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Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 A R K A N S A S Introduction Through Way back when first infected with the virus THE LOOKING GLASS curiosity about the residents of Arkansas prior to the Louisiana purchase, a 1794 burial of record in the Myra Vaughan copy of the Arkansas 1743 DOCUMENTS Catholic Register (l) piqued the imagination... / Could Antoine Lepine be a remanent of the mystery shrouded Law Colony, continuing to almost the dawn of American Arkansas...or...even more tantalizing, a carryover from de Tonti's 1686 complement? It was the only instance noted in which "Ancient Post of Arkansas" was used in the records entered in the register. Now, several years (and many thousands of words examined about both French and Spanish Colonial America) later, it can be stated that Antoine Lepine was not from the 1686 first Arkansas settlement. Although the link to or disassociation of this LEPINE family with the Law Colony is not yet completely resolved, this "Ancient Post of Arkansas" can be documented. Among the documents of French Colonial Louisiana held by the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, are two dated October 1743 of Arkansas Post origin...a petition by a resident widow to the Post Commandant and a subsequent inventory of community property at the husband's death, Previously, the earliest located inventory of the holdings of an Arkansas family had been that of Pierre LeFevre dated 8 February 1810. (3) In addition to the sociological, economical, commercial and legal glimpses of Arkansas in the 1740's revealed (and more exciting to this researcher), named are fifteen possible 'players'in the Ark-ansas drama to be worked into the 'script'. Acknowledgments Translations of these enlightening documents being shared here with BULLETIN readers is possible only through the generosity of many which is gratefully acknowledged» .....Louisiana State Museum, for permission to publish. Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 - ... Ghislaine Pleasonton, former Associate Curator, and. Susan Leman, Archives Assistant, of the Museum's Louisiana Historical Center, who located the desired documents for photostating and provided inter-pretative assistance. ...All the staff members of the Jackson Square Library who have been so helpful to this novice through the years. ...Mrs. Nicole Vable Hatfield, Conway, Ark., GPH Society's long standing friend and benefactor, for translation of the inventory. ...Anton Pregaldin, Clayton, Mo., fellow history buff, for prompt response to plea for translation of the petition not acquired until after Nicole had departed for the summer in France. In the annals of the history of western civilization, the decade of the l740's was dominated by one of the series of almost endless wars waged by the colonizers of North America from the Jamestown settlement to the Declaration of Independence. Europe's feudal order of the Middle Ages disintegrated amid fierce resistance to change, resulting in great intellectual, moral, religious, military, econo-mic, physical and political turmoil in the Old World...and great waves of migration to the New World. The War of Jenkin's Ear between England and France, begun in 1739f widened into the War of the Austrian Succession, part of the Anglo-French colonial and dynastic rivalry frequently referred to as the Second hundred years' war. Among others, this war involved Eng-land, France, Spain, Austria and Prussia. The signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the official end of this struggle, did not resolve the colonial issues. Rather, it was actually only a truce to regroup for the next conflict...the Seven Years' War...in America known as the French and Indian War. In American history the War of the Austrian Succession is known as King George's War, and the fighting on this continent was between 1744 and 1748. Here the Immediate cause was dispute over the bound-ary of Acadia (Nova Scotia of today) and northern New England, and the struggle over the Ohio Valley. On the frontiers of America the fighting was characterized by bloody attacks and retaliations between alignments of the waring powers, their colonists and their respective Indian allies. With this general orientation as to the status and moods of the Western World in the 1740's, let's zero in on the Arkansas of 1743.... Archeological and historical investigations through the years confirm that the "Post of Arkansas" occupied a succession of sites between the mouth of the Arkansas River and the present location from 1686 to 1804. Building on earlier writings and conclusions (4), in 1956 historian Ray H. Mattison began historical investigations for the National Park Service which established the national signi-figance of Arkansas Post as a great crossroads of history (5) and contributed to the establishment of the Arkansas Post National Memorial. (6) Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 The "Ancient Post of Arkansas" of Antoine Lepine's youth Is re-vealed to also be the setting for the early scenes in the continuing drama of the Arkansas depicted in these 174 documents. Of this Ark-ansas Post No. 2, Mattison writes..."Contemporary evidence is...very conclusive as to the location of the Arkansas Post constructed in 1732...about 10 to 15 miles above the mouth of the Arkansas and on the north side of that stream...It appears to have been abandoned in the early 1750's.(7) Faye calls it the "only French post that... ever stood below the Arkansas forks" and writes that Commandant DeMoncharvaux* s (8) headquarters (our 174 focal point) was precar-iously situated below the flood level and that the commandant found it necessary to enclose the area of his fort, occupying three quarters of an acre, with a parapet levee. (9) Contemporary writings shed additional light on 1743 Arkansas. The Post Commandant, Ensign St. Therese de Langloiserie, wrote of the buildings in 1734: ..."They consist of a wooden house on sleepers thirty-two feet long by eighteen feet wide, roofed with bark, consisting of three rooms on the ground floor, one of which has a fireplace, the floors and ceilings of cyprus, a powder magazine built of woods on sleepers ten feet long and eight feet wide, a prison built of posts driven into the ground, roofed with bark, ten feet long by eight feet wide, and a building which serves as a bar-racks, also of posts driven into the ground forty feet long by sixteen feet wide, roofed with bark." (10) A visiting Jesuit Priest wrote in 1738: ..."The fort is small; a larger one (is) not needed for the twelve men who are there commanded by an officer. A few Frenchmen attracted by the hope of trade with the In-dians are settled nearby. "The ssionary is a Jesuit (Father Avond). The lodging of the Father is a makeshift hut| the walls are made of split log, the roof of Cyprus bark, and the chimney of mud, mixed with dry grass which is the straw of the country. I have lived elsewhere in such dwellings, but nowhere did I have so much fresh air. The house is full of cracks from top to bottom..." (ll) In the late 1720*s the Indian tribes in the lower Mississippi Valley banded together in an effort to foil the take-over of their homelands by the European powers with colonial aspirations. In 1729-30 the Natchez tribe annihilated the French at Fort Rosalie (in the vicinity of present-day Natchez, Miss.), but the Choctaws turned on the Natchez so that by 1731 only remanents of the tribe remained. Unable to overcome traditional enemlties and sustain the cooperative military offensive that might have expelled the whites, the tribes in the 1730's aligned themselves variously with the l*rench and English.. .principal alliances being the Choctaw with the Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 French and the Chickasaw and Natchez remanents with the English. , Arkansas Post No. 2 was at the crossroads of this phase of the Anglo- French colonial rivalry...the Chickasaw Wars of the 1730*s. (12) Menaced from above, below and in front by the Chickasaw and their Indian allies, whose homeland and principal range was across the Mississippi River to the east, and from the rear by the west-ward roaming Osage, indiscriminately hostile to all encroachers, red or white, the Arkansas Post position would have been untenable except for the continuing loyalty of the Quapaw. Even though the Chickasaw uprisings had been put down by the all-out offensives of the late 1730's, it was an uneasy peace for the Arkansas French of 17^3- The Chickasaw continued their alliances with the Engliah (and their raids against the French)j the Choctaw wavered In loyalty now between the French and the English) the Osage were as fierce and unrelenting as ever. Luckily, the ^uapaw did not waver, but tragically, their num-ber was decimated by the diseases of the white men they befriended. On the seventh day of May in thi3 Arkansas of 1743, Faye re-lates, "Guillaume...a trader... accompanied by his wife, by an engage Carignan and by six other engages...was paddling up the Mississippi when, not far below the Arkansas raouth, a band of Chickasaw fell upon the party. One Frenchman met death straightwayj the other men were taken prisoners, but Guillaume's wife escaped on the Mississippi right bank. The Chickasaw carried Guillaume and the surviving engages to the left bank, where Guillaume also escaped..." (13) The stage Is set for the petition of the resident widow to the Arkansas Post commandant in October of 1743- For increased reader understanding and appreciation of this document...It is written on an oversize sheet of paper, approximately twelve inches long by fifteen inches wide. It appears to be the original Instrument penned in Arkansas. Most was still legible in the photostats translator Pregaldin worked from as Ms. Leman thoughtfully provided "two copies, a light and a dark, as we find this method helpful in reading faded documents. The dark copy is useful for reading the faded areas on either side while the light copy can be used to read the darker sec-tion in the middle." Although Mr. Pregaldin could decipher most of the words, he comments, "I find this document difficult to translate, especially the first part, I think it is written in an attempted "legalese" style which sounds almost as awkward in French as it does in my translation." As a present day attorney-at-law and student of French Colonial legal proceedings, he helpfully adds, "By custom (of the times) and as normally provided in marriage contracts, the surviving spouse got to use the jointly owned property until death or remarri-age. Upon the occurence of one of these events, it was necessary to settle up with the sons, sons-in-law and unmarried daughters. In this case, it appears Madame Leplne wanted to settle with one of her sons-in- law ahead of schedule because he had suffered some disaster in the Indian trade. The commandant agreed to her generous request." Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 A reproduction, of the petition heading reduced more than one-half "TO MONSIEUR DEMONCHARVAUX, LIEUTENANT OF INFANTRY, COMMANDANT OF THE KING AT THE FORT OF ARKANSAS "Begs very humbly ANNE CATHERINE CHENALENNE, widow of late LEPINE, and would have the honor to represent to you that in conse-quence of the accident which happened to the one called GUILLAUME BIENVENUE, her son-in-law, and his wife, who have lost all their property, she would like to make inventory of what she posseses, in order to give legally the part that would come to him when it shall please the Lord to reunite them (her and her late husband), without prejudice to her other children living with the said supplicant. "Ibis (having been) considered, Monsieur, may it please you to transport yourself to the residence of the supplicant with witnesses named by you to see, appraise and evaluate the little property which remains in the hands of the aforesaid WIDOW CHENALENNE, Widow Lepine, since the death of the late Sieur JEAN FRANCOIS LEPINE, her husband, In order to give the portion due her poor children, at least to those who have run so much risk among the savages. For this, count-ing on your good and natural heart to do justice in this, "Virtue in place and stead "For Madame Widow Lepine." Commandant DeMoncharvaux's answer to the Widow Lepine's petition follows... "In view of the representation made to me by Madame WIDOW LEPINE, the inventory will be proceeded to next Saturday, October 26, of the real and personal property derived from the marital community between the late JEAN FRANCOIS LEPINE and Dame CATHERINE CHENALENNE (and) their lawful heirs, to whose profit....(illegible)... with us, to wit, Sieurs LOUIS GISCARD dit BENOIST and CHARLES GROSSILON in the name of the said Widow on one hand, and Sieurs JEAN LAFLEUR with PIERRE IMBAU dlt LAJEUNESSE for the living minor children, to evaluate every-thing, to the interest of the latter, without partiality. "At the Arkansas, 23rd October 17^3. /S/ TISSERAN DEMONCHARVAUX" Accordingly, the following Saturday, Commandant DeMoncharvaux and the appointed appraisers gathered at the Lepine residence les3 than a hundred yards from Mattison's Arkansas Post No. 2 to list and value the community property of the late Jean Francois Lepine and his surviving spouse. What has survived of the resulting inventory is Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page not the instrument penned in Arkansas in 1743 but a copy made the following January by a Notary whose signature the translator could not decipher and which the writer has not yet identified. The loss of the original sadly denies the opportunity to compare the names of the participants as written in the document with actual signatures (many times most revealing to researchers) or to learn of other Ark-ansas residents who may have been present as witnesses and "willing" to sign. Appended to the inventory copy is a copy of a receipt for 300 livres paid on a debt to Sieur ANTOINE COLLERET "since above men-tioned inventory" attested by Commandant DeMoncharvaux...apparently a debt of the Lepine community to be deducted before distribution to widow and heirs. Mrs. Hatfield worked with five legal size pages of photostats, all acoeptably legible except the appended receipt noted above. She comments, "This is a fascinating document. I felt some of the words I could not decipher might suddenly become clear, but there is not much context...spelling, handwriting, even vocabulary, changed so that it is almost like decoding hieroglyphics." As a personal aside, she notes that October 26 is her Mother's and her daughter Mathilda's birth date. Ms. Leman contributes for reader understanding concerning the monetary units used, "Colonial currency in the document is in livres and sols. At that time 20 sols made up one livre." Since this 1979 typewriter does not have the symbols used in the document, 1. will be used for livres and e.for sols in this translation. Reproduction of inventory opening that correlates with petition heading (reduced one-third) "This, the twenty-sixth of October seventeen hundred forty-three, in our presence, JEAN FRANCOIS TISSERAN ECUYER SIEUR DEMONCHARVAUX, Commandant of the King at the Fort of Arkansas, there took place upon request of MADAME CHENALENE, Widow LEPINE, an inventory of posses-sions left and coming from their matrimonial union, to be subsequently appraised for the benefit of the widow and her living children born of this marriage, in the presence of Sieurs LOUIS GISCARD dlt BENOIST and CHARLES GR0SILLI0N in the name of the above mentioned widow on one hand, and Sieurs JEAN LAFLEUR dit EMMANUELLE with PIERRE IMBAU dlt LAJUENESSE on behalf of the minor children, TO WITi Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 "An old house, with all the small buildings fit to shelter the cattle, consisting of three small buildings, all located between forty and forty-five toises (Notei old measure equivalent to two yards) from the fort, plus twelve horned animals some large, some small, fourteen hogs, large and small, plus three black slaves, this is, two men and one woman, with an old crippled Indian woman, thi3 all valued at , . 6000 1. PLUS, In the hands of Monsieur FLAMAND, according to the letter dated 23 Aug 1743, for tallow sent to him, amounting to the sum of 4000 1. PLUS, a receipt presently given by MADAME L'PINE for 1740 pounds of tallow at 6 s./pound, amount-ing to the sum of 822 1, PLUS, a note by B0NNEF0ND dated 23 March 1743, amounting to the sum of 130 1. One same, from BARON dated 18 March 1743, amount-ing to tiie sum of . 46 1. 10 s. Another one, from MIGN0N, dated 18 March 1743, amounting to the sum PLUS, a note of FRANCOEUR dated 18 March 1743, in the amount of 200 1. One same, from BAUDOIN dated 18 March 1743, amounting to the sum of 140 1. A bill in arrears due 29 Sept 1743 from Monsieur FLAMAND, in the amount of 1532 1. 1600 pounds of tobacco coming from the 1743 crop amounting to 1600 1. Four old metal caldrons, valued at 40 1. Nine plates and two small dishes and three spoons of old pewter, valued at 18 1. 25 s., amounting to 22 1. 10 s. One dozen old steel forks, valued at 11.10s. Two frying pans, one large and one small, of tin, I estimated the amount of 9 1* Two drip-pans, I value at 5 1« 14630 1. 10 s. "After reading in a loud and clear voice, we declared the in-ventory good and valid according to declaration made to us by said Widow and witnessesj concerning her as well as the orphans, in case It should happen that some item that she learns of was not declared Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 on the inventory, the widow will bring it back (and have appraised). "The undersigned gentlemen and witnesses also declare they are not aware that any article was omitted, and that they have appraised sincerely, and valued for everyone's benefit according to their know-ledge of each item in keeping with its value In Arkansas this day and year, in the presence of LOUIS GISCARD dit BENOIST and CHARLES GROSILLION dit TOURANGEAU (Note by translator: Indicates from Touraine, a province in France, capital, Tours.), JEAN LAFLEUR dit EMMANUELLE, PIERRE IMBAU dit LAJEUN1SSE, the latter mentioned declared he could not write and was called, according to ordinances, to put his regu-lar mark in our presence and that of witnesses here mentioned and others who are willing to be present to vouch for the widow and or-phans. "Compared with the original the 24th of January 17^4." It is not revealed when or how Jean Francois Lepine met his demise. HOW could have been disease, drowning, Indian or wild ani-mal attack, even foul play, but odds are that WHEN was not too many months before October 1743. Women were a premium in the Mississippi Valley in the early eighteenth century with widowhood usually a short term state. Madame Lepine, possessing slaves, cattle, buildings, cleared land and business interests, most certainly would have at-tracted suitors like honey trees drew the Arkansas black bears. Sieur Lepine is reflected not only as a pioneer farmer of pre-sent day Arkansas County land, producing cattle and tobacco, but an entrepreneur of export and import. The "four old metal caldrons" may have served in rendering the "tallow" from the abundant wild game of the Arkansas (possibly that of the black bear much in demand) for export. The notes listed were probably given for supplies and trade goods he imported for sale to hunters and trappers making the Arkan-sas Post headquarters for expeditions 'up' the various watercourses to the Arkansas interior. The absence of any household furniture...beds, tables, chests, etc...is conspicuous. Before concluding Arkansas households of the day, even those of the owners of three black slaves, contained none, it would be necessary to know the terms of the couple's marriage con-tract. Furniture and household linens could have been brought to the marriage by the bride and exempt from this enumeration of the marital community. On the other hand, being forced for the safety and protec-tion of their persons and goods, and by the trade opportunities af-forded, to establish their residence in the shadow of a fort pre-cariously situated below the flood level, the Lepines may have deem-ed furniture and household amenities an unwarranted burden as well as an unsound Investment. These are some reflections in the "looking glass" of these 1743 documents. Many more sire there. Try your hand at visualizing what it was like In Arkansas two hundred and thirty-six years ago. It's ex-citing, mind expanding and funI Dorothy Jones Core Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page REFERENCES! (1) R. P. Baker, '"Hie Myra McAlmont Vaughan Collection", Bicentennial Project Grand Prairie Historical Society, ABSTRACT of CATHOLIC REGISTER of ARKANSAS (l?64- 1858), DeVitt Publishing Co., DeWitt, Ark. (1976), p 3 (2) Abstract of record...On 11 May 1794 ANTOINE LEPINE, native of the Ancient Post of Arkansas, who died yesterday aged about sixty years, was buried in the presence of Jean Baptiste DuChassin, Antoine Beauvals, Serano and others... (3) Dorothy Jones Core, "First Bankruptcy in Arkansas County Records", Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN, Vol l6, No. 3 A 4, p 8-13 (4) Stanley Faye devoted many years to historical investigations of Arkansas Post and published his findings and conclusions in Louisiana Historical Quarterly t "The Arkansas Post of Louisi-ana: French Dominion", Vol. 26, p 633-721, and "Arkansas Post of Louisianai Spanish Domination", Vol. 27, p 629-716. (5) "It (Arkansas Post) is one of the great crossroads, where at certain moments during the past four centuries the exemplars of the most powerful representative forces of modern history have passed through, leaving the Imprint of their personalities, their purposes, and their contributions to humanity," Lily Peter, "Salute to Arkansas Post", The Delta Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Mar. 1969), p 84 (6) Ray H. Mattison, REPORT ON THE HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF ARKANSAS POST, ARKANSAS, National Park Service, Omaha, Nebr., (1957) (7) Ibid., p 84 (8) The name of the Arkansas Post Commandant in 1743 appears variously in published sources. Hie writer has chosen to use in this article the signature configuration and spelling found in the title documents. (9) Faye, op. cit., LAHQ, Vol 26(68l (10) Mattison, op. cit., p 22 (11) Ibid. (12) Other casualties of the Chickasaw Wars with Arkansas Post ties carrying over to American era were Etlenne Langlols, maternal grandfather of Marie Messager, and Louis Rene Petit de Coulanges, maternal grandfather of Charles Melchoir (Don Carlos) de Vlllemont. (13) Faye, op. cit., La HQ, Vol 26:677, 678 Resumes of LEPINE and IMBAU planned for 1980 BULLETINS. Other names shown in these documents to be associated with early Ark-ansas are under investigation. THANK YOU, Anton Pregaldin, for this added information on the Arkan-sas DESRUISSEAUXS..."I recently realized that two 'DeRusseau* baptisms at Ste. Genevieve on 3 Sept 1809 were actually daughters of J. Bte. Desruisseaux and Marie Louise Bogy (called Bougie in the register). Ihe children were ODILE b. Mar 19, 1808, and CLEMENCE b. June 3, 1809."
Object Description
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Translation/Transcript | Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 A R K A N S A S Introduction Through Way back when first infected with the virus THE LOOKING GLASS curiosity about the residents of Arkansas prior to the Louisiana purchase, a 1794 burial of record in the Myra Vaughan copy of the Arkansas 1743 DOCUMENTS Catholic Register (l) piqued the imagination... / Could Antoine Lepine be a remanent of the mystery shrouded Law Colony, continuing to almost the dawn of American Arkansas...or...even more tantalizing, a carryover from de Tonti's 1686 complement? It was the only instance noted in which "Ancient Post of Arkansas" was used in the records entered in the register. Now, several years (and many thousands of words examined about both French and Spanish Colonial America) later, it can be stated that Antoine Lepine was not from the 1686 first Arkansas settlement. Although the link to or disassociation of this LEPINE family with the Law Colony is not yet completely resolved, this "Ancient Post of Arkansas" can be documented. Among the documents of French Colonial Louisiana held by the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, are two dated October 1743 of Arkansas Post origin...a petition by a resident widow to the Post Commandant and a subsequent inventory of community property at the husband's death, Previously, the earliest located inventory of the holdings of an Arkansas family had been that of Pierre LeFevre dated 8 February 1810. (3) In addition to the sociological, economical, commercial and legal glimpses of Arkansas in the 1740's revealed (and more exciting to this researcher), named are fifteen possible 'players'in the Ark-ansas drama to be worked into the 'script'. Acknowledgments Translations of these enlightening documents being shared here with BULLETIN readers is possible only through the generosity of many which is gratefully acknowledged» .....Louisiana State Museum, for permission to publish. Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 - ... Ghislaine Pleasonton, former Associate Curator, and. Susan Leman, Archives Assistant, of the Museum's Louisiana Historical Center, who located the desired documents for photostating and provided inter-pretative assistance. ...All the staff members of the Jackson Square Library who have been so helpful to this novice through the years. ...Mrs. Nicole Vable Hatfield, Conway, Ark., GPH Society's long standing friend and benefactor, for translation of the inventory. ...Anton Pregaldin, Clayton, Mo., fellow history buff, for prompt response to plea for translation of the petition not acquired until after Nicole had departed for the summer in France. In the annals of the history of western civilization, the decade of the l740's was dominated by one of the series of almost endless wars waged by the colonizers of North America from the Jamestown settlement to the Declaration of Independence. Europe's feudal order of the Middle Ages disintegrated amid fierce resistance to change, resulting in great intellectual, moral, religious, military, econo-mic, physical and political turmoil in the Old World...and great waves of migration to the New World. The War of Jenkin's Ear between England and France, begun in 1739f widened into the War of the Austrian Succession, part of the Anglo-French colonial and dynastic rivalry frequently referred to as the Second hundred years' war. Among others, this war involved Eng-land, France, Spain, Austria and Prussia. The signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the official end of this struggle, did not resolve the colonial issues. Rather, it was actually only a truce to regroup for the next conflict...the Seven Years' War...in America known as the French and Indian War. In American history the War of the Austrian Succession is known as King George's War, and the fighting on this continent was between 1744 and 1748. Here the Immediate cause was dispute over the bound-ary of Acadia (Nova Scotia of today) and northern New England, and the struggle over the Ohio Valley. On the frontiers of America the fighting was characterized by bloody attacks and retaliations between alignments of the waring powers, their colonists and their respective Indian allies. With this general orientation as to the status and moods of the Western World in the 1740's, let's zero in on the Arkansas of 1743.... Archeological and historical investigations through the years confirm that the "Post of Arkansas" occupied a succession of sites between the mouth of the Arkansas River and the present location from 1686 to 1804. Building on earlier writings and conclusions (4), in 1956 historian Ray H. Mattison began historical investigations for the National Park Service which established the national signi-figance of Arkansas Post as a great crossroads of history (5) and contributed to the establishment of the Arkansas Post National Memorial. (6) Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 The "Ancient Post of Arkansas" of Antoine Lepine's youth Is re-vealed to also be the setting for the early scenes in the continuing drama of the Arkansas depicted in these 174 documents. Of this Ark-ansas Post No. 2, Mattison writes..."Contemporary evidence is...very conclusive as to the location of the Arkansas Post constructed in 1732...about 10 to 15 miles above the mouth of the Arkansas and on the north side of that stream...It appears to have been abandoned in the early 1750's.(7) Faye calls it the "only French post that... ever stood below the Arkansas forks" and writes that Commandant DeMoncharvaux* s (8) headquarters (our 174 focal point) was precar-iously situated below the flood level and that the commandant found it necessary to enclose the area of his fort, occupying three quarters of an acre, with a parapet levee. (9) Contemporary writings shed additional light on 1743 Arkansas. The Post Commandant, Ensign St. Therese de Langloiserie, wrote of the buildings in 1734: ..."They consist of a wooden house on sleepers thirty-two feet long by eighteen feet wide, roofed with bark, consisting of three rooms on the ground floor, one of which has a fireplace, the floors and ceilings of cyprus, a powder magazine built of woods on sleepers ten feet long and eight feet wide, a prison built of posts driven into the ground, roofed with bark, ten feet long by eight feet wide, and a building which serves as a bar-racks, also of posts driven into the ground forty feet long by sixteen feet wide, roofed with bark." (10) A visiting Jesuit Priest wrote in 1738: ..."The fort is small; a larger one (is) not needed for the twelve men who are there commanded by an officer. A few Frenchmen attracted by the hope of trade with the In-dians are settled nearby. "The ssionary is a Jesuit (Father Avond). The lodging of the Father is a makeshift hut| the walls are made of split log, the roof of Cyprus bark, and the chimney of mud, mixed with dry grass which is the straw of the country. I have lived elsewhere in such dwellings, but nowhere did I have so much fresh air. The house is full of cracks from top to bottom..." (ll) In the late 1720*s the Indian tribes in the lower Mississippi Valley banded together in an effort to foil the take-over of their homelands by the European powers with colonial aspirations. In 1729-30 the Natchez tribe annihilated the French at Fort Rosalie (in the vicinity of present-day Natchez, Miss.), but the Choctaws turned on the Natchez so that by 1731 only remanents of the tribe remained. Unable to overcome traditional enemlties and sustain the cooperative military offensive that might have expelled the whites, the tribes in the 1730's aligned themselves variously with the l*rench and English.. .principal alliances being the Choctaw with the Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 French and the Chickasaw and Natchez remanents with the English. , Arkansas Post No. 2 was at the crossroads of this phase of the Anglo- French colonial rivalry...the Chickasaw Wars of the 1730*s. (12) Menaced from above, below and in front by the Chickasaw and their Indian allies, whose homeland and principal range was across the Mississippi River to the east, and from the rear by the west-ward roaming Osage, indiscriminately hostile to all encroachers, red or white, the Arkansas Post position would have been untenable except for the continuing loyalty of the Quapaw. Even though the Chickasaw uprisings had been put down by the all-out offensives of the late 1730's, it was an uneasy peace for the Arkansas French of 17^3- The Chickasaw continued their alliances with the Engliah (and their raids against the French)j the Choctaw wavered In loyalty now between the French and the English) the Osage were as fierce and unrelenting as ever. Luckily, the ^uapaw did not waver, but tragically, their num-ber was decimated by the diseases of the white men they befriended. On the seventh day of May in thi3 Arkansas of 1743, Faye re-lates, "Guillaume...a trader... accompanied by his wife, by an engage Carignan and by six other engages...was paddling up the Mississippi when, not far below the Arkansas raouth, a band of Chickasaw fell upon the party. One Frenchman met death straightwayj the other men were taken prisoners, but Guillaume's wife escaped on the Mississippi right bank. The Chickasaw carried Guillaume and the surviving engages to the left bank, where Guillaume also escaped..." (13) The stage Is set for the petition of the resident widow to the Arkansas Post commandant in October of 1743- For increased reader understanding and appreciation of this document...It is written on an oversize sheet of paper, approximately twelve inches long by fifteen inches wide. It appears to be the original Instrument penned in Arkansas. Most was still legible in the photostats translator Pregaldin worked from as Ms. Leman thoughtfully provided "two copies, a light and a dark, as we find this method helpful in reading faded documents. The dark copy is useful for reading the faded areas on either side while the light copy can be used to read the darker sec-tion in the middle." Although Mr. Pregaldin could decipher most of the words, he comments, "I find this document difficult to translate, especially the first part, I think it is written in an attempted "legalese" style which sounds almost as awkward in French as it does in my translation." As a present day attorney-at-law and student of French Colonial legal proceedings, he helpfully adds, "By custom (of the times) and as normally provided in marriage contracts, the surviving spouse got to use the jointly owned property until death or remarri-age. Upon the occurence of one of these events, it was necessary to settle up with the sons, sons-in-law and unmarried daughters. In this case, it appears Madame Leplne wanted to settle with one of her sons-in- law ahead of schedule because he had suffered some disaster in the Indian trade. The commandant agreed to her generous request." Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 A reproduction, of the petition heading reduced more than one-half "TO MONSIEUR DEMONCHARVAUX, LIEUTENANT OF INFANTRY, COMMANDANT OF THE KING AT THE FORT OF ARKANSAS "Begs very humbly ANNE CATHERINE CHENALENNE, widow of late LEPINE, and would have the honor to represent to you that in conse-quence of the accident which happened to the one called GUILLAUME BIENVENUE, her son-in-law, and his wife, who have lost all their property, she would like to make inventory of what she posseses, in order to give legally the part that would come to him when it shall please the Lord to reunite them (her and her late husband), without prejudice to her other children living with the said supplicant. "Ibis (having been) considered, Monsieur, may it please you to transport yourself to the residence of the supplicant with witnesses named by you to see, appraise and evaluate the little property which remains in the hands of the aforesaid WIDOW CHENALENNE, Widow Lepine, since the death of the late Sieur JEAN FRANCOIS LEPINE, her husband, In order to give the portion due her poor children, at least to those who have run so much risk among the savages. For this, count-ing on your good and natural heart to do justice in this, "Virtue in place and stead "For Madame Widow Lepine." Commandant DeMoncharvaux's answer to the Widow Lepine's petition follows... "In view of the representation made to me by Madame WIDOW LEPINE, the inventory will be proceeded to next Saturday, October 26, of the real and personal property derived from the marital community between the late JEAN FRANCOIS LEPINE and Dame CATHERINE CHENALENNE (and) their lawful heirs, to whose profit....(illegible)... with us, to wit, Sieurs LOUIS GISCARD dit BENOIST and CHARLES GROSSILON in the name of the said Widow on one hand, and Sieurs JEAN LAFLEUR with PIERRE IMBAU dlt LAJEUNESSE for the living minor children, to evaluate every-thing, to the interest of the latter, without partiality. "At the Arkansas, 23rd October 17^3. /S/ TISSERAN DEMONCHARVAUX" Accordingly, the following Saturday, Commandant DeMoncharvaux and the appointed appraisers gathered at the Lepine residence les3 than a hundred yards from Mattison's Arkansas Post No. 2 to list and value the community property of the late Jean Francois Lepine and his surviving spouse. What has survived of the resulting inventory is Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page not the instrument penned in Arkansas in 1743 but a copy made the following January by a Notary whose signature the translator could not decipher and which the writer has not yet identified. The loss of the original sadly denies the opportunity to compare the names of the participants as written in the document with actual signatures (many times most revealing to researchers) or to learn of other Ark-ansas residents who may have been present as witnesses and "willing" to sign. Appended to the inventory copy is a copy of a receipt for 300 livres paid on a debt to Sieur ANTOINE COLLERET "since above men-tioned inventory" attested by Commandant DeMoncharvaux...apparently a debt of the Lepine community to be deducted before distribution to widow and heirs. Mrs. Hatfield worked with five legal size pages of photostats, all acoeptably legible except the appended receipt noted above. She comments, "This is a fascinating document. I felt some of the words I could not decipher might suddenly become clear, but there is not much context...spelling, handwriting, even vocabulary, changed so that it is almost like decoding hieroglyphics." As a personal aside, she notes that October 26 is her Mother's and her daughter Mathilda's birth date. Ms. Leman contributes for reader understanding concerning the monetary units used, "Colonial currency in the document is in livres and sols. At that time 20 sols made up one livre." Since this 1979 typewriter does not have the symbols used in the document, 1. will be used for livres and e.for sols in this translation. Reproduction of inventory opening that correlates with petition heading (reduced one-third) "This, the twenty-sixth of October seventeen hundred forty-three, in our presence, JEAN FRANCOIS TISSERAN ECUYER SIEUR DEMONCHARVAUX, Commandant of the King at the Fort of Arkansas, there took place upon request of MADAME CHENALENE, Widow LEPINE, an inventory of posses-sions left and coming from their matrimonial union, to be subsequently appraised for the benefit of the widow and her living children born of this marriage, in the presence of Sieurs LOUIS GISCARD dlt BENOIST and CHARLES GR0SILLI0N in the name of the above mentioned widow on one hand, and Sieurs JEAN LAFLEUR dit EMMANUELLE with PIERRE IMBAU dlt LAJUENESSE on behalf of the minor children, TO WITi Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 "An old house, with all the small buildings fit to shelter the cattle, consisting of three small buildings, all located between forty and forty-five toises (Notei old measure equivalent to two yards) from the fort, plus twelve horned animals some large, some small, fourteen hogs, large and small, plus three black slaves, this is, two men and one woman, with an old crippled Indian woman, thi3 all valued at , . 6000 1. PLUS, In the hands of Monsieur FLAMAND, according to the letter dated 23 Aug 1743, for tallow sent to him, amounting to the sum of 4000 1. PLUS, a receipt presently given by MADAME L'PINE for 1740 pounds of tallow at 6 s./pound, amount-ing to the sum of 822 1, PLUS, a note by B0NNEF0ND dated 23 March 1743, amounting to the sum of 130 1. One same, from BARON dated 18 March 1743, amount-ing to tiie sum of . 46 1. 10 s. Another one, from MIGN0N, dated 18 March 1743, amounting to the sum PLUS, a note of FRANCOEUR dated 18 March 1743, in the amount of 200 1. One same, from BAUDOIN dated 18 March 1743, amounting to the sum of 140 1. A bill in arrears due 29 Sept 1743 from Monsieur FLAMAND, in the amount of 1532 1. 1600 pounds of tobacco coming from the 1743 crop amounting to 1600 1. Four old metal caldrons, valued at 40 1. Nine plates and two small dishes and three spoons of old pewter, valued at 18 1. 25 s., amounting to 22 1. 10 s. One dozen old steel forks, valued at 11.10s. Two frying pans, one large and one small, of tin, I estimated the amount of 9 1* Two drip-pans, I value at 5 1« 14630 1. 10 s. "After reading in a loud and clear voice, we declared the in-ventory good and valid according to declaration made to us by said Widow and witnessesj concerning her as well as the orphans, in case It should happen that some item that she learns of was not declared Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page 16 on the inventory, the widow will bring it back (and have appraised). "The undersigned gentlemen and witnesses also declare they are not aware that any article was omitted, and that they have appraised sincerely, and valued for everyone's benefit according to their know-ledge of each item in keeping with its value In Arkansas this day and year, in the presence of LOUIS GISCARD dit BENOIST and CHARLES GROSILLION dit TOURANGEAU (Note by translator: Indicates from Touraine, a province in France, capital, Tours.), JEAN LAFLEUR dit EMMANUELLE, PIERRE IMBAU dit LAJEUN1SSE, the latter mentioned declared he could not write and was called, according to ordinances, to put his regu-lar mark in our presence and that of witnesses here mentioned and others who are willing to be present to vouch for the widow and or-phans. "Compared with the original the 24th of January 17^4." It is not revealed when or how Jean Francois Lepine met his demise. HOW could have been disease, drowning, Indian or wild ani-mal attack, even foul play, but odds are that WHEN was not too many months before October 1743. Women were a premium in the Mississippi Valley in the early eighteenth century with widowhood usually a short term state. Madame Lepine, possessing slaves, cattle, buildings, cleared land and business interests, most certainly would have at-tracted suitors like honey trees drew the Arkansas black bears. Sieur Lepine is reflected not only as a pioneer farmer of pre-sent day Arkansas County land, producing cattle and tobacco, but an entrepreneur of export and import. The "four old metal caldrons" may have served in rendering the "tallow" from the abundant wild game of the Arkansas (possibly that of the black bear much in demand) for export. The notes listed were probably given for supplies and trade goods he imported for sale to hunters and trappers making the Arkan-sas Post headquarters for expeditions 'up' the various watercourses to the Arkansas interior. The absence of any household furniture...beds, tables, chests, etc...is conspicuous. Before concluding Arkansas households of the day, even those of the owners of three black slaves, contained none, it would be necessary to know the terms of the couple's marriage con-tract. Furniture and household linens could have been brought to the marriage by the bride and exempt from this enumeration of the marital community. On the other hand, being forced for the safety and protec-tion of their persons and goods, and by the trade opportunities af-forded, to establish their residence in the shadow of a fort pre-cariously situated below the flood level, the Lepines may have deem-ed furniture and household amenities an unwarranted burden as well as an unsound Investment. These are some reflections in the "looking glass" of these 1743 documents. Many more sire there. Try your hand at visualizing what it was like In Arkansas two hundred and thirty-six years ago. It's ex-citing, mind expanding and funI Dorothy Jones Core Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN October 1979 Page REFERENCES! (1) R. P. Baker, '"Hie Myra McAlmont Vaughan Collection", Bicentennial Project Grand Prairie Historical Society, ABSTRACT of CATHOLIC REGISTER of ARKANSAS (l?64- 1858), DeVitt Publishing Co., DeWitt, Ark. (1976), p 3 (2) Abstract of record...On 11 May 1794 ANTOINE LEPINE, native of the Ancient Post of Arkansas, who died yesterday aged about sixty years, was buried in the presence of Jean Baptiste DuChassin, Antoine Beauvals, Serano and others... (3) Dorothy Jones Core, "First Bankruptcy in Arkansas County Records", Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN, Vol l6, No. 3 A 4, p 8-13 (4) Stanley Faye devoted many years to historical investigations of Arkansas Post and published his findings and conclusions in Louisiana Historical Quarterly t "The Arkansas Post of Louisi-ana: French Dominion", Vol. 26, p 633-721, and "Arkansas Post of Louisianai Spanish Domination", Vol. 27, p 629-716. (5) "It (Arkansas Post) is one of the great crossroads, where at certain moments during the past four centuries the exemplars of the most powerful representative forces of modern history have passed through, leaving the Imprint of their personalities, their purposes, and their contributions to humanity," Lily Peter, "Salute to Arkansas Post", The Delta Review, Vol. 6, No. 2 (Mar. 1969), p 84 (6) Ray H. Mattison, REPORT ON THE HISTORICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF ARKANSAS POST, ARKANSAS, National Park Service, Omaha, Nebr., (1957) (7) Ibid., p 84 (8) The name of the Arkansas Post Commandant in 1743 appears variously in published sources. Hie writer has chosen to use in this article the signature configuration and spelling found in the title documents. (9) Faye, op. cit., LAHQ, Vol 26(68l (10) Mattison, op. cit., p 22 (11) Ibid. (12) Other casualties of the Chickasaw Wars with Arkansas Post ties carrying over to American era were Etlenne Langlols, maternal grandfather of Marie Messager, and Louis Rene Petit de Coulanges, maternal grandfather of Charles Melchoir (Don Carlos) de Vlllemont. (13) Faye, op. cit., La HQ, Vol 26:677, 678 Resumes of LEPINE and IMBAU planned for 1980 BULLETINS. Other names shown in these documents to be associated with early Ark-ansas are under investigation. THANK YOU, Anton Pregaldin, for this added information on the Arkan-sas DESRUISSEAUXS..."I recently realized that two 'DeRusseau* baptisms at Ste. Genevieve on 3 Sept 1809 were actually daughters of J. Bte. Desruisseaux and Marie Louise Bogy (called Bougie in the register). Ihe children were ODILE b. Mar 19, 1808, and CLEMENCE b. June 3, 1809." |
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