Ohio History Journal

MEMOIR OF ANTOINE LAFORGE.

 

A Gallipolis Manuscript (1790)

 

(Translated from the original French by Laurence J. Kenny, S. J.

St. Louis University.)

The accompanying document is a copy of a manuscript

heirloom that has been cherished for more than a century among

the descendents of Pierre Antoine Laforge, one of the early

French settlers of Gallipolis. It brought them into possession

of the "modest inheritance" referred to at its close, and it has

given substance and vraisemblance to the tales of pioneer days

told around the wintry firesides of several old Missouri homes,

and especially to the story of their lost-and-found-grandsire.

The student of Ohio history will also find interest in the

document. It is of no small historic value; not that it affords

many new data, but for the reason that certain misconceptions,

which have gained currency with the years, will be completely

discredited in the light of its first-hand evidence.

For instance, all our historians, in explaining the breaking-

up of the settlement, dwell upon what McMaster denominates

a "most shameful piece of land-jobbery".    There is perfect

unanimity among these writers in ascribing the disruption of

the colony to the invalidity of the emigrants' titles to their

homes. The present document, on the contrary, lets us into the

mind of one of the leading colonists, where we find no trace

of worry over invalid land titles, but there is pain and worry

a-plenty over another matter. His hopes and fears and those

of his associates are exposed to our view; and we find there a

difficult, yet an all-sufficient, reason to account for the removal

of the settlers from the banks of the Beautiful River of that

date. The Indians, by whom they were completely surrounded,

were on the war-path; General St. Clair, sent to repress them,

had been defeaed; some of he French colonists themselves had

fought as officers under St. Clair; and it was too much to expect

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44        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

that savages would not attack a settlement that was furnishing

recruits to their foes. The fear of the savages, especially in

the hearts of men, who had brought their wives and children

into the primeval wilderness, was motive enough to make them

look wistfully towards the alluring promises of a happier home

in colonies of brighter prospects that were springing up sporad-

ically just then throughout the land from Maine to Texas.

When we are once put right on this point, that it was the

fear of savage violence and not defective land titles which chiefly

effected the dispersal of the Gallipolis colonists, it is strange how

clear and convincing a confirmation of our new view is afforded

by a glance at the condition of the adjacent American colony of

Marietta. Let it be remembered that the Marietta pioneers had

persevered for years in a colony whose land titles were similarly

uncertain. This insecurity scarcely forms an item in their story.

In regard to the Indians however the two settlements were very

dissimilarly situated.  Marietta was under the guns of Fort

Harmar, and behind it to the east were several other American

settlements; Gallipolis had only citizen soldiery, and was com-

pletely enveloped by lurking places for the savages. When its

little stockage for two years, even men like Laforge thought of

other lands. All this shows the steel-like strength of those who

remained and who in their descendents were welded into the

fusion that made the Ohio of today.

 

After the perusal of the document, the reader will wonder

what was the fate of Laforge, his wife, and their four children.

When his grand-uncle, Preau, the Notary Public of Paris,

was penning the document in search of him (1797), he was liv-

ing happily with his family, his wife, two boys and two girls,

all except the little Prudence Francois-in the Spanish town of

New Madrid, in the present state of Missouri. One of the most

precious pieces of early Missouri history is a lengthy letter from

his pen addressed to the local Commandant, to which a census

of New Madrid, the names of all the inhabitants, is attached.

The letter is dated 1796. With these he also sent a map of

the town "made after the last abrasion of the Mississippi". We

have a map that seems to be the one referred to, which bears

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Memoir of Antoine Laforge.             45

 

the date, April, 1794. If this is Laforge's drawing, we lose sight

of him for that four months, and he cannot have gone far on

his contemplated trip back to Paris.

He may have reached New Orleans, and there have learned

for the first time of the Reign of Terror, and that Royalists like

himself were in greater jeopardy in France than in the midst

of the savages of Ohio. He may have met on his way the Baron

of Bastrop who was just at this time attracting settlers to a

new colony near the present city of Monroe, Louisiana; or he

may have come upon the Marquis of Maison Rouge, a rival in

the same industry. Both of these had their eyes on the Gallipolis

colony in particular. But it is more likely that he encountered

DeLassus who had left Gallipolis a few months before to ex-

amine the prospects at New Madrid, painted so glowingly by

Peter Andrain and J. B. Tardiveau. Carondelet, the Spanish

Governor, had given these two the sum of $2,500 to be expended

in bringing a hundred families to Missouri from Gallipolis,

which, writes Carondelet, would have been a most flourishing

colony, if the United States had afforded "all the protection

which the colonists had expected."

Missouri was singularly fortunate in the men who came

hither from the Gallipolis colony. To name a few: Doctor

Antoine Saugrain has been the subject of publications by two

historical societies, yet most of the general accounts of the

Ohio-French colony make jest of the man who spent his time

in "making thermometers". His St. Louis descendents to this

day have inherited his propensity towards the natural sciences,

and are still among the leaders in those lines. Luziere was one

of the "Company of 24" in Paris, who undertook to finance the

Scioto colonization scheme. He was a close friend of Caron-

delet, the Governor at this time of the whole Louisiana Terri-

tory, and a man of equally eminent ability. It would withdraw

us from our main topic to stop to consider what might have

been the effect on American history, if the Gallipolis colony

(with nothing west of it as far as the Pacific ocean but other

French colonies) had proven anything of the success that Luziere

and its other founders anticipated. Joel Barlow wrote from

Paris that 500,000 Frenchmen might go out to Ohio. One can-

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46        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

not but rejoice that these high hopes were not realized. This

Luziere is known as DeLassus in Missouri history. To the

present day, his name and that of his son are mentioned only

with affection here. It fell to the latter to be the representative

of Spain on that eventful "Day of the Three Flags" when the

Stars and Stripes were first raised over this western empire,

then known as Upper Louisiana. Another notable member of

the Gallipolis colony who came to Missouri was the Reverend

Peirre Joseph Didier, who for seven years, 1792-9, was almost

the sole pastor of this boundless parish. It will redound for-

ever to the honor of Gallipolis that it was the home of the first

Benedictine priest in the United States, and this the more so,

as that Benedictine was a member of the Congregation of St.

Maur, celebrated throughout the world for its eminent learning.

Didier held episcopal power in Ohio, but seems never to have

exercised it in deference to the Bishop of Baltimore with whose

jurisdiction there might have been confusion. Other Gallipolis

names in early Missouri records are: Picart, soon evolving into

Peters; Cadot; Michau; and Vanderbenden. This last was an

engineer of notable ability. It is a curious contrast to read in

some of the fanciful accounts of the Ohio colony of the in-

ability of the settlers to cut down a tree, and to learn from au-

thentic history that men of fine engineering talent were in the

party. Vanderbenden was chosen in 1797 to erect the fortifica-

tions of St. Louis. But none of these persons proved a greater

asset to Missouri than the subject of this document. Houck, the

most painstaking historians of Missouri, says of Laforge:

 

"His education, intelligence, and great common sense, energy, public

spirit, and literary ability soon secured him a prominent and leading

position. He was an officer of the militia, commissioner of the police,

syndic, and executed many confidential missions for the several com-

mandants. His report of the condition of New Madrid, published in

1796, and to which we have hitherto made reference, shows his keen,

observing mind, and the relentless logic with which he could condemn the

lethargy and want of enterprise of his own immediate countrymen and

the Canadian French, and the admiration he felt for American enter-

prize and energy. After the acquisition of Louisiana he was appointed

Civil Commandant."

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Memoir of Antoine Laforge.               47

Missouri had its land troubles as well as Ohio. Troubles in

such matters do not seem to have disheartened Laforge. We

find in the U. S. State Papers that a tract of 1,140 acres which

had been cultivated by Laforge's six slaves was adjudged by

the U. S. Land Commissioners in 1806, as not to be conceded

to him "for want of actual inhabitation and cultivation by clam-

ant himself."

At the time of the famous New Madrid earthquake in 1811,

Laforge was sick; and he died as the result of exposure. His

numerous descendents have been among the most useful citizens

of Missouri. A village near his old home bears his name.

 

MEMOIRE OF CITIZEN AND CITIZENESSE LAFORGE WHO WENT OUT

TO GALLIPOLIS² ON THE BORDERS OF THE SCIOTO IN 1790.

Pierre Antoine Laforge and Margueritte Gabrielle Colombe

Champagne his wife were carrying on a haberdashery store in

Paris, but not having been successful in business, they were

compelled to abandon it.

Towards the close of 1789 they read in the public papers

the announcement that a great stretch of land was for sale at

a very low price on the borders of the Scioto in the United

States of North America, and they determined to go out as

pioneers. They purchased 2 or 300 acres of the uncultivated soil.

They embarked at Havre (on the ship Patriot, Captain Legros,)

on the 19th of February, 1790, to go and take possession and

establish themselves there with their three children. They had

a fourth child, still at the breast, but they left it under the

guardianship of Cne. Rapeau, the mother of C. Laforge. They

took workmen with them to clear the land and to build; and

they equipped themselves with tools and agricultural instruments.

On their arrival in America, C. Laforge hastened to write to

his mother, Cne. Rapeau. This letter was dated at Alexandria

in Virginia, May 25th, 1790.3

1I shall use C. and Cne, as on the MSS henceforth in the transla-

tion. These were the Parisian designations of 1797. It will be seen below

that Laforge requests his mail to be addrest to M. Laforge.

2The MSS so spells the name of the colony.

3"Wellsburg on the river Ohio, October 1, 1790," is written and

erased.

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48       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

In another letter, dated at Gallipolis, first city of the Scioto,

January 7th, 1790, he says they have reached the lands of the

Company of the Scioto (October 20th, 1790) at the place de-

stined for the establishment of the first city, which they have

agreed to call Gallipolis, i. e., City of the French, as the colony

is composed of none but Frenchmen. He signs this letter: La-

forge, judge of the police and of the peace of the city of Gal-

lipolis.

By another letter written from Gallipolis March 28th, 1792,

he recommends that in writing to him they address their letters

in care of M. Lemegre, merchant in Philadelphia, to be for-

warded to M. Laforge at Gallipolis on the Ohio, by way of M.

Marie of Pittsburgh.

He frequently speaks of the savages or Indians, their close

neighbors, who give them great uneasiness.

After drawing the most smiling tableaux of the country

chosen by the colony he adds: We cannot hide from ourselves

that all this fair perspective may vanish like a dream; that our

fate is in the hands of the Indians who are able at a blow either

to crush us or to pursue us from this pleasant land. Several

establishments near to us have already undergone this sad lot

and have perished either by fire or by the sword. All the Ameri-

cans are jealous of us, and are astonished at our apparent

security and at the tranquillity of the Indians in our regard. In

fact, they have so far deprived us of but one of our number,

whom they have taken captive. But they can at any minute

they please make us pay dearly for the moment of peace they

leave us. It is said that as a general rule they are not accustomed

to do evil to the French, that they love us and they respect us,

and they call us their fathers, because they think they are de-

scended from French blood. But this opinion all advantageous

as it may appear to us, causes us no illusion; all the more since

we know that the blows of the savages are directed by dip-

lomatists, by the English, who will not fail to tell them that we

have become subjects of America as residents in that govern-

ment, and as such we shall be obliged to espouse the cause of

the Americans against them."

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Memoir of Antoine LaForge.              49

In another place he says that an army composed of Ameri-

cans and commanded by General Arthur St. Clair had lately

attacked the savages, there had been several vigorous actions

but no decisive one; but that on the whole the Americans had

had the worst of it. Just after his arrival at the Scioto, he saw

General Arthur St. Clair and the American army going up the

Ohio on the way to New York⁴ to render an account of their

small success. They intended to return down the river in the

springtime of 1792 with a much larger army to harass the

Indians and compel them to remain tranquil.

In another letter dated Gallipolis, August, 1792, Laforge

returns continually with anxiety to the subject of the Indians:

It is necessary to tell you - he says to his mother -that a very

great injury to the success of all the settlements in this country

is the fact that the Americans are at war with the Indians who

who surround us, and that the war is fostered and nourished

by England, who supplies the savages with arms, munitions and

even with officers to lead them. The last campaign was very

unfortunate for the American army; which was cut to pieces,

soldiers and officers; an event that has given us much uneasiness

and fills us with fear of hostility of the savages who surround

us on all sides. "Still they have left us at peace up to the

present. But we do not dare to leave our village where we have

erected a fort for retreat in case of an attack."

"Of the 500 who came here in the beginning, we are now

not more than 200; because some had not sufficient patience

while others were driven away by fear. And as to those who

remain, more than half are arranging to move away at the earliest

opportunity."

In another letter dated Gallipolis, December 25th, 1792,

he thanks his mother for two letters he had received from her,

and he tells her that both he and his wife wish to see her again,

and that they intend to return to France; but there is a great

debate between them as to which of them will make the voyage

first. He feels that it will be he for the reason that his wife

has lately given birth to a child which is being nursed at present.

4New York city was at this time the seat of Congress.

Vol. XXVI -4

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50        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

This letter was the last that C. Laforge wrote his mother.

Henceforth all communications are from Cne Laforge to

Cne Rapeau her mother-in-law. On June 24th, 1794, she writes

from Gallipolis that her husband left Gallipolis on the 18th of

December, 1793, to descend the beautiful river (the Ohio) as

far as New Orleans, to embark there for Philadelphia, and

finally to set sail for France to see his family; that she does

not know what route he followed, that for the last seven months

she is alone to conduct the labors of the estate. She gives an

account of her little family, two boys and two girls; and she

tells her in writing to address her in care of M. Lemegre, mer-

chant at Philadelphia.

After this letter, that is, for something more than three

years, no news has reached France of either the husband or

the wife.

C. Laforge according to the letter of his wife was to have

embarked at Philadelphia to return to France about the begin-

ning of the year 1794. Whereas Cne. Laforge remained at Gal-

lipolis on the banks of the Ohio, with her four children.

Our desire is to secure information of this family.

C. Laforge did not return to France, as his wife's letter

announced; and if we recall that he wrote very long and very

frequent letters to his mother before this period, there is room

to fear that he had perished either on the way from Gallipolis

to Philadelphia or between Philadelphia and France.

M. Lemaigre,⁵ the Philadelphia merchant, with whom he

seems to have had business, might be able to throw some light

on the situation: if C. Laforge reached Philadelphia he would

scarcely have failed to see him, and one might learn from him

whether he sailed for France, the time of the sailing, the name

of the ship, and what has been the fate of the ship.

As to Cne Laforge and her four children in Gallipolis, the

silence she has maintained since the 26th of June, 1794, justifies

 

5"Lemegre," "Lemaigre," and "LeMaigre" appear in the MSS.

Tho it is hard to say for certain that the M is a capital anywhere. I

have not followed the capitalization of the original, where France, for

instance, always appears with a small "f".

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Memoir of Antoine Laforge.              51

the fear that some harm has reached her household, that the

savages or Indians perhaps of whom her husband spoke in his

letters, who menaced them incessantly, and gave them so much

uneasiness, have at length possessed themselves of Gallipolis and

either exterminated the inhabitants or led them into captivity.

Doubtless it is known in New York what has become of

the French colony of Gallipolis; they must know whether it

exists still or has been destroyed. In the first supposition they

must know over there what has become of Cne. Laforge, wife

of C. Laforge, judge of the police and of the peace of Gallipolis,

and what has has been the fate of their four children. In the

other case, it should be a matter of general knowledge how and

when the destruction of the colony took place, and whether there

is any hope still for the survival of its inhabitants.

We earnestly entreat those persons into whose hands this

memoire may fall to assure themselves if at all possible of the

existence or non-existence of the Laforge family. In case of

their existence, to have the individuals who survive to com-

municate with C. Preau, Notary Public at the Rue de la Mon-

noye, Paris; and in the contrary supposition, to secure evidence,

if it can be had, of their decease, either by death certificates, or

by acts of a notary, and to send them to C. Preau at the address

given above.

C. Preau is cousin-german of both the husband and wife;

he is their uncle a la mode Bretagne,⁶ * * * and by this

relationship he was made guardian of their daughter Prudence

Frances Laforge, who remained in France.

There has fallen to C. Laforge the succession to the estate

of C. Rapeau, his mother, who after having survived her hus-

band, died on August 2d, 1797. This succession altho modest

cannot be but of use to C. Laforge, who if he survives must

have his wants.

Written and erased.

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