Judge William H. Haskell 1822 - Clcasieu Parish, Louisiana BY: NOLA MAE WITTLER ROSS American Press Writer Publication: American Press Publication Date: 08/29/1990 Page and Section: 38 CT Submitted by Kathy Tell ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Only a true adventurer like Capt. William Henry Haskell would leave the well settled state of Massachusetts in 1852 and come to Southwest Louisiana were there were only 300 residents in the Village of Lake Charles, and panthers and wildcats still roamed in nearby forests. Captain Haskell who was born in Newburyport, Mass., in 1822 and came from a long line of seagoing ancestors. At the age of 17 took to the sea. ''His promotion was rapid,'' stated an early newspaper. ''And in a few years he was given command of a ship and sailed around the world several times, plus made the trip around the Horn seventeen times. ''Later, Haskell settled into a job as a clerk in his brother's store in Newburyport. In 1846, he married Harriet Thompson, who died soon after the birth of their only child, Hattie. In 1850, Haskell married Sarah Ellen Cook. They had been married only one year when wanderlust hit him again. This time, he ''set his face southward to find a climate more congenial than the rock-bound, ice-girt coast of the old Bay State. ''On reaching New Orleans, Haskell opened a small mercantile store and sent for his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Hattie. But before they arrived, Haskell had already decided to move again this time to Lake Charles. Sarah Haskell seemed as adventurous as her husband. She came by it naturally since an ancestor, John Newton Cook, came over on the Mayflower. Sarah's detailed diary paints a vivid picture of her unbelievably tiresome and dangerous 30-day journey on the schooner Russell Sturgis, from Massachusetts to New Orleans. ''There are two dogs on board,'' Sarah wrote. ''We have also some pigs, geese and hens on board. The pigs run loose about the deck and the hens are quite noisy while I often hear the geese in the night. There is only one other woman on board ... the wife of one of the sailors. ''Of the first few days aboard, Sarah reported, ''I have enjoyed myself very much so far, but I would like to move a little faster.'' A week later, when the ship was off Cape Hatteras, she wrote, ''Last Sunday night the wind began blowing fearfully. The masts were creaking and snapping, the ship was tossing about fearfully. Above the howling of the wind and the roar of the waves, I could hear the captain giving orders in rapid succession to the men. I could hear something smash and every timber groaned and creaked as if the ship, in the next moment, would be shivered into thousands of pieces. ''Oh, it was a fearful night. I never longed so earnestly for the dawn of day. As soon as it grew light, I tried to get out of my berth but my head was so dizzy and the ship was plunging and rolling so that it was nearly an hour before I could get down, and then I tumbled into the lower berth. ''I began to grow very sick indeed and was scarcely able to raise my head. About daybreak the ship gave one tremendous plunge, the cabin doors all slid open, the chairs rolled about and even if I had the strength, I should not have dared to leave my berth lest I break my limbs. I have 'killed the sailor', as the saying is, and will never wish again to go to sea.'' The rest of the long journey was not quite so eventful. ''I am sick about every other day,'' she wrote. ''I will be glad when we get on terra firma once more so that I can undress and go to bed like Christian people, for sleeping in my clothes is not very refreshing and I feel worse in the morning than I do at night.'' A few days later, Sarah wrote, ''we are off the island of Abaco and sailing along near the Berry Islands. If we have a fair wind we shall reach the mouth of the Mississippi in 4 days. We crossed the Great Bahama Islands and came off them two days ago. ''We saw the lighthouse on the Salt Key and saw Tortugas Islands. We have now a fair wind and smooth sea and are steering straight for the Mississippi at about 10 or 12 miles an hour.'' On Saturday, Oct. 30, after 22 days at sea, she wrote, ''We are as far south as 23 degrees and are now going north again. I can hardly realize now that I am in the Mississippi. We have left the Atlantic and it was like parting with an old friend.'' A steamboat came out and took us inland, but we had to stay on board one more night and the mosquitoes were so bad that in the morning I was ashamed to show my face because it was so disfigured by mosquito bites. Finally, on Nov. 8, 1852, one month after boarding the schooner, the Haskells reached New Orleans only to learn that her husband was ill in Lake Charles and could not come to meet them. ''I am bitterly disappointed,'' Sarah wrote from her room in the Conti Veranda Hotel. ''They tell me Lake Charles is a wild country but all I care about is to get there.'' After this turbulent beginning, Sarah found peace in her new home and lived a long, happy life in Lake Charles. Capt. Haskell built the third frame house in Lake Charles, using ''sawed lumber.'' He owned lots numbered 915, 917, 919 and 921 on Ryan Street, located just north of the Catholic Church property at the corner of Ryan and Kirby streets. The new Haskell home was across the street from the Frick Opera House, which was later sold and became Williams Opera House. Haskell engaged in the schooner trade and also became the first hotelkeeper in Lake Charles, opening Haskell House on his Ryan Street property. He was appointed parish recorder in 1855 and again in 1865.The ''Big Three'' business leaders in Lake Charles in those years were William Henry Haskell, Jacob Ryan and Thomas Bilbo. When the Civil War began, Haskell enlisted as a member of a Louisiana regiment. It was his duty to clear blockade runners from the Teche. Later, he saw duty in New Orleans, and was discharged from the service after Union Gen. B.F. (Spoon) Butler took over the city. The first drug store in Lake Charles was opened during the Civil War by Mrs. Haskell to support the family while her husband was in the service. It is thought to have been either in or next door to Haskell House. Haskell House was one of three hotels here in 1882. It had nine rooms for guests. Lake House, on North Court Street, was operated by Capt. Green Hall and had ten apartments. Richard House, hosted by Jules Richard, had eight bedrooms. Each hotel had stables. From 1872 through 1883 there were many news and social items about Haskell House, also called Haskell Hall. A May 1872 reference in ''Diary of Louise'' by George Ann Benoit says ''Capt. Thomas R. Reynolds gave an excursion on his boat. Then we all went to the soiree at Haskell Hall.'' In 1875 she states ''We had a lovely May Day celebration this year in Haskell Hall. ''In November 1878, ''One of the most beautiful spots in town is Haskell House. It has just been completely renovated by Willie Haskell, son of Captain Haskell who did practically all the work of repairing.'' In the words of historian Reid, ''Captain Haskell sold the Haskell House to Captain Reynolds, who in turn sold it to Captain Walker, an old Confederate veteran who changed its name to Walker House. I remember the old, reddish-brown building with a wide gallery upstairs and down. How many times have I passed there and noticed old Captain Walker sitting on the downstairs gallery in a big armchair a short, portly, red-faced, jovial old man typical host of a country inn.'' Captain Haskell served as an appointed sheriff in the early 1870s and later operated an insurance business. He owned extensive property. In later years the Haskells lived at 712 Hodges Street across the street from the Masonic Lodge. Haskell died in 1900 Haskell and was buried in Orange Grove Cemetery. His wife survived him for seven years. They had seven children, including three who died in infancy. In addition to Hattie, the little six-year-old who made the long voyage south with her stepmother Sarah in 1852, the children were sons, Frank E. and William Henry Haskell Jr., and daughters, Sarah and Ellen Haskell. Hattie grew up in Lake Charles and married a Civil War veteran of the Union Army, William Charles Canton. Before the war, he was a drover on the Erie Canal in New York. The Cantons had four children, including two sons who died in childhood and two daughters, Bertha Ellen Canton, who never married, and Willie Charlotte, who married Preston Benton Woodward. The Woodwards had two sons: William H. Woodward, who lives in Moss Bluff, and Thomas Woodward of Atlanta. Captain Haskell's son Frank E. worked for the railroad for 40 years. He married Lillie Lewis Dade and they had seven children. Two died as infants. A son, Frank (Pete) Haskell never married. The other four children are Elizabeth (Daisy), Ellen, William and Eunice. Elizabeth (Daisy) married Pierre Joseph Fleury. They had two sons, John and Clyde, and a daughter, Doris Fleury, who lives in Lake Charles. Ellen married Maurice Fatherree. They had one child, Marcella, who married Asa I. Hoffpauir and lives in Moss Bluff. William married Lula Pearl Freezia. Their II. daughter, Mrs. Raymond (Faye) Brown lives in Nacogdoches, Texas. Eunice III. married William Alderson and they had two sons, Reginald and IV. Charles.Captain Haskell's daughter Sarah married Frank Maiser. She had V. two sons, Frank and William Maiser, who lived in California, and a VI. grandson, William Evan Maiser. Captain Haskell's daughter Ellen VII. married Joseph George and they had a son Joseph and a grandson Melvin. VIII. Mrs. George died when she was only 20.Captain Haskell's son William IX. Henry Jr. married Julia Smart in 1881. They built a home at 730 Common X. St. now Moss Street near the Broad Street intersection. In 1937 they XI. sold 100 feet of frontage on Broad Street for $11,000 to Pan American XII. Petroleum for a service station. Their home was moved back from the XIII. corner, sold around 1952 to Hixson's for use as an office building and XIV. later torn down. William Haskell Jr., who served as city judge for XV. years, was also in partnership with Frank Levingston in a construction XVI. firm. Judge Haskell, who lived to be 90 years old, spent the latter XVII. part of his life working for the parish highway department. His XVIII. wife, Julia Smart Haskell, was very active in civic clubs, including XIX. the Drew Park project. ''Beautification of Lake Charles' waterfront was XX. always of paramount interest to her,'' stated a 1947 newspaper. ''She XXI. had many times expressed the hope that a real lakefront beautification XXII. program might be carried through to completion in her lifetime.'' XXIII. Mrs. Haskell was also recognized as the originator of the idea for XXIV. the Bel Community Clubhouse. She enlisted the help of various local XXV. civic clubs to make this a reality. The Bel Community Clubhouse existed XXVI. until about 1946.Arriving in Lake Charles in 1852, the Haskell family XXVII. has been an important part of Lake Charles and its earliest years as XXVIII. the small village grew to be a town and later an incorporated city.