- PART TWO -
"For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid."
---President Dwight D. Eisenhower
The pioneers who settled Washington Parish are confirmation. Our forefathers - strong and bold - were anything but timid. My source for this column is Dr. E. Russ Williams, Jr.'s book "The Founding Families and Individuals of Washington Parish, Louisiana, 1798-1860," a fantastic resource for any historical endeavor, which I purchased during the pandemic. As of late, that's my new, unoriginal word - fantastic. I find myself frequently declaring, "This is fantastic."
Last week I introduced, from Dr. Williams's book, the first of two early petitions with signatures of Washington Parish residents, entitled the "EXPULSION OF ALEXANDER BOOKTER AS ALCADE OF ST. HELENA." According to Dr. Williams on page 227, the statement (as written, with no edits) to Don Carlos de Grand-Pre on September 15, 1804, was as follows:
"Jones wrote Grand-Pre that he and his unfortunate neighbors had learned that Bookter had falsely reported to the government that they had little affection for His Excellency. Bookter's allegations against them had made it appear that they were confederates of the Kempers in the recent rebellion against Spanish authority. Thus Jones denied the charges and stated that their marching to the defence of the authority in Baton Rouge had been demonstrative of their zeal."
The riveting rebuttal (as written) of Alexander Bookter to Jones, was provided by Dr. Williams on page 227, as follows:
"I beg leave to inform his Excellency that Mr. Michael Jones has spread a report in this District that I was the cause of his Excellency's calling on this inhabitance to turn out and that I had informed his Excellency that this settlement was all about to join Camper [Kemper], and in consequence of which he Excellency sent the express for them Immediately to Turn out, and which is caused the whole settlement here to be invetered [embittered] against me, and are to sine a Petition to have me expelled from the District. God only knowes I have ever been a true friend to Government and have acted with honor and truith and would wish to be in Piece if I could be let a lone, last week there were seven Indians with two casks of taffy [tafia--rum] and in camped neer my house and began to Drink when the[y] came to the house and asked for something to Eat, I ordered it as quich as it could be got, but they would not waite but broke into my cornfield and began to pull corn and water millions, I went to forbid them and two of them fell on mr with sticks and if it had not been for some gentlemen who boarded here they would have perhaps beet me to Death. Mentioning Burris at the same time.
I am very much worried and have the Feever besides [p. 470] as soon as I find myself able to ride I will be at Government, I remain with rispect your Friend."
The scene was one of great drama. My previous column mentioned that four petitioners were deposed: John Glasscock, William Bell, Daniel Rener, and William Bickham. According to his deposition, John Glasscock (a native of Virginia, a Protestant, and a laborer) did not sign the Petition for the Expulsion of Alexander Bookter for reason that he did not know how to write. Only having heard about the charges being filed against Bookter, he had not actually seen them. Glasscock added that he didn't have any personal prejudice against him yet when Michael Jones, together with unknown others, asked if he would sign said charges against Bookter, he acquiesced. Glasscock had heard, via Michael Jones and Ephraim Bates that Bookter had reported to the government that area residents were inclined to rebel against it.
Similarly, William Bell (a native of North Carolina, a part of the Calvinist Sect, and a government official in the district) did not sign said Petition. Though he had heard the charges, it was his brother-in-law Reubin Curtis who signed it for him. In his deposition on February 22, 1805, Bell got to the crux of the matter, explaining that Michael Jones and others "when they returned from the expedition against the Kempers, circulated among the residents, that Alexander Bookter had told the government that all the residents of St. Helena wanted to rise in rebellion and unite with the Kempers."
Daniel Raner (a native of South Carolina, a Protestant, and a farmer), on February 24, 1805, also didn't sign said Petition though he was able, knowing "how to do it, a little bit." But he had another gentleman who was present to sign on his behalf, and he further acknowledged this signature as his own. Raner reiterated the reasoning, that Bookter had described the residents of St. Helena as rebels. And he added that there was additional reasoning - an event held a couple years prior at William Bickham's plantation where Bookter, who was Alcade, made fun of the residents and told them that the government would consider them thieves which he added that "they were." Fighting words, it would seem, back in that day.
And finally William Bickham (a native of Georgia, a Protestant, and a farmer) declared in his deposition that the signature on the Petition wasn't his though he did know how to write. He had, however, authorized another to sign on his behalf. He was aware of the charges, that Bookter had reported that St. Helena residents were rebels, desirous of aligning with Kemper, and also that Bookter had labeled all district residents as rascals. But he didn't believe Bookter was referring to him as they had been friendly except for Bookter charging him three pesos "for having annotated in his book the arrival of three of the declarant's brothers and the places where they had established themselves."
It was a different world in the Florida Parishes in the early 1800s. The Petition for the expulsion of Alexander Bookter, and the correspondence and depositions that surrounded it, reveal not only our early settlers' identity but also their character.
•Stay tuned for a final column in the future on the early Washington Parish settlers.
