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A HISTORY of LOVERS LANE: the FORT
POINT PENINSULA
Geography and Physiography
The Fort Point Peninsula is located in
Sections 24 and 25, T7S-R9W, and is the western terminus
of the City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Today, the
area is generally referred to as “Lovers Lane”.
The derivation of the nomenclature “Lovers Lane” is
anecdotal. In the 1920s-1930s, an amorous, social
custom of local youths was to utilize the somewhat
secluded area as a rendezvous for romantic interludes,
hence “Lovers Lane”.
Past names for this historic peninsula have included
“Spanish Point”, “Breezy Point”, “Benjamin Point”, and
simply “The Point”. “Seapointe” has been used in more
recent times. I prefer “Fort Point”, the name used on
the USGS 7.5’ Quadrangle, “Ocean Springs”, 1992.
Residents of this sylvan peninsula sometimes refer to
their eclectic neighborhood as “The Lane”.
Lover's Lane is a neighborhood as well as a
road located on the Fort Point
peninsula. This peninsula is a northwest striking body
of land about one mile long and five hundred to one
thousand feet wide comprising about 300 acres. Old Fort
Bayou, a perennial stream, is located northeast while
the prevailing windward, southwest flank of the
peninsula faces the Back Bay of Biloxi. A saltwater
marsh dominates the tip of the peninsula called Fort
Point.
Lover's Lane, a narrow asphalt path, is traced by large
oaks and magnolias as it bisects the one mile long
peninsula. Dense, informal landscaping conceals diverse
homes, which stand on large heavily landscaped lots.
The former shell road occupies the northeast slope of a
high ridge about twenty feet above sea level. A fairly
steep ravine, which drains the area northward into Fort
Bayou is immediately northeast of the asphalt roadway.
With the founding of the Ocean Springs Hotel in 1853 by
the Austin-Porter family, commercial activity and
tourism commenced in this small fishing village founded
by the LaFontaine family in the early 19th
Century. Prior to this event the few families in the
area subsisted by fishing, farming, lumbering, and
charcoal making. The medicinal waters from springs
located along Fort Bayou attracted people primarily from
New Orleans. They sought cures for their ailments in
these saline chalybeate and sulfur bearing waters. The
long hot summer and associated yellow fever epidemics
also brought visitors from the Crescent City.
Commencing in the early 1850s, the Morgan Steamship Line
and later in 1870 what became known as the L&N Railroad
provided fast and economic transportation to the area.
At this time, affluent people from New Orleans
discovered the ambience and charm of Ocean Springs and
began to establish vacation estates on the Fort Point
peninsula. Some of the early families building here
were: Armstrong, Buddendorff, McCauley, Israel,
Arrowsmith, Randolph, Brooks, Ittman, Staples, Stuart,
Allison, Maginnis, Parkinson, Sheldon, Poitevent, Thorn,
and Hanson.
In the late 1880s to early 1900s, people from the East
and Midwest especially the Chicago area began to
discover Ocean Springs. Some of these people became
attracted to the Lover's Lane locale and established
homes. Among them were Parker Earle (1831-1917) of
southern Illinois and Annie L. Benjamin (1848-1938) from
Milwaukee.
Architecture
Architecturally, the Lover's Lane neighborhood can be
divided into three distinct elements, which reflect the
time period of its development. These three entities
are the
Lover's Lane Historic District (1875-1965), the
Seapointe Subdivision (post 1964), and the Lover's Lane
Addition Subdidvison (post 1970).
The Lover's Lane Historic District was created with the
passage of Ordinance Number 9-1989 by the City of Ocean
Springs. It consists of a cohesive neighborhood of
seven homes facing the Back Bay of Biloxi. These
diversified structures range in age from 1875 to 1965
and represent Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Colonial
Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Southern Colonial
periods of architecture. This was the area dominated by
wealthy New Orleanians for decades.
The Seapointe Subdivision platted in July 1964, by Field
and Brackett Inc. from the old Annie L. Benjamin Estate
lands obtained from E.M. Galloway. Mr. Galloway
purchased most of the former Benjamin Estate from Walter
S. Lindsay (1888-1975), Mrs. Annie L. Benjamin's
son-in-law, in August 1963. The Benjamin Estate, called
Shore Acres, was established in 1902 when Mrs. Benjamin
consolidated former holdings of others on the most
westerly seventy-five acres of the Fort Point
peninsula. The Seapointe area is well developed with
about sixty homes. The architecture is diversified with
structures of the following styles: Period (Victorian,
Greek Revival, Colonial, and Acadian), American ranch,
and Swiss chalet.
The Lover's Lane Addition was the unique creation of
Carroll Ishee (1921-1982). Ishee acquired 4.3 acres
from E.M. Galloway in February 1969. Here on the
northeast slope of Lover's Lane he created his wonderful
tree houses in this sylvan environment. Each Ishee home
comes from the individual palette of this consummate
artist who painted with foliage, wood, slate, cedar
shingles, and glass to camouflage his creation in
Nature's bosom. There are ten Ishee "paintings" on
Lover's Lane and several on Le Voyageur.
Soil and
trees
Soil development in the Lovers Lane region
has been classified as Norfolk fine sandy loam of the
flatwoods phase. This soil is characterized by a
surface layer of dark-gray fine sandy loam, which ranges
from about ½ inch to 3 inches in depth. The subsoil is
primarily a pale yellow compact sandy loam occurring
about 30 inches below the surface while light-gray fine
sand is common 3-4 feet below ground level. Pecans,
sweet potatoes, corn, and oats are the salient crops
grown on this soil type. In fact, Norfolk fine sandy
loam is one of the best upland soils of the pecan belt
and is excellent for the growt of slash and longleaf
pine. Other crops, which do well in this soil are:
cotton, watermelons, cucumbers, nearly all vegetables,
sugarcane, pears, and Satsuma oranges. Pine.(Elwell,
et al, 1927, p. 15)
It is interesting to not that when Iberville erected
Fort Maurepas on the Fort Point Peninsula in April 1699,
he reported that “The work goes slowly: I have no
men who can use an ax; most of them take a day to fell
one tree; but the trees are truly big ones, oak and
hickory. I have had a forge set up to repair the axes.
All of them break.” (McWilliams, 1981, p. 92)
As we shall see, the Fort Point Peninsula has been in
the past, the site of various agricultural pursuits
including orange and pecan groves as well as subsistence
farming and poultry raising. Industry has been
virtually lacking here with the exception of a small saw
and planning mill located on the Old Fort Bayou side in
1895, by Porter B. Hand (1834-1914), the son of Miles
B. Hand (1804-1880+), the founder of Handsboro,
Mississippi, which has been integrated into Gulfport.(The
Pascagoula Democrat-Star, October 11, 1895, p. 3)
Plummer’s Road
Many decades before our present day octogenarians chose
their “Lovers Lane”, the tree line path, pretending to
be a road, that now winds its way through verdant
neighborhoods has been referred to in land deed
conveyances through the years as: Plummer’s Road, the
“wagon road”, and Porter. Plummer Road derived its name
from one of the earliest inhabitants of the area, Joseph
R. Plummer (1804-pre-1867), a land speculator and farmer
from Connecticut. He was living in Jackson County as
early as 1840, an indicated by the Federal Census of
that year. Circa the mid-1840s, Joseph R. Plummer
probably met and married Mary G. Porter from Tennessee.
Her merchant family settled here in the 1850s and gave
their name to Porter Street.
The earliest documentation of J.R. Plummer’s appearance
here is in the deed records of Jackson County,
Mississippi, when in October 1848, he is an agent for
Arthur Bryant of Illinois who is selling land in Section
25, T7S-R9W, to his wife's sister, Martha E. Austin
(1818-1898), the wife of Dr. W.G. Austin (1814-1891),
the builder of the Ocean Springs Hotel, which in 1854,
gave our town its present name.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk.
4, pp. 513-514).
Joseph R. Plummer built a brick home, which became known
as the Plummer Brick House and is referred to many times
in various land transactions in Section 24, T7S-R9W.
Mr. Plummer sold the house in September 1859 to Isaac
Randolph of New Orleans. A point of land where the
Ocean Springs Yacht Club rests today is still known as
Plummer Point on the USGS topographic map of the area.
It was given this name by the surveyors of the U.S.
Coast Survey, when they were mapping the Mississippi
coast in 1851. This corroborates the fact that J.R.
Plummer lived in the area and that his brick house is
discernible on this map.
Post November 1849, the Plummers relocated to a pioneer
settlement at present day Gulf Hills. They called their
simple plantation here-Oaklawn Place. It consisted of
about 400 acres situated in Section 18, T7S-R8W and
Sections 13 and 24 of T7S-R9W. Oaklawn Place flanked
present day North Washington Avenue for about one mile,
southeast of its intersection with Old Le Moyne
Boulevard and included that area of Gulf Hills along Old
Fort Bayou from the west end of Arbor Circle eastward to
a point about 1350 feet west of the Shore Drive-North
Washington Avenue intersection. The Plummer residence
was probably situated in the vicinity of the present day
W.E. Applegate Jr.-Colonel George E. Little Home at
13605 Paso Road. During the J.R. Plummer tenure, citrus
and fruit orchards were cultivated at Oak Lawn.
Plummer
Avenue
On April 9, 1913, B.F. Parkinson (1859-1930) requested
of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of Ocean Springs at
their public meeting that Plummer Avenue (Lovers Lane)
be open from Old Fort Bayou to the L&N Railroad right-of
way. He presented copies of recorded warranty deeds to
the Board demonstrating that reservations had been made
in prior land conveyances for Plummer Avenue to be a
public thoroughfare of 60 feet in width. Alderman J.D.
Minor (1863-1920) motioned and the Board passed his
recommendation, that the Plummer Avenue situation be
reviewed with attorney J.S. Ford for his legal
advise.(TOS, Minute Bk. Dec. 3, 1907 to Jan. 14, 1915,
pp. 259-260)
On May 6, 1913, Mayor W.T. Ames (1880-1969) reported to
his Board of Alderman, that the honorable J.S. Ford had
reviewed the matter of the opening of Plummer Avenue
from Old Fort Bayou to the L&N Railroad right-of-way.
He rendered his legal opinion in writing, which said
that Ocean Springs had the legal right to open the road
under certain conditions. Alderman W.S. VanCleave
(1871-1938) motioned that the action be sent to the
Street Committee with the petition of the landowners on
Plummer Avenue relative to the road opening. (TOS,
Minute Bk. Dec. 3, 1907 to Jan. 14, 1915, p. 263)
In 1939, Lovers Lane was described by WPA
writers as:
“a narrow white shell road winding amid oaks,
pines, magnolias, and cedars toward the northwestern
corner of the headland known as “The Point”. On the
left are
some of the oldest and most beautiful estates on
the Coast. On the right is a strip of forested land set
apart by Mrs. A.L. Benjamin as a bird sanctuary. The
lane ends at the Benjamin estate (private). Just
offshore from this point (believed by many to be the
site of the fort built by Iberville) the cannon mounted
on the lawn of the Biloxi Community House were salvaged
in the summer of 1893 (sic).”(Mississippi Gulf Coast
Yesterday & Today, 1939, p. 92)
In January 1953, Dr. Horace Conti
(1907-1982) headed a petition to abandon the West Porter
entrance into Lover Lane at the overpass over the L&N RR
crossing. This obviously was done.(TOS, Minute Bk. 5,
pp. 84-85)
Section
24
Section 24, T7S-R9W is composed of six (6) governmental
lots, each about 160 acres in area. Only Lot 4 and Lot
5 of Section 24 are within the geographic limits of the
Fort Point Peninsula. Lot 1 and Lot 3 are north of Fort
Bayou and in the Gulf Hills development. Approximately
50% of the Fort Point Peninsula is composed of land in
Lot 4. Lot 5 furnishes about 30% and the remainder of
the area is in the west half of Section 25, T7S-R9W.
Lot 4 runs southeasterly from the tip
of the Fort Point Peninsula in an arced line for about
5500 feet along the Bay of Biloxi to the NW/C of Section
25. Its southern boundary goes 400 feet east along the
north line of Section 25. Lot 4 is bounded on the east
by the west line of Lot 6, and runs 2700 feet to the
north where it intersects Fort Bayou. The north line of
Lot 4 is defined by Fort Bayou, which strikes in an arc
northwesterly for a distance of about 4500 feet until it
intersects the tip of the Peninsula, the point of
beginning.
Prominent topographic feature of Lot
4 is a NNW striking ridge, which runs from the southeast
corner of Lot 4 for approximately 3500 feet where it
terminates in a marsh. This ridge reaches an elevation
over twenty feet above MSL. It was here that
Iberville selected to build Fort Maurepas in
April 1699. The first Biloxey Settlement was situated
here in 1719, when the French colonists move the capital
of La Louisiane from the Mobile area back to Biloxi
Bay. Naturally this area became known as Vieux
Biloxey, when Nouveau Biloxey (present day
Biloxi) was founded about 1720.
17th Century
Native
Americans
Native Americans occupied portions of the Fort Point
Peninsula prior to European settlement as evidenced by
the discovery of shell middens, projectile points, and
pottery shards. Schuyler Poitevent (1875-1936), the
first historian of Ocean Springs, who spent most of his
life at present day 306 Lovers Lane, wrote several
treatises in which he discusses their occupation of the
area.
In his unpublished book, Broken Pot, which
relates the French Colonial history of this region,
Poitevent wrote the following about the Joseph Catchot
Place situated in “Cherokee Glen”, the May 1926
sixty-acre subdivision created by Henry L. Girot
(1886-1953), a transplant from New Orleans. Joseph
Catchot (1824-1900), an 1842 immigrant from the island
of Minorca, a Spanish possession in the western
Mediterranean Sea, homesteaded twenty acres, more or
less, in Lot 5 of Section 24, T7S-R9W.
“Born and reared just across the narrow branch
from Old Magnolia Springs and almost, therefore, within
a pine-knots throw of the site of Old Fort Maurepas,
Mayor A.J. Catchot, of Ocean Springs, told me the other
day that the old home where he was born in 1863 (sic),
and where he had spent his boyhood days had been the
site of an old Indian village.”
In February 1932, Mr. Poitevent recorded these words of
A.J. Catchot (1864-1954):
“When I was a young man, my father, Captain
(Joseph) Catchot, used to own a small twenty acre farm
bordering on Old Fort Bayou and Plummers acres. When
plowing our field, I often came across old Indian relics
such as a large blue china bead about the size of a
buckshot. Also flint arrow heads & Indian tomahawks of
flint. Also small cannon balls about 4” diameter and
some small 2 ½”. Also lots of clam and oyster shell.
Those shells had pieces of broken china dishes some
white & others colored blue. Also several pieces of
clay pottery and bottoms of broken jars. There seem to
be a row of wigwams, which had a reddish-yellow, clay
floor. Shell relics were found in the wigwams. The
location of this Indian village was on what is now
called the old Dr. Dabney Place.”
1699-Iberville, Fort Maurepas, and La Louisiane
There is a high degree of certitude that the
French beachhead in the Lower Mississippi River Valley,
Fort Maurepas, was established on the Fort Point
Peninsula by Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville
(1671-1706) on April 7, 1699. Iberville was acting
under orders from King Louis XIV (1638-1715) to protect
the April 1682 claim of Rene Robert Cavalier de La Salle
(1643-1687), who had found the deltaic mouth of the
Riviere de Colbert (Mississippi River) from his base in
New France (Canada). La Salle claimed for France, all
the lands drained by the Mississippi River and its
tributaries, an inland empire, extending from the Rocky
Mountains to the Appalachians. He called this discovery
La Louisiane, in honor of his King.
Although academic archaeologist have not blessed the
Fort Point Peninsula site, there is sufficient
cartographic data, archival records, and French Colonial
artifacts, gathered by “amateur archaeologists”, to
conclude that a French military post existed here in the
late 17th-early 18th Century.
Some researchers believe that Fort Maurepas was located
in the area where the stone marker was found in 1910, by
Town Marshall Robert W. Rupp (1894-1958) on the
shoreline in front of the W.B. Schmidt estate in Section
25, T7S-R9W. For an in depth discussion about the
location of Fort Maurepas, the reader is referred to
Fort Maurepas, the Birth of Louisiana,
(Higginbotham, 1968 and 1971), “Fort Maurepas and
Vieux Biloxey: Search and Research” in
Mississippi Archaeology (Blitz, Mann, and Bellande,
Vol. 30, No. 1, June 1995), and The Ocean Springs
Record, “Fort Maurepas then and now”, July 8,
1993 and July 15, 1993)
18th Century
1719-Bienville and “Biloxey”
In 1719, when the capital of French
Louisiana was relocated from the Mobile area back to the
present day Mississippi Coast, there is no doubt that
this settlement called “Biloxey” was located on
the Fort Point Peninsula. The name “Biloxey” was
derived from a corruption of the word Annochy, one of
the Indian nations that Iberville encountered in this
area in February 1699. Their village was situated on
the Pascagoula River.
(McWilliams, 1981, p. 45)
Vieux Biloxi
In 1720, Charles Franquet de Chaville, a French
engineer, arrived in the Louisiana Colony first at Ile
Dauphine (Dauphine Island) aboard the Dromadaire. He
then went to the natural harbor at Isle aux Vaisseau
(Ship Island) before disembarking at Vieux Biloxy (Ocean
Springs) in December 1720. de Chaville was assigned to
Louisiana with Adrian de Pauger (d. 1726) and Chevalier
de Boispinel (d. 1723) to work under Chief Engineer of
the Company of the Indies, Pierre Leblond de La Tour (d.
1723).
Leblond de La Tour drew the plans for Vieux Biloxy
(Ocean Springs), Fort Louis at Nouveau Biloxy (Biloxi),
and Nouvelle Orleans (New Orleans). Fort Louis, which
was located west of the Biloxi Lighthouse, was never
completed as the Louisiana capital was moved to New
Orleans in 1722.
de Chaville’s Description of Old Biloxi follows:
“Old Biloxi is situated at the back of a bay surrounded
by marsh. The land that we settled on (occupied) is a
plateau, stretching for about 2400 feet. It was the
only place we could see without any trees. Those who
had recently arrived from France had built cabins for
themselves there. The only house, that is to say a
building or barracks worthy of the name, that was to be
seen was that occupied by the Directors. All others
were built in a style I have described later.
As far as age goes, this post was the oldest, according
to the Commander, established at the time they
discovered the mouth of the river in 1702. It was
occupied a second time after Dauphin Island was
abandoned. Hunting and fishing are abundantly
rewarded, deer among others, is very good. It is
certainly the best eating when cooked on a spit. The
fish, which is caught in the bay is called red fish and
is the very best. It is larger than a large carp and
its flesh is very firm. The scales are like those of a
carp except that they are red. The Commander and the
Directors were always well supplied with red fish for
their table. Since they felt honored to invite newly
arrived officers, I ate there almost the whole time
during my stay.” (Journal de la Societe Des
Americanistes De Paris, pp. 20-27)
The
English Domain
After Old Biloxey was abandoned circa 1721,
by the French, no activity was recorded in this area of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast until the late 18th
Century, when the British took control of this part of
La Louisiane after the French and Indian War ended with
the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The Ocean Springs area
became a part of British West Florida and governed from
Pensacola.
During English rule, several expeditions
reconnoitered the Mississippi Sound and local bays.
Among them were the George A. Gauld reconnaissance
mapping for the British Admiralty in 1768, and the Lt.
Thomas Hutchins rescue of the Mercury in 1772.
The Gauld Map of 1768
Scottish
cartographer and
surveyor, George A. Gauld
(1732-1782), in the employ of the British Admiralty and
operating from HMS Sir Edward Hawke, made a map
of Coastal Mississippi in June 1768. During his
reconnaissance of the area, Gauld found that
“just opposite to Ship Island on the Mainland is
situated Old Biloxi
(present day Ocean
Springs) on a
small Bay of the same name, behind L’Isle au Chevreuil,
or Buck Island (Deer
Island)”.
He discovered that
only a few descendants of the original French settlers
were still here. They existed by raising cattle and
making pitch and tar, and were troubled by the
Indians.(Ware, 1982, pp. 106-107)
The Gauld
Map of 1768 depicts a Madame Bodrons (probably Madame
Baudrau) living at present day Ocean Springs. Her place
appears to have been located in Section 25, T7S-R9W,
near the present day Ocean Springs Yacht Club.
Lt.
Hutchins and the Mercury-1772
In September 1772, the Mercury, an
English naval vessel, was caught in storm at the mouth
of Mobile Bay and blown westward to the Samphire Islands
off the Louisiana coast, where she was beached. Lt.
Thomas Hutchins (1730-1789) and crew left the Pensacola
area in the Elizabeth, an open schooner, in late
September, in search of the Mercury and her party
of about twenty men. On the 27th of September,
he was at Mme. Boudreau’s place on Biloxi Bay.
There is a high degree of certitude that this is the
same Mme. Bodron’s at Old Biloxi on the Gauld Map of
1768.(Rea, 1990, pp. 56-58)
The identity of Madame “Bodron” has not been
ascertained at this time, but she is probably a
descendant or spouse of a descendant of Jean-Baptise
Baudrau (1671-1761), a French Canadian solder of fortune
called Graveline, who came to Fort Maurepas with
Iberville in 1700. He remained and settled permanently
in what became in December 1812, Jackson County of the
Mississippi Territory. Today, his descendants from
daughter, Magdeline, and her spouse, Pierre Paquet,
number in the thousands. Graveline's granddaughter,
Catherine Louise Baudreau (1742-1806+), wedded Joseph
Bosarge (1733-1794), a native of Poitiers, France in
1763, founding another large Gulf Coast family.(Lepre,
1983)
Bernardo
Galvez and the Spanish Period
In 1779-1780, English garrisons were
attacked by the Spanish and American forces from New
Orleans, which resulted in the loss of Baton Rouge,
Natchez, and Mobile. During the Spanish campaign
against Mobile, it is postulated by some that a
“Spanish Camp” existed on the Fort Point Peninsula.
The term has been passed on and exists in land deed
records in the area.
The
“Spanish Camp”-1780
Schuyler
Poitevent (1875-1936)
in Broken Pot
(ca 1936), gives a plausible explanation for the
mysterious “Spanish Camp”
which possibly existed on the Fort Point Peninsula in
the late 18th Century. To quote Poitevent:
I do not know what became of the Old
Fort (Fort Maurepas). After the
headquarters were moved to the present town of Biloxi,
the cannons were doubtlessly moved over there and the
Old Fort was abandoned. I suppose it went the way of
all old forts and fell into decay and since it was of
wood it rotted down and in time produced good dewberries
and blackberries. Of course, the property remained the
King’s and therefore was not subject to settlement. I
presume it continued vacant; and after the British took
possession in 1763-1764, why its vacancy became more
apparent. Still it was known as the “old fort” and when
the Spanish in New Orleans ousted the British from
Natchez in 1779, the Spanish governor moved to attack
Mobile. He was defeated in his move by a storm. He
withdrew his demoralized shipwrecked army from Mobile
Bay and reorganized a part of his force here at the Old
Fort. Part of the Spaniards camped here, while the
reorganization of the force in New Orleans was underway,
and the place thereafter came to be known as “Spanish
Camp”.(Chapter XI, “Old Fort Maurepas)
Josephine Bowen Kettler
Circa 1933, while composing Broken Pot, Schuyler
Poitevent interviewed Josephine Bowen Kettler
(1845-1933+), then a resident of Lyman, Harrison County,
Mississippi. She had arrived at Ocean Springs in 1846,
with her parents, the Reverend Philip P. Bowen
(1799-1871) and Mrs. Bowen, from Enterprise,
Mississippi. Josephine B. Kettler told Mr. Poitevent
about her ante-Bellum days at Ocean Springs. Their
conversation concerning the “Spanish Camp” was recorded
as follows:
Kettler
“There was a place where we children used to go to pick
blackberries. It was sort of a clearing where there had
once been an old fort and there was a lot of old brick
scattered about and cannon balls, and the blackberry
vines grew as high as this.”
(Mrs. Kettler measured waist high from the ground)
Poitevent
“This place is sometimes called ‘Spanish
Camp’.”
Kettler
“So, this is ‘Old Spanish Camp’, is it?
Well, it has changed, for in those days there were no
homes here; and we children when we would come to pick
berries would sometimes wade on the beach, and there was
an old cannon sticking breech up out there in the Bay
and when the tide was out and the water was low we could
see it and we used to chunk at it and throw sticks and
shells at it; and I guess it is out there yet.”
(Poitevent, 1933)
Early
Census
During the
rule of England and Spain, several records of
inhabitants in West Florida, as the Mississippi Gulf
Coast was a part, were taken by local authorities in
service of these foreign powers. In October 1764, Major
Robert Farmer of the 34th Regiment made a
list of those inhabitants of Mobile who swore allegiance
to King George III (1738-1820) of England. From this
list, I believe the following were residents of the
present day Mississippi-Alabama Gulf Coast: Hugo Krebs;
Simon Favre; Nicholas Ladner; William Favre;
Jean-Baptiste Necaise; John-Baptise Baudrau; Jean Favre;
Francois Favre; Bartholew Grelot; Marianne Favre;
Nicholas Carco; and Joseph Bosarge.(Strickland et al,
1995, p. 22)
On January
1, 1786, Spanish authorities at Mobile took a census of
the residents under their jurisdiction. I interpret
from the census of that time, that the following people
were present day Mississippi Gulf Coast residents of
Spanish West Florida: Madame Gargaret, widow; Nicholas
Christian Ladner and wife; Joseph Moran and wife;
Jean-Baptise Fayard and wife; Louis Fayard and wife;
Mathurin Ladner, widower; Jacques Ladner and wife;
Jean-Baptise Favre and wife; Madame Baudrau, widow;
Joseph Krebs and wife; Francis Krebs and wife; Madame
Krebs, widow; Hugo Krebs and wife; Augustine Krebs and
wife; Madame Peter Krebs, widow; Nicholas Carco and
wife; Peter Fayard and sister; Joseph Bosarge and wife;
and Madame Favre, widow.(Strickland et al, 1995, p. 25)
The population of Mobile in 1785 was 746
people.(Hamilton, 1910, p. 331)
Madame
Baudrau-a mystery
As previously stated, the George Gauld Map of 1768
depicted a Madame Bodrons, probably Madame Baudrau
(Would you expect a Scot to know how to spell a French
Canadian name?), living in Section 25, T7S-R9W, near the
present day Ocean Springs Yacht Club. Madame Baudrau, a
widow, again appears in the Spanish Census of 1786.
This woman has been a puzzle to some local historians,
especially related to the location of Fort Maurepas
(1699-1702).
In December 1812, an Elizabeth Baudrau conveyed a track
of land in present day D’Iberville, Mississippi to my
great-great grandfather, Louis Arbeau Caillavet
(1790-1860), a native of the Opelousas Post, Louisiana,
and the husband of Marguerite Fayard (1787-1863) of
Biloxi. She was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Fayard
Jr. (1752-1816) and Angelique Ladner (1753-1830), early
Biloxi residents. In the deed description, the
five-arpent tract is stated as “situated on the
Old Fort River.” When L.A. Caillavet sold a portion
of this land in November 1832 to a gentleman from New
Orleans it was referred to as “a piece of land under
the name BOISFORT CANADIEN.” “Boisfort Canadien”
translates from the French language as “Canadian wood
fort”. Does this imply that Fort Maurepas was situated
in present day D’Iberville on the Back Bay of
Biloxi?(Lepre, 1984, p. 62-63 and Cassibry, 1987, pp.
577-578)
The mystery of Madame Baudrau intensifies when one notes
that the land claim in July 1823 of Woodson Wren, a
resident of Natchez, to the 1782 Spanish land grant of
Littlepage Robertson, which consisted of the entire Fort
Point Peninsula, Section 24 and Section 25, T7S-R9W,
states that “the place now claimed by Woodson Wren,
situated on the northeast side of the Bay of Biloxi,
adjoining the Vieux Fort (Old Fort)….”(American State
Papers, Vol. 4, 1994, p. 764)
Even with
these interesting alternate sites for Fort Maurepas, the
archaeological and cartographic data indicate rather
conclusively that Fort Maurepas, the Old French Fort,
was situated in the vicinity of the former June
Poitevent (1837-1919) property on Lovers Lane in Section
24, T7S-R9W, not in Section 25, T7S-R9W.
Littlepage Robertson-Spanish Land Grant
We can assume that
Madame Baudrau was living at Ocean Springs without a
land grant or title from a foreign government.
Therefore, the first legal settler of the Fort Point
Peninsula was Littlepage Robertson, sometimes spelled
Robinson. In June 1782, shortly after the expulsion of
the English from this area, Littlepage Robertson was
granted land at present day Ocean Springs by the Spanish
civil and military governor of West Florida, Don
Henrique Grimarest, who was posted at Mobile.
Robertson’s grant included Section 24 and Section 25 of
T7S-R9W, which is the entire Fort Point Peninsula and
the southern part of Gulf Hills, north of Old Fort
Bayou. Here affidavits by Pierre Carco and Susan Fayard
in August 1829, reveal that Littlepage Robertson settled
on the Fort Point Peninsula with his family a few years
after the Spanish captured Mobile.
He remained here and
cultivated the land until his children reached
maturity.(American State Papers, Vol. 4, 1994, p. 764)
Little is known of Littlepage Robertson or
his family. His movements can be traced in The
American State Papers, which discusses land
grants and claims in early America. It appears that
before Littlepage Robertson settled on the Mississippi
Gulf Coast circa 1782, that he had resided on a Spanish
land grant of one League Square donated by the
Commandant of Nacogdoches in the “neutral territory” on
Bayou Bain or Boine. This grant was seven leagues west
of the town of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Robertson
remained here about twelve years growing corn, raising
stock, etc.(American State Papers, Vol. 3, 1994, p. 236
and Vol. 4, p. 113)
In November 1812, John Brown testified that in 1799,
Littlepage Robertson settled on 640 acres on the right
bank of Bayou Vermilion in the County of Attakapas,
below Little Bayou. Robertson remained and cultivated
this land until 1804. This testimony was refuted by
Theodore Broussard, but Michel Pevoto related that
Robertson settled one and one-half leagues Little
Bayou. The lands in these depositions are situated in
southwest Louisiana in the Lafayette-St. Martinsville
region. By 1799, the children of Littlepage Robertson
would have reached maturity corroborating the 1829
depositions of Pierre Carco and Susan Fayard.(American
State Papers, Vol. 3, 1994, p. 205)
19th Century
The
Republic of West Florida-Jackson County
The Colonial Period ended in 1810, when this
region, then still a part of Spanish West Florida,
declared itself the independent Republic of West
Florida. By early 1811, the Republic was added to the
Territory of Orleans. On December 12, 1812, Jackson
County of the Mississippi Territory came into existence.
Mississippi was admitted into the Union of the United
States of America in March 1817.(The History of Jackson
County, Mississippi, 1989, p. 1)
Obviously, this was a time when there was a paucity of
people on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In fact, when
Dr. Flood, the representative of Governor Claiborne of
the Orleans Territory, was dispatched to the Mississippi
coast to hoist the flag of the United States in January
1811, he found the population between the Pearl River
and Biloxi to be about four hundred people chiefly
French and Creoles. Dr. Flood in his report to Governor
Claiborne wrote:
proceeded to the Bay of Biloxi, where I found Mr.
Ladnier (Jacques), and gave him the commission (Justice
of the Peace). He is a man of excellent sense, but can
neither read or write, nor can any inhabitants of
the bay of Biloxi that I can hear of. They are, all
along this beautiful coast, a primitive people, of mixed
origin, retaining the gaiety and politeness of the
French, blended with the abstemiousness and indolence of
the Indian. They plant a little rice, and a few roots
and vegetables, but depend on subsistence chiefly on
game and fish. I left with all these appointees copies
of the laws, ordinances, etc. But few laws will be
wanted here. The people are universally honest. There
are no crimes. The father of the family or the oldest
inhabitant, settles all disputes......A more innocent
and inoffensive people may not be found. They seem to
desire only the simple necessities of life, and to be
let alone in
their tranquility. I am greatly impressed with the
beauty and value of this coast. The high sandy lands,
heavily timbered with pine, and the lovely bays and with
a delightful summer resort. For a cantonment or
military post, in consideration of the health of the
troops, this whole coast is admirably fitted.
(Claiborne, 1978, pp. 306-307)
Woodson
Wren
In 1812, Littlepage Robertson conveyed the
lands of his Spanish Land Grant at present day Ocean
Springs, Mississippi, which included the entire Fort
Point Peninsula, to Woodson Wren (1779-1855). Mr. Wren
was born on June 20, 1779, in Fairfax County, Virginia,
the son of Vincent Wren and Tabitha Crenshaw. In 1805,
he married Mary Grant (1787-1857), the daughter of John
Grant and Mary Mosely, and a native of Lafayette County,
Kentucky. Woodson and Mary Grant Wren reared a large
family during their residency in Louisiana and
Mississippi: Mary Wren (b. 1806); Orleana Wren (b.
1808); Sarah Wren (1810-1886+) married John P. Walworth
(1798-1883); Elizabeth Wren (1812-1870); John Vincent
Wren (b. 1814); Woodson Wren II (1818-1835); Catherine
Wren (1820-1896) m. James Rainey (1810-1876); William
Wren (1823-1858+); Burrus Wren (b. 1825); Samuel
Cartwright Wren (1826-1828); and Samuel Woodson Wren
(1830-1851+). In addition, Mary Grant Wren lost six
children while birthing, which included two sets of
twins, between 1816 and 1822.(American State Papers,
Vol. 4, 1994, p. 764 and homepages.
roots-web.com/~pettit/HTML/d0002/g0000043.html)
In 1813, the Wren family was domiciled at
Baton Rouge, Louisiana in a red- framed house near the
town jail. Here Woodson Wren was the proprietor of a
“stand”.
A “stand” was a place of public accommodation—sort of a
bed-and-breakfast for the traveling public, except
dinner was also provided. Some of them were also
taverns. At this time, Woodson Wren borrowed money from
Cornelius Baldwin. Two slaves, Bill age 43, a
blacksmith, and Lydia, his wife, age 30, served as
collateral for the loan.(The Washington Republic, May
25, 1813, p. 4, MiMi Miller, August 19, 2004, and
Strickland, 1999, p. 94)
Woodson Wren practiced medicine at Natchez, Mississippi
as early as 1828. In March 1828, Dr. Wren’s “large and
substantial building” survived a conflagration, which
commenced on First North Street from the stables of the
Jefferson Hotel.(Kerns, 1993, p. 82)
Mr. Wren served as Clerk of Court for Adams County,
Mississippi and was also the postmaster. In addition,
Wren was helped organize the Masonic Lodges in
Mississippi. He passed at Port Gibson on April 9, 1855,
while Mary Grant Wren died at Natchez in 1857. Dr.
Wren’s corporal remains were laid to rest in the Natchez
City Cemetery.(The Mississippi Free Trader, April 7,
1837, p. 3, The Natchez Daily Courier, April 10, 1855,
p. 2, Dr. Stratton’s Diary, and American State
Papers, Vol. 4, p. 764)
Mary Grant Wren’s estate was probated in December 1858.
Her will provided that John P. Walworth (1798-1883), the
executor of her estate, invest $1000 in real estate or
stocks for children, Catherine Wren Rainey and William
Wren. Elizabeth Wren was bequeathed $500 to be used by
her for an excursion to Virginia or others efficacious
springs to benefit her health. The rest of Mrs. Wren’s
legacy was to be divided among her children.(Adams Co.,
Ms. Chancery Court Will Bk. 3, p. 108)
In May 1833, Woodson Wren, a resident of Natchez,
Mississippi, made a land and slave conveyance to Dr.
Samuel A. Cartwright, also of Natchez. The
consideration for Wren’s 640 acres in Wilkinson County,
Mississippi, his lands on the east side of the Bay of
Biloxi at present day Ocean Springs, which included all
of the Fort Point Peninsula, and seven females slaves
was valued at $8524. Dr. Wren was indebted to
Cartwright for this amount.(Southern District Chancery
Court Cause No. 43-May 1851, Mississippi City, Ms.)
Alice
Walworth Graham
It is interesting to note that Alice Walworth Graham
(1905-1994), a great-great granddaughter of Woodson Wren
and Mary Grant Wren and great granddaughter of Dr.
Samuel A. Cartwright and Mary Wren, became a well-known
Southern fiction writer. Her great grandfather, John P.
Walworth (1798-1883), was born at Aurora, New York. He
made his livelihood in Natchez as a merchant-planter and
was Mayor. The Burn, a circa1836 Greek Revival
structure at present day 712 North Union Street, was the
Walworth family residence. Most of the published
literary works of Alice Walworth Graham are romance
novels set on Natchez plantations: Lost River
(1938); The Natchez Woman (1950);
Romantic Lady (1952); Indigo Bend
(1954); and Cibola. Mrs. Graham’s three
historical romance novels situated in England are:
Vows of the Peacock (1955), Shield of
Honor (1957), and The Summer Queen
(1973). (www.lib.lsu.edu/special/findaid/4295.htm)
Dr.
Samuel A. Cartwright
Samuel Adolphus Cartwright (1793-1868) was
born November 30, 1793 in Fairfax County, Virginia. As
a young man, he matriculated to the University of
Pennsylvania to pursue the study of medicine. Dr.
Cartwright commenced his medical practice at Huntsville,
Alabama before relocating in the early 1820s, to
Natchez. Here in 1825, he married Mary Wren (c.
1810-1898), the daughter of Woodson Wren and Mary
Grant. Dr. Cartwright served this Mississippi River
community for over twenty-five years before settling
down stream to New Orleans in 1848. During the War of
the Rebellion, he was commissioned by the Confederate
military to enhance the sanitary living conditions of
rebel troops bivouacked at Port Hudson and Vicksburg.
Dr. Cartwright’s medical research of yellow fever,
cholera infantum, and Asiatic cholera was awarded
several medals and prizes, and Cartwright’s treatments
for these diseases have been utilized in military and
civilian hospitals.
(www.famousamericans.net/samueladolphuscartwright/
)
In 1851, Dr. Cartwright published
Report on the diseases and physical peculiarities of the
Negro race. This divisive treatise written to
validate slavery reported Cartwright’s discovery of
several mental illnesses unique to the Black race. One
disease called Drapetomania was purported by Dr.
Cartwright as to result in “blacks to have an
uncontrollable urge to run away from their masters.”
The cure was to beat the devil out of the “sick”
slave. Another of his “diseases” was Dysaesthesia
Aethiopis, which was recognized by disobedience,
disrespectful dialect, and work refusal. Cartwright’s
treatment for this “mental ailment” was extreme toil to
energize blood flow to the brain in order to liberate
the mind.(www.as.ua.edu/ant/bindon/
ant275/presentations/Race_and_Health.pdf )
Dr. Cartwright expired at Jackson, Mississippi on May 2,
1868.
In December 1850, Samuel A. Cartwright
(1793-1868) and Mary Wren Cartwright (c 1810-1898), his
spouse, domiciled at New Orleans, for the consideration
of $2000, conveyed and quitclaimed their rights, title
and interest in about 205-acres being Section 25,
T7S-R9W and Lot 6 of Section 24, T7S-R9W, Jackson
County, Mississippi to Elizabeth Wren of Natchez,
Mississippi.(Southern District Chancery Court Cause No.
43-May 1851, Mississippi City, Ms.)
Elizabeth Wren
Elizabeth Wren (1812-1876) was the daughter
of Woodson Wren and Mary Grant Wren. She was born at
St. Martinville, Louisiana and expired at New Orleans in
February 1880. There is the probability that Woodson
Wren and Littlepage Robertson were at St. Martinville,
then situated in Attakapas County, when Wren acquired in
1812, the Spanish land grant of Robertson at Ocean
Springs.
In June 1844, Woodson Wren was issued a land patent from
the Federal Government for Section 25 and Lot 6 of
Section 24, T7S-R9W, Jackson County, Mississippi. This
action initiated litigation in the Southern District
Chancery Court at Mississippi City, Mississippi in May
1851 as: Cause No. 43-Elizabeth Wren of Natchez v.
Woodson Wren of Natchez; Joseph Plummer of Jackson
County, Ms.; Samuel A. Cartwright (NOLA), and John Black
of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Samuel A.
Cartwright had sold this same land to Miss Wren in
December 1850, as previously mentioned. In the bill of
this lawsuit, Elizabeth Wren asked that the land
conveyances on the Fort Point
Peninsula between Woodson Wren and John Black be
declared null and void and that Joseph Plummer be
perpetually separated from this land and pay her any
rents or profits that he acquired from them. It was
adjudicated in this litigation that the deed from Samuel
A. Cartwright to Woodson Wren, which included the Fort
Point Peninsula was “uncertain, informal, and void of
law and in equity and no good.” The deed from Dr.
Cartwright from Elizabeth Wren was also voided. It
appears that Joseph Plummer was awarded title by his
adverse possession of the area.
Other
land patents on Fort Point
In addition to Woodson Wren’s June 1844 land patent for
Section 25, T7S-R9W and Lot 6 of Section 24,
T7S-R9W, the Federal Government issued land patents to
John Black for Lot 4 situated in Section
24, T7S-R9W in February 1837. Lot 5 was patented
to Arthur Bryant in September 1846.(JXCO, Ms.
Land Deed Bk. 62, pp. 263-264, Bk. 249, p. 246, and Bk.
59, p. 444-445)
Early
hurricanes
The Fort Point Peninsula, other than the
high central ridge traversed by Lovers Lane, is for the
most part at or near sea level. This salient fact makes
its perimeter very susceptible to inundation from
storms, gales, and hurricanes. The higher ground is
relatively safe and accounts for the preservation of
many 19th Century structures. The Colonial
settlers reported that at least ten tropical cyclones
struck this region between the Florida Panhandle and the
delta of the Mississippi River.(Sullivan, 1986, p. 135)
1722
September Storm
Of the Colonial era tempests, the one that may have
directly affected the Fort Point Peninsula was the 1722
September Storm. Jean-Baptise de la Harpe (1683-1765),
a French soldier who served in the Louisiana Colony from
1718 until 1723, kept a journal during his tenure here.
He wrote on September 11, 1722:
A hurricane began in the morning,
which lasted until the 16th. The winds came
from the southeast passing to the south and then to the
southwest. The hurricane caused the destruction of
beans, corn, and more than 8,000 quarts of rice ready to
be harvested. It destroyed most of the houses in New
Orleans with the exception of a warehouse built by M.
Pauger. The warehouse of Fort Louis (present
day Biloxi) containing a large quantity of
supplies was overturned to the great satisfaction of its
keepers. The accident freed them from rendering their
accounts.
The Espiduel, three freighters,
and almost all of the boats, launches, and pirogues
perished. The Neptune and the Santo-Cristo,
which had been repaired according to the orders of the
commissioners, were entirely put out of service. A
large supply of artillery, lead and meats, which had
been for a long time in a pincre, were lost near Old
Biloxi (which was situated on the Fort Point
Peninsula). The French had neglected to unload
the ship for more than a year. They were also worried
about three ships anchored at Ship Island and the
Dromadaire, which had been sent to New Orleans
loaded with a supply of pine wood, which have cost the
company more than 100,1000 livres.(La Harpe, 1971, pp.
214-215)
Some historians believe that the “mystery
ship” discovered by Henri Eugene Tiblier Jr. (1866-1936)
in August 1892 on an oyster reef known locally as
“the rock pile” had been sunk in the 1722
September Storm. The “rock pile” is situated in the Bay
of Biloxi about ¼ mile southwest of “Conamore”, the home
of Dr. Patricia Conner Joachim, at present day 317
Lovers Lane. This derelict vessel has yielded many
artifacts to salvagers and archaeologist, the most
notable being the four, highly oxidized, cannon bores
embedded in concrete in front of the Santa Maria del
Mar, retirement residency, on East Beach Boulevard in
Biloxi. I have always wondered why these “treasures”
have been allowed to “rot” here for the last
seventy-three years?(The Pascagoula Democrat-Star,
September 23, 1892, p. 2)
Another hypothesis for the sinking of the
small French vessel off Lovers Lane is that it was the
victim of an accidental conflagration. In January 1700,
Sieur de Sauvole (ca 1671-1701), an ensign appointed by
Iberville as commandant of Fort Maurepas, related the
following in his journal:
Returning from the ships of M.
d’Iberville, where I have been to receive the orders, we
have noticed, before having put to land, our little
traversier on fire, which was impossible to extinguish,
being already too advanced, besides this, there were
several barrels of powder, which, in a little time have
had their usual effect. This accident has been caused
by two bunglers who having been to work on board, have
left there a lighted fuse which has occasioned this
loss; I am inconsolable, because of the need we had of
it.(Higginbotham, 1969, p. 41)
Bernard Roman’s Hurricane
This 1772 September tempest was named
for Bernard Romans (ca 1720-1774+), a Dutch scientist,
who journeyed along the Mexican Gulf Coast from
1771-1773, and related his observations of this strong
hurricane as follows:
At Mobile every thing was in
confusion, vessels, boats, and loggs (sic) were drove up
into the streets a great distance, the gullies and
hollows as well as all the lower grounds of this town
were so filled with loggs (sic), that many inhabitants
got the greatest part of their yearly provision of
firewood there….the greatest fury of it (the hurricane)
was spent on the neighbourhood (sic) of the Pasca Ocolo
(Pascagoula) river; the plantation of Mr. Krebs there
was almost totally destroyed, of a fine crop of rice,
and a large one of corn were scarcely left any remains,
the house were left uncovered, his smith’s shop was
almost washed away, all his works and outhouses blown
down; and for thirty miles up a branch of this river is
called cedar river, there was scarce a tree left
standing, the pines blown down or broke, and those which
had not intirely (sic) yielded to this violence, were so
twisted, that they might be confused with ropes; at
Botereaux’s (Baudrau’s) cow pen, the people were about
six weeks consulting on a method of finding and bringing
home their cattle……(Romans, 1961, pp. 3-4)
18th Century
Between 1812 and the beginning of the 20th
Century, there were at least nine hurricanes that
affected the area between West Florida and the
Atchafalaya Basin.
The July 1819 Storm was devastating to the Biloxi area.
The Fort Point Peninsula was probably not occupied at
this time, but the LaFontaine family was probably
residing in an area located somewhere between present
day Front Beach Drive-Washington Avenue-Calhoun and
Dewey Avenue. Witnesses at Biloxi report that this
tempest inundated Cat Island and the Biloxi Peninsula to
the extent that a schooner sailed through the village
from the beach into Back Bay.(The New Orleans Daily
Crescent, September 22, 1860, p. 1)
There were six hurricanes to strike the
Mississippi Gulf Coast between August 1852 and November
1860. In fact, three tropical tempests came ashore here
between August 10, 1860 and September 14, 1860. There
is very little information concerning Ocean Springs as
regards these storms due to its small population, which
made for few structures to destroy. One can only infer
from the reports issued at Biloxi about the local damage
and destruction, which for the most part consisted of
the loss of wharves, piers, bathhouses, and an
occasional structure. Debris, driftwood, and displaced
watercraft are also an integral part of the hurricane
disaster scenario.(Sullivan, 1986, p. 135)
1855
September Storm
It is known that the during the 1855 September Storm,
that Captain Walker’s wharf, which was situated at the
foot of Jackson Avenue was severely damaged. The New
Orleans Daily Picayune of September 18, 1855,
reported that, "Captain Walker was on the pier
head of his wharf when the latter was swept away, and
there he had to remain all night, and until 4 P.M. on
Sunday when he was discovered with a flag of distress
flying".
The pier of the Ocean Springs Hotel, which was adjacent
to that of Walker was destroyed and replaced with a new
structure ten feet wide, but not as long as the
previous.(The New Orleans Daily Picayune, September
21, 1855, p. 2)
The
Cheniere Caminada Storm of 1893
The 1893 October
Strom, referred to by historians as the Great October
Storm or the Cheniere Caminada Storm, struck the
Mississippi coast slightly west of the Alabama state
line on the morning of October 2, 1893. Winds in excess
of 100 mph and rainfalls of up to eight inches were
recorded at many coastal towns. The highest official
storm surge reported in Mississippi was 9.3 feet at Deer
Island where forty cattle were drowned and their
carcasses deposited at the Biloxi lighthouse along with
timbers of boats, saloons, oyster houses and piers.
On October 1, 1893, the tempest first struck the coast
of southeast Louisiana. Here winds in excess of 130 mph
and a storm surge of 15 feet generated from the waters
of Barataria Bay and Caminada Bay drowned 1,650 people
from the population of 1,800 persons living on Cheniere
Caminada, a small fishing community, near Grand Isle.
After exiting Caminada Bay, the Great October Storm
moved rapidly northeast inflicting heavy damage to the
fishing fleet working the fecund waters of the east
Louisiana marshes northwest of Breton Sound. It is
estimated that hundreds of sailors died here from
drowning during the tempest or from exposure during the
days following the aftermath of the storm. Along the
turbulent path to its Mississippi landfall, the Great
October Storm destroyed the U.S. Marine Hospital,
Quarantine Station, and lighthouse at Chandeleur Island.
Local damage
Regrettably for the beachfront inhabitants at Ocean
Springs who remembered the gale of mid-August 1888, the
approaching hurricane would soon make them forget that
blow. The damage in 1888 generally amounted to lost
piers, bathhouses, breakwaters, and some trees. The
Daily Picayune of August 24, 1888, reported
destruction to the wharves and bath houses of: The Ocean
Springs Hotel, Mrs. Julia Ward, Mrs. Julia Egan, John
Cunningham, Mrs. Illing, Mr. Hemard, Bishop Keener,
Reverend Dr. Joseph B. Walker, and Ralph Beltram. The
grand lawn of the Arthur Ambrose Maginnis Jr. estate,
west of the W.B. Schmidt estate, was strewn with fallen
trees. Schmidt lost a portion of his breakwater.
Narcisse Seymour, who operated a fish house and saloon
at the foot of Washington Avenue, lost both during the
high tides and wind of the raging blow.
(The Daily Picayune,
August 22, 1888, p. 2)
The Gillum Hotel (originally the Van Cleave Hotel)
located on the southeast corner of Washington Avenue and
Robinson Avenue, opposite the L&N depot, was badly
shaken by the heavy winds. It had to be repainted.
Mrs. Adele H. Gillum gave up her lease on the hostel,
which was owned at the time by Mrs. Emma Arndt Meyer
(1866-1924+). Gillum and her daughter, Effie, moved to
New Orleans in January 1894.(The Pascagoula
Democrat-Star, October 6, 1893, p. 2)
The L&N Railroad
First reports of the 1893 Hurricane destruction at Ocean
Springs indicated that the most severe devastation
occurred when the L&N Railroad bridge across the Bay of
Biloxi was washed away. Hurricane force winds drove a
200-foot section of the structure into the Back Bay of
Biloxi. The floundering rail span wreaked havoc on
boats, wharves, and seafood plants on the shore of the
bay along the Biloxi peninsula. Mr. Jack Sheppard, the
bridge tender's assistant, was drowned.
When the first train reached Ocean Springs from Mobile
on October 11th, it carried sixty bridge
repairmen. The townspeople were furious with the L&N
for not carrying their mail. The local postmaster had
to row to Biloxi in a skiff to get the mail. Although
four schooners and several steamboats landed at Ocean
Springs via New Orleans, their captains had been denied
access to the town’s mail.(The Biloxi Herald, October
21, 1893, p. 4)
Martime victims
The town became very concerned when the Alphonsine,
a fishing schooner, commanded by Captain Paul Cox was
overdue. The vessel had been shrimping in the Louisiana
Marsh. The people of Ocean Springs and others of the
coast were relieved on October 13, when Father Aloise
Van Waesberghe of St. Alphonsus reported to the editor
of The Pascagoula Democrat-Star that Paul Cox
(1867-1942), Ed Mon (1843-1920), Van Court, and Ladnier
have returned to Ocean Springs from Breton Island where
they spent the days following the hurricane. The men
survived on two croakers a day while they dug their
beached schooner, Alphonsine, out of its quartz trap.
The Rubio brothers, Paul Fergonis (1861-1893) and Frank
Fergonis (1865-1893), also known as Guiatan (Cajetan) or
probably Gaetano brothers, of the Bayou Puerto
settlement, were fishing in the Louisiana marshes aboard
the schooner, Young Amercia, and were
caught by the hurricane. The tempest dismasted their
vessel and drove it aground at Southwest Pass. Both men
were lost at sea.(The Biloxi Herald, October 7, 1893,
p. 1)
The
Civil War (1861-1865)
Ocean Springs basically slept through
the Civil War years. Hunger and pestilence were the
greatest inconveniences suffered by those who remained
in the village. With the exception of a brief visit from
a contingent of marines and sailors from the USS
Hartford in March 1862, and an occasional soiree for
officers at the John Brown House on Fort Bayou, the town
was relatively free from Union intrusions.
If you were residing on the Fort Point
Peninsula during the war years, you might have witnessed
the June 1864 Union Navy raiding party crossing the
tidal flats in Biloxi Bay. Two Yankee gunboats,
USS Cowslip and USS
Narcissus, after negotiating the shallows in
the Bay went far up the Tchoutacabouffa River. They
destroyed salt works, boats, and ferries along their
intrusive wake. Confederate forces scuttled a schooner
in Fort Bayou, when threatened by launches from the
USS Vincennes.(The
New Orleans Weekly Times
June 18, 1864)
19th Century Settlements
Since the land deed records of the Jackson County,
Mississippi Chancery Court have been destroyed twice by
fire in the years 1837 and 1875, there is a paucity of
early land conveyance recordings in Jackson County,
which makes it difficult to impossible to abstract older
properties without breaks in the title chain. A land
deed of May 1854, that was recorded in the Jackson
County Chancery Court is elucidating in that it
indicates that Joseph R. Plummer and spouse possessed
the entire Fort Point Peninsula as early as May 1853.
At this time, Mary G. Plummer conveyed Lots 4-5-6 of
Section 24, T7S-R9W and Section 25, T7S-R9W, composed of
437.35 acres more or less and 60 acres in Section 19,
T7S-R8W to Dr. William Glover Austin (1814-1891) and
“Narcis” Martin. I believe that “Narcis” Martin is in
fact, Warrick Martin. Dr. Austin and Martin built the
Ocean Springs Hotel in 1853 and this lovely structure
appears to be the catalyst for the 1854, changing of the
name of our fair village from Lynchburg Springs to
“Ocean Springs”. Plummer’s possession of the entire
Fort Point Peninsula is corroborated somewhat by the
adjudication in Wren v. Wren, et al, May 1851, in (The
History of JXCO, Ms., 1989, p. 12 and JXCO, Ms. Land
Deed Bk. 32, pp. 299-300)
Warrick
Martin
Warrick Martin (1810-1854+) was an attorney and land
broker from Pennsylvania. In 1850, he resided at Ocean
Springs with his Ohio born wife, Rachael Harbaugh
(1813-1850+), whom he had married in May 1838 at
Columbiana, Ohio. Their first three children, James
Martin (1839-1850+), George W. Martin (1842-1850+), and
Henry C. Martin (1844-1850+), were all natives of
Pennsylvania. There appears to have been a fourth son,
John M. Martin.(Goff, 1988, p. 47)
At Ocean Springs, Warrick Martin owned real estate on
Front Beach along and west of Bayou Bauzage (Bosarge),
which became the present day Ocean Springs Harbor. He
was residing in New Orleans in January 1854 when he sold
his Front Beach land to John Hughes. It is believed
that Warrick Martin expired at Washington, District of
Columbia.
The
Connecticut Yankee-Joseph R. Plummer and the “Brick
House”
Since
Madame Baudrau’s home was situated in Section 25,
T7S-R9W, near the present day Ocean Springs Yacht Club,
there is a high degree of certitude that Joseph R.
Plummer (1804-1870+) was the first 19th
Century inhabitant of the Fort Point Peninsula. Joseph
R. Plummer was born in Connecticut. He was in Jackson
County for the Federal Census of 1840. It is believed
that Plummer married Mary G.
Porter
(1808-1878), the sister of Martha Porter Austin
(1818-1898), the spouse of Dr. William G. Austin. The
Porter family had its roots in Giles, County,
Tennessee. Porter Street is named for this early clan.
At Ocean Springs, J.R. Plummer made his livelihood as a
farmer, land speculator, and land agent.
By the late 1850s, J.R. Plummer’s land holdings on the
Fort Point Peninsula had been reduced by sales from the
entire area to a sixteen-acre parcel in the southeast
corner of Lot 4, T7S-R9W. His residence was situated
here facing the Bay of Biloxi and was known as the “Plummer
Brick House”. Eventually, we will trace the
“Plummer Brick House” tract to its present owner, Jolean
Hornsby Guice, who has possessed this beautiful Biloxi
Bay land since November 1971.
Regarding brick as a construction material in this
region, it was rare until Hanson Alsbury, probably the
first Caucasian to settle on the present day Shearwater
Pottery tract on Biloxi Bay, acquired what may have been
an old brick works established earlier by the Morin
(Moran) family at Back Bay, now known as D’Iberville.
By 1849, William G. Kendall and Robert B. Kendall, two
Kentucky born brothers, were making firebricks on Back
Bay. Three of Biloxi’s oldest extant homes, the
Toledano-Tullis House, familiarly known as the
“Tullis-Toledano House” on Beach Boulevard, the Rogers
House, also called “The Old Brick House” on Bayview
Avenue, and Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, were all
built with Kendall brick, which was manufactured between
1849 and 1853.
Kendall
brickyard
William Gray Kendall (1812-1872) was born in Gallatin
County, Kentucky. He came to New Orleans via Carroll
County, in north central Mississippi. In 1835, W.G.
Kendall married Mary Philomela Irwin (1817-1878), the
daughter of John Lawson Irwin and Martha Mitchell
(1793-1831). Mr. Irwin was at one time Speaker of the
House of the Mississippi State legislature. Mary P.
Kendall was born on February 5, 1817 at the
Puck-shonubbee Plantation, her father’s home, in Carroll
County, Mississippi. She died at Ocean Springs on
January 17, 1878.(The Louisiana Historical Quarterly,
Vol. 29, No. 4, April 1946, pp. 292-293)
In the Crescent City, William Gray Kendall practiced law
with the firm of Kendall & Howard, domiciled at 13 St.
Charles Avenue. Mr. Kendall was postmaster at Biloxi in
1853 and at New Orleans in 1854. He was also engaged in
other entrepreneurial ventures. In January 1846, he
purchased a fifty-acre tract of land in Section 30,
T7S-R8W with 800 feet fronting on the Bay of Biloxi from
A.H. Donaldson. On this beautiful, high ground facing
Deer Island to the south, he built a residence,
icehouse, and school. The parcel had an 800 feet
fronting on the Bay of Biloxi. Here Mr. Kendall erected
a home. It burned in 1894, when owned by Abraham F.
Marks (1870-1939).( JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 63, pp.
14-15 and The Pascagoula-Democrat Star, June 14,
1894, p. 3)
Today the old Kendall Estate is situated on Shearwater
Drive between the Shearwater Pottery and the E.W.
Blossman Estate, and owned by George Dickey Arndt, John
White, Nancy White Wilson, and Donald Scharr,
essentially the second generation heirs of John Leo
Dickey (1880-1938) and spouse, Jennie Woodford
(1879-1969), natives of Niles, Michigan, who acquired
these captivating acres in June 1922, from Magdalena
Grob Clasen Hanson (1845-1929), the widow of Mr. Clasen
and Christian Hanson (1845-1914).(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed
Bk. 51, pp. 544-545).
Probably W.G. Kendall’s largest enterprise
was the Biloxi Steam Brick Works at present day
D’Iberville, Mississippi, which prospered from 1849
until July 1853, when a fire damaged the facility.
Here, on the north shore of the Back Bay of Biloxi, W.G.
Kendall used slave labor to produce clay bricks fired in
a steam-powered kiln. Over 160 slaves labored here,
making Kendall the largest slaveholder in Harrison
County, at this time. The annual production from the
Kendall brickyard was 10 million bricks valued at
$60,000. (Mississippi Coast Historical & Genealogical
Society-1992, pp. 88-89)
The Daily Crescent ran an article titled,
“Biloxi Fire Brick” on July 30, 1850. It stated the
following:
Specimens of the above describe BRICKS may be seen
in the new Custom House; a block of buildings on Race
Street built by Washington Jackson & Co.; the residence
of Mr. Wright, of the firm Wright, Williams, & Company
on University Place; the residence of Mr. Steven of the
firm Fisk & Steven on Dauphine Street; the residence of
Mr. Payne, of the firm of Payne & Harrison, in
Lafayette; five large three story dwellings of Mr. Peter
Conrey Jr., on Apollo Street. Mr. E. Shiff’s three
shops on Camp Street, and one on Poydras Street, and the
stores of Holmes & Mile, now going up on Poydras Street.
Brickyard wharf
It is interesting to note that on the 1851 Biloxi Bay
map created by surveyors and cartographers employed by
the U.S. Coast Survey, the forerunner to the U.S. Coast
and Geodetic Survey, there is a “Brick Yard Wharf”
situated at the foot of present day Jackson Avenue.
This implies that firebricks were being manufactured
near here. It is known that in August 1846, Robert B.
Kendall had acquired Lot 2, Lot 3, and Lot 5 of the
partition of the Widow LaFontaine tract, which consists
of Section 37, T7S-R8W, and strikes west to east from
present day Martin Avenue to General Pershing and north
to Government Street. It is not known if bricks
manufactured here were utilized to construct J.R.
Plummer’s “Brick House” on the Fort point
Peninsula.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 4, pp. 548-549)
Oaklawn
Place
In September 1859, Joseph R. Plummer sold his place on
the Fort Point Peninsula fronting Biloxi Bay to Isaac
Randolph (1812-1884) of New Orleans and relocated to the
present day Gulf Hills area. He called his plantation
here Oaklawn Place. Oaklawn Place consisted of about
400 acres situated in Section 18, T7S-R8W and Sections
13 and 24 of T7S-R9W. It flanked present day North
Washington Avenue for about one mile, southeast of its
intersection with Old Le Moyne Boulevard and included
that area of Gulf Hills along Old Fort Bayou from the
west end of Arbor Circle eastward to a point about 1350
feet west of the Shore Drive-North Washington Avenue
intersection.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 1, pp. 204-205)
The Plummer residence was probably situated in the
vicinity of the present day W.E. Applegate Jr.-Colonel
George E. Little Home at 13605 Paso Road. During the
J.R. Plummer tenure, citrus and fruit orchards were
cultivated at Oak Lawn.
After the demise of Joseph R. Plummer, his widow married
Albert G. Buford of Water Valley, Mississippi. Mr.
Buford had been wedded in June 1856, at Yalobusha
County, Mississippi to Mrs. E.S. Luck. Mary Plummer
Buford relocated to her husband’s residence in Water
Valley.
In August 1878, Mary Plummer Buford came to Ocean
Springs to check on Oaklawn Place, which she had sold in
October 1874, to J.M. Roberts, his wife, Sallie A.
Roberts, and C.H. Williams of Lauderdale County,
Mississippi, for $4000. Mrs. Buford had financed the
balance-$2500.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 2, pp. 231-233)
Madame Buford arrived at Biloxi from Water Valley via
train, and then to Ocean Springs via sailboat. Ocean
Springs was under a yellow-fever quarantine and only the
mail car was allowed in by rail. While on this mission,
she contracted the dreaded Yellow Jack and died at Ocean
Springs in September 1878. She and A.G. Buford
exchanged approximately 40 letters between August 2,
1878 and her death on September 15, 1878. These letters
are well preserved and in the possession of Wally
Northway, a descendant of A.G. Buford. Mr. Northway
resides at Jackson, Mississippi. Copies of these
missives for public utilization are in the JXCO, Ms.
Archives at Pascagoula, Mississippi. A.G. Buford of
Water Valley, Mississippi married Delphine Lewis in
Jackson County, on April 13, 1880.
Isaac Randolph
The first person to acquire the “Plummer Brick House”
was Isaac Randolph (1812-1884) a resident of New
Orleans. He was married to Elmina Randolph
(1814-1867). They were the parents of three children:
John F. Randolph (1838-1888); Elizabeth Randolph
(1852-1911) married William Kirkpatrick; and Nellie S.
Randolph (1856-1901). No further
information.(Tombstone-Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, NOLA)
In April 1866, Mr. Randolph sold his Bay front residence
on the Fort Point Peninsula to Emma Brooks of New
Orleans for $3500. In the warranty deed, the Randolph
property was described as:
A certain tract of land containing five acres more or
less together with the brick dwelling….and situated,
lying, and being at Ocean Springs in the County of
Jackson and State of Mississippi, the same being known
as the “Plummer Brick House”. It is bounded on the
north by J.R. Plummer, south by the lands of Andrew
Allison, (which were acquired from Plummer in 1859),
east by a road 60 feet wide, and west by the Gulf of
Mexico.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 1, pp. 205-207)
Emma
Brooks
Emma Brooks (1823-1878) was born and reared in Indiana.
Circa 1839, she married M.D.F.H. Brooks (1812-1876), a
native of Tennessee. They were the parents of:
Elizabeth Brooks (1840-1860+); Emma Brooks (1842-1860+);
John S. Brooks (1844-1860+); Alice Brooks (1848-1860+);
James Brooks (1851-1860+0; and William Brooks
(1864-1860+). Circa 1843, the Brooks family relocated
from Indiana to Tennessee. They arrived at New Orleans
circa 1851. Here, M.D.F.H. Brooks was the proprietor of
a boarding house in the 3rd Ward, which was
staffed by eight servants. At the time of the, Mr.
Brooks was worth $12,000.(1860 Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Federal Census, M653-R417, p. 40?).
In July 1874, Emma Brooks conveyed her dwelling known as
the “Plummer Brick House Place” and five acres of land
more or less, to George B. Ittmann, a resident of the
Crescent City. The consideration was $7000.(JXCO,
Ms. Land Deed Bk. 1, pp. 208-209)
George
B. Ittmann
George Bernard Ittmann (1836-1893) was a
native of Germany. He immigrated to America and settled
at New Orleans. Here, Herr Ittmann met and married
Marie Therese Trosclair (1842-1885). They had at least
one child: Marie Thecla I. Gilly (1864-1910+). In
1890-1891, George B. Ittmann operated a saloon. His New
Orleans addresses were 158-160 Gravier and 400
Ursuline.(Soard’s, NOLA, 1890-1891 Directory)
It appears that George B. Ittmann had a brother, Jacob
Ittmann (1840-1906), who married Louisa Hebel
(1845-1919). Jacob Ittmann was born in Prussia and made
his livelihood as a locksmith in the Crescent City.(1870
Orleans Parish, Louisiana Federal Census, M593-R524, p.
161)
In August 1891, several years before his demise, George
B. Ittman conveyed his Ocean Springs home situated on
the Fort Point Peninsula to his daughter, Marie T.
Gilly.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk.12, p. 619)
Marie
Thecla Gilly
By June 1900 Marie Thecla Ittman Gilly (1865-1930), now
a widow, was residing on the Fort Point Peninsula on the
site of the old “Plummer Brick House”. She took in
boarder to provide sustenance for her growing family who
were attending the local public school. On June 1,
1885, Marie T. Ittmann had married Paul Armand Gilly
(1862-1894) at New Orleans. He was the son of Adolphe
Gilly (1834-1881) and Rosa A. Maxent Gilly (1841-1925).
Their three children all born in New Orleans were: Harry
J. Gilly (1886-1957); Marie Virginia Gilly (1888-1974);
and Paul A. Gilly Jr. (1890-1963).(1900 Jackson County,
Mississippi Federal Census, T623-R812, p.
148b)
Biloxi
In December 1902, the widowed, Marie T. Gilly, appeard
to be having financial difficulties as she had to borrow
$600 from James J. McLoughlin of New Orleans.
Her Ocean Springs residence provided collateral for the
loan and was repaid with 6% interest by mid-January
1904.(JXCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 25, pp. 497-499)
Before July 1904, the Gilly family had relocated to 918
Reynoir Street in Biloxi. Here Mrs. Gilly operated a
grocery store to provide for her family. In 1905, she
advertised in the Biloxi City Directory as follows:
|
MRS. M.T. GILLY
Groceries
No. 918 Reynoir Street
You will always find my stock in a clean
and sanitary condition. When you want things to
help in table attractiveness, come here. For
your accommodation and convenience I have
recently added
Confectioneries, Fruits, and Pop.
(1905 Biloxi City Directory, 1905, p. 11) |
By 1911, Harry J. Gilly, was employed as a house
carpenter while Paul A. Gilly was an employee of The
Daily Herald.(1910 Harrison County, Mississippi,
Federal Census, T624-R740, p. 214b)
Harry J.
Gilly
Harry John Gilly (1886-1957) was born at New
Orleans on June 24, 1886. In December 1910, he married
Dora Mae Pettys (1892-1965), a native of Wilson,
Michigan. They were the parents of three children:
Velma Thecla Gilly (1911-1911), Nellie May Gilly (b.
June 1913), and Vernon K. Gilly (b. July 1918). The
Gillys resided on Main Street in Biloxi. From his
initial occupation as a house carpenter, Harry J. Gilly
became employed with United Gas as a meter reader. Dora
M. Gilly was very active in the civic and social scene
in Biloxi. She was named Outstanding Citizen in 1952,
by the Biloxi Lions Club. The corporal remains of Harry
J. Gilly and spouse were interred in the Southern
Memorial Park cemetery at Biloxi.(The Daily
Herald, December 8, 1910, p. 8 and December 12, 1957, p.
2 and September 1, 1965, p. 2)
Virginia
M. Gilly
Virginia Marie Gilley (1888-1974) was born
at New Orleans on January 22, 1888. In April 1909, she
married Ernest A. Moran (1884-1919), the son of Joseph
Moran IV (1841-1914) and Catherine Abbley (1849-1929).
Later, Virginia Gilly Moran married Mr. Ortega of
Houston, Texas. She expired at Houston, Texas in
January 1974.(The Daily Herald, April 15, 1909, p. 1)
Paul A.
Gilly
Paul Armand Gilly Jr. was born at New Orleans on January
10, 1890. In February 1911, he married Loretta Seymour
(1891-1956), the daughter of Pliny A. Seymour
(1852-1902) and Melinda Quave (1855-1896). Loretta and
Paul were the parents of: Velma M. Gilly (1911-1969);
Earl B. Gilly (1911-1911); Robert J. Gilly (1913-1982);
Paul A. Gilly II (1915-2001); Aston Gilly (1918-1918);
Wilfred G. Gilly (1921-1983); Shirley G. Cooper
(1925-2003); Shannon J. Gilly (b. 1925); Jeanette M.
Gilly (1926-1926); Jeanette T. Gilly (1926-1926); Jack
L. Gilly (1929-1987); Jill Gilly (1929-1936); infant
Gilly (1930-1930); James Kenneth Gilly (1931-1993); and
Doriss A. “Peggy” Gilly (1933-2001).(Lepre, 2001, pp.
280-281)
In June 1921, Paul A. Gilly acquired a lot of land on
the east side of Reynoir Street between Elder and
Bradford Street from Jeff Davis Mulholland (1861-1930).
This would be the Gilly familial home for many decades.
Paul A. Gilly worked for The Daily Herald in
various capacities for sixty-two years. He retired in
1964 while mechanical superintendent for the publishing
company.(HARCO, Ms. Land Deed Bk. 131, p. 410 and The
Daily Herald, July 2, 1963, p. 2)
In July 1904, Marie T. Gilly sold her Lovers Lane home
to Martin P. Julian (1860-1936) of New Orleans
for $2000. Edwin Martin Westbrook (1858-1913), local
realtor, handled the sale for Mrs. Gilly. Mr. Julian
planned to use his place described as “one of the
prettiest on the beach”, as his summer
home.(The Progress, July 30, 1904, p. 4 and JXCO,
Ms. Land Deed Bk. 28, pp. 414-415)
Marie Thecla Ittmann Gilly passed intestate
on October 31, 1930 in Harrison County, Mississippi. No
further information.(Harrison County, Ms. Chancery Court
Cause No. 44026-July 1961)
Martin
P. Julian
Martin Paul Julian (1860-1936), called Paul,
was born at New Orleans, the son of Martin Pierre Julian
(1823-1888) and Gracieuse LeBlanc (1831-1883). Paul’s
father was born in France and his mother a native of the
Bayou State. Martin Pierre Julian taught French and
French Literature at the University of Louisiana, the
forerunner of Tulane University. In addition to M. Paul
Julian, Martin Pierre and Gracieuse LeBlance Julian were
the parents of: Octavia Julian (1856-1880+); Ernestine
Julian (1858-1880+); Edouard Julian (1861-1880+), a
cotton exchange clerk; Emile (1863-1880+), a cigar store
clerk; Alice Julian (1866-1880+); and Octave Julian
(1871-1880+).(Biog. and Hist. Memoirs of La., 1892, p.
112 and 1880 Federal Census, Orleans Parish, Louisiana)
At the age of twenty, M. Paul Julian was living with
his parents at 34 Annette and clerking for Bayne and
Renshaw, attorneys-at-law, in the Crescent City. In
September 1886, he married Marie Blanche Develle
(1864-1900+), the daughter of Louis Dominique
Develle (1820-1885) and Ernestine M. Jaoquet
(1828-1909). Mr. Develle was a broker in New Orleans.
Paul and Blanche D. Julian were the parents of: Henry
Edward Joseph Julian (1887-1972); Marie Blanche Julian
(1889-1892); Martin Paul Julian Jr. (1890-1895); and
Edward William Julian (1894-1976). By 1900, M. Paul
Julian was also a broker and the family resided on
Rocheblave Street in the Crescent City.(Soard’s, NOLA,
1881Directory and 1900 Orleans Parish, La. Federal
Census, T623R573, p. 93)
In 1911, Mr. Julian w |