Jos. Fortier married Miss Tricou. (He became a professor at Columbia University, New York City. He died 1918); James Joseph Alcee Fortier, bom July 15th, 1890, married Mademoiselle Marie Bose Gelpi, became a New Orleans Attorney, and president of the Continental Bank; Gilbert Fortier, a New Orleans business man.
de la Vergne
ARMS — D’or a la Rose de gueule — surmounted by a Count’s helmet and a Coronet . Motto — “Houneur et Valliance ”.
Chapter V.
DE LA VERGNE — DE ST. PAUL — DE FRENEUSE SCHMIDT — SEGHERS FAMILIES
de la VERGNE .
^HE cradle of the de la Vergne family is the Chateau de la Vergne at St. Priest Ligoure, Haute Vienne-Limousin, France. The grounds of this estate have been in the de la Vergne family since the year 1200.
The first de la Vergne to come to New Orleans was Count Pierre de la Vergne — Chevalier de St. Louis, born at Brive la Gaillarde, France — son of Seigneur Jean de la Vergne and Mar- garete de Billeran de Jan. He came to New Orleans in 1767 and married Elisabeth du Vergier.
Their son, Hugues Jules de la Vergne — born in 1792, died in 1843 — was Major on the Staff of General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He was Secretary of State in 1820, and President of Consolidated Association of Planters of Louisiana. He married Marie Adele Villere — daughter of Major General Jacques Phillipe de Villere — second Governor of Louisiana. To this union was born in 1818 Jules de la Vergne, who died in 1887. He was active in public affairs, a member of the lower house of the Legislature in 1844, and of the Senate in 1856. He served as an Aide-de-Camp on the Staff of Governor Thomas O. Moore, during the War. He was a lawyer and a planter, and was the owner of the “Concorde” Plantation. His wife was Emma Josephine, daughter of Judge Joaquin and Emma Josephine Troxler
20
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Bermudez. Emma Josephine Troxler Bermudez was the widow of Charles Meloncy Saunhac de Fossat — their four children Joseph, Edouard, Emma (wife of Theodore Saunhac de Fossat, a cousin) and Amelie (wife of Judge Charles F. Claiborne). The Bermudez were a Grandee family of Spain.
Col. Hugues Jules de la Vergne, the son of Jules de la Vergne and Emma Josephine Bermudez de la Vergne, was bom in New Orleans in 1867. His education was acquired in the schools of his native city and he was graduated from the Jesuit College in 1885 with the degree of A. B. His Alma Mater conferred the degree of A. M. in 1887 — Ph. B. in 1893. He was graduated from Tulane University with the degree of L.L.B. in 1888, appointed Major and Aide-de-Camp on the Staff of Governor Blanchard, July 1904, and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1905.
Hugues de la Vergne married Marie Louise, daughter of Charles Edouard Schmidt and Leda Hints. Charles Edouard Schmidt was one of the outstanding Lawyers of his time, and for years was Professor of Maritime Law at the Louisiana State University. Hugues Jules de la Vergne and Marie Louise Schmidt had seven children: Marguerite, wife of Count Charles de Bony; J. Hugues; Charles Edouard; Leda, wife of Hugues Cage St. Paul de L’Echard; Jules Kristian; Jacques Philippe and Pierre Renaud.
Colonel Hugues J. de la Vergne died November 28th, 1923.
While the first of the de la Vergnes to come to Louisiana was as stated Count Pierre de la Vergne, he was not the first ancestor of the American family of de la Vergne to come to this country. As far back as 1539 Vasconalles da Silva, a Portuguese, came to Florida with Hernando de Soto. Jules de la Vergne’ s wife was Emma Josephine Bermudez, whose great, great, grand-father was Jose Antonie Bermudez — who had married Canolanos Gomez da Silva. Then in 1718 Mathurin Dreux de Breze came with Bienville to help select the site of the City of New Orleans. He was descended from Robert de France, the fifth son of Louis VI, le Gros — King of France, and left a number of descendants in Louisiana. Mathurin Dreux de Breze had two daughters, Clau- dine, from whom the Landry de Freneuse descends; and Charlotte, who married Rene Gabriel Fazende — father and mother of Jeanne Henriette de Fazende, wife of Governor Villere, whose daughter Adel de Villere, became the wife of Hugues de la Vergne, the great grand-parents of the present de la Vergnes.
DE LA VERGNE — DE ST. PAUL — DE FRENEUSE
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the de la Vergne family. Arms d’or a la Rose de gueles surmounted by a Count’s helmet and a coronet. Motto — Honeur et Val- liance.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the de St. Paul family, (de Saint Pol). D’argent, a deux pals de Gueules, au Franc Canton d’argent charge d’une Croisette de sable.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Landry de Freneuse de St. Aubin family.
Count Pierre de la Vergne, first of the de la Vergnes to come to America. From an oil portrait in the home of Mrs. Henri Landry de Frdneuse.
ST. PAUL FAMILY
21
DE ST . PAUL (de SAINT POL )
Coat-of-Arms of the de St. Paul family :
D' argent, a* deux pals de gueules, au franc canton d’ argent charge’d’une croisette de sable .
de St. Paul or Saint Pol as it was sometimes spelled — this family goes back to 1247, at which time Count Hugues de St. Paul sold some land to the Count de Forez. Many notable alliances were made by members of the Saint Paul family, among them the names de Rochefort, de St. Colombe, de la Riviere, de Beaulieu de Lombara, de Besset de Vesc, etc., are prominent.
The first St. Paul to come to America was Henry. Paul Andre St. Pol de l’Echard, born in Marseilles, France, married Emilie Barbe Angelot, who was born in Havre de Grace. Their son, Henry Honore St. Paul, born in Antwerp, Belgium, during the occupation of that city by Napoleon Bonaparte, spent his early life in Paris and came to Louisiana in 1838, where he married Amanda Eugenie Pucheu, who was born on the Island of Martinique, the daughter of Jules Pucheu of Paris, France, and Louise Marchand of the Island of St. Domingo. She came to Louisiana at the time of the revolution on the island, with her parents while still a child. Their children were Regina St. Paul, who married John Rapia of Mobile, Ala.; Stella St. Paul, who married Louis Phillipe Labarthe of New Orleans; Oneida St. Paul, unmarried; Alba St. Paul, who married George Russell of Mobile; George St. Paul, who married Alice Allain of New Orleans; and John St. Paul, who married Florence Gertrude Townsley of Mobile. John St. Paul, Sr. was born Jan. 9, 1867 in Mobile and married Jan. 6. 1891, Florence Gertrude Townsley who was born in Mobile, Jan. 17, 1868, the daughter of Mary Elisabeth Barclay and Louis Oscar Townsley. There children were: Jerome Meunier, who married Marie Deady of Port Arthur, Texas; John, Jr., who married Nadia de la Houssaye; Marie Regina, unmarried; Louise Helene, who married Edward Gaspart Williams of New Orleans; Amanda Eugenie, unmarried; Hugues Cage, who married Leda Helene de la Vergne; and Florence Elizabeth, who was unmarried.
Mary Elizabeth Barclay was the daughter of Captain Henry A. Barclay, her brother Henry A. Barclay, Jr., was captain of
22
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
the English vessel “Pride of the Ocean” who went down with his ship off the coast of Herwich, England. Louis Oscar Townsley was the son of Thomas Finley of Kentucky and grandson of Don Miguel de Eslava, governor of Mobile under the Spanish rule. They were married in April, 1852. Their children were Coralie Townsley, second wife of Waller M. Broun; Louise Helene, first wife of Waller M. Broun; Thomas Finley Townsley; Lilian Townsley; Edmund Gaines Townsley; Isabelle Townsley; and Florence Gertrude Townsley.
de FRENEUSE
Charles Alexander Landry de Freneuse de St. Aubin, born at the Chateau St. Aubin in Normandie in 1784 — came to Louisiana where he married Miss Peytavin de Garan of an aristocratic family of Provence. The Chateau de St. Aubin — The Chateau de Freneuse and the Manor de Landry were in their family since the year 1678 — all three being situated on the shores of the river Seine in Normandie, at a short distance from each other. The family of the Landry’s de Freneuse de St. Aubin can be traced to the year of 1288. Quite a number of the members of this family made aristocratic alliances. One of the daughters married a Tournbut, who was a companion in Arms of William the Conqueror, when he invaded England. Another daughter married the Count de Beaupoel, whose family furnished a French Ambassador to England. Still another married the Marquis d’Abzac. Several members of this family were lieutenant Generals to the French King. Another daughter married the brother of Bonnet, who was “Fermier General Aux Armees du Roi” and who had the honor of receiving Louis XV at his chateau. Charles Alexander Landry de Freneuse de St. Aubin, married Leontine Bou- ligny. The oldest living member of this family is Henry Jacques Landry de Freneuse de St. Aubin, who married Marie Louise Schmidt, widow of the late Col. Hugues J. de la Vergne.
The original of the Bouligny family was Bolognini. Francis Bolognini changed his name to Bouligny when he married Cecilia Germain, in March, 1649, through pique, because his family opposed the alliance. The Bologninis married three times in the Ducal family of Visconti of Florence and Milan. They are also related to the families of Chevalier Vincent Guillaume de Senechal Dauberville and the Dukes of Noailles.
SCHMIDT FAMILY
23
The Boulignys descend from Mathurin Druex de Breze, who was a direct descendant of the fifth son of Louis VI, King of France.
Joseph Hincks, great-grandfather of Mrs. Henri Landry de Freneuse, had a sister named Eleanor who married J. Waters and had two children. Sophie married Mr. Lemonnier; one of their children (the second) named Josephine, married Warren and were the parents of Sophie Newcomb who died at the age of 16 years, her mother founding the Henrietta Sophie Newcomb College for women, which since has become a part of the Tulane University of Louisiana.
GUSTAVUS AND CHARLES EDWARD SCHMIDT
Gustavus Schmidt was the father of Charles Edward Schmidt. Both achieved eminence in the practice of law in the Courts of Louisiana. Gustavus was born at Mariestad, Sweden, June 16th, 1796, and died at Old Sweet Springs, Monroe County, West Virginia. He was a distinguished linguist, speaking and writing seven languages. The Summer of his death — while in West Virginia, he occupied his leisure, studying Chinese. He was the author of very valuable law books — Civil Law of Spain and Mexico — Schmidt’s Law Journal — Legal Opinions, etc. The Civil Law of Spain and Mexico was written after a long stay in Mexico, where he had been sent by the United States Government to defend a law suit.
Gustavus Schmidt was the son of Hans Kristian Schmidt, born in the Province of Scania, and who was Secretary of the Prefecture of Skaraborg, and afterwards Judge of the Aulic Court for the South of Sweden. His mother was Sigrid Katharina Mork, a family who owned large iron mines in Sweden. The eldest brother of Gustavus Schmidt was Karl Kristian Schmidt, editor and owner of the legal journal of Sweden, and who occupied the highest judicial position in Sweden. He was also private Councilor of King Oscar.
Gustavus Schmidt, after receiving private instructions, attended the public classical school of Joukoping until he reached sixteen. He then entered the Swedish Military Navy, which he left at twenty to try his fortune in America. He landed in the
24
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
City of New York and from there went to Maryland where he was employed as private teacher in the family of General Emory, and also of John Lee Gibson. About 1820, he moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he read Law, was admitted to the bar and practiced his profession. In 1829 he moved to New Orleans and in 1831 married Melanie Seghers, daughter of Dominique Seghers an eminent attorney and Marie Anne d’Otrange, daughter of Count Bertrand Joseph d’Otrange, who was Ambassador from the Principality of Liege at the Court of Brussels and also Councilor of the Grand Order of the Teutonic Knights. Dominique Seghers was one of the most brilliant lawyers of his day and acquired from the practice of his profession of law, a large fortune.
Charles Edouard Schmidt, son of Gustavus, was born in New Orleans February 29th, 1832, and died in Capon Springs, West Virginia, August 20th, 1891. He was educated at Spring Hill College, Alabama, and St. Xavier College, Cincinnati, and later received a degree of L.L.B. at the University of Louisiana. In the practice of law, he rose rapidly and acquired a large and lucrative business. After a career of more than thirty years, he died at the age of fifty-nine — full of honors and public regard — one of the most learned and profound lawyers of the Bar. He married in 1862, Louise Helene Leda Hincks, daughter of the late Hon. John W. Hincks and Louise Helene Lambert. Mrs. Charles Edward Schmidt was educated at the Convent des Oiseaux in Paris, and returned to Louisiana at the age of eighteen, speaking French like a Parisian, and a perfect musician, so gifted that she often accompanied Gottschalk in his concerts. She was a woman of beauty, distinction and charm.
From this union only one child survived, Marie Louise Schmidt, who married Hugues Jules de la Vergne. They had seven children. At the death of Hugues Jules de la Vergne, his widow married Henri Jacques Landry de Freneuse.
Mrs. de Freneuse has two daughters — Countess de Bony de la Vergne, born Marguerite de la Vergne, who resides in France, and Mrs. Hugues Cage St. Paul, born Leda Helene de la Vergne. Both are lovely young women, Mrs. St. Paul possessing the patrician beauty of a blonde Creole, as charming as rare. Inheriting much of her mother’s and grandmother’s personal traits and charm — she has become a leader in the younger set. Always
Chateau de la Vergne, near St. Priest — Ligoure Haute — Vinn Limousin* France.
Winding walks about the garden grounds of the de la Vergne home, St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans.
Madame Henri Landry de Frdneuse
Spacious Hallway of the de la Vergne Home, New Orleans
Edward Schmidt
Mrs. Charles Edward Schmidt lied Leda Hinks
(From ivory miniatures in the de Freneuse Collection.)
Countess Charles de Bony de la Vergne (ne<§ Marguerite de la Yergne.)
interior of the beautiful de la Vergne Home. St. Charles Avenue. New Orleans.
GUSTAVUS SCHMIDT Noted Lawyer.
(Illustrations courtesy of Mrs. Henry Landry de Freneuse)
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of Esnould Dugue de Livaudais family. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dugue (de Livaudais). See page 3.
SEGHERS FAMILY
25
sought after at distinctive affairs, her beauty is an asset in any receiving line, and in costumed pageants she appears as if she might have stepped out of a Romney or Nattier Canvass.
S&GHERS FAMILY*
Of Louisiana.
Dominique Seghers, the first of the name to arrive in New Orleans, with his wife, Marie Anne Dotrenge Seghers, and their seven children — were all born in Brussels. The names of the sons and daughters were: Julien, Edward, Victor, Theodore, Adolph, Melanie and Euphrosine Seghers. This family sailed from Antwerp for America in September, 1807 because the head of the family declared no son of his should grow up to fight for Napoleon Bonaparte. On reaching our shores, he at once applied for citizenship and it is said he never recrossed the ocean tho’ some of his sons did, Theodore dying in Paris and Edward in Brussels.
Only three of the family of “first arrivals” left descendants, viz: Julien Seghers, who married Virginia Duffel; Adolph Seghers, who married Elizabeth Duffel; and Melanie Seghers, who married Gustave Schmidt. The de la Vergnes are descended through their mother, Marie Louise Schmidt, who married first, H. J. de la Vergne from Melanie Seghers; the Francois Seghers and Dominique Seghers II families are descended from Julien and his wife, Virginia; the Adolph Seghers family from Adolph Seghers and Elizabeth Duffel. The children of these last were: Edward D. Seghers I, Amelia and Virginia. Amelia married John Trasimond Landry; Virginia married Jacob Haight Morrison I; Edward D. Seghers I, married Clara Duffel Williams, who was a daughter of Henry Threlkeld Williams of Virginia and of Margaret Bruce Boyd of England.
The name Seghers in Belgium goes back to the Battle of Courtrai — 1302. Anthoine Seghers de Capelle received a patent of nobility in 1618 from Albert, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Burgundy. In this patent was recited the fact that “Anthoine Seghers is residing on the estate (or Fief) conferred upon his ancestors by Guy of Elanders”. The wife of Dominique Seghers
* The name Seghers — pronounced S-A-Y-G-A-R-E — and originally spelled with an accent on the first “e” — Sdghers.
26
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
(married at the Church of the Twelve Apostles on April 19th, 1792) was daughter of of Bertrand Joseph Dotrenge, who had served as Privy Councillor to the Prince Bishop of Liege, and was Councilor of the Grand Order of Teutonic Knights, and at time of Marie Anne's birth (Dec. 11, 1765) was Ambassador to Brussels from the Principality of Liege.
Dominique Seghers was a lawyer of note (See Bench 7 Bar of New Orleans in 1823, in the “Louisiana Book" compiled by Thomas McCaleb). His five sons were all lawyers. Adolph Seghers, one of them, became District Attorney of Ascension. He died at 36, leaving three children. A brother of Mrs. Dominique Seghers the First was Theodore Dotrenge, who died in Brussels in 1836. He was a member of the States General of the United Netherlands, and was named by King William I a member of the Council of State. He was also named as one of a committee to revise the fundamental laws of the United Netherlands. For his biography, see “Biographie Universelle” in Howard Library.
The last surviving grandsons of Adolph Seghers are : Edward D. Seghers, II, of New Orleans; Theo. Seghers Landry of Wills- wood, La.; and W. C. Morrison of New Roads, La. Each has sons and daughters to carry on the name and traditions of the family.
The home of the de la Vergne family is of the Chateau Renaissance style, surrounded by an attractive and spacious garden and shaded by beautiful magnolia trees. It was built in the late 90’s and is a veritable treasure house, filled with family heirlooms, authentic pieces of early furniture and original paintings. During the Spring Fiesta this home is one of the outstanding attractions. Many ancestral portraits of distinguished Louisianians and their forbears adorn the walls of the large rooms. There are authentic portraits of the parents of George de la Chaise and his wife Renee de Roquefort in Court costume over 200 years old. They were the father and mother of the celebrated priest, Father de la Chaise, Confessor to King Louis XIV, and direct ancestors of the de la Vergne family, who descends from them, through their great-grandfather, Governor Jacques Philippe de Villere.
Having travelled extensively, Madame Landry de Freneuse, the former. Mrs. Hugues de la Vergne ,has a general fund of knowl-
SEGHEES FAMILY
27
edge and is a most interesting conversationalist. She is a born hostess and all of her life has been a social leader. She has done much charity work and has always carried to a successful issue any enterprise in which she was interested. As a young woman she was considered one of the prettiest Creoles of her day in this city of beautiful women. She still retains her girlish figure and is one of New Orleans’ most charming personalities.
Among the heirlooms of special interest are two dinner plates, and a crystal vase that belonged originally to the Marquis de Lafayette — a Miss de la Vergne having married into the de Lafayette family. The splendid bronze “Mercury” by Jean de Bologne is one of three of the original pieces made in the same mold, one of these is in the Louvre in Paris, the other in Italy. The magnificent ormulu mounted commode, “Prince de Conde”, to be seen in the Louis XIV room of the de la Vergne home, is a duplicate of the one made for the King of France in the Chateau de Chantilly. Much of this beautiful collection of objects of art was purchased in Europe during the childhood days of Mrs. de Freneuse, on her extensive and frequent trips taken by her with her parents.
(Crest of the Farwell family)
Chapter VI.
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES
RICHARD ALLEN MILLIKEN .
^HE late Richard Allen Milliken of New Orleans was born at Waterford, Ireland, on Sept. 15th, 1817. His family, according to ancestral records, stems to one of the ancient regal families of Ireland that held sway in the 13th century, the spelling of the name originally being O’Melaghlins, the “0” having the same significance in Ireland as the “de” in France. On the distaff side of the family among his ancestors were many distinguished officers of the English army and navy. Mr. Milliken’s mother came to the United States before her son and settled in Louisville, Kentucky, young Milliken joining her when he was still in his teens. She placed him in the Bardstown College where he remained until he completed his education, graduating in the fall of 1834. Soon afterwards he came to New Orleans and engaged in the sugar business in which he continued up to the time of his death, becoming one of the largest and most successful producers in the state of Louisiana.
On October 6th, 1864 he married Deborah A. Farwell of Unity, Maine, a sister of Nathan A. Farwell. Mr. Milliken and his wife enjoyed a long and happy life together, and at the death of Mr. Milliken, Mrs. Milliken donated to the State of Louisiana a hospital known as the Milliken Memorial, considered to be one of the finest children hospitals in the United States. Mr. Milliken was a most representative citizen, progressive and charita-
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES FARWELL, II.
Mrs. John James Blair (ne6 Miss Martha Couturier Ray), maternal grandmother of Miss Nellie Far- well.
Martha Shannon Blair of Camden, S. C., mother of Miss Nellie Farwell.
John J. Blair, who married Miss Martha Couturier Ray, maternal grandfather of Miss Nellie Farwell.
Chas. A. Farwell of Unity, Me., father of Miss Nellie Farwell. (A captain in the Confederacy, killed at Battle of Griswold, Ga.)
(All pictures copies of oil portraits in home of Miss Nellie Farwell.)
Mrs. Charles A. Parwell I, (ne<§ Mar- Miss Nellie Farwell at the time of tha Shannon Blair. (From ivory her graduation. (From ivory min-
miniature belonging to Miss Nellie iature.)
Farwell. )
William Blair. (From an oil portrait portrait in home of Miss Nellie Far- in home of Miss' Nellie Farwell.) well.)
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES
2»
ble, public spirited and deeply interested in every movement for the betterment of this city and state, to which he contributed generously and frequently.
THE NAME AND FAMILY OF FARWELL.
The surname of FARWELL is thought by some writers to be derived from the place of residence of early bearers of the name in or near the Parish of Farwell in Stafford, England. Other writers, however, are of the opinion that it is a corruption of the French name Vara- vllle. It is found in ancient English and early American records in the various spellings of Farwell, Fairwell, Favell, Favel, Varwell, Fauvell, Farwel, and Farwell, of which the form last mentioned is that most commonly used in America today. Families bearing this name were established in England at early dates in Yorkshire, Suffolk, Salop, Staffordshire, Somerset, Devonshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, and Lincoln. They and their descendants were largely of the landed gentry and yeomanry. Earlier mention of the name seems to be that of Richard Farwell, who was living in Yorkshire in 1280. He married the heiress of Elias de Rillestone and brought that estate and several others into the family. A Simon Farwell removed from Yorkshire to Somerset and built the mansion house at Bishop Hill. He married Julia Clark and had issue of a son Simon. Simon married Dorothy, daughter of Sir James Dyer, Speaker of the House of Commons. He died in 1568, leaving eight children, Simon, John George, Christopher, and four daughters. Of these, John who died without issue, sold Bishop Hill to his brother George. George, born in 1532, son of Simon and Dorothy, married Philippa Parker and had issue of George, who was knighted, John, who was also knighted, and Arthur. Christopher, son of Simon and Dorothy, was ancestor of the Devonshire branch of the family. Sir George Farwell, son of George and Philippa married Lady Mary Seymour, daughter of the Duke of Somerset and a -descendant of the Plantagenets. They had twenty children, among whom were Thomas, John, George, Nathaniel Edmund, and James. Of these, John married Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Routh, by whom he had issue of Henry and John. Some writers on the family history consider it possible that it was this Henjry who settled in New England and who is further mentioned below. Christopher, son of Simon and Dorothy Dyer Far- well, married Mary Barker, a widow, in 1605. They had issue of Christopher, Elizabeth (who married William Searle). Christopher, son of Christopher, married Mary Southcott, by whom he had Christopher and Mary (who married Francis Drake in 1690). The son Christopher married Catherine Ayshford and had three children. Christopher, a doctor, who died unmarried; and Katherine.
Among the earliest records of the family in America are those of Henry Farwell, son of William Farwell. He was born in England
30
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
in 1605 and married Olive Welby (or Welbie) in 1629. A tailor by trade, he emigrated to New England with his wife and two children, Elizabeth and Samuel. Four more children were born to them in this country, John, Joseph, Mary, and Olive. John, son of the immigrant Henry, married Sarah Wheeler. They had one daughter, Sarah, who married John Jones. Joseph, son of the Immigrant Henry, married Hannah Learned, by whom he had issue of Hannah ( who married first Samuel Woods and secondly Peter Joslin), Joseph. Elizabeth (who married John Richardson), Henry, Isaac, Mary Sarah, John, William, and Oliver.
Joseph, son of Joseph and Hannah Learned Farwell, married Hannah Colburn and removed to Groton. He had issue of Joseph, Thomas, Hanna (who first married Eleazer Gibson and secondly Ephrain Sawtell), Elisabeth (who married John Stone), Edward, Mary, (who married James Stone), John, Samuel, Daniel, and Sarah.
Henry, born in 1674, son of Joseph and Hanna Learned Far- well, married Susannah Richardson. They had issue of Henry, Isaac, Sarah (who married Henry Parker), Elizabeth, who married Timothy Bancroft), and Hannah (who married first Jerahmeil Cummings and secondly Stephen Jewett). Isaac, born about 1674, son of Joseph and Hannah Learned Farwell, married Elizabeth Hyde. They had issue of Elizabeth, Mary (who married Edmund Hovey), John, William, Dorothy, Isaac, and another Isaac. William, born in 1688, son o‘f Joseph and Hannah Learned Farwell, married Elizabeth Solendine, of Dunstable, Mass. They had six children, Elizabeth, William, John, Oliver, Henry, and Josiah.
Oliver, born in 1692, son of Joseph and Hannah Learned Far- well, married Mary Cummings. He was killed by Indians when he was thirty-three. His issue were Mary, who married first Thomas Clark and second John Russell), Oliver, Benjamin and Sarah.
Joseph, son of Joseph and Colburn Farwell, married Mary Gibson. They had issue of Anna, (who married Josiah Brown), Isaac, Joseph, Jonathan, Thomas, Oliver (who married Barnabas Davis), Mary (who married Joseph Hoar), and Susannah (who married John Cheney) .
Edward, born in 1706, son of Joseph and Hannah Colburn Far- well, married Hantnah Russell. They were the parents of six children, Edward, Submit (who married Jonathan Adams), Hannah (who married Archelaus Adamjs), David, Able, and Sarah (who married Silas Rand). John, born in 1711, son of Joseph and Hannah Colburn Farwell, married Jane Lakin and by her had two daughters. By his second marriage, to Susannah White, he had five children, Thirza, Olive, Thomas, Eunice (who married Ebenezer Pratt), and Henry. Samuel, born in 1714, son of Joseph and Hannah Colburn Farwell, married Elizabeth Moors. They were parents of ten children, Samuel Elizabeth, (who married Thomas Gary), Eunice Abraham, John, Sarah, Lydia (who married first John Ireland and secondly Deacon William Stewart), Susannah, Joseph, and Isaac.
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES
31
Daniel, son of Joseph and Hannah Colburn Farwell, married Mary Moor and removed to Towsenid, Mass. He was the father of Daniel, Anna (who married Silas Snow), Isaac, Timothy, Mary, Edmund, Zaccheus, and Benjamin. Henry, born in 1696, son of Henfry and Susannah Richardson Farwell, married Esther French, a widow, and by her had issue ofl Eleazer, Esther, Olive (who married Nathaniel Carlton), and Elizaoeth (who married Benjamin Marshall). Josiah, born in 1698, son of Henry and Susannah, married Hannah Lovewell. He was killed by Indians, leaving a daughter Hannah, who married John Chamberlain. Jonathan, born in Dunstable in 1700, son of Henry and Susannah, married Susanna Blanchard. He was drowned in Amoskeag Falls leaving three children, Susanna (who married Jonathan Butterfield), Rachel), Rachel (who married Nehmiah Love- nah, married Sarah Howard and removed to Vassalboro, Maine. They had issue of Elizabeth, Josiah, Reiief, Bunker, Abigail (who married first Levi Richardson and secondly Ebenezer Bacon), Isaac, Jane, Ebenezer, Susanna, Sarah, and Molly. John, born in 1711, son of Isaac and Elizabeth Hyde Farwell, married Dorothy Baldwin and by her had issue of Olive (who married Aaron Hovey), John, Isaac. Thomas, and Asa. William, born in 1712, son of Isaac and Eliza- beth, removed to Walpole, N. H. He married Bethia Eldxedge and by her had thirteen children, William, Elizabeth (who married Elijah Parker) Jemima, Elisha, Joseph, John, Dorothy, Isaac, David (who finally settled in Michigan, Jesse, and Eldredge.
William Farwell, son of William and Elisabeth Soldendine, was bom in 1714 or 1715. He married Sarah Parker, by whom he had eight children, Eunice, Elizabeth (who married Samuel Gould), Henry, Sarah (who married John Todd), Susannah (who married John Solendine), Phineas, Sybil, and William. John, son of William and Elizabeth, married four times. By his first wife, Sarah Sawtell, he had issue . . . who married William Farwell: Sarah, who married Thomas Willard: David and John, twins; and six children who died in infancy. By his second wife, Eunice Snow, he had issue of Eunice, who married Gladwin Chaffin; Betzey, who married Phineas Holden; and Mary, who married John Con. By his third marriage, to Lydia Taylor, he had issue of a daughter Lydia, who married Timothy Stone. His fourth wife was Sarah Warren. Oliver Farwell, born in 1722, son of William and Elizabeth, married Rejoice Preston. There were ten children by this marriage, William, Isaac, Jonathan, Abigail, Ben- jamihe, Levi, Olive, Elizabeth, Mercy, Olive, Elizabeth, and Calvin.
Henry, born in 1724, son of William and Elizabeth married Lydia Tarbell and by her had issue of Anna, Samuel, and William. By his second wife, Sarah Taylor, he had further issue of Lydia, Sarah (who married James Brazer), Lydia (who married first John White and secondly Joseph Sawtell), and Jonathan. This Henry commanded a company at the Battle of Bunker Hill and was severely wounded, Josiah, son of William and Elizabeth, married Lydia Farnsworth and removed to Charleston, N. H. They had ten children, Lydia (who
32
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
married Moses Willard), Hannah Josia, Mary (who married Calvin Judevine), Anna (who married Frederick Locke), Oliver Debora (who married Nathan Allen), Hannah (who married Benjamin Larabee), Olive (who married Rufus Larabee), and: Henry.
Oliver, son of Oliver and Mary Cummings Farwell, was born in 1717, he married Abagail Hubbard and by her had issue of Rebecca (who married Jonathan Blanchard), Oliver, Mary (who married Noah Lovewell), Abagail (who married Samuel Wilkins), Joseph, another Joseph, Sarah, and John.
There is record of a Thomas Farwell, who settled in Virginia in 1652, but nothing further is known about him.
The several lines of the Farwell family in America have produced a fairly numerous progency who have established themselves in many parts of the United States. The record of the family is that of a vigorous, practical, enterprising and God-fearing race, thrffty, ostentatious, and capable on the whole, and possessed in certain instances of executive ability and intellectual talents.
Among those of the name who served in the American Cause in the Revolutionary War were Captain Francis Farwell, Lieutenant Isaac Farwell, Captain Francis Farwell, and David, Abraham, Ben- jamine, David, Eleazer, Ephraim, Henry, John, William, Zaccheus, and Eleazer Farwell, all privates of Massachusetts.
Richard, Simon, George, Christopher, Nathaniel, Henry, John, Joseph, Josiah, Jonathan, Isaac, Oliver, Samuel, David, and Edward are some of the masculine Christian names which have been favored by past generations of the family.
The following are a few of the members of the family who have distinguished themselves in America in comparative recent times. Arthur Farwell (born 1872), Minnesota, composer; John Villiers Farwell (born 1858), of Illinois, merchant; Charles Benjamine Far- well (1823-1903) business man and politician; Nathan Allen Farwell (1812-1893), of Maine, Senator; Earl Farwell (born 1885), of England and New York, lawyer; Arthur Burrage Farwell (born 1852), of Massachusetts, business man; Samuel Farwell (1800-1875), of Mchigan, contractor.
The coat-of-arms of the ancient English family of Farwell is described in heraldic terms as follows (Burke, Encyclopaedia of Heraldry, 1844):
ARMS: — “Sable a cheveron engrailed argent between three leopards’ heads or.”
Crest: — Two oak branches orleways vert, acorned or.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bardsley. English and Welsh Surnames. 1901.
Burke. Encyclopaedia of Heraldry. 1844.
Greer. Early Virginia Immigrants. 1912.
Notes and Queries. 4th series. Vol. 8. 1871.
5th series. Vol. 4. 1875.
Beautiful Home and Garden of Miss Nellie Farwell, St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans.
F. EVANS FARWELL.
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES
33
Abbott. The Farwell Family. 1929.
Holton. Farwell Ancestral Memorial. 1879.
Frost. Swan - Farwell Genealogy. 1925.
Saunderson. History of Charlestown, N. H. 1876.
Joslin. History of Poultney, Vt. 1875.
Eaton. History of Old Constable. 1846.
Chandler. Hstory of Shirley, Mass. 1883.
Butler. History of Groton, Mass.
Heitman, Officers of the Continental Army. 1914.
Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War.
Dictionary of American Biography. 1931.
The Media Research Bureau.
CHARLES A. FARWELL II.
Charles A, Farwell II, born in New Orleans, La., Nov. 11th, 1860; married in Gloucester, Mass., Sept. 12th, 1900, Miss Stella (Evans) French, daughter of Robert F. and Mary (Caldwell) Evans, who was born in Shelbyville, Tenn., in 1870. He died on May 17th, 1917.
Mr. Farwell was one of the substantial business men of New Orleans, and as head of the firm of Milliken and Farwell was one of the wealthiest men in the sugar industry in the South, owning several large sugar plantations. For many years Mr. Farwell was the head of a committee in Washington, D. C., charged with looking after the interests of Louisiana planters. Beginning as an employee of his uncle Richard Milliken, at the time of Mr. Milliken’s death he had gained an understanding of the business that enabled him to take over the direction of the plantations and the city business. Mr. Farwell was also as prominent in the social as in the business world, being a member of the Boston Club, a stockholder of the French Opera Co., and active in many social and charitable affairs. He was chosen “REX” in the Mardi Gras of 1898, the highest and most coveted social honor that the Southern metropolis bestows. His children are Charles A. Far- well III and F. Evans Farwell.
“The FARWELL FAMILY” Vol. I. (1605-1927) published by Frederick Henry Farwell & Fanny (Barber) Farwell, 1929.
CHARLES A. FARWELL
Charles A. Farwell, born September 26th, 1902, in New Orleans, La. High school education received at the New Orleans Academy. In 1918 attended Tulane University for one year and served in
34 PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
the students’ military training corps. Entering Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, in June, 1919; graduated from there with a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering June 1923. In the fall of 1923 entered the Medical Department of Tulane University; left there in 1924 and began work with Milliken & Far- well; since that time has remained in the sugar business.
In 1925 married Edwa Stewart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Nelson Stewart of New Orleans, La; have three children, Charles, 14; Edwa, 10; and Blair, one and a half. During the past 16 years has held commissions in Officers Reserve Corps, United States Army, in Infantry, Chemical Warfare, and Military Intelligence.
At present hold the following positions:
President, Milliken & Farwell, Inc.
President, Westover Planting Co., Ltd.
Member of Board of Directors: Whitney National Bank of New Orleans.
Waterford Sugar Cooperative, Inc.
Cane Products Trade Association.
State Agricultural Credit Corp., Inc.
Chairman: Educational Committee of the American Sugar Cane League of New Orleans.
First Stockholders’ Committee of Realty Operators, Inc.
Member, Board of Administrators, Charity Hospital of New Orleans, La.
F. EVANS FARWELL .
Mr. F. Evans Farwell was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, June 7th, 1906. He obtained his early schooling at the New Orleans Academy, later attending a preparatory school at Woodberry Forest, Virginia, bearing that name, where he finished in 1925. Going from there to the University of Virginia, graduating with a B.S. in Commerce in 1920.
At the University, was president of the Psi Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity; Student Instructor in Spanish; and was made a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, honorary business fraternity.
Worked in the New Orleans office and sugar plantations of Milliken and Farwell, Inc., during the fall of 1929. Moved to
THE MILLIKEN AND FARWELL FAMILIES
35
Detroit, Mich., in February, 1930, and started working there for the firm of W. H. Edgar & Son, Inc., sugar brokers. In July of this year was moved to Edgar’s New York office early in 1935, and left this office for a job of constant traveling throughout the eastern half of the United States in the late fall of the same year. Returning to New Orleans, Louisiana, and opened a branch office for W. H. Edgar & Son, Inc., in the summer of 1933. On February 1, 1936, again started working for Milliken & Farwell, as Vice-President.
On November 11, 1936, was married to Lynne Paxton Hecht, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Hecht (nee Lynne Watkins of New Orleans, Louisiana). On June 30, 1939, a daughter was born and she is named Stella Evans Farwell in honor of her paternal grandmother.
THE FARWELL MANOR
St. Charles Avenue Between First and Second Streets ,
New Orleans , La.
A replica of a beautiful old Mansard manor located in the Rue Grand Armee near the Palace of Versailles in France; Miss Nellie Farwell’s beautiful home located far back in the spacious grounds that occupy half of the city block, with entire frontage on St. Charles Avenue.
The land was purchased by Mr. Richard A. Milliken, an uncle-in-law of the gracious chatelaine of this most attractive home, some fifty years ago to enlarge his own garden grounds. The original of this manor located in France was built for a French noble at the time that the Palace of Versailles was erected. Louis XIV, in order to break up the power of the immensely powerful nobles contending against the throne, erected the Palace of Versailles and concentrated the French Court and important government bureaus about this palace, making it necessary for courtiers to live in Versailles instead of in their feudal castles surrounded by their followers.
Miss Farwell, prominent in the social life of New Orleans, entertains frequently throughout the year in this spacious home which opens on to the immense garden grounds as do European homes. It is an ideal place for large gatherings. Her gardens are always included in the Fiesta Tours. The many handsome
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
rooms are filled with rare and exquisite antiques, most of them being heirlooms. There is much fine old carved rosewood and mahogany furniture, family silver, crystal, rare china, ancestral portraits, and all of the artistic treasures that go to complete such a home — many inherited from her mother and her aunt to whom she was so devoted for so many years. Miss Farwell is a member of The Huguenot Society, and the Society of Colonial Dames, both organizations meeting at her home several times a year.
Melle. de Ternant, daughter of Claude Vincent de Ternant II. (Mother of Melle. Avegno, painted by John Singer Sargent. (See page 44, Vol. II.)
Loading sugar-cane on a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Chapter VII.
THE DE TERNANT — PARLANGE — DE BRIERRE — D’HERBIGNY — DE VEZIN FAMILIES
DE TERNANT — PARLANGE.
Marquis Claude Vincent de Ternant died in 1750. Madame la Marquise Virginie married Colonel Charles Parlange of the French Army. Their son, the Honorable Charles Parlange, United States District Judge, married Miss Louise Denis, their children are Mrs. Evelyn Parlange Allen, Mr. Walter Charles Parlange, and Mrs. Lilian Parlange Lee. (Walter Charles Parlange married Miss Paule Brierre, one son, Walter Charles Parlange, Jr.)
The Governor of the St. Louis territory, de Hault de Lassus’ daughter, Felicite Odille deHault deLassus de Luzieb, married Governor Pierre D’Erbigny of Louisiana. Their daughter married Henry Denis, their son, Arthur Denis, married Mademoiselle Antoinette de Beauvais de Cuir, and their daughter Mademoiselle Louise Denis, became the wife of Honorable Charles Parlange of the U. S. District Court of Louisiana.
38
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
DE BR1ERRE
Hyacinthe (d© Rouen) married - Longer, issue three
children, (1) Hyacinthe Brierre, (2) Armide Brierre, (3) Eugene Brierre. Hayacinthe Brierre married Marie Charlotte Eugenie Becus, issue three children, (1) Theodore Brierre, married Angele Wogan, daughter of Charles Wogan and Eulalie Oliver de Vezin, issue four children, (1) Georges Brierre; (2) Eugenie; (3) Maurice Brierre, who married Miss Burthe, and became the parents of three children, (1) Maurice Brierre, who married a Miss King, had one daughter, Grace Brierre; (2) Henri Brierre, married Miss Laplace and had one son named Henri. Georges Brierre, son of Theodore Brierre and Angele Wogan, married Miss Castaing, issue four children, (1) Joseph, who married Miss Lagarde, issue three children, (1) Marion Brierre; (2) Theo Brierre; (3) Theo Brierre.
Angele Brierre, daughter of Maurice Brierre and Miss Burthe, married Mr. Humphries, issue two children, Ethyln Humphries, who married; and Carlye Numa Humphries.
Paul Brierre, son of Theodore Brierre and Angele Wogan, married Ida Theresa Van Vrendenburh, daughter of William Hazard Van Vrendenburh and Valintine Oliver de Vezin, who in turn was daughter of Victor Bienvenu Oliver de Vezin and Paulinede Couzot Reynaud, who in turn was daughter of Louis Reynaud and Constance de Couzot, daughter of Le Chavalier de Couzot who married Miss de Grande Pre.
The children of Paul Numa Brierre, who married Ida Theresa Van Vrendenburh are as follows: Paule, who married Walter Charles Parlange, issue one son, Walter Charles Parlange, Jr. Olga Brierre, who married Pinkney Galbreath, her children are: Pinkney Galbreath, Marthe Brierre; Theodore Brierre married Elvina Wall, issue Elmyra Augusta; Edith Brierre married Nelson Woody, issue Nelson Stuart Woody; Eugene Brierre, married Giddre Donnaud; William Brierre; Roland Brierre, married Claire Peyronnin; Rosine Brierre; Audice Brierre; Angele Brierre.
D’HERBIGNY
Pierre Charles Auguste Bourguignon d’Herbigny was born in the town of Laon, near Lille, Department of Nord, France, in 1767. A son of Augustin Bourguignon d’Herbigny, he was one of five
D’HERBIGNY FAMILY
39
brothers, as follows: (1) Alphonse d’Herbigny who having completed his education, like the sons of aristocrats, became attached to the army, later becoming aide-de-camp to General Jean Marie Philippe, comte de Serrurier, a noted marshal de France, and was killed in active duty with comte de Serrurier during a brilliant campaign under Napoleon in Italy. (2) Francois Xavier d’Her- bigny, who became secretary general de la Prefecture du Nord, Paris. (3) Casimir d’Herbigny who became an official in the department of the Marine of France. (4) Antoine Valery d’Her- bigny who became a distinguished poet, and writer and Director de la enregistrement at Arras and Bordeaux.
Pierre d’Herbigny in 1792 fled from France when the French Revolution was at its height. He arrived in San Domingo only to find another upheavel in which thousands of whites were massacred by the blacks. Again fleeing he landed in Pittsburgh, where he married the only daughter of Chevalier Pierre Charles de Hault de Lassus de Luziere — Filicete Odile de Hault de Lassus de Luziere. Her father was Knight of the Grand Cross of the royal order of Saint Michel, founder and commandant of New Bourbon, a post located two miles south of Ste. Genevieve and almost opposite Kashaskia on the Mississippi River in upper Louisiana.
Of an ancient family of Bouchaine in the town of Hainault, French Flanders, Pierre Charles de Hault de Lassus married Domitile Josephe Dumont Danzin de Beaufort. From this marriage were born four children as follows: (1) Charles de Hault de Lassus de Luziere (Don Carlos de Hault de Lassus; (2) Jacques Marcellin Ceran de Hault de Lassus de St. Vrain; (3) Camille de Hault de Lassus; (4) Felicite Odile de Hault de Lassus, who became the wife of Pierre d’Herbigny.
Chevalier Pierre de Lassus leaving France with his wife and children at the height of the French Revolution went to Spain, and later in 1794 to New Orleans about which time he was commissioned to take over Nouvelle Bourbon.
Charles de Hault de Lassus de Luziere (Don Carlos) a colonel in the service of Spain was born in Bouchaine, France, in 1764, and while in Andalusia, in the war between France and Spain, spurred his men on with such vigor that he won the victory for Spain.
At the age of thirty while in Louisiana he was made com-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
mandante of New Madrid in the Illinois District (1797-1799), when he was sent to replace Don Zenon Trudeau (last lieutenant governor of the Upper Louisiana) which post he held for the Dons until the 10th of March, 1804, until Captain Amos Stoddard took over that territory for the United States. However the Spaniards still held West Florida, the remaining Spanish possession in Louisiana and in the spring of 1807 Don Carlos de Lassus was appointed its governor. While in command at the time that the patriots from the area of the Felicianas captured the fort located at Baton Rouge (present name) tore down the banner of the dons, replacing it with the American flag (the Lone Star) where an independent government was set up. For permitting the capture of the fort and loss of West Florida, de Lassus was tried and condemned to death. He went into hiding at the home of his sister, Mrs. Pierre d’Herbigny and escaped punishment, as the sentence was never carried out.
Charles de Hault de Lassus (Don Carlos) married Adelaide Felicite Mariana di Leonardo, a daughter of Gilbert di Leonardo. He died in New Orleans on May 1st, 1842 at the age of 78, survived by a son, Auguste de Hault de Lassus. Jacques Marcelin Ce’ran de Hault de Lassus Vrain was born in Bouchaine, 1770, served in the Navy of France previous to the French Revolution, and later while in Louisiana commanded a Spanish war vessel on the upper Mississippi.
Camille de Hault de Lassus de Luziere, while in New Bourbon served as an officer of the Dons and as English interpreter gratas, and during the absence of his father commanded that post, also discharging the duties as adjutant. From his marriage he left three children — Leon, Paul, and Odile de Lassus.
Pierre d’Herbigny, whose wife became an invalid, travelled extensively with her in an effort to regain her health. After visiting a number of places in the southern part of America he came to New Orleans. In 1803 he became secretary to Etienne de Bore, during his brief term as mayor of New Orleans under the tricolor, and later when W. C. C. Claiborne became governor he appointed d’Herbigny as interpreter of ‘languages for the new territory of Orleans.
He was notably active in all matters pertaining to obtaining the status of statehood for Louisiana in 1805. He was one of the
The Marquis Claude Vincent de Ternant, II. (From an ivory miniature at Parlange. Courtesy of the family.)
Antoine deCruzat, Captain in Louisiana Regiment under the Spanish Domination. (Original painting in possession cf Mrs. Edwin X. deVerges.)
Madelien Victoire Heloise deLino deChalmette. (From an ivory miniature owned by Mrs. E. X. d'e Verges.)
D’HERBIGNY FAMILY
41
commissioners who went to Washington with the memorial protesting against Louisiana being admitted as a territory.
Twice he became secretary of state, and Mr. Derbigny (as he later wrote his name) long had been recognized for his ability as a lawyer. His ability had been recognized in France, and his knowledge of the Napoleonic Code made him a valuable assistant when Edward Livingston, assisted by Moreau Lislet, revised the Civil Code. This was followed by his becoming a member of the Supreme Court with George Mathews, and Dominic A. Hall. His political career continued until 1829 when he had been elected governor of Louisiana. Within a year of his occupancy of the position on Sept. 25th, while out driving, something caused the horses to become frightened. They got beyond his control, ran away, overturned the carriage and threw him on his head. He died five days later.
Governor Derbigny left one son, Charles Zenon Derbigny, who was studying medicine in Paris at the time his father met with the accident that caused his death. On being notified, he returned to New Orleans at once. Abandoning the study of medicine he began the study of law, and completing his studies, entered politics and public life. For a number of years he was a member of the state legislature, becoming president of the state senate. He became a candidate for governor of Louisiana in 1845, but was not elected. He then devoted his energies to his sugar plantations in Jefferson Parish opposite New Orleans and on Bayou Lafourche. His home on Bayou Lafourche was a prominent one of the locality.
His wife was Josephine Eulalie LeBreton, who became the mother of his three daughters: (1) Marie Lucie Derbigny, who became the wife of Etienne Dauphin Courmes; (2) Marie Eulalie Derbigny, who became Mrs. Edmond LeBreton, and on her second marriage Mrs. Hugh D. Cochrane; (8) Felicite Odile Derbigny, who became Mrs. Pierre Glaitrais LaBarre. Charles Zenon Derbigny, the last of the line to bear the name of d’Herbigny (Derbigny) in Louisiana lived to be eighty-one years of age, dying at his plantation in Jefferson Parish, the name becoming extinct at his death. There is a street in New Orleans named after his father.
The sisters of Charles Zenon Derbigny were : Aimee, who became the wife of Henry Denis, having their plantation on False
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
River, Pointe Coupee Parish, and another sister married George Legendre.
OLIVER DE VEZIN .
Hugues Oliver de Vezin, Seigneur de Sionne-en Bassigny, who married Louise Leroux de Dinjolincour was the father of Pierre Francois Maeie Oliver, ecuyer, Sieur de Vezin from the Province of Champagne, who after coming to Canada in 1738 established an iron foundry that became known as Forge St. Maurice at the place known as Three Rivers. This young nobleman who had been born in the City of Nancy in 1716, and had risen to be Councillor of his King, and learning of the request made by the Governor of Canada, for an iron foundry for New France, obtained permission to go to America and establish the foundry. When his management proved that the venture was a success, he married on the 14th of June 1747, Marie Josephte Gatineau Du- plessis of Three Rivers, who had been born at that place September 4th, 1720. She had been previously married and was vieuve Linier, at the time of her second nuptial. Her father was Jean Baptiste Gatineau Duplessis, her mother being Marie Celeste Le Boullanger. The young manager of Forge St. Maurice proved to be a very capable representative of his government, and was appointed by France as grand Voyer, inspecteur des ponts et chauss ees et arpenteur general de la Province de la Louisiane in 1749, being transferred to New Orleans to discharge his new duties.
Here he held rank among the most prominent of the French colonial officials and when the Spaniards took over the colony, he was also honored by them, taking his seat on December, 1769, as regidor perpetuo y alguazil mayor. His children were (1) Hugues Charles Honore Oliver de Vezin de St. Maurice, born in 1748 at Three Rivers, who married Marie Madeleine Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, daughter of Antoine Pierre Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, and Francoise de Lile DuPart, issue three children; (2) Charlotte Constance Oliver de Vezin, who was born in New Orleans in 1750, and who died in this city on August 11, 1801 — her first husband being Daniel Fagot de la Garciniere, who died in 1776, she later marrying Charles Antoine de Reggio, who was a son of Francois Marie de Reggio, and Helene Fleuriau, she leaving children by both marriages; (3) Pierre Louis Oliver d’Erneville, born in New Orleans in 1752, becoming a lieutentant
DE VEZIN FAMILY
43
colonel under Governor Galvez, later on to be promoted to a captain in the troops of Spain. He married Marie Francoise la Mollere d’Orville, on February 14th, 1777; (5) Avineent Adelaide Oliver de Vezin, bom on the 20th of February, 1755, and married Etienne de la Lande d’Alcour, son of Etienne de la Lande d’Alcour and Marie Josephe Trudeau on September 15th 1770; (6) Nicolas Joseph Godfroi Oliver de Vezin, born on the 27th of May, 1757, became a grensdier under Governor Galvez, and married Eulalie Toutant de Beauregard on December 3rd, 1782, the bride being a daughter of Jacques Toutant de Beauregard, at her death later, married Marie Marianne Bienvenue, a daughter of Jean Baptiste Bienvenue, and Helene Belet (vieuve Ducret) in 1789; (7) Louise Judith Oliver de Vezin, bom in 1758, and married the chevalier Augustin de Reggio after 1776; (8) Francoise Victoria Oliver de Vezin, bom 1753, according to the records of the Ursuline Convent of New Orleans, entered the Ursuline Order in this city at the age of sixteen, later being known as Mere Saint Marie, becoming Mother Assistant on June 3rd, 1803, being further elevated to the office of Superioress of the Convent in New Orleans before May of 1812. A religious custom which has been kept up annually, is a solemn high mass and a Te Deum is sung annually in fulfillment of her vow made when the English General Packenham and his army were advancing against New Orleans, her vow being that this religious service would be given in gratitude for the defeat of the British. Never in all these years has this vow been broken.
The children of Gatineau Duplessis by her marriage to Hugues Charles Honore Oliver de Vezin, were Major Charles Oliver de Vezin, who married Celeste Mathilde De Blanc, daughter of Captain Charles de Blanc and Elizabeth Pouponne d’Erneville, at St. Martinville, Louisiana, in 1798. Five children were born of this union, all in St. Martinville. Another of their sons, Pierre Oliver de Closel de Vezin, whose first wife was Jeanne Aspasie Devince Bienvenu, a daughter of Alexandre Devince Bienvenu and Louise Felicite Henriette Latil de Tinecour, the marriage taking place in St. Martinville, March 2nd, 1802. Issue five children. His second wife’s name was Marie Josephe Latiolais, a daughter of Joseph Latiolais and Francoise Nezat; issue of this marriage was one son.
From the marriage of Nicolas Joseph Godfroi Oliver de Vezin (6th child of Pierre Francois Oliver de Vezin) and Gatineau
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Duplessis, from his marriage with Marianne Bienvenu (his second wife), were Anastasie, who became the wife of Augustin de Reggio; Eulalie, who did not marry; Jean Baptiste, who married Alix Duverje; Elmire, who married Furcy Verret; Henriette, who married Pierre Reaud; Charles Godfroi, who married Eulalie Duverje; Eulalie, who married John Wogan; Victor Bienvenu, who married Pauline Reynaud, and Cesaire, who married Henriette Lavergne.
The children of Victor Bienvenu Oliver de Vezin and Pauline Reynaud became the parents of eleven children: Emma, who married A. N. Robelot; Valentine, who married Mrs. W. H. Vren- denburg; Victor, who married Louise Marie Hebrard September 10th, 1866, survived by six children : Albert J., who married Marie Theard; Victor Wogan, who married Cecile Albert; Lucie Marie, who did not marry; Christian Louis, who married Ida Dreuschke; Pierre D., who married Marie Amelie Minor; and Berthe Marie, who married Jacques de Tamowsky.
A FAMOUS PORTRAIT OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
New York City .
MADAME GAUTREAUX NEE MADEMOISELLE AVENGNO
(Her mother being a Mademoiselle de Temant)
Hanging on one of the walls of a room in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is a beautiful portrait of this member of the de Ternant family. The artist, John Sargent, considered it among the best examples of his work. Painted during an early period of his career while he was in Paris, and according to notable art critics when he had begun to outmaster his instructor, the famous Carolus Duran. While the effects of time are manifest in the deterioration of the pigments, the portrait remains one of great distinction. Here one does not find the great contrasts verging on the theatrical, which mark so many of his other masterpieces. The pose is unusual. The artist has not failed to portray to full measure her aristocratic elegance of form and feature as well as birth for from this portrait one could get no other impression but that Madame Gautreaux was an aristocrat. Her beautiful cameo-like, patrician features are shown
A FAMOUS PORTRAIT
45
to perfection in profile. It is a portrait that remains one of John Singer Sargent's best. Those who follow such matters recall the uproar in the Art World some years ago about this painting. Many friends and admirers of Madame Gautreaux contended at the time it was painted, that Mr. Sargent had done the lady’s beauty a great injustice, and so strong was this feeling in the art circles of Paris that he became unpopular. The criticism of this portrait has been blamed for the sudden departure of Mr. Sargent from that great art center.
Chapter VIII.
THE DE VERGES FAMILY
COAT OF ARMS — Field of silver, a sinople tree, with crimson bank surcharged with a heart with silver roses .
rpHIS ancient and respected name dates back to the year 1253, A when a member of this notable Bernaise house, Garsie Amaud de Verges, (Damoiseu) is listed in the ancient chronicles as Lord of Verges and Patron of Sazos. The name is variously spelled in the records : Du Verger, de Verges, de Vergez.
The de Verges family, in Louisiana since 1720, traces in unbroken line to the Counts of Bigorre who owned and occupied the ancient feudal castle located in the parish of Sazos in the valley of Baregos. They were founders and patrons of the church and parish of St. Julien de Sazos — in the records their names appear on the Latin charts as de Viridariis and de Viridario. Chevalier Bernard de Verges, the founder of the Louisiana branch of this patrician family, comes from a branch of the tree that bore the six notable de Verges brothers. Living in the town of Bearn between the years 1560 and 1580, they bore the names and titles of captains — Guillaume, Jean, Charles, Roger, Raymond, and Joseph, each with his surname attached. Throughout that area of France they were famous and their alliances with noble houses made the name a notable one in the annals of heraldry.
The passenger list of the good ship. La Dromadaire, Capt. St. Mar in command, in the year 1720 includes the name of Chevalier Bernard de Verges. He was listed as “dissinateur” or draftsman for the colony. Later he became engineer-in-chief.
THE DE VERGES FAMILY
47
From family records in the New Orleans branch of the family, it is shown that he was born on Jan. 10th, 1693, in the City of Bayonne in Bearn, France. He was a son of Francois Artus de Verges, an officer in the regiment of the Bandes Gramontoises, and was also known in France as Bernard de Verges. He had married twice, 1661 and 1679, his second wife, Marie Lagrenade, being the mother of the Louisiana engineer. Through these marriages he became the father of six children: (1) Armand Xavier de Verges; (2) Pierre de Verges; (3) Dominic de Verges; (4) Bernard de Verges (who came to Louisiana), also two daughters.
Bernard de Verges, the young draftsman, at his own request was placed on duty at the Balise, shortly afterwards being made commandant of the post there. On July 31st, 1727 the Ship Gironde cast anchor at the mouth of the Mississippi River after a long and perilous journey, and Madeleine Hachard, a young novice, in her diary tells of the many hardships of this trip. Commandant Bernard de Verges welcomed the nuns, nine in number, of the Ursuline Order that had come at the request of the Governor to take charge of the education of the young of the colony. He turned over his home to them until they could be conveyed to the capital of the colony by pirogues.
Bernard married Marie Theresa Pinaud of La Rochelle, daughter of Pierre Pinaud, an early settler in Louisiana, and Su- sanne Meunier. The ceremony took place in the first church in the colony on the site of the present Cathedral of St. Louis.
After a number of eventful years in which unwarranted opposition caused no end of worry, Bernard de Verges, bearing the. title of Royal Engineer, in partnership with Adrien de laPlace, a relative, acquired a plantation opposite the city of New Orleans, some seventeen arpents river frontage, on which a plantation home of the early Louisiana type was erected. Old records show that it was a structure having a frontage of fifty feet and that it contained eleven rooms, all of which were well finished, having glazed windows, and doors, all provided with bolts and keys. In fact it was one of the few plantations with a carefully finished home in that section. If we judge the Pontalba Papers, life here like that at the de Macarty plantation was very gay. As the de Verges family was of the same social class and married into the old families mentioned by Pontalba, we may be sure the de Verges home too, was a center of the social life of that era. Like most
48
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
of the plantation homes at that date, it had a roof of hand-made shingles, a raised basement or lower floor, a large attic for storage room, and several brick chimneys to heat the house. Here dwelt Mrs. de Verges and her family while the Royal Engineer was occupied with his duties in various parts of the colony, coming to this rural retreat whenever his duties permitted. From his marriage to Susanne Meunier there were born seven children : (1) Bernard de Verges II, who became an infantry officer, in Louisiana, and married Mrs. (widow) Marguerite Chauvin de Lery, widow of Chevalier Dominicque de Verbois, a former officer in the colony. She was a daughter of Joseph Chauvin de Lery, Captain of Militia in Louisiana, and Francoise Laurence LeBlanc, her marriage to Bernard de Verges II, taking place on Aug. 14th, 1759; (2) Pierre de Verges, who became a notable character in military annals in the State of Louisiana. He married in the city of New Orleans on May 4th, 1759, Marie Josephe Catherine Poupart, widow of Antoine Simon Grifon d’Anneville, Royal storekeeper in the colony. Marie Josephe Catherine Poupart was a daughter of Sieur Joseph Poupart and Marie Roy. Marie Josephe Poupart was born in Fort Conde de la Mobile, and died in the City of New Orleans in 1740. From her first marriage to Antoine Simon Grifon d’Anneville, she had four children living: (1) Charles Antoine; (2) Daniel; (3) Catherine; (4) Victoria Marie Josephine Grifon d’Anneville, who became Madame Jean Marc Coulon Jumonville de Villiers. In the historical record of Pierre de Verges, the episode of Sept. 14th, 1758 appearing among the brilliant pages of Louisiana’s history.
From his marriage to Madame (widow) Griffon d’Anneville, three daughters were born, Marie Josephe Modeste de Verges, born in New Orleans, who married and became the second wife of Jean Rene Huchet de Kernion an alcalde under the Spanish regime and made her home on their plantation in Gentilly where she died on June 7th, 1815; (2) Marguerite Constance de Verges, who also married in New Orleans a son of Jean Rene Huchet de Kernion named Jacques Huchet de Kernion, by his first wife who had been Melle. de Lery des Ilets; (3) Marie Prudence de Verges, died unmarried; (2) Pierre de Verges; (3) Francois Xavier Dagobert de Verges, Sieur de St. Sauveur, who married Madeline Victoire Josephine Martin de Lino de Chalmet, and of Magdeleine Broutin. Their son Pierre married Heloise Martin de Lino de
De Poupart Coat-of-Arms.
Mrs. Pierre Paul deVerges nee Ma- thilde Cruzat. (From an old photograph. Courtesy of Mrs. Edwin X. deVerges.)
Chateau Mont L’Evecque near Paris, France. The home of Baron de Pontalba, reproduced from a painting given to the father of Mrs. Edwin X. deVerges by Baron Edouard de Pontalba. (See article page 135, Vol. II.)
A wall of the living room of the home of the Misses Sarah and Mamie Butler, New Orleans.
THE DE VERGES FAMILY
49
Chalmette was born in 1788, and was the daughter of Ignace Martin de Lino de Chalmette and Madeleine Victoire de Vaugine, and became the parents of two sons: Paul de Verges, born 1812, and married Jan. 19th, 1836, Marie Stephanie Lanuse, leaving seven children at the time of his death on May 27th, 1870: (1) Pierre Henry, born 24th of March, 1837, died March 23rd, 1904;
(2) Charles Ernest, born Dec. 21st, 1838, died Jan. 7th, 1920;
(3) Jean Baptiste de Verges, born Feb. 14th, 1843, died July 9th,
1915; (4) Pierre Paul de Verges, born July 21st, 1840, died April 2nd, 1919, married Mathilde Cruzat on Feb. 16th, 1870, and left children; (5) Louis Edmond de Verges, born Nov. 17th, 1844, died Sept. 29th, 1906; (6) Marie Alice de Verges, bom Nov. 6th, 1847; (7) Corinne de Verges, bom Dec. 17th, 1844, died May 12th, 1855. (4) Louis Joseph Augustin de Verges, (Sieur de
St. Luc) who died a bachelor. (5) Marguerite de Verges, who married April 26th, 1753, Henry Le Grand d’Orgon. (6) Marguerite Francoise de Verges, who married Jean Baptiste Chau- vin de Lery des Islets, File de Antoine Chauvin de Lery des Islets, an officer of Militia in the colony, her mother being Charlotte Faucon du Manoir. (7) Charlotte de Verges, who became Madame Gabriel Fazende, her husband Colonial Secretary in Louisiana. He was a son of Jean Baptiste Gabriel Fazende and Charlotte Dreux of the wealthy aristocratic plantation family of that name. He also was Commissaire under Rochmore in 1762, holding important civil offices until 1776.
Pierre Francois de Verges, 2nd son of Francois Xavier Dagobert de Verges, Sieur de St. Sauveur, was born Sept. 1st, 1807, and died Feb. 19th, 1865, married Victoire Coralie Lanusse, daughter of Paul Lanusse and Marie Celeste de Macarty, of the prominent plantation family of that name. (3) Malvina de Verges, who became Madame Manuel Cruzat, and left two daughters. The year 1763 is a memorable one in the annals of Chevalier Bernard de Verges, for at this time King Louis XIV, in recognition of and as a reward for 43 years of faithful and untiring services to the colony, conferred upon Chief Engineer de Verges the great honor of the Cross of the Royal and Militray Order of St. Louis, the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon a military man of French birth.
Pierre de Verges de St. Sauveur, son of Francois Xavier Dagobert de Verges de St. Sauveur and Madeleine Josephine Mar-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
tin de Lino de Chalmette, born in 1779, died Jan. 30th, 1839, married Madeleine Victoire Heloise Martin de Lino de Chalmette and Victoire de Vaugine, born in 1788, died Jan. 16th, 1856. Issue: Pierre Francois de Verges de St. Sauveur; Paul de Verges de St. Sauveur; Malvina de Verges de St. Sauveur.
Pierre Francois de Verges de St. Sauveur, son of Pierre de Verges de St. Sauveur and Madeleine Victoire Heloise de Lino de Chalmette, born Sept. 1st, 1807, died Jan. 19th, 1865, married Victoire Coralie Lanusse. Malvina de Verges de St. Sauveur married Manuel Cruzat, son of Antoine Gerthoude Cruzat and Victoire Morenciana de Lino de Chalmette. Paul de Verges de St. Sauveur, son of Pierre de Verges de St. Sauveur and Madeleine Victoire Heloise Martin de Lino de Chalmette, born June 27th, 1812, died May 27th, 1870, married Jan. 19th, 1836, Marie Stephanie Lanusse, daughter of Paul Lanusse and Marie Celeste de Macarty. Issue, Pierre Henri de Verges; Charles Ernest de Verges; Pierre Paul de Verges; Jean Baptiste Richard de Verges; Marie Alice de Verges; Corinne de Verges.
Charles Ernest de Verges, son of Paul de Verges and Marie Stephanie Lanusse, born Dec. 21st, 1838, died Jan. 7th 1920, married Feb. 16th, 1870, Mathilde Cruzat, .daughter of Gustave Cruzat and Marguerite Elizabeth Vienne, born June 30th, 1844, died Jan. 16th, 1896. Issue : Marie Alice de Verges; Aloysius Gonzaga Albert de Verges. Edwin Francois Xavier de Verges married Marie Josephine Cruzat, daughter of Joseph William Cruzat and Marie Heloise Hulse. Marie Anna de Verges married Dr. Thomas William Breaux, issue two daughters, Marie Gladys Breaux, married Dr. John Robert Flowers and Marie Hazel Breaux; Agnes Alice de Verges; Marie Lydia de Verges.
Philip Cajetan de Verges, M. D., married Marie Nelville Poupart, daughter of Sidney Joseph Poupart and Marie Cecile Cagnolatti; Joseph Henry de Verges. Louis George de Verges married Mrs. Sadie Unsworth Miller; three children, Nelville, Marjorie and Leonard de Verges. Theresa Lydia de Verges. Louis Edmond de Verges, son of Paul de Verges and Marie Stephanie Lanusse, married Oliver Soniat du Fossat.
Charles Ernest de Verges born Dec. 21, 1838, married April 27, 1867 Francoise Edwidge Fortier. Issue: Joseph Edward de Verges, married Alice Helena Flotte — two children: Joseph Ed-
THE DE VERGES FAMILY
51
ward de Verges and Edwidge de Verges Stockton (Mrs. Cleveland).
Marie Corinne de Verges married Dr. L. D. Archinard — two children: L. D. Archinard and Edwidge A. Martha.
Stephanie de Verges married John Jumonville.
Original in possession of Mrs. Lucille Paule de Verges Woods, Houston, Tex.
Paul de Verges, D.D.S., married Lucille Dunbar — one child: Lucille Paule de Verges (Mrs. Merritt Thurman Woods).
Plantations
Among the de Verges Plantations in Louisiana were: Trianon, belonging to Chevalier Bernard de Verges, located opposite the City of New Orleans in Olden days; the one on the Chalmette battle grounds which burned to the ground November 13th, 1848, owned by Paul de Verges; and Elina Plantation, St. James Parish, property of Pierre Paul de Verges until 1882.
Chapter IX.
THE BUTLER DYNASTY
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Butler Family.
A chief (or) indented (Azure) was the coat-of-arms of Theobold Fitzwalter Butler, and is traceable on seals so far back as the twelfth century, when heraldry was first instituted. The family crest was used in early Normand days and consisted of five ostrich plumes from which issued a white falcon (argent).
Different branches of the family varied the colors, but the chief of the family always used the colors of the princes of the blood, viz: — royal blue and gold.
Descendants of Seigneur Thomas Butler, and of his brothers and their cousins the Butlers from Carlisle, Pa., all the Revolutionary stock, are entitled to use the family crest.
Prepared by Joseph Marion Butler and William David Butler. Authorities: — “Burke’s Peerage” London 1906 — Dictionary of Biography — Vol. 8. McMillan & Co., New York, 1886. Brady’s “Episcopal Succession”, England’s “Life of Arthur O’Leary”. Matthews’ “American Armourer and Blue Book” without descent. London, 1907.
(FITZWALTER)
The name Butler obtains its derivation from the fact that in the year 1117 when Henry II went into Ireland, one Theobold Fitz-
THE BUTLER DYNASTY
53
waiter accompanied the King and was appointed Chief Butler of that country, hence the name. Theobold Fitzwalter, the first Butler of Ireland, acquitted himself with honor, dying in the year 1206 being succeeded by his son who also bore the name Theobold, or Theobald as some of the records have it. The second Chief Butler of Ireland, according to records of the year 1221, had attached to his name his official title, for on French records appear in conjunction with the name Theobold Fitzwalter (Butler). Up to the year 1321, the official title continued in the family, until the son of the Sixth Chief Butler, James by name, was elevated to the rank of Earl of Ormond in the Peerage of Ireland. Up until 1515 the succession of this Earldom at which time the great grandson of the Earl of Ormond, third in succession, Pierce Butler by name became the eighth Earl of Ormond, and the second son, Richard became first Viscount of Montgarret. James’ wife was Joan Fitzgerald, daughter of James Fitzgerald, eleventh Earl of Desmond. His children were John, Richard, and Thomas, who became the tenth Earl of Ormond, leaving no children.
A son of John’s, Walter by name, became the eleventh Earl of Ormond and was succeeded by James who became the twelfth Earl of Ormond and First Duke of Ormond. The family had distinguished members in the army and navy, as a son of the first Duke of Ormond while in command of the English army in Flanders in 1674 was killed at the Battle of Senef. The Butlers, true to the land from which came the name of Butler, developed a true fighting spirit. Known far and wide as the “Fighting Butlers”, they have gained fame in Europe and America, having fine war records in every conflict form the War of Independence to and including the World War — 1914-1918.
The American branch of the family stems to one Thomas Butler, who was born in the County of Kilkenny, town of Wiklow, Ireland on April 6th, 1720. He chose for his wife, Eleanor, daughter of Sir Anthony Parker, a native of Gary County, Wexford, they being married in 1741. Coming to America in 1748 with their three sons, they located in the county of Lancaster, Pa., later removing to Mount Pleasant, Cumberland County. Here, Thomas Butler invested in vast areas of land in the vicinity of which he caused to be built the first Episcopal church in that part of the country. Mount Pleasant became the cradle of his large
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
family of twelve of which five sons became Revolutionary heroes, distinguishing themselves by the intenseness of their patriotic ardor and utter contempt for personal danger. So much was this apparent throughout the struggle for Independence, that not only did General Lafayette praise all of the family, but General George Washington at a banquet given at his home to a large number of his officers rose, and addressing them as the “Honor Band”, toasted “The Butlers and their five sons”. A goodly crowd of fearless warriors were these sons, General Richard Butler, Colonel William Butler, Colonel Thomas Butler, Jr., Percival (or Pierce), Adjutant General of Kentucky, and Adjutant General Edward Butler. Of the twelve Butler children four died in infancy, those reaching maturity were Mary Butler, born Nov. 5th, 1749 in West Lancaster, Pa. She married Jacob Scandrett. Rebecca Butler, also born in West Lancaster, Sept. 19th, 1751. She married Captain George McCully, a member of the Order of Cincinnati. Eleanor Butler, born at Mount Pleasant, Pa., Dec. 31st, 1763 and married James Brown.
(1) Richard (Fighting Dick) Butler, eldest and most noted of the sons of Thomas Butler, was bom in the Parish of St. Bridget, Dublin, Ireland, on the 1st of April, 1745. He was killed (St. Clair’s Defeat) in the battle of Miami on Nov. 4th, 1791. He had risen to be a major general. He was made second in command of the American Army and was selected to place the American flag on the English fortifications after Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown shortly before his death. General Butler’s wife was Mary Smith who bore him four children. 1st William Butler, who became a lieutenant in the United States navy and died in the War of 1812. 2nd. Mary Butler who became the wife of Colonel Isaac Meason, her descendants married into the Trevor, Sower and Henry families of Philadelphia, Pa. 3rd. James, who died in infancy. 4th. Captain Richard Butler, whose wife was Anna Wilkins, daughter of General John Wilkins; their children married into the Thompson, Irvin and Biddle families of Pennsylvania.
(2) William Butler, second son of Thomas Butler, was bom on Jan. 6th, 1745 in the City of London, England, and died in Pittsburgh, Pa., May 16th, 1789. He was a Captain when he entered the Revolutionary Army and was Colonel of the Fourth Pennsylvania at its close. His wife was Jane Carmichael of
THE BUTLER DYNASTY
55
Pittsburgh, who was born in New Orleans, La., in 1751 and died the 6th of March, 1834. She bore him four children. 1st Richard Butler, born in 1777 and died 5th of Oct., 1820. He entered thei army and rose to the rank of Captain. Was sent by General James Wilkinson from Pittsburgh, Pa. to Natchez, Miss., to deliver important dispatches for Captain Isaac Guion — a trip of some 3,000 miles — and was gone from April 11th to June 16th. At the Battle of New Orleans, he served with the Forty-fourth Regiment. He married Miss Marguerite Farrar at the termination of the war, a native of Adams County, Mississippi, and during the epidemic of yellow fever in 1820, he, his wife and children died. 2nd. Rebecca Butler, born 20th of April, 1782, at Carlisle, Pa., died on June 23, 1844. She married Captain Samuel McCut- chon, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., and became the mother of four children. 1st. Jane, who became the wife of William Frege Krumbhaar and bore him four children. 2. Eliza Ann, who was born the 22nd of January, 1811. Married Robert Rhea Montgomery and became the mother of four children. 3rd. Percival (Pierce) Butler McCutchon born 26th Sept., 1821, married Jane Butler Browder, a cousin who bore him two children. 4th. Zelia Henderson McCutchon, born 6th of April, 1828, married Geo. Carson Lawrason, and became the mother of two sons: (1) one became Judge Samuel McCutchon Lawrason of St. Francisville, La., born July 31st, 1852, who married Miss Harriet Mathews, who bore him nine children, one Anne Lawrason married Edward Butler; (2) George Bradford Lawrason, the second son, born 26th of July, 1854, married for first wife Octavia Plane, and second, Daisy Bruns who bore him three children. 4th. William Butler, was a lieutenant in the War of 1812, having a splendid record, died childless in 1815.
(3) Thomas Butler, third son of Thomas Butler and Eleanor Parker Butler, was born on May 28th, 1748 in Dublin, Ireland, and was a babe in arms when his parents came to America, and settled in Pennsylvania. Having graduated, he studied law. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he enlisted as a private. His great courage marked him as an outstanding figure, indifferent to danger of person, and his record shows that in the War of Independence in the area of the Middle States, he took part in almost every battle. On the battlefield of Brandy Wine, he was thanked by Washington for his great bravery and his ability to
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
rally about him his retreating troops. At Miami, where his brother, General Richard Butler was killed, while in command of a battalion his younger brother saved his life when he was shot off his horse. In 1805 he was a colonel in the regular army and at the age of fifty-five died of yellow fever. He was a member of the Order of Cincinnati, a membership which descends to his son, Judge Thomas Butler. His wife was Sarah Jane Semple, a daughter of Robert Semple and Lydia Steele of Pittsburgh, Pa., and their children were Thomas, Robert, Lydia and William.
Thomas Butler III, born 14th of April, 1785, and studied law in the office of his uncle, Steele Semple. Later he came South to Louisiana and opened his law office practicing law in Florida parishes, making a prominent name for himself as well as a considerable fortune. He bought the plantation now known as “The Cottage” plantation in 1811 in West Feliciana Parish where he then made his home. This property is still in the family, owned by the four children of his son. Dr. Ormond Butler. The wife of Judge Thomas Butler was Ann Madeline Ellis, whom he married August 17th, 1813, whose home was in Adams County, Mississippi, she being a daughter of Abram Ellis and Margurite Gaillard of Huguenot ancestry. The Gaillard family, fleeing from France at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, came to America and settled in the French Colony in the Southern part of Carolina which later on in the 1860’s joined the Confederate Cause.
Judge Butler’s death occurred on August 7th, 1847. His family consisted of twelve children, eight reaching maturity as follows: 1. Percival (or Pierce) born Feb. 21st, 1817; 2. Richard Ellis, born Dec. 31st, 1819; 3. Robert Ormond; 4. Margaret; 5. Sarah Jane Duncan; 6. Anna; 7. Mary Ellis; 8. Edward.
(1) Percival, oldest son of Judge Thomas Butler, married Mary Louise Stirling, who was a daughter of Henry Stirling and Mary Bowman. Percival died Feb. 12th, 1888. Their children were: Thomas, born Dec. 6th, 1840; (2) James Pierce, born April 6th, 1842; (3) Louise Ann, born Dec. 6, 1843. Thomas Butler, oldest son of Percival, married Mary Fort, a daughter of William and Sally Fort; they had nine children as follows: Mary Louise; Thomas; Sallie; William; Annie; Samuel; Henry Minor; James Stirling; Judge Butler (he also followed his father’s profession) distinguished himself during the Civil War. (2) James
Mrs. W. J. Fort. (From a portrait by Amand, in the home of the Thomas Butler family.)
James Butler, Second Duke of Ormond, who was placed in command of the army of Prince William of Orange. (From an illustration in “The Butlers in America” by David Butler.)
Judge Thomas Butler of the “Cottage.” (From a portrait by Thomas Sully.)
Adjutant General Robert Butler, General Andrew Jackson’s Chief of Staff in the War of 1812.
(Courtesy of the Butler family.)
THE BUTLER DYNASTY
57
Pierce Butler, second son of Judge Thomas Butler, was eighteen years of age at the beginning of the Civil War at which time he joined the Confederate Army. Later he married Mary Louise Harrison and had two children; (1) Pierce Butler, who was Dean of Newcomb College, his wife was the former Cora Waldo; they had three children, Virginia, Pierce, and Mary Frances. The second son of Pierce Butler was (2) James Pierce, who married Laura Finley and had two children, Ormonde and James Pierce, Jr. He was a prominent business man of New Orleans. (3) Louise Ann Butler, third child of Pierce Butler, married Henry Chotard Minor of Terrebonne Parish on April 28th, 1875; they had three children, Margaret, John Duncan and Mary; John Duncan married Lucille Gillis and had two children, Lucille and Joan. Margaret married Charles Krumbhaar and had two children, Charles and Margaret. Mary, third child of Ann Butler and Henry Chotard Minor, married David Pipes, Jr., and had seven children, David (died in infancy), Anna Pipes; H. Minor; John; Katherine; Mary, and Margaret.
(2) Richard Ellis Butler, second son of Judge Thomas Butler and his wife Ann Madeline Ellis, was bom at “The Cottage Plantation”, near St. Francisville, La., on Dec. 31st, 1819. He married Sarah Evelyn Ker of Natchez, Miss., daughter of Dr. John Ker of “Linden” plantation on October 18th, 1849. They had one son, Thomas William, born Jan. 12th, 1851. He married Sallie Fort, on October 26th, 1881, and had three children, Sarah Duncan, Richard Ellis, and Mary Fort.
Thomas William Butler died at his home in West Feliciana, La., on Dec. 15th, 1913, a man greatly beloved and respected by all who knew him. He was Junior Warden of Grace Episcopal Church, St. Francisville, until the time of his death, and served his native Parish of West Feliciana in many capacities. Sallie Fort, his wife, died in New Orleans, La., at the home of her daughters, on January 7th, 1936.
Miss Sarah Duncan Butler and Miss Mary Fort Butler reside in New Orleans. Miss Sarah Duncan Butler is Vice-Regent for Louisiana for “The Mount Vernon Ladies Association of the Union”. This Association owns and cares for the home of George Washington.
Miss Mary Fort Butler has one of the outstanding collections of Early American Lighting Devices which she has used as an
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educational exhibit. Richard Ellis Butler married Jessie Norris Simon of Norristown, New Jersey, on April 17th, 1918, and lives in Pittsburgh, Pa., and has two children, Richard Ellis, Jr., and Jessie Norris.
(3) Robert Ormond Butler, third son of Judge Thomas Butler and his wife Ann Madelyn Ellis, born May 8, 1832, became a physician, having studied medicine in Paris, France. He practiced both in New York City and later in New Orleans, La., where he enjoyed a lucrative practice until his death on April 2nd, 1874. His wife was Margaret Burthe, daughter of Judge Victor Burthe and Estelle Millaudon, and their four children are as follows: (1) Louise, not married; (2) Robert Ormond, unmarried; (3) Edward, who married Anne Mathews Lawrason, they have four children as follows: Edward Lawrason, Harriet Mathews, now Mrs. Henry Bruns; (3) Charles Mathews; (4) Robert Ormond. Marguerite Butler, third child of Robert Ormond Butler and his wife Margaret Burthe, married Eugene Ellis, son of William Conner Ellis and Eugenie Richardson; they have four children as follows: Marguerite Butler Ellis; Eugene Ellis, Jr.; Amelia de Les- seps Ellis; and Eleanor Parker Ellis. Marguerite Butler Ellis married Richard Murrell and has two children; Amelia de Lesseps Ellis married Ross Murrell and has three children, Ross, Jr., Marguerite, and Frances.
Robert Butler, second son of Col. Thomas Butler and his wife Eleanor Parker Butler, bom Dec. 25th, 1786, married Rachel Hays, daughter of Col. Robert Hays and Jane Doneldson, who was a niece of Mrs. Andrew Jackson. Robert Butler was chief of staff to Gen. Andrew Jackson throughout the War of 1812, and at the Battle of New Orleans; in 1821 he resigned from the U. S. Army and for many years was surveyor-general of Florida. Lydia Butler, daughter of Col. Thomas Butler and Eleanor Parker Butler, born March, 1788, died 1852, married Stokely Hays, a nephew of Mrs. Andrew Jackson, and had two children, Jane who became the wife of John Rawlins, had issue living in Tennessee.
William Edward, son of Col. Thomas and Eleanor Parker Butler, married Martha Thompson Hays. He was a surgeon of the 2nd Tennnessee Regiment under Andrew Jackson.
STEWART
Deo Juvante Vinco
Chapter X.
PIPES FAMILY.
JOHN PIPES was the father of four sons, born in Philadelphia, J Pa. The family dating to Colonial Days in America. The sons were Windsor, John, Philip and Abner. Windsor and Abner left Philadelphia, going to what is now Illinois, and about 1780 removed to Adams County, Miss., at that time territory under the Spanish rule. According to family records, from these two brothers all of the families bearing the name Pipes living in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas descend. John went to Georgia where he settled, and Philip to Missouri in 1811 where he located.
Windsor Pipes, son of John Pipes, was married twice, his wife by his second marriage was Miss Jane McAfee, born on March 1st, 1745, and she became the mother of five sons and three daughters, and died Sept. 12, 1811. Her children were named as follows: Abner Pipes, John Pipes, Joseph Pipes, David Pipes, Charles Pipes, Jane Pipes, Polly Pipes, Lettie Pipes.
David Pipes was born in what is now Adams County, Miss., on May 14th, 1790. He spent his early life in the Natchez country, and at the Battle of New Orleans served with the Adams County cavalry troops, a memento of that day being a saber still
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
in the family, that was worn by David Pipes at this battle. When grown to manhood he removed to East Feliciana Parish, La., and became a planter. His success was such that by the time the Civil War was declared in 1861, he was considered one of the wealthiest planters in the section. He studied his land, his slaves, and all the things that pertained to the plantation, and kept up with the latest improvements, etc. He did not participate very actively in public affairs, although he was a member of the Whig party, but devoted his energies to his plantation, Beech Grove. From this place in true Christian manner he dispensed many a worthy charity, and there church festivals were held in order to aid the Church fund.
His first wife was Martha Worthington, five children from this marriage bear the following names: Alexander, Mary Hill, Henrietta, Amanda, and Emily. His second wife, Mrs. Amanda Collins, nee Dunn, was born in South Carolina on July 30th, 1800, a daughter of Captain Henry Dunn, a prosperous planter of South Carolina. While quite young the family moved to Mississippi where Amanda married Dr. Collins. Their children were Zater- ina and Ophelia. David Pipes and Amanda Dunn (Collins) became the parents of two sons, William H. Pipes and David W. Pipes. The oldest son, William H. Pipes, was a student at the University of Virginia at the time that the War Between the States was declared. He immediately left college and entered the army of the Confederate States of America. His army record shows he served with gallantry and distinction; he was adjutant- general on the staff of General Bates in the Army of Tennessee. In politics later he served as representative in the legislature in 1879, and during the administration of Governor Francis T. Nicholls was Treasurer of the State of Louisiana. He was greatly respected and admired throughout the state for his noble character. His wife was Sarah McKeowen, their children being David M. Pipes, Amanda Pipes, Elisabeth Pipes, William H. Pipes, and Ruth Pipes. David Pipes husband of Amanda Collins, died July 1st, 1892.
David Washington Pipes was reared in East Feliciana Parish and attended Oakland College in Mississippi. After the outbreak of the Civil War, he returned from college to assist in the management of his father’s plantation and business. He begged his family to let him go to war until finally in 1862 when he was 17
David W. Pipes in Confederate uniform (right). (From an old daguerreotype.)
Mrs. D. W. Pipes (Anna Key Port) at the time of her
WILLIAM JOHNSON FORT of Catalpa.
MRS. DAVID W. PIPES ne6 MISS ANNA KEY FORT
Beech Grove, old plantation home of the David W. Pipes family. East Feliciana, (now Swing Along Plantation.)
THE PIPES — FORT FAMILIES
61
years of age, he left for Virginia with his body servant, Henry Richardson. Reaching Richmond he met his nephew, John Stone, and many of his friends. He at once enlisted in the 4th Company, Battalion, Washington Artillery, from New Orleans, at that time with General Robert E. Lee in the Army of Northern Virginia. David W. Pipes remained with that famous organization until the close of hostilties, taking part in all the actions in which that battalion was engaged, leaving an honorable record to be added to those already attached to this distinguished family.
Like many of his friends, after hostilities Mr. Pipes resumed the life of a planter on the large plantation, this time on his own account. By his energy, keen judgment and thrift, he became successful in every enterprise he undertook ,and when he retired as a planter he was considered one of the large land-owners of Feliciana Parish, the greater part of his holdings being highly cultivated. In 1888 he was elected as an anti-lottery member to represent the Feliciana Parish in the State Legislature and his constituents were thoroughly satisfied with his activities. He fought the Lottery Company bitterly and was one of its most intelligent and persistent opponents. When the proposition to recharter the company was finally defeated, no one was happier than he. He was elected to the State Senate in 1892, and also served in the Constitutional Convention of 1898.
David W. Pipes married Miss Anna Key Fort, daughter of Mr. William J. Fort, a wealthy planter of West Feliciana Parish, La. Their children are: David W. Pipes, William Fort Pipes, Sarah Randolph Pipes, Randolph Windsor Pipes.
Sarah and Randolph were named for their grandmother, Sarah Randolph, daughter of Judge Peter Randolph of Virginia and Mississippi, and wife of Colonel Tignal Jones Stewart of Mississippi, the grandmother that Mrs. Pipes lived with during most of her childhood. The three Pipes boys were educated at Washington and Lee University, and the daughter at Newcomb College of Tulane University. During his lifetime while a resident of Clinton, La., Mr. David Pipes was a member and elder of the Presbyterian Church of Clinton. He was a staunch Presbyterian, firm in his religious beliefs and faithful in the discharge of the duties and responsibilities that this implies.
Mrs. David Pipes, always a social leader, continues her social activities, living again in her grandchildren her social triumphs
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
of her younger years. Stately, gracious, distinctly patrician looking, she has inherited from her illustrious ancestors all of those traits of character that come only through generations of good breeding. Her handsome home in the beautiful “Garden District”, like her former lovely old plantation home, is forever gay with the friends of the family who make of it a joyous meeting place. She is now the recognized head of the family or clan which comprises the following families: Fort, Stewart, Pipes, Randolph, and Butler.
TOWN HOUSE OF THE DAVID W. PIPES FAMILY .
The handsome city home of the David W. Pipes family is one of the most attractive in the city. Built when the beautiful “Garden District” was in the making and splendid mansions of the Greek- Revival and similar architectural styles were being constructed then as with many that have remained, it is as attractive as when originally built. This home, among the finest, is in every way typical of the home of the cultured patricians that chose this area for their residences.
Set in great gardens, surrounded by splendid oaks, magnolias and other beautiful trees that form leafy bowers at every turn, for years this lovely old mansion has been the hotne of the David Pipes family — one of the most distinguished plantation families in the entire Southland. This old home is quite similar to the plantation houses, having large rooms and high ceilings, wide hallways and roomy porches, making it an ideal home for entertaining on a large scale. Most of the splendid examples of massive rosewood and mahogany furniture from the ateliers of Signorette and Prudence Mallard feel quite at home in these large rooms, for much of it was made to order for the Fort and the Pipes families, ancestors of those who enjoy these beautiful things today. Fortunately the Pipes family had removed to this fine old home before their old family plantation home burned. On entering the hallway one notes at once the fine collection of silhouettes, picturing the celebrities of a vanished day. In the drawing-rooms and other rooms of the house one finds some of the finest crystal chandeliers in the South, and the other furnishings of this fine old home are in keeping. Since occupied by the Pipes family it has been a scene of constant entertaining, a number of debutantes, granddaughters of Mrs. David Pipes have made their debut here.
THE PIPES — FORT FAMILIES
63
The latest debutante to make her bow to society being a lovely granddaughter, Miss Sarah Pipes, pictured in her ante-bellum costume worn at the “Gone with the Wind” dance given some time ago.
FORT FAMILY OF CAT ALFA PLANTATION West Feliciana Parish , La.
Originally le Fort family came from France to England at the time of the “Revocation of the Edict of Nantes” when their religious privileges were taken from them. Later they came to America.
Mrs. William Fort, a widow with three sons, came from the Carolinas and settled in the Felicianas in the early part of the 18th Century. Their first home, built on Magnolia Plantation near the river, was a large roomy two-story house built of brick, with all of the comforts to be found in plantation homes of that period.
Shortly after settling in Feliciana, one of Mrs. Fort’s sons died. He had returned to Carolina with his cousins the Barrows, for more slaves, and on the way he contracted a fever from which he never recovered. Her second son William married the beautiful Mary Johnson, also a cousin of the Barrows, who had been sent to Philadelphia for her education. They had but one child, William Johnson Fort of “Catalpa Plantation”. He married Sally Jones Stewart, whose mother was Sarah Randolph, daughter of Judge Peter Randolph of Virginia and Mississippi, and her father was Tignal Jones Stewart, son of Duncan Stewart of Scotland. Duncan Stewart was the first Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. The old Stewart plantation manor. Holly Grove , was a massive Colonial building with large brick pillars, and galleries on both upper and lower floors. Its many rooms were filled with choice pieces of mahogany and rosewood furniture, (today considered antiques fit for a museum), family portraits, old silver and rare books, which enhanced its beauty — certainly a home of real charm.
From the marks on one of the bricks, authorities state the house was erected one hundred and fifty years ago. All of its beauty is now gone, except the old wide galleried house and the cemetery near by where rest the remains of the original owners.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
This little cemetery, overgrown by flowering trees and vines which climb over the handsome monuments, in olden days was as beautiful with flowers as was the immense garden filled with rare flowers and fruits. The Forts had three very large plantations, one of the sugar plantation had the largest sugar-house in the state in ante-bellum days. The ruins of this old brick building can still be traced by the brick foundations, not far from the main dwelling on Catalpa Plantation.
Mary Johnson, mother of Mrs. W. J. Port. From a miniature loaned by Mrs. David W. Pipes.
Mrs. Walter Crawford (Sarah Randolph Pipes). In ante-bellum gown worn at “Gon<
with the Wind party.”
Chapter XI
THE ELLIS FAMILY
AMONG the families of distinction that left Virginia about the A year 1776, coming South and settling in Adams County, were Richard Ellis and Mary Cocke Ellis, who purchased land near Natchez and in the vicinity of what is now Baton Rouge. Abram Ellis and Marguerite Gaillard Ellis, purchased plantation lands in Terrebonne Parish, La., and their son Richard Ellis moved there and lived on Evergreen Plantation, and later built Magnolia Plantation Manor still standing, and described in the plantation home article of that name, identified by its ancient slave call bells, as a number of plantations in Louisiana bear the name “Magnolia”.
The Ellis family, cultured and wealthy from Virginia, stemming to a noble house of the British Isles owned many splendid plantations in ante-bellum days. According to members of the family old records showing how extensive and valuable these holdings were, manned by thousands of slaves, are still in the family. The name is connected by marriage ties to the leading patrician families of the South, well' represented in all of the professions, and numbered among the princely planters of olden days.
Earlier Family Record
John Ellis, of Tuckahoe, Va., a member of the House of Burgesses, married Elizabeth Ware, of Varina Plantation, Va. Their son John of Nottaway, Virginia, married Elizabeth Smith. Their son Richard, married Mary Cocke, of Amelia County, Va. His son Abram, married Marguerite Gaillard of Adams County, Miss., and Terrebonne Parish, La. His son Richard, married Mary Jane Towson, and his (Richard’s) daughter Anne, married Thomas
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Butler (of the Cottage Plantation). Eliza married General Braxton Bragg, of Rosemount Plantation, Mobile, Ala. Thomas, mar- Kate Donelson, Towson, unmarried, Mary, married Thomas A. Adams of Boston, Mass., and lived to be a hundred years of age. William Conners, married Eugenie Richardson.
Their children are 1st, William, who married Isabella de Ayala, who had two children — Richard, and Gaillard. 2nd, Amelie; 3rd, Robert R., who married Rose Allen; 4th, Anna B.; 5th, Eugene, who married Marguerite Butler; 6th, Odette, who married John Moore; 7th, Sydney, who married Odile Kilpatrick; 8th, Edward; 9th, Towson, who married Ruth Denis. The children of Robert R., who married Rose Allen, are Robert R., who married Isabel Duning, whose children are Robert R., and John A. The children of Allen W., who married Dorothy Hill are Carroll Allen, and Cynthia. The children of Eugene Ellis, who married Marguerite Butler, are 1, Marguerite, who married Richard Murrell. Their children, Marguerite Gaillard, and Mary Conners. 2, Eugene. 3, Amalie, who married George Ross Murrell, their children are 1st, George R., Jr.; 2nd, Margaret Ellis; 3rd, Francis Gwin; 4th, Eleanor Parker Ellis. The children of Odette who married John Moore, are John and Ewing; John married Maude Butterworth, their two children are Catherine and John. Ewing married Janette Bloodworth. 7, Children of Sidney, who married Odile Kilpatrick, are Sydney and Barbara. 8, The children of Edward, who married 1st, Gladys Hardin, are Hardin, Virginia, and William. 9, Children of Towsen, who married Ruth Denis, are Ruth, Towsen, and Joan.
Another home of the Ellis family containing much that is artistic and interesting is that of the Eugene Ellis family on Third Street, New Orleans. Here we find paintings by noted artists, among them a portrait of an ancestor in full military uniform which hangs above a mantel. Flemish and Highland landscapes and others equally interesting fill the walls. Antiques of great charm and much fine old French oak magnificently carved fill drawing-rooms, dining-room, and hallway. Rare books and unusually attractive bric-a-brac all add to complete this most interesting home which has about it the same restful air of the plantation homes of the Ellis and Butler families.
Chapter XII.
THE PERCY FAMILY
VX) family of the large number of aristocrats locating in the area that later became known as the Felicianas is more thought of or have been more representative citizens than that which bears the name of Percy. A combination of English, Scottish and Irish blood — no better combination could be found — produced the men and women that have retained the high standards of the European Percys in their American way of life.
In 1776 Charles Percy, an English army officer, came to America and located in Wilkinson county near Fort Adams in Mississippi. Robert Percy, his son, who was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, became a midshipman while quite young and obtained his commission a short time before his twenty-first birthday. e served on a number of vessels, beginning on April 26th, 1783, on the armed galley Delaware, and later saw service on the Resolution, Robust, Africa, Ville-de-Paris, Victory, Powerful, Gorgon and Lord Nelson, on which he served as commander, accomplishing the great feat of convoying forty-six sailing boats from Elsi- neur For this he was commended by the Right Honorable Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty. He remained commander on the Lord Nelson until December 8th, 1801, and then was granted leave of absence on half pay until September, 1804, at which time he came to America. While still a lieutenant on H. M. S. Africa, he married Miss Jane Middlemist, the ceremony being performed on Sept. 15, 1796 at St. George Church, London. Miss Middlemist was born in Edinburg, Scotland, July 16, 1772, her parents,
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Thomas Middlemist and Jane Proudfoot. Of this marriage their first three children, Jane, Edward, and Margaret, were born in London. In 1794 Lieutenant Percy's father was accidently drowned, and left a large estate. His son, visiting America in 1795 to take possession of his part of the estate, was greatly impressed by the country and decided to settle in Feliciana. Under the date of 28th of September, 1802, Lieutenant Percy made application and was granted leave of absence from the Royal Navy. Chartering the Bilboa, a ship commanded by John Ruggles Soper, he made the trip to America. The record showing that the two daughters born in London accompanied their parents (the first born son supposedly not surviving infancy). On the trip also was a nephew of Mrs. Percy, an adopted daughter, and another young lady. When the vessel arrived and matters settled, Lieutenant Percy sold the vessel and left for the Felicianas where his father had located some twenty-six years previously.
Charles Percy, British Army officer and descendant of the Earl of Northumberland, held large tracts of land in the Felicianas that first had been English possssions, but shortly afterwards in 1779, the Spanish governor Don Bernado Galvez of Louisiana, defeated the English and replaced the English Jack with the Castellated banner of Spain. Charles Percy at that time was appointed an alcalde representing his district, having become a Spanish subject. At the time he left England he was a widower, but shortly after his arrival in the Feliciana country he married Susanna Collins by whom he had a number of children. However, only three of them married; they being: Sarah Percy, who became the wife of John Ellis, a native of Ellis County, Miss., who was a son of Richard Ellis, the ceremony taking place on Dec. 31, 1799, and became the parents of two children: (1) Thomas George Percy Ellis, and (2) Mary Ellis, who became Mrs. Rene de la Rcohe, wife of a Philadelphia doctor whom she met while she attended a boarding school in that city. Dr. Roche died in 1808, and she again married, this time Nathaniel A. Ware of Kentucky, on Sept. 1, 1814; issue, Eleanor Ware, and Catherine Ware.
(B) Thomas Percy, who married Maria * * * * of
Huntsville, Alabama, and died in 1888. W. A. Percy, a son residing in Washington County, Miss., while being among those that opposed secession, when war was declared led his company into
THE PERCY FAMILY
69
the thickest part of the fray, and one of his sons later became United States Senator Leroy Percy of Mississippi.
(C) Catherine Percy, who became the wife of Dr. Samuel Brown of Kentucky, Sept. 27th, 1808. Deciding to make his home in Beech Wood, Lieutenant Robert Percy soon became an important personage of the locality. Beech-Wood was a plantation of great extent and when fully cultivated was magnificent. The names of the children were as follows: Robert, Catherine, Thomas, Anna, and Charles. Like his father before him he became an alcalde under the Spanish rule — a local judge appointed by Don Carlos de Grand Pr A Soon, however, the settlers became dissatisfied with the severity of what they considered unjust rule ot Governor Carlos de Hault de Lassus, who had succeeded Governor Grand Pre. Finally deciding to become a part of the United States then practically in its infancy, determined to throw off the Spanish yoke. At this time Robert Percy performed what has been termed a brilliant service in the “West Florida Rebellion . Fulwer Skipwith, Shepherd Brown, and Robert Percy were members of the First West Florida high Judiciary At the time that the English-speaking residents learned that the Spanish Governor was acting in an unjust manner with the people of West Florida, and that they too, were likely to share the same fate, Judge Percy, with the other patriots controlling responsible positions ordered the taking of the fort at Baton Rouge. General Philemon Thomas in command of the forces accomplished this order. A spirited night battle ensued in which a number of the Spanish garrison lost their lives. The emblem of West Florida, the Lone Star flag was flown from the fort, the Spanish emblem disappearing from that section of the United States forever.
Robert Percy lived nine years longer, dying on November 19, 1819, and was laid to rest in the land he had grown to love so well. His devoted wife survived him many years, dying Mar 12, 1831, being buried by his side.
The vivacious Eliza Pirrie of Oakley having eloped with her handsome wealthy cousin Robert H. Barrow of Greenwood plantation, Audubon and his faithful wife were without their pupil. It was then 1823 that the widow of Robert Percy, who had continued with the plantation after her husband s death, having an immense plantation, mostly cotton, welcomed toBeechWoodLucy Blakewell Audubon, the faithful wife of the naturalist where th
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
charming lady became the tutor of the Percy girls, as well as to other daughters of the planters of the vicinity. Her school on this plantation became a celebrated one, and grand children of today refer with pride to the old school their grandmothers attended so long ago. Audubon sketched here as at Oakley, making his plates for “Birds of America”. It is told that in the vicinity of “Sleepy Hollow Woods” this area that the artist with the aid of Robert Dow Percy, then in his twentieth year caught the monster wild turkey cock that is known as his most noted painting of birds.
Lieutenant Robert Percy’s children were (Jane Middlemist issue) : (1) Jane Letitia Cowan Percy, born in London, August 19, 1797, and died in New Orleans, Jan. 5, 1877. She became the wife of James C. Williams of Natchez, Miss., stepson of Winthrop Sargent, on Feb. 5, 1814. Winthrop Sargent was the first governor of the Mississippi Territory A daughter, Mary Jane Williams, married Seargent S. Prentiss, noted Mississippi statesman, and a grand son of George Kennedy Prentiss of New Orleans. (2) Edward Powell Percy, born in London, Aug. 19, 1797, died in infancy. (3) Margaret Jessie Isabella Percy, born in London, July 5th, 1799, died in Paris, France, July 10th, 1865, was married on Dec. 7, 1824, to Geo. Washington Sargent, son of Gov. Sargent and half brother of James C. Williams. (4) Robert Dow Percy, born Aug. 28th in Louisiana, married July 19, 1831 Ellen H. Davis of Wilkinson County, Miss; his home was on Weyanoke plantation, West Feliciana. Three of his sons, Dr. Rpbert Percy, Dr. Harry Percy and Thomas Percy, served with honor in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. (5) Thomas Butler
Percy, born Sept. 29th, - , married 4th of June, 1833, Mrs.
Elizabeth Leatherbury Randolph, widow of Judge Peter Randolph.
Dr. Thos. B. Percy and Mrs. Percy resided at Beech Wood plantation. Their five sons fought in the Confederate Army. Thomas B. Percy, Jr., Clarence Percy, Dr. James Rowan Percy, William Chaille Percy, and Robert Sargent Percy. Thomas B. Percy, Jr., died of typhoid fever, Clarence Percy served the entire four years, first two in the Army of Virginia, and took part in two battles of Manassas. (7) Anna Christiana Percy, born in in Louisiana, Nov. 16, 1812, married Sept. 13, 1832, Dr. Addison Dashiell of Maryland. She died October 20, 1877. (8) Charles
Evans Percy, bom Oct. 20, 1815, married three times, first on 5th
THE PERCY FAMILY
71
of January, 1843, to Mary E. Rowan, issue a son; second on 18th of November, 1847, to Mary H. Doherty of West Feliciana, issue four children; third, to his second wife’s sister, Catherine B. Doherty, issue nine children. His oldest son, Charles E. Percy, Jr., by Mary Rowan, was killed in the battle of Atlanta.
Accompanying Lieutenant Percy and his family to America was Charles J. H. Middlemist, a nephew of Mrs. Percy, who married Ann Tuell, a daughter of Samuel Tuell, March 20, 1817. C. J. H. Middlemist died in 1827, and left two children, Jane and John Byron Middlemist, the daughter died in childhood. Ann Tuell Middlemist, a widow married Albert F. McCall of Rapides Parish. At the time that John Byron Middlemist reached manhood in 1848, family records show that his father’s estate was turned over to him by Charles Evans Percy, his tutor.
Clarence Percy, born Feb. 1st, 1836, died Feb. 22nd, 1909, married Anne Mathilde Hereford, born Feb. 3rd, 1836, died July 2nd, 1909; issue: (1) Catherine Sarah Percy, who was born m Pointe Coupee Parish on North-Bend plantation, Nov. 21st, 1866. (2) Clarence Percy, born in West Feliciana Parish, on Retreat plantation, Feb. 25th, 1868. (3) John Bronaugh Hereford Percy,
bom in West Feliciana Parish on Stirling Plantation, Feb. 2nd, 1870. The next two children, twins: (4) William Richard Percy, (5) Robert Ryland Percy — bom in West Feliciana Parish on Bus Hill plantation, Aug. 8th, 1874. (a) Catherine Sarah Percy was
married on the 28th of August, 1895, to Mathew Cilmore of West Feliciana Parish, (b) Clarence Percy, married Mathilde D Ar- mond of Clinton, La., Dec. 27th, 1906, issue one son, Rhea D Ar-
mond Percy, (c) John Bronaugh Hereford Percy, married Chris
tina Dashiel Howell, daughter of Charles Johnson Howell and Jane Percy Dashiell on the 14th of August,- 1893. (d) Wmiam
Richard Percy, married Mary Maud Stirling, who died 21st o November, 1918, in Minden, La.; issue, Namne Stirling Percy and John Hereford Percy, (e) Robert Ryland Percy — 1st wife was Frances Eugenia McGhee of West Feliciana Parish — two children by this marriage: John Edward Percy and Eugenia Corinne Percy. His second wife was Katherin Roark of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Their sons are Robert Ryland Percy, Jr., an William Conner Percy.
GENERAL PLAUCHE?S TOMB. STLOU1S.
CEMETERY.
Chapter XIII.
THE PLAUCHE FAMILY
PLAUCHE9 (PLOCHE9) (PLAU) (PLO), ETC.
npHE Plauche family of patrician origin has been one that has carried on the name with credit since coming to America. It is a tree with many branches, stemming to France, England, Germany, and many other parts of the globe — with a goodly number among the representative citizens of Louisiana.
The notes which have been furnished me by a prominent member of the family are as follows:
(Exact copy of page 274, paragraph 5, the second edition) :
“So You’re Going to Germany”, Clara E. Laughin, author,
says; . take the main road to Ulm via Esslingen, and south
to Kirchheim-unter-Teck. Crowned with the ruins of the ancient castle of the Dukes of Teck. The Dukedom had for a long time been swallowed up in Wuttemberg, when King William of Wuttem- berg conferred the title upon his grandson, Francis, who was married to a daughter of the Duke of Cambridge, George Hi’s seventh son. Queen Mary, consort of George V, is a child of this union. (Coburg is where King George’s grandfather came from . . . ) ’’This location in Germany of the town or village of
General Jean Baptiste PlaucM in full dress uniform, U. S. Army, 1812. (From a draw- ing given the author by Hon Chas. Gayarre and presented by him to the Louisiana His¬
torical Society.)
Portrait of Mary Barrow, painted by Thomas Sully. (Courtesy of Mrs. Mary Barrow Collins.)
Portrait of Robert Hilliard Barrow II, by Thomas Sully. (Companion plcturei. )
THE PLAUCHE FAMILY
73
Plochingen, is between the Rhine and the Black Forest, beyond the Vosge Mts. (see map, same book and literary page). Facts listed in Hof Kalendar Gotha 1907: resident in Prussia is a family of Plau, Graf fin (Count and Countess).
The data following is fact gathered from Personal Memoirs of the late Henry Plauche Dart , prominent lawyer and historian: From the diary of his father, Henry Dart of England, a naturalized American; from his father-in-law* s own entry in the Family Bible, Jacques Urbain Plauche (Ploche); from the statements of the aforesaid Hewry P. Dart’s maternal great-great grandparents, namely : Etienne Henry Plauche (Ploche) and Marguerite Zelam (Selamme) (Selam) in their last wills and testaments, sworn to before • a notary public; from the White Registry of the Archives of Baptism, Marriage, and Death records of the St Louis Cathedral, previously the Church of St. Louis of New Orleans, La., and an exact copy thereof sworn to and attested by the Seal of the Roman Catholic Church of New Orleans, La.; and the White Registry of the Birth, Marriage, and Death Records of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick, of New Orleans, La., with an exact copy thereof sworn to and attested by the Seal of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Patrick, of New Orleans, La., all testamentary evidences not to be contr averted.
From the aforesaid last wills and testaments, I include herewith further family data, of the Sieur Etienne Henry Plauche (Ploche and Dame Margueritte Zelam (Selamme-Selam), his wife, concerning their children of their lawful marriage:
Joseph Alexandre Plauche, died 1823; married Eugenie Bougeat, Pointe Coupee, La.; issue: children; domiciled Avoyelles Parish, La.
Jean Baptiste Plauche, died 1858, married Miss Mathilde St. Amant of St. Charles Parish, issue six sons, one daughter; domicile, New Orleans.
Jacques Urbain Plauche, born May 25, 1787, New Orleans, married July 9, 1809, Miss Molly Brown of Red River Parish, daughter of William Brown and Daisy White, of Kentucky, domicile first in Rapides Parish, then in New Orleans; issue, six children, three sons, three daughters, namely: Stephen; William; Zelam;
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Euphemie; Mary; Marguerite; (Mary married Henry Dart of Devonshire, England, June 22, 1841, issue: ten children, namely: four sons, six daughters, of these living to maturity were one son, Henry P. Dart, and three of the daughters, namely: Agnes Martha, Frances Isabella, and Mary Emily. All married and have children) .
Marie Magdelaine Plauche, married Jean Jacques Chesse; domicile in New Orleans, La.
Margueritte Melanie Plauche, married Jean Vital Michel, domicile in New Orleans; descendants.
Louisa Margueritte Plauche, married Francois Chesse, domicile, New Orleans.
Andre Plauche, married, domicile, Pointe Coupee Parish. A descendant (Male) of the Plauche men went to New York City to live.
Marie Victoire Plauche, domicile. New Orleans.
The residence, where Etienne Plauche died and where his lawful wife, Margueritte Selam (Zelam) (Selaume) made her last will and testament before a notary public is in existence (in 1941); it is located at No. 619 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, an attractive two-story and attic brick building. Their children were people of wealth and social prominence during their lifetime. Then came the Civil War, with its devastation and destruction.
General Jean Baptiste Plauche ranks high in the. military annals of the State of Louisiana. It was he who commanded that famous contingent of valiant Creoles known as the "Famous Battalion d’Orleans” at the Battle of New Orleans, when Jean Baptiste Plauche held the rank of major. This body of brave Creoles, learning of the arrival of the English, ran all of the way from the Fort (Spanish Fort) at the head of Bayou St. John to New Orleans, fighting many encounters with the Red Coats and acquitting themselves with honor. After the cessation of hostilities Jean Baptiste rose to be colonel of the famous Louisiana Legion, later becoming its first brigadier general. He was lieutenant-governor of the State of Louisiana in 1850. After an honorable career as distinguished soldier, officer of the state and prominent citizen — at the age of seventy-five years he died. He was mourned by a large circle of friends and was buried with full military honors.
Barrow Coat-of-Arms.
Chapter XIV.
THE BARROW DYNASTY IN LOUISIANA WILLIAM BARROW , SR.
fJTHE main trunk from which a great number of the Louisiana Barrows' stem is centered in the one from which William Bar- row, Sr., descends. William Barrow, Sr., however, is the starting point of most of the Louisiana trees.
We learn that he was a cultured gentleman who lived in Edgecomb County in the Northern part of Carolina, where he had been a prominent citizen, taking an active interest in the affairs of the community. He had been high sheriff, an appointee of the governor of the state, more of an honorary position than a monetary one. It was a position of quite some importance, in early colonial days. Family records of the Barrows show that he was physically disabled, which accounts for the lack of a military record of that period. However, he did his part in other ways, as he was an ardent patriot. In July, 1760, he was married to Olivia Ruffin, daughter of Robert Ruffin and Ann Bennett. They became the parents of nine children, six sons and three daughters. William Barrow, Sr., died at his homestead near Enfield in the Northern part of Carolina, in Halifax County, on Jan. 27th, 1787, and is supposed to have been buried there.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The children of William Barrow, Sr. and Olivia Ruffin were: 1st, William Barrow, Jr., born Nov. 29th, 1761, died Nov. 27th, 1762; 2nd, Robert Barrow, born Feb. 18th, 1763, died May 29th, 1815. He married Mary Haynes, and was probably buried on Highlands plantation. 3rd, William Barrow, Jr. (second of that name), born Feb. 26th, 1765, died Nov. 9th, 1823. He married Pheraby Hilliard in North Carolina on June 26th, 1792. She was born Feb. 11th, 1775, died Oct. 10th, 1827. Both are buried in the cemetery of Highland plantation. William Barrow, Jr., died in Washington, D. C., where he had gone to place his youngest son in school, his body was later brought back to Highland plantation by his son, and interred in the family plot. 4th, Bartholomew Barrow, born Oct. 16th, 1766, died Feb. 15th, 1852. His first wife was Elizabeth Slatter, who died in North Carolina; his second wife was Beththier Brantly, born 1777, and died in 1843. Bartholomew was one of the sons that remained in Carolina, and later came to Feliciana in 1820. He settled on the plantation that was to be renamed Afton Villa, where both he and his second wife are buried in the family plot of that plantation. 5th, Ann Bar- row, born Sept. 11th, 1768. 6th, Mary Barrow, born May 16th, — . She became the wife of William or David Lane. 7th, Sarah Bar- row, born April 14th, 1773. She married John Dawson and became the parents of General Bennet Dawson, born in Nashville, Tenn. 8th, Rjiffin Barrow, born April 9th, 1775, died Dec. 16th, 1799. 9th, Bennett Barrow, born June 22nd, 1777, died July 22nd, 1833. He married Martha Hill. He evidently was a banker in Halifax, North Carolina, for in the record of the sale of a lot there is a clause excepting “a large vault to the bank”. It was he who remained in North Carolina with his brother, coming to Feliciana in 1816 where he located on Rose- bank plantation across Little Bayou Sara from his brother's home (William Barrow, Jr.). He is buried with Martha Hill, and many of his decendants on Rosebank plantation, but no tombstone mark their resting places, the wooden headboards disappearing long ago.
Rosebank manor is of the Spanish type of architecture, having brick paved floors, and large pillars surrounding the wide gallery enclosed by iron railings. It is a quaintly beautiful old place surrounded by a garden planted by the girl wife of one of the sons of Bennett Barrow. In olden days according to the his-
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tory of the place it was the gathering spot, as well as scene of many great social events of that era. The children of William Barrow, Jr. and Pheraby Hilliard, the owners of beautiful Greenwood plantation manor: 1st, Robert Hilliard Barrow, born Feb. 7th, 1795, died July 21st, 1823. He was buried on Highland plantation. He married Eliza Pirrie, born Oct. 6th, 1805, died April 20th, 1851. She was a daughter of James Pirrie and Lucretia Alston.
Robert Hilliard Barrow’s plantation home was on Prospect plantation. He represented the County of Feliciana in the Louisiana Legislature during the years 1820-1822. He died of pneumonia resulting from the wetting he got when crossing the Homo- chito Bayou while eloping with the beautiful Eliza Pirrie. He died before the birth of his son, Robert Hilliard Barrow, Jr., who was born March 27th, 1824, who also was in the legislature representing West Feliciana in 1856. It was he who organized and equipped the Rosale Guards and was elected the first captain of that company. Later when the company was mustered into the 11th Louisiana Regiment he was made lieutenant-colonel of the regiment and afterwards promoted to colonel, succeeding Col. I. N. Marks of New Orleans. 2nd, Ann (Nancy) Ruffin Barrow, born Sept. 17th, 1795, died 1856. She became the wife of John Benoist, and they had one child, Rosina E. Benoist, who became the wife of Herman Groesbeck. 3rd, William Ruffin Barrow. 4th, Bennett Barrow, born Dec. 23rd, 1803. 5th, Martha Hilliard Barrow, bom Sept. 11th, 1809, died Sept., 1899. She married Daniel Turnbull, born June 5th, 1796, died Oct. 30th, 1861.
They had three children: Sarah Turnbull, who married Lieutenant James Pirrie Bowman, son of David Bowman, born Sept. 15th, 1805, died Feb. 9th, 1874. He married first in 1823 Sarah Hatch, of North Carolina, born Feb. 27th, 1808, and died Jan. 9th, 1846. She was a daughter of Charles Hatch and Mary (Polly) Mosely. They were the parents of Bartholomew Barrow, who married Martha Semple; Mary Eliza Barrow, born in 1825, died 1920, who married Col. Robert Hilliard Barrow II, and six other children, who died young.
David Barrow, born Sept. 15th, 1805, died Feb. 9th, 1874, had remained behind in the old homestead in North Carolina, came to Louisiana in 1830 with his wife and young children, purchasing a plantation on the Pinkneyville Road, in West Feliciana Par-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
ish, where they remained for a period of two years, when selling this place he returned to his old North Carolina home where he remained until 1836, when he moved to the large cotton plantation which he bought near Tallahassee, Florida. Not Hiring the Florida climate which was affecting his wife’s health, sold the place, and in a few years returning again to Louisiana. On Jan. 9th,’ 1839, he bought from his father the plantation with the six-room house which later on was to be enlarged into the present French Gothic Villa now known as Afton Villa.
After the death of his first wife, and the marriage of his daughter Mary, he had the present Gothic structure built, retaining the original six-room house in the plan, as a home for his second wife. David Barrow’s second wife was Mrs. Susan Ann Woolfolk, born 1820, widow of a Mr. Rowan, and daughter of Col. Joseph Harris Woolfolk and Martha Mitchum. The original smaller Afton house was given its name because David’s beautiful daughter Mary sang the Scotch ballad so sweetly, and so often her throng of admirers named her home “Afton Villa” after the refrain Flow Gently Sweet Afton”. David Barrow is buried beside his first wife in the little cemetery of Afton Villa plantation.
The children of David Barrow by his second wife, were three sons and one daughter, two of the sons dying young. The daughter, Florence Roberta Barrow, bom Florence, Mass., July 24th, 1856, married Maximillian Fisher, born 1844, died 1906, son of Frederick Fisher and Catherine Clauss, their home first was at Bayou Sara and later they removed to Kenmore plantation. Their other son, David Barrow, bom at Afton Villa, Aug. 31st, 1858, died Aug. 1932, located in Lexington, Ky., in 1887, where he became an eminent physician, and distinguished surgeon. He had the distinction of being the only surgeon in Kentucky that was a senior fellow of the American Surgical Association. He married Mary Blount Parham and they became the parents of six children.
The six children of Mary Barrow and William or David Lane, are as follows: (a) William Lane, Jr., died without issue, (b) Ann Lane, married Frank Routh, issue two children, (c) Olivia Ruffin Lane, married first time to William Ratliff, and had two children. Her second husband was William Wade, and they became the parents of four children. Jointly Olivia Ruffin Lane and William Wade built “handsome Ellerslie” plantation manor.
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now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Percy, who purchased it from Joseph J. Wade, a descendant of the builders.
The seven children of Sarah Barrow and John Dawson are as follows: 1st, John Bennett Dawson, born 1800, died 1845, married Margaret Johnson. A large portrait of him in uniform hangs in the courthouse of St. Francisville, La. Children of Bennett Barrow and Martha Hill: Olivia Ruffin Barrow, who married William Ruffin Barrow, son of William Barrow, Jr., and Pheraby Hilliard. William Hill Barrow married Eliza Eleanor Barrow, daughter of William Barrow, Jr., and Pheraby Hilliard, issue nine children. Margaret Barrow died young. Bennett James Barrow, born 1811, died 1878. He married Caroline Hall and they became the parents of nine children. Robert James Barrow, born Oct. 5th, 1817, died Dec. 16th, 1887, married Mary Eleanor Crabb, daughter of Judge Henry Crabb and Jane Ann Barrow of Tenn., on July 11th, 1839; issue eight children. She was born March 2Srd, 1822, died Feb. 20th, 1897. Robert James Barrow was a general in the Confederate Army.
United States Senator Alexander Barrow.
His birth being on March 27th, 1801, near Nashville, Tenn. He was the son of Wylie Macajah Barrow, often spelled Willie Bar- row, and his first wife’s name was Jane Grier, often seen written Jane Green.
Wylie Macajah Barrow, father of Alexander Barrow, came to Tennessee from Carolina, having emigrated when a young man 25 years of age, from the Northern part of Carolina. He became a successful and prominent planter, and an influential citizen of his adopted state. He was born on July 24th, 1770, and his death occurred on June 7th, 1825. His first wife, Jane Grier of Kentucky, who it is said had relatives in Covington, Kentucky. A daughter was born in Virginia, where Jane Grier died at the time of her child’s birth. Later Wylie Macajah Barrow married Anna H. Beck, whose birth was July 27th, 1789, and death occurred Aug. 8th, 1831. Both Wylie Macajah Barrow and his second wife are buried near Nashville, Tenn., in adjoining graves. The children of Wylie Macajah Barrow and Jane Grier are three in number. Alexander Barrow, David Barrow, and Jane Ann Barrow. By his second marriage Wylie Macajah Barrow and Ann H. Beck became the parents of four children. George Washington Bar-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
row; Wylie Macajah Barrow; Albert G. Barrow; and John E. Barrow. Alexander Barrow chose for his wife Mary Ann Bar- row, a sister of David Barrow (of Afton Villa) who was a daughter of Bartholomew Barrow, who was born in 1766, and died in 1852, and his second wife Berthier Brantly (1777-1843), who came to Louisiana in 1820 from the Northern part of Carolina.
Alexander Barrow by his marriage to Mary Ann Barrow became the father of three children: Alexander Barrow II; Wylie Macajah Barrow, and Jane Barrow. Alexander Barrow II married Effie Cockerell, and they became the parents of one son, Alexander Barrow III. Wylie Macajah Barrow married Martha Pitcher; issue three children. Merritt Barrow, Nanine Barrow, and Ratliff Barrow. Jane Barrow married Thomas G. Sparks, and they became the parents of the following children: Wylie Sparks; Isabelle Sparks; Thomas Sparks; Mary Eleanor Sparks; Effie Sparks; Jane Sparks; Lise Sparks, and Lou Gale Sparks. Alexander also had many great grand children.
A brother of Alexander Barrow, David Barrow by name, married and became the father of a son named David Barrow, and a grandson David N. Barrow II, whose home is in Plaquemines, La. A sister of Alexander Barrow became the wife of Henry Crabb, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. (Jane Ann Barrow) and Judge Crabb were the parents of three children : Henry Alexander Crabb, Jane Ann Crabb, and Mary Eleanor Crabb. Mary Eleanor Crabb became the wife of Robert James Barrow I, of Rosebank plantation, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Their son Robert James Barrow II became the husband of Sarah Louise Barrow, who was a daughter of Col. Robert Hilliard Barrow, and Mary Eliza Barrow, who was a daughter of David Barrow of Afton Villa, whose sister, Mary Ann Barrow was the wife of Honorable Alexander Barrow. Honorable Alexander Barrow had four half-brothers, whose names are as follows : George Washington Barrow, born 1817, died 1866, who became U. S. Minister to Portugal 1841-1844.
Wylie Mica j ah Barrow, born 1810, died 1853, married Cordelia Johnson Barrow, born 1845, died 1924, who married for the second time Maratha Robertson; from this marriage was bom Honorable Micajah Barrow (1874-1934) of Baton Rouge, La. John E. Barrow, Indian Agent at St. Joseph, Mo., between there and Salt Lake City, and who later went to New York City and
Marie Francoise Durand, daughter of Jean Baptiste Durand and Catherine Arnoux; married Marius Pons Bringier; died at White Hall Plantation in 1803. (Pictures courtesy of Trist Wood.)
Marius Pons Bringier, builder of White Hall (Maison Blanche). The first Bringier to settle in Louisiana.
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became quite wealthy. Albert G. Barrow, who married a Miss Marie J. Swift, the ceremony performed by the Rev. J. L. Mullon of St. Patrick’s Church of New Orleans on Jan. 11th, 1833, Albert Barrow dying on Jan. 25th, 1842, leaving a wife and son, Bennett H. Barrow, who later in life settled in Southern Louisiana where he married and raised a family.
ANCESTORS OF CORDILIUS JOHNSON BARROW .
Wylie Mica j ah Barrow, married Ann Eliza Beck, 2nd wife; children: Albert Gallitin, Wylie Mica j ah, George Washington, John E., Jane Douglas.
Wylie Mica j ah Barrow married Cordelia Johnson. Issue: (1) Alexander Douglas Barrow; (2) Wylie Mica j ah Barrow; (3) Ann Eliza Barrow; (4) Cordelius Johnson Barrow.
Cordelius Johnson Barrow married Martha Johnson Robertson, daughter of Edward White Robertson and Mary Jane Pope. Issue: Leita Mattie Barrow, Wylie Micajah Barrow, Mary Jane Barrow, Edward Robertson Barrow, Martha Johnson Barrow, Cordelius Johnson Barrow, (died in infancy).
Leila Mattie Barrow married John Robert Mays. Children: John Robert Barrow, Daisy Lavina Barrow.
John Robert Barrow married Kate Carothers Perkins. Children: Kate Perkins Barrow, Caroline Barrow, John Robert Bar- row III.
Daisy Lavina Barrow married William Prentis Obier. Children: Leila May Obier, William Prentis Obier II. Mr. J. R. Mays is the son of Samuel Mays and Caroline Hill, his birthplace being Warpeth, Tenn. — Mr. Mays coming to Louisiana in 1890 and engaging in the cotton business in which he continued for eighteen years.
This branch of the Barrow family were a part of the Colony of Nashville, Tenn. — instrumental in its founding.
Bartholomew Barrow married Elizabeth Slatter, and became the parents of Volumnia Roberta Barrow, and Robert Ruffin Bar- row, who married Jennie Lodiska Tennent. Their children are: 1st, Volumnia Hunley Barrow, who died early. 2nd, Irene Feli- cite Barrow, not married. 3rd, Robert Ruffin Barrow, died. 4th, Zoe Gayoso Barrow, who married Dr. Robert Samuel Topping. 5th, Jennie Tennent Barrow, who married Dr. H. P. Dawson of Montgomery, Ala. 6th, Hallette Mary Barrow, wife of Christian
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Greene Cole. Jennie Lodiska Tennent, who married Robert Ruffin Barrow, is the daughter of Charles Tennent, and Felicite de Beauregard Gayoso, Felicite de Beauregard Gayoso was the daughter of Lodoviska Victoria, (Cecelia) Perez, who was a daughter of Jacques Toutant de Beauregard, and wife of Emanuel Zirill Perez.
GREENWOOD
West Feliciana .
The charm of Greenwood Plantation Manor consisting of its magnificent setting, its immense size, which dwarfs one when standing close by, and the beauty of its architecture and splendid interior. The interior plan is similar to most of the finer mansions of the South, with a grand stairway with easy sweep. There are two immense rooms on each side with a similar planning on the floor above. The furnishings, like those of the original owners, are very fine and in splendid taste. Above the fine woodwork of the windows are handsome cornices crowning the splendid draperies. The gold leaf ornamentation above the Irish Point lace-curtains of the immense drawing-rooms add greatly to the furnishings of the rooms.
In these rooms the oyster-white walls and fine door frames form an ideal setting for the rosewood furniture of solid wood with handsome fire gilt mounts, all of the Louis XV period, and Aubusson tapestry covering with Watteau designs of medallions, cupids and festoons, and wreaths of flowers, all in soft tones on a delicate greenish background. All of the other furnishings of the rooms in keeping with the elegance of these articles.
In the dining-room are other priceless curtains of finest Belgian lace over a century old, and of beautiful design. This banquet room, and as such is the record of this stately chamber, contains elegant hand-carved antique furniture of English make with gorgeous designs of fruit and birds, with a full set of chairs of matched ornamentation, all high backed, making indeed an imposing ensemble. Among the treasures of this home is an unusual as well as immense silver venison dish from Scotland, taken to America by the Fisher family, a Scotch branch of the English family of that name. This venison dish is two centuries old. This Fisher family also brought over much of the other furnishings of Greenwood Manor.
BRINGIER ARMS
The above was copied in 188U from an engraving. Arms in possession of Marius Ste. Colorribe Bringier, “Houmas” and New Orleans, who had the arms from his great uncle in France, the Canon J. B. Hippolyte Bringier (bom 1757). It is interesting to note that similar arms are borne by the English families of Beringer, Berenger and Boranger — offshoots in earlier times of the parent stock in France. (Arms and data courtesy of Trist Wood).
Chapter XV.
THE BRINGIER — KENNER — DU BOURG — BRENT TRIST — WOOD — STAUFFER FAMILIES
BRINGIER
TGNACE BRINGIER, a judge in the district of Limagne, De- * partment Puy-de-Dome, France, was the father of Jean Bringier, related to the Count de Rochebriant. Jean was the father of Pierre Bringier, whose wife was Marie Doradou, a member of the family of Baron Doradou d’ Auvergne. This Pierre Bringier had his home at Lacadiere near Aubagne, and became the father of Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier, bom Oct. 27th, 1752, who moved to Louisiana, and owned White Hall Plantation in St. James Parish. He died April 21st, 1820. His wife was Marie Francoise Durand.
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Their children were: 1st, Louis Bringier, born Aug. 25th, 1784, in the Tchoupitoulas District, La., and known as Don Louis; he was Surveyor-General of Louisiana; died in New Orleans, La., Oct. 29th, 1860. 2nd, Frangoise (Fanny), the eldest daughter, was born at White Hall Plantation, March 9th, 1786, died May 10, 1827; in 1811 she married Christophe Colomb, a native of Cor- beille, near Paris, France. 3rd, Louise Elizabeth, born at White Hall Plantation, April 21st, 1788, died Nov. 23rd, 1863; she married Judge Augustin Dominique Tureaud. 4th, Michel Doradou Bringier, born at sea Dec. 6th, 1789, of whom later. 5th, Frangois Laure, born at White Hall Plantation, July 23rd, 1792, married Noel Auguste Baron, a native of Caen, Normandy, France. 6th, Elizabeth Melanie, born August 16th, 1793, married first, William Simpson, and second, James Fisher Wilson.
The 4th child, mentioned above, Michel Doradou Bringier, born at sea Dec. 6th, 1789, died March 13th, 1847. He married in Baltimore, Md., June 17th, 1812, Louise Elizabeth Aglae Du Bourg de Ste. Colombe, a daughter of the Chevalier Pierre Frangois Du Bourg, Sieur de Ste. Colombe, and Elizabeth Etiennette Bonne Charest, daughter of Frangois Charest de Lauzon, and granddaughter of Etienne Charest, last Seigneur de Lauzon.
Madame Michel Doradou Bringier, died at her New Orleans home, a plantation type of residence, called Melpomene, thirty-one years after the death of her husband, on June 8th, 1878. Their children were as follows:
(1st) Marius St. Colombe Bringier, known as “M S”, born at White Hall Plantation, Oct. 17th, 1814, died in New Orleans, Aug. 22nd, 1884. He married his cousin, Augustine Tureaud, daughter of Augustin D. Tureaud, and Elizabeth (Betzy) Bringier, and they were the parents of five children:
(I) Louise Bringier, who became the second wife of Dr. James de Berty Trudeau; (II), Augustine Bringier, who died in childhood; (III), Felicie Bringier, died unmarried; (IV), Marius Ste. Colombe Bringier, also died unmarried; (V), Eda Bringier, who became Mrs. Holmes Thomas, of Baltimore.
(2nd) Marie Elizabeth Rosella Bringier, who was born at the Hermitage Plantation on June 24th, 1818, died on the same plantation July 20th, 1849, married General Hore Browse Trist of Bowden Plantation, Ascension Parish, La., who was born in Washington, D. C. on March 19th, 1802. (Both General Trist and his
THE BRINGIER FAMILY
85
elder brother, Nicholas Philip Trist, were the wards of Thomas Jefferson, and were reared at Monticello; later Nicholas Trist became the husband of Miss Virginia Randolph, a daughter of Governor Mann Randolph of Virginia, and a granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson.) Hore Browse Trist was Commander-in- chief of the State troops of Louisiana. He died Nov. 16th, 1856.
Their children were: (I), Nicholas Browse Trist of Totness Plantation, located on the Atchafalaya River, who married his cousin, Augustine Gordon; (II), Julien Bringier Trist, like his brother, N. Browse, was educated at Stuttgart, Germany (at that time considered one of the finest universities in the world); was killed in the Battle of Murfreesboro; (III), Wilhelmine Trist, married Colonel Robert C. Wood, son of Brigadier General R. C. Wood, assistant surgeon general U.S.A., and Ann Taylor, daughter of President Zachary Taylor. Colonel Robert C. Wood commanded Wood’s Cavalry of the Confederate Army in the Civil War. (IV), Rosella Trist, died in childhood. (V), Nicolas Philip Trist, who was a lieutenant in the Confederate Army. He was married twice, his first wife being a cousin, Marie Tureaud, his second wife being her sister, Alice Tureaud.
(3rd) Louise Fran§oise Bringier, who was bom in New Orleans on Oct. 6th, 1820, and who became the wife of Martin Gordon, she dying on Nov. 13th, 1889. Their children being as follows : (I) , Aglae Gordon, who was the wife of Guichard Bienvenu; (II), Anna Gordon, who did not marry; (III), Augustine Gordon, who married her cousin, Nicholas Browse Trist; (IV), Martin Gordon, Jr.; (V), Bianca Gordon, who died in early womanhood; (VI), Loutie Gordon, who became the wife of Dr. P. S. O’Reilly of St. Louis, Mo.; (VII), Wilhelmine Gordon, unmarried.
(4th) Anne Guillelmine Nanine Bringier, who was born at the Hermitage on Aug. 24th, 1823, and died in New Orleans on Nov. 6th, 1911, married Duncan Farrar Kenner, of Ashland Plantation, their children being: (I), Duncan Farrar Kenner, who died in childhood; (II), Blanche Kenner, who married Samuel Simpson; (III), Rosella Kenner, who married General Joseph Lancaster Brent; (IV), George Kenner, who died unmarried.
(5th) Louis Amedee Bringier, born Feb. 4th, 1828, died in Florida, where he later had become a sugar planter, Jan. 9th, 1897. Before going to Florida he resided at the Hermitage Plantation in Ascension Parish, La.; a colonel of Cavalry in the Con-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
federate Army. His wife was a cousin, Stella Tureaud, their children being: (I), Louis Amedee Bringier, Jr., whose wife was Ella Threlkeld (Veuve Hobbs); (II), Alice Bringier, who married Thomas McCormick; (III), Louise Bringier, who became Mrs. William C. Bateman; (IV), Julien Trist Bringier, M.D., whose wife was Mary Cuthbert Jones; their Plantation Tezcuco in Ascension Parish, La. (Their children are: Suzanne Bringier, who married Logan McConnell and Miss Trista Bringier.) (V), Stella Bringier, who married Robert Thach of Birmingham, Ala. (VI), Nicholas Browse Trist Bringier, unmarried; (VII), Mather Du Bourg Bringier, his first wife being Jennie E. McGalliard, his second wife, Helen Jane Mills.
(6th) Marie Elizabeth Aglae Bringier, born Jan. 17, 1830, married her cousin Benjamin Louis Michel Tureaud, of Tezcuco Plantation. Their children being: (I), Aglae Tureaud, who married first, William Brooks, and secondly, George Parks; (II), Benjamin Tureaud; (III), Henri Tureaud — both of whom remained bachelors.
(7th) Louise Marie Myrthe Bringier, born Jan. 28, 1834, died at the Bringier home Melpomene, New Orleans, La., on March 16th, 1875, was the wife of Lieutenant-General Richard (Dick) Taylor of Fashion Plantation, in St. Charles Parish, La. Their children : (I) , Louise Margaret Taylor, who did not marry. (II) , Betty M. Taylor, who became Mrs. Walter R. Stauffer. (Ill), Zachary Taylor, who died in childhood. (IV), Richard Taylor, who also died in childhood. (V), Myrthe Bianca Taylor, who married Isaac Hull Stauffer.
(8th) Ann Octavie Marie Bringier, born at the Hermitage Plantation, Jan. 1st, 1839, died in New Orleans on Nov 20th, 1917, was the wife of General Allen Thomas of New Dalton and New Hope Plantations, a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army, and U. S. Minister to Venezuela. Their children: (I), Allen Thomas, who married a cousin, Marie Sauv^, (II), Julien Bringier Trist Thomas, who married Mary Agnes Saal; (III), John Ridgeley Thomas, unmarried; (IV), Dali Thomas, whose first wife was Elma Bergeron, his second wife being Louise Moret.
(9) Martin Doradou Bringier, born August 3rd, 1842; a lieutenant and aide-de-camp in the army of the Confederacy, who did not marry.
THE KENNER FAMILY
87
HONORABLE DUNCAN FARRAR KENNER
Honorable Duncan Farrar Kenner, youngest son of William Butler Kenner and Mary Minor Kenner, was born in New Orleans at the family home in Bienville Street near Exchange Alley on the 11th of February, 1813. He was tutored privately and later attended the schools of New Orleans. He then attended Miami College at Oxford, Ohio, graduating in 1831 at the age of eighteen years, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He went to Europe to finish his education. He remained in England and in France for four years where he learned to speak French fluently, a necessity in New Orleans at that time. John Slidell, an able Louisiana attorney and friend of young Kenner’s father, took the young man into his office that he might learn enough law to enable him to assume the responsibilities of any political office that he might seek or be appointed to. Later this experience was to be of great help to him as he became one of the most brilliant men of his day — statesman, planter, lawyer and diplomat. His interest in the Ashland Plantation which he owned with his brother in Ascension Parish demanded his attention, so after being in Mr. Slidell’s office for some time, he reluctantly left the office to live upon the plantation.
Later he bought his brother’s share in Ashland which gave him a free hand in its management. His knowledge of the sugar industry and his ability as an administrator soon made Ashland an outstanding plantation, and when he purchased other plantations adjoining his land, such as the Bringier holdings, Ashland soon was ranked among the great sugar plantations of Louisiana.
Duncan Kenner from the age of twenty-five years represented Ascension Parish in the Legislature, being one of its youngest members. His keenness and abilty as an administrator was at once recognized. His ability as a convincing speaker combined with his unquestioned good judgment won listeners to his way of thinking. On many occasions he had the opportunity to display his skill in diplomatic matters. From the time he settled on the plantation until 1861, when one no longer doubted that the South would secede, Duncan Kenner ardently supported the Southern cause. He devoted his time and wealth to it, and when the State Assembly adopted the Secession resolutions, he became one of the seven Louisiana delegates to the Provisional Congress at Montgomery which met on Feb. 4th, 1861.
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Kenner was a strong supporter of President Jefferson Davis and throughout the duration of the Confederate Congress was one of its most active and prominent members. When the capital was removed to Richmond, Duncan Kenner continued to represent Louisiana. Judah P. Benjamin and Duncan Kenner “messed” together as they called it, and when Benjamin saw the crisis in the Confederacy approaching he used his influence to have Kenner sent to England and France in a last attempt to obtain recognition of the Confederate government.
According to his grand-daughter, Mrs. Thomas Sloo of New Orleans, by sheer ability and perseverence, Duncan Kenner regained almost all of his property after having started life over again at the age of fifty-two. New methods in the sugar industry had been developed and he installed improved machinery and adopted new agricultural procedures. Realizing the labor saving advantage of a railroad for hauling cane, he was among the earliest to institute that innovation. In many other ways he improved the Ashland plantation. Realizing the benefits to be derived from co-operation, he was active in organizing the Sugar Planters’ Association in 1877, and became its first president, an office he held until his death. He was also president of the Sugar Experimental Station of which he was the earliest founder, another position he held until his passing.
When Duncan Kenner came to his New Orleans home to spend his last days, he continued to occupy himself with many enterprises, still possessing a keen mentality and a strong constitution. He arose on most mornings at about 7 :30, had breakfast, arrived at his office about 9 A. M., remaining there until 1 P. M., and usually lunched at the Boston Club, after which he returned to his office, once more visiting the club before going home for supper about 5 P. M. His evenings he spent with his family, often remaining at work in his library until early morning.
Mr. Kenner passed away at the age of seventy-four, dying suddenly on the morning of July 3rd, 1887, at the family residence, number 237 Carondelet Street, New Orleans. The body lay in state that his many New Orleans friends might pay their final tribute before the body was put in the handsome family tomb at Donaldsonville.
Unusually brilliant, he was naturally a very entertaining person, well informed on a great number of important subjects, with
Madame Michel Doradou bringier ned Louise Elizabeth Aglad duBourg de St. Colombo. (From a life-sized portrait in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sloo, New Orleans.)
portrait by Amant, in home of Mrs. Thos Sloo.)
HONORABLE DUNCAN F. KENNER
MADAME DUNCAN F. KENNER Ned Guillemine Nanine Bringier. Born at the Hermitage, Aug. 24th, 1823. Died in New Orleans Nov. 6th, 1911. (From a portrait in home of Mrs. Thos. Sloo.)
Louise Elizabeth Aglad DuBourg de St. Colomb. (From a miniature owned by Mrs. Thos. Sloo.)
Mrs. Joseph Lancaster Brent ned Rosella Kenner.
Augustin Dominique Tureaud, husband of Elizabeth Bringier. (Courtesy of Mrs. Thos. Sloo.)
General Joseph Lancaster Brent. (From ivory miniatures belonging to Mrs. Thos. Sloo.)
Miss Mary Minor, daughter of Don Estavan Minor, who married William Kenner. (Courtesy of Mrs* Thos. Sloo..)
Concord — the splendid Colonial Plantation Home built for the Spanish Governor de Lemos. It later became the residence of Don Estavan Minor, and the Minor receptions were on a scale of magnificence befitting the representative of His Majesty, the King of Spain.
“Ma Grande”, faithful negro mammy in the Bringier family.
Colonel Amedee Bringier, by Amans. At the age of 18 years. (From Bringier Collection, Tezcuco Plantation.)
The Old Family Home of the d;u Bourg — de Lauzon families, Dumaine Street, near Royal Street.
Marguerite Armand de Vogluzan, married Pierre Du Bourg, Chevalier, Sieur de Rochemont.
(Courtesy of Trist Wood.)
Perrine Therese Elizabeth de Gournay married Francois Charest de Lauzon.
Pierre Francois Dai Bourg, Sieur de Ste. Colomb. (Courtesy of Trist Wood.)
Elisabeth Etiennette Charest de Lauzcn, who married Pierre Francois Du Bourg de Ste. Colombe. (Courtesy of Mrs. Thos. Sloo.)
Ancestral portraits of the family of Thomas Sloo, II.
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“Birdwood”, Trist Place, Albemarle County, Virginia. (Courtesy of Trist Wood.)
Hore Browse Trist of Birdwood, Alber- marle County, Va.
Gen. Hore Browse Trist of Bowden Plantation, Louisiana.
Marie Elizabeth Rosella Bringier
Mary Wilhelmine Trist
THE DU BOURG FAMILY
89
a deep knowledge of scientific subjects. He was an unusually well-informed, cultured gentleman of the old school, uniting the virtues one instinctively associates with one to whom the term is applied. Duncan Farrar Kenner was a peer among peers, and his life full of honor.
Du Bourg Crest and Coat-of-Arms
ARMES : D’azur trois branches d’epines d* argent pesecs 2 et 1. Supports : Seux sauvages armes de massues , Cinder; Une fleur de lys dfor accostec de 2 demi — vols de-mene.
Devise . Lilium inter spinas .
ARMS : Az. three thorn branches 2 and 1 . Supporters: two savages armed with clubs. Crest : A fleur de Lys or between two wings of the same .
Lilium inter spinas.
DU BOURG
In the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris can be found among the genealogical records, a “Maintenance de Noblesse”, dating back to 1623, which was deposited there in the eighteenth century by a young nobleman of France by the name of Pierre Du Bourg, as he was about to start on an extended trip, or as is stated “on the point of undertaking a long journey”. The Louisiana branch of this patrician family begins with “M. Pierre DuBourg, ecuyer et Capi- taine de Navire”, who in 1623 filed his “maintenance de noblesse”
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
in the City of Paris. He married Margurite Vogluzan. They went to St. Domingo, where he became the owner of the immense plantation estate of Rochemont.
In 1766 a son was born to Monsieur and Madame Pierre Du Bourg who was later to become the great Archbishop Du Bourg, and the first American Bishop of New Orleans. Louis Guillaume Valentin, as he had been christened, when he reached the age of two years was sent to France to be educated for the Catholic Church. He finished his seminary studies, and about 1798 became head of a Sulpician school at Issy near Paris. Because of the French Revolution he was forced to leave and by disguising himself he was able to reach Paris where he made his way to Rue Cassette in which was located the superior branch of the Sulpician. The revolutionists had invaded that place, capturing the head of the institution and executing him. Rev. DuBourg, hiding at a friend’s home, escaped with his life when the terrible September massacres took place. He again disguised himself and fled from Paris, reaching Bordeaux where his family was located. Here he found his life doubly in danger, for the revolutionists were slaughtering churchmen as well as aristocrats. Knowing that he would not be safe in any part of France, he went into Spain and a little later sailed from there to America, reaching Baltimore, Md. in 1794. So capable did Rev. DuBourg prove to be, that he became President of Georgetown College two years after he arrived in Baltimore. Under his able management it became one of the leading universities of the United States, George Washington honoring it with a visit while still under the management of Rev. DuBourg. Abbe DuBourg also founded St. Mary’s College, and had the Legislature of Maryland raise it to the rank of University.
Another son Pierre Francois DuBourg, who became known as Sieur de Ste. Colombe, was born a year after the Abbe DuBourg. He eventually succeeded his father as the owner of the estate of Rochemont, he too being educated in France and later in England. During the slave revolt in 1793 in San Domingo, he escaped to Jamaica and in 1797 married Demoiselle Elizabeth Charest de Lauzon, daughter of M. Francois Charest de Lauzon and Demoiselle Perrine Therese de Gournay, the marriage contract in which all are shown as Residents of “Quartier de la Mar- melade. Island of Ste. Domingo, now by reason of the misfortunes of the colony, refugees in the town of Kingston, Jamaica”. Then
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91
Pierre Francois DuBourg and his family came to the United States, and remained for a short stay in New Orleans, continuing on to Baltimore taking with them their little daughter Aglae. There she was left to be educated at Mrs. Seton’s whom Abb6
da Lauzon
DuBourg had assisted in founding of the Order of Sisters of St. Joseph, popularly known as the Sisters of Charity. Leaving Baltimore the DuBourgs came south to New Orleans about 1800, and made their home with his wife’s parents, who lived in Dumaine Street, New Orleans, a bustling business place at that date. Offered great opportunities, DuBourg became a merchant and succeeded beyond his greatest hopes, repairing his heavy financial losses, and occupying again a prominent position in both the social and business world. After three years residence in the United States, he became an American citizen. He was a Major in the Louisiana Volunteer, an aristocratic organization. Among the other notable positions he held was that of Collector of the Port of the City of New Orleans, and Consul of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He was likewise broker for Michel Doradou Bringier and a number of the other immensely wealthy Louisiana planters. Pierre Francois DuBourg owned a large plantation called “Plai- sance”, which was located near where that street is today, and situated as most of them were at that date, a short distance back from the river-road, Louisiana Avenue being about the center of the plantation.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
His daughter, Aglae, who had become Madame Michel Dora- dou Bringier, for many years was one of the most prominent social leaders in the deep South. Pierre Francois DuBourg died in New Orleans in 1830, leaving five daughters, all but Aglae residing in New Orleans where they were educated. Noemie became the wife of General Horatio Davis, whose father was Colonel Samuel Boyer Davis noted for his gallant defense of Lewes during the War of 1812. Gen. Davis’ country home. La Corderie, occupied the space between the canal for which Canal Street is named and the river-road. The Davis family originally came from Delaware.
Eliza DuBourg became the wife of Seaman Field, their daughter marrying Bailly-Blanchard of New Orleans, whose son Col. Arthur Bailly-Blanchard was attached to the American Legation in Paris, became a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, and whose daughter was the Vicomtesse Henri Chazelle of France. The Seaman Field plantation home later became the property of Madame Michel Doradou Bringier at which time it became known as Melpomene. The house faced Apollo Street, now changed to Ca- rondelet Street, and at the time of the Bringier’s occupancy was between Carondelet and Baronne Streets with the Melpomene canal as a downtown boundary. In later years Melpomene was sold to Hon. Duncan Kenner who had the place demolished, selling the land for building lots as land values had increased.
Victoire, another daughter of Pierre Francois DuBourg, became the wife of James Harvey Field, a nephew of Seaman Field. The descendants of her sister Adele, who married John Thibaut are many and scattered about the state. Joseph DuBourg, third son of Pierre Du Bourg and Margurite Vogluzan, is remembered as “le beau DuBourg”. He made a trip to America, visiting his family in Baltimore and New Orleans, but returned to France. Thomas Patrice DuBourg, fourth son, had two daughters who married in Jamaica, and a son who was educated under the supervision of his uncle in Baltimore, Md., and who later made his home in New Orleans. He was a judge in Plaquemines Parish, La. in 1815, and later a Judge in New Orleans. This son, Arnould DuBourg, never married and died in New Orleans in 1829.
THE BRENT FAMILY
93
Odo de Brent, Lord of Cossington Cire 1066-1037.
ARMS : — Gu a Wivem passant arg.
Motto Silentis et Diligentia.
It is said that their ancestors in their arms , recommended to their posterity by the serpent, Prudence — by his color, Innocence in a red field, a bloody and troublous world.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOSEPH LANCASTER BRENT
Brigadier-General Joseph Lancaster Brent was born on the 30th of November, 1826 at Pomony, Charles County, Maryland; and educated at Georgetown College, Georgetown, D. C. He studied law in Washington, D. C. and in Louisiana and practiced law with his father, William Leigh Brent, and later with his brother, Edward C. Brent in St. Martinsville, La., until 1850 when he went to California, where he became a leading lawyer in Los Angeles. General Brent was a son of William Leigh Brent and Maria Fenwick. He left California in 1861 to join the Confederate army and was arrested on the high seas. The ship on which he was making the trip between California and New York was stopped and Brent along with Dr. William Gwin, who was an ex-United States senator and Calhoun Benham, who was United States district-attorney in California were arrested by General E. Y. Sumner of the U. S. Army. They were imprisoned at Fort Lafayette,
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and held there for nearly three weeks, when finally they were paroled and permitted to proceed to Washington, D. C. While in Washington the United States authorities were unable to prove the charge of treason against them. They sought to be released and eventually through the influence of Hon. George D. Prentice, who was a brother-in-law of Mr. Benham, J. L. Brent was freed from restraint without being forced to take the oath of allegiance which he had refused to do. He proceeded to Richmond, Va. in the winter of 1861-1862, and enlisted at once in the Confederate service with the rank of Captain on the staff of General J. B. Magruder in command of the Yorktown district. He ran the blockade into Virginia and after the Yorktown campaign was advanced to the rank of Major of Artillery and ordered to Alexandria, Va., as ordnance officer of the right wing of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Magruder. He held this position until the Peninsula campaign of 1862 and the Seven- Day Battle around Richmond. He was then assigned to the staff of General (Fighting Dick) Richard Taylor in command of the Western district of Louisiana. Here in July 1862 promoted to the rank of Colonel, he participated in the military operations of the district — as chief of artillery and ordnance and commander of the First Louisiana brigade cavalry. He remained in this position until October 2nd, 1864 when he was promoted to brigadier- general of cavalry in which rank he served until the end of the war. When the war ended he was in command of the front line forces in the West, which extended from Arkansas to the Gulf of Mexico, being the last line to be held by the Confederate Army at the time of the surrender.
Once when failing to obtain paper for the making of cartridges, he used wall paper. Another notable achievement was the capture of the “Indianola”, a powerful Federal boat heavily iron clad with only one armed towboat called the “Webb” and a river steamer named “Queen of the West”. The capture of this iron clad Indianola in the early part of the spring of 1863 was one of the most exciting exploits of Brigadier-General Brent’s work in Louisiana. The Indianola, after running the batteries at Vicksburg, Miss., had passed on to the mouth of the Red River, and encouraged by its success, started back towards Vicksburg. General Taylor assigned Brigadier-General Brent the command of two boats to engage the Indianola, the boats available were a side-
THE BRENT FAMILY
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wheeler, the steamer “Webb”, which had been used as a towboat previous to hostilities and was devoid of protection, save a tier of bales of cotton placed about the boiler. This and the “Queen of the West”, a gunboat captured from the Federals at Fort De Russy on the Red River, the gunboat being a modern boat with bow reinforced and strengthened for ramming, but also unprotected, tiers of bales of cotton being the only defense of her machinery. General Brent started in pursuit of the Indianola with this flotilla, overtaking her twenty miles south of Vicksburg. He immediately engaged her in battle, notwithstanding the Indianola carried 11-inch guns, a shot from one of them properly directed would have put out of commission either of the Confederate boats. However, each time the Indianola raised her iron shutters to fire a gun, the men of the Queen of the West or the Webb would open on them with rifles. The Federal gunmen became demoralized and only one ball from the Indianola struck the Queen of the West, that shot doing no further damage than to scatter a lot of dirt, and the cotton bales torn asunder sent flakes of cotton flying like leaves in a gust of wind. In the meantime, the Indianola was being rammed again and again until her commander surrendered, but her crew showed their humiliation after they realized how easily they had been taken by the unprotected boats that had given them battle. General Brent lost only eight men killed in the encounter.
In May 1865 after the surrender, General Brent was paroled at the town of Alexandria. He returned to Baltimore, Md. and resumed the practice of law in which he had been engaged at the outbreak of the war. Later he came to Louisiana (1870) and married Rosella Kenner, youngest daughter of the Hon. Duncan Kenner and Nanine Bringier, becoming a plantation owner. He remained in Louisiana until 1899. While a resident he served twice in the legislature of the state. In 1899 he again returned to Baltimore, Md., but came back each winter with his family to Louisiana where they spent the winter season visiting their many relatives.
In Baltimore as in Louisiana Gen. Brent was held in highest regard by the legal profession and his Confederate comrades of army days. He was a member of the Society of the Army and Navy. General Brent died in the City of Baltimore, Md., Nov. 27, 1905.
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Az. a quatrefoil pierced of its field within an orle of estoiles or, a canton ermine .
Crest : On a mount vert an osprey ppr . holding in the beak a fish arg.
Motto : Nec triste nec trepide.
THE TRIST FAMILY
( Authorities : Trist pedigree at the Heralds College, London, 1799 with the American branch . ..Pendarves Chart of Trist family completed at the Heralds College. Trist pedigree in Burke9s “Royal Descents9*.)
According to the Heralds Visitations and Burke's monumental work on Northhamptonshire, England, its Trists held Maidford Manor in that county from early times. John Trist married Jean Pulesdon, daughter and co-heir of Edmond Pulesdon, whose mother Joan de Kyme, was second daughter and co-heir of John de Kyme, Lord of Maidford Manor, and this John de Kyme’s great- grandson, William de Kyme, released the manor of Maidford, in the 30th year of Henry VI (1452) to William Trist, son of the above John Trist and Joan Pulesdon. The manor remained in the Trist family for many generations (by primogeniture to the oldest son).
A branch of the Trist family established themselves in County Devon, England, becoming owners of “Hernaford”. Of this
Major John Wood, born 1770.
Gen. Robert Crooke Wood, born 1799.
Ann M. Taylor, wife of General R. C. Wood.
Col. Robert Crooke Wood, C.S.A.
RECORD OF THE SEAL RING OF THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
This seal ring bearing the crest of the Taylor family is now in the possession of Frances Bell Evans, the great-great-great- great granddaughter of James Taylor of Carlisle, England. It has descended through all these generations to her, and with it a legend has been transmitted from father to son, from mother to daughter.
This legend evidently had its origin in the same event which is said to have added the fourth Boar’s head to the “Arms”, and related that, when the chase was at its height, a wild boar driven, turned upon the royal huntsman, whereat there sprang to his defense one of the attending knights, who thrust the animal through with his lance. The King, in gratitude, told him to prefer any request whatsover and that it would be granted. From this time on the “crest” and distinguishing mark of this knight and his descendants was the uplifted arm with lance in hand, accompanied by the motto “Conse- quitor quodcunquepetit. He strikes what he aims at,” or “He gains what he seeks”.
(Courtesy of Trist Wood.)
THE TRIST FAMILY
97
branch was Nicholas Trist, born about 1668, died 29th, 1741. Patrimony, he inherited from his bachelor uncle, Nicholas Browse, the estate of Dorseley and Manor of Aptor. He bought Bowden, which anciently had been in the Browse family, and also acquired the borough and lordship of Modbury, all in County Devon. His tomb is in the Trist aisle of St. Mary’s Church, Totnes, garvested with the Trist arms, quartered with various ancestral shields. He married Elizabeth Rooke, a daughter of George Rooke, and cousin of Sir George Rooke, who captured Gibraltar. They had a number of sons and daughters, the younger sons died unmarried. The eldest son and heir was Hon. Browse Trist, born 1698, died May, 1777. He inherited the family properties, being described in its Pendanus chart of the Trist family as “of Heraford, Dorse- ly and Bowden, Lord of its Manors of Lambside, Aptor, Noss Mayo and of its Manor and Borough of Modbury”. He served as a Member of Parliament, 1761 - 1763. He married Agnes Hore, daughter and heiress of Thomas Hore, of “Nymph”, County Devon. They had a number of sons and daughters.
Their only son who left male issue was Nicholas Trist, born 24th of May, 1743, died 24th of Feb., 1784. He was a lieutenant in the regiment of his oldest brother, Col. Hore Browse Trist. Their commissions as officers, signed by George III, are preserved in the American branch. They were sent to America when revolt was threatening and their regiment participated in the storming and taking of Bunker Hill.
When Lord Howe occupied Philadelphia, the British officers were billeted in various American homes. Lieutenant Nicholas Trist found quarters in the home of the House family, where he met Miss Elizabeth House. Despite the fact that she was a patriotic American girl, and her family on intimate terms of friendship with the leaders of the American cause, Washington, Madison, and Madison family friends of her family, she and the British officer fell in love with each other, and were married, the ceremony taking place on the 10th of June, 1774.
Their only child was Hore Browse Trist, of “Birdwood”, Albemarle County, Va., born in Philadelphia, Penn., 22nd of Feb., 1775, and who died in New Orleans, La., 29th of Aug., 1804. He was named after his uncle Col. Hore Browse Trist, who as mentioned above, took part in the affair of Bunker Hill. This uncle on hearing of the death of his father, Hon. Browse Trist in 1777,
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returned to England to take possession of the Trist estates. He died unmarried in 1786, whereupon the estates went to his brother, Rev. Browse Trist, who in turn, died in 1791, leaving three daughters, Elisabeth Ayshford Trist, Susanna Hore Trist and Tryphana Trist. Hore Browse Trist, born 22nd of Feb., 1775, being the only male heir left in the family, to attend to the succession proceeded to England and treated his three cousins, the daughters of Rev. Browse Trist with great generosity in settling the estate. To be near his friend, Thomas Jefferson, he acquired “Birdwood” near “Monticello” in Virginia. When Jefferson acquired Louisiana from Napoleon, he appointed him his Collector of the Port of New Orleans, he then being 28 years old.
He married Mary Louisa Brown, born in Dublin, Ireland, daughter of Clement Colquhoun Brown and Catherine Byrne. She married second, Philip Livingston Jones and thirdly, Philip St. Julien de Toumillon, they had issue, two sons. 1st, Nicholas Philip Trist, born in Charlottesville, Va., 2nd of June, 1800; died in Alexander, Va., 1st of Feb., 1874. He and his younger brother were wards of Thomas Jefferson and brought up at Monticello.
Nicholas Philip Trist negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the close of the Mexican War, and married at Monticello, Miss Virginia Randolph, granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. Their children constitute what is known as the Virginia branch of the Trist family. Issue 1st, Martha Jefferson Trist, who married John Wolfork Burke; 2nd, Thomas Jefferson Trist, who married first, Ellen Dorotea Strong Lyman, and secondly, Sophia Knabe. 3rd, Hore Browse Trist, M.D., who married Ann Mary Waring. When a young man went to England as the adopted heir of Mrs. Tryphana Trist Wynne Pondarves, of “Tristford” — the Tryphana that is mentioned above.
General Hore Borwse Trist of Bowden plantation, Ascension Parish, La., was born in Washington, D. C., on the 10th day of Mar., 1802; died at “Bowden” on the 16th of Nov., 1856. He married Rosella Bringier, daughter of Michel Doradou Bringier and Aglae Du Bourg de Ste. Colombe, their children and descendants constitute the Louisiana branch of the Trist family; issue: 1st, Nicholas Browse Trist; married his cousin Augustine Gordon. 2nd, Julien Bringier Trist — Lieutenant in C.S.A., killed at the Battle of Murfreesboro. 3rd, Mary Wilhelmine Trist; married Col. Robert C. Wood, son of Brig.-Gen. Robert C. Wood, Asst. Surgeon,
THE WOOD FAMILY
99
U. S. Army, by Ann, eldest daughter of Gen. Zachary Taylor. 4th, Louise Rosella Trist; died young. 5th, Nicholas Philip Trist; married first, Marie Tureaud, and second, Alice Tureaud, sister of his first wife.
Wood Coat-of-Arms and Family Crest
ARMS : Per pale or and sable two eagles displayed counter-charged .
Crest : Issuing from a ducal coronet or demi eagles with wings spread per pale or and sable .
THE WOOD FAMILY
The Wood family from early Colonial days was established in Newport, Rhode Island. The immigrant founder of the family was Thomas Wood, of Essex, England. His great grandson: Peleg Wood, of Newport, R. I., was born 1711, died May 1, 1759; married Mary Coggeshall, widow of Joseph Fry. They had two daughters, and an only son.
Capt. Peleg Wood, of Newport, R. I., born March, 1741, Commander of the sloop “Florida” in the Revolutionary War; died on the 15th of Jan., 1806. He married, first, Jan., 1763, Elizabeth Godfrey, daughter of Caleb Godfrey and Abigail Prince, and second, on the 17th of August, 1786, Mary Wickham, daughter of Col. Benjamin Wickham and Mary Gardner, and thirdly, on the
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2nd of April, 1797, Margaret Suget. He had five sons and one daughter by his first marriage, and one daughter and one son by the second marriage. The five sons were: 1st, Capt. William Wood of Newport, R. I., born 6th of April, 1764, died in Batavia, East India, 22nd of May, 1807. Married Sarah Wickham. 2nd, Capt. Peleg Wood of Newport, R. I., born 21st of April, 1766, died 26th of Dec., 1809; married Elizabeth Read Warner. 3rd, Capt. John Wood* of whom hereafter. 4th, Capt. Joseph Wood of Newport, R. I., born Sept., 1772; died in Rio de Janeiro, South America, 10th of Sept., 1819; married Amey, daughter of Lt. Gen. Simeon Martin, Governor of Rhode Island. 5th, Capt. Godfrey Wood of Newport, R. I., born 1775, never married, and died at sea on way home from Havana, on the 30th of June, 1803.
All of the above five sons were in the merchant marine service, and were “sea captains”. The only daughter, 6th, Elizabeth Wood, born 28th of Nov., 1779, died unmarried. The daughter and son by the second marriage (with Mary Wickam) were: 7th, Mary Wood, born 18th of July, 1787; died at a very advanced age in 1865; and, 8th, Wickam Wood, who died unmarried on Jan. 1813. The 5th son was : Capt. and Major John Wood of Newport, R. I., born Newport, R. I., on 6th of April, 1770; in command of the forces defending Newport Harbor in the War of 1812; he died in Cape Coast, Africa, 31st of Jan., 1826; married Rebecca Wickham Crooke, daughter of Robert Crooke of New York and Ann Wickham. They had eight children, as follows : 1, Ann Elizabeth Wood, born 13th of March, 1796, died young. 2, Bt. Brigadier General Robert Crooke Wood, of whom hereafter. 3, John Wood, born 22nd of May, 1802, died young. 4, Ann Wood, born 7th of Nov., 1803, died young. 5, John Wood of Rome, N. Y., born Feb. 23rd, 1806; died at sea on his way from New York to Newport, Oct., 1846. 6, Mary Ann Dudley Wood, of Le Roy, N. Y., bom 8th of Sept., 1808, died unmarried, 1890. 7, Rebecca Wickham Crooke Wood, born June 7th, 1810, died July 14th, 1880; married Rev. Henry Stanley of Le Roy, N. Y. 8, Charles Edward Dudley Wood, of New York, bom 13th of May, 1814, married Susan Jane Thomas. 9, William Wood, born 12th of Mar., 1815, died unmarried. The second child (as above noted) was Bt. Brig. Gen. Robert Crooke Wood; he was born 23rd of Sept., 1799. Grad Columbia Medical College, N. Y., became a surgeon serving in the Black Hawk War, Florida War, Mexican War, Civil War; in Civil
THE WOOD FAMILY
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War, assisting (and sometimes acting) Surgeon General U.S.A. with headquarters at Washington, D. C., later with headquarters at St. Louis, Mo., in charge of all armies of the West until the close of the war: died in New York City 28th of March, 1869. Married Ann Mackall Taylor, eldest child of General Zachary Taylor, they had issue.
I. Col. John Taylor Wood, U.S.N. and C.S.N., born at Fort Snelling, Mississippi Territory, 13th of Aug., 1830; Annapolis Naval Academy; Mexican War; Commander of the Confederate cruiser “Tallahassee”; died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 19th of July, 1904; married Lola Mackubin, daughter of George (Maccubin) Mackubin of “Strawberry Hill”, Md., and his cousin Eleanor Maccubin, issue : 1st, Ann Mackall Wood, died young. 2nd, Lieut. Col. Zachary Taylor Wood; Gov. of the Yukon District, Canada. By George V of England, made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael; married Francis Augusta Daly. 3rd, Elizabeth Simms Wood, died young. 4, Lola Mackubin Wood, living unmarried. 5, Robert Crooke Wood, died in infancy. 6, Eleanor Mackubin Wood, married Duncan John D’Urban Campbell. 7, John Taylor Wood. 8, George Mackabin Wood, who married Mary Muriel Buss. 9, Blandina V. Grabow Wood. 10, Mary Catherine Hammond Wood, died early. II. Charles Carroll Mackubin Wood, British Army; killed (then a Lieutenant in the Boer War) . His portrait at Queen Victoria’s request was sent to her. 2, Col. Robert Crooke Wood, born at Fort Snelling, M.T., 4th of April, 1832; West Point Military Academy; served in Texas as Lieutenant in 2nd U. S. Cavalry, in Civil War Colonel of Wood’s Cavalry, C.S.A., died in New Orleans 4th of Dec., 1900; married Wilhelmine Trist. daughter of Hore Browse Trist of “Bowden”, Ascension Parish, La., and Rosella Bringier, issue: 1, Bringier Trist Wood; 2, Minette Trist Wood; 3, Richard Taylor Wood; (twin died in infancy); 4, Nina Sarah Wood, died young. 5th, Marie Rosella Wood, married William Edwin Brickell, Jr. 6, Zachary Taylor Wood, Lieut. U. S. A.; married first Helen McGloin; second, Beatrice Thomas.
3. Blandina Dudley Wood, born Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Born Jan., 1834; married first, Edward Boyce;, second, Baron Guido von Grabow, Prussian Minister to Venezuela. By first marriage a son, William Boyce von Grabow, married Caro Bolles. By
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second marriage, a son, Ernst Romanus Guido Roudolph von Grabow.
4. Sarah Knox Wood, born in Prairie du Chien, 21st of Nov., 1835, died unmarried.
MR. ISAAC STAUFFER — A NOTED CITIZEN.
Of Swiss and French ancestry Mr. Stauffer combined the best of both nations, becoming one of the most representative citizens of New Orleans during his life in this city. His father was of Swiss descent, his mother’s family, French (Huguenots). His early life was spent on his father’s farm in Lancaster County, Penn., where he learned from the frugality of his parents the lessons of thrift and conservation which was to make him an outstanding character, and bring wealth and position to himself and family. His charities were manifold when once he knew the object was a deserving one.
After leaving his father’s farm he was employed by the city of Lancaster and later accepted a position with the firm of John Steinman, one of long standing, the founder receiving young Stauffer into the family circle, at once recognizing his worth. He stayed in the city of Lancaster for many months, all of the time building up a reputation of a sterling character, and so much was this the case Mr. Steinman with whom he was employed realized that if given the opportunity, his protege would rise to great heights. With this in mind Mr. Steinman sought a position for young Stauffer and discovered that Courtland Palmer of New York City, had decided to establish a branch of his business in New Orleans, and was in quest of capable men to carry his ideas to fulfillment. The letter that Mr. Steinman gave to Mr. Stauffer as his recommendation, reads in part as follows: “I recommend a man who has ever sustained a character, nobility, integrity and general moral worth and unblemished.”
As he rose in this city he became a clerk of the Canal Bank for fifty years, a subscriber to the American Sugar Refining Co. Association. One who in a great measure financed James B. Eads when he constructed Eads’ Jetties at South Pass, La., and at the time told him “if you succeed we shall be paid, if not we shall accept the loss. And further from this I will subscribe to carry on your work. I believe if you open the passes of the Mis-
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sissippi River, sufficient to admit the largest sea-going vessels, a wonderful future for the South is assured. You will make a permanent port of New Orleans and subsequent developments will make us one of the greatest sea ports in the United States”.
Two daughters of Myrthe Bringier and General Richard (Fighting Dick) Taylor married sons of I. H. Stauffer — Betty Taylor married Walter R. Stauffer and Myrthe Taylor married Isaac H. Stauffer.
Chapter XVI.
THE KNOX — SEMMES — WALMSLEY — RANLETT FAMILIES
HONORABLE THOMAS JENKINS SEMMES
JUDGE Thos. J. Semmes, one of the most distinguished lawyers the South has ever known, comes from an aristocratic line that stems back to the ancient nobles of Normandy, where many of the name still can be found. With the historic family of Tallia- ferro, the Semmes family are also connected, the descendants of that Talliaferro (Talliafeuro) the sword-bearer of William the Conqueror, who opened the ever memorable Battle of Hastings, and whom Bulwer so graphically describes in his “Harold”.
Thomas Jenkins Semmes was born on Dec. 16th, 1824, at Georgetown, D. C. He was a son of Raphael Semmes, a prominent merchant of that place who married in 1818 Miss Matilda Jenkins and died in the year 1846. His wife who survive him was a woman of great intellect, remarkable strength of mind, and with a wonderful fund of information. She was a born leader in social affairs and her salon in Washington was like that of Madame de Stall’s for over half a century. During that time she entertained every president of the United States from President Monroe to President Lincoln, and in these gatherings all of the distinguished men and their wives participated, including Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Berrien, Silas, Wright, Dickinson, Bayard, Horace, Binney, Sargent, Watkins, Lee, Wirth, Pinkney, The Taz- wells, Taney, Marshall, etc.
One can readily understand why it was that T. J. Semmes was such an unusually brilliant man, when his early life was
MOVEO ET PROFICIO
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Knox family.
Semmes, Knox, Walmsley and Ranlett Families.
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spent in such surroundings and whose mother was such a representative woman and so capable. In speaking of his home life before moving to the South, he always stated that his mother was largely responsible in the formation of the character of her large family of children. Judge Thomas J. Semmes received his early education in Georgetown at the private primary school of a Scotch- named McLeod, and so bright did young Semmes prove to be, that at the age of 11 years we find him entering Georgetown College, from which he was graduated in 1842 at the age of seventeen and one half years of age. He then read law for one year in the law office of Clement Cox of Georgetown, before enrolling at the Harvard Law School from which he graduated in January 1845. Associate Justice Story of the United States Supreme Bench was the dean of the Harvard Law School. Among J. T. Semmes, contemporaries at Harvard were Rutherford B. Hays, Henry C. Semple of Montgomery, Ala., nephew of the then president, and Anson Burlingame, afterwards minister to China. T. J. Semmes was admitted to the bar of Washington, D. C. in 1845, six months before he was twenty-one years of age, passing his examinations before Chief Justice Cranch and Associate Justices Mossell and Dunlap. He began his practice of law in the City of Washington with Walter D. Davidge as a law partner, and at once became a successful attorney.
Thomas Semmes married the brilliant and beautiful daughter of Mr. William Knox, Miss Myra Eulalie Knox, in January 1850, her father being one of the wealthiest and most prominent bankers in the South with a magnificent home in Montgomery, Ala. Her mother was Anna C. Lewis, a member of the distinguished Lewis and Fairfax families, who were relatives of the Washingtons of Virginia. In December 1850, the Semmes moved to New Orleans where they built a beautiful home on Annunciation Street, which joined another beautiful mansion with lovely garden belonging to the Slark family. This neighborhood was at that date the most aristocratic of the American section of New Orleans. The “Garden District” while quite lovely, was not the beautiful area we find it today. When the Federals took the city because Judge Semmes and Mr. Knox had been such staunch supporters of the Confederate Cause, the magnificent Semmes home was seized and confiscated with its entire contents, and only long afterwards was the house returned. Untold damage was done to the place and
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the furnishings were never recovered. The site of many of those splendid old homes is now occupied by the depot of the Texas and Pacific Railroad Co.
The brothers and sisters of Thomas J. Semmes were: Virginia the eldest daughter, married Major Rice W. Payne, of War- renton, Va., who was an officer in the Confederate army; B. J. Semmes became a merchant in Washington, D. C., was in the Confederate Army and was wounded at the battle of Shilo; Thomas Jenkins Semmes was the second son; Dr. Alex J. Semmes, the third son, was a graduate of Georgetown College, studied medicine in Paris, and located in New Orleans previous to the Civil War. He was surgeon of the Eighth Louisiana Regiment, and married a daughter of Senator Barrien of Georgia. The Southern Historical Publishing Society of Richmond, Virginia, has the following to say of Dr. Semmes: “Alexander Jenkens Semmes, surgeon, cousin of Admiral Semmes, brother of Thomas J. Semmes — born in Georgetown, D. C. Dec. 17, 1828. Studying in hospitals of London and Paris he went to New Orleans where he made a reputation as a surgeon. During the war of Secession he had much to do with the organization and supervision of the hospitals in Virginia in 1866 - 1867 was connected with Charity Hospital of New Orleans. He then removed to Savannah from 1870-76 was professor in Savannah Medical College. Upon the death of his wife he became so disconsolate that he abandoned his profession and studied for the priesthood, was ordained and became president of the Catholic School at Macon, Ga., later transferred to New Orleans dying in this city about 1897. He also wrote numerous medical and surgical treatises of great interest, among them the following: “Medical Sketches of Paris, 1852”, “Notes from a surgical diary 1866”, Surgical Notes of the late war 1867”, The Fluid Extracts, 1869”, “Evolution of the Origin of Life, 1873”, “Influence of Yellow Fever on Pregnancy and Parturition, 1875”.
The fourth son, Raphael Semmes, at the age of 16 years while on a voyage from San Francisco, California to New York City was lost at sea. The youngest son, P. Warfield Semmes, was also a graduate of Georgetown University and became a captain in the First Louisiana Regiment in the Confederate Army. The second daughter, America Semmes, became the first wife of Major Rice W. Payne, and died during the Civil War. Clara
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Semmes another sister like the other ladies of the family had been educated at the Convent of the Visitation, Georgetown, D. C., before the outbreak of the Civil War, she married Lieutenant Fitzgerald of the U. S. Navy, who joined the Confederate Navy and died in 1863 at Greenville, S. C., while in service. Another daughter, Cora Semmes, became the wife of Lieutenant J. C. Ives, U. S. Engineer Corps, who was a member of the personal staff of President Jefferson Davis during the Civil War, and died shortly after cessation of histilities. Sabina Semmes, next to the youngest daughter, married a distant cousin, Dr. Alphonse Semmes of Canton, Miss., a prominent planter. Ada Semmes, youngest daughter, became the wife of Richard H. Clark, a Washington lawyer, who later removed to New York City.
In later years Judge Semmes in reminiscing, enjoyed talking about his early days in Louisiana, of the bar as he found it at that date. His brilliancy soon gained for him the intimate personal admiration and close friendship of this distinguished galaxy of cultured legal lights, most of whom helped to furnish the male quotas at the yearly series of banquets for which the first Semmes home became famous, and which continued in the later homes in Iberville and Rampart Streets. The second home was on Customhouse Street, now called Iberville Street, one door from North Rampart Street, a large three-storied brick structure, quite like many of the fine old homes in the French Quarter. It overlooked the beautiful and spacious garden of the Letchford’s mansion, for this neighborhood too had become a very fashionable one. Business encroachments caused the Semmes to again remove to their last residence in this city, located on South Rampart Street. Here in this splendid old mansion the Semmes family continued to entertain on a lavish scale where one was sure to meet some of the most distinguished personages of our country. The Semmes annually gave a banquet for the distinguished Catholic churchmen. James Cardinal Gibbons, who visited the city yearly attended by the Archbishop from the St. Louis Cathedral, and prominent people of New Orleans. It was a social event of the season. Among the notables who frequented the first beautiful home of the Semmes family were such distinguished ones as that of Alfred Hennen, John R. Grimes, Judah P. Benjamin, Christian Roselius, John Slidell, Judge Charles Gayarre, Judge Martin, Judge Alexander Walker, S. S. Prentis, Dr. Newton Mercer, Dr. Warren
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Stone, Dr. Augustus Cenas, The Eustises, Elliotts, Parkers, Hutchersons, Stauffers, Whitneys, Sloos, Buckners, Farwells, Millikens, Hendersons, and so on.
MRS. THOMAS J. SEMMES.
From “Belles, Beaux and Brains of the Sixties”: Mrs. Semmes was queen among ante-bellum hostesses. As Miss Myra Eulalie Knox of Montgomery, she was the belle of her own and other cities. When she married the rising and brilliant lawyer she continued her conquests in New Orleans, the watering places and in the capitals of the old and new federations. Gracious, quickwitted and tactful, she had been educated in the more solid as well as the showier accomplishments. She was a born actress and an admirable musician, playing the harp with especial grace and excellence. These gifts quickly carried her to social leadership in Richmond, and there met at the house the most distinguished of the men of the hour, as well as the young set whom she entertained to their hearts’ content. The Semmes practically kept open house.
Another habitue of the Semmes household and almost a member of it was the Hon. Pierre Soule of their state, former Senator and Minister to Spain. This statesman, advocate and orator, had a handsome face, introspective and rather priestly, that suggested little of the hot blood that would have spitted the Marquis de Tourgot, French Ambassador to Spain, because the young Duke Alva let too glib a a tongue suggest an unpleasant likeness to Madame Soule. The cause celebre of that challenge and the resulting and harmless duel of young Neville Soule with the Duke of Alva was laughed out of becoming an international complication. He was a widower in the Richmond days, “the gentle, motherly woman I recall so well in Washington having passed away.
“Full freighted with friendships and pleasant memories of Richmond, Mrs. Semmes returned to New Orleans after the war.
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her husband returning to the bar and rising to the head before his death.”
Until Judge Semmes, passing, the old family mansion on South Rampart Street continued to be the scene of many brilliant entertainments, banquets, suppers and other forms of social activity, among which numbered the one given when President Cleveland became a house guest of the family during his stay in this city. Other affairs were given for distinguished U. S. Senators, Congressmen, scientists, business leaders, artists and writers. Musicals were given where celebrated singers and musicians attended. The greatest dignitaries of the church, James Cardinal Gibbons, Cardinal Satolli, Msgr. Martinelli, Chapelle and Elder, as well as an endless list of distinguished members of the hierarchy, all have enjoyed the lavish hospitality of this cultured home. With the death of Judge Semmes, Mrs. Semmes no longer felt the desire to keep up the social life as in the past, so she gave up her large mansion in South Rampart Street, taking a suite in one of the leading hotels of the city. Later she removed to the spacious handsome home of her daughter, Mrs. Sylvester Walmsley, located in the beautiful aristocratic “Garden District”. Here for many years surrounded by her daughter, her grand children and great-grandchildren, sharing their social triumphs, she lived to a splendid old age, intently religious, busied herself with good works and charities, all the while her life a continuous quiet triumph. Apparently she never grew old, remaining the “grand dame”, in full possession of stately dignity, looks (a patrician way of growing old gracefully) and faculties until the very end. Her beautiful life-size portrait by Healy hangs on a wall of the drawing-room of this old home that, too, has been a leading social center during the married life of her daughter, Mrs. Sylvester Walmsley, Sr. The passing of Mrs. Semmes, like that of her honored husband, was marked by universal sorrow, the service and floral tributes magnificent and impressive mute testimony of the high regard in which she was held by this community in which she had played so prominent a part, and had done so much for, and in which she had been such a leader.
Mrs. Semmes' children are: Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley, Sr. Mrs. A. S. Ranlett; Thomas Jenkins Semmes; Hubert Semmes; Francis Joseph Semmes; Charles Louis Semmes. Mrs. Semmes' daughters have many children. On one occasion a waggish old
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friend visited her city and the proud grandmother told him that one of them had eleven and the other seven. He replied promptly: “The youngest of each set should be named: “Craps, of course”, and when asked what he meant, replied: they “come seven” and “come eleven”. The children of Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley, Sr., are: S. P. Wahnsley, Jr.; Mrs. D. C. Loker; T. Semmes Walmsley; Mrs. Leon Irwin; R. M. Walmsley; Mrs. Ennals W. Ives; Carroll B. Walmsley; William K. Walmsley; Lucille Walmsley; Hughes P. Walmsley.
The children of Mrs. A. S. Ranlett (Miss Cora Semmes) are: Mrs. Carroll Curtis; Mrs. Alex. T. Thomson; A. S. Ranlett, Jr.; David L. Ranlett; Mrs. George Kantzler.
ROBERT MILLER WALMSLEY
Robert Miller Walmsley, who became one of New Orleans' leading citizens, public-spirited and active for the advancement and betterment of both City and State, was born at Elkton, Maryland, on March 5th, 1838. The son of Robert M. and Margaret (Beard) Walmsley was educated at the Elkton Academy ,and at an early age displayed marked ability as a realtor. Upon completing his education, he began his real estate career in the City of Philadelphia. Keen as a whip and abreast of opportunities, upon learning that Dubuque, Iowa, was booming, he disposed of his holdings and removed to Dubuque. His advanced ideas and sense of fair dealing won the confidence of the people of the city and he became the leading real estate man there. He became financially independent, but his health was impaired so he moved to the South where the climate was milder. Natchitoches and Grand Encore, thriving settlements in the heart of the rich plantation country, attracted him. Here he was able to speculate in land which he liked to do.
The Civil War came on and with the defeat of the South, Mr. Walmsley suffered heavy losses as with the others of the Confederacy. After hostilities had ceased Mr. Walmsley realizing that land investments would be at a standstill for many years abandoned the idea of continuing as a realtor, and came to New Orleans where he engaged in the cotton business with his cousin under the firm name of C. L. Walmsley & Co. Later as R. M. Walmsley & Co., business increased by leaps and bounds, the firm ranking high in financial circles. In the early part of the eigh-
THE WALMSLEY FAMILY
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ties, Mr. R. M. Walmsley was elected president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, which honor he held for three successive years. He was a director of the Louisiana National Bank and at the death of Mr. Joseph Oglesby in 1889 he was elected to fill the vacancy. At the time of his death, Dec. 26th, 1919, he was president of the Clearing House Association, and of the Board of Liquidation and had been President of the Canal Louisiana Bank for years and was chairman of the Board up to the time of his death.
SYLVESTER PIERCE WALMSLEY, I.
Sylvester Pierce Walmsley, son of Robert Miller Walmsley and Caroline Gratia Williams, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, where his father was a leading realtor and financier. When the family moved to the Natchitoches area young Sylvester Walmsley was sent to New Orleans to be educated. By the time young Walmsley had completed his education, his father moved to New Orleans where he went into the cotton business with a cousin, the firm being known as C. L. Walmsley & Co., later as R. M. Walmsley & Co. Entering his father’s cotton business, Sylvester P. Walmsley was soon recognized as a wide-awake addition to the firm. Later he founded the firm of S. P. Walmsley & Co., which for many years was one of the leading cotton firms of the nation. Following closely in his honored father’s footsteps, his firm too enjoyed the same enviable name for high class dealing that had marjp his father s business recognized throughout the country.
Mr. Sylvester P. Walmsley served as President of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, and at the time of his retirement in 1920 was an honorary member of the Cotton Exchange. He became vice-president of the Louisiana National Bank of which his father was president. He was also at one time vice-president of the Canal Bank, and for half a century was associated with every movement that tended to the betterment of the social and civic life of New Orleans. His courteous, tactful manner of handling- difficult situations made him an outstanding as well as well as one of the most representative citizens of his day. T.ikp his father before him he was esteemed and greatly respected throughout the South. Like the Semmes family into which he had married, Mr. Walmsley performed in an unnoticed way a multitude of
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charities, never letting his left hand know what his right one was giving.
He married the daughter of Honorable Thomas J. Semmes and Myra Eulalie Knox of Montgomery, Ala., who was one of the most famous hostesses the South has ever known. Named for her brilliant mother, Myra, Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley, became the social helpmate of this gentleman who was equally prominent as a social leader and as a business man. He directed the destinies of many of the most exclusive carnival organizations in the city. In 1900 he was King of the Carnival, and for twenty-seven years was Captain of Comus, one of the most exclusive carnival organizations in the City of New Orleans.
The spacious old Walmsley home during Mr. Walmsley’s lifetime was a continuous scene of social activitiy for Mrs. Walmsley, like her mother, is a bom hostess and their home on Second and Prytania Streets was forever the center of some notable gathering. A home full of sons and daughters always furnished an excuse for a frolic of some sort, and with a brilliant season such as this city offers yearly, life in the old home was gay indeed.
In 1928 at a time when Mr. Walmsley had grown too old to stand the tedious exertion of riding horse-back, the Comus Carnival Organization in order to honor their captain for the first time in the history of Carnival, headed the parade with a gilded coach. In this Cinderella coach sat this aged social leader who had been King of the Carnival years before. All cheered as he passed realizing no doubt that he was making an effort to do his bit for the organization to the very end.
Mr. Walmsley comes from a long line of distinguished ancestors, his family tree numbering among its branches a great uncle, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In the 1880’s he was an outstanding military man- one that had many responsibilities, with the carpet-bag rule not completely eliminated. A member of the famous Crescent Rifles of New Orleans, one of the greatest military companies in the United States for many years, he later became Major of the Southern Athletic Battalion, one of the crack units of the old Louisiana National Guard. His brother-in-law, Harry Allen, was a captain in the famous Crescent Rifles.
Mr. Walmsley was a life member of the Boston Club, the most exclusive club in the city, first president of the Southern
MRS. THOMAS JENKINS SEMMES, ne<§ MISS MYRA EULALIE KNOX. (From a portrait by Healy in drawing room of Mrs. S. P. Walmsley.) Below: Miss Margaret Carroll Loker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Cartan Loker, who became Mrs. David Cattrell, Jr. (Courtesy of Mrs. S. P. Walmsley, Sr.)
Always the grand dame to the very end — MRS. THOMAS JENKINS SEMMES, ned Myra Eulalie Knox.
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Athletic Club, and held office in several social and civic organizations.
The family finding Mr. Walmsley’s health failing, planned with him a trip to California hoping that the sunshine and change of climate would prolong his life. Making the trip in April of 1930, he seemed improved when in an unaccountable manner he contracted pneumonia. He died after a week’s illness, surrounded by his family. Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester P. Walmsley’s children are: Thomas Semmes Walmsley, former Mayor of New Orleans; Sylvester P. Walmsley, Jr.; Mrs. David Loker; Mrs. Leon Irwin; Robert Miller Walmsley; Mrs. Ennals Ives; Carroll B. Walmsley; and Hughes Walmsley.
A. SIDNEY RANLETT .
A. Sidney Ranlett, bom in New Orleans, was the son of David Low Ranlett and Eleanor Stone Ranlett. David Low Ranlett, his father, was from Holyoke, Mass., coming to New Orleans, where he married. A. Sidney Ranlett attended Hanover University in Virginia, and was well known in the business and social world of New Orleans and New York where he moved with his famly to live in 1908. He was a member of the Boston Club of New Orleans, and the New York Club of New York City, also several Carnival organizations in New Orleans. He continued in the stock and bond business in New York City with the firm of Shear- son, Hammill & Co. at the time of his death in 1918. His son David Low Ranlett was a member of the A. E. F. with the 107th Regiment of New York, during the World War. Cora Semmes (Mrs. A. Sidney Ranlett,) daughter of Honorable Thomas J. Semmes, and Miss Myra Eulalie Knox, was born in Warrenton, Va., attended school at the Convent of Holy Child, Sharon Hill, Penn., and at Georgetown Convent, Georgetown, D. C. She was Queen of Momus in 1887 and Maid of several balls later. She is honorary president of the Louisiana Society in New York, and Member of American Legion Auxiliary in Paris, France, also Honorary member of Raphael Semmes Society in New York. She maintained during the World War a bureau and Canteen for Louisiana Soldiers in New York.
Chapter XVII.
THE SMYTH — SULLY FAMILIES JOHN SMYTH.
1869 - 1935.
By Rudolph Matas, M. D.
Dr. John Smyth, the subject of this sketch was born on November 16th, 1869, at Wavertree Plantation, Tensas Parish, La. He came from a long line of distinguished Scotch-Irish ancestry. His father was a civil engineer of the Louisiana State Levee Board. His grand- fathr was John Smyth, country gentleman of Darten’s Castlederg, County Tyrone, Ireland. His great-grandfather was Lord Mayor of Londonderry. His mother was Rebbecca M. McMurtrie, born at Andalusia Plantation, Isaquena County, Mississippi. She was of Scotch ancestry, a direct descendant of Sir Christopher Wren, the famous architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England, who was also a Physiologist of note and one of the first scientists of the 16th century to experiment with blood transfusion.
Dr. Smyth’s father’s mother was Annie Woods Smyth, of Ard- cane County, Tyrone, Ireland. His uncle, Dr. Andrew Woods Smyth, for many years a celebrity as house surgeon of the Charity Hospital, New Orleans, became world famous in 1864 by performing the first successful ligation of the Innominate Artery, an operation which, up to his day, had proved invariably fatal. Another uncle. Dr. William Woods Smyth, who died recently at Maidstone, Kent, England, was a distinguishd Oculist and personal physician to King Edward VTI, of England.
Doctor Smyth’s early education was by tutor at his father’s plantation. Thence he went to Centennary College, Jackson, La. He wanted to be a doctor, but his father persuaded him to be, like himself, a civil engineer. He was graduated from the Academic and Engineering department of Tulane, with distinction, and in 1886 entered the service of the United States Corps of Engineers with the
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Mississippi River Commission, working in Louisiana under Colonel Kingman, Colonel Derby and Captain Millis. Excelling in this Held, he won three promotions in one year. He built the large levee at Kemp's Bend and another at the head of Lake St. John, a notable responsibility for a youth.
In 1896 following his own bent, he determined to change his career, and, 27 years old, was matriculated at the Medical School of Tulane University. His mathematical education, innate taste for mechanics and his engineering experience served an admirable preparation for the Scientific study of Medicine and Surgery, an ambition in which he was much stimulated by the example of his distinguished uncle. Dr. Andrew W. Smyth. In 1889-1890, he was an interne at the Touro Infirmary and in 1900 was graduated with his M. D., at Tulane.
Soon after his graduation he was invited by Dr. Matas, his friend and preceptor, to share his office and for nine years thereafter _ un¬
til 1909, he remained in close contact and affiliation with him. During these years he was one of the first physicians in the city to utilize the x-rays for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. His knowledge of physics and mechanics then served him a good purpose in transforming old and obsolete electrical generators into efficient x-ray machines, with which he obtained results that were amazing when his rudimentary equipment is considered. Several diagnostic feats in locating foreign bodies and in curing a number of seemingly hopeless cases of malignant disease, and of toxic goitre, gave him a reputation as an x-ray expert that soon brought him an appreciative clientele.
His absorbing interest in Roentgenology is well attested by early papers in the Transactions of the Orleans Parish, the Louisiana, Mississippi and other Regional Medical Societies during the period 1902- 1907. In these contributions, he extended the indications and the applications of x-ray therapy and obtained unusual results which were undoubtedly due to his technical skill and discriminating knowledge of the potentialities and limitations of the rays, far in advance of the experience of his time.
His ability as a teacher and conscientious worker was soon recognized by his appointment as Instructor and Chief of the Laboratory of Minor Surgery for the manual training of junior students in the elementary technics of Surgery and first aid in emergencies, which Dr. Matas had established at the Medical School in 1902.
From this on, he rose rapidly in successive steps to the title of Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery. He was holding this title with distinction when, on April 17, 1917, with America's entry into the World War, hospital units were organized to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, Doctor Smyth immediately volunteered and was appointed to the Surgical Staff of Base Hospital No. 24, organized by Dr. Matas, Major and Director of the Unit in
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New Orleans, under Red Cross Auspices, from the Tulane Medical Faculty and student body. Dr. Smyth by distinguished service at Limoges, France, rose from Captain to Major (chief of the Surgical Staff July 16, 1918 — March 28, 1919) and was honorably discharged after the Armistice as Lieutenant Colonel, with the United States Military Cross. In 1919, on the return of Tulane Unit from overseas, the Faculty decided to recognize the patriotic and distinguished service of the Junior officers of the Unit by promoting them to a higher rank in the Faculty. Dr. Smyth was one of those elected to a full professorship of Clinical Surgery, a title which he held until 1927, when he resigned to meet the demands of private practice.
During the twenty-five years, 1902-1927, that Dr. Smyth was connected with the Tulane Medical Faculty, he was also visiting surgeon to the Charity Hospital on Dr. Matas’ staff. During these years he worked assiduously and successfully as a teacher and operator in the clinic and in the laboratory. Besides his pioneer work in the development of the x-ray technic and therapy previously referred to, Dt. Smyth’s training as an engineer and his innate mechanical genius and inventiveness were never more strikingly displayed than in an experimental research on the physiologic and pathologic effects of positive and negative atmospheric pressure on the lungs and the respiratory function in states of pulmonary collapse induced by acute surgical pneumothorax. In 1900 and 1901 when this research was undertaken, the surgery of the chest was still in the cradle and the fear of pulmonary collapse following the free opening of the thorax in intrathoracic operations, held back the boldest surgeons. As early as 1897 his chief, Dr. Matas, had demonstrated the protective value of rythmic intralaryngeal insufflation with the aid of a modified Fell-O’Dwyer apparatus used for artificial respiration in opium narcosis and other non-surgical state of respiratory failure. Though the practical value of this simple contrivance in maintaining the respiration in surgical pneumothraxi had been experimentally and clinically demonstrated by Dr. Matas, it was evident that the practice of insufflation with a bellows would not do for this investigation and that a pneumatic pump accurately graded and capable of delivering definite quantities of air into the trachea under manometric control was indispensable. It was at this juncture that Dr. Matas availed himself of Dr. Smyth’s expert collaboration for the construction of a pump that would meet the scientific requirements of the investigation.
Dr. Smyth went to work with enthusiasm and promptly designed and constructed several pumps, the last of which was fitted with connections for the administration of oxygen, ether and other anesthetic mixtures. With the aid of this perfected machine, a large series of experiments were performed on dogs and human cadavera which furnished the basic data for an accurate and rational application of intralaryngeal insufflation in intrathoratic operations which involved the pleurae. This was all pioneer work done long before the dis-
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cussions of the’ relative merit of positive (plus) and negative (minus) pressure began to excite controversies among thoraric surgeons.
A full report of this inquiry with working models of Dr. Smyth's ingenious pump was presented by Dr. Matas with full acknowledgment of Dr. Smyth’s invaluable collaboration, to the American Sur- ical Association and published in the Transactions of May 1901.
This contribution of Dr. Smyth is especially mentioned as it is a most characteristic of his type of mind which found its greatest expression in problems which demanded mathematical precision and exactness for their solution. This tendency was displayed more in his works than in his writings which were relatively few and did not do justice to his best accomplishments. The practice of medicine and surgery did not adjust itself readily to his mathematical and mechanistic ideals but in striving for these he obtained the best results. He was not a prolific writer or inclined to erudite bibliographic search and display, but his papers all had a point which gave them originality and instructiveness. Apart from his early papers on Roentgen Technic and therapy and his contribution to the mechanics of artificial respiration in thoracic surgery.
He collaborated with Dr. Matas in an experimental study of the effects on the Heart and Circulation of Momburg’s method of Aortic compression by circular Abdominal Constriction. The experiments were conducted on volunteer medical students and are summarized in the Transactions of the American Surgical Association for 1910 (vol. 28, pp. 622-623). He also wrote to Bone Transplantation to close defects in the cranial vault, on hernia, on gastric and duodenal ulcers, on vicious circle after gastroenterostomy, on oral anesthesia and analgesia, on abdominal pain and its interpretations on the lessons learned in the World War which were applicable to civilian practice, and following in the lead of his chief, he was among the first to perform endoaneurismorrhaphy. All these papers are scattered in the proceedings of the many local and regional societies of which he was a member. But some of his work in fractures and arthroplasty, in which he excelled, still remain dormant in unpublished manuscripts.
Early in his surgical career Dr. Smyth became associated with the Hotel Dieu where he centered the bulk of his practice from 1902 until his death. In these years countless patients gratefully remember his skill, charity and devotion and that memory is probably his most enduring monument.
Though not gregarious in his tendencies and always retiring, unpretentious and reserved, he was a strong believer in organized medicine and was early a member of his local and state organizations and of the American Medical Association. He was a Fellow of the Southern Surgical from 1920 to his death, of the American College of Surgeons, of the Association of Military Surgeons, of the Association for Thoracic Surgery, Endocrinology, and correspondent of the Edinburgh Research Society and still others, including the social clubs of
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the city and of the student Gkeek letter fraternities, too numerous to mention' in this connection.
In 1911, he married Miss Jeanne Sully, daughter of Mr. Thomas Sully, a distinguished architect of New Orleans, and Eugenia Rocchi Sully, daughter of Giovanni Rocchi, one of New Orleans’ most cultured anfl loved citizens of Italian birth. He was survived by his widow and two sisters, Mrs. Dwight Stone and Mrs. Fannie Le Sas- sier Young, both of Pecano Plantation, Tensas Parish, La.
The fatal illness which put an end to Dr. Smyth’s earthly career, was foreshadowed on October 15, 1934, when at the end of a hard day’s work and in apparently the best of health, he was seized suddenly with a profuse hematemesis which practically exsanguinated him. His medical friends promptly rallied to his side. The hemorrhage stopped and by means of transfusion and other means he revived and was apparently on the way to recovery when ascites and other signs indicating a progressive and complete portal obstruction appeared as an ominous forerunner of the inevitable end, which occurred on February 25, 1935. At the post-mortem a hypernephroma of the right kidney which had developed silently and without symptoms, was revealed as the probable source of his strange and unaccountable pathology.
As a friend of 37 years, the writer can do no better in expression of his sentiments than by repeating his own words in a tribute of personal appreciation that was published at the time of Dr. Smyth’s death.
“Our early personal and professional relations, ripened into a warm friendship, based on mutual regard, trust and affection which never faltered or suffered an instant of doubt or hesitation. As a student he drew me by his earnestness, studiousness, sincerety and high sense of duty. Later, as an assistant and colleague, I found him true as steel, the incarnation of honesty, the soul of honor and unswerving loyalty. Very discriminate in his friendships, his affection and fidelity to those to whom he was attached was indeed a prized privilege and a great compliment.
“As a surgeon he was conscientious and cautious to an extreme degree, fastidiously meticulous in every detail for the patient’s safety, anxious to do no harm if he could do no good. All conscientious surgeons share in the same anxieties, but his sense of responsibility so worried him before and after any serious operation, that it imposed great hardship upon his energy and his sensibilities by his sleepless vigilance. This made him extra cautious and’ deliberate, where others of far less knowledge did not hesitate. His solicitude and care for his patients, poor or rich, won their confidence and rewarded him by their grateful affection and friendship. Many who shed tears at his funeral mourned his loss as a veritable calamity.
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“In his professional relations with his colleagues. Dr. Smyth was always courteous and punctilious in observing the Golden Rule, treating others as he wished them to treat him.
“He met death like a true doctor. Conscious almost to the last, he bore his trials with a calm and stoic fortitude, an equanimity of spirit characteristic of his courage, and becoming a physician who had met Death and stayed his hand too often to be fearful of his presence when he came, not as a foe, but as a friend to ease him of the pangs of disease which he knew was beyond all power of human help to conquer. He passed away painlessly and in peaceful slumber, attended by the loving hands of those dearest and closest to him.”
— RUDOLPH MATAS.
SULLY GENEALOGY.
Matthew Sully married Sarah Chester. Their son, Chester Sully married Harriet Jane Green from Topsham, Maine, U.S.A. Her father was Ballard Green, a son of Jacob Green whose family traces back to five Sir Thomas Greens, one having a daughter Maude, whose daughter, Katherine Parr became the last wife of King Henry VIII of England and out-lived that much-married monarch.
Thomas Sully, the noted Southern architect, was a direct descendant of Chester Sully, who was a son of Matthew Sully, father of the famous portrait painter Thomas Sully for whom the architect was named. George Washington Sully, the father of the architect, a son of Chester Sully sat for the first miniature ever painted by his brother Thomas Sully the famous portrait painter. George Washington Sully was a resident of Mississippi City, Mississippi in 1855 when his son Thomas was born. The young man completed his education under the difficulties that faced every Southerner, following the devastating effects of the Civil War and carpet-bagger period that followed. Young Sully had shown marked ability in drawing as well as brilliancy in his classes. His family realizing that the impoverished South could not offer the advantages of an architectural education, young Tom was sent to New York City, after he had spent some time in the office of Lamour & Wheelock of Austin, Texas, where his architectural studies began. Always a keen observer, he had been a great admirer of the work of the Galliers, father and son, but he fully realized that the Civil War had been the death knell of the Greek Revival. On all sides he could see mongrel types of homes and buildings, that were to be eye-sores for half a century
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
or more, replacing the quiet restful lines of the places that were vanishing. In New York City young Sully accustomed to the classic lines of the Southern structures could not abide the great piles of brown-stone and tile-inlaid stuccoed structures with towers, turrets and battlements stuck at every available angle. Nor could he abide the Queen-Ann fronts and Mary-Ann backs mid all of the other jig-saw, so-called Gothic manors and villas that flooded the countryside during the middle and latter Victorian era Mr. Sully was determined to crusade against these atrocities, but he found it a difficult task, so thoroughly had the craze for
these types taken hold of the country.
The years spent with H. R. Marshall in New York City as well with J. Morgan Slade gave Sully the knowledge needed to make sky-scrapers spring from the soil where a few years before, one struck water at a depth of two feet. He had become an engineer as well as an architect. Sully was a close friend of my father’s and was unusually considerate to me. He often took me on his drives when in quest of new motives for city and rural homes. He would stop and admire the work of architects of a century before, and ask, “Why do people want to fill Louisiana with buildings and homes that belong in Florida or California. He was a great reader and liked to talk when he found an appreciative listener, and I tried to be a good listener for it is an accomplishment that well repays the effort. _
Often I have had him tell me, “Never pass our City Hall without studying its perfection of line and detail. Not that we want a city filled with City Halls, but such a poem of architecture cannot but be an inspiration to better things be it architecture or
clothing.” . , ...
The day for the classic had passed, but on none of the buildings connected with Sully’s name, be they early or late, do we find over ornamentation or senseless decoration. He would often say to my father in bringing in some sketch he had made. The
SUU5Through the many years of his career in this city which covered the stuffy years of the nineties, Sully’s work always showed simplicity of line, particularly when compared with others
of the same era. .... .
After studying in New York City, the lure of the South that he loved caused him to establish himself m New Orleans in 1881,
Mrs. Albert Sidney Ranlett, ned Miss Cora Semmes. (Courtesy of Mrs. S. P. Ranlett Sr.)
Albert Sidney Ranlett, II
Thomas J. Semmes Ranlett.
Mrs. Myra Semmes Curtis (Myra Semmes Ranlett)
David Low Ranlett
Mrs. Cora Ranlett Thomson (Cora Ranlett)
Mrs. Eleanor Ranlett Kantzler (Eleanor Ranlett)
Cora Ranlett Blankenship
Albert Sidney Ranlett, III
THE SMYTH — SULLY FAMILIES
121
where his firm continued for nearly thirty-eight years. During this long period it was considered the leading one in the city and of the entire South. Among the buildings that he designed, are the St. Charles Hotel, the Milliken Hospital, the Tulane and Crescent Theatres, the Cosmopolitan Hotel, the old Hennen Building, which was the first sky-scraper in the city, the old Whitney ttgr.fr Building, the old Liverpool, London and Globe Building, as well as many fine residences in the uptown section of this city, besides the many buildings, hotels, and residences built elsewhere.
Mr. Sully retired from business about twenty years ago, after a long life crowned with success. His gracious daughter, one of the most popular members of the social set, is a talented artist, and has gained for herself quite a reputation as a moving-picture entertainer for the beauty and charm of the subjects she selects on her tours make her showings unusually entertaining travelogues.
Thomas Sully was an ardent yachtsman and designed a number of unusually fine yachts. He was a former commadore of the Southern Yacht Club. His last years were spent quietly at his attractive home in Richmond Place, this city, where he died at the age of eighty-three.
The Sully family came from England to live in the City of Charleston, South Carolina in the year 1792. Charleston at that date was one of the five cities of importance in the United States, but none of the five New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore and Charleston could boast of a population of 50,000.
The South through the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney , made rapid strides from 1793 when his invention appeared thus enabling the planters to fill the immense orders for cotton from Europe especially from England.
Matthew Sully and his affectionate wife, the lovely and charming young Sarah Chester, braved parental anger when they were married. Sully’s father had planned to ™«frp a Catholic priest of his son. He had obediently complied with his father’s wishes and entered a Catholic seminary, but he soon discovered that the life of a priest was not for him, especially having met the lovely Sarah. At that time the family home was in the quaint old village of Long Credon in England, where in the ancient Anglican church can be seen on the walls many memorials to the family. This village had been the childhood home of Matthew
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Sully’s father, where he married and lived with his wife, a son and daughter, until in middle life he moved with his family to London. Upon learning that his son had married, Sully’s father vowed he would disinherit him. Realizing that his father was in earnest and that their only wealth lay in each other’s love, Matthew decided to use his ability as an orator for the stage instead of for the church. The fact that both he and his wife were musical greatly helped their mutual admiration and understanding. It is not known how long they remained in London after their marriage, but it is positively known that Thomas, their youngest son who became the famous portrait painter, was born in Horn- castle, England, and that they lived there for some nine years before coming to Charleston, South Carolina.
Histrionic talent undoubtedly was a family accomplishment, for a sister of Matthew joined them in their stage venture, although she knew how opposed her religiously inclined father would be. She joined the young troupers, and shortly afterward married Thomas West, a supervisor and Actor-Manager. At that date supervising the building of theatres was very profitable. It was the contract to build the Charleston Theatre (lately restored by that city), that induced this branch of the Sully family to come to Charleston and join their relatives.
After their arrival in America Matthew Sully, Jr., who had reached manhood became an actor, appearing in Charleston in Pantomine. Lawrence Sully, eldest son of Matthew Sully I, did not become an actor, but studied art and became a miniature painter. In 1799 he married Sarah Annis of Maryland, and his brother Matthew Sully II, married Elizabeth Robertson of Virginia. Their son, Robert Matthew Sully, in whose veins also flowed the blood of artists, studied with his uncle Thomas (the famous portrait painter), in Philadelphia and in 1824 went to England where he continued his studies. Returning in 1828 he settled in Richmond, Virginia. In 1855 he was commissioned to paint for the Historical Society of Madison, Wisconsin, portraits as well as scenes of the battlefields of the Indian Wars of that section. Starting for Madison in 1855 he was taken ill at Buffalo, N. Y., and died after an illness of a few days. His son Robert Matthew Sully was Superintendent of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. He married Elisabeth Rucker Williams, their only child is Miss Julia Sully of Richmond, Virginia.
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123
The five daughters of Matthew Sully were married in the city of Charleston, S. C., the announcement appearing in the “City Gazette” on May 30th, 1793, of his daughter Charlotte: “Married on Thursday evening, by Rev. Dr. Purcell.” On the day following another announcement stating in the same paper, “Mr. Chambers, Comedian, to Miss Charlotte Sully”. The Mr. Chambers referred to was a distinguished English actor who had made his first appearance in America at the Southwark Theatre in Philadelphia in 1792, and had made a reputation at the Theatre Royal and the Haymarket in England before coming to America. A daughter, Julia Sully, became the wife of a miniature painter of Charleston, S. C., by the name of Belzons, in 1794. Another daughter, Jane, married J. B. Leroy, a prominent resident of Charleston. Harriet, who had only acted in child parts, was the fourth daughter to be married, became the wife of Dr. Porcher. Elisabeth, romantically inclined, eloped with Middleton Smith, a son of the Landgrave. The family was a handsome one. Elizabeth in her early twenties enjoyed the reputation of being a radiantly beautiful young woman with all of the town at her feet.
THOMAS SULLY Noted Portrait Painter .
Thomas Sully’s real talent began to manifest itself when he reached the age of fourteen. As a small child he was forever making pictures, and his teachers chided him about his everlasting drawing to the neglect of his studies. The family being one theatrically inclined, young Sully thought to follow in the footsteps of his family, but soon abandoned the idea and interested himself in his art with greater enthusiasm. He worked in a broker’s office before finally deciding to make art his life work. From then on for more than forty years we find him incessantly at work. The record that he has kept of his work confirms this. In the shaping of his career he was encouraged by Benjamin West and Gilbert Stuart who told him to keep what he had and get all he could get. West’s advice to Sully was “study portraiture, and above all study it in England”, for in West’s opinion the English School offered the greatest opportunities. He encouraged the young man in every way possible, and pointed out details of his various pictures, explaining the value of poses and
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lighting, etc. Benjamin West realized that Sully had in him the making of a great painter. This is confirmed by a letter that he wrote to a friend of his in Philadelphia on Nevember 3rd, 1809. In the letter he deplores the fact that the finances of young Sully may prevent his continuing his studies. He points out what a tragedy it would be to the art world for one with the talent young Sully possessed to have to abandon his career owing to his curtailed finances. He ended by stating, “When the success of Mr. Sully in his profession as a painter is so much to be desired.”
In glancing over the register of his work, we find that on May 10th, 1801, Thomas Sully painted a miniature of his brother Chester Sully from life, the first itepa of his work to be entered in the register. As we glance through it, we find he carefully details each entry with name of sitter, color of complexion, eyes, hair, the price of the picture, etc. His brother Lawrence also painted miniatures, but never became the great artist that his younger brother did. Lawrence was some years older than Thomas Sully, and after the misunderstanding Thomas had with his brother-in-law, he bent his steps towards the home of his older brother who also painted various devices along with miniatures to earn a living. Thomas Sully had been apprenticed to Mr. Belzons who had married his sister Julia in 1794, and during a painting lesson his hot-tempered brother-in-law quarreled, whereon young Thomas departed for Richmond, Va. Downhearted and discouraged he determined not to go back to his sister’s home. Only sixteen years old, his father and mother dead, and he without finances, wondered how he was going to reach Richmond. When almost in dispair he met a friend, who permitted him to share his home and food until Sully met a naval officer by the name of Reed. Reed used his influence in obtaining a midshipman’s birth for Sully, which gave the young artist an opportunity to reach Richmond. The tradition has it that young Thomas was on the point of continuing as a marine, when his brother wrote him and advised him to come to his home in Richmond, thus turning into a good artist one who no doubt would have made an indifferent sailor. The suggestion that he become a pupil of his older brother of whom he was very fond, save the world a noted portrait painter while if Lawrence had been indifferent, young Sully’s life would have been entirely altered.
At Lawrence’s home he was warmly welcomed by his sister-
“WAVERTREE MANOR”, built in 1834 for Mr. Elam Bowman, birthplace of Dr. John Smyth.
THOMAS SULLY, Noted Architect.
Mrs. John Smyth (Jean Sully), in Spring Fiesta Costume. (Pictures courtesy of Mrs. John Smyth.)
THE SMYTH — SULLY FAMILIES
125
in-law, who had been a Miss Sarah Annis of Annapolis, and their two children who made much of the new arrival. Lawrence at the time was thirty years of age, and before the year had passed another daughter was born. Lawrence and his family with young Thomas moved to Norfolk, and here it was that Thomas painted his first miniature from life, a portrait of his brother Chester.
In 1803 we find Thomas Sully and the family back in Richmond. Thomas had made some headway with his art, but the death of his brother, Lawrence, that year threw great reponsi- bilities on the shoulders of the young artist, for we learn that he assumed all of the household expenses which heretofore had been paid by Lawrence. This seemed to develop further his great talent. Naturally the constant contact with a charming young widow only four years his senior, one who had shown her devotion when he needed encouragement most, soon gained his affections. They were married two years after Lawrence’s death. Their marriage proved to be a most happy one and was blessed with nine children, forming a large and affectionate family. Notwithstanding that his art duties kept him constantly occupied he never neglected his family. He realized his responsibilities and his duties to the communities in which he resided, and left an unblemished name crowned with honor.
Thomas Sully visited England on two occasions, his work showing strongly the influence of these visits. On his second visit to England at that time at the height of his powers, twenty- seven years after his first visit, he was selected to paint a portrait of Queen Victoria, who had recently succeeded to the throne of Britain, for the Society of St. George in Philadelphia. The Society adopted this resolution: “To memorialize her Majesty to sit for her picture to Mr. Sully for the gratification and use of the Society”. Mr. Sully became an American citizen before making this second visit to Europe. The memorial reading “We have been induced thus to petition your Majesty in consequence of the contemplated departure of Thomas Sully, Esq. for England, whom we beg leave to recommend to your Majesty as the most finished artist in portraits in America, who would do ample justice to your picture, and who combines in himself the various recommendations of being an Englishman by birth, an accomplished artist and a gentleman”.
The Sully family were thrilled with the expected visit to Eu-
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rope and in the midst of the excitement of the moment, his daughter in the seventh heaven of delight as the time for leaving approached Thomas Sully received a notification that his son Alfred had been appointed to West Point. It was hard to know who was the most delighted one of this family, Blanche who was to visit England with her father, Alfred who had been appointed to West Point, or the great artist at the prospect of painting the portrait of the young Queen. It was indeed a happy family at this date. Thomas Sully, the happy father, wrote the following letter to his friend who was the Secretary of War:
“To the Honorable Joel Poinsette”
Dear Sir:
I have taken passage with my daughter for London and am abont to sail on the 10th inst, from New York.
I cannot leave home without the gratification of returning you my grateful thanks for your kinidness in appointing my son on trial as a cadet at West Point.
I hope his future good conduct will prove his gratitude for the privilege.
I pray God- bless and prosper you.
Very sincerely your friend and obliged humble S’v't Thomas Sully.
The artist’s son lived up to his father’s hopes, graduating in the year 1841 from West Point with high honors — all through the four years as a cadet he stood as an honor man in his classes.
Like his famous father he too was to shed luster on the Sully name. At the termination of the War Between the States in which he was active throughout, he is listed as brevette Major-General of Volunteers, and Brigadier-General in the Regular Army. In acknowledgment of his services to the United States, “Fort Sully” established in 1866 in Dakota Territory was named in his honor.
The trip across was an enjoyable one for father and daughter, and when comfortably located in London, another triumph was to come to Mr. Sully. “The Queen consents to sit most willingly - think of that! The news coming through Lord Melbourne. - She is now at Windsor Castle passing the Christmas
holidays - and as soon as she comes to town she sends word
that she’ll gratify Mr. Sully”.
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Old files of THE TRUE AMERICAN, bearing the date December 18, 1839, on page 2, column 3 we find notices of the arrival of the portrait Mr. Sully painted of the English Queen. The portrait was placed on exhibition and the following newspaper article appared:
Solly’s Victori.a This magnificent full length portrait of Queen Victoria, painted by Sully from life at the Court of St. James, has been received by John J. Haswell of this city, consigned to him by the “Society of the Sons of St. George, established in Philadelphia for the advice and assistance of Englishmen in distress” and we are pleased to learn that Mr. Haswell in conformity with the wishes of that truly benevolent association, will cause the same to be exhibited in aid of its funds as soon as a suitable location shall present.
Report speaks highly of this work of Mr. Sully and it has frequently been stated in the English journals, over the signature of the most eminent artists that Mr. Sully has been most successful in conveying a true likeness of her majesty.
POCAHONTAS PORTRAIT
Excerpts from Letters of Robert Sully to Lyman Draper give interesting history to Students of Early Virginia: Discussion over Picture. (News Leader, April 21, 1934) by Julia Sully.
From time to time discussion arises as to the famous picture of Pocahontas known as the Turkey Island Portrait. Perhaps the following excerpts from the letters of Robert Sully to Lyman Draper, corresponding secretary of the state historical society of Wisconsin, during the years 1854-1855 may be of some interest to students of this subject.
Robert Sully, nephew of Thomas Sully, was commissioned by the historical society of Wisconsin to paint the portraits of Black Hawk, the prophet and Black Hawk’s son when these Indian captives were brought to Fortress Monroe. Many letters passed between the artist and Mr. Draper during the execution of this commission, and a strong friendship was formed which finally determined Sully to leave Virginia and make his home in Madison Wisconsin. In October 1855, the artist started for his new home, but stopping in Buffalo he contracted pneumonia and after an illness of ten days died in that city. The first reference to Pocahontas occurs in a letter dated April 20th, 1854, in which he writes: Permit me to suggest to your society (state historical society of Wisconsin) a little gift I designed for them. Some twenty years ago there existed in Virginia the fragments of a portrait that had always been regarded as an original of “Pocahontas”. I copied this picture which excited much interest at the time. My copy was engraved in the Indian gallery got up by
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Herring and Longacre. The certificates of many members of the family (her descendants) giving an account of the somewhat interesting manner of its coming to Virginia, etc., I possesss and can send you.
In consequence of its being in the absurd costume of James I, all Indian association was destroyed. I can at any time get access to my own pictures. I propose reproducing or repeating this picture in more ideal style, more in accordance with Indian character, at the same time preserving the features and expressions which are truly fine. I am under these circumstances, to paint one for the Virginia historical society; at the same time I will paint one for your society which I beg will be accepted as a feeble token of my interest and good wishes for your prosperity.
* * * *
It is true the subject is one not having reference to your State (Wisconsin) but surely a memorial of so interesting a being, who twice saved the Colony of Virginia by her heroism and devotion, under circumstances of singular peril and romance, may be regarded as an object of imterest any where. The response to this offer must have been a cordial acceptance, for on May 13, 1854 Robert Sully writes as follows. I am glad that you attach so flattering an interest to the Pocahontas, let me explain my idea of treatment of the subject. The classic and correct Beverly, the oldest Virginian historian, alluding to the pastimes and festivities of the Indian girls, the wild gambols of the dance &c. says: “Even the decent Pocahontas did not disdain to mingle in these pastimes. Crowned with a wreath of flowers, as she sometimes led the chases and presided in the dance”. That hint I have taken. The details of Indian costume are far from being poetic .... I shall represent a beautiful girl, nude to a little below the shoulders, so as to preserve delicate associations with so interesting a subject the only approach to costume, the fur of some animal.” This is historical and true, but the wild flowers of the Virginia forest are beautiful and poetic and equally true. My friend Mr. Maxwell, the president of the Virginia historical society, is much pleased1 with my design as agreeing with his ideal completely.
GREENE.
It is commonly supposed that the name of Green is of Saxon or Scandinavian origin, but it is found that there was a patrician family of this name after the Roman Conquest of England, which suggests that it is of Latin derivation.
In the early part of the thirteenth century, about twelve years before the granting of the Magna Charta, during the reign of King John, there lived in England one Alexander de Boketon. It was his great grandson who took unto himself the name of GREENE, and spelled it Greene. He was created a knight and was a member of Parliament from Northampton! Country. Sir Henry Greene, a descendant of this family, became Lord Chief Justice of England.
Self Portrait by Thomas Sully
Chester Sully. Portrait by Thomas Sully.
Crest
and Coat-of-Arms of
the family
of
Pierre
Denis de la Ronde.
(Courtesy
of
Emile
Ducros, Historian.)
See page 132,
Vol. II.
Crest and Coat-o’f-Arms of the de Dreux family which descends directly from the Comte de Dreux, 5th son of Louis VI of France. (See page 140, Vol. II.). (Courtesy of Mr^ and Mrs. Robert Dugue de Livaudais.)
WAVERTREE MANOR
129
In America the first Greenes settled in New England and Major John Greenie was Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island. Prominent personages of the family in later times were Joseph Warren Greene and William Benton Greene, of Rhode Island. The latter was an eminent clergyman and professor of ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary. Charles Samuel Greene, of California is also a descendant.
WAVERTREE MANOR
Originally attached to this splendid old plantation manor house was a tract of four thousand acres. This was purchased in 1834 by Mr. Elam Bowman, at which time a house was erected which later became a part of the present immense home, which was built for Mr. Bowman in 1857 under the direction of a New York architect, Mr. Eshleman.
Among the large number of slaves owned by Mr. Bowman of the plantation family of that name, was one named Caleb Christopher, who had been purchased in Louisville, Kentucky, for the sum of $3,000.00 and brought to this site to do much of the cabinet work in Wavertree Manor. Caleb Christopher was a finished carpenter and was put in charge of the work. The overhead paneling of porches, etc., was done by another skilled slave. Nothing but choicest cypress was used in the Wavertree manor house, every bit of the woodwork in the place being prepared and built on the spot. An expert in plaster work, Mr. Carkeet, who came from Natchez, did the plastering of the walls inside as well as on the exterior, which, when finished had the appearance of marble. It is still in good condition after a century of wear.
The house, a very large one, was nearly completed when war was declared, and the architect returned to New York. As the
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
slate that had been ordered for the roof did not come, hand-made shingles were substituted for the slate, and rushing the work, the house was completed before the Union soldiers got very far South.
Mr. Bowman’s family and his descendants occupied the house from the time it was finished until 1925. Since then it has been empty for part of the time in charge of a care-taker. It was bought by the Moberly Brothers of Tallulah, and then became the property of Mr. L. T. Collins, who was greatly interested in the place and did much to restore the house and improve the grounds. Now it is the home of Mr. Berry who lives there and manages the 1580 acres that are still attached to the manor. Mr. and Mrs. Bert W. Berry, and their family, are social-minded and have the old place gay again, which recalls the hospitality of olden days.
The rooms are immense, the two front ones being twenty feet square, and the hallway between eighteen feet wide. The porches around the house upstairs and down are extremely wide, so much so that measurement of the distance around the porch shows that “seven times around the porch amounts to a mile”. The mansion contains some twenty spacious rooms. The splendid furniture that had been ordered when the war broke out never was delivered, but other antiques have filled the rooms. The house is two-storied with an observatory from which one gets a splendid view of the surrounding country.
It has been a great cotton plantation in its day and its acres still afford a large yield of the white fluffy bolls.
The grounds about the house are extensive having a variety of trees surrounded by stately oaks. It has never been permitted to fall into ruin and today happiness reigns there again, recalling the days when the Misses Ivy of England lived there, and named the place after that of their friend, Mrs. Hemans, poetess of England. Located on a road that branches westward from Highway 65 ,at a point known as the Helena Bridge about two and a half miles from this point the old mansion appears in all its glory, a spot loved by the patrician families of Tensas Parish, old and young for it was a great social center in olden days.
As lights glimmer in the negro cabins at twilight in the distance and the strumming of a banjo with the cadence of negro melodies is wafted to those seated on the broad cool porches, Time is turned backward and one thinks of the Golden Age when plantation life was at its best.
de Marigny de Mandeville.
Chapter XVIII.
THE DE MARIGNY — DE LA RONDE — ALMONASTER DE DREUX — VILLERfi — BEAUREGARD — LANAUX RARESHIDE FAMILIES
de MARIGNY.
jpROM the marriage of Pierre de Marigny to Jean Marie d’Estrehan, four children were born. Jean Philippe, who died unmarried; Marie Celeste, who became the wife of Jacques Francois Enoulde de Livaudais; Antoine Marie on account of her ravishing beauty, called by the Due. D’Orleans, La Perle, who died without issue, and Bernard, the third child. Bernard Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville, born in 1785, died in 1868, married Mary Ann Jones, daughter of Evans Jones of Pennsylvania, who had been American Consul at New Orleans, and Marie Verret. Mary Ann Jones died in childbirth in Philadelphia June 4th, 1808. About eighteen months later Bernard married Anne Mathilde Morales of a prominent Spanish family. His second marriage not proving a happy one, he spent a great deal of his time on his estate in Mandeville, Louisiana.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The children of Bernard de Marigny and Mathilde Morales were five in number, as follows: I. Antoine James, known as “Mandeville” Marigny; who was born in 1811 and married Sophronia Claiborne, daughter of Charles Cole Claiborne, first American Governor of Louisiana. Her death occurred in 1890, her three children by this marriage died without issue. Antoine James (Mandeville) de Marigny died in 1890.
2. Rosa de Marigny, born in 1813, married M. de Sentmanat (who became involved in a plot against Santa Anna) issue three daughters; one became Madame Nevil Soule, son of Pierre Soule; another married Allan Eustis, (descendants residing in Europe), and the third became Mrs. Philippe Villere, no children.
3. Angela de Marigny, born 1817, became Madame F. Peschier, who was Swiss consul in New Orleans. Became the parents of several one of their daughters becoming Mrs. Leon Joubert de Villemarest.
4. Armand de Marigny.
5. Malthilde de Marigny, born 1820, became Mrs. Albin Michel de Grilleaud, a son of the French consul in Louisiana. When Prosper de Marigny, the great grandson of Bernard de Marigny and Mary Jones (Evan Hall Plantation) died in Mandeville, La., 1910, the name of Marigny became extinct in Louisiana, where it had occupied a prominent position for over two centuries.
The children of Pierre Philippe de Marigny, the elegant aristocrat and multi-millionaire who died in 1800 were five in number as follows: Antoine, born 1773; Jean, bom 1781, no children; Bernard, bom 1785; Marie Celeste, born February, 1786, who married Jacques Enoult de Livaudais; Antoine, born in 1787, no children.
GENEALOGY OF THE DE LA RONDE FAMILY .
(From the authentic notes compiled by Joseph Emile Ducros, Historian , Mandeville, Louisiana.)
Jacques Denis de la Thibaudiere, son of Jacques Denis de la Thibaudiere and of Marie Cosmier, was a Captain in the troops and subsequently quartermaster General of the armies of Louis XIII and XIV. During the wars of Candis and Crete (1645- 1674) between the Turks and Venetians, Venice calling loudly to
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Christendom for assistance and Christendom replied in the persons of thousands of French soldiers and sailors who volunteered secretly for Malta and Venice, as there was no open war between Turkey and France. In some cases they actually deserted the royal service in order to go. Jacques Denis responded to the urgent appeal and took service with Malta. He was killed at Chios in the terrific naval battle between the celebrated Anne Hilaire de Contentin, Count of Tourville assisted by Honore de Mouchy d’Hocquincourt, who with three hundred men in a fine 36-gun frigate defeated twenty-four Turkish galleys.
Hugues Denis de la Thibaudiere, brother of the foregoing, was an officer in the Regiment of Royal Guards. He was killed in Italy. Marie Denis de la Thibaudiere, daughter of Jacques Denis and Marie Cosmier, first married Mons. de Norvaise and left no children. In her second nuptial with Robin Seigneur du Bourg Desure in Touraine, she left two daughters. Francoise Denis de la Thibaudiere, daughter of Jacques Denis and of Marie Cosmier, married Monsieur Robin, Provincial Provost and In- tendant of Gabeles (exciseman). They left several children — Simon Denis, Ecuyer, Sieur de la Trinite in Canada, brother of Nicolas Denis (Royal Governor of Acadia, etc.) great-great-grandfather of Pierre Denis de la Ronde of Versailles plantation.
As one of the first settlers of America, he set an example for his descendants to emulate. Neither the biting winds of the Northern forests, nor the treacherous red enemy that was perhaps hiding behind many of the ice-clad trees, when in the depths of winter he trudged through the piling snow drifts to uphold the glory of the Lilies of France and extend the dominion of his King, daunted him. Bom in Tours, Touraine, France, in 1599, he was baptized in the church of St. Vincent of Tours. He was the founder of the family in New France (Canada) and became one of the distinguished officers of the celebrated Carignan-Salieres regiment sent to Canada by Louis XIV, holding a commission as Captain in this famous fighting unit. The men that comprised it had won their spurs on foreign fields, and they accomplished in Canada still mightier achievements. They were sent to America to subdue a treacherous ever-aggressive and bloodthirsty foe, the Iroquois, who as early as the first settlement of Quebec by Champlain in 1608 had harassed the French. The Carignan-Saliere
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regiment fought with dash and distinction in the European and Turkish wars under the great Turenne.
Pierre Denis, Esq. Sr. de la Ronde (the progenitor of the Louisiana family), son of Louis Denis de la Ronde, and Marie Louise Chartier de Lothiniere, was born at Quebec on Nov. 11, 1726. He was an officer of the French Navy, detached therefrom by the King and assigned to duty as a lieutenant of foot soldiers in the Infantry of the Marines (a training corps d’elite, an exclusive, military, nobly born body, intensely punctilious aloof and superior, the “Great Corps”) sent to Louisiana prior to Feb. 26th, 1748, when he was twenty-one years old. He was a Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis and member of the early Cabildo as Regidor. About 1755*1757 he married Marie Madeline Broutin (widow) of Louis Xavia Martin de Lino, ecuyer, Sieur de Chalmet, formally a lieutenant of infantry in the French marine, of the Natchez Post in 1751. A daughter of Ignace Francois Broutin, one of the Colony’s royal engineers, also Captain and Commandant of the Natchez Post.
Pierre Denis de la Ronde became the father of four daughters and one son, all of whom married persons of distinction as shown hereinafter. Louise de la Ronde, born in New Orleans, July 25th, 1758. She was Imarried in St. Louis church, March 20th, 1787, to Don Andres Almonaster y Roxas, a native of Mayrene, in the Kingdom of Andalusia in Spain, son of Don Miguel Jose Almonaster and Dona Maria Juanna de Estrada Y. Roxas. Her second marriage was to Jean Baptiste Victor Castillon, a native of Tamos in the Lower Pyranees, France, born in 1765, the youthful and dapper French Consul at New Orleans, son of Etienne Castillon and Isabelle Lasserre.
Therese Josephte de la Ronde, born Sept. 14th, 1759, was married in the church of St. Louis, April 25th, 1778, to Don Juan Pristo (an officer of the Spanish Troops who came in the train of General O’Reilly), son of Don Pedro Pristo and Francisca de la Bargos, both natives of Havana, Cuba. Marguerite de la Ronde, born June 10th, 1761, was married (as evidenced by the de la Ronde papers in possession of the Misses de Hoa Le Blanc) to Francois Xavia Dagobert de Verges, Sieur de St. Sauver, and Marie Pinau. Pierre Denis de la Ronde was born April 20th, 1762. As a cadet in the second company, first battalion, First Regiment of Louisiana Infantry (maintained by his Catholic
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Majesty the King of Spain), he participated under Governor Galvez in the campaigns against Baton Rouge, Mobile and Pensacola, 1779 - 1781, during the conquest of West Florida. For valiant services rendered in that campaign, he was promoted by the Governor to a lieutenancy in the same company. Prior to Feb. 28th, 1748, when he was twenty-one year old, he was a knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis and a member of the early Cabildo as Rigidor.
Pierre Denis Seur de la Ronde, born in the City of Quebec on the 11th day of October, 1726, was the son of Louis Pierre Denis de la Ronde and Marie Louise Chartier de Lothiniere. He married Madeline Broutin, whose father was the wealthy and prominent royal engineer under Bienville. Pierre Denis de la Ronde’s family had a patent of nobility accorded in Quebec in 1691.
The children of Pierre Denis de la Ronde and Madeline Broutin were four in number, one of whom, Louise de la Ronde, who was born in New Orleans, July 25, 1758. On March 20, 1787, at the age of twenty-nine she became the wife of Don Andres Almo- naster y Roxas. Of this marriage, one child was born, named Micaela Almonaster, who later married Celestin de Pontalba, and left New Orleans to live in France at the Chateau Mont. L’Eveque. The bride inherited not only her own share of her father’s estate, but also that of a sister, who had died before her father, and again at her mother’s death, she inherited another vast fortune.
A spoiled child with every wish gratified and untold millions at her command, Mme. Pontalba wearied of the solitude of the country, and longed for the excitement of city life she had always known. Bored to death by the quiet home-life at the chateau and her husband’s dull relatives, she sought an outlet for her attacks of nerves by directing her own private theatre. There she and her friends gave theatrical performances much to the annoyance of her husband and his family, who incessantly chided her for her continuous extravagancies. It was not long before a separation occurred, so managed that scandal was avoided. She made a visit to Louisiana to attend to business matters and the succession of her mother. On returning to Paris she secured her freedom from her husband.
On an October morning in the year 1834 at the Chateau Mont L’Eveque screams were heard coming from an apartment and
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servants, aroused by this disturbance in the early hours, rushed in to find the Baronne de Pontalba moaning and apparently in a dying condition, as blood was pouring from the pistol wounds that rent her body. A surgeon was summoned and almost by a miracle saved her life. Her father-in-law, the old Baron de Pontalba, was found dead in an upright position, his hand clinging to a pistol and resting on the chair in which he sat.
His descendants say that the wilful waste, as he considered it, of the fortune which should have been saved for her children, had driven the eighty-year-old man insane. Even this tragedy did not curb her extravagance, for when she learned that the marble palace that had been built by King Louis XIV for the Duke of du Maine was to be demolished, she purchased the palace and attempted to live there. But she soon found that even her millions could not maintain so grand a palace. Its rooms numbered four hundred, and repairs were greatly needed, so after a consultation with architects, the chateau was demolished. The marble and statuary, carved and paneled woodwork, and other materials were salvaged and used in rebuilding for her a smaller chateau, more in keeping with her incoime.
Here she lived the life she liked — an incessant round of gala balls and fetes, banquets, etc., to which the most exclusive of the aristocrats of the exclusive Faubourg St. Germaine came. Later, she again visited New Orleans where, as usual, she was warmly greeted by her large circle of friends and relatives. It was then that she carried out her plan to build the two rows of beautiful old Pontalba buildings that make of Jackson Square one of the finest of its kind in America.
It was in the Pontalba house that Jennie Lind stayed while in New Orleans, as the guest of that distinguished lady. Mme. Pontalba also contributed freely to the erection of Jackson Monument, and financed the remodeling of the Place D’Arms into the beautiful square we see today. After lying empty half a century, the ancient Pontalba Buildings are again homes of distinguished and cultured people.
Pierre Denis de la Ronde II built the beautiful Versailles plantation mansion, the handsomest in the state at that date. From letters written when the de la Rondes lived at Versailles, we judge it to have been the leading salon in the state, as all the
Micaela Leonarda Baronne de Pontalba (ne6 Almonaster.) Baron de Pontalba, Sr.
The Baronne Celestln de Pontalba Baron Ceiestin de Pontalba. in old age.
in old age.
(All pictures courtesy of Mrs. Edwin X. de Verges.)
Don Andres Almonaster. (Courtesy Louisiana Museum.)
The Duke of Orleans, who later became Louis Philippe, King of France. While in exile in .America with his two brothers were entertained and befriended by the wealthy aristocrats of Louisiana in 1798.
Antoine Marie de Marigny de Man- deville, called “La Perl” because of her great beauty. (Courtesy of Mrs. R. G. Dugue.)
Bernard de Marigny, who set the standard, of- high living, while wasting fortunes, always remained a gentleman.
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brilliant people of the day gathered at the banquets given by this distinguished family.
Pierre Denis de la Ronde II was a member of General Andrew Jackson’s staff at the time of the Battle of New Orleans, the greater part of the fighting being done on the Versailles plantation. Later he was made a Major General of the militia of the State. When the English invaded Louisiana, coming by way of Bayou St. John, through the Villere Canal in 1812, Colonel Pierre de la Ronde, who had just returned from Chef Menteur, was met by de Villere who had escaped from the English, informing him that the Red Coats had landed. Both hastened at once to General Jackson in New Orleans, who decided to fight that night — a decision resulting in victory. Most of the fighting took place on the de la Ronde plantation, although the Chalmette plantation has always been said to be the scene of the heaviest fighting. Beneath- the great grove of the de la Ronde oaks the next morning a large number of dead Englishmen were found.
With the death of Colonel Pierre Denis de la Ronde at Versailles in 1820 ended the name in Louisiana. But he left nine daughters who all married, leaving a large number of socially porminent descendants.
The other children of Pierre Denis de la Ronde and Madeline Broutin were (2) Marie Theresa de la Ronde, born Sept. 4, 1759, died April 20, 1817, having married on April 25, 1778, a son of Don Pedro Prieto named Juan Prieto of Havana, Cuba. (3) Margaret de la Ronde, bom June 10, 1761 and who became the wife of M. deVerges de St. Sauveur. (4) Pierre Denis de la Ronde, Jr., born in New Orleans, April 20, 1762, married Mademoiselle Eulalie Guerbon, a daughter of M. Alexander Guerbon and Elizabeth de Trepagnier, whose family owned a number of plantations on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He died Dec. 1, 1824. He had one son and this son died without issue, so the name became extinct in Louisiana.
Pierre Denis de la Ronde III, born Jan. 1st, 1801, and died March 12th, 1840, the only son, who wedded Malvina Roche on May 22nd, 1828, a daughter of Don Nicolas Roche and Dona Louisa Sigur. Adelaide Adel de la Ronde, bora Dec. 24th, 1803, and died the 22nd of October, 1837, who was married on April 15th, 1820, to Pierre Adolph Ducros, son of Joseph Rodolph Ducros and Marie Lucie de Reggio, daughter of Francois Marie de Reggio
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and Helene de Fleuriau; issue as follows: Elisabeth Adel Ducros, whose husband was Gabriel Erieville Villere; Pierre Adolph Ducros,, Jr., bom Mar. 16th, 1827, died June 20th, 1905. A graduate of Harvard University and became one of the leading legal lights of the New Orleans bar of which he was a member for fifty-six years. He married Coralie Auguste Louise Fernet, daughter of Louis Fernet and Francoise Victoire Webre, who was born in France, and Villere, unmarried.
Elizabeth Celeste de la Ronde, born June 15th, 1791, died Sept. 1st, 1822; she married Maunsell White, a native of Kentucky, who was bom in Ireland in 1784, and died Dec. 17th, 1863. His parents were Lawford White and Anna Maunsell. She had one child named Eliza who became Mrs. Cuthbert Bullit, her husband being a native of Kentucky, issue one child that died in childhood.
Heloise de la Ronde, bom Dec. 11th, 1792, and died on the 14th of November, 1867, who after the death of his first wife married Maunsell White. Issue three children: 1st, Anna White who became the wife of Dr. Hugh Kennedy of Louisville, Kentucky. Issue — Heloise Kennedy, who became Mrs. Malcolm Bullit; Clara Kennedy, who became Mrs. Aleck Bullit, and Anna (Nan) Kennedy, unmarried.
Clara White, daughter of Heloise de la Ronde, married Carl Kohn, a New Orleans banker, and became the mother of six daughters; Hilda Meyer, unmarried; Clara Meyer, who married Louis M. McCaleb; Evelyn Meyer, unmarried; Mildred Meyer, unmarried; Leonora Meyer, who became Mrs. John Hickey; and Virginia Meyer, unmarried.
Maunsell White, Jr., who married Elizabeth Porter Bradford, a niece of Jefferson Davis. Issue — Sidney Johnson White, who married Elizabeth Tobin; Anna White, who became Mrs. Thomas H. Anderson; Lucie White, who became Mrs. (Dr.) Clement P. Wilkinson; Mary White, who became Mrs. A. Ringgold Brousseau; Elizabeth White, who became Mrs. Edwin W. Rod; Carl White, who married Mary Mitchell, and Maunsell White who died unmarried.
Josephine Pepita de la Ronde, born June 21st, 1796, died Aug. 11th, 1851, whose first husband was Thomas S. Cunningham, of the U. S. Navy; became the mother of seven children, as fol-
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lows: Christian Louis Ducros, who died in childhood; Victoria Louise Ducros, died in childhood; Delaronde Pierre Ducros, who went to Central America, establishing himself in Bluefields, Nicaragua, later dying there; Louis Henry Ducros, who never married; Adolph Victor Ducros, unmarried; Joseph Emile Ducros, born on Pecan Grove plantation, Feb. 15th, 1865, whose wife is Florence Olivia Patton and became the parents of five children; Fernet Octave Ducros, born July 7th, 1869, who was married April 12th, 1887, to Henri Jules Stouse, and became the mother of eight children.
Marie Felicete de la Ronde, born Sept. 28th, 1805, died 29th of September, 1842, became Mrs. Jayme F. Jorda, wife of the son of Jayme J. F. Jorda and Mile. Helene de Reggio. Issue nine children.
Isabelle Emilie de la Ronde, bom 6th of August, 1807, died March 18th, 1890, became Mrs. Pierre de Hoa Cacho, bom 16th of September, 1802, died Nov. 2nd, 1866; Pierre de Hoa Cacho’s parent were Don Manuel de Hoa. Emilie de la Ronde bore him three children, as follows: Amalie de Hoa, who became Madame Uubain Forestier, issue one child, Albert Forestier; Appoline de Hoa, who became Madame Belgarde Lacoste; Eulalie de Hoa, who became Madame Charles Emile LeBlanc. Issue seven children.
Magdalina Azelie de la Ronde, born 21st of May, 1809, and died 1st of July, 1872, became Madame Pierre Urbain Forestier. Issue two sons named as follows: Urbain Forestier, whose wife was Amalie de Hoa; issue one son who died unmarried. Louis Forestier, born 25th of December, 1838, died 6th of April, 1862. His wife was Felicete Jorda. Issue three daughters, named Amalie Forestier, Louise Forestier and Gabrielle Forestier. Pierre Denis de la Ronde, born in the city of New Orleans on April 20th, 1762, and died Dec. 1st, 1824. He married on Jan. 31st, 1788, Eulalie Guerboise, a daughter of Louis Alexander Guerboise and Elisabeth Trepagnier. Of this union ten children were bom, nine girls and one boy. Among the host of friends of the de la Ronde’s, this plantation home, when the tenth child was born, became known as “Parnasse” and the girls were referred to as the nine muses, while the son was called “Apollo”. While the male members of the coterie sipped their rare wines and brandies, the ladies as befitted, sipped nectar, eau sucre, or orange flower water.
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DeDREUX
In the archives of. this notable family one finds that the family runs in an unbroken chain to the fifth son of King Louis VI of France known as the Comte de Dreux (1108-1113). It is an interesting document, the genealogical record of this ancient family stemming to the Royal Family of France. As one reads, the names of Kings of France and Dukes of Brittany recall thrilling episodes, wars and events that make French history. Finally one comes to the Marquis Dreux-Breze, who had the exalted position during the reign of King Louis XIV.
The American branch, which settled in Louisiana, starts with Mathurin Dreux, a son of Louis Dreux-Breze and Francoise Ha- rant, his birthplace being Savigny, Province of Anjou France, and the year of his birth 1698. He came to Louisiana in 1718. He was a close friend of Bienville, and according to family records was one of those who accompanied Bienville when he selected the site of the present city of New Orleans. Allowed to choose the site for his plantation, unlike Bienville, he selected land in the area of Bayou St. Jean instead of on the Mississippi River, noting that the land there was higher and in less danger of overflow, as well as having a thicker growth of trees better suited for cultivation when once cleared.
The wooded land greatly appealed to them, for as soon as a brother, Pierre, joined him they started a saw-mill and brick-kiln, burning shells to make lime. They realized that settlers would need all these commodities once the town was laid out. Having some means it was easy for them to obtain labor, and before long became wealthy. With numerous slaves, and herds of cattle they were soon supplying the community with meats and milk products. Their own plantation was called Gentilly, which is not a corruption of Chantilly as is stated in some guide books of the city, but named after Gentilly, a commune in the department of the Seine in France. They became known as Sieurs de Gentilly, as one finds on old documents in the Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral.
In the early church records one finds the following, dated 1732 : “Mathurin Dreux, resident of Gentilly, Son of Louis Dreux, a native of Savigny Anjou, an officer of the militia of this province and demoiselle Francoise Harant native of Savigny diocese of Anjou (his mother) and demoiselle Claudine Francoise
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Hugot, daughter of the deceased garde magazin general of the concessions of Monseigneur Le Blanc and Francoise Martin, widow of Sieur Moriset”. A year later Mathurin’s brother also took to himself a wife. He too was an officer in the militia of the city and his choice was demoiselle Anne Corbin Bachemin, a daughter of Jean Corbin Bachemin and demoiselle Ann Marie Judith le Hardy, who had come from St. Malo.
At that time there was a wide roadway leading from the rear gate of the moated and palisaded town to the estate of Gentilly belonging to the Dreux family and the settlement along Bayou St. Jean. For two centuries it has been a picturesque thoroughfare with a number of old plantation homes erected a short distance back. This Bayou Road was the main driveway out of the city until the coming of the Americans after 1803, and still bears the name “Bayou Road”. The home that the Dreux brothers built on their land was a large and well built one, and the Marquis Marigny de Mandeville copied the plan for his house later. While this home of the Dreux brothers was being erected crowds of city residents would drive out to see it, and it was so attractive that for many years strangers were taken out to see it. Here they lived and reared their families, living like a noble in his chateau with a band of house slaves and field hands by the hundreds. Their children, as one would expect, married into the aristocratic wealthy families of the colony. One married a de Llome, another a Beauregard, and others into the Bermudez, Soniat du Fossat, de Fazende, de Logny, Dugue, de la Vergne, Joumoville, de Villere, de Freneuse, and other families. In fact the Dreux family has married, or can be traced in the genealogical records of almost every one of the early aristocratic families of New Orleans.
ROUYER de VILLERAY St. Bernard Parish.
ROVERE, LA ROUYER, ROUERE, ROUER, RAYMOND de ROUER
All these names we encounter in our research into the genealogical records of the Villere family which has branches in Italy, France, Canada and United States.
The family has furnished Cardinals, Bishops and many lesser religious members to the Church, sovereign princes to Italy and
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statesmen to the Republic of Genoa. It has always been foremost in civic and military affairs.
When the terror of the French Revolution was in full sway, the Marquis de Rouyer de Villere, burnt the genealogical records of the family in his Chateau at Havre, before fleeing from that place in order to keep the members of the family off the list of those to be guillotined.
VILLERE .
(ROUYER DE VILLER&).
The first Villere to come to Louisiana, was Etienne Roy Villere. He joined the band of Canadians that had been furnished for the trip. Among these Canadians were some members of the Chau- vin family to whom Etienne Roy de Villere was related through marriage. The church records of Montreal in 1695 show that Jacques Nepveu, a son of Philippe Nepveu and Marie Denise Sil- vestre, married Michelle Chauvin, daughter of Pierre Chauvin and Marie Antreuil. The records show also that Etienne Roy de Villere was married in the city of Montreal to Marie Nepveu, daughter of Jacques Nepveu and Michelle Chauvin. Their son, Joseph Roy Villere, became a maritime notary, later marrying Margurite de la Chaise on October 12th, 1759, the marriage ceremony solemnized in the church that was replaced by the present St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, La. The marriage settlements on both sides were generous, and the young couple lived with the bride’s parents for three years, as was the custom of that day. At the end of the allotted three years, they moved to a simple plantation home close to the plantation of the bride’s grand- father, Chevalier d’Arensbourg, on the German Coast.
Roy Villere was made a captain of four hundred German troops by his wife’s grandfather. In 1761 a son was born, who was named Jacques Philippe Roy de Villere, and in 1764, daughter was born, who was called Louise. In the same year the colony was shocked by the news that France had ceded the colony to Spain. Nicolas Chauvin fils (de la Frenier) who had been bom in New Orleans, at this time occupying the position of Attorney- General, feeling that it was the Canadians that had founded the Colony, called a meeting of the citizens of the city and parishes to protest against the colony being transferred to Spain. Joseph
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Roy de Villere was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of this protest. When the assembly was called again to support the resolution to expel the Spanish representative. Captain Villere from the German Coast with his band of four hundred well trained and fully armed German soldiers, confident that they were powerful enough to resist the Spanish Government, marched to the city, seized the Tchoupitoulas gate and continued on to the place of meeting to rally to the support of La Frenier. When General O’Reilly, the Spanish representative, soon arrived from Cuba with a large force of soldiers to suppress the rebellion, Villere and all concerned realized how powerless they were. Villere’s first thought was to flee with his family to a place of safety, but when assurance was brought him that General O’Reilly intended to be lenient with all the offenders, and he had also learned that some of his friends and relatives were imprisoned, he decided to throw himself on the mercy of General O’Reilly. His wife begged him not to be so foolish. His family and friends implored him to run away, all to no avail, for he presented himself to O’Reilly, and upon reaching the Tchoupitoulas gate was seized, placed under arrest and taken aboard a Spanish frigate lying in the river in front of the city. Various versions of how Joseph Roy Villere met his death have been given, but Judge Martin, a Louisiana historian of the early 19th Century, and a close friend of the Villere family gives the version as told by the wife of the murdered man.
When Madame Villere learned that her husband had been arrested and taken aboard the Spanish vessel, she immediately had her slaves row her out to the vessel in a skiff. She made herself known to an officer of the ship after her skiff had been tied to the Spanish frigate, and asked to be allowed to speak to her husband, which request was ignored. Villere, recognizing his wife’s voice, made an effort to get away from his captors to speak to his wife, and in the scuffle that ensued fell transfixed by a bayonet. His bloody shirt was thrown down to the skiff that Madame Villere might know that no longer had she a husband. Then Madame Villere sought the protection of her grandfather’s home for her children and herself, for the Spanish Crown later seized her plantation, home and contents.
Some years later her son, Jacques Philippe Villere, born in 1761, was sent for by King Louis XIV to be educated at the French
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Court, and when he reached the age of eighteen, received a commission in the French Army with the rank of Lieutenant, and was sent to San Domingo. Learning of the death of his mother, he returned to Louisiana where he remained, marrying in 1784 Mademoiselle Henriette Fazende, daughter of Gabrielle Fazende, in the same church in which his father and mother had been married.
From the marriage were bom Rene Gabriel, who married Eulalie de la Ronde, issue five children. Jules Villere became the husband of Pearle Oliver, issue three children, their daughter marrying General Gustave Toutant Beauregard; their children being: Rene, Henri, and Laure, who became Mrs. Charles Laren- don, her husband being a native of Atlanta, Ga. Of this marriage one daughter is living, Miss Laure Beauregard Larendon, who now resides in Atlanta, Ga. Delphin married Delphine Bien- venue, issue eight children. Anatole became the husband of Felicie Elmina Forstall, issue six children. Adele became the wife of Hughes de la Vergne, issue six children. Leocadie married first, Cyril Fazende; second, Paul Launausse. Jacques P. Villere had a brilliant record at the battle of New Orleans, and in 1816 was elected to succeed Governor Claiborne as Governor of Louisiana. Becoming governor at a time when the state was beginning to develop its full measure of wealth Governor Villere proved to be the man for the occasion, having accomplished much for the state during his term of office He died in 1880 and is buried in the old family tomb in the St. Louis Cemetery. All of his children survived him. Old plantation sites below the city of New Orleans mark the places of his own and his sons’ plantations. Later in life Villere purchased from Soniat duFossat the plantation known as “Conseil” thereby enlarging his plantation holdings, and giving the family a larger plantation residence. During the Battle of New Orleans it was used as a hospital, being located near the scene of battle. According to Mrs. George Alfred Lanaux of New Orleans, the plantation known as Conseil, may be described as a spacious cottage, brick between posts, with galleries on three sides. The dining room was in a separate building connected with the mother house by a passageway covered to keep out the cold and rain, this apartment measuring 20x40 feet with a huge pantry in the rear. It might be mentioned that a brick paved gallery extended around this room as well as around the
Typical plantation home of a wealthy planter
Evergreen Plantation Home
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rest of the house, and three large bed-rooms were planned in the space upstairs. An oak avenue was in the rear and the outbuildings and slave cabins scattered about the rear grounds. The illustration of this old plantation gives a good idea of the Conseil plantation mother house. It became a social center of that section the Villere’s being related to numerous families of the vicinity.
TOVTANT DE BEAUREGARD.
Jacques Toutant Beauregard was the first of the name to come to America. He was commandant of a flotilla bringing supplies, troops, etc., for the colony in Louisiana, sent by T?ing Louis XIV of France. His instructions were to bring back timber to be used for naval construction on his return trip. His mission having been accomplished with such gratifying results he was decorated with the Cross of St. Louis.
The family of Beauregard reaches back, according to records in the family, to Wales when as early as 1290 a belligerent Welchman bearing the name of Tider (Young) lead a number of his comrades antagonistic to King Edward the 1st of England against that monarch. Routed by overwhelming numbers, Tider fled to France where Philip the Fair summoned him to appear at his Court. His winning personality gained for him as wife, Mademoiselle de Lafayette, one of the King’s sister’s maids of honor. Later Tider was promoted to a post in the English possessions in France, which unfortunately was not administered in a manner pleasing to the King, Tider returning to French service where he lingered until his death near Tours.
His son returned to the scene of his father’s failure because the family still had great influence, which he brought to bear in obtaining a noteworthy position under the Crown of England. The name Tider was changed to Toutank, less odious to the Kingj and eventually Toutank became Toutant. Later, a daughter married one Sieur Paix de Beauregard — eventually a hyphen was substituted for the “de” and we find the name as we know it today.
Jacques Toutant-Beauregard, now a chevalier of St. Louis, returned to Louisiana and marrying Mademoiselle Marioiinn Car- tier, settled in the state. Three sons were the issue of this marriage.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Louis Toutant-Beauregard, who married Mademoiselle Vic- toire Ducros, a daughter of a St. Bernard planter. Planter Ducros was a man of importance in the colony, having with honor filled a number of offices of responsibility and trust under the French and Spanish Dominations in Louisiana. Of this marriage a daughter and two sons were the issue. It is with the younger son who married Helene Judith de Reggio we are concerned. Of this marriage several children were born, the third oldest named Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard, who later . became the celebrated Confederate General.
The General's mother's family, stems back to the Duke of Reggio and Modena, springing from the ancient and illustrious house of Este. Coming to Louisiana with his command after having a captaincy given him by King Louis XV for having distinguished himself while fighting under the Due de Richelieu, Francois Marie Chevallier de Reggio was a relative of the reigning Duke at that date. Chevallier de Reggio received the appointment of Royal Standard Bearer, or Alfrez Real, when the Spanish took over Louisiana. He married Mademoiselle Fleurian — two sons were the issue; the youngest son marrying Mademoiselle Louise Judith Oliver de Vezin. She it was who became the mother of the lady who in turn was to become Helene Judith de Reggio, mother of the future Confederate General.
General Beauregard first saw the light of day May 28, 1818 on his father's plantation below New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish. This plantation home was burned down many years ago, according to his grand-daughter, Miss Laure Beauregard Laren- don. Shortly after graduating he was married to Mademoiselle Laure Marie Villere, a grand-daughter of the patriot whose bloody shirt was thrown to his wife by the Spaniards. Mademoiselle Villere was a daughter of Jacques Villere, the first Creole to become Governor of Louisiana. Of this marriage three children were the issue — Henri and Renee, and a daughter Laure. Renee became the owner of the plantation known as Bueno Ritero, originally built for the Marquis de Trava. He was a judge in the parish of St. Bernard, filling the position with credit and ability. Henry later left New Orleans. Laure married Charles Larendon, a wealthy gentleman from Atlanta, Georgia. She died at the time of the birth of her daughter Laure Beauregard Larendon.
General Beauregard married a second time, choosing an-
THE LANAUX FAMILY
147
other aristocratic Creole, Mademoiselle Caroline des Louder, a daughter of a prominent Louisiana planter; she died during the Civil War. General Beauregard lived until 1893, and is buried in the tomb of the Army of Tennessee. A large funeral procession following the body to the grave, where military honors were accorded him. Close by in another vault, his son Renee rests, and but a short distance away in the handsome Larendon tomb, with her husband and an earlier daughter, in this beautiful cemetery, rests his idolized daughter, Laure.
LANAUX .
Philippe Lanaux, native of Nantes, Bretagne, France, son of Pierre Lanaux and Jeanne Guivaux, both of Nantes, married on the 19th of October, 1783, Angela Bossonier — born in New Orleans, daughter of Antoine Bossonier and of Lorenze Gache, both of the city of Dampierre, Provence du Dauphine, France. (Note — In the registers of the Parish of St. John the Baptist, La., it is recorded that Antoine Besonier of Marmillion, native of Dampier in Dauphine is married to Dame Lorenza Gache, native of Mont- melien, Chef -Lieu de Canton en Savoie) . Died July 2, 1814, aged 50 years. She must have been born in 1764. Her death notice bears “Daughter of Antoine Bozoiner de Marmillion and of Lorenzo Gachet”.
Of this marriage were born: 1. Antoine Philippe Lanaux, Oct., 1790, died in New Orleans. Children: 2. Charles Julien Lanaux, March 14, 1792, died in Havana, June 26, 1826. Children: Jean Fois Phil Lanaux, born Dec. 30, 1793, married Clara Lange; Henriette Lanaux, born Aug. 6, 1795. 3. Arnaud Lanaux, born Feb. 9, 1797, married June 17, 1847. Children: Santiago Lanaux, born Jan. 16, 1799; Pierre Julien Lanaux, born April 7, 1801. 4. Senville Devis Lanaux, born June 12, 1802. Children. (Eupho- sine Lanaux) twins born June 12, 1802. Joachim Jean Lanaux, born Jan. 6, 1810, died in France, left some children. (Note — Five of the children of Philippe Lanaux have left a posterity — the others did not have any children. All preceding data is taken from the archives of the St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, La. The orthography of the names are exactly as taken from the registers).
The mother of Philippe Lanaux is named Jeanne Guivaux in the marriage certificate — and in a few instances the certificates
148
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
of birth or baptism of Philippe Lanaux’s children she is named Jeanne Gerot or Jeanne Gerard. The wife of Philippe Lanaux is named Angela Bossonie in the certificate of marriage, and in her mortuary notice she is named Angelique Bozonier, fille d’ Antoine Bozonier de Marmillob et de Lorenza Gachet, and in the birth notices of her children she is named Angelique Bozonier, fille d* Antoine Julie en Bozonier et de Lorenza Gachet. (Great great grandfather of Mrs. John F. Coleman nee Valentine Lanaux) who compiled this record).
Her great grandfather was Charles Julien Lanaux, who married Aime Aglae Roussel, daughter of George Roussel and of Adele Haydel. (Note: This marriage must have been celebrated in the parish of St. John the Baptist, La. See register) . Of this marriage were born : George Charles Lanaux, born Aug. 16, 1816, died 1888; Philippe Alfred Lanaux, born 1820, died 28th of August, 1835 (C. St. L.). Theodore Lanaux: Angele Lanaux, born 1820 or 1821, died Aug. 25, 1822; Angele Lanaux, born 1822 or 1823, died July, 1825; Marie Caroline Lanaux, born April 19, 1825, died April 25, 1867.
George Charles Lanaux, born Aug. 16, 1817, married Jeanne Odile Lanaux, born July 9, 1817, died Sept. 24, 1885. Of this marriage were : Marie Leonide Lanaux, born Nov., 1839; George Alfred Lanaux, born March, 1841, who married Eulalie Valentine de Villere; Florian Lanaux, born July 30, 1842, died June 6, 1843; Georgine Lanaux; Marie Georgine Lanaux; Jean Arnaud Lanaux, born July 9, 1847, died June 25, 1881. George Lanaux: Marie Adelaide Lanaux, bom June 19, 1852; Marie Odile Lanaux, bora Feb. 5, 1854; Charles Lanaux, born May 17, 1858.
On March 19th, 1862, George Alfred Lanaux married Eulalie Valentine de Villere, daughter of Ereville de Villere and of Adele Ducros. Of this marriage were bora: Florian Jean Lanaux; Laurence Lanaux; Gabrielle Laurence Lanaux; Marie Bianca Lanaux; Alfred Lanaux; Alfred Lanaux II; Louise Valentine Lanaux; Marie Adel Lanaux; Marie Rita Lanaux; Henrie Lanaux; Marie Beatrice Lanaux; Joseph Henri Lanaux.
“POUR DIEU ET LE ROI”.
BARONS POUJAUD DE JUVISY.
Francis Brice Poujaud, Lord de Juiisy-Baron de Louvie — Inten- dant of the Royal Domaine under Louis 16th. (Born at Paris,
Crest 'and Coat-of-Arms of the Rouyer de Villerd family. (See page 141, Vol. II. Courtesy of Mrs. Fernand Claiborne.)
Mrs. Charles A. Larendon, ned Laure T. Beauregard
Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard on his favorite charger. Bronze Memorial at entrance to City Park, New Orleans.
Miss Laure Beauregard Larendon
Where Gen. P. T. G. Beauregard is buried, Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans. Tomb of the Army of Tennessee, with statue of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnson on horseback. (Courtesy of Miss L. B. Larendon)
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Rareshide Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Poujaud de family. (Courtesy of Mrs. John F. Coleman) Juvisy family.
THE RARESHIDE FAMILY
149
France, left France during the “Reign of Terror” and came to the United States in 1791, at Baltimore). Married at Paris, France, to Marie Fran$oise Nicol de Bessy de Neuville (Daughter of a Duke de Neuville — Royal blood of the “Legitimist Branch of the House of Bourbon”).
Issue: Marie Antoinette Poujaud, bora at Juvisy, France. (Her father being of the household of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, the latter was her Godmother and Namer) . She married at Paris, France, during the Reign of Louis XVI, Henry Wilson, who was bora in 1773. (Private Secretary to President Monroe who was at that time Minister to France) .
Issue : William Many Wilson, bora at San Domingo, Dec. 4, 1796, who married at Pensacola, Fla., Sept. 16, 1829, to Emma Billington Abbott, bora at Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 8th, 1813.
Issue: Emma Florence Wilson, bora at Pensacola, Fla., Feb. 26th, 1837, who married at New Orleans, La., Nov. 30th, 1858, John Henry Emile Rareshide, who was bora at New Orleans, La., Feb. 2nd, 1837.
Issue: Clarence Wolff George Rareshide, bora at New Orleans, La., Dec. 1st, 1861, married in New Orlenas, La., Feb. 8th, 1897, to Miss Louise Valentine Lanaux.
Issue: Charles Alfred Lanaux Rareshide, bora in Houston, Texas, Dec. 5th, 1897, was married in New Orleans, La., Sept. 9th, 1930, to Miss Henryetta Castillo Bayle.
Issue: Clarence Rareshide, bora at New Orleans, La., April 1st, 1932. Lanaux Jules Rareshide, born at New Orleans, La., Dec. 5th, 1933. Henryette Bayle Rareshide, bora at New Orleans, La., Dec. 10th, 1934.
— Herald Bureau , New Orleans, La.
VIS * VIM * REPELLITE .
RARESHIDE.
Arms. Or a bend gules, between two Lions’ heads eraged, sable. Crest. Out of a mural crown or, a demi Unicorn rampant, sable, crined and unguled or. (Amoral de Z.)
(Confirmed at Visitation of Heralds at Somersetshire, 1697 E.)
The Rareshide family was originally from Somersetshire, England. They settled in New York State and Pennsylvania. Since
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
1812 the family has resided in New Orleans, La.. Michael Rare- shide — a native of New York State, married about 1808 or 1809, Hester (Esther) Fitley of New York (She was of the Fitley family who were Quakers and originally settled in Pennsylvania and New York State. Issue: John Rareshide, born in the city of New York in 1810, who married at New Orleans, La., in 1830, to Rosina Louise Florance, who was born in Charleston, S. C., June 6th, 1812.
Issue: John Henery Emile Rareshide, bom in New Orleans, La., Feb. 2nd, 1837, who married in New Orleans, La., Nov. 30th, 1858, Miss Emma Florence Wilson, born in Pensacola, Fla., Feb. 26th, 1837.
Issue: Clarence Wolff George Rareshide, born in New Orleans, La., Dec. 1st, 1861, who married in New Orleans, La., Feb. 8th, 1897, Miss Louise Valentine Lanaux.
Issue: Charles Alfred Lanaux Rareshide, born in Houston, Texas, Dec. 5th, 1897, who married in New Orleans, La., Miss Henryetta Castillo Bayle. Miss Bayle is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jules Bayle of New Orleans, Mrs. Jules Bayle having been a Miss Lina Baker, a daughter of the late Judge Joshua G. Baker, who was ex- Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, famed for his fearless rulings, having served 38 years on criminal bench and two on Supreme Court. He was born August 3, 1852, on the plantation of his maternal grandfather G. L. Fuselier de la Clair, nine miles above Franklin, La. He being the son of Anthony Wayne Baker and Emma Fuselier de la Clair. During his early education he had private tutors, and later attended schools in Hampton, Conn., and Gonkus, New York. He graduated from the Bellevue High School, Bedford City, Virginia, in 1871. Returning to the home of Governor Baker at Fairfax in St. Mary's Parish, shortly afterwards moving to New Orleans, where he lived until his death. He studied law in Louisiana and in 1874 was licensed to practice law. His first wife was Miss Susan Henryetta Castillo, grandmother of Mrs. Clarence Alfred Lanaux Rareshide of New Orleans, La. His second wife being the former Mrs. Mary Monroe Vincent, a sister of the late Chief Justice Frank A. Monroe of the Supreme Court of Louisiana.
G. L. Fuselier de la Clair, grandfather of Hon. Joshua G. Baker, was a close relative of the immensely wealthy plantation
THE RARESHIDE FAMILY
151
family1 of the name Fuselier de la Clair, whose splendid early type Louisiana plantation home at Grand Coteau, was burned by the Federal troops when they failed to trap the Confederate officers attending a banquet given them by the old planter Fuselier de la Clair. The Chretien family of Chretien Point also are related to the Fuselier de la Clair family by marriage.
Chapter XIX.
THE ALSTON — PIRRIE — BOWMAN — MATTHEWS FAMILIES
^pHE first Alston of the English branch that settled in the Feli- cianas, to come to America was John Alston, who married Mary Clark, daughter of John Clark and Mary Palin. His son, Solomon Alston, married Anne, nicknamed Nancy Hinton, daughter of Colonel John Hinton of Chowan, in the colony of Carolina. Their son, John Alston, born in Carolina on the 18th of April, 1733, like his father and grandfather, was a loyal English subject and proud of his patrician ancestry and his distinguished forebears. His life was a succession of hazardous adventures, and his stately figure of over six feet four inches, made his great courage fully appreciated by his antagonists. After coming to Louisiana he married Elizabeth Hynes, a member of the family for whom Hynes county was named, and became the father of five children. At the time that the dissatisfied colonists were bringing their grievances to a point where rebellion was manifest and their attitude towards the rule of King George III was plain, John Alston made no attempt to hide the fact that he was a Tory, and not in sympathy with the revolutionary spirit sweeping the colonies. In 1770, disposing of his property, with his wife and their four children, he abandoned Carolina, and like many other loyal English subjects, came South to the Natchez Country of west Florida still under the British Flag. He bought a plantation near Natchez and being wealthy, had a comfortable home built called “La Grange”. He engaged tutors for his children, and lived as he had done in Carolina on his father’s plantation. In 1772 a child was born, a daughter that they named Lucretia, who later was known as Lucy, the last child of this marriage.
THE ALSTON FAMILY
153
The Declaration of Independence had taken place, and in the year 1779 Don Bernado Galvez, then Spanish Governor of Louisiana, with his troops compelled the English to depart, and prevented them from taking Fort Bute at Manchac, and New Richmond, as Baton Rouge was called at that time. Notwithstanding all this, John Alston still remained loyal to the English. In 1781 when the Spanish under Galvez were engaged in overcoming the last stronghold of the English at Pensacola, Florida, a message was brought that English ships were in the Mississippi River, on the way to recapture Natchez. Under the leadership of General Lyman, many planters rallied to the British cause and planned to recapture Natchez and its fort by overcoming the small number of Spaniards guarding it. Encouraged by the report that the English had badly defeated the Spaniards, about one hundred men with John Altson amongst them, started a siege on the 22nd of April, 1781. It lasted seven days before the Spanish garrison surrendered. Once again Natchez was English, and with joy the British Flag flew in the breeze. Happiness again reigned, but only for a brief period.
Joy was soon turned to terror when it was learned that the message that they had gotten was a false one, as it was the English who had been defeated, and no English vessels were coming to their aid. At once the Union Jack was pulled down, and the Spanish flag flown from the flag-staff again while those who had taken part went into hiding, remembering how “Bloody O'Reilly” had executed the revolters in New Orleans some time before. Don Carlos de Grand Pre, lieutenant-colonel of His Majesty's Spanish forces arrived on the 29th, carrying with him documents showing his appointments as Civil and Military Commandant of the district of Natchez. Immediately he began a detailed investigation, and obtained a list of the names of those connected with the seizure of the fort. There began arrests, seizures, and confiscation of the properties belonging to the Englishmen who had taken part in the retaking of the Fort at Natchez.
A number of British subjects who were connected with the affair made an attempt to reach the closest English post located on the Savanna River. Determining to remain with his two oldest sons and see what the outcome would be, John Alston sent his wife and three youngest children well supplied with necessities for the journey, and a number of trustworthy slaves on an over-
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
land trip to this English settlement on the Savanna River. When out but two days Mrs. Alston who was on horseback, was critically injured when the horse on which she was mounted slipped, and in falling Mrs. Alston fractured several of her ribs. She developed complications, dying in a few weeks, after her children and faithful slaves had brought her back to the plantation where all that lay in their power had been done to ease her suffering.
Learning of his wife’s death, John Alston and his sons, William and Lewis, made an attempt to escape. The sons succeeded, but John Alston was not so fortunate. He was found guilty and condemned to imprisonment in Moro Castle, Cuba, for life.
A faithful slave who had taken care of Mrs. Alston since birth, having been a house slave in her parents home, “Mammy Pratt”, she was called, was again to show her devotion. In the hour of need she became the protector of her dead mistress’ little children. Realizing that he might be retaken any moment while he was in hiding in an Indian settlement, John Alston had visited his friend. Dr. Farra, whose plantation in the vicinity of False River on the west bank of the Mississippi River, was not far from the Indian settlement. He had asked his friend to aid in protecting his children. In the swamp where faithful Mammy Pratt concealed her charges was a little cabin with but one room, here all of them lived an entire year, and on the scanty meals that the old slave could obtain from neighboring plantations. The oldest child, Solomon, who was twelve years of age, fished and hunted, and in this manner they managed to survive.
Alexander Stirling, a young Scotchman from far Augushire, North Britain, who was plantation manager for Dr. Farra, became a devoted friend of the children, sympathizing with them in their plight. He fell in love with Ann, and she with him, and on the 26th of May, 1784, they were married, and in later years settled in Feliciana on Rio Feliciana at a place known as Murdock’s Ford, called at present Thompson’s Creek. Alexander Stirling, of good parentage, opened a small store, and his genial manner won for him customers from far and near, with the result that he soon became independent, and both soon were able to take their rightful places socially in the community. Both of John Alston’s sons, now grown a little older, had been pardoned owing to their ages. They were allowed to return to the place of their
THE ALSTON FAMILY
155
birth, here in the Tunica section, where they laid out plantations, later becoming successful planters.
In the winter of 1793, the future William IV of England, while visiting Cuba learned that in damp and dismal dungeons of Moro Castle in Havana, Cuba, were imprisoned English subjects under sentence of death. He pleaded for their release, and as a result of his intercession, John Alston was released under the promise that he never again would enter Spanish territory. A reward of $5,000.00 was offered for any one finding him in the Spanish Possessions, and, as a final chapter in the life of this loyal Englishman, hearing that his children were in want, and suffering, John Alston surprised Governor Galvez by a visit, at which time he told his Majesty’s representative that he had come to claim the reward, and was ready to give himself up, wishing the money for his children whom he understood were destitute. The Spanish Governor overcome by the love of this father for his children, gave him an absolute pardon, requiring only that he never again bear arms against Spain or her possessions. John Alston remained true to his word, for up until his death in Louisiana in 1802, he never again made any attempt to oppose the Dons. He found his daughter Ann happily married and a mother, and also learned that Lucretia was in a convent in New Orleans being educated. Then he found William and Lewis on their plantations on Tunica Bayou doing well. Finally he got back some of his old slaves, and by unending energy again rose to be wealthy, owning large tracts of valuable plantation and timber land at his death.
The children of John Alston and his wife Elizabeth Hynes, whom he married in 1761 were: (a) William Alston, whose wife was Mildred Wells, a native of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, (b) Louis Alston, who married Mary Anna Gray, who died childless; for his second wife, he took Rebecca Kendall, who bore him four children. (1) Isaac Alston, who remained single. (2) Louis Alston, whose wife was Lydia Adams, who had one son that settled in Pointe Coupee, La. (3) Anna Maria, who married Abraham Gray. Their children were: Charlotte, who married John Baker; James, who married Sarah Dohety; Ruffin, who married Lucy Davis; Elisabeth Alston married Arthur Adams, no issue; Anna Alston married Alexander Stirling and became the mother of nine children. (4) Solomon Alston remained single. (5)
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Lucy Alston, christened Lucretia, was born at her father’s plantation in Homochito, Miss., in 1772, and died in 1833; her first husband being Ruffin Gray for whom Oakley plantation was laid out and its manor built. Ruffin Gray later returning to Homochito because of illness, and died shortly afterwards. His widow later on married James Pirrie, a member of a distinguished patrician Scotch family. He having been an alcalde, under the Spanish Rule and living in Feliciana at the time of his marriage. He was born in 1769, and died on March 7th, 1824.
The children of Lucy Alston by her marriage to Ruffin Gray were four in number: (1) Elisabeth, who died in infancy; (2) Ruffin, who died in infancy; (3) Mary Ann. Of the children by her second marriage, there were three in number, two of them dying in infancy. Eliza, who was born on October 6th, 1805, became a great beauty and social celebrity, on account of her vivaciousness, rare wit, charm of manner and wealth.
Mary Ann, sister of Eliza, first married Jedidah Smith, a native of Adams County, Mississippi, issue : Catherine and Sarah. Her second husband was Dr. Ira Smith, no issue from this marriage. Beautiful Eliza Pirrie became a bride on three occasions: her first husband being the handsome and wealthy young Robert Hilliard Barrow of magnificent Greenwood Plantation, undoubtedly having the most beautiful Greek Revival type of plantation manor in the state of Louisiana. Issue: Robert Hilliard Barrow II, born after his father’s death, who married Mary E. Barrow, daughter of David Barrow, builder of Afton Villa. Nine children blessed this union, Rosale Plantation a bridal gift of David Bar- row, was one of the fine plantation homes in Feliciana, it being destroyed by fire in 1880.
The children of Robert H. Barrow who survived infancy are : Charles Barrow, Sarah Barrow, Eliza Barrow, Bennet Barrow, Robert Barrow, Isabelle Barrow, and Samuel Barrow. Eliza Pirrie Barrow, later married Reverend William Robert Bowman, who was a rector of Grace Episcopal Church at St. Francisville, La. He was a native of Brownsville, Penn., and was bora Dec. 7th, 1800, and died Aug. 30th, 1835. Issue of this marriage were two children, Isabelle Bowman, who became the wife of William Wilson Matthews; issue of this marriage were six children: 1st Robert Bowman Matthews; 2nd, Cora Slocum Matthews; 3rd, Lucy Pirrie Matthews; 4th, Ida G. Matthews; 5th, Leonard Fin-
PIRRIE — BOWMAN — MATTHEWS
157
lay Matthews; 6th, William Wilson Matthews. James Pirrie Bowman, son of Eliza Pirrie and Rev. Bowman, who married Sarah Turnbull, daughter of the builder of the beautiful plantation home on Rosedown Plantation near St. Francisville, La. Ten children were the issue of this marriage, all of them born in the old mansion.
They are Martha Bowman, (2) Eliza Bowman; (3) Sarah Bowman; (4) Anna Bowman; (5) Daniel Bowman; (6) Mayme Bowman; (7) Minna Bowman; (8) James Bowman; (9) Carrie Bowman; (10) Belle Bowman. Eliza Pirrie’s third husband was Henry E. Lyons of Philadelphia, Pa., which occurred five years after the death of Rev. Bowman; issue of this marriage, (1) Lucy Lyons; (2) Cora Lyons, who became the wife of Captain Richard Floyd; (3) Eliza Lyons, who died in infancy.
The memory of Eliza Pirrie Barrow Bowman Lyons lingers in the beautiful Feliciana country, like a tuneful melody which never fails to evoke recollections of a pleasant nature when heard. So thoroughly has her history been interwoven with the history of the plantations of this area, that it is a hard matter to write about the one without including the other. Under the circumstances it seemed but fitting that when she died on April the 20th, 1851, that she should be laid to rest beside her husband the Rev. William Robert Bowman in a grave close to that of some of her own, in the little cemetery on Beechwood plantation in Feliciana, which country she loved, and where she was loved so dearly.
When one visits Verona, Italy, one unconsciously thinks of Juliet. So too, when Louisianians visit the Felicianas, their thoughts wander to Eliza Pirrie. Not to the gracious matron, but to the Eliza that Audubon knew, and of whom he wrote in his diary “My beautiful Miss Pirrie of Oakley”. The beautiful vivacious girl whom all idolized.
Rathbone
Chapter XX.
THE RATHBONE — DE BUYS — HICKY — DUGGAN DE MACARTY FAMILIES
AMERICAN BRANCH OF THE RATHBONE FAMILY.
(Copied from Family Tree, courtesy of the de Buys Family of New Orleans).
TOHN RATHBONE of Block Island, married Margaret * * * * J Their children: William; Thomas; John, who married Anne Dodge, Jan. 10, 1688; Joseph; Samuel, born Aug. 1672, died 1757; Sarah; Margaret; Elizabeth.
The children of John Rathbone who married Anne Dodge were: Mary, who died Oct. 3, 1688; Jonathan, born May 22, 1691, died April 1, 1766; John, born Dec. 23, 1693; Joshua, born Feb.
THE RATHBONE FAMILY
159
3, 1636, married first, Mary Card, issue one son; married second, Mary Wightman, born Feb. 16, 1724: Benjamine III, bom Feb.
11, 1701; Annan, bora - 9, 1703; Nathaniel, bom Feb. 11,
1708; Thomas, bom March 2, 1709.
The children of Joshua, who married Mary Card and later Mary Wightman, were: Joshua A; Valentine Wightman, bom
Dec. 23, 1724; Mary, bom - 17, 1726; Martha, bom Mar.
1, 1728; John (Rev.) married June 26, 1729, near Stonington, Conn.; Content Brown; John, bom Oct. 20, 1751, died March 14th,
1843; Martha, bom Aug. - , 1753, died Dec. 1, 1837; Daniel,
bom July 14, 1755, died in infancy; Prudence, bom Jan. 31, 1757, died Aug. 16, 1827; Marion, bom Feb. 27, 1759, died Jan. 5, 1852; Valentine W., bom May 13, 1761, died 1813; David, bom May 29, 1763, died Aug. 2, 1823; Joseph A., bom June 16, 1765, died Jan. 18, 1813; Aaron, bom July 25, 1770, died May 13, 1845; Moses, bom July 25, 1770, died in Batavia; Edward, bora Nov. 1, 1773, died young; Samuel, bom July 1, 1776 at Stonington, Conn. Married Mary Turner of Montville, Conn., 1800, April 13th, died about 1814 at Buffalo, N. Y.; Content, bora Mar. 26, 1778, died July 30, 1779.
The children of Samuel Rathbone and Mary Turner, were: Marie Theresa, bom Feb. 1801; James Hammer, bom July 14, 1802, died Aug. 17, 1853; Henry Alanson, bom Dec. 27, 1803, married first, Annie Powell, of Tennessee, issue: Geo. Powell, who died in 1853; married second, Marie Celeste Forstall of New Orleans, and died March, 1867; Samuel, Jr., bom Aug., 1809, died Nov. 6, 1834; John R., bom Dec. 3, 1810, died in infancy; Juliet Content, bom April 8, 1812; Sarah Ann, bom Sept. 30, 1814; John E., born May 26, 1816, died July, 1867; Charles Edward, bom Dec. 17, 1818; Isaac T., bom July 26, 1821, died June 12, 1819. The children of Henry Alanson Rathbone and Marie Celeste Forstall were: Marie Celeste Emma, who married John B. de Lalande de Ferieres of New Orleans, bom Dec. 27, 1840; Paul Henry, died in infancy; Marie Pauline, married Peter Labouisse of New Orleans; Francis Henry, died in infancy; Elizabeth Marie Stella, married M. James de Buys of New Orleans; Marie Laure, died in infancy; Marie Louise Alice, married William Phelps Eno of New Orleans; Marie Rita married Edgar dePoincy of New Orleans.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The children of Marie Celeste, who married John B. Lalande de Ferriere are Marie Juanita; Marie Rubie; Marie Ethlyn; Marie Roy; Marie Rathbone; Marie d’ Assise Gayoso.
The children of Marie Pauline, who married Peter Labouisse are: Peter and Edith; Elizabeth Marie Stella Rathbone and James de Buys’ children are: Rathbone Emile; James Temple; Walter Lawrence, and Lawrence Richard.
De BUYS.
The first member of this distinguished family whose name appears in early Louisiana annals, is Gaspard Melchior Balthazar de Buys, son of Pedro de Buys and Micaela Lion, according to the records of the St. Louis Cathedral, who was born in DunKirk. The older generations of the family had sailed their own vessels protected by Louis XIV, and aided the French in their wars against England. Serving under Count de Grasse, Gaspard de Buys was a captain of a man-of-war in the War of 1776, but having become infected with yellow fever while in the West Indies, de Buys handed in his resignation to the navy and sailed for Louisiana, landing in New Orleans, at that time under the rule of Spain. A little later while in Louisiana he married Eulalie de Jan, or de Jean, daughter of Antoine de Jan, a native of Bordeaux. Her mother being Angele Monzey de Montjean, a native of New Orleans. According to the family record of Dr. L. R. de Buys, Angele de Montjean’s mother was saved from being killed by the Natchez Indians by an Indian nurse who carried the child through the forest from Natchez to the settlement at New Orleans. After being educated by the Ursuline Nuns in New Orleans she later married a business man of the city named Claude de Jan.
Gaspard de Buys’ name occurs on the records of the first Legislative Council by the President of the new American government. The children of Gaspard de Buys and Eulalie de Jan were four in number, named as follows : Pierre Gaspard, William, Manette, and Adele.
Pierre Gaspard, married Jeanne Clement, daughter of Antoine Viel and Jeanne Rosa Dupuy. Pierre Gaspard de Buys was such an ardent republican in his feelings, that he celebrated a christening feast by inviting all of his friends to the feast requesting that they bring their patents of nobility. On the festive board stood
Gaspard de Buys
Henry A. Rathbone
THE DE BUYS FAMILY
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a, large chafing dish. The patents of nobility were placed upon it, fire lighted underneath, and the infant Pierre was passed over the smoke of the burning family titles amid the cheers and clapping. They named their other children in a manner which displayed a generosity of feeling. Marie Elizabeth, Eugenie, Paul, Emile, Marie Antoinette, Odille, Lucien, Napoleon.
Gaspard served on the staff of General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, and following the war he was elected to the Legislature, becoming Speaker of the House in 1846. He is remembered as general of the Louisiana Legion, which developed from the famous aristocratic old “Battalion d’Orleans” and were praised by Andrew Jackson. Later when called to colors by General Taylor to advance to the Rio Grande area during the War with Mexico the Legion responded at once, readily furnishing the required contingent. An old newspaper notice of that date states, “That Mr. William de Buys, (On account of advanced years), being replaced by a younger officer had been noticed walking in the ranks beside his two sons, shouldering a musket and chatting gaily as he marched along”.
As Mr. de Buys advanced in years he developed his talent for painting, being especially clever in water color work. He spent much time at his country home sketching the lanscapes in its vicinity and about Biloxi, Miss. He was also a great fisherman and hunter, and when he died, not only his large host of friends, but all who knew him in the area of his summer home displayed real sorrow for his genial disposition had endeared him to all he met. His family at his death consisted of his widow who had been Miss Corinne Andry, and his four children — Felicie, Gaspard, Ovide, and Corinne. An adopted son known as John de Buys, who was taken when his mother died of cholera, grew up to be a great duelist. Of Irish descent he had all of the daring, wit, and agility necessary to carry that art to perfection.
Mile. Manette de Buys, eldest daughter of Gaspard Melchoir de Buys, and Eulalie de Jan became the wife of Pierre Victor Amedee Longer, a gentleman of Rouen, France, noted for his elegant appearance and distinguished bearing. Madame Longer, a grande dame of French tradition, her household is cited on all occasions when the aristocracy of old New Orleans becomes the topic of conversation by those who know their New Orleans. Her daughters all made brilliant marriages: Eulalie married Samuel
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Bell; Adele became Mrs. Florian Hermann; Odile, Mrs. Michel Musson; Armide became Mrs. Amedee Saules; Amelie, Mrs. James Behn; Angele, became Mrs. Evan Jones McCall; Heda married Charles Kock; Helena, Mrs. Luling, whose daughter became Lady Alice Ben, wife of Sir Arthur Ben, Member of Parliament, London.
Madame Gaspard de Buys, to the end of her days remained the great lady of her younger years — living in the fine old home of her daughter, Mrs. James Behn on South Rampart Street, between what is now Tulane Avenue and Canal Street. Yearly during her lifetime her large family gathered here, those in Europe coming for the occasion. Gaspard de Buys died in 1827, Madame de Buys living about fifty years longer.
Felicie de Buys, eldest daughter of General de Buys, became Madame A. J. Mummy, of France the mother of two daughters; one married M. Schroder, Consul General for Germany in France; the other became the Countess de la Gerronniere, of Haute Vienne, France.
Marie Elizabeth de Buys was married first to Hypolite Tri- cou. Her second husband was Samuel Hermann. She was a sister of General de Buys. Estelle Tricou, daughter of Hypolite Tricou, became Mrs. Bernard Peyton of Virginia, their son, William Charles de Buys marrying Anne Dupont. Alice Hermann, daughter of Marie Elizabeth de Buys and Samuel Hermann, married Henry Palmer, and their daughter May married Honorable Chauncey Depew. Her sister Louise who was the second daughter of Samuel Hermann, became Mrs. Hall McAlister of Georgia.
Paul Emile de Buys, son of Gaspard de Buys and Elizabeth Viel, married Emma Forstall, a daughter of Placide Forstall of New Orleans, who had large plantation interests on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Gaspard James de Buys, their son, married Stella Rathbone, and became the forbears of the de Buys brothers, four in number, who have become prominent in their various vocations : Rathbone, who has made a name for himself in the architectural world, also an able archivist; Laurence Richard, chronicled in “Who is Who” as an eminent physician and child specialist; Walter and James.
Marie Antoinette Odille de Buys became the wife of Joaquin de Vignier, a native of Havana, her second husband being Foster Elliot of New York. Their issue for several generations survive: Pierre Victor Amedee married Cecile Denis, a daughter of Henry
THE DE BUYS FAMILY
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Denis of New Orleans, issue two children, Alfred, and Amelie who married George C. Preot.
Lucien N. E. de Buys married Lucille Elizabeth Enould de Livaudais, whose home became a center where gathered for many years the noted families that gave to New Orleans of her era the reputation of a cultured city. Her family was a large one consisting of fifteen children, three sons and twelve daughters. Her latter years engaged in the collection of the family records, memoranda, arms, photographs, etc. She has left to her descendants beautifully drawn, correctly planned and carefully checked family trees of the many noted aristocratic families from which her children descend and have married into. With these are numerous beautifully illuminated crests and coats-of-arms granted to these noted families.
Mrs. Laurence Richard de Buys, is the daughter of the late Joseph H. Duggan of New Orleans who as a State Senator was mainly responsible for the ousting of the Louisiana Lottery. She is also the great granddaughter of Colonel Philip Hicky of “Hope Estate” plantation. Colonel Hicky, Howard Barrow, Steele, Morgan, Mather and several others were concerned in the revolution of the Florida Parishes in 1810, and were instrumental in turning them over to the United States Government, according to Stanley Arthur in the Louisiana Quarterly, Jan. 1988 vol. 21, No. 1.
A Cane Cutter
In her memoirs of “Old Plantation Days”, the late Mrs. Eliza Ripley in writing about beautiful old “Hope Estate Plantation”
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
recalls a faithful old negro mammy named Milly Turner, who had nursed five generations of the Hicky family. “Who of us that lived within a day’s journey of Col. Hicky, but remembers his Milly, the Mammy of that grand, big household? Colonel Hicky lived to see his great grandchildren grow up and Milly mammied at least three generations at Hope Estate. She was a famous nurse, mind you, this was decades before nurses arrived on the stage. How many of us remember how tenderly and untiringly Milly nursed some of our invalids to health? Her .services -were tendered, and oh! how gratefully ttccepted.
With a sad heart I recall a sick baby I nursed until Milly came and put me to bed and took the ailing child in her tender arms. For two days and nights until the end she watched the little fluttering spark. This faithful negress nursed her old master in his last illness, grieving at his death as if a member of her own family had died.”
The land on which the old arsenal and surrounding acreage, comprised originally, was a part of the immense land holdngs of Col. Philip Hicky. The Colonel, in early days having given it for military purposes and the erection of an arsenal. Later it was turned over by the state to the Louisiana State University.
BIRTHS (Diary of the Hope Estate)
Daniel Hicky — born February 1740, Emis County Clare and Province of Nunster, Ireland.
Martha Hicky , London, England.
Philip Hicky (son of Daniel and Martha Hicky) , bom in Manchac Dist., Florida, then under the Government of Great Britain on the Bank of the Mississippi — was bom 17th June A.D. 1778.
Anna Hicky (daughter of James and Francis Mather — born in New Orleans, March 4, 1781.
Martha Francis Hicky — born in New Orleans, 1st April 1802.
Eliza Constance Hicky — born in New Orleans, 26th March 1804, Monday at 5 o’clock A. M.
Adele Hicky — born on Hope Estate Plantation, East Baton Rouge, 15th August 1806.
Aurone Hicky — born in New Orleans, May 24, 1809.
Caroline Sarah Hicky — bom in New Orleans, 4th June 1812.
Mrs. Pierre Charles Forstall, ned de La- villebeuvre, mother of Placide Forstall (father of Mrs. Henry Rathbone).
Mrs. Gaspard de Buys, ned Dejan, moth er of Pierre de Buys.
Mrs. Henry A. Rathbone, ned Celeste
Forstall, mother of Mrs. Jas. de Buys, Mrs. Claude Dejan, mother of Mrs. Gas- ned Stella C. Rathbone. pard1 de Buys.
Mrs. Lawrence Richard de Buys (Miriam Duggan.) (Portrait by Edith Duggan.)
Dr. Lawrence Richard de Buys. (Portrait by Edith Duggan.)
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Lopez family.
Donna Bettie Capomazza, ned Miss IHI
Bettie Hardy, Vial Pareoli 54,
Rome, Italy. (Portrait by Edith Miss Langhorne of Virginia.
Duggan.) (Portrait by Edith Duggan.)
THE HICKY FAMILY
165
Daniel Hicky — bora in New Orleans, 11th April, 1814, at residence of A. L. Duncasse, Easter Monday, % part of A. M.
Philip Hicky — born on Hope Estate Plantation, East Baton Rouge, 19th October, 1817, A. M.
Maria Louisa Hicky — born Hope Estate Plantation, East Baton Rouge, 18th January, 1821.
Frimcus Hicky — born Hope Estate Plantation, 8th August, 1823- Dr. C. E. French, present.
Mary Scallan — daughter of James and Eliza Scallan, born Hope Estate Plantation, 25th October, 1823, Tuesday morning. Dr. French present.
Louisa Walsh — daughter of Simon and Martha Walsh, born at Hope Estate Plantation.
Philip Richard Walsh.
Elisa .
Harry Simon Hicky Walsh — son of Simon W. Walsh and Martha Francis Walsh, bora on the 20th December, 1832, at Hope Estate Plantation, East Baton Rouge.
Morris Barker Morgan, son of Caroline Hicky LeMoine Morgan, bora 25th September, 1835.
Aurone Hortense Morgan — bora 30th May 1838.
Mary Morgan — bora 15th January 1841.
Gibbs Henry Morgan — bora 1st October 1843.
Hicky Waller Fowler, son of Henry Waller Fowler and Adele Hicky, bora 31st July 1837, at Hope Estate Plantation.
Eugene Fowler — bora 24th April 1841, at Hope Estate Plantation.
Philip Richard Fowler — bora 24th November 1843, at Hope Estate Plantation.
Adele Ida Fowler — bora 22nd December 1845.
James Mather, son of James Mather and Mary Scallan, great grandson of Philip and Martha Hicky, bora 25th April 1843, at Hope Estate Plantation.
Philip Hicky, son of Daniel Hicky and Mary Fowler Hicky, bora at New Hope, West Baton Rouge, 30th December 1849, % past 11 o’clock.
Tuesday, 10th February, 1824 at 12 o’clock on this day Mrs. Miriam Ayers was safely delivered of a son, Dr. C. R. French and midwife Maryann, present at House of P. Hicky Hope Estate.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Adele Hicky Fowler, wife of Henry W. Fowler, safely delivered of a fine boy, on the morning of the 3rd of April, 1841, at about 7 o’clock. Boy named Eugene.
MARRIAGES
July 6th, 1840, Miss Maria Louisa Newcomb safely delivered of a daughter at 2 o’clock in the morning with assistance of Dr. French and Ma Maryann.
Philip Hicky and Anna Mather — married Monday, 24th April 1800, in the Church of the Parish of St. Charles, La.
Elizabeth Constance Hicky to James Scallan — at Hope Estate Plantation, Thursday 26th October, 1820.
Martha Francis Hicky to Simon W. Walsh — at Hope Estate Plantation.
Caroline Sarah Hicky to Morris Morgan , December, 1832, at Hope Estate.
Adele Hicky to Lieutenant Henry Waller Fowler , 2nd March, 1835, Hope Estate Plantation.
Mary Scallan to James Mather , 17th June, 1841.
Daniel Hicky , son of Philip and Ann Hicky, married to Mary Fowler , at Mrs. Fowler’s, Parish of Iberville, 24th April, 1848, State of Louisiana.
Louisa Walsh, daughter of Simon and Martha Walsh, married to Charles Mather, son of George and Aurone Mather, at Hope Estate 26th April, 1848.
Saturday, 6th March, 1824, was married at the House of Philip Hicky (Hope Estate) ML Mary Antonette Fowler to Wm. - of New England.
DEATHS
Martha Hicky, wife of Daniel Hicky, at Hope Estate, November, 1794.
Daniel Hicky, at Hope Estate, February, 1808.
George Mather .
Maria Louisa Hicky, at Baton Rouge, Mrs. Wikoffs, Friday night 5 minutes before 10 o’clock, 5th September, 1822.
THE HICKY FAMILY
167
Melinda Fowler — adopted daughter, at T. A. Morgan’s, in Baton Bouge, October, 1830.
James ScaUan, in Baton Rouge, 2nd January, 1832, half past 11 o’clock A. M.
Thomas Mather, at Hope Estate.
Isaac Wooter, from New England, 12th September, 1831.
James Mather, a cousin of Mrs. Hicky, at the Lausade Plantation,
joining Hope Estate, died of Cholera on the - September,
1832, at 8 o’clock A. M.
Martha Francis Hicky — wife of Simon W. Walsh, on the morning of the 3rd February, 1834, aged 33 years and 10 months.
Anna Louisa Hicky, daughter of Philip and Ann Hicky, 2nd of January, 1832.
George Mather, son of James Mather, aged about 54 years, died at his plantation in the Parish of St. James, La., at about 9 o’clock A. M., 26th day of May, 1837.
1839, Oct. 2. — Died at Hope Estate, a man by the name of Daniel Dirwin, a laborer, native of Ireland, interred in the Catholic burying ground. Died in the afternoon of Saturday, 15th October, 1812, say about V2 past 5 o’clock, Philip Hicky, aged 25 years and 4 days, after a short illness of only 6 days said
to be - fever. Died on Monday, 24th October, at
10 M past 1 o’clock in the morning, Francis Hicky, aged 19 years, 2 mos. Died at Hope Estate on Monday 11 o’clock P. M., 1st October, 1843 Aurone Hicky.
Martha Hicky, wife of Daniel Hicky, at Hope Estate, November, 1794.
Daniel Hicky, at Hope Estate, February, 1808.
Anna Louisa Hicky, daughter of Philip and Ann Hicky, 2nd of January, 1832.
Martha Francis Hicky, wife of Simon Walsh, 3rd February, 1834.
Philip Hicky Junior, died Saturday, 15th October, 1842, only sick 6 days, aged 25 years.
Francis Hicky, died Monday, 24th October, 1842, aged 19 years and 2 months.
Aurone Hicky, died Sunday, 1st October, 1843, Hope Estate.
James Mather (London Mathers), died 30th May, 1832, at the Lausade Plantation.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
MISS EDITH DUGGAN.
The late Miss Edith Duggan, another daughter of the late Judge Joseph H. Duggan — was during her lifetime one of the most noted portrait painters in the South. Her portraits were numerous, comprising among her sitters many of the most prominent members of the social life of this section. Her portarits recalling the beauty of the English School, having about them the charm of coloring, pose, and beauty that has made the British School so distinctive in the Art World. Miss Duggan possessed a wonderful personality, was a serious art student, and has left a great number of beautiful well painted portraits which tell of her great interest in her work. Her miniatures too, claim recognition, having about them a beauty freed from the stilted drawing so often found in this type of work. She studied with Andres Mol- inary, portrait painter, Poincy, and other notable portrait painters in New Orleans, and at the Chase Studio in New York. Her early death was a great loss to the Art World of the South where she had become so prominent and loved in the circles in which she moved.
de MacCARTHY Mac TAIG.
Major General de (Marine Chef de Division du Departement de Roche vort is the first one of this ancient patrician family found in the American records. He was the father of Jean Jacques (Jean Baptiste) de Mac Carthy - Mac Taig: in service de la France envoye a la N. 0., La. vers 1730 Commdt, un corpsde tache de Marine. Chevalier de St. Louis. Epouse Dame Francoise de Trepagnier. 2. Barthelemy Chevalier deMc.Carthy: passa en Amerique en meme temps que Jean Baptiste de McCarthy — Lieutenant dans le corps command epar J. B. Epouse Dame Francoise Helen Pellerin. 3. L’Abbe de McCarthy Cure de Verruge. 4. Eleanore Chanoinesse a Paris. 5. Francoise Chanoinesse a Paris.
The children of Jean Jacques McCarthy, who married Dame Francoise de Trepagnier, were : (1) Jean Baptiste ne ala N. 0. envoye en Europe prend la service en France dans marine Royale en 1787, Major General de Marine, Chevalier de St. Louis du Port de Rochefort 1788. Commdt. de Voisseau Achille a la Rochelle le. 2 Dec. 1798. (2) Ne a la N. 0. le 5 Mai 1745. Augustin
Guilliume prende service entrance dans la maison du Roi com-
Mammy Millie Turner and Lawrence Richard de Buys, Jr., one of the 5th generation she has nursed. (Photo taken when she was 75 years of age. Page 163, Vol. II.)
THE DE MACARTY FAMILY
169
panique des Mousquetaires a Cheva. le 17 Avril 1766. Retoumee a la N. O. Epouse dame Jeanne Chauvin veuv reposse dans France 1781 sous le Comte d’Esting. Sous aide Major a bord le Fendont a la N. 0. 1793.
Their children two in number, Augustin Francois. Ne a la Nouvelle Orleans le 10 Janvier 1774. Jean Baptiste Ne en 1776 en 1797. The other three children of Jean Jacques Mac Carthy and Dame Francois de Trepagnier were: (1) Catherine Ursule ne a la N. 0. a la Rochelle le 20 Aout 1803. (2) Elizabeth ne a
la N. 0. A la Rochelle 11 Oct. 1805. (3) Jenne Ne. a la N. O.
8 Aout 1822.
The children of Barthelemy Chevalier de Macarthy and Dame Francoise Helene Pellerin were: (1) Jean Baptiste Ne a la N. O. le 7 Mars 1760. Servit dans l’Armee Francoise lors de la session de Armee Espagnel. Epouse Dame Fazende. * * 1805. (2)
Louis, Ne a la N. O. Epouse; Dame veuve Lecoate. (3) Eugene Ne a la N. O. (4) Theodore Ne a la N. O. 1773. — Helene Ne a la N. O. (Mme. Le Breton ouis Mmme. Conway. Catherin Ne a la N. O. (Mme. la Comptesse Fabre de la Jouchere. Marie Celeste Ne a la N. O. Mme. la Comptesse de Miro — Mont l’Eve’que. Briggitts, Ne a la N. O. Mme. Nicolas D’Aunoy.
The children of Jean Baptiste de Mac Carthy and Dame Fa- zande were Barthelemy Ne a la N. O., Edmond, Ne a la N. O., Epouse Mile. D’Estrehan. Celeste (Mme. Lanausse) Ne a la N. 0. le 2 Dec. 1785 Sept. 1863.
The children of Louis de Mac Carthy who married Dame veuve Lacoate were Louis Barthelmy Ne a la N. 0. 1783-1850. Delphine Ne a la N. 0. — Mme. Lopez. M. Don Roman Lopez Y Angula.
The children of Delphie de MacCarthy and M. Don Roman Lopez Y Angula were Marie Francoise de Borja Delphine de Lopez Y Angula, married Francois Placide of New Orlens, May 31, 1821. Their children were as follows: Marie Jeanne Celeste Forstall, who married Henry A. Rathbone Esq. April, 1846; Marie Louise Emma Forstall; Jean Jules Forstall, who died in 1846; Marie Louise Paulin Forstall; Marie Louise Forstall (II); Anatole Jean Forstall; Joseph Octave Forstall; Marie Adelaide Forstall; Marie Jeanne Forstall; Marie Octavie Forstall; Marie Julia Forstall. The children of Marie Jeanne Celeste Forstall and Henry A. Rathbone, Esq., were: Marie Celeste Emma Rathbone, who
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
married John B. de Lallande de Ferriere of New Orleans; Henry Paul Rathbone; Marie Virginie Pauline Rathbone, who married Peter Labouisse, Esq., of New Orleans; Francis Henry Rathbone, died in infancy; Marie Elizabeth Rathbone, who married James de Buys, Esq., of New Orleans; Marie Louise Rathbone, died in infancy; Marie Louise Alice Rathbone, who married Marie Octavie Rita Rathbone, who married M. Edgar de Poincy of New Orleans.
The children of Marie Celeste Emma Rathbone who married John B. de Lallande de Ferriere of New Orleans, are: Juanita de Lallande de Ferriere; Marie Rubie de Lallande de Ferriere; Marie Roy de Lallande de Ferriere; Marie Rathbone de T.allanHg de Ferriere; Marie d’Assise Gayoso de Lallande de Ferriere. The children of Marie Virginie Pauline Rathbone and Peter Labouisse, Esq., are: Peter Rathbone Labouisse and Marie Edith Labouisse. The children of Marie Elizabeth Rathbone and James de Buys are : Rathbone Emile de Buys; James Temple de Buys; Walter Lawrence de Buys; and Lourence Richard de Buys.
From the Family tree record — Courtesy of the de Buys family, of New Orleans, La.
Old' Uncle Ned
MACARTY PLANTATION (de Marcarthy Family)
In the area that became Carrollton, the Macarty Plantation, originally the property of one of the Lafrenier family, was known as the Lafrenier plantation. The other Lafrenier plantation not very far away belonged to another member of the same family.
THE DE MACARTY FAMILY
171
It is now known as Elmswood and is one of the show places near New Orleans, the old manor house having been beautifully restored. The Macarty plantation, a grant to Lafrenier and later the property of Louis Cesar Le Breton is no longer in existence. The old plantation and manor have ceased to exist, but stories of the old plantation days that have been handed down by descendants of this old family have a more or less romantic charm, and have caused interested strangers to inquire who was the beautiful, fascinating Mademoiselle de Macarty one reads about in old Louisiana Stories?
The family of Macarty was an aristocratic Irish family, who rather than submit to religious and political tyranny of the English preferred exile. Bartholomew Macarty or Marcarthey — Mac- taig to give the name in its original form, which later became Marcathy — a member of the Albermarle Regiment, fled to France, where his ability was recognized. He became a Major-General of a Division in the department of Rochefort, being made a Chevalier of St. Louis before his death. He was the father of two sons, christened with French names, being born in the land of their father’s adoption. These two sons, Jean Jacques and Bar- thelmy, the French for Bartholomew, left France for Louisiana in the year 1730, the older in command of a marine detachment, the younger brother in the same command under him. Later Jean Jacques was married to Madame Francoise Barbe Ignace Trepagnier, whose first husband was Francois Antoine Damaron, Apothecary of the King in Louisiana. Two sons were bom of this marriage and the family returned to France. The two sons entered service in the King’s Army; one joining the marine, the other becoming a member of the King’s household troops. Jean Jacques married in New Orleans after his return, Mademoiselle Jean Chauvin, a daughter of an early Louisiana settler. His wife dying before he did, he returned to the French service and was appointed aide to the Compte d’Estaing on the Fendant. He was made a Chevalier of St. Louis and died in New Orleans in 1793. Barthelmy de Macarty, as he signed himself, to denote his aristocratic lineage, remained in New Orleans, where he married Dame Francoise Helene Pellerin and became the father of eight children. He rose rapidly from a lieutenant to a captaincy in 1732, and filled the position of Aide Major of the city four years later.
Barthelmy de Macarty left a fine military record and died
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
about the time of the transfer of the colony to the Spanish Crown. He left a family of four sons and four daughters. His sons were (1) Jean Baptiste Francois de Macarty, who married Mademoiselle Helene Charlotte Fazende who was a daughter of Rene Gabriel Fazende and Charlotte Dreux; (2) Barthelmy Louis de Macarty who married Madam (vieuve) Lacompte — their daughter, described by contemporaries as being very beautiful, was Delphine de Macarty who was married to Don Ramon Lopez y Angullo and who became the mother of the no less beautiful Marie Francoise de Boya de Lopez y Angullo (Borquite) who married Placide Forstall and became the mother of twelve children from whom descend the prominent New Orleans families of Forstall and Rathbome; (3) Augustin de Macarty, son of Augustin Guillaume de Macarty and Jeanne Chauvin, became Mayor of New Orleans for several terms.
The daughters of Chevalier Barthelmy de Macarty and Francoise Helene Pellerin were Francoise Brigitte, Marie Catherine Adelaide, Celeste Eleanore and Marie Marthe. Francoise Brigitte became the wife of Nicolas d’Aunoy. Marie Catherine Adelaide became the Comptesse Fabre de la Jonchere — Jeanne Baptiste Ce- saire le Breton, their daughter, became the wife of Baron Delfau de Pontalba. Celeste Eleanore Elizabeth married Governor Esta- ban Miro, Spanish Governor to succeed Galvez.
According to the late Judge Charles Gayarre, Louisiana Historian, the Macarty Plantation had been the property of Louis Cesar le Breton, and at his death passed to his son, Jean Baptiste Cesar le Breton. In 1771 it became the plantation of Barthelmay Daniel Macarty after le Breton “had been murdered by a petted and pampered slave. Barthelmay had been the tutor of the le Breton children and the plantation has since become the town of Carrollton.”
The Macarty Plantation comprised in the boundaries “as a tract of land thirty-two arpents in front on the Mississippi.” The tract owned and cultivated by the Macarty family at the beginning of the nineteenth century (1808) extended from the present Mon- ticello Avenue, then the lower boundary of the Ludgore Fortier plantation which had formerly been part of the Macarty plantation, down to the present Lowerline street — the lower boundary. The upper boundary, the line at the upper limits of the Foucher Plantation the lands of the plantation reaching back eighty
THE DE MACARTY FAMILY
173
arpents. The plantation was located eight miles above the Canal (Canal Street at present), river road measurements. Only the front acreage at that date was under cultivation.
In the vicinity of Clinton Street, Carrollton, not far from the then river road is said to have been the site of the old plantation home. The first one was like the old de Marigny de Mande- ville plantation home, but smaller. It is supposed to have been lost by the caving in of the land in that section. The ruins of the old sugar house — for it had been a sugar plantation — were further back from the river than the plantation house, and remained standing until 1863, when they were demolished by orders of the U. S. Government that the space and material might be used for the erection of stables.
At the death of Jean Baptiste Macarty on November 10th, 1808 the plantation, with other property, was apportioned to his three children, Barthelmay, Edmond and Marie Celeste. Barthel- may Macarty, and Paul Lanausse who was married to Marie Celeste Macarty bought Edmond Macarty’s share in the estate, and later on Barthelmay also purchased his sister Marie Celeste’s
share after the crevasse which had occurred on May 6, 1816 _
purchasing it while the land was still submerged.
The great crevasse which was to mean so much to the future of New Orleans occurred in the levee at the upper section of the Macarty Plantation. All the rear section of surrounding plantations were flooded, the high water extending as far down the river as the section known today as Canal and Bourbon streets.
The entire rear area of the present New Orleans was flooded, in some places the water attaining a height of five feet. The greatest part of the flooded area cleared in a little over three weeks being carried to the Lake Pontchartrain by Bayou St. Jean and other small bayous.
The entire area around New Orleans was immensely benefited by its outcome. When the water had entirely subsided and it was found that a rich alluvial deposit of top soil, carried in the water of the Mississippi giving it the murky color, had destroyed the crops, but enriched and revitalized the soil. Land values immediately rose to ten times their original value in some cases. Even the swamp land was somewhat filled in certain areas.
Barthelmay Macarty, as is shown by an old notarial act, had Huges de la Vergne, draw up the deed of sale of an undivided half
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of his land to Eleonore Mirtile Macarty, wife of Charles Barthel- may Lanausse, and another instrument deeding by sale another half jointly to Samuel Kohn and Bernard de Marigny de Man- deville.
In 1815 General Carroll, in command of a large detachment of American soldiers, encamped at the 'Macarty Plantation and this was a great event in that day to the people of that section.
It was on this old Macarty Plantation, and in the old plantation mansion, which according to tradition, was swallowed by the ever hungry Mississippi, lived that beautiful Mademoiselle de Macarty who used to drive in her elaborate chaise with her postillion in front, to the old de Bore plantation near their plantation, when the little negro boy, on sighting her arrival, would swing wide the de Bore entrance gates crying out — “Mamselle Macarty a pe vim” — while at a brisk pace the chaise and horses would drive in beneath the green arcade.
Mademoiselle, always attired, like Madam de Bore in a Louis XIV gown, according to numerous writers, was a beauty to behold.
Von Phul
Chapter XXI.
Von PHUL — CADE — DUBROCCA — ALLAIN FAMILIES VON PHUL FAMILY.
TRANSLATION OF AN EXPLANATION TO A SKETCH IN THE OLD von PHUL FAMILY BIBLE.
Explanation of the Drawing Above the Mantle in the Entrance Hall of Bel Air.
“A?’ rePresents the figure of Mr. Wilhelm von Phul, as an American Dragoon, willing to fight for Freedom, Honor, and Fatherland; born 1739, November 14th, at Westhofen in Middle- Pflaz; came to America 1764; married in Lancaster on November 14th, 1775. B, the High Honored and Honorable Maiden Cath- erina Graffin, born 1757, the 6th of January in Lancaster ,and reared in this happy marriage the following children : (1) George, born 1776, the 3rd of November, baptized the 6th of November; the witnesses are the grand parents of the mother’s side, Mr. Graff and his honored wife. (2) Catherine, born 1773, the 6th of October, and was baptized the 11th ditto; the witness is the grandmother, Mrs. Graffin. (3) Wilhelm, bom 1780, the 12th of August, and baptized the 24th, the witnesses are the parents themselves; (4) Sara, bom 1782, the 15th of September, and baptized the 15th of October; the witnesses are also the parents. (5) Heinrich, bom 1784, the 14th of August, and baptized the 5th of September; the witnesses are also the parents.
(6) Maria, born 1786, the 17th of May, and baptized the
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
25th, ditto; the witnesses are the Mr. Father, and the sister of the Mrs. Mother, Mrs. Eva Krugin. (7) Philip, born 1788, the 17th of December, and baptized the 4th of January, 1789; the witnesses are Mr. Father and the Mrs. Mother themselves. (8) Graff, born 1790, the 1st of September (in the morning half after 8 o'clock) and baptized the 25th, ditto; the witnesses are the Mr. Father and the Mrs. Mother themselves. All of the children born at Philadelphia, Pa.
von PHUL FAMILY .
William von Phul, a German of noble ancestry, came to America and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1764. His son Henry von Phul, later leaving Lancaster, went west and located in Kentucky, from which place he again proceeded to St. Louis, where he established himself in the general mercantile buisness. With St. Louis a growing place, it was not long before he had become a very successful business man, ranking among the leading merchants of the city, where he was also largely interested in Mississippi shipping, having one of the large boats named after him. The Henry von Phul.
His three sons Henry, Frank, and William previous to the Civil War went south to Louisiana, Henry settling on the East bank of the Mississippi River, below Baton Rouge, while William, married a Miss Mary McD. Williams, thereby became master of Poplar Grove and Bel Air plantations which had been first owned by Mrs. von Phul’s grandfather and later by her father, having been in the family since the year 1820. After the Civil War in which Henry, Frank, and William served in the Confederate army, during the entire period of hostilties, the three embarked in the cotton and sugar manufacturing business in New Orleans.
Mr. Frank von Phul was educated at the St. Louis University, a class-mate of Francis Joseph Boehm, an uncle of the author, the two men being close friends about whom gathered the classmates located in New Orleans. Among them being Numa Landry who became President of the Peoples Bank, Ernest Landry, his brother, who became cashier of the Peoples Bank, Charles Conrad who became a prominent lawyer in New Orleans, Mr. Frank Webre, and Mr. Bienvenue at whose home in Royal Street these classmates often met.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the von Phul family.
(Courtesy of Mr. William von Phul, Sr.)
Mrs. Robert Cade, ned Corinne Dubroca.
Miss Lillie Dubroca
DUBROCCA FAMILY
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DUBROCA GENEALOGY .
Martin Milony Duralde, bom in Biscay, Spain, became a Spanish officer in Louisiana, located at Post Attacapas. His wife had been Mile. Marie Josephe Perrault, who had come from Quebec, Canada. Their daughters were: Duralde, who married John Clay (brother of Henry Clay); Clarisse Duralde, who married W. C. C. Claiborne; Celeste Duralde, who married Valerian Allain, and became the parents of one son named Valerien Allain, bom 1789, and three daughters, who became Madame Ursin Soniat du Fossat. Madame Valentin du Broca, and Madame George Eustis (nee Clarisse Allain).
Their sons were : Allain Eustis, who married Anais de Semanat; James Eustis, an ambassador to France, and George Eustis, who married Louise Corcoran of Washington, D. C. Celestine Allain Soniat du Fossat, married her cousin Ursin Soniat and later went to live in an apartment in the Quartier de la Madelaine in Paris, France. Here she maintained her salon, gathering about her a coterie of distinguished poets, writers, and musicians. Louis Philippe who had been entertained by her father with other members of the Royal family was among her numerous distinguished visitors.
From the time that Madame Celestine Allain was bom on her father s plantation near Baton Rouge, La., her colored maid, had been her attendant from infancy up until her marriage. Always devoted, when Madame Soniat du Fossat went to live in Paris, naturally Anna LeAndre went to the French capitol with her. Such an attentive nurse and maid did Anna prove to be during Madame’s long illness that her Mistress often would tell her friends and relatives, that she always concluded her prayers by asking that God take her first, so that she might be spared the anguish of outliving her devoted Anna. The family tell of how grateful Madame Soniat was, for upon learning that in Paris there existed a branch of the “National Society of France for the Promotion of Virtue”, Madame Soniat at once wrote to the Society accompanying her letter with Anna’s full name and a full account of her maid’s absolute devotion, with the result — that to the delight of all, Anna received a gold medal from the Society.
In the City of Paris, on the official register of that Society appears the following: “Madame Anna LeAndre, a woman of
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color, seventy-five years old; born in Louisiana, living in Paris. This excellent woman has been in the service of Madame du Soniat for fifty years as maid and nurse, always showing unalterable attachment. Her parents and grand parents have served the same family from father to son for one hundred and fifty years. We recompense this rare example of Fidelity by the award of a medal of honor. Paris, May 22nd, 1881”.
Madame, who had witnessed the presentation and happiness of her maid, wrote her family in New Orleans telling them in detail of the presentation as follows. “The ceremony was touching and handsome. I was thrilled with emotion at seeing my dear Anna taking the arm of a young and handsome officer to go to the platform, where were thirty judges and presidents, and more than five thousand spectators to receive applause, but Anna was more warmly applauded than anyone else.”
When Madame Soniat died, she was buried in beautiful Pere la Chaise cemetery in Paris, and according to Madame’s wishes her Anna was left a large annuity during the remainder of her life, which was spent in Paris, she living as a boarder in a convent of that city, and at her death she was buried by the side of her old Mistress in the grave that Madame had ordered when her own was planned in Pere la Chaise cemetery.
ALLAIN FAMILY .
Francois Allain who was born in Brittany, and had fought in the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, according to his descendants, was the first one of this distinguished family to come to America, and located at a place called at that date Post des Attakapas (now Baton Rouge, La) . His children that accompanied him were four in number, two daughters and two sons. To one son, Augustin by name, who became a captain of Grenadiers, stem the New Orleans family.
George Eustis, son of George Eustis and Clarisse Allain, married Louise Corcoran, whose father gave to the nation’s capitol the art gallery that bears his name. He also distinguished himself by other notable gifts to the City of Washington. George Eustis Junior’s sisters are Mathilde who became the wife of an Englishman and lived abroad. Celestine, who was known as one of the most cultured women in this city during her lifetime.
Valerien Allain, brother of Clarisse Allain, Alzire and Celes-
ALLAIN FAMILY
179
tine, was educated in France, spending most of his spare time in Paris. Having spent a decade there in the Bohemian colony, upon his return to Louisiana found the life of a planter unsuited to his tastes, so decided to live in New Orleans, meeting and later marrying Mile. Armantine Pitot, daughter of the young French nobleman who while in Paris became so outraged when he witnessed the head of Marie Antoinette’s close friend Madame deLamballe upheld on a pike dripping blood, gave vent to his horror, and being warned fled to America. He later became the first American mayor of New Orleans. (The name originally Pitot de Beaujardierre). The Allain home became one of the greatest social centers in the city, famed specially for its cuisine, having one of the best chefs in the state. A constant stream of guests filled this hospitable home, where many of the brilliant men of the day gathered continually.
Chapter XXII.
D’ESTREHAN DES TOURS
'J'HE d’Estrehan family ranks among the most aristocratic in the
annals of the history of Louisiana. The founder of the family in Louisiana was Jean Baptiste d’Estrehan des Tours, who served for many years under the French as Royal Treasurer of the Colony, until Governor Kerlerec had him sent back to France for being “too rich and dangerous”; — the true cause, according to reliable authorities, being that Rochemore, the French Government Intendant, was a close friend of d’Estrehan who supported him in his cabal against the Governor.
Jean Baptiste d’Estrehan was born in France. He married Mademoiselle Catherine de Gauvet, whose father was an officer in the colonial troops, her mother having been a Mile. Pierre. He became the father of six children, one of whom, Marie Mar- garite, became the wife of Jean Etienne de Bore, being married in Paris on Sept. 20th, 1771. Marie Margarite received her education at the Royal Convent of St. Cyr, founded by Madame de Maintenant for the proper education of the daughters of the aristocracy. Jean Etienne de Bore de Mauleon, as the full name is 'written, was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, Dec. 27th, 1741. He immortalized his name by his discovery of the process of granulating sugar, thus saving the sugar industry, or rather creating it. His sugar plantation was located on the site of the present Audubon Park in New Orleans. Today no trace remains of the old house. He died in New Orleans on the 27th of December,
D’ESTREHAN DES TOURS
381
1741. He was given an appropriate funeral from the St. Louis Cathedral and interred in the family vault in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 He had requested that the sum that would have been spent for a more costly funeral be given to charity.
(2) Jean Baptist Honore d’Estrehan married Felicite St. Maxent and he died on the 20th of October, 1773, leaving no children. (3) Jean Louis d’Estrehan. (4) Jeanne Marie d’Es- trehan, who became the wife of Pierre Enguerrand Philip de Marigny de Mandeville, who was a son of Antoine Philip de Marigny de Mandeville and Francoise de Lile Dupart. (5) Jean Louis d’Estrehan de Beaupre, who married in 1788 Mademoiselle Marie Claude Celeste Lenore Robin de Logny, daughter of Pierre Antoine Robin de Logny and Jeanne Dreaux de Gentilly, daughter of Sieur de Gentilly (Mathurin Dreux) one of the most prominent and wealthiest land owners in Louisiana who traces his lineage directly to Robert the Fifth, son of Louis VI of France.
Jean Noel d’Estrehan became the father of fourteen children: (1) Celestine d’Estrehan was born in 1787, became the wife of Rene Trudeau, and died in 1811; (2) Guy Noel d’Estrehan, whose wife was la Miss Oliver of New York, and at her death left two children, who became respectively Mrs. Chazot and Mrs. Thophile Roussel; (3) Justine d’Estrehan married Jean Baptiste de Ma- carty; (4) Nicolas Noel d’Estrehan was born in the plantation home in St. Charles Parish, April 3rd, 1793. He married Vic- torine Fortier, a daughter of Jacques Fortier and Aimee Durel, who bore him no children, and for his second wife married on Nov. 12th, 1826, Louise Henriette de Navarre, who was born in Paris, France, on the 10th of October, 1810, and died in the state of Louisiana, October 11th, 1836. She was a daughter of Ange Louis de Navarre and Adelaide Catherine Clement Gabrielle Rose Barth. (5) Eleonore Zelia d’Estrehan was the wife of Stephen Henderson. (6) Louise Odile d’Estehan was born in the year 1802. Her first husband was Pierre Edouard Foucher; she later married Pierre Adolph Rost. From her first marriage, amongst her children, are Destours Foucher, who became a prominent character in the Mexican War. He served on the staff of General Taylor. A daughter, Louise Foucher, becoming the wife of Felix Henri Larue, the children of this marriage were George H. Larue, who left no children; Anna Larue, who married Leon
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Sarpy, and left children; Odile Larue, who married Frank 0. Minor and left children; Ferdinan E. Larue, whose wife was Anna Le Gardeur de Tilly, left children; Felix A. Larue, M. D., whose first wife was Lisette Rea, who bore him children. After her death he married Stephanie Levert, a prominent harpist, daughter of the late sugar planter and distinguished Confederate soldier, Colonel J. B. Levert. From this marriage there was no issue. Destours P. Larue left no children. The children by her second marriage with Pierre Adolph Rost, Louise Odile d’Estre- han Foucher Rost became the mother of five children, a son Emile Rost, who became district judge of Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. John parishes.
(7) Marie Celeste d’Estrehan, bom 1808. She first married Prosper de Marigny and later Alexander Grailhe. (8) Nicolas Noel d’Estrehan was bom in St. Charles Parish on April 3rd, 1793, and died there June 16th, 1848, and is buried in the ceme- tery given to the parish by his family. By his marriage with Louise Henriette de Navarre, he was the father of four more children, (a) Louise d’Estrehan, who married Joseph TTalo Harvey; (b) Adel d’Estrehan, who became Mrs. Samuel B. McCut- chon, a member of the prominent plantation family who at one time owned “Ormond Plantation” close by. (c) Eliza d’Estrehan, who became Mrs. Daniel Rogers, (d) Azby d’Estrehan, who mar- ried Rosa Ferrier.
The children of Joseph Hale Harvey and Louis d’Estrehan are: (a) Nicolas Harvey, whose wife was Miss Stewart, their children are: (b) Sallie Harvey, who married Samuel R. Stewart, with issue, (c) Henriette Harvey, who married Horace de Gray, with issue; (d) Henry Harvey, who married Marie deGruy, with issue; (e) William Harvey, with issue; (f) Laura Harvey, who married James D. Seguin, with issue; (g) Robert Harvey, with issue; (h) Horace H. Harvey, with issue; (i) Jennie Harvey, who married J. E. McGuire, with issue. 9. Adel d’Estrehan, who became Mrs. Samuel McCutchon, left four children as follows: (a) Samuel McCutchon; (b) Amelia McCutchon; (c) Adel McCutchon, without issue; (d) Azby d’Estrehan McCutchon, whose wife was Mattie Cabaniss, with issue. 10. Eliza d’Estrehan, who became Mrs. Daniel R. Rogers, left two children: (a) Lucie Rogers, who became Mrs. Alonzo Charbonnet, with issue; also
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(b) Nina Rogers, who became the wife of S. Locke Breaux, a member of the family for whom the Breaux Bridge plantation is named. (Without issue). 11. Azby d’Estrehan, who married Rosa Ferrier, and left one child. 12. Marie Delphine Louise d’Estrehan, who was first married to Dupuy de Lome, and later to Ernest Richard.
ARMS OF THE DE LA BARRE FAMILY
Field Argent , Bar, azure, Charged with three gold (or) shells, accompanied Troiseau sable. Support a lion on either side. The simplicity of the arms indicate crusade origin. A family whose name finds its origin in the town of Beauce Flanders, in 1330, and stemming beyond to the city of Ghent, where members of the family held position sovereign Baliff, of Flanders giving almost kingly powers.
THE DE LA BARRE FAMILY
The de la Barre family is of ancient origin, reaching back to the year 1380 to one Guillaume de la Barre, Chevalier et Seigneur de Chauvincourt whose wife was Mademoiselle Robine d’Orval, also of a noble house of France. Francois Pascalis de la Barre, the first of the de la Barre family to come to America and settle in Louisiana, was appointed to the responsible office of Alguazil, corresponding to high sheriff. He married Charlotte Volant, daughter of Chevalier Gregorie Volant stationed at Karkey in Louisiana, in command of the 4th Company of the Swiss Regiment. Of this union four children were bom: Francois Pascalis de la Barre, Jr., Pierre Volant, Aimee de la Barre, who became the wife of Antoine Bienvenue; Marie de la Barre, who became the wife of Francois Joseph la Molere d'Orville. Francois Pascalis de la Barre, Jr., became the husband of Charlotte de Tillet; ten children were born of this union, four sons and six daughters.
Chapter XXIII.
HEWES.
THE HEWES — GRYMES FAMILIES
^HE first part of this memorandum was found among papers of Ann Poindexter, daughter of Samuel Hewes of Boston. Mather Cushing came from England and settled in Hingham, and married Nagarett? (Margarete) Pitcher of England. The question mark after Nagarette evidently shows doubt about that name. Their son Thomas married Deborah Thaxter and settled in Boston. Their daughter Margaret Cushing married William Fletcher, born in Surry, England, 1688, and settled in Boston. This Margaret Fletcher married Henry Newman, who came from England and settled in Boston. Their daughter Hannah Newman married John Milliquet, who came from England and resided in Boston, afterwards returned to England. Their daughter Margaret Milliquet married Deacon Samuel Hewes of Boston. Their son William Gardner of Boston married Maria Abercrombie Kent Searle of Kent, England, daughter of Sir Francis Searle and Maria Abercrombie Kent, who was a niece of Admiral Abercrom-
William von Phul, Jr., 1st Lieutenant, U. S. Army, World War
Madame Ursin Soniat du Fossat, ne£ Melle. Celestin Allain. (From a miniature in the Cade family.)
Apartment house in Paris where Madame Ursin Soniat du Fossat lived.
tery, Paris, where Madame Ursin Madame Ursin Sonia du Fossat Soniat du Fossat and Anna Le
and Anna Le’Andre. Andre are buried.
Mrs. Effie Cade Daniels, on the handsome stairway of Bel Air Manor. (Illustrations courtesy of the von Phul and Cade families.)
THE HEWES - GRYMES FAMILIES
185
bie of the British Navy. Their son Thomas Hewes, born in New Orleans Nov. 5th, 1823, died Aug. 13th, 1889. Married Anna Lancaster, bom March 8th, 1840, died March 13th, 1902. They had a son, Charles Lancaster, bom in Sacramento, California, Sept. 2nd, 1856. Anna Lancaster, bom Aug. 12th, 1858, at Placerville, California. William Gardner, bom in Texas, Feb. 27th, 1860. Thomas Henry, bom on Grosse Tete, Louisiana, Sept. 14th, 1863, died January 9th, 1865. Miguel Tacon, bora in New Orleans, Nov. 22nd, 1865. Thomas Hewes, bora at Pleasant View Plantation, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, July 31st, 1868. Walter Herbert bom at Pleasant View Plantation, Nov. 10th, 1870, died April 5th, 1883. Robert Edward, born at Pleasant View, July 11th, 1873. Rosina Dunbar, bom at Pleasant View, June 25th, 1876. Cecil Grayson, bom at Pleasant View, April 21st, 1879. Kent Searle, bom at Pleasant View, June 14th, 1882.
Charles Lancaster Hewes, married Sarah Pilant June 30th 1896. She was bora June, 1864 — they have three children : Anna, bom April 12th, 1897; Wm. Pilant, bom June 27th, 1899; Charles Denis, bora March 1st, 1904.
Anna Lancaster Hewes married Charles Denis, Oct. 10th, 1882. He was born in New Orleans Jan. 4th, 1886. Miguel Tacon married Aug. 5th, 1891 Elisabeth Hyams who died June 2nd, 1898, leaving two daughters, Inez Rosina, bom May 21st, 1892, and Myrtle Thelma, bom August 6th, 1894. Tacon married again on July 19th, 1899, Rosemary Claiborne; they have three children; Lewis Claiborne, bora July 27th, 1900; Thomas Hewes, bom Aug. 4th, 1901, and Fanny Tacon, bom March 1st, 1904.
Thomas Hewes married Annie Laurie Grimes March 8th, 1904. They have three of their four children living: Elliot Henderson Hewes; Marie Louise Hewes (Mrs. David Miller Mims); Annie Laurie Grimes Hewes. Thomas H. Hewes, Jr., died June 19th, 1909.
Robert Edward married Dorsey Van Vleck of Ohio, Jan. 15th, 1908.
Copied by Anna L. H. Denis from a letter written to Wm.
Gardner Hewes, his father, Thos. H. Hewes about 1886.
As to the Hewes and Searle families. — Samuel Hewes and Nancy Hill. Samuel Hewes, Jr. and Margaretti Milliquet.
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Wm. Gardner Hewes and Maria Abercrombie Kent Searle, daughter of Sir Francis Searle and Maria Abercrombie Kent, who was a niece of Admiral Abercrombie of the British Navy.
Thomas H. Hewes and Anna Lancaster.
The Hewes family came from Wales. The first Samuel Hewes was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Boston prior to the Revolution. He was an ardent rebel and gave largely to that cause. His wife, Nancy Hill, was a high spirited little woman of whom I have heard many interesting anecdotes. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. The daughters all married prominent men, Edward Jones — Newman — Wm. Gardner. Newman and Wm. Gardner of Portsmouth, New Hampshire gave a warship to the Colonial cause. Their son, Samuel, had for his first wife Margaretti Milliquet of French extraction — their children were William Gardner, Margaret, Samuel Hill and Nancy or Ann as she preferred to call herself. The second wife was Martha Bliss and they had issue — Mary, Edward, Henry and Sarah. That Samuel was in early life a merchant engaged in the East India trade, but for the last thirty years of his life he held an office in the Boston city government. He died in 1844 and I heard a long funeral oration, delivered some weeks subsequently.
He certainly was noted for integrity, kindness of disposition and great energy. His son, Wm. Gardner (your grandfather) came to Louisiana about 1815, Margaret also came soon after to this state and married Robert Layton. She died in 1878, having survived all of her children except one son, Robert, who now lives in Monroe, Ouachita Parish. Her husband was rich and left a large amount of property. Ann married in Washington City, George Pointdexter, then a senator from Mississippi. They had no children, by his will he left all (a considerable property) to his wife. She died some eight years since.
Samuel Hewes is now about 87 years of age (according to his own letters he was ninety in 1886 which gives date of father’s letter A. L. Denis) lives in Tuscola, Michigan and certainly is in full possession of all his faculties. He has a large family, none of whom I ever have met. Edward died of cholera in my father’s home in New Orleans in 1832, and Mary died some fifteen years since. Henry settled in Calcutta as a merchant, and died there about the year 1851. Sarah still lives in Boston, a most refined and estimable old lady.
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187
Your grandfather, William Gardner, was a very prominent merchant of New Orleans, and prior to 1842 had acquired a large fortune and virtually had retired from business, entrusting all to a partner. That partner with no evil intent endorsed, in the firm’s name for a brother of his, for over $200,000.00. The first intimation your grandfather had of the matter, was a demand upon him as indorser, it was a panic year and property could not be sold. For instance the Orleans Cotton Press, for which he had paid $27,000.00 he sold for $17,000.00 in order to pay the debts. His struggle was fruitless, and he gave up everything and began anew. Such was his character, that offers to loan him money exceeded in the aggregate one million of dollars were made. I read those offers — but he declined all aid and when Secession he had again become worth some $30,000.00. He most warmly espoused the Confederate cause and may truly be said to have given to it all he had. When Butler entered New Orleans, he left, and died near Opelousas within a year afterwards. He originated the Water Works Co., was its first president, was president of several banks and insurance companies, and at the time of his death, was president of the Great Western and Pacific Railroad, and of the Bank of America. Like his father and grandfather he was very devoted to his family and to business, was I to believe without a vice. He had some fondness for military affairs, was Captain of the first American company ever organized in New Orleans, did duty in the war of 1812, and was granted land by the U. S. for his services. His marriage was a love and somewhat romantic affair.
Sir Francis Searle was the first to march into London at the head of a regiment to resist the threatened invasion of Napoleon. The King gave him magnificent tokens of favor (a diamond snuff box I remember well). His wife, Maria Kent, was a niece of General Abercrombie who figured in our revolutionary war on the British side. They had four children: Frank, Maria, Caroline and Frederick. Early in this century they left England for one of the British West India Islands, where he was to fill some high office. Forced by a French Fleet to find refuge in Boston, he bought a fine place near that city, but seems to have been careless in money matters, and died there much involved in debt. His widow was as remarkable for energy as for beauty and made many friends in Boston. Leaving her children in Boston she made a
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dangerous voyage to England only to find her husband’s affairs involved so badly, she compromised and getting some $20,000.00, returned to Boston. There she married Thomas Hewes the second son of the first Samuel, and moved to New Orleans, taking the Searle children with them. But your grandfather William G. was in love with Maria, so he soon followed to New Orleans, was married, and went into business with his uncle Tom. Their first child was named William, but he died soon after the second son (myself) was born.
By her marriage wth Thomas Hewes my grandmother had one child, Fanny, who married Miguel Tacon about 1837 and went to Spain where with a large family she remained. Thomas Hewes for whom I was named, died about 1825, and his widow removed to Washington City. I have but a very indistinct recollection of my uncle Frank Searle. Fred attended West Point became distinguished in the army, was wounded during the Florida War, with the Indians, and remained paralysed from the waist down during life. He died about 1854. Carolyn (you have seen), she married John Breckenridge Grayson, an officer of the army. His mother, Loetitia Breckenridge, Aunt of Judge Breckenridge of St. Louis. You know how energetic and impulsive Caroline was. Her brother Fred was much like her. But my mother was more retiring, and more amiable and loving. She died of cholera in 1861.
GRYMES.
Mrs. Thomas H. Hewes, nee Annie Laurie Grymes, is a daughter of the late John Collins Grymes, who was a son of William Bryan Grymes, who was born in Willamson, Martin Co., North Carolina, Oct. 4th, 1806. He married Sarah Marina Lanier in 1838. William Bryan Grymes was a large land owner in Rapides Parish and Avoyelles Parish, where his plantation before the Civil War was on the bluff known as “Grymes Bluff”. John Collins
THE HEWES - GRYMES FAMILIES
18*
Grymes was a nephew of the late John Randolph Grymes, a lawyer, and legislator who was born in Orange County, Virginia, in 1786. He studied law in Virginia, was admitted to the bar, and in 1808 removed to the territory of Orleans, where his great ability was soon recognized. He was appointed district attorney, and in that capacity became connected with the notable Batture Case, his fee as counsel being $100,000.00. He was Andrew Jackson's counsel in the U. S. Bank case, and was opposed to Daniel Webster in the case of Myra Clark Gaines against the city of New Orleans. He fought two duels, in one of which he was severely wounded. He died Dec. 4th, 1854 in the City of New Orleans. His residence, according to old city directories, was at 122 Canal Street, New Orleans.
John Collins Grymes (Mrs. Thomas Hewes' father) was born in 1841 on his father's plantation. He was a Lieutenant of Company A, 8th Louisiana Cavalry, during the Civil War. He attended L. S. U., at that time Louisiana Military Academy at Alexandria, Louisiana, and was one of its first students. Mrs. Thomas Hewes' uncle, Lanier Grymes was a member of the first class to graduate from L. S. U. and later was a professor of Mathematics there. John Collins Grymes was married to Annie Lyme Smith, a daughter of Geo. Childs Smith of Waterbury, Conn. Her mother was Eleanor Amelia Tanner, whose wedding dress was carefully pressed and worn by Mrs. Thomas Hewes' daughter, Marie Louise Hewes, at her marriage to David Mims of Minden, La. Mr. and Mrs. Mims have one son, Thomas Dangald Mims, born Aug. 26th, 1934. Eleanor Amelia Tanner was the daughter of Robert Lynn Tanner and Marian Irion, who was the daughter of George Anderson Irion and Rebecca Hunt of Halifax County, Virginia. George Anderson Irion was a major in the War of 1812. He moved to Avoyelles, La., from Virginia, and settled where the town of Bunkie, La. now stands. Mrs. Thomas Hewes is a great niece of Judge Alfred Irion of Avoyelles Parish, who was well loved for his wit and humor. His book “Tribulations of Boaz” has won for him the reputation of being a great humorist.
Chapter XXIV.
THE FROTSCHER — KOCH — MULLER — BRUCE FAMILIES
^HE name Frotscher is Scandinavian, “one who dwells by a fiord”, later in Austria. About two hundred years ago, two brothers left, one settled in Leipzig, Germany, the other in France. The family is descended from the German branch and has a long line of Lutheran ministers and University professors.
The Frotscher plantation has been in possession of the family for sixty odd years — bought by Richard Frotscher from Judge Kreider. The overseer’s house is still standing. It was originally a sugar plantation: name. Apiary — located at Fausse Point on Bayou Teche in the parishes of Iberia and St. Martin.
Richard Frotscher married Emilie Schwalm. Children: Anna Wilhelmine married Julius Koch of Stuttgart, Germany, Architectural Engineer from Karl Schule, Stuttgart; Mary, died unmarried; Emilie married Nicholas Muller of New Iberia; Helen Virgin married Charles Bartholomew ! Minna married Edward Frederick Bruce, M. D, Tulane, of Pensacola, Fla. (a daughter Lydia Mary); Lydia Elizabeth, Professor of German and Head of Department, Newcomb College, Tulane University. A. B., Newcomb; A. M. Tulane; Ph.D., Chicago.
KOCHS.
1. Richard — First Bachelor of Architecture ever conferred by Tulane. Architect, bom New Orleans, La., June 9, 1889; s. Julius and Anna (Frotscher) K.; B.A., Tulane University, 1910;
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student Atelier Bernier, Paris, 1911-12; unmarried. Architect since 1916; member of firm Armstrong & Koch, New Orleans, 1916 - 35; alone since 1935. District officer Historic American Buildings Survey in La.; Chairman of Committee on Preservation of Historic Monuments of Am. Inst, of Architects; v.p. Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans; member of board of Delgado Art Museum; member of Zoning Board of Appeal and Review; member City Park Board. Served as 1st Lieutenant Air Service, U. S. Army, 1916-18. Fellow Am. Inst, of Architects. Award: Silver medal in Architecture by Archtl. League of New York for “works of minor importance executed in local tradition”, 1938. Episcopalian. Club: Boston (New Orleans). Designed traditional house for families of $2000 - $3000 income, pub. in Life, 1938. Home: 2627 Coliseum Street. Office: Queen and Crescent Bldg., New Orleans, La. 2. Julie Frotscher — A.B. Newcomb; A.M., Chicago. History Department of Roosevelt High School, St. Louis. 3. Wilhelm — Bachelor of Civil Engineering. Construction Engineer; has done much government work.
4. Minna Frotscher — A.B., Newcomb; M.S. and Ph.D., Cornell. Has done research at Cornell and in New York Botanical Gardens.
5. Emilie Frotscher — Newcomb, New York School of Social Service. Case Worker for Children’s Bureau. 6. Anna Frotscher — A.B., Newcomb. Teacher of mathematics in Sophie B. Wright High School.
Architects for the Ramseys: Koch and Stone.
From Life, Sept. 26th, 1928 : “Richard Koch of New Orleans is the architect Life chose to design the best traditional house for the Ramseys’ wishes and pocketbook. A quiet sober hard-working craftsman, Mr. Koch has won a national reputation for skill in adapting the easy charm of old Southern homes to demands of modern living. Last April the Architectural League of New York awarded him its Medal, top award for residential design”.
Among the outstanding examples of Mr. Koch’s work are the following: Harry T. Howard Residence, New Orleans, La.; Boatner Reily Home, Lewisburg, La.; J. W. Reily Country Home, Bayou Liberty, La.; Donald Markle Home, Pass Christian, Miss.; Restoration of the W. W. Hall home in New Iberia, La., “Shadows on the Teche”; Restoration of the Andrew Stewart Home “Oak Alley”, Vacherie, La.; Restoration of Little Theatre, New Orleans,
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
La.; Restoration of “Petit Salon”, New Orleans, La.; Miss Matilda Gray's Home, Royal and Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans; Andrew Stewart Home, Valence Street, New Orleans, La.; Home, number 704 Gov. Nicholls Street, New Orleans, La.; Tavern at Natchez “Connelly's Tavern; and Trinity Chapel, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Every detail of the work was accomplished under the direct supervision of Richard Koch, local architect, Louisiana district officer of the Historical American Building Association, now functioning in every state in the union with funds furnished in the past by Civil Works Administration and in the future by the Emergency Relief Administration. Mr. Koch was recommended to the government for this extraordinary task by the American Institute of Architects with the assurance that he was the man best fitted for the purpose. He is chairman of the local committee for the preservation of historical monuments of the city; acting chairman of the Vieux Carre commission for the preservation of that section and chairman of the new City Park landscape planning commission.
At a banquet terminating the 70th annual convention of the American Institute of Architects which took place at the Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans in April, 1938, Richard Koch was awarded a fellowship. Mr. Koch being honored for “his studied and charming adaptation of the distinctive architecture of his state to the needs of present-day building, and his record of sustained effort in the best interests of his profession.
HOME OF THE JULIUS KOCH FAMILY .
The handsome home of the Koch family, located in the “Garden District'' was originally built for James Biddle Eustis, Ambassador to France. During his residence here it was one of the leading social centers in this city. The late John Coleman in writing of this house in his series of “Noted Old New Orleans Homes” has this to say — “In the old Eustis mansion there is an admirable blending of architectural charm with its surroundings — an edifice of stately transquility. Bright, cheerful and inviting, it is as beautiful within as without. Senator and Mrs. Eustis lived there with their family until his election to the United States Senate, when he made his home in Washington, D. C. During this time
.
MISS LYDIA ELISABETH FROTSCHER
Professor and head of German Depart- MISS MARY FROTSCHER
ment, Newcomb College, Tulane University, New Orleans.
(Illustrations courtesy of the family.)
An attractive corner of the Koch home. Showing the beautiful detail of the elab- Coliseum Street, New Orleans. orate iron-work, Koch home. Coliseum
Street.
MULLER FAMILY
193
the home was leased to Mr. A. R. Shattuck, later to Mr. Ben. Oxnard, largely interested in the refining of sugar, and later again to Mr. Henry Forsythe, son-in-law of the late Bradish Johnson.
Following the death of Senator Eustis which occurred in New York City in 1898 the property was disposed of by his heirs and it was then that Mr. Julius Koch a local architect became its owner; and is still preserved by this cultivated family”. Continuing _ “Above all else the mansion is comfortable, with high ceil¬
ings, large rooms and exposure from every point of the compass. In the center is a spacious hallway, extending the entire length of the building, and on which on the uptown side gives access to a spacious parlour occupying on the lower floor the whole of that side of the building. On the downtown side of the hall is the reception room fronting Coliseum Street, and in the rear of this apartment is the elegant dining room extending to an octagon. The floor above is reached by a handsome staircase which winds upward. On this floor are five large bedrooms, amply supplied with bath rooms”.
All of the accessory rooms to be found in a large home are found here, all of large size and well finished. The spacious garden has always been the pride of its owners, and the Koch family, all great flower lovers, see to it that the garden does not lose the reputation it has enjoyed for so many years, as one of the beauty spots of the “The Garden District”. Great masses of azaleas, japonicas, roses and the one hundred and one beautiful flowering shrub one meets in an old-fashioned garden of this sort are found. The splendid lace-like iron work of this home is some of the finest in the state. Cast in beautiful patterns and planned as trellisses enclosing attractive porches hung with wisteria, bignonia and rose of montana — the home becomes an ideal dwelling place in such surroundings.
MULLERS.
1. Hans Nicholas — Bachelor of Fine Arts, Carnegie Tech., majored in Stage Design and Costume. Worked as Interior Decorator in New York for Mack, Jenny and Tyler. Later did independent work. 2. R. Frotscher — Bachelor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Tulane. Married to Alma Schuler, one son, R. Frotscher. Works for Allis Chalmers Co.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
BARTHOLOMEW Helen Frotscher — married to Felix Morel: one daughter, Naomi,
who teaches in Jefferson Parish Grade School.
BRUCE.
Lydia Mary — teacher in Grade School of Pensacola, Fla.; holds teaching certificate from University of Florida.
Chapter XXV.
THE BOEHM FAMILY
^pHE Boehm family is originally from Vienna, Austria, where it is listed among the ancient patrician familes of the Old Austrian Empire, and in England in Burke’s Peerage. The American branch of which we are writing, came to New Orleans from the City of Metz in Lorraine, a French possession at the time, to which the family had fled from Austria several generations before while religious wars were raging.
The paternal grandfather of Francois Pierre Boehm, who came to America a century ago, was August de Belasyse Boehm who had been Burgomaster of Vienna. He was also owner of large land holdings in the suburbs of that city, a section that later became a residential area for many of the Viennese nobility. In his list of properties was a large flour mill at Dahlberg, near the old von Dahlberg Castle in Hessendarmstadt. A smaller flour mill bearing the family name is still in existence, having replaced the one mentioned on the old Burgomaster’s list of his property holdings, the original mill having burned many years ago.
Burgomaster August de Belasyse Boehm was the son of Edward Boehm of Vienna who held a responsible position in the Austrian mint, who in turn succeeded his father in the position. His mother was Mathilda de Belasyse of the ancient family of that name from Rouen, France. He married Magdalina Kirkland D’Almont of another patrician family of Metz.
A son of Baron von Dahlberg, while playing about the grounds fell into the old moat of the castle and was drowned, and the Baron von Dahlberg and his family moved away, leaving his sister and her family there in charge of the lands. Baron von Dahlberg’s sister married Francis Joseph Boehm I, and their daughter Anna
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Maria, a noted beauty, married Pancratious Swendle, a wealthy wine manufacturer with large vineyards and wine-presses in the locality.
The von Dahlberg castle was erected in the early 1600’s and according to the ancient crumbling stone tablet pictured in this article, was a memorial to the wife, bom a von Flersheim, of Baron von Dahlberg MDXXX. Recorded in honor of the best and noblest.” The old castle, according to records, was first badly damaged during the wars with the French by the army of Louis XIV, but had been partly restored, and was later struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Its ruins remained for many years until the town spread. A promenade was made of what had been the old moat. The ancient stone tablet was rescued and imbedded in a heavy wall which ran behind the castle. There is an ancient church where both Catholics and Protestants worship, having hand-carved woodwork on pews and altar.
'Life moves quietly in this rural community today (written before the present war) where those now occupying lands that formerly belonged to an ancient aristocracy, and for several centuries had been the seate of the Counts von Dahlberg and von Becker. This community that had been a very aristocratic one m the middle ages, contained some seventeen Knights and their families, who resided in the settlement, and who had a following of retainers who dwelt on their lands and saw to the management of their estates. The community was governed by the combined knighthood (called Gauerschaft) and consisted of members of the most prominent knights and their families at that time, and which comprised the following families: 1. von Dahlberg; 2. von Demheim; 3. von Riedesel; 4. von Weyhers; 5. von Wallbrun;
6. von Bertolfesheim; 7. von Knebel; 8. von Becker; 9 von Dachroder; 10. von Stroem.
The descendants of Knights lost control of the country at the time of the French Revolution, the French Republic taking possession in the year 1797. The settlement was a French protectorate until Jan. 21st, 1814, and for the next two years under the Imperial Austrian and Royal Bavarian Land Administration. Finally on July 8, 1816 it was taken over by the Arch Duchy of Hessen and from 1816 to 1852 was part of the County of Alzey, then it was included in the country of Oppenheim. Part of this
BOEHM
Burgomaster August deBelasyse Boehm, paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. W. E. Seebold. (From an ivory miniature in the Seebold family.)
Magdalena Kirkland XKAlmont, wife of Burgomaster August de Belasyse Boehm. (From an ivory miniature in the Seebold family.) Paternal
great-grandmother of Mrs. W. E. Seebold ne6 Lisette Boehm.
THE OLD VON DALBERG CASTLE NEAR MAINTZ.
Built for the von Dalberg family in. 1550, as a memorial to his wife, born a von Flersheim, by Baron (Knight) von Dalberg. Copied from a painting of the castle in the collection of Rhine Castles in thfe Coblence Museum.
(Courtesy of the Curator of Coblence Museum, 1919.)
Anna Maria von Dalberg, a sister of Count von Dalberg, a direct descendant of the builder of the castle. Anna Maria von Dalberg married Francis Joseph Boehm I, and took possession of the castle after a son of
Count von Dalberg was drowned in the moat that surrounded the castle _
the castle and land still being retained by the Count’s heirs — after the family had1 moved away.
Mrs. Francis P. Boehm I, ned Elisabeth D’Aunoy of Metz, Lorraine, France. (From miniature signed R. M., patern-
T Ira ud^0ther of Mrs< W* E- Seebold ne<$ Lisette Boehm. In Seebold collection.)
Anna Maria Boehm, daughter of Anna Maria von Dalberg and Francis Joseph Boehm I. Maternal grandmother of Mrs. W. E. Seebold, ned Lisette Boehm. (From miniature in the Seebold family.)
THE BOEHM FAMILY
197
land was held by the von Dahlberg family, whose castle had been partially destroyed by the troops of Louis XIV.
Francois Pierre Boehm I, eldest son of Burgomeister August Belasyse Boehm and Magdalina Kirkland D’Almont, was born in the City of Metz in Lorraine (at that time French) . He attended the French Military Academy of that place, and after having graduated joined the French Army and attained the rank of a Colonel. He married Elisabeth D’Aunoy, a member of the ancient and wealthy D’Aunoy family of Metz, with large land hold- nigs in the city of Nancy where other branches of the family resided. The children of Elisabeth D’Aunoy and Francois Pierre Boehm 1st, were Francois Pierre Boehm II, Elisabeth Boehm, who became a nun and another sister Margurite Boehm, who died unmarried.
Francois Pierre Boehm II was educated at the University of Jena, that date one of the finest universities in the world to include a strict military training. The Boehm family were closely related to the noted sculptor who became the protege of Queen Victoria, having been knighted by her Majesty.
On the inside of the cover of a little autograph album belonging to Francis Pierre Boehm II, and in which are the names of many of his classmates while at the University of Jena, he wrote in a fine copper-plate hand writing his name over a century ago. Many of these fellow students became distinguished later in life. His father had been an army officer, and as was customary the sons of army officers each wrote a few lines. After graduating he entered the French Army. As only men with independent fortunes could become officers in peace time, his mother, being a wealthy widow, settled on him the required amount to enable him to be independent. Shortly afterwards he married his second cousin, whose mother was Anna Maria Boehm of Dahlberg Castle, a noted beauty of her day, a member of one of the oldest and most prominent families of the Counts in the Hessendarmstadt area, their castle having been one of the seven leading ones in Hessendarmstadt.
A RELIC DATING FROM 1550 .
Deeply imbedded in a heavy wall on the site of the old von Dahlberg Castle in Hessen-Darmstadt still can be seen the ancient tablet that was placed, when this memorial castle was built in
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
1550, for the Knight Wolf von Dahlberg. Deeply carved in the heavy stone is the following:
Als man zahet 1500 Jahr Und 50 darzu das nimm war Das Fundament andiesm Haus Gelect ward Gebauetaus Durch Georgen Kemmer Guaud von Dalberg Ritterlick Bekannt Sein Gemalil von Flersheim, he survived . Geboren Hat er ilium Auser koren Darum ist diese Schrift erbracht Suf dass desselum werd gedacht Renoret divich den edlin und besten.
Wolf von Dalberg MDLXXX.
TRANSLATION .
As one counts 1500 years and 50 added to it, was the foundation of this House laid .
Built during the reign of the Georges — by von Dahlberg, known as knight.
His Spouse, bom Von Flersheim, he survived.
Therefore is this writing created, that this will be re- membered. Recorded in honor of the best and noblest.
Wolf von Dalberg. MDLXXX.
An illustration of this ancient castle of the von Dahlberg family hangs on the walls of the Historical Museum of Coblentz, Germany, along with other old castles of the Rhine Country.
The area in which was this once settlement of nobles has suffered much from constant warfare, and at present contains only the relics of its once proud castles, most of them stone memorial tablets carved deep in relief, giving family date with large coats- of-arms surmounted by family crests at each comer of the large stone tablets, that of the von Dahlberg’ s being one in the best state of preservation. Great arcaded Gothic chapel-like basements with walls four and five feet of stone in thickness remain partly buried in the earth to show where once these old castles stood.
The high taxes, the continual destruction of their property, and the many raids on their wine cellars by the soldiers stationed about Metz, the continuous wars in which France was involved, brought the Boehm family to the conclusion that while they still had means it was wiser to seek a place that offered a relief from these conditions and America seemed that refuge.
THE BOEHM FAMILY
199
Upon the death of his wife’s parents, Francois Pierre Boehm II with his wife and their two children, after a long journey, came to America. They settled in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, where other branches of the family had already gone. When the furniture, etc., that they were bringing to America with them had been prepared for shipment, according to old notes written by Francois Pierre Boehm II of Metz, it came by way of the Moselle River to Coblenz into the Rhine River, stopping in Cologne which was the last stop before reaching Zeeland enroute to America.
The furniture reached New Orleans in the Spring of 1841, accompanied by a brother of Mrs. Francois Pierre Boehm II, who remained with the family until they were settled in the City of St. Louis. This brother then visited the family of his brother living in New York State where they had settled, their children later marrying into the families of Maurer, Melsner, Roesch, Hebert and others. He later returned to his home in Europe to manage his vineyards.
When Mr. and Mrs. Francois Pierre Boehm arrived in New Orleans they stayed at the Old Planters Hotel, which stood on Chartres Street. On board the steamboat bound for St. Louis the family met Mr. Antoine Bienvenue and his son who was going to attend the University of St. Louis. Mr. Bienvenue persuaded Mr. Boehm to enroll his son also in the University of St. Louis, telling him that many prominent Louisiana planters sent their sons to this University. At the University of St. Louis young Boehm formed many close friendships which lasted during his lifetime. Among his friends were young Bienvenue, von Phul, Numa Landry, who became president of the Peoples Bank of New Orleans, his brother Ernest Landry of the same bank, Alfred Webre also of this city, besides a large number of young men that later became prominent citizens of the state. Francis Joseph Boehm from the first proved to be a leader in his classes, as the old university records show. Yearly he brought home the class medal, and he became a Greek and Latin scholar, as well as an apt linguist, speaking French, Spanish and German fluently. The class medals were in the shape of a shield about 3x3 inches made of heavy silver.
When the Boehm family reached St. Louis, the young city gave evidences at every turn of being a rapidly growing place.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The lack of homes and business places indicated that real estate would be a good investment. So. Mr. Boehm erected a number of stores, and several residences on the land that he had purchased shortly after his arrival in St. Louis. Later he bought a residence from a Mr. Girot — a two-storied brick structure which Mr. Boehm reserved for his own home. It was a house well constructed, containing a number of spacious rooms, and he purchased this large home because he expected his mother and sister to come to America and live with his family.
Shortly after purchasing this home, for most part furnished with the furniture brought from Europe, he met John Fremont, the explorer. He was captivated by the glowing stories of the West told by this interesting man, and decided to make a trip across the continent with him. Mrs. Boehm objected telling Mr. Boehm that he had promised his mother he was going to return to Europe for her once he was settled in St. Louis. Fremont came again and again, and so enthusiastic did Mr. Boehm become, that he financed a large part of the Fremont trip to California, furnishing equipment, horses and mules, and part of the provisions. Boehm wrote to his mother and instructed her about the disposal of her holdings in Metz, telling her that he would return for her and his sister after his return from California. With his family well provided for, a good income from rentals from his property, and a good home in the central part of the town, he felt safe in leaving.
In the wide hallway of this house was a large grandfather’s clock in which the children would crouch when playing hide and seek, so as not to touch the pendulum. On entering the house my grandfather would put on a shelf in the clock, his chamois gloves, placing his cane in a corner of the case.
Those were hectic days in St. Louis for there were many French refugees continually getting themselves in trouble for airing their plans to help France, then in an upheaval. St. Louis was intensely French in certain sections, and as Mr. Boehm had been an officer in the French Army, his home became a rendezvous for these refugees. On one occasion one of the leading citizens of St. Louis, a Frenchman who had killed in temper his opponent, was brought by a number of the French coterie to Mr. Boehm’s home where he remained until it was safe for him to leave the country. Each night after supper in the large dining-
memoryalotTh(>sewiIeeCted °V6r “ain d00rway to castle> at tlme built by Count (Knight) Wolf von Dahlberg in
THE BOEHM FAMILY
201
room in the rear of the hall would gather many from the French Colony to discuss the affairs of the day. Here, too, came Fremont night after night while planning his cross-country trip.
Mr. Boehm finally announced that he would accompany Fremont. Mrs. Boehm from what she had learned of some of the explorer's previous overland trips and hardships and of what she had heard was happening to the pioneers who were moving westward over a practically unknown wilderness filled with wild beasts and savages, realized that a spoiled son of a rich mother, a man who had had his every wish gratified, one who never left the house unless he was perfctly groomed and equipped with impeccable gloves and linen and his gold headed cane, was not the man to “rough it” on such a trip. She told him, “Certainly you would look fine with chamois gloves and gold headed cane going over the mountains !” She finally consented to let him go to California if he went by the way of Panama. It was a far shorter and less dangerous route. It was agreed that my grandfather would meet the explorer near Oroville, California, Fremont taking in Mr. Boehm's place a man by the name of Banton besides his crew.
.Mr. Boehm, his business affairs in order, started for New Orleans by boat and while there visited his friend, Bienvenue, (who we know from letters written to the Boehm family in St. Louis failed to dissuade Mr. Boehm from continuing on such a hazardous journey). Reaching Panama, letters came telling that the trip was being made by pack mule. Other letters came telling that the overland trip was being made, and California eventually reached. Boehm waited for some time in Oroville for Fremont, and finally decided to invest some of his money in a warehouse which he filled with mining supplies, as there were thousands of miners all of whom seemed anxious to buy supplies. He employed several men that had been recommended highly and were anxious for positions as salesmen of miners' supplies. His choice appears to have been wise, for in writing home he told of his new business and the clerks, how all was going, how he was doubling his money, stating as yet that he had not heard from Fremont, (who from later reports had been meeting with one disaster after another). Boehm wrote that he had grown tired of waiting for the exporer, and was building a large home in Oroville, giving a description of it, telling the family how much easier it was to make a fortune in Oroville than in St. Louis. The house
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
was a large one in the center of a square of ground with an or- chard. Surrounded by beautiful trees it still stands in the City of Oroville in what, is now the main part of that California city. When finished Mr. Boehm wrote his family he would come for them shortly.
Not long after getting this letter from Oroville, an epidemic of cholera swept the City of St. Louis, thousands dying weekly. So terrible was this epidemic that daily a crier went about the city calling from the street, “Put out your dead so the city carts can pick them up.” The bodies were burnt, as that was the measure the health authorities were using to check the spread of the epidemic. So many of Mrs. Boehm’s friends and acquaintances died that she was almost frantic. She drove to the Flori- sant Convent and took her daughter, Lisette, (who later became Mrs. W. E. Seebold) home. Lisette was educated at this convent, having entered when the convent had just been completed, being registered there as its fourth pupil. Her son, about to graduate from the St. Louis University was given his complimentary degree, as the University was closing owing to the epidemic. Hastily disposing of her property, the family were about to leave for New York when Mr. Antoine Bien venue, who had come to St. Louis to get his son from the University, persuaded them to come to New Orleans. They came by the next steamer, the only route at that date.
Reaching New Orleans, Mr. Bienvenue located an etage, or apartment as the floors of the large three-storied buildings were called, in the vicinity of his own home in Royal Street at No. 188. It was in the block of old residences now occupied by the new white marble court-house. On the ground floor were located the law offices of Judge Spofford and Mr. Charles Conrad, for the French Quarter at that date was still a very fashionable residential place. Before leaving St. Louis, the health authorities told the family that they would not be permitted to take any clothing with them but the garments they were wearing and their night robes, and that all of their furniture would have to undergo a washing with lime to “kill the poison”, as they classed it at that date. The house furnishings were all treated to this lime-wash before being sent to New Orleans and much of it nearly ruined by this treatment. No bedding or linen, or clothing was allowed to be sent to New Orleans. China, glassware, paintings, guns, swords and the
THE BOEHM FAMILY
203
collection of fire arms belonging to Mr. Boehm, Sr., were all given the treatment before forwarding. Much of the carved rosewood and mahogany was nearly ruined.
Owing to the haste in which the Boehm family left St. Louis, all communication with the family in Europe was apparently lost, as no address had been left with the post office department so that mail might be forwarded. Mr. Boehm’s mother and sister died in the meantime, and Sister Elisabeth moved to a convent in another part of France. Although the authorities of the City of Metz advertised for a year in the St. Louis papers, no trace of Mrs. Francis Boehm’s heirs being found, the estate was seized by the French government and retained by it, notwithstanding that both Judge Spofford and Mr. Charles Conrad later tried to get it for the Boehm family. Later the war between France and Germany settled forever the question of the family ever getting anything of Mr. Boehm’s mother’s large estate.
About the time that the Boehm family had gotten comfortably settled in the Royal Street home in New Orleans, news was brought to Mr. Francis Boehm, Jr. that his father had lost his life in a fire in the City of Oroville. From a newspaper clipping it was learned that a fire had started in a building close to the warehouse owned by Mr. Boehm at night time, and a family had been trapped in the building where the fire started. While assisting others who tried to rescue the trapped family, Mr. Boehm was overcome with heat and smoke, dying as a result. When his body was found, according to the newspaper clipping, a quantity of gold coins of large denomination were found in the money belt that he was wearing at the time of his death. Mr. Sorrenson, the cemetery sexton that buried Mr. Boehm, according to his own statement, was present when the body was found, and saw them turn over the money to the lawyer, later appointed to represent the Boehm family.
Upon receiving the news of his father’s death, Francis Boehm, Jr., communicated with the authorities in Oroville. Postal facilities for California being scant, a long time was consumed in correspondence, and Judge Spofford, who handled the case seemed to get little satisfaction. So Francis Boehm, Jr. was advised to take the trip to California to find out what had become of his father’s estate, but his mother would not consent to let him go, so the family waited to hear from the authorities to whom Judge
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Spofford had written. Finally word came back that the body had been given a Christian burial, but that Mr. Boehm had left no estate. Mrs. Boehm, Sr. and the family then realized that they had been robbed of their inheritance.
The imminence of war and the uncertain condition of the country made taking that long trip an uncertain venture. The family reconciled themselves to their loss, as with the death of Mr. Boehm, Sr. But they knew that he had always a great deal of money on hand, and had written them in detail about the home he had built for them. The war came on with all of its loss and complications. My mother married at the close of the war, and the family busy establishing itself with children to be educated and three businesses to be kept going, the Boehm and Seebold families let matters stand until 1905.
In that year my mother and myself went to California to find out what really did happen to her father’s estate. Reaching Oroville, which at that date was having a renaissance of dredging for gold, we saw large brick buildings being torn down so the ground could be dredged. We sought out the oldest resident Catholic priest who had been there many years. This priest told us of Mr. Sorrensen, who was the oldest living resident of Oroville. We found the old gentleman, some seventy-three years of age at the time, quite active for his age in full possession of his faculties, and his memory good. Mr. Sorrenson recalled the fire and stated that at that time he was the cemetery sexton. Looking up the cemetery records in order to locate the grave, he took us to where Mr. Boehm was buried. A temporary marker was placed on the spot until the headstone of white marble which we ordered could be cut.
We looked up the old newspaper files and found that there was data touching on the subject in a large number of the issues. We employed a young lady typist recommended to us who lived on Bird St., near the court house where the old files of the newspapers were kept. Miss - - - of Oroville had completed sev¬
eral folio size sheets of data when arriving the following morning to continue the work to her surprise found that quite a number of the pages following in rotation had been removed from the files. This of course prevented us completing the record and ever finding out how my grandfather’s estate was finally settled.
Undaunted we looked up the real estate title records to find
Mrs. W. E. Seebold (Lisette Boehm) at the age of 20 years. From an ante-bellum daguerreotype in the collection of her daughter, Mrs. George O. MacPherson (Stella Lisette Seebold).
Francis Joseph Boehm II, brother of Mrs. W. E. Seebold and Peter Boehm I. (From a daguerreotype taken in 1860, in Seebold family. )
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Boehm, daguerreotype taken at the time of their marriage. Peter Boehm, private, Co. I, 22nd and 23rd La. Infanltry, entered Sept. 11th, 1861,^ Camp Lewis, Confederate Army. Hoonrably discharged at the end of the war. (Record at Confederate Memorial Hall, New Orleans.)
Old home of the Peter Boehm family. 124 Chartres Street, now changed to 538 Chartres Street. Built in 1824.
Dominicque Peter Boehm, in the U. S. Navy during the World War.
Philip Johnson
THE BOEHM FAMILY
205
where Mr. Boehm had had his home. We located it in a prominent neighborhood.
We consulted a lawyer, who after looking into the case, told us that while the property was valuable (for on all sides the town was torn up in the dredging for gold) such a length of time had elapsed that to sue would cost more than we could ever hope to get out of it. The attorney stated that the early California laws were so lax in fact so elastic that a shrewd lawyer could do anything that he chose to do. I have often wondered if the sheets have been replaced in the newspaper files and if so whether they will show the outcome of the case. If not replaced, has it ever been discovered why they were removed in 1905?
Mr. Sorrenson had the white marble headstone selected by us made and put in place. The old man died after he had reached the late eighties.
Francois Joseph Boehm III came to New Orleans at the time of the cholera epidemic in St. Louis, and when the family had been comfortably located, purchased a book store at 182 Chartres St. (old number) from a gentleman who was retiring from business because of ill health. He did so on the advice of Judge Spofford who was a friend of the family. This book store was located two doors from St. Peter St., then one of the most aristocratic sections of French New Orleans, for the Pontalba Buildings housed many of the most exclusive families in the city. The lower floors of most of the buildings housed innumerable specialty shops as one finds in Paris.
Mr. Boehm replenished his stock, specializing in law, medical, and architectural books; all then in great demand. He also kept a large selection of choice literature, rare editions, fine prints and works of art, for plantation families coming to the city bought supplies for the plantation schools as well as sets of books. At once his establishment became a center where gathered the professional talent of the French section for nearby were the courts, cathedral and many other important buildings. A Greek and Latin scholar as well as a great reader, he became a favorite with the doctors and lawyers, who came to his store.
There, Judge Spofford, Mr. Frank von Phul, Mr. Webre, Mr. Charles Conrad, Mr. Bienvenue and other legal lights made it a practice to stop and read for an hour or so, in the comfortable library that Mr. Boehm had fitted up in the rear of his store.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
The Boehm family at that date consisted of Mr. Francois Boehm’s mother, his sister Lisette (who became Mrs. W. E. See- bold), a younger brother named Peter, and himself. Francois Joseph Boehm married Miss Isabella Adrian, and became the parents of a daughter named Isabella who died unmarried.
Lisette Boehm married W. E. Seebold and became the parents of eight children. Peter Boehm married Miss Harriet Pier, whose mother was a Miss Christine Collot, a member of the plantation family of that name located in St. Martin Parish, La. Miss Christine Collot and the father of Mrs. Numa Landry whose husband was the President of the Peoples Bank of New Orleans, La., were brother and sister. Miss Christine Collot married Andrew Pier whose ancestors lived in Lorraine, France, and who became planters in the vicinity of St. Martinsville, La. when they were married.
After his marriage Peter Boehm and his wife lived in what is now the French Quarter, later buying the then handsome threestoried brick structure which had originally been built for Louis Joseph Dufilho, as a residence and Pharmacy shortly after 1823, old number 124, new number 538 Chartres Street. For many years, through a mistake of Henry C. Castallanos, in his “New Orleans as it Was” it was always referred to as the “NAPOLEON HOUSE”. It was stated in his book that this house had been built for Napoleon Bonaparte by the Emperor’s admirers who planned to rescue him from the Island of St. Helena and bring him to America.
The Boehm family lived in this home many years, and reared a large family within its ancient walls. The home remained in the family during the lifetime of both Mr. and Mrs. Boehm, and was sold by the family shortly after Mrs. Boehm’s death, as most of the children had married and were living in their own homes. Owing to the fact that it was supposed to have been built for the “Little Corporal” the house was visited by many distinguished personages, as well as others interested. Since deserted by the Boehm family it has served many uses, and struck by a storm a few years ago it has gradually become a ruin, now being but a shell. The great brick facade has been partially restored preserving its handsome architectural lines, but nothing else has been done further about repairs. Its neighbor at the comer of St. Louis Street, since Stanley Arthur cleared up the question about
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the Boehm house being built for Napoleon, is now advertised as the “OLD NAPOLEON HOUSE”. The old friends of Mr. Boehm's brother Frank who had been at the St. Louis University with him often took visitors to the place, so did Judge Charles Gayarre who was a close friend of the family, his grandfather's home in olden days being close by.
Peter Boehm, second son of Francois Peter Boehm II was born in the city of St. Louis, and later educated in New Orleans. Under age at the outbreak of the War Between the States he served in the Home Guard of the City of New Orleans. After he had purchased the home at 124 Chartres Street, he opened a stationery store, also carrying newspaper publishing supplies, and the paper on which the newspapers were printed. He also maintained a store across the street from his residence where he carried sporting goods, billiard tables, etc. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Boehm I are : Julia Boehm, who became Mrs. Marvo, no children; Theresa Boehm, who married Dominicque Barbe who before his death many years ago was secretary of the Irish American Club. Amelia Boehm, who married John J. Burke, long associated with the Southern Pacific Railroad before his retirement. Their children are as follows : Mary Henrietta Burke, a teacher in the New Orleans Public Schools; Joseph Edgar Boehm Burke (named for the famous sculptor relative Edgar Boehm) a merchant; Amelia Mary Burke, who married Cyril Prattin; Edward Boehm, who married Emily Mathews.
Peter Boehm, Jr., who married Hortonce Swertz, their children are as follows: Dominicque Peter Boehm, an adjuster for Emery Kaufman Ins. Co. of New Orleans; Henrietta, who married Albert Sidney Johnson, their children are as follows: Peter Boehm Johnson; Philip B. Johnson, a medical student at Tulane University; Julia Boehm; Josephine. Josephine Boehm married Emile Swertz, their son Joseph is a professor at the Warren Easton High School of New Orleans, La. Of Peter Boehm II's children are Louis Boehm, Isabella Boehm, William Boehm, and John Boehm, all dead. From the marriage of Louis Boehm and Leonora Bernard are two boys, Edward Boehm and Andrew Boehm.
Chapter XXVI.
THE SEEBOLD — deBACHELLfi — de VILBISS de BEAULIEU — de MARCONNAY KONZELMAN FAMILIES
SEEBOLD
(SEEBOLD von dem BRINK)
Of Huguenot ancestry, the motto of the Seebold, Siebold or Seeboldt von dem Brink Family is
“FIDEM QUINPER DIT QUO IN RELIGIUM”
The crest shows a gorgiere and ducal helmet full face Pierced a coupt rampant argent griffin displaying crossed arrows — a baron’s crown surmounting all. The mantle, gules et argent, enveloping the arms of the Seebold and von dem Brink, quartered alternately Argent griffin, displaying crossed arrows, on a field or gules et argent alternate cheverons, indicates crusade origin of high rank.
The motto of the Seebold family is a fitting one for a family that for many generations became ministers of the church, and married into families the heads of which were church dignitaries. A name listed high in the records of the ancient patrician families of Hanover and Prussia, some members of which were united in marriage with the Warvel family close to the Polish throne. Such is the family from which Frederick William Emile Seebold, founder of the New Orleans branch of the Seebold family, stems.
The youngest son, Charles August Herman, born in Stock- heim, March 6th, 1843, died unmarried on April 26th, 1912, in
John Charles Fremont, Explorer. (From a miniature in the Seebold family. )
The annual Firemen’s Parade, 1872, from the painting by Paul Poincy, picturing the gathering at the Henry Clay Statue which formerly stood at St. Charles and Canal Streets. Many of the elite are among the firemen in the painting.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Seebold von dem Brink family. The Seebold quartered with the von dem Brink family.
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the City of Hanover, where he is buried with other members of the family.
An older sister, after the death of her father, became a deaconess in the Lutheran Church. Another sister married Charles de Beaulieu — Marconnay, son of General Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay. The old feudal castle of the de Beaulieu de Marconnay family is still standing in the midst of its estate near the City of Pothiers, France. Another sister married an important church dignitary in the Lutheran Church, their son becoming a minister, their son’s son also becoming a minister, a daughter marrying a minister and her son at present studying for the ministry.
Frederick William Emile Seebold, better remembered in New Orleans where he was a prominent figure in art circles as W. E. Seebold, was born in the City of Lachem on Sept. 15, 1833. He was educated at the University of Goettingen, where an uncle, Francis Joseph Pauli, the celebrated surgeon and world famous anatomist, held the chair of anatomy while Professor Langenbeck was dean. W. E. Seebold was educated for the ministry, but was not enthusiastic for the cloth, and completing his education came to America in 1852.
Seebold’s boyhood home was located on the outskirts of the City of Hanover. The house was a large one with extensive gardens enclosed in a great park. A large plantation-like farm was attached to the estate, which was worked by German peasants whose homes were scattered about the large grounds. The lands were rented out much as the plantations of the South are today. This estate was located midway between the royal castle of Hanover (Hanover at that time being a Kingdom) and the forest land where the King of Hanover had a shooting lodge where in his earlier years he used to hunt.
Reverend Herman Seebold, who was head of the Lutheran Church of Hanover, was once asked by the King to reserve a rest room in the parsonage, that he might rest between walking to and from the shooting lodge to the castle. His physician had prescribed the lengthy walks to reduce the Kings’ weight and avoid diabetes, with which his majesty was threatened. Of course Reverend Seebold was honored and delighted to oblige his King and render him this service. As related by members of the family, the King, who did not wish to be annoyed, was always
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simply garbed, wearing a broad somewhat slouched hat and large black glasses. He was accompanied by some one equally simply dressed from the castle. A small salon was reserved for the royal visitor, so that his privacy would be not intruded on during his resting period, which he usually took on his return walk to the castle according to memoirs of Deaconess Louisa Seebold.
This little parlor where the King rested was always immaculate and fresh flowers were daily arranged on a table by the lounge. A large engraving of His Majesty hung above the mantel, and another engraving portraying the royal family hung on the wall by the lounge. This lounge was a large one of Empire design of maple wood inlaid with ebony stripes, but devoid of brass mounts. On this divan the royal visitor often rested an hour at a time before returning to the castle, and at no time was any question asked any member of the family or those attached to the household about their regular visitor.
During the period that the king was taking the walking exercise prescribed by his physician, an incident occurred that greatly embarrassed the wife of Rev. Seebold and almost caused her to collapse from mortification. Some one had stolen a set of military drawings containing fortification secrets of the German Army Office Headquarters. A general check up was being made of the surrounding country where it was reported the thieves were in hiding. Those in charge of the case, who did not recognize the King, suspected that it was his Highness and his companion. It had been noticed that two gentlemen regularly entered a carriage a short distance from the Castle of Hanover, and when they dismounted from the carriage a short distance away, were seen to be wearing dark glasses and slouched black hats. It was the King and his companion who had assumed this disguise so that they would not be annoyed by the populace who were always anxious to see their King. Furthermore no one who was questioned as to who these two persons might be, could or would give any information.
So the two disguised gentlemen were followed and were found to visit a small lodge in the forest where they remained a short while, and noting that they were being followed, came out of the lodge, closed the door and walked back towards the parsonage some distance away. Seeing no traces of those who were
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following them, the King and his companion, without knocking entered by a small side door which opened from the garden.
When the intelligence officers who had followed the King and his companion without knowing who they were questioned the maid who answered the door, and were told that no one in the house but the minister and his wife knew who the two gentlemen were, it only increased their suspicions. The two officers demanded to see either the minister or his wife at once. Reverend Seebold, being out at the time, Madame Seebold came into the side hall and inquired of them what it was they wished to know. When she was questioned by them as to who these two men were she said that she was pledged not to reveal their identity. She immediately was told that if she did not turn them over to the police at once, the entire household with them would be imprisoned. All this time the King and his companion were unaware of what was happening. Suddenly one of the men forced his way into the room where the King was resting, and seeing his Majesty without his slouched hat and dark glasses, and his portrait on the wall above the lounge on which he was reclining, he immediately recognized the King and realized that they had made a great mistake. They were profuse in the apologies to all concerned. However, the King took it good naturedly saying, that the men had only done their duty, for how were they to know it was the King of Hanover that was wearing the disguise?
In the days that Hanover was still a Kingdom, it was customary in large German households for some of their daughters to live with prominent German families, in order that they might become efficient housekeepers and learn to be self-dependent. Daughters in the higher circles, at that day classed as the lesser nobility, as well as the haute-bourgeoise, followed this custom, for the daughters of the higher nobles became attached to royal houses.
According to Rev. Herman Seebold’s daughter, there was always a list of young ladies awaiting the opportunity to be apprenticed to this home of Rev. Seebold. At no time were they looked upon as servants or treated as such, but thought of as today we look upon a student of domestic science. If any of the neighbors ever knew that it was their King who came incognito to the Seebold home, they never by word or sign indicated it. It may have been because of the many entertainments during the year that so
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many young ladies made application for training here for the opportunity of meeting distinguished people.
The home of Reverend Seebold was a large one, and his po- lstion m the community was such that much entertaining was done. This took the form of garden parties, fetes champetre, etc., at which times the garden grounds and lawns were decorated with many attractive booths at which important members of the community presided over the tables of beverages and booths of trinkets usually found at such affairs. Chinese lanterns hung from festoons of greenery, illuminating the grounds. The object of these affairs was usually charity for some church, school, hospital or orphan asylum. Religious tableaux were at times pre- sented. During the time that Hanover was still a Kingdom, these affairs were under the patronage of the Royal Family, whose presence always assured a gathering of the aristocracy of Hanover and surrounding country. The bazaars, sponsored by these patricians, always proved a great success. Although the estate belonged to the Seebold family, and was not church property, the church being near by, many of the plants and shrubs came from the castle gardens, for the Crown was anxious to have the grounds at all times as attractive as possible for these festal occasions.
The furnishings of the Seebold home were conservative, the furniture of the main rooms being of choice pieces of fruit wood and maple inlaid with ebony devoid of gilt mounts. Much of the furniture is still in the homes of descendants of the family. There was a handsome silver service of many pieces including three sizes of silver plates, a number of large platters, three large vegetable dishes with containers below for hot water, a tea set, a coffee set, fruit epergnes, and many other pieces. This handsome solid silver table service was a gift of the City of Goettingen to the father of Reverend Seebold when he was Burgomaster of that city. All of the silver is still in the family, having been divided between the different members.
Burgomaster John Fredrick William Seebold;
John William Seebold. who became a banker in Goet-
Portrait painted while he was tingen.
Burgomaster of Goettingen, be¬
fore he became a minister.
Originals of both paintings in home of Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay — Villa Vellure, near Lucerne Suisse.
Countess Johanne Henriette de Bachelld, born in Brauchhausen castle in the year 1752, (great grandmother of W. E. Seebold). Became Lady in Waiting to her Royal Highness of Hanover.
Sophie Louisa Julia Seebold, oldest daughter of Rev. John William Herman Seebold, who became a Deaconess in the Lutheran Church. Authoress of Seebold family record.
Sophie Henrietta deBachelld Munchmeyer, wife of Rev, Seebold. (Reproduced from a painting in the Seebold t
Rev. Superintendent John William Herman Seebold, born Jan. 14th, 1801, died Feb. 22, 1887.
MRS. W. E. SEEBOLD
At the age of 80 years. (Portrait by Andres Molinary.)
W. E. SEEBOLD
Art Collector and Conoisseur.. (Portrait by A. Molinary.)
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213
After Rev. Herman Seebold became head of the Lutheran Church of Hanover, twice yearly he entertained the chief Lutheran ministers of the Kingdom and their wives at a banquet, at which time old friendships were renewed just as today conventions bring groups together. Christmas Day was always a big day for all families, but three days after Christmas in the home of Rev. Seebold was the big day for that family. On that day the Royal Couple dined at their home and with them those persons of the City that the Crown had honored during the year. On these occasions the younger members of the family were not present, their seats at table being taken by those the King chose to honor. The reason for this honor being paid Rev. Seebold was that the Court of Hanover was so rigid that it would have caused embarrassing situations had honored guests among the civilians been seated in a way other than that which their rank demanded at a table as guests of the Crown. But as Reverend Seebold’s guests all were at their ease, court etiquette was not violated.
Reverend Herman Seebold was a musician of ability, and treasured an ancient spinet with double key board which had always been kept in good repair. One of his greatest pleasures was to spend part of his leisure time playing airs from Mozart, he having penciled many sheets with copied selections from the compositions of Mozart, Handel and others whose music was written for the quill-plucked instrument. Often a friend accompanied him on a flute or cello. Several times a year musicales at which times chamber music was played were given. These were regularly attended by the Duke of Cumberland while he was in Hanover.
Rev. Herman Seebold at his death left a scholarship open to any one wishing to study for the ministry at the University of Goettingen. This Seebold stipendium was still in existence in 1914.
For generations members of the family of Seebold (vondem Brink) have been clergymen of high standing in their communities. In a family whose eldest sons for generations have been clergymen, there is little use for armorial bearing, and the “vondem” has gradually been eliminated when writing the name. But this does not mean that they lost their pride of family according to the grand-daughter of Rev. Superintendent Seebold, Clara Bremer de Beaulieu de Marconnay, who lived in her grandfather’s
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home while attending school in the City of Hanover. At no time was she permitted to visit school-mates unless those homes ap peared on the list that had been made by the head of the institution and submitted to her grandfather. School circles were strongly select in Europe of that date, and her aunt, the wife of Rev. Gustave von Meyer, was most careful to select for her companions girls of patrician families, telling her that she was too little to know and understand these things. In Germany of that date class distinctions were quite marked, and in the smaller towns where the family sojourned in the summer time, this class distinction was even stricter.
According to the notes on the record of the SEEBOLD family furnished by Deaconess Louisa Seebold, eldest sister of W. E. Seebold, “The mother of Christopher Seebold was Octavie Civelle, daughter of a Huguenotte family of a border town of Lorraine, who married Pastor Seebold, father of the Seebold of which the given name appears on the family record.”
SEEBOLD , (von dem BRINK.)
Christopher Seebold of Waldeck, a minister of patrician birth and Huguenot ancestry married Anna Margaret von der Knabenbeck, a member of the old nobility of Hanover, whose family record is chronicled by the Hof Calender of Gotha. Rev. Seebold was a minister and professor of Theology of the University of Goettingen, and later in the University of Hanover. Their son John Frederic Seebold, born May 28th, 1731, married April 20th, 1751, Kathryn Marie Kamm, born March 17th, 1728 and died Nov. 26th, 1810. John Frederic followed in his father’s footsteps, graduated from the University of Goettingen studied for the ministry, became a pastor in the Lutheran church, their children were as follows: John William Seebold, born Jan. 10th, 1753; John Frederic Seebold, born Dec. 24th, 1755; Katherine Wilimine Seebold, born Aug. 17th, 1758; John Conrad Seebold, born Sept. 6th, 1761, died July 15th, 1787; Johanne Katherine Seebold, born July 20th, 1764.
John William Seebold, born Jan. 10th, 1753, was educated for the ministry, but inheriting a large interest in a military-uniform factory in Hamburg, delayed becoming a minister until he could dispose of his factory satisfactorily. He was chosen the Burgomaster of the city of Goettingen for a number of years, finally be-
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coming a minister later in life, holding a pastorate in that city until his death on April 16th, 1850. On June 5th, 1781 he married Caroline Dorothea Frederica Scharf, daughter of Christopher Scharf, a prominent citizen of Goettingen. While he was Burgomaster of that city he was presented with a solid silver table service. Their children were seven in number as follows: (1) Willemine Dorothy Elisabeth Seebold, born June 12th, 1784; (2) George Christian Frederic Seebold, born Nov. 22nd, 1786; (3) John Frederic William Seebold, born Nov. 16th, 1789; (4) Har- duika Elizabeth Margaret Seebold, born Jan 5th, 1794; (5) Dorothea Katherine Margaret Seebold, born June 13th, 1797; (6) John William Herman Seebold, born Jan. 14th, 1801; (7) Frances
Elisabeth Seebold, born Jan. 2nd, 1805. George Christian Frederic Seebold, born Nov. 22nd, 1786, went into Russia in the War of 1812 with the rank of Sergeant-Major — he died at the age of 26, in March 1815, and was buried in Goettingen. John Frederic William Seebold, born in Goettingen April 16th, 1789, became a leading banker of Goettingen, married Julia Kuhhnan, daughter of Sergeant Henry Kuhlman, of the 3rd Landwehr Battalion, and Wilhemine Koch of Harburg. Children: Sophie Regine Seebold, born May 25th, 1814.
Reverend John William Herman Seebold, born Jan. 14, 1801, in Waldeck, was a son of Burgomeister of Goettingen, John William Seebold, who later became a Lutheran pastor and Elizabeth Scharf. In 1863 was decorated by the King of Hanover at which time he was knighted, and on the 18th of July 1865 was decorated by King George V with the Guelp Order of Hanover, and on the 26th of May 1875 celebrated his golden jubilee as pastor of the Lutheran church, having become head of the Lutheran church of Hanover. The loving cup presented to him on this occasion is now in possession of his grand-daughter, Mrs. George McPherson (Stella Lisette Seebold).
Rev. J. W. Herman Seebold died in his eighty-sixth year, Feb. 22, 1887. He was a graduate of the University of Goettingen. In 1829 being ordained a minister in the New State Church of Hanover. On the 8th of October 1830, he married Sophie Henrietta de Bachelle Munchmeyer, daughter of Reverend Superintendent August Conrad Munchmeyer and Louise Charlotte de Bachelle Volkenhauer. Louise Charlotte de Bachelle Volken- hauer being the daughter of Countess Johanne Henriette de
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Bachelle, born in 1752, daughter of Gideon Davis de Bachelle and Eleonore Amalie Charlotte von Oeffener, daughter of Christian Frederic von Oeffener, First Lieutenant stationed at Hattorf.
SEEBOLD American Branch
Frederic William Emile Seebold, better known as W. E. Seebold, oldest son of Rev. John William Herman Seebold was born Sept. 15, 1833. Having graduated with honor, he came to America in 1856, taking the tour as a part of finishing his education as was customary at that date. Travelling through a number of states in a leisurely manner, he visited his sister Antonia, who had married Charles Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay, at that time living in Philadelphia, Pa., a noted fresco artist who has left much of his work in the principle churches of that city. W. E. Seebold finally reached New Orleans in 1861. Being of an artistic temperament it was not long before he made the acquaintance of Francis J. Boehm, who had a book and art establishment at 182 Chartres Street. Shortly afterwards he visited Mr. Boehm’s home where he met his mother, his brother Peter Boehm, and his sister Lisette. Later an attachment sprang up between Lisette and young Seebold and they became engaged to be married.
The war fever was raging at this time, and W. E. Seebold having met Judge Spofford and Mr. Charles Conrad, was introduced by them to a number of the members of General Scott’s First Louisiana Cavalry. Being a fine horseman and noting that many of his newly made friends were enlisting, he joined that company. He was among the first to enlist from this city, and took part in various engagements. He was seriously wounded when his horse was killed under him. He was taken prisoner and kept on Johnson Island for nine months, not being permitted to receive any mail, deprived of his money and made to suffer the indignities that those imprisoned there were made to endure. He later became a close friend of Generals P. T. G. Beauregard, de Trobriant, Francis T. Nichols, President Jefferson Davis, and other famous men who wore the Confederate uniform. Being an able linguist he became a valuable member of his command where he frequently acted as interpreter. At the cessation of hostilities, he was paroled and honorably discharged. Returning to New
Restored Reception Salon from the Royal Chateau de Bercy, favorite retreat for French Royalty. Boiserie rebuilt in the New Orleans home of Dr. and Mrs. H. de B. Seebold.
Front view of the drawing-room in the home of Dr. and Mrs. H. de B. Seebold
Old home of the William Henry Kinney family, Wichita, Kansas.
SEEBOLD FAMILY
217
Orleans, he married Miss Lisette Boehm, who had not heard from him for many months while he was imprisoned, but had not given up hope of his return. A large number of his Confederate friends attended his wedding.
For a short while he was an assistant to General Beauregard, who was doing survey work in the state. A little later he opened an art store with books and engineering supplies on the site where the Loew’s Theatre on Canal Street now stands. The Boehm family had built a house directly opposite the new St. Joseph Church on Tulane Avenue, at that date Common Street, where there were a number of newly erected homes, and the short-lived promise of becoming a new residential neighborhood.
After the fall of the City when the Federal authorities were searching the homes for weapons, Mrs. Boehm became frightened because Mrs. Seebold’s father, having been a collector of fire arms, had swords, guns, pistols, and other articles of this kind buried deep in the back yard. It is doubtful if any of them ever have been removed, although many were of great value. The fact that he came from a military family made him a connoisseur of weapons, the nucleus of the collection having been received from his father.
After a long life in the community in which he had helped to develop art seriously, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, W. E. Seebold (Frederic Emile Seebold) died on June 25, 1921. He outlived most of the old crowd of co-workers in the art movement in this city, but a newer and younger crowd continue the good work done by their predecessors, filling the French Quarter with their studios, establishing that section as an art center recognized throughout the country. He died in New Orleans and was buried with honors due an American citizen and a Confederate Soldier who had served loyally throughout the war. A resident of the city of his adoption, he took an active intrest in civic affairs and was always ready to assist any movement for the City’s and State’s benefit when sponsored by the proper element. During his lifetime he was a loyal friend to his less fortunate Confederate companions and was always ready to assist them. His funeral was attended by members of the Army of Tennessee of which he was a member, along with other prominent Confederates, and representative citizens, among them the artist colony of which during so many years he had been so prominent a part. All came
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to pay a last tribute to their old friend who lay in a Confederate Flag-draped casket, where with military honors accompanied by a long line of old comrades and Confederate Guard of Honor his body was laid away, while his lifelong friend, Rev. Mathew Brewster, read the funeral service ending with “Going Home”. Taps were sounded as his coffin was placed in the family tomb.
The MEMORIAM from the Association of the Army of Tennessee of which he was a member reads :
New Orleans , La., July 12th, 1921.
The taps have sounded for another of our Comrades, William Emile Seebold, who died June 25 th, 1921. Comrade Seebold was born in Lachem, Kingdom of Hanover, Sept . 15 th, 1833, entered the service of the Confederacy Oct . 15 th, 1861, joining Co . I, 1st Regiment, 1st Louisiana Cavalry, Col. Jno. S. Scott . Served in all the engagements that this Command was engaged in, until captured in 1863 in Kentucy, confined as a prisoner of War at Johnson’s Island and Point Lookout, Md.; exchanged May 11th, 1864. then rejoined his command; served till the end of the war, and was paroled May 20 th, 1865 at Demopolis, Ala.; elected a member of our Association Sept. 12 th, 1882.
This is the brief Military record of a volunteer of the Southern Army, a graduate of the famous University of Gottingen, who emigrated to this country, and after visiting the principal cities of the North finally attracted by the Citizens of this State, where at that time Chivalry prevailed, adopted Louisiana as his chosen state, and when the Call to Arms was made to protect her rights. Gallantry joined the ranks, giving all his ability and energies to the Cause, serving faithfully throughout the war.
After the war was over, comrade Seebold returned to this City, opened an art business and became the dean of art dealers, and a Charter member of the Art Association, and was an authority in questions of the arts. Of a retiring, modest disposition, he never sought the limelight of publicity, but was a genial and courteous gentleman to all who. approached him.
He married and is survived by his wife, two daughters and three sons to whom this unblemished record of a gal-
SEEBOLD FAMILY
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lant soldier of the Southern Army is bequeathed , something that they can point to with pride and glory in the knowU edge, that he was their ancestor .
Wherefore be it resolved, That in the demise of our late Comrade William Emile Seebold, our Association has met with an irreparable loss, the State a true and faithful Citizen, his family, a devoted husband, father and friend . Further resolved that these resolutions be transmitted to his afflicted family to whom we tender our deepest sympathy in their great loss they have sustained, and a copy inscribed on the Minutes of our Association .
Respectfully submitted,
F. Ernest John K. Renaud M. Mallet
For nearly half a century Mr. Seebold had been one of the leading rosarians in the state, his large garden on Canal Street containing hundreds of the finest specimens of rose bushes. The great quantities of beautiful flowers at his funeral were a tribute of the high esteem in which he was held by the city he loved so well. His wife and devoted companion of so many years, Lisette Boehm Seebold was born in the city of Metz in Lorraine ( when that country was a French possession) on the 19th of March, 1837, where her father’s and grandfather’s families for a century had their residence — her father and grandfather both being officers in the French Army. Mrs. Seebold did not survive her husband long, dying after a short illness on August 29th, 1923, at the age of eighty-six years. She had been a moving spirit in the art world, an authority on art and connoisseur of fine china and crystal of which she had a large collection. Unostentatious in her charities which were many, of a deeply religious nature, she was always interested in church matters until old age prevented. She had been educated by the nuns of the Florisant Convent, being a resident pupil. St. Louis at that time was intensely French and while living in the convent had been required to speak French at all times outside of classes with the result that she spoke and wrote French like a native Parisian, for the Nuns of this convent prided themselves on the purity of the French as taught there. Always a great reader and seeker after knowledge, she would re-
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main up until the early morning hours when interested in a subject. The nuns at the convent, discovering that she was a good reader with a clear, distinct voice, appointed her to read to the class during the time when the class had an hour of sewing. Finding that she had become so proficient in French, she was often called upon by the nuns to take charge of the advanced French classes, to her delight for her father had told the head of the convent that he did not want her to spend her time doing fancy work, but insisted that she learn to speak, read and write French correctly. They fulfilled their duty, as the Convent of Florisant to this day prides itself on the accent of its French pupils. Mrs. Seebold’s passing was marked by a similar tribute from her friends as that which marked her husband’s a short while before.
Their children are: Marie Madeleine Seebold, who married Andres Molinary; William John Seebold who died March 25th, 1868; George Sandford Seebold, who died Dec. 25th, 1880; Walter Emile Seebold, who died March 15th, 1914; Stella Lisette Seebold, who married George Ossian MacPherson; Randall Hunt Seebold, who died Sept. 1st, 1927; Herman Boehm de Bachelle Seebold, M. D., 1st Lt. M. C., 6th Field Hospital, 2nd Brigade, U.S.A. Sili- tian Expedition, A. 0. Married Nettie May Kinney March 15th, 1922. Francis Semmes Seebold, who died Jan. 29th, 1934.
Mrs. Andres Molinary — nee Marie Madeleine Seebold is a painter and a restorer of paintings. Born in New Orleans she is the eldest daughter of Lisette Boehm and William Emile Seebold, Art Connoisseur and Collector. Her mother was a cousin of Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, R. A., a protege of Queen Victoria, who designed many of the figure monuments in the City of London and other English Cities. As a small girl while attending school at the Cenas Institute, she would go after lessons to the studio of George Coulon near by, where her early Art education was begun. Later she was enrolled at the popular select school for young ladies conducted by the Misses Huger, where she finished her education, studying French and German besides her native tongue. Some years later Paul Poincy opened a Studio over the Seebold Art Store and asked her to come into his classes, where she worked for several years.
When the Art Union came into existence and Andres Molinary conducted classes in painting there, she enrolled as one of his pupils — and later she worked as his pupil at the Art Association’s
Herman Boehm deBachellS Seebold, M. D., 1st Lieut., M. C., U. S. A., 6th Field Hospital, 2nd Brigade, Silesian Expedition, World War — Army of Occupation.
Mrs. John Donald MacPherosn (Katherine Mooney)
James MacPherson, of Iverness Scotland Gaelic scholar; son of Donald MacPherson.
Mrs. Geo. Ossfah MacPherson, ned Stella Lisette Seebold.
George Ossian MacPherson
Mrs. H. deB. Seebold (Nettie Kinney.)
Hallway in Seebold Home from Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
MAC PHERSON
221
School of Art. She also studied with William Chase in New York. Miss Cora Townsend was the first woman member of the Artist Association, Marie SeeboH the second. By preference she paints flowers, but she frequently paints portraits and landscapes as well as still life.
During his lifetime she frequently helped her husband when large orders for restoration came his way. He had done much of this while a student at the Academy in Rome, and as it is a slow, sometimes hazardous task, was glad to have younger eyes work under his direction.
MAC PHERSON .
John Donald Mac Pherson of Iverness Scotland married Kathrine Mooney of Dublin, Ireland, and came to America between 1852 and 1853. During the Civil War they came to New Orleans. Their children are as follows: 1st, Agatha, who married John Nolan, former Supt. of the Southern Pacific Railroad, N. O.; 2nd, William Oscar; 3rd, George Ossian, who married Stella Lisette Seebold; 4th, Harry L., who married Theresa Ford; 5th, Annette, who married Felix McGivney; 6th, Katherine, who married J. F. Galloway, notary and lawyer of Gulfport, Miss.; 7th, Helen (Nell), who married Edward Douglass McNair; 8th, William, who married Marguerite Delery.
The maternal grandfather of this family was John Mooney of Dublin, Ireland, who owned a large ranch in Tulamoore, Ireland, where he bred race horses which were shipped to the various large racing centers of the world. The paternal grandfather was Donald Mac Pherson, who was a professor of Gaelic, and translator of Gaelic into English.
His sons are Ossian Mac Pherson, Oscar Mac Pherson, William Mac Pherson, James Mac Pherson, and John Donald Mac Pherson, all of Iverness, Scotland.
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De BACHELLE9
Countess Johanne Henriette de Bachelle married Rev. Henry Frederic Ebehard Volkenhauer in the chapel of Brauchhausen Castle Aug. 10, 1779. Their daughter Louise Dorothea de Bachelle Volkenhauer, born Oct. 20, 1785 in Kirch-Wohlingen, was married Jan. 6, 1806, in Sinsdorf, to Rev. John August Conrad Munchmeyer, who died April 7, 1809 in Linden. Their daughter, Sophie Dorothea de Bachelle Munchmeyer, born June 7, 1809 in Hanover City, married in Great Berckel, Nov. 10, 1830, Rev. John William Herman Seebold, born Jan. 14, 1801. Among children were: Sophie Louisa Julia, born Aug. 4, 1831, in Lachem, died Feb. 8, 1919, in Hanover; and Frederick William Emile, born Sept. 15, 1833, died in New Orleans, June 25, 1921.
(1) Mangin de Bachelle married Marie Evrand, was notary and counsellor, secretary of the city of Metz 1556, Zwischem 1593 and 1599. (2) Israel de Bachelle married Ida Provot in 1585,
who was born in Metz in 1565. (3) Paul de Bachelle, born Jan.
11, 1591, married Marie de Duchas, 1513; a member of the French nobility. (4) Gideon de Bachelle, born Jan. 19, 1677, counsellor of Baillage, married in 1642, Marie Goff in. (5) Gideon David de Bachelle, born Sept. 17, 1752, married Eleonore Amalie Charlotte von Oeffener, daughter of First Lieutenant in charge of the Infantry of Army Engineers and members of the German aristocracy. (6) David de Bachelle, born April 7, 1734, married Susanne Hedwig de Gauvin, daughter of General Lieutenant de Gavin 1721. Over Lieutenant stationed at Wurtemberg 1733 in charge of his Infantry troops, (French Army of Occupation).
(7) Gideon David de Bachelle, born - , died 1752,
married Elenore Amalie Charlotte von Oeffner, daughter of Christian Frederick von Oeffener, First Lieutenant at Hattorf, Klinkowstrom. (8) Johanna Henrietta de Bachelle, born 1752, was married in 1779 in Bruchhausen Castle, to Pastor Henry Frederick Eberhard Volkenhaar.
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De BACHELLE 9 Arms and Quarterings
Ecastiti An I dfor a troi canards au naturel
An II d’azur a la band dfor accompanie de trots
etoiles de meme, un enchef et deux en pointe
An III dfazun au lion controune d’or
An IV d*or a une plant sur une terrasse de sinople , de
laquelle sortent de quintefeuilles on roses de gueules
accastus deux Cryozoses au naturel.
The fifes, or extensive land holdings, in the area of Metz where the Chateau de Bachelle was located were among the most ancient ones in that part of France. The deBachelle family, originally “le Bachelle”, were a patrician family from the town of Mettis, as Metz was first called. In 1648 Jacques le Bachelle, a great warrior, was one of the leaders who secured for France the City of Metz by the peace of Westphalia. A part of the family later settled in Paris, where the family tomb can still be seen in the Pere La Chaise Cemetery.
Many of the family were killed during the French Revolution during which time the “de” was cut off of the name on the family tomb — the outline of the “de” still being visible. On the old rolls of officers' names of the French Army this name is found often.
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PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
Countess Johanne Henriette deBachelle was born in Castle Brauchhausen in the year 1752 and later became lady in waiting to her Royal Highness of Hanover. She was a direct descendant of the celebrated warrior Jacques de Bachelle, the saviour of the city of Metz, and whose life was a succession of successful combats. It was mainly through his efforts that Metz became a French possession. Jacques de Bachelle, the second of that name, a member of that ancient noble house joined Francis III, Compte de la Rochefocault, Prince de Marellac (1531-1572) one of the leaders of the Protestant party who caused the banner of the Calvinists to float along the whole coast from the river Cheriante to the river Gironde.
“ARMORIAL GENERAL DE FRANCE” d’HOZIER.
Archives of the Chicago Public Library
Jacques de Bachelle, Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis, ancient Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiments of Bressei, and since reformed in the one of de Desgrigni, was conformed and maintained in the possession of his nobility, and ennobled again in so far as needed with his children and his posterity, male, and female, born and to be born in legitimate marriage, by patented letters in form of gifts of Charles given at Versailles in the month of April 1732 and addressed to the Courts of Parliament: “Chambres des Comptes and Courts of Aids at Metz, in consideration of the services that the said Sieur de Bachelle had rendered without discontinuation since the year 1675, that he entered, then fourteen years of age, in the Regiment de le Ferte until 1714, that his wounds and infirmities forced him to retire.”
These letters make mention that the said Sieur de Bachelle was at the battle of Saverne under Marshal de Luxembourg, at the Siege of Trebourg, at the capture of the Forts of Strasbourg where he was wounded; at the Siege of Luxembourg, and the one of Philisbourg where he was also wounded. He was employed in 1689, under the orders of the Marquis d’Asfeld, in the defense of Bonne where he was again wounded, and sent in hostage to the enemies then of the first capitulation.
After this he served under the Marshal de Catinat in Piedmont, and then found himself at the Siege of Veillane, de Carmagnole, de Suze et Montmeliand, where he was crippled at the attack of “contre - escarpe”, following this at the battle de la Marsaille,
CHATEAU FLEUR de LYS.
Home overlooking the Hudson River, built for Dr. and Mrs. H. deB. Seebold. Much of the historic panelling was removed for the second time to the present New Orleans home of Dr. and Mrs. H. deB. Seebold.
Carved Door and Door Frame from private Library of Catherine de Medicis in Chenaceau Chateau in Tourainne. Removed when Chateau was purchased by Mr. Terry in 1901 at which time Chenaceau underwent extensive repairs. Now a door leading to a bedroom in the Seebold home, 2617 St. Charles Avenue. Purchased through the late Blasford Dean of New York City. Medici Arms in center panel.
Coat-of-Arms of the de Vilbis (Velbiss) family.
Irish Register Office of Ulster King of Arms.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Taylor family. (Irish branch.)
Minnie Hauk (Baronne de Wartegg) as Marguerite in Faust.
Mrs. William Henry Kinney, mother of Mrs. H. deB. Seebold, and Mrs. John Hawkins Moore. (From an ivory miniature.)
Mrs. John Hawkins Moore (Jennie Kinney.) Sister of Mrs. H. deB. Seebold. (From an ivory miniature in the Seebold family.)
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and at the combat of Staffarde, after which, having been commanded with four hundred men to present himself in front of Saluces, this place rendered itself to him with fifty men of regulated troops who were in the Chateau. He also made several Campaigns in Flanders under the orders of the Marshals of Luxembourg, de Villeroi and de Bonflers; appeared with distinction at the Sieges d’Hui and of Namur where he was wounded heading the Grenadiers, and under the eyes of the late King Louis XIV, from whom he received a gratification; then at the Battles of Steinkerque and of Newinde, at the capture of d’Hasnon, to the one d’Ostie, and at the Battle de Luzara, Ect.
As for his family it was of the most ancient noble ones of the City of Metz, and his ancestors had been successively associated with the Sovereign Magistrature of that city, even from the time that it was a dependent of the Empire. In 1556, Mangin de Ba- chelle, his great, great grandfather, signed the Ratification of the Treaty of Cession which was made of the same city to the King Henry II. He was depositary of the public acts, Receiver general, one of the Thirteen and Counsellor at the “Grand Council” of the Master Echevin. Jean de Bachelle, his son, who succeeded him in the Charges d’Aman, and Receiver General, was father of Jacques de Bachelle, Aman, and one of the Thirteen that was publicly deputed to the late King. Paul de Bachelle his son, and father of the one who gives honor to this article had also the quality of Aman, and was the first one named by order of His Majesty, to the Magistracy of the said City (Metz), like Echevin; and that like the family of Sieur de Bachelle had always lived in a noble manner and possessed Fiefs that could be held only by nobles.
D’Azur , line Fasce d’argent, chevronne de deux pieces, et surmonte de deux Etoiles d’Or; le Casque de profit.
THE DE BACHELLE’ FAMILY
From (<L’archives de cette Huguenotte famille de Bachelle” pouvoia obtenir a la Bibliotheque Nacional a Paris, France (a la familli d’ancienne Nobless de Lorraine, France.) Armorial de France a Pierre d’Hozier . Bibliotheque Nacionale, Paris, France.
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The deBachelle family, originally a French family of Catholic faith, many branches of which still adhere to the Roman Church. Jacques deBachelle, the celebrated warrior, who had won fame by his continual victories over his opponents, became the saviour of the City of Metz in Lorraine, which had been a fortified fort from its earliest days. Originally a Roman camp that had been abandoned and allowed to revert to forest, its location on the strategic point of the river caused Jacques deBachelle to seize the site for the King of France.
During the early days of Calvinism, several members of the deBachelle family embraced the new faith, being ardent followers of Martin Luther. Among those who were close to the King in his efforts to spread the new faith, was Mangin le Bachelle, an able notary and King’s Counsellor of Metz, who married (1556) Mademoiselle Marie Everand in that city and was enobled by the French King Henry II in the year 1549 for his faithful services. In 1539, when Henry II and his mother, Catherine de Medici were at Loche Castle and threatened with bodily harm, the father of Mangin leBachelle saved their lives and for this act the family were further enobled with full privileges of the greater nobility.
After the death of Francis I of France, with the accession of Henry II to the throne, the Protestant party that had been gaining headway in spite of Francis I, an ardent Catholic — spread rapidly and Mangin deBachelle rose to great height between the years 1547 - 1559, becoming strong politically. Mangin deBachelle became a strong ally of Henry II. By 1560 following the death of Francis II Catherine de Medici, in order to suppress the Due of Guise, who had risen to great power, seeing that the Protestant power politically endangered the French throne, formed an alliance with the Catholics of the Guise party to betray the Huguenot party, as the French Protestants were called. A trap was set to ensnare the leaders of the Huguenots. The date set for the massacre, was St. Bartholomew’s night, when fearful scenes were enacted. “An order was issued from Paris directing the people at the sound of the tocsin to fall upon the religionists and Mil them like so many mad dogs. They called it hales la grande levriere (setting on the hounds).”
At last when the heads of the Huguenot party in France were trapped, the interior of the Chateau of Ambroise was arranged as if for a fete, and great rows of seats appeared on all sides of
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the spacious courtyard for the accommodation of the Royal party — King, Queen and Nobles. Around the wide space where the executions were to take place, with the Royal family in the iron grille enclosure of the balcony were seated special guests. On the 30th of March immediately following the banquet that had been served them, a long line of fifty gentlemen was conducted to the base of the scaffold, all chanting “Clement Maroti”, metrical version of the LX Vlth psabn.
Dieu nous sort doux et favorable — Nous benissant par sa bonte et de son visage adorable — Nous fosse luire la clarte.
On horseback could be seen the Cardinal close to the scaffold, and the young King, sickly pale between the young Queen, Mary Stuart, his wife, who later was to share the same fate — equally pale — forced to attend the gruesome spectacle by Catherine de Medici. As the signal was given the Duke of Conde took his place beside the Queen and the group below saluted their silent Captain. Conde returned the salute. The first name was called, and the first head laid on the block, followed by the second and a third and so on, until the chanting of the hymn growing fainter and fainter — until the very end when the last one, the Baron de Castelnau Chalosse, was heard “Dieu nous sort doux er favorable”. The headsman raised his axe, the Cardinal gave the signal and the last head fell. Then off they rode to Chenoceau, where music, dancing and a great feast made them forget it all.
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M-7
Taylor Crest and Coat-o£-Arms — Irish branch of family.
GENEALOGY OF THE de VILBISS FAMILY
Christopher de Vilbiss and his brother came to America from Lorraine (the city of Metz). Christopher settled in Maryland and his brother, in Pennsylvania. Chirstopher de Vilbiss married Catherine. Their children : Michel C., bom June 7, 1799, died May 14, 1863; Henry; Eliza; Joshua, Jasper. Michel de Vilbiss married Jane Taylor, Nov. 22, 1822. Their children were: Catherine, bom Nov. 11, 1823; James Taylor, born Nov. 19, 1825; Harriett Ann, bom Dec. 4, 1829, died Aug. 13, 1897; Elizabeth Jane, born Nov. 3, 1831, died Jan. 14, 1913; Mary Elizabeth, bom Jan. 28, 1833, died May 27, 1848; William Andrew, bom April 13, 1837, died Aug. 27, 1860; Alfred Newton, born July 24, 1840; Albert Taylor, bom June 30, 1843, died Nov. 6, 1844.
Catherine de Vilbiss married Jonathan Hauk, their children, Jennie and James, twins; Ella and Eva, twins; Rose, Lida. Harriet Ann de Vilbiss married Ira Cook, Jan. 29, 1852. Their children, Edward Willis, Katie, Mary, Emily, Alfred Newton.
DE VILBISS.
Eliza Jane de Vilbiss, married Louis Henry Summerl, Feb. 7, 1855. Their children: Estelle, bom Dec. 6th, 1855; Cora, bom March 16th, 1858, died Feb. 6th, 1860; Hattie, bom Jan. 10th,
Dorothea Gertrude Agnes Seebold who married Rev. Superintendent Gustave von Meyer.
Rev. Superintendent Gustave von Meyer.
Frederick W. Konzelman, Manager of the Clara Bremer de Beaulieu de Marconnay (Mrs. Interior Decorating Department of the L. Fred William Konzelman). C. Tiffany Co., New York City.
Mary Baronne de Beaulieu de Marconnay, nde Mary Mason Beacham, wife of Charles Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay.
Entrance gate to estate “Villa Velure” Lucerne Suisse, country home of Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay family.
Minnie Hauk (Baronne de Wartegg) as Carmen.
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1862; Minnie Kate, born Oct. 28th, 1864, died Sept., 1904. Alfred Newton de Vilbiss married Susie Crossing, Jan. 27th, 1864 — no children.
Estelle Summerl married Florence A. Getz, May 12, 1887. Children: Charles E., bom June 27, 1888; Louis C., bom June 7, 1890, died Aug. 27, 1890; Hattie May, born July 22, 1891, died Feb. 16„ 1892; Delmer de Vilbiss, bom July 20, 1897; Raymond Howard, born Oct 2, 1912. Hattie Summerl married Walter Steverley, Sept. 10, 1890 — Minnie, born Feb. 24, 1894. Minnie Kate Summerl, married Charles Henry Finley, June 12, 1895. No children.
The deVilbis, deVillebiss, deVillebois family from Metz, Lorraine, is a tree of many branches, having limbs stemming throughout France into England as the Ogle deVilbiss family who came to America in 1665, a member, Samuel was thrice governor of the Province of Maryland. Another was Thomas deVilbiss, who founded the deVilbiss Manufacturing Company, and built the magnificent group of buildings, the Thomas deVilbiss High School, Toledo, Ohio. There are innumerable members of the same name scattered throughout the United States, where the name has been known for two hundred years.
In Hozier’s Armorial in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, appears the genealogy of the French branches of this family originally deVillebiss, deVillebois, one Sieur Henry deVillebois, ecuyer deVillebis en deVillebois.
Mrs. H. deB. Seebold’s mother was Jennie Hauk, daughter of Katherine de Vilbiss and Jonathan Hauk, uncle of Minnie Hauk, the celebrated grand opera singer, whose interpretations of Carmen made her famous shortly after her debut in the Old Grand Opera House which stood in Canal Street, where is now the Mai- son Blanche Building.
A dainty souvenir of the celebrated singer of a day now passed, who obtained a part of her early musical education in New Orleans, when her parents brought her South following an overflow of their land in the West, is a post card sent Mrs. See- bold by the Baronne deBeaulieu Marconnay, a cousin by marriage of Dr. Seebold’s who was a close friend of the opera singer and her husband, the Baron de Wartegg. Baronne de Marconnay and her husband often visited the deWartegg’s while they lived in Lu-
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cerne, and attended many of the musicales given at their villa Tribschen, the one time home of Richard Wagner, where many of his famous opera scores, such as Tristan and Isolde had been written.
The post card shows a picture taken at a date when the Baron and Baronne deWartegg were still in their prime. To the greetings the Baron and Baronne deWartegg both affixed their autographs.
The picture is of Wagner’s old home with the singer and her husband standing in the doorway. In this house Litz and all the contemporary musical notables gathered during Wagner’s life and later during the deWarteggs’s lifetime.
Minnie Hauk, the grand opera singer, made her debut in the Old Grand Opera House on Canal Street between Dauphine and Burgundy Streets, New Orleans. She later married Baron deWartegg and they made their home in Lucerne, living in the Villa Trieb- chen, the former home of Richard Wagner. In this house Minnie Hauk (Baronne deWartegg) held her salon, gathering noted musicians and singers about her, making her home as Wagner had done during the years he lived there, one of the most interesting meeting places in Europe for persons of culture. Here she lived with her husband, Baron deWartegg, surrounded by hundreds of souvenirs from music lovers. She outlived Baron deWartegg and died at the advanced age of eighty-six years a few years ago.
In her “Memoirs of an Opera Singer” she affectionately recalls the years spent in New Orleans, and of her return time and again to see her old friends and share with them the joy of her triumphs, after her notable success in her interpretation of Carmen, which placed her in the first ranks of the opera singers of her day.
* * * * *
MEMORIES OF A SINGER (BARONESS DE WARTEGG)
Minnie Hauk was one of the greatest dramatic artists of her age . Her influence in Opera has been immense, for in creating the role of Carmen as it has been played for forty-five years all over the world, she at the same time revolutionized the dramatic side of opera, introducing real acting in place of the conventional gestures previously em-
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ployed . She was , moreover , a woman of vivid personality and charm; and has much to tell about her friendships with royal personages and celebrities such as Wagner, Gounod, Litz, Patti and Henry Irving .
A. M. PHILPOT, LTD., 69 Great Russel St.,
W. C. I., London.
*****
KINNEY .
William Henry Kinney, founder of a chain of flour mills in the states of Kansas and Oklahoma, was the son of James Kinney of Zanesville, Ohio, who owned a flour mill at that place. He married Margaret Barton of English descent, whose family owned one of the early clipper ships out of Boston plying between Boston and England, the family settling in Maryland. William Henry Kinney married Jennie Hauk, daughter of Jonathan Hauk, and Katherine de Vilbiss, a Huguenot family of Metz, Lorraine. Jonathan Hauk was a brother of the father of the celebrated Opera singer, Minnie Hauk, whose interpretation of Carmen made her an outstanding Grand Opera singer of her day. The children of William Henry Kinney and Jennie Hauk are: Nettie May Kinney who married Herman Boehm de Bachelle Seebold, M. D.; and Jennie Kinney, who married John Hawkins Moore, issue Jack Kinney Moore, president of the Moore Lowry Flour Milling Co., Kansas City, Mo., who married Noville Mock, issue, Mary Ellen Moore, Evelyn Moore, Jack Kinney Moore, Jr., and Dianna Moore.
MOCK GENEALOGY.
William Charles Wasson, married Emelia Pruitt, issue, Thomas Mattox Wasson, who married Margaret Schultz, who was the daughter of John M. Schultz, and Frances Lewis (Paternal). Mock married Frances Shoemaker, issue, William Henry Mock, who married Mary Ellen Beeman, daughter of Mary Ann Meeks, and Martin Beeman, their one son was Thomas Mock.
SEEBOLD FAMILY — Continued
Sophie Louisa Julia, born Aug. 4th, 1831 in Lachem, died Feb. 8th, 1919; Elise Antonia Seebold, born April 6th, 1836 in Lachem, died in 1876, in the city of Philadelphia where she is buried. Dorothea Gertrude Otille Agnes Seebold, born May 14th,
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1841 in Stockheim, died March 20th„ 1926, buried in Hanover city in the family plot. Elisie Antonia Seebold, born April 6th, 1836, married Charles Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay, son of General Charles de Beaulieu Marconnay of the French Army, and later chief Forester of the Kingdom of Hanover, and his wife, Julie Baroness von Egloff stein. Charles Philip de Beaulieu de Marconnay was born in 1832 at the family chateau, Chateau de Marconnay in Poitiers, France, and died in Wilmington, Delaware; is buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia. Their children are: Clara, born Feb. 1864; Charles Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay, born Jan. 16th, 1865; Baron Albert de Beaulieu de Marconnay, born Jan. 16, 1874; Clara de Beaulieu de Marconnay married Frederic W Konselman Jan. 17th, 1881, issue two sons.; Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay, born Feb. 15th, 1882; Albert Somers, born Feb. 15th, 1894.
Herman Albert de Beaulieu de Marconnay, married Mary Elisabeth Hill; one son, born Nov 10, 1895, died 1923; named Carl de Beaulieu de Marconnay, buried in Mount Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia. Frederick W. Konselman, who married Clara Bremer de Beaulieu de Marconnay was until his death, manager of the decorating Department of the Louis C. Tiffany Art Glass Co. of New York City. His son, became manager of The Handel Glass and Lamp Co., with offices in Fifth Ave., New York City. Herman Albert de Beaulieu de Marconnay’s second marriage after the death of his first wife was to Marian Nichols, daughter of William Wallace Nichols.
NICHOLS GENEALOGY
William Wallace Nichols, engineer, writer and business man, was born in New York City, Nov. 17, 1860. In his early youth he went to Colorado where he taught in the public schools of Denver. He was graduated from Yale in 1884. He was vice-president for a time of the Allis-Chalmers Company. In 1916 he was appointed chairman of the American Industrial Commission to France.
Mr. Nichols belongs to many organizations in which he has been prominent such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, American Academy of Political and Social Science, American Iron and Steel Institute and so on.
William Wallace Nichols is the son of Edward Erastus and Anna Maria (McAuley) Nichols. Nichols traces his lineage from
Elise Antonia Seebold, wife of Baron Charles Philip de Beaulieu de Mar- Baron Charles Philip de Beaulieu connay II, son of Baron Charles de Beau- de Marconnay II. lieu de Marconnay I. of the French Army.
Baron Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay III, son of Baron Charles Philip de Beaulieu de Marconnay II.
Baronne Mary (Mae) Mason Beacham de Beaulieu de Marconnay, wife of Baron Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay III.
Baron Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay I., a General in the French Army, later Chief Forester of the Kingdom of Hanover, husband of Baroness Julie von Egloffstein.
Julie Baronne von Egloffstein, wife of Baron Carl Philip de Beaulieu de Marconnay.
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King Robert Bruce of Scotland (1334), the continuous line being as follows: Robert Bruce of Clackmanan; Sir Edward Bruce; Sir Robert Bruce; Sir David Bruce; Sir George Bruce of Camock, father of Margaret Bruce who married Francis Nichols, Sr., of Ampthill, Bedford County, England. The Nichols lineage also is distinguished, originating with Robert Nichols of London, who died about 1548. His eldest son, Thomas, left large estates to his heirs and also made liberal bequests to various charities. His second son was Anthony, who married Margaret Bruce in the latter part of the Seventeenth Century. Of their several children two attained special distinction, Richard and Francis, known as Sergeant Francis Nichols. The family was evidently in royal favor, Richard having participated in the (English) Civil War. In 1664 he joined the forces serving as colonel of James, Duke of York, comimanding the fleet at the time Dutch New York surrendered to the English. He served as the first English Governor of New York for three years and died in 1672, in subsequent battle with the Dutch. His brother, Francis, also held military offices in the royalist armies. On that account he was forced to leave England to which he never returned. He was the first of the Nichols family to come to America. His military skill was recognized in Stratford, Conn., where he settled in 1639, and was assigned to train and discipline the men in military affairs.
Of Sergeant Nichols' four children, Isaac was ancestor of succeeding generations as follows: Ephraim, Ignatius, Ephraim II, David, Jesse, Wallace, and Edward Erastus. The latter, father of William Wallace Nichols, was born Dec. 15, 1829, and died Oct. 26, 1905.
Frederic W. Konselman, a member of a prominent Philadelphia family, studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts of that city, and became a mural artist of distinction. In the “Gay Nineties" splendid mansions were springing up in the larger cities of the North, East and West, and his work was to be found on the ceilings of many of these splendid mansions, some still in evidence. He became associated with Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay, the fresco painter, and married his daughter, Clara. Their two children are Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman and Albert Somers de Beaulieu Konzelman.
Later Frederic W. Konselman became manager of the art decorating department of the Louis C. Tiffany Co. of New York City.
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Among the notable achievements of that company under his supervision are: the splendid Tiffany decorating exhibit at the Paris Exposition of the 1890’s, the Tiffany Chapel of mosaic glass now in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. John the DIVINE, New York City, and the decoration and mosaic work of the Chicago Public Library. The beautiful interior decorations and murals of the Carneige, the Harriman, the Tiffany, the Vanderbilt, and other mansions too numerous to mention were executed under his supervision.
Dorothea Gertrude Otille Agnes Seebold, born in Stockheim, May 14, 1841, married Rev. Gustave von Meyer on Nov. 23, 1865, issue: Rev. Herman von Meyer, bom Sept. 23, 1866; Marie, born Aug. 9th, 1868; Werner, born July 18th, 1870; John, born Aug. 13th, 1873; and Gottfried, born Feb. 29th, 1876. Rev. Herman von Meyer married Sept. 21, 1892 Sophie Rath, born Nov. 18, 1867, died Nov. 10, 1930. Marie von Meyer married Pastor Henry Hedenhausen, who died Oct. 22, 1918, issue: Magdelen, born June 1893; Marie, born Aug., 1895, became a deaconess.
Charles de Beaulieu Konselman married June 15, 1905, Cornelia Zimmerman, issue two children: Charles de Beaulieu Konselman, and Cornelia Helen, born June 18, 1911, who married Marvin Clark.
Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay, born Dec. 9th, 1865, educated at Dickerson College, Carlisle, Pa., married May, daughter of Mary Mason Beacham, her grandfather being the reason of Mason Dixon Line fame, and her father, Henry Beacham, a judge of Baltimore. Charles de Marconnay and May Beacham were married in the chapel of Glengariff Castle, County Cork, Ireland, a relative of the Beacham family owning the castle. The European homes of the de Beaulieu Marconnay family are in the suburbs of Lucerne, a country place Villa Vellure, and another No. 2 Konigenstrasse, Munich. The family are buried here in their handsome family mausoleum, in the main cemetery of that city. Albert Somers Konzelman married Josephine Morton.
MORTON .
Josephine Morton is a daughter of Edward Morton, whose father was John Morton. Edward Morton’s mother’s name before her marriage was Minerva Sims of Kentucky, while the Mortons were natives of Pennsylvania.
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The mother of Josephine Morton was Cora Phillips, and her father was David Phillips who came from Ohio. Her maternal grandmother’s name was Adelia Welch, all of the original branches of the family have been in America previous to the American Revolution.
Crest of de Beaulieu de Marconnay family.
CHATEAU DE MARCONNAY .
The Chateau de Marconnay in the Province of Poitou in France was built about the year 940. Its site was originally an old Roman Fort. The feudal castle with its accompanying acreage became the seat of the ancient feudal family of de Beaulieu de Marconnay in the early part of the 12th Century. Of massive construction and still in good state of preservation, the Chateau remained in the de Beaulieu de Marconnay family until the year 1859, when it was sold to the Comptess de FAbonnier in whose family it still remains. Among the oldest of the noble families in the district of Poitou in France, is that of de Beaulieu de Marconnay with family records dating from the twelfth century. There were three sons of Louis II of MARCONNAY, whose line began in 1287 with Jehan.
After the Edict of Nantes (1685), the second son remained and carried on the title of Marquis, which still exists, as de Beaulieu de Marconnay. The descendants of the youngest son Oliver I de Beaulieu de Marconnay, for three generations carried the title of Master of the Hounds in the Austrian service of the Court of Weimer (1811 - 1889) Carl Oliver.
During the days of the TERROR, friends of the unhappy Queen Marie Antoinette used the chateau de Beaulieu de Marconnay as a meeting place to discuss plans for rescuing her. When this was discovered the family had to flee from France, and at this time a large part of the chateau was demolished and part of the land was confiscated.
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During this period distinguished noblemen escaped being murdered by hiding in underground secret chambers whose location is indicated on the family charts in many of the ancient chateaux of France, these families knowing where they could find refuge should occasion demand it.
William W. Nichols, father of Baronne Al- Carl Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay, son bert de Beaulieu de Marconnay. Albert Baron de Beaulieu de Marconnay,
Air Corps World War.
Mary Elizabeth Baroness de Beaulieu- Marconnay.
William Lorain Hill, father of Mary Elizabeth Baronne de Beaulieu-Marconnay
Villa Velure near Lucerne — Summer home of Baron and Baronne Charles de Beaulieu de Marconnay III.
Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman, Jr., and Cornelia Helen Konzel- man (Mrs. Marvin Clark).
Mrs. Charles de Beaulieu Konzelman Jr.„ n6e Marcia Rolf.
Marvin Clark.
Chapter XXVII.
THE WALTER PARKER FAMILY — THE PITKIN FAMILY
GENEALOGY OF THE PARKER FAMILY
rpHE Burrs, maternal side of the Walter Parker family, are of English extraction, coming to New England in 1635, and founding Hartford, Conn. The grandfather of Walter Parker (maternal) came South on a flat boat as a young man and was wrecked at the present site of Memphis, Tenn. He remained there and was prominent among those that helped to found that city.
“On my father’s side,” said Mr. Parker, “The dominant strain was Huguenot. The families were large. When anything happened to the men the women carried on and took their places.”
The founder of the Huguenot side of his family was Bartholomew Dupuy, a captain of Dragoons, who escaped from France when the Treaty of Nantes was repealed, coming to America in 1700. The story of Dupuy is a lengthy romance. In it one is taken to the residence of a gentleman of Virginia, in Prince George County, a Huguenot who fled from France. In that home is still to be seen Dupuy’s sword, an ancient relic triangular in shape, with a spear-like appearance. Its own scabbard was lost, its present one was picked up from the battle field of Guilford. “It drank the blood of more than one enemy of the American cause”, according to the story.
The family tree of the Parker family, one of the largest, judging from ramifications of its endless branches, has among
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the many names those of the Huguenots that fled to Virginia, in- eluding the Flournoys, Meauxs, Du Vais Maryes, Boudoins, Latines.
VIRGINIA
Our true chronicle is told; and we need not pause to comment on it here, or point the spirit and moral. Long years afterwards in Monican-town, on the banks of the noble James River, in Virginia, an aged soldier lay upon his death-bed, with a kneeling woman weeping at his side, and children watching the pale face through tears. “Don’t cry, Susanne,” said Messire Dupuy, “I am only going home, whither you, true wife, will follow me. Do you know what we said in the woods of Germany?” I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Blessed be his name! In him and the blessed Jesus is my trust — I who have lived and now die a true Hugenot.”
The faint voice faltered, and a ray of sunlight falling on the snowy hair, lit it up gloriously. “And to you, my children,” continued the dying gentleman, “I bequeath an untainted name, which you in turn should bear worthily.”
“Jacques,” he continued, addressing the eldest, “Take my old sword there, and make use of it in a good cause only; it has never been drawn in a bad one. Fight for your country and your faith, so God shall bless you. Imitate your godfather, Jacques de la Fontaine, of noble memory. And now, my children, take my blessing.” They knelt with sobs, and the hand of the dying soldier rested in turn upon every forehead. As the last words were uttered he fell faintly back, and only a slight sigh marked the passage of a true gentleman from earth to heaven — from time to eternity.
It was the bright sunshne of Virginia, the new land, which rested last upon his forehead; hut this was his home now, loved and cherished like the old, old home in France.
He died as he had lived, a true Huguenot. No better epitaph is needed.
WALTER PARKER
Walter Parker, the immediate subject of this sketch, is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, the eldest son of Walter L. Parker and his wife Ella Burr Parker. Almost half the residents of Memphis were relatives, and when he reached 21 years of age he bequeathed his share of the town to his many cousins and moved to New Orleans. He developed as a newspaper man and writer; was war correspondent for the Times Democrat in Cuba in 1898; served the United States government in the first World War, first as assistant to the Secretary of Commerce for inland water trans-
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portation, and framed the policies under which the federal barge line was developed; later during the war he served President Wilson in Europe. He organized the Mississippi Valley Association for the protection of the Mississippi Valley economy, and organized the Jefferson Highway Association which promoted the building of a paved highway connecting Winnepeg, Canada and New Orleans.
In 1905 he obtained the enactment by Congress of the federal quarantine law, which put an end to “shot-gun” quarantine in the South in yellow fever years, and under which the federal government was empowered to eliminate bubonic plague. For many years he was general manager of the New Orleans Association of Commerce. In more recent years he has been economist for the national firm of Fenner and Beane, and the author of man?/ treatises on economics, flood control, river regulation and kindred subjects. As chairman of the National Committee on Safety at Sea he was instrumental in bringing about the enactment of several desirable laws for the safety of vessels and passengers on the high seas. He has held many honorable positions. In 1940 he was president of Taxpayers of New Orleans, Incorporated, and a member of the Board of Curators of the Louisiana State Museum.
PITKIN GENEALOGY .
William Pitkin, the progenitor of the family in America, came to New England from London in 1659, and was attorney-General of Connecticut in 1664. The records of Hertfordshire, England bear witness that the name Pitkin is an honorable one and has been prominent from the Thirteenth Century, many having held appointments under the several sovereigns. The Royal borough of Berkhamsted, appears to have been homestead of the family at an early date. In 1766 a William Pitkin was governor of Connecticut. Although a member of the Church of England when the first William Pitkin came to America, he became a member of the Puritan Church in East Hartford, Conn., into which Church some one hundred Pitkin children have been baptized and about a hundred and fifty of the same name received into membership. In war as in peace the Pitkins filled a conspicuous place in the beginning of the American nation. They fought in the Revolution and later wars. In 1791 fourteen Pitkins were granted a charter as an Artillery company.
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William Pitkin's sister, the beauteous Martha, was born in London in 1638 and followed her brother to the New World in 1661, to urge his return to England, not once supposing he intended to remain in the “wilderness”.
An interesting poem by Charles Knowles Bolton, “The Wooing of Martha Pitkin”, attests to the popularity and charm of Miss Pitkin who married Simon Wolcott and became the mother of Governor Roger Walcott. Her grandson, Oliver Wolcott was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and was governor of Connecticut for ten years. A second Oliver Wolcott, son of the former, succeeded Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. He was in the cabinets of Washington and Adams. He declined the proffered place at the head of the First United States Bank.
Martha Pitkin Wolcott was also the great-grandmother of Governor Roger Griswold and ancestor of Senator Edward Oliver Wolcott of Colorado and Lieutenant-Governor Roger Wolcott of Massachusetts. One of the early American histories was written by Timothy Pitkin, who was the grandson of the then President Clapp of Yale University. The history was published in two volumes in 1828. Frederic W. Pitkin was Governor of Colorado in 1878. He was honored by the incorporation of the town of “Pitkin” in 1879; the Pitkin Bank, the Pitkin Hotel, “Pitkin Progress” (its newspaper), all of which testifying to the popularity of Governor Pitkin.
Horace Tracy Pitkin is the subject of a tribute on a large bronze plaque at Yale where the Pitkins were educated. Horace Pitkin lost his life in the Boxer Rebellion. On the distaff side he was descended from Thomas Yale founder of the Yale family in America. His sister married Charles Eliot, son of President Eliot of Harvard in 1888. Horace Pitkin while a student at Yale studied for the Ministry in Union Seminary and became a great influence in the missionary field. A Memorial of Horace Tracy Pitkin by Robert E. Speer gives account of a noble life consecrated to Christ. Another prominent member of the Pitkin Family is Walter B. Pitkin, Professor of Journalism at Columbia University; author of “Life Begins at Forty” and numerous other books. Mr. Pitkin was a former associate editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Mrs. Christian Schertz (Helen Pitkin). From the life sized oil portrait by Allen St. John. Among the art treasures of Mrs. Schertz’s Home.
Much of the states cotton was shipped to England by way of New Orleans.
Crest and Coat-of-Arms of the Du Puy 'family.
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Samuel Fuller, close relative of the brilliant Margaret Fuller, Countess Ossoli was another relative on the distaff side. The late John Robert Graham Pitkin was Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic, a lawyer, noted orator and statesman. The mother of J. R. G. Pitkin was Adeline Graham, only child of Commodore Graham, U. S. Navy. The mother of Helen Fearing Fuller, mother of Helen Pitkin Schertz, was Helen Gilroy Fuller, Mogridge.
Chapter XXVIII.
THE LEVERT — WARE — PRUDHOMME FAMILIES LEVERT.
jpROM this old Louisiana family. General J. B. Levert is selected as the one to represent its numerous members. Among the representative men of his era none stood higher in the annals of this state, and specially in connection with plantations (sugar) which forms the basis for the data of this work.
The late General John B. Levert’s father was Auguste Levert, a native of this state, and his mother, Eulalie Mire of St. James Parish. Auguste Levert was born in St. James Parish in 1803, and having completed his education became a sugar planter, remaining one until his death. He was the owner of Saint Del- phine, Golden Ridge, and Willow Glen plantations, all of them located on the Mississippi River and fully cultivated. For a period of his life he resided in Lafourche Parish, but removed in 1831 to Iberville Parish, here he remained until 1880. As he advanced in life he removed to the parish of West Baton Rouge where he
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lived until his death in 1886. He was one of the important sugar planters of his era, prominent in the affairs pertaining to the advancement of the sugar industry and other important matters of this state. He was a staunch Democrat, and throughout his lifetime he made a fine record as citizen, father, husband and friend. At his death he left a fortune in fine plantations for his descendants, who have continued as he would have wished them to do.
General John B. Levert, son of Auguste Levert, was born on Golden Ridge Plantation in Iberville Parish, La., in 1839. Finishing his commercial education, he matriculated at St. Mary’s College at Emmetsburg, Maryland, and there continued his studies until war was declared. At once he abandoned his studies and volunteered as a member of the 1st Louisiana Cavalry, one of the first regiments to leave for the theatre of war. During the entire duration of the struggle he followed his regiment ever encouraging his men and sharing their hardships thus endearing himself to each and every one of them, having rendered valiant and meritorious service. On retiring to civic life, he first entered the Western Produce Co., then Henry Grable Co., which followed because of his association with Colonel Louis Bush. For a long period it was one of the leading firms in the sugar industry, which later was succeeded by the firm of J. B. Levert & Co. Several others later became interested in the firm, among them Henry Trejnonlet, who owned Helvetia Plantation in St. James Parish, La., and later J. M. Burguieres known as Levert - Burguires. This was succeeded by the later firm known as J. B. Levert and Co., Ltd., which includes the different members of the family of the third generation.
JAMES ANDREW WARE
James Andrew Ware, prominent Confederate Veteran, was born on a plantation nine miles southeast of Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, in 1847. He was the son of Henry Ware and Martha Everett, both natives of the State of Georgia. Two of Mr. Ware’s uncles served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and one of these uncles attained the rank of Brigadier-General. In 1866 Mr. James A. Ware was sent to New Orleans to attend law lectures, but in 1868 he abandoned his law career to
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go into the sugar and cotton business. He was one of the organizers of the Cotton Exchange as well as the Sugar Exchange. He was one of New Orleans’ representative citizens.
James Ware’s father, Henry Ware, was a New Orleans capitalist. As a result of the war in 1868 he became the owner of John Andrew’s handsome plantation and splendid home with its magnificent contents. Having amassed a fortune and becoming enamoured with the plantation life of Belle Grove, in 1879 James Ware purchased the plantation from his father, where he lived for the remainder of his life. During his occupancy, most of the plantation of 7,000 acres was kept under cultivation. He also purchased Celeste plantation near White Castle, and became one of the largest plantation owners in the state. He also displayed a leaning towards politics. In Reconstruction Days he became a potent factor in the Democratic Party, both in Iberville Parish and in the state. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago in 1884, and served on the staff of Governor Murphy J. Foster and Gov. Wm. H. Heard.
James Ware married Miss Mary Eliza Stone, daughter of Dr. P. R. Stone, an eminent physician and wealthy large planter of Iberville Parish. Dr. Stone’s grandfather, Colonel John Stone, was a prominent figure in Colonial Days and a near relative of William Stone who was Governor of Maryland Colony about the middle of the Seventeenth Century. The Ware family descend from a notable aristocratic English family, among whose descendants was George Reade who came to Virginia in 1639, and became the great-grandfather of General George Washington. Another George Reade of the same family signed the Declaration of Independence, hailing from Delaware. Miss Penelope Lynch Adams of a family of soldiers and statesmen was the mother of Mrs. Ware, whose chic costumes, educational accomplishments, and gracious personality, made her one of the most famous hostesses of her day in the entire South. Her magnificent plantation home. Belle Grove, palatial in size, construction and furnishings was ever brilliant with a continuous series of splendid hospitalities, for both Mr. and Mrs. Ware loved to entertain. Even when the Civil War Reconstruction Days had practically ended the old plantation life, Belle Grove continued its usual routine of gay hospitalities. In New Orleans at the St. Charles Hotel where the Wares had a large suite, they entertained each winter on a large scale.
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Dr. Stone Ware, born March 26th, 1870, graduated in 1893, married Miss Carmilite Gourrier, daughter of Dr. Gourrier of Plaquemines, La.
PRUDHOMME
(Meaning Wise Man).
Among those who sailed from France with Bienville in 1699 was one Emanuel Prudhomme, a surgeon in the French Army. Emanuel Prudhomme, a direct descendant of Dr. Emanuel Prudhomme, was the father of Pierre Phanor Prudhomme who was born June 24th, 1807 and died 1825. A daughter of this union, Adeline Catherine Prudhomme, was born March 6th, 1836, and married in the year 1856 Winter Wood Breazeale, who died March 10th, 1896, aged 69 years. He owned and operated large cotton plantations and spent most of his life in the Parish of Natchitoches.
Old maps of the vicinity of Natchitoches in 1722 show the Prudhommes as owners of extensive lands. With the French Army of Occupation in early days had come Jean Baptiste Prudhomme, who bore the title “Docteur du Roi”, and who had received from the Ring of France a large land grant on the banks of Red River. On this river which later became known as “LaCote- Joyeuse”, his sons on this estate began the first experiment of growing cotton on a large scale. Its success was in a measure partly responsible for the “Golden Era” of wealth which extended from 1795 to the Civil War. A portrait of one of these sons, Emanuel Prudhomme, painted in Paris, quite appropriately repre- sents him with a boll of cotton in his hand. The house at 530 Jefferson Street, in Natchitoches was built by one of the first owners of land on the “Cote Joyeuse .
Branches of the Family
Rosalie Meullion married 1798, William Willing Wells, born 1776, died 1808, reared at the plantation Wellswood at Meeker, La. He was a brother of Samuel Levi Wells. Rosalie Muellion was a daughter of Dr. Ennemond Meullion and his second wife, Janette (Pairet) La Mathe. Dr. Meullion was born 1737 and died 1820. His wife Janette, born 1752 and died 1835. Their daughter Rosalie, born 1782, married three times — 1st to William Will-
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tag Wells; 2nd, to Dr. John Sibly; 3rdly to William She had children by the first and third husbands, and from them are descended the Branch, Tanners, Alason, Pearce and families of Rapides Parish. William Willing Wells and Rosalie Meullion had four children as follows : Benjamin, Emily, Desiree and Meullion Sidney.
Desiree married Branch Tanner. They had several children. One daughter, Rose Meullion Tanner, born 1840, died 1903, married Dr. James Elise Keater, bom 1822, died 1908. Their third son, Meullion Sands Keater, married Mabel Lucille Blake of St. Louis] Mo. Their only child, Rosalie Lucille Keater, married James Alphonse Prudhomme II, of Bermuda, La. J. Alphonse Prud- homme and his wife have five children: I. J. Alphonse III; Ken- neth, Meullion, Keater and Rose Vivian.
Reviving as it were the gala days of the “Cote Joyeuse” the old plantation mansion of the Prudhomme family, Bermuda Plantation, was recently a scene of brilliancy and gayety to celebrate the Golden Wedding Anniversary honoring Mr. and Mrs. P. Phanor Prudhomme. A great throng filled the rooms of the ancient plantation home where the large reception was held.
Masses of golden blooms of all sorts mingling with fern banked every available space, creating a veritable bower of loveliness in the drawing-rooms and banquet hall, long famous for endless hospitalities in olden days. The great gilded framed mirrors reflected a scene of happiness as the impressive wedding ceremony was re-enacted at noon, where twenty-seven years ago
a similar golden-wedding anniversary was celebrated _ that of
Mr. and Mrs. J. Alphone Prudhomme, parents of those honored on this occasion. The bride of a half century ago attired in a handsome gown of black brocaded velvet worn with a corsage of golden ranuculus was stately. Mr. Prudhomme entered with his eldest son, Alphonse Prudhomme, and met the bride at the altar placed below the wedding-bell that has served for over a century for many family weddings and anniversaries. Immediately following the ceremony a large banquet was held as is customary. Toasts were drunk and during the reception hours the house and grounds were filled with hundreds of their friends and relatives, who came bringing gifts and good wishes.
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Mr. Alexander Cloutier presided and congratulated the hon- ored couple. He sang the same sweet songs “Dearest” and “I Love You More”, that he sang at their wedding fifty years ago. His voice then magnificent and strong with the full volume of youth, now fainter and a little tremulous with age but none the less sweet, having the charm and pathos of a treasured spinet.
Chapter XXIX.
WAKEFIELD, OAK GROVE AND THE MYRTLES WAKEFIELD MANOR.
“WAKEFIELD” was named for Oliver Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield, by its original owner Lewis Stirling, son of Alexander Stirling, noted soldier whose grave and that of his wife Ann Stirling in Beechwood Plantation cemetery are pictured in Vol. I of this work.
The old manor house “Wakefield” has a rather unusual history. Originally an imposing old plantation home, a great center of gracious hospitality in olden days it has continued as such on a lesser scale since ante-bellum days.
When the house was finished in 1833 it was furnished in an elegant and costly manner, most of the furniture for which was purchased in London, much of it still to be seen in the present home.
Mrs. Stirling, a member of the prominent plantation family that built “Rosedown” and many other lovely old plantation houses, was a Miss Sarah Turnbull. Lewis Stirling died in 1858, and his widow lived until 1875, and at her death it was learned that the heirs shared alike in the estate, but a clause in the will indicated that “Wakefield Manor” — the house itself be divided into three parts. Instead of selling the house and dividing the proceeds the building itself was divided.
The present chatelain of “Wakefield” plantation home is a granddaughter of Mrs. John Lobdell, who inherited the portion of
Andrew Stewart, of Oak Alley Plantation
A Bedroom at Oak Alley Plantation
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the manor which we see today after it had been roofed, appearing as it does in the illustration.
The present plantation home known as “Wood-Hill Farm” was constructed for Dr. Rufus G. Stirling from his part of the house and which he used to build this home in 1879, the material coming from parts of the second floor of “Wakefield Manor”. In the grounds of Woodhill Farm one finds the old workshop by “The Doctor's Spring”, where Audubon and Dr. John B. Hereford spent hours together studying birds.
Another plantation home was built from the third section of “Wakefield Manor”, but it was destroyed by fire many years ago. A short distance away now forming part of the lands of Beech- wood plantation lies “Rosale” Plantation, originally called “Egypt”, laid out for Alexander Stirling, father of Lewis Stirling, original owner of “Waverly”. In 1844 David Barrow of Afton Villa bought “Egypt” plantation and manor house which he enlarged and redecorated as a wedding gift to his daughter Mary, who married Robert H. Barrow II. The home and plantation was rechristened “Rosale,” the mansion later destroyed by fire in 1885 (see page 267, Vol. I).
OAK GROVE PLANTATION.
“Oak Grove” manor (Page 260, Vol. I) was originally built for Dr. John B. Hereford in 1828, he being a native of Virginia who settled in West Feliciana Parish. Later it became the home of a branch of the Butler family. Burnt in 1980, however, much of interest remains — the two beautiful pigeonnaires that flanked the old home, the ancient school-house of the plantation, and a number of ante-bellum out-buildings making a visit to this plantation worth while.
Another interesting plantation home close by is “The Cedars , the country home of the Misses Sarah and Mamie Butler of New Orleans, which is most attractive in its beautiful setting. A grove of fragrant cedars and oak trees enclose a lovely garden, both of the Misses Butlers being well versed in floriculture and important members of the Garden Society. Japonicas, a large assortment of roses and azaleas, jasmine and other fragrant shrub mingle with dogwood, rosebud and holly that brighten the beech woodland in front grounds that are beautiful with blooms most of the year.
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Further on towards St. Francisville we find “The Oaks” the quaint and lovely home of the Thomas Butler family. Its garden is very attractive — and the long oak avenue leading to the unpretentious home is inviting.
Here dwelt the author of “Catalpa Memoirs”, surrounded by lovely mementos of her happy girlhood depicted by this gracious lady. Ancestral portraits by Sir Thos. Sully, Amans and others equally notable, much fine rosewood and mahogany furniture, rare ornaments and crystal-ware inherited from the Forts, Stewarts, Randolphs and the collection of “The Cottage” are all greatly prized and cherished by this charming family.
THE MYRTLES .
Still another interesting unpretentious old plantation home “The Myrtles” home of much charm, is located in a beautiful grove of century-old oak trees. Built for a branch of the Stirling family close to the plantation home of the Edward Butlers. Its entrance is on the left side of the highway as one faces Woodville, Miss., having a sign at the gateway bearing the name of the plantation.
The house, a story and a half structure somewhat long in front, has a very wide verandah encircling the building embellished by a frame of ornamental cast-iron work greatly enhancing its appearance. It is a very comfortable house one can see at a glance, for room and light of the top story appears assured by the many spacious dormers that pierce the roof.
The darkies of the vicinity tell tales of the ghost of the place in the form of a little old lady wearing an emerald green colored cap that haunts the guest-room, and unless a lighted candle or lamp is left in the room — she will visit the room at midnight and gently raise the mosquito bar and peer into the face of the sleeper. So even today a small light is left in the room occupied by guests.
WILKINSON FAMILY
The Wilkinson family, prominent in America since Colonial days, comes of distinguished ancestry, stemming to Welsh forbears who were prominent members of the commonwealth of Wales. They were related by marriage to the Glen Owen who traces to Owen Glydwr.
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The father of James Wilkinson, was Joseph Wilkinson, who left England in 1729 and located on a land grant in Calvert County, where he married Miss Skinner, and the issue from this marriage was a son who was; named Joseph Jr., who was born in 1751. This son married Althea Heighe, and they became the parents of two sons, Joseph III. and his younger brother James, who was to become honored with the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army at the age of twenty-one.
James Wilkinson’s father died when James was but seven years of age, and his mother sent him to school in Baltimore. He proved an apt pupil, and was a leader in his classes. He was well educated in English, Latin and Mathematics, and studied medicine after completing his studies in Baltimore, entering medical school while a little over seventeen years of age and graduating in medi- cine at the age of nineteen.
At this time he enlisted as a private in Richardson’s company, and his record shows that he fought at the Battle of Bunker-Hill. Later he was promoted by General Washington to a Captaincy, and later again promoted by Major General Gates as Adjutant General. He was one of Gates’ representatives at the surrender of Burgoyne, and at the time had the reputation of being one of the best drill masters in the American army. On Nov. 6th 1777 he was promoted to the brevet rank of Brigadier-General.
General Wilkinson married Ann, daughter of Joan Biddle of the prominent Philadelphia family. Going to Kentucky at the termination of the War of Independence, in 1784 he founded the town of Frankfort, and also became active in Indian Warfare, where he gained the admiration of General Washington, who sent a special message to Congress in 1791. In 1796 General Wilkinson was made Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. army. Later in 1803 jointly with Governor W. C. C. Claiborne he was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson to be the Commissioner to receive Louisiana from Napoleon.
At the end of a long and active military career General Wilkinson became a planter in Louisiana and lived on his Plantation Live Oak, located twenty-five miles below New Orleans.
The three children from his marriage to Ann Biddle were sons, the 1st. named John, who died in his fourteenth year, the 2nd. James Jr., born 1784, died in 1813, the 3rd., Joseph Biddle, b. December 4, 1785 and who died in 1865, leaving a widow, Cath-
252
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
enne Andrews Wilkinson. Captain Janies Wilkinson Jr., was r1 ed m fctl0n m Mobile harbor in 1813, leaving a wife (nee Miss Coleman) and a son, Theophilus, bom 1811, who also followed army life, becoming an artillery officer in the U. S. army.
The second wife of General James Wilkinson was Celestine Trudeau, a daughter of the surveyor general of Louisiana, Charles irudeau, member of the prominent Louisiana family of that name. Two daughters were bom of this marriage; Maria Isabelle, who died in infancy and Elizabeth Stephanie, who became Madame Toussamt Bigot, wife of Professor Bigot. Issue: Charles A. Bigot and Theodore F. Bigot neither leaving issue.
Robert Andrews Wilkinson, better known as R. A., eldest son of Joseph Wilkinson and Catherine Andrews was killed at the Battle of Manassas, 1862. He had married Mary F. Stark of Mississippi, a daughter of Col. Stark, a Revolutionary officer, whose descendants have occupied almost as prominent a place in the annals of Mississippi as have the Wilkinsons in Louisiana. The children of Robert Andrews Wilkinson and Mary F. Stark were six in number as follows:
Robert Andrews Wilkinson; Horatio Stark Wilkinson; the daughters being Katherine, who became Mrs. Carroll W. Allen; Rose who became Mrs. Simeon Toby; Isabelle; and Mollie (Mary)!
J. Biddle Wilkinson, M. D., second son of Joseph B. Wilkinson and Catherine Andrews, became a sugar planter in the Parish of Plaquemines. His wife was Josephine Stark of Mississippi — their children ten in number as follows — J. Biddle Wilkinson, whose wife was Lydia Duval; Theodore S. Wilkinson, whose wife was Pauline Spyker; R. Andrew Wilkinson, whose wife was Lucy White; Horace Wilkinson, whose wife was Julia Merwin; James Wilkinson, whose first wife was Mattie Spyker, and second Cecelia Peters; Ernest Wilkinson, who died young; Elizabeth, who died in childhood and Josephine Wilkinson, who became Mrs. Thomas Worthington.
Andrews Wilkinson, son of Dr. J. B. Wilkinson, was born in Plaquemine Parish on his father’s plantation and was educated at the Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Va. He became a prominent journalist, and like the rest of the family was quite brilliant as well as genial.
Other notable members of the Wilkinson clan are the sons of Andrews Wilkinson, J. Biddle Wilkinson, Jr., Maury Wilkinson
ANDREW STEWART
253
and Philip Wilkinson; the sons of Dr. Clement P. Wilkinson-Maun- sell White Wilkinson and Edward M. Wilkinson; the sons of James Wilkinson — James Wilkinson, Jr.; Leonidas Wilkinson; and Hugh M. Wilkinson; the son of Ernest Wilkinson — Commander Theo- dorei S. Wilkinson U. S. N.; Biddle Wilkinson; and the late Carroll W. Allen M. D., prominent surgeon whose early death was greatly lamented by a large clientele and host of friends; Robert W. Allen, Henry W. Allen, sons of Katherine Wilkinson Allen.
In the year 1825 General James Wilkinson died of a fever contracted in Mexico. He had gone to that country and while pressing the claims of his clients, a number of New Orleans merchants that he expected to be compensated by land claims, he was stricken with fever, and notwithstanding his rugged constitution, died shortly afterwards.
He was buried on December 29th in the Baptist Cemetery of the capital of Mexico with the honors due a noted soldier.
ANDREW STEWART
Andrew Stewart, owner of Oak Alley (Bon Sejour) Plantation, stems from a distinguished sugar planters family, his mother being Josephine Pharr, a member of the Louisiana family of that name who owned large sugar plantations in this state. His father, Andrew Stewart Sr., a cotton broker was descended from the Stewarts of Lisky — near Straban in the North of Ireland, which Lisky is still standing owned and occupied by members of the Stewart family, having been in the Stewart family for over six hundred years.
Mrs. Andrew Stewart (Josephine Armstrong) and her sister Mrs. Allard Kaufmann (Julia Armstrong), on their mother’s side stem to James K. Polk, and the Nealy Family of Tennessee, and the Armstrongs and Readys of Tennessee on their paternal side — all families prominent in the social and business affairs of their communities.
Mrs. Allard Kaufmann has three children by her first marriage — Zeb, Julie and Jacqueline Mayhew, descending from Governor Thomas Mayhew of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and Elizabeth lies and James Fennimore Cooper on their grandmother’s side.
Mr. Allard Kaufmann of New Orleans is descended from an old Creole family of Louisiana, numbering among its members
254
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
many who were not only noted for their very beautful voices, pulchritude and ability as linguists, but who also possessed great charm and personality which made them outstanding members of the social world in New Orleans of which they formed such an important part. The Castellanos home in the French Quarter of New Orleans before the family scattered, was a veritable cage of song-birds. Mrs. Delos Mellon (Corinne Castellanos) possessed a voice pronounced by able critics “as being of the highest order; that her singing was full of soul and her phrasing exquisite.” Being a radiantly beautiful blonde Creole she was acclaimed as one of the city’s most beautiful daughters. So too with the other members of this talented family. All possessed great tact as well as ability and were most generous in assisting their friends in their entertainments and the various charities of the city when sponsored by musicians.
Dr. Castellanos, a “gentleman of the Old School,” enjoyed the love and esteem of a large clientele, and was considered one of the brilliant Doctors of his era. Born in New Orleans — educated in the East and later graduating in medicine in this city, he became a professor of Medicine and later was one of the founders of the Medical College of this city that evolved into the Medical Department of Tulane University of Louisiana.
NOTES ON OAK ALLEY PLANTATION BY MRS . ANDREW STEWART
Oak Allee Plantation which has been restored in recent years by Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Stewart of New Orleans was originally owned by I. T. Roman, brother of Andre Roman, second Governor of Louisiana.
Mr. Roman built the house with mostly slave labor in 1837-39 on the west bank of the Mississippi, fifty-eight miles above New Orleans in what is known as “The Sugar Bowl” of Louisiana. Only thirteen hundred and sixty acres remain of what was once a princely estate noted for its beauty and hospitality.
The house is the Greek revival type of architecture with twenty-eight Doric columns eight feet in circumference, and double galleries going all around the house. It is seventy feet square, built of brick, plastered over, and painted a soft creamy pink. The railing of cypress which looks like wrought-iron, and the shutters are painted the green vailed “Vert Antique.”
NOTES ON OAK ALLEY PLANTATION
255
The columns are also of solid brick, plastered over, and all the windows on the first and second floors, except the back are French with small pane glass in the upper half, solid wood below, and transoms overhead. The fine Colonial entrance doors are repeated front and back, and on the second floor.
The columns are draped in vines gracefully trained to the tops of such old favorites as honeysuckle, ivy, Star, or “Confederate” jasamine, Lady Banksia, Marechal Niel, Lamarque, and pink Cherokee roses, morning glories, and “Cadena d’ Amour” (chain of Love), the Antigonon Leptopus, generally called “Rose of Montana.”
Old kettles once used for boiling sugar in the “open kettle molasses” days are now water-lily and water-hyacinth pools in which gold fish swim colorfully.
There are forty-one magnificent old live oaks near the house, and its two guest houses, a magnolia grove, orange grove, and many enormous pecan trees, and tall persimmons, cedar and camphor trees. The avenue of twenty-eight live oaks meeting overhead extends almost a quarter of a mile from the porch to the levee and river.
The spread of branches from outside tips across the arch to outside tips measures a hundred and ninety-seven feet, and eighty- seven across the arch from trunk to trunk, forty feet apart in a row of fourteen on each side. The largest tree is twenty-one feet in circumference five feet from the ground, and the others vary from fifteen to nineteen feet. The grass grows luxuriantly, under these trees making a green carpet for the play of light and shadow.
It is not known by whom the garden was laid out, and very little remains of it except a fine old Magnolia fuscata tree. But the avenue of Oaks are said to have been planted and to have been flourishing for some years before the house was built.
The entrance drive was bordered with Crepe Myrtle trees which were destroyed long ago. These and the fig, orange and fruit groves have been replaced by the present owners, who have added an avenue of bamboo, Dondrocalamonns Litifolus, and one of bananas, parkinsonia trees with oleanders planted between them, and large plantations of evergreen and flowering trees and shrubs with a tree hedge around the entire grounds of ligustrum and Magnolia Grandiflora.
256
PLANTATION HOMES AND FAMILY TREES
There are eighty-seven people living on the plantation, seven white families and the rest negroes, making a little community in itself. The “Quarter” houses are some distance from the “big house,” and are “planted out” with evergreens. Each one has its own garden attractively planted.
Plan of Garden
The garden is oblong square enclosed by a tall hedge of yuccas on three sides and opening on to the east side of the house and is in fine proportion. Against the yucca hedge the wide borders are planted with native evergreen winter flowering shrubs, and plants. These borders are separated from the rose beds by brick walks, and a box hedge borders the generous grass plat in the center. Eight clipped box bushes in pairs form entrances from the brick walk to the center grass plat. The brick walks are bordered with violets, and the entire rose beds covered with pink oxalis.
END OF VOLUME II.
INDEX
INDEX TO VOLUME II.
Afton Villa, 76.
Aime, Francois, 17 Aime, Valcour, 17.
Albermarle Co., Virginia. 97, 98. Allain genealogy, 178.
Allain, Valerian, 177.
Allen, Mrs. Evelyn Parlange, 37. Almonaster, Micaela, 135.
Alston genealogy, 152.
Augustin, Jamas - George, 17. Autreuil, Martha, 1.
Avard de Solesne, Catherine, 1.
Baker family, 150.
Bayle, family, 150.
Bayou Roadi, 141.
Bayou St. John, 141.
Barrow, Dynasty, crest and coat- of-arms, genealogy, 75.
Barrow, Alexander, U. S. Senator from Louisiana, 79.
Barrow, Cordelia Johnson, 81. Barrow, Bartholomew, 81.
Barrow, Martha Hilliard, 77. Barrow, Robert Hilliard I, 77. Barrow, Robert Hilliard II, 81. Barrow, Robert Ruffin I, 81. Barrow, Robert Ruffin II, family, 81.
Barrow, Wyley Macajah, 80. Barrow, David of Afton Villa, 78. Bermudez de, family, 29.
Bienville de. Governor o'f Louisiana, 3.
Birdwood Manor, 97.
Boehm, genealogy, crest and coat- of-arms. Sir Joseph Edgar, 195. Bowman, family, 157.
Bowman, James Pirrie, 77.
Brent, General Joseph Lancaster, 85.
Brierre de, Paul, Mrs. Paul (Ida Theresa Van Vrendenburh) , 38.
Brierre, Paule (Mrs. W. C. Parlange), 37.
Bringier, crest and coat-of-arms. Dynasty, genealogy, 83.
Bringier Emmanuel Marius Pons, 83.
Bringier, Ignace, 83.
Bringier, Louis Amadde, 84. Bringier, Pierre, 83.
Bringier, Miss Trista, 86.
Burke, family, 207.
Burthe, Judge Victor, 56.
Butler, crest and coat-of-arms, genealogy, 52.
Butler Dynasty, 52.
Butlers, (The Fighting), 52. Butler, Fitzwalter, 52.
Butler, the Misses Sarah and Mary, 57.
Butler, Mrs. Thomas Butler, (Mary Fort), 56.
Castallanos Family, 253. Castellanos, Henry C., 5.
Catalpa Plantation, 63.
Castle Dublin, 12.
Cedars, The — Plantation Home of Butler family (T. W.), 57. Chateau die Bachelld, 225.
Chateau dte Beaulieu de Marconnay, 235.
Chateau de Chantilly, 27.
Chateau de Freneuse, 22.
Chateau de Mont l’Evecque, 135. Chateau de la Vergne, 18.
Chateau St. Aubin, 22.
Chauvin (de Charleville) , 1. Chauvin (de la Frenier), 1. Chauvin (de Lery), 1.
Chauvin (de Beaulieu), 1.
Chretien family of Chretien Point, 151.
Claiborne, Gov. W. C. C., 40. Colonial Country Club of New Orleans, 2.
Concorde Plantation (do la Vergne), 19.
Crevasse de Macarty, 5.
Cruzat de, Marie Josephine (Mrs. Edwin X. de Verges), 50.
D’Arensbourg, Chevalier, 142. D’Auberville, 22.
D’Auvergne, Baron Douradou, 83. Damoiseau (de Verges), 46. D’Arensbourg, Marguerite, 12. D’Estrehan des Tours family, 180. D’Estrehan genealogy, 182. de Bachelld genealogy, 222. de Bachelld, description of crest and1 arms, illustration, 222. de Bachelld Chateau, 222. de Bachelld, Jacques — Countess Johanne, 222. de Beaufort Domitile, 39. de Beaulieu (Chauvin), 1. de Beaulieu de Lombard, 21. de Beaulieu de Marconnay, 232, 236.
de Beaulieu de Marconnay Chateau, 235.
de Beaulieu de Marconnay, Baron Herman Albert, 232. de Beaulieu de Marconnay, Marian Baronne, 232.
de Beaulieu de Marconnay, Baron Charles Philip, 232. de Beaulieu de Marconnay, General Charles of the French Army, 232.
de Beaulieu de Marconnay, Baron Charles Philip II, 232. de Beaulieu de Marconnay, .Mary Beacham Baronne, 232. de Beauregard, General P. G. T., 145.
de Beauregard, Touton family, 145. de Beauregard, Touton genealogy, 145, 146, 147.
de Beauregard, Mrs. P. G. T.
(Laure Marie Villere), 146. de Belair, Ignace Robert, 1. de Bellecastle Saunhac, 2.
de Brierre genealogy, 38. de Brierre, Hayacynthe, 38. de Brierre, Paul, 38. de Brierre, Paule (Mrs. W. C.
Parlange), 38. de Buys, genealogy, 160. de Buys, crest and coat-of-arms, 160.
de Buys, Gaspard Melchior, 160. de Buys, Madame N. E., 163. de Buys, Walter; James; Lucian;
Dr. Lawrence Richard, 163. de Buys, Mrs. L. R. (Miriam Duggan), 163.
De Cuzot, le Chevalier, 38. de Dreux de BrǤz, Mathurin, 20. De Frdneuse de St. Albins, genealogy, 22. de Frdneuse Chateau, 22. de Frdneuse, crest and arms, 18. de Frdneuse, Charles Alexander Landry, 22.
de Frdneuse, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Landry, 22.
de Frdneus, Henri Jacques Landry,
22.
de Forez, Count, 21. de Gournay, Perrine Therese, 21. des Islet de Lery (Chauvin), 37. de Jan, Eulalie, 161. de la Barrd family, 183. de la Barrd, description of crest and arms, 183.
de la Candelaria, Delphine Lopez Anguila, 14. de la Chaise, 26. de Lafayette, 27. de la Riviere, 21. de la Ronde, crest and coat of arms, genealogy, 132. de la Ronde, Sieur Pierre Denis, 132.
de la Ronde, Louise (Madame Almonaster), 135. de la Ronde, Pierre Denis II. Sieur, 136.
de la Ronde Avenue of Oaks, and Mansion “Versailles”, 136.
de la Source, Marie Genevieve, 4. de la Vergne, genealogy, crest, and coat o'f arms, 19. de la Tour, 3. de la Vergne Chateau, 19. de la Vergne, Plantation (Concord), 19.
de la Vergne, Count Pierre, 19. de la Vergne, Col. Hugues Jules, 19.
de la Vergne, Count Bony, 20. de la Vergne, Countess Bony, (Marguerite de la Vergne), 20. de la Vergne, Home in New Orleans, 26.
de la Vergne, Country Home, 19. de Lino de Chalmet, crest and coat of arms, Martin, 49. de Livaudais, genealogy, 3. de Livaudais (Dugue de) crest and coat of arms, 3.
de Livaudais, Jacques Esnould1, Count, 6.
de Livaudais, Countess Jacques (Marie Celeste de Marigny de Mandeville), 6. de Livaudais Plantation, 5. de Luzeib, Charles de Hault de Lassus, 39.
de Macarty, Crevasse, 175. de Macarty Genealogy, crest and coat of arms, 170. de Macarty, Mademoiselle, 174. de Marigny de Mandeville genealogy, 131.
de Marigny, Pierre Philippe, 131. de Marigny, Bernard, 131. de Marigny, Antoine Marie (la perle), 131.
Denis, Arthur; Henry; Louise (Mrs. Charles Parlange), 137. de Reggio, Helen Judith, 146. de Reggio, Francois Marie Chevalier, 146.
d’Estrehan, genealogy, 180, 181, 182.
de Vaudreiul, Marquis, 2.
de Verges de St. Sauveur, genealogy, description of arms, 47. de Verges, Chevalier Bernard, 48. de Verges, Plantations, 51. de Verges, Mrs. Edwin X. de Verges, Garsie Arnaud, 46. de Verges, Philip M. D., Edwin X., 50.
de Vezin, genealogy, 42. de Villbiss, genealogy, crest and coat of arms, 228. de Villerd, genealogy, crest and coat of arms, 141. de Villerd Etienne Roy, 141. de Villerd, Joseph Roy, 141. de Villerd, Jacques Philippe Roy, 142.
de Villerd, Jules, 144. de Villerd plantation ‘Conseil”.
144.
de Wartegg, Baron, Baronne, (Minnie Hauk), 229. d’Otrange, Count Berham Joseph, 24.
du Bourg, Louis Guillaume Valentine (Archbishop), 90. du Bourg, M. Pierre, 89. du Bourg, Pierre Francis, 90. du Bourg, Aglae (Madame Michel Duradou Bringier), 91. du Bourg, genealogy, crest and coat of arms, 89. du Broca family records 177. du Broca, Madame Valentine, 177. diu Fossat — Soniat genealogy, 1. du Fossat — Soniat Chateau, 2. du Fossat, Chevalier Guy de Soniat, 2.
du Fossat-Soniat, Charles, 2. Dugud, de Livaudais, 3.
Dugud, Robert G., Robert Jr., 2. Dugud, Amalie (Mrs. J. N. Roussel), 14
Dugud, Robert, Mrs. Robert (Robin Brown), 14.
Dugud, Lucille (Mrs. Lucian de Buys), 14.
Dugud, Mrs. Randall (Susan Glover), 14.
Dugud, (Mrs. Emile de Buys), 14. Dupuy, genealogy, crest and coat- o£ arms, 236.
Durand, Marie Francoise, 83.
Ellis genealogy, 65.
Ellis, Abram, 65.
Ellis, Eugene, 65.
Ellis, Mrs. Eugene (Marguerite Butler), 65.
Ellis, Miss Anna B., 65.
Ellis, Eugene, home of, 66.
Eustis, George, 177.
Eustis, Mrs. George (Clarisse Allain), 177.
Eustis, James, 177.
Farwell genealogy, 29.
Farwell crest and coat-of-arms, 29. Farwell, Miss Nellie, 35.
Farwell Manor, 35.
Farwell, Charles A. I., 29.
Farwell, Charles A. II, 33.
Farwell, Charles A. Ill, 33.
Farwell, F. Evans, 34.
Farwell, Mrs. F. Evans (Lynne Paxton Hecht), 35.
Faubourg St. Germaine, 136. Faubourg de Marigny, 2.
Fazende de, Jeanne Henriette, 20. Forstall Genealogy, Dynasty, 11. Forstall, description of crest and coat-of-arms, 11.
Forstall, Nicholas Michel Edmond,
12.
Forstall, Edmond John Plantation, 13.
Forstall, Placide, 62.
Forstall, Edward Pierre, 13.
Forstall Rathbone Home, New Orleans, 14.
Forstall, Melle. Celeste (Madame Henry Alason Rathbone). 14. Forstall, Madame Edward Pierre Charles (Celeste de Laville- beuvre), 13.
Fortier, Francois, 16.
Fortier genealogy, 16.
Fortier, Alcde, 18.
Fremont, John the explorer, 200. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Frotscher, 190.
Frotscher, Lydia Elizabeth, 190. Fuselier, de la Clair', 150.
Galbreath, Pinkney, 38.
Gautreaux, Madame, 44.
Gayarrd, Charles (Louisiana Historian), 1.
Gayoso, Felicite de Beauregard, 82. German Coast, 143.
Gentilly, Commune of, 140.
Gordon, Martin, 85.
Gottschalk, 24.
Green, Sir Thomas, 119.
Greenwood Plantation (Barrow), 82.
Grymes, William Bryan, 188. Grymes, John Randolph, 189. Grymes, Annie Laurie (Mrs. Thos. H. Hewes), 188.
Hauk, Jonathan, 229.
Hauk, Minnie (Baronne de War- tegg) Opera singer, 230.
Haunted House (de la Chaise), 5. Heraford, 96.
Hewes genealogy, 184.
Hewes, Thomas H., 185.
Hewes, Elliot Henderson, 185. Hewes Plantation (Pleasant View), 185.
Hicky family, 164.
Hicky, Col. Philip, 164.
Hicky plantation diary, 164.
Hincks, Hon. J. W., 24.
Hincks, Louise Heldne Leda (Mrs. Charles Edouard Schmidt) noted musician, 24.
Hope Estate (Plantation of the Hicky family), 164.
Huguenot Society, 36.
Humphries, Ethlyn (Mrs. A. A. Poirson), 38.
Jefferson, Thomas, 85.
Jenkens, Mrs. Matilda, 104.
Jesuit Plantation, 2.
Kaufmann, Allard, 253. Kaufmann, Mrs. Allard (Julia Armstrong), 253.
Kenner, Hon. Duncan Farrar, 85, 87.
Kenner, Rosella (Mrs. J. L. Brent), 185.
Kinney family, 231.
Kinney, William Henry, 231.
Knox Hall, Montgomery, Ala., 105. Knox, Myra Eulalie (Mrs. Thos. J.
Semmes), 108.
Knox, William, 105.
Koch, Julius, 190.
Koch, Richard, 190, 191.
Koch, William, 191.
Koch, Minna Frotscher, 191.
Koch, Emilie Frotscher, 191.
Koch, Anna Frotscher, 191.
Koch, Julie Frotscher, 191. Konzelman (Councilman) family,
233.
Konzelman, Fred William, 233. Konzelman, Charles de Beaulieu,
234.
Konzelman, Albert S. de Beaulieu, 234.
Konzelman, Charles de Beaulieu, Jr., 234.
Lafrenier, 1.
Lanaux, Louise Valentine (Mrs.
John Coleman), 148.
Lanaux, George Charles, 148. Lanaux^ genealogy, 147.
Larendon, Mrs. Charles A. (Laure Beauregard), 146.
Larendon, Laure Beauregard-, 146. Larendon, Charles A., 146. Lavigne, Voisin, 4.
Lavillebeuvre, Fannie, 14.
Le Andre, Anna, 177.
Lee, Mrs. Lilian Parlange, 37.
Levert family, General J. B. Plantation, 242.
Lind, Jennie, 136.
Lisky Manor and estate, 253.
Liszt, Franz (name spelled wrong in book), 231.
Livaudais de Dugue’, crest and coat of arms, genealogy, 3.
Livaudais de Dugue’, plantation, 5.
Livaudais de Marquise, letters to and from the King of France, 8.
Lyons, Henry E., 157.
Macpherson family, 221.
Mahew family, 253.
Mandeville, La., 131.
Marigny de Faubourg, 2.
Marigny de, genealogy, crest and coat-of-arms, 131.
Marigny de Marquis, 132.
Marigny de, Bernard, 131.
Marigny de, Marie Celeste (Marquise de Livaudais), 132.
Marigny, Antoine (la perle), 132.
Matas, Dr. Rudolph, 114.
Mather, James (1807), 4th Mayor of New Orleans, 167.
Matthews family, 156, 157.
Mays, family J. R., 81.
Mellon, Mrs. Delos (Corinne Cas- tallanos), 253.
Melpomene, 92.
Milliken, Richard Allen, Mrs. Richard Allen (Debora Farwell), 28.
Milliken Memorial Hospital, 28.
Mock family, 231.
Morton family, 234.
Molinary, Andres, Mrs. Andres, (Marie Madeleine Seebold), 220.
Muller, Hans Nicholas, 193.
Muller, Richard Frotscher, 193.
Myrtles, The, 250.
McCutchon, 55.
Newcomb, Sophie — Women’s Dept, of Tulane University, New Orleans, 23.
Nichols Genealogy, 232.
Nichols, William Wallace, 232. Nichols, Marian (Baronne de Bean- lieu de Marconnay), 232. Northumberland, Earl of, 68.
Oak Alley Plantation notes, 254. Oak Grove Plantation, 249. O’Reilly, Count, 143.
Ormond, Duke of, Earl of, 53.
Parker, Walter, genealogy, 237. Parlange, Col. Charles of the French Army, 36.
Parlange, Hon. Charles, U. S. District Judge of Louisiana, 36. Parlange, Mrs. Charles (Melle.
Louise Denis), 36.
Parlange, Mrs. Walter Charles (Paule Brierre), 36.
Parr, Katherine, 119.
Percy, John Hereford, 71.
Percy, genealogy, 67.
Percy, Dr. Thomas B., 70.
Percy, Robert, 70.
Pharr, Josephine, 253.
Pipes, genealogy, 59.
Pipes, David, Mrs. David (Miss Anna Key Fort), 61.
Pipes, John, 59.
Pipes, Randolph Windsor, 61.
Pipes Town House, Plantation Home Beech Grove, East Feliciana, La., 62.
Pipes, David W. II., 61.
Pipes, Sarah Randolph (Mrs.
Walter J. Crawford), 61.
Pipes, William Fort, 61.
Pirrie, Eliza, 157.
Pitkin, genealogy, William, Gov. of Connecticut, Horace Tracy Pitkin, 239, 240.
Pitkin, Helen (Mrs. Christian Schertz), 240, 241.
Pitkin, Walter B., 240, 241. Plauche, Alexander, Genealogy, Plauche Urbain, 72, 73, 74. Plauche, Mary (Mrs. Henry Dart 1), 74.
Plauche, (General Jean Baptiste), 74.
Pocohontas, Portrait, 127. Pontalba de, Celestin, Micaela Baronne, 135, 136.
Pontalba, Baron, Buildings, New Orleans, 136.
Portrait, a famous, 44.
Poujard de Juvisi, Barons of, 148. Prudhomme, family (Golden Wedding), 245, 246.
Quartier de la Marmalade, 90.
Randolph, Gov. Mann of Virginia, 35.
Ranlett, A. Sidney Sr., family, 113. Ranlett, Mrs. A. Sidney Sr. (Cora Semmes), 113.
Ranlett, David Low, 113.
Rareshide, Genealogy, crest and coat-of-arms, 149.
Rareshide, Charles Alfred. Lanaux, 149.
Rathbone, crest and coat-of-arms, genealogy, 158.
Rathbone Mansion, 14.
Rathbone, Henry Alason, 14. Rathbone, Samuel, 14.
Rathbone, Melle. Stella (Mrs.
Gaspard de Buys), 15.
Reggio de, family, 146.
Revolution, French, 171.
Reynaud, Louis, 38.
Rosebank Manor, 77.
Sargent, John Singer, 44.
Schertz, Mrs. Christian (Helen Pitkin), 241.
Schmidt, Charles Edward, 23. Schmidt, Mrs. Charles Edward (Louise Helene Leda Hincks),
24.
Schmidt, Gustavus, 24.
Seebold, crest and coat-of-Arms, genealogy, 209.
Seebold, American Branch, 216.
Sdghers, genealogy, 25.
S6ghers, Dominicque, 26.
Sdghers, Julius, 25.
Semmes, genealogy, 104.
Semmes, Hon. Thos. J., 104.
Semmes, Mrs. Thos. J. (Myra Eulalie Knox), 103 -108.
Semmes, Raphael, Dr. Alexander J., 104-106.
Semmes, America (Mrs. Rice W. Payne), 106.
Sieur de Gentilly, 2.
Sloo, Mrs. Thomas (Nanine Maria Brent), 88.
Smyth, Dr. John, Dr. Andrew, Mrs. John (Jean Sully), 114, 115, 118.
Soniat du Fossat, Charles, genealogy, 1, 2.
Sparks family, 80.
Sparks, Thomas, 80.
St. Aubin Chauteau, 23.
Stauffer, Isaac, family, 102.
Stauffer, Mrs. Walter R. (Betty M. Taylor), 86.
Stauffer, Mrs. Isaac Hull (Myrthd Bianca Taylor) 86.
Stewart, Andrew Family, 253.
Stewart, Mrs. Andrew (Josephine Armstrong), 253.
Stewart Plantation (Tignal Jones), 63.
Stirling, Alexander, 154.
St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, 142.
St. Mario, Corsair of, 4.
St. Paul (St. Pol), crest and coat- of-Arms, genealogy, 21.
St. Paul de Hugues Cage, Mrs. Hugues Cage (Leda Hdlene de la Vergne), 21.
St. Paul de John, 21.
Sully, genealogy, 119.
Sully, Sir Thomas, artist, 119, 123.
Sully, Thomas, architect, 119, 120,
121.
Sully, Matthew, artist, 121.
Sully, Julia (Miss), 122.
Sully, Jean (Mrs. John Smyth), 118.
Taylor, Betty (Mrs. W. R. Stauffer), 86.
Taylor, Lieut. General Richard, 86.
Taylor, Myrthd Bianca (Mrs. I. H. Stauffer), 86.
Taylor, seal ring heirloom of the Taylor family, 85.
Taylor, Zachary, President, 85.
Taylor, crest and coat-of-arms, Jane (Mrs. Michel de Vilbiss), 228.
Tchoupitoulas Reservation, 2.
Totness plantation, 85.
Trianon plantation (Chevalier Bernard de Verges), 51.
Trist, crest and coat-of-arms, genealogy, 96.
Trist, General Hore Browse, 97.
Trist, Julien Bringier, 85.
Trist, Nicholas Philip, 85.
Trist, Rosella, 85.
Tureaud - Trudeau, 84, 85.
Turnbull, Sarah, 157.
Van Vrendenburh, William H., 38.
Vaudreuil Marquis de, 2.
Versailles Plantation and Oak Avenue, 136.
VillerS de, genealogy, crest and coat-of-^arms, 141.
Villerd de, Jacques Philippe, Governor, 146.
VillerS de, Joseph Roy, 143.
Viller6 de, plantation home (Conseil), 144.
Vogluzan, Marguerite de, 70.
von Dalberg Castle (von Dahl- berg), 195.
von Dalberg (Dahlberg), Knight Wolf, 198.
von dem Brink - Seebold, 209. von Grabow, Ernest Romanus Guidio Roudolph, Baron, 102. von Phul family, 176. von Phul, Bible record, 176.
Wagner, Richard, 231.
Wakefield Manor, 248.
Wakefield Plantation, 248. Walmsley genealogy, no. 111, 112. Walmsley, Robert Miller, 110. Walmsley, Sylvester Pierce I, 111. Walmsley, Mrs. S. P., Sr., (Myra Eulalie Semmes) home, 112. Ware genealogy, 244.
Ware, Jas. A., 243.
Ware Plantation Home “Belle Grove, 244.
Ware, Mrs. Jas. A. (Mary Eliza Stone), 244.
Wavertree Plantation, 129.
Wells, William Willing, 246.
White Hall Plantation (Maison Blanche), Vol. I, 83
Wilkinson Family, 250.
Wilkinson, James, 250.
Wogan, Angele Charles, 38.
Wogan, Victor Bienvenu, 44.
Wood family, crest and coat-of- arms, 99.
Wood, Captain Peleg, 99.
Wood, Col. John Taylor, U. S. A., C. S. A., 101.
Wood, Robert C., 95.
Wood, Bringier Trist, 101.
Woody, Nelson, Mrs. Nelson (Edith Brierre) 38.