Rosteets 1800's Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Kathy Tell Publication: American Press Publication Date: 05/19/1991 Page and Section: 37 IM BY: NOLA MAE ROSS American Press Writer ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Imagine a small village with several livery stables, a blacksmith shop, hardware store, several sawmills and shingle mills, set on the edge of a lovely lake ringed by cypress trees loaded with spidery moss and lined with muddy paths that could hardly be called streets. That's what Miguel Rosteet saw when he first came to Lake Charles in 1850. Miguel J. Rosteet Jr. was barely 14 when he arrived in Lake Charles with his mother, Marguerita Hernandez, his stepfather, Francois Bedriana, and his stepbrother, Raphael Bedriana. It wasn't long before Miguel got a job at a sawmill. When he was earning enough money, he married Mary Jane Church, who had been raised by Joseph Charles and Celine Fruge Sallier. There were so few Lake Charles families in 1850 that settlers quickly became interrelated. The Rosteets had a relationship with Charles Sallier, who before the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and even before the turn of the century in 1800, chose Louisiana as his home. Sallier had settled on the southwest side of the beautiful and placid lake which later claimed his name as ''Charlie's Lake.'' There, to his small cabin, he brought his bride, Catherine LeBleu, who was the sister of Arsene LeBleu, a captain serving under the infamous Jean Laffite. Charles and Catherine LeBleu Sallier had six children. Their oldest son, Joseph Charles Sallier, married Celine Fruge and they raised Mary Jane Church who later became a Rosteet. The Rosteets were also connected with the LeBleus, who lived three miles east of Lake Charles at a small place called Chloe. They had settled there even before Charles Sallier came to marry their daughter, Catherine, and take her to his lake. The Arsene LeBleu family had 16 children and at least 100 \grandchildren. So there were many marriages among cousins, and two of the LeBleu granddaughters married Rosteets. Miguel and Mary Jane Rosteet had two children by the time the Civil War broke out. But in October 1863, Miguel was recruited in Calcasieu Parish by S.T. Seawell. He was serving on scout duty in New Orleans when the city fell to the federal forces. Miguel also enlisted in Daly's (Ragsdale's) Battalion, Texas Cavalry, CSA. When he left the military, Miguel Rosteet was 29 years old. Papers described him as having black eyes, black hair and dark complexion and standing 5 foot 7 inches tall. After the Civil War, Miguel Rosteet, who spoke four languages, worked for Johnathon Cole, the collector-treasurer of Lake Charles and the owner of many land tracts in the young city. Miguel continued that work for 16 years, even while he operated a mercantile store on the east side of Ryan Street, about three doors north of Pujo Street. According to Maude Reid's scrapbook, Miguel Rosteet Jr. was considered a colorful character: ''... Usually sitting on the porch in front of his store with his chair tipped back against a post, appearing to be half asleep. ''When customers walked up Miguel would look them over to see if he thought they'd buy enough to make his effort in getting out of his chair worthwhile.'' At that time there were no banks in Lake Charles, and money handling for store-keepers like Miguel Rosteet was difficult. But in 1879 there came a man named Leopold Kaufman, and he opened another mercantile store not far from Miguel Rosteet. After a few years, Kaufman decided to do something about the lack of banking. He brought together area leaders, and from his effort First National Bank was opened in 1889. It was cradled in the Kaufman store, a small wooden structure hack belonging to J.G. Grey, on the east side of Ryan Street near Pujo. Miguel Rosteet and his family lived in a beautiful two-story home on the corner of Bilbo and Pujo streets, where the Majestic Hotel was later built. During the time the Rosteets lived in this home, there was a terrible snow storm in Calcasieu Parish which was very destructive. Most of the cattle in the area died from the severe cold. Miguel's first wife, Mary Jane Rosteet, died, sparking a 16-year lawsuit over her family's right to heirship in the Joseph Charles Sallier estate. Mary Jane had been raised as their own child by Joseph Charles and Celine Sallier. Her parents, when she was a baby, had come through Lake Charles on their way to Texas. While here, her mother died, so her father left Mary Jane with the Jospeh Salliers until he could come back and get her. He never came back and the family felt that he had been killed. So they raised Mary Jane and considered her their very own child. As a result of the lawsuit, Mary Jane's children were deeded the Sallier homeplace near St. Henry's Church in east Lake Charles. What later became known as the Rosteet farm covered the area from Eighth Street to Broad Street and from Third Avenue to Highway 14. A great-grandson of Miguel Rosteet lives on this section today. Phillip Ribbeck says, ''I was raised here on what was then known as the Rosteet ranch, and I well remember picking cotton, helping with the farming and taking care of our farm animals.'' Miguel Rosteet and Mary Jane Church Rosteet had four children. Two of the children, James and William, died young. Another son, Arthur Rosteet, married Beatrice LeBleu, and his brother, Joseph Wilfred ''Babe'' Rosteet, married her sister, Grace LeBleu. After Mary Jane's death, Miguel Rosteet married Mary Theresa McCormick. They had two children, Maggie, who died young, and John Rosteet, who many years ago followed the timber industry to Longview, Wash. and later became active in politics there. His daughter, Margaret Albuschie, lives in Tillamook, Ore. Her mother was Anna Reeves. Joseph W. ''Babe'' Rosteet, son of Miguel and Mary Jane, is remembered as the family patriarch in Lake Charles. ''He is one of the leading men in local affairs of his section,'' wrote historian William Perrin. ''He is a member of the police jury and was a parish treasurer. He owns 1,600 acres of land, a great amount of which is under cultivation. ''Mr. Rosteet is a member of the Farmers Alliance and is public- spirited, enterprising and progressive.'' Babe Rosteet, who married Grace LeBleu, had a daughter named Marie Maud Rosteet, who married Albert Ribbeck. Another daughter, Grace Rosteet, married Kenneth McCain, a member of an early family who owned the famous steamboat ''Borealis Rex'' for many years. Babe's son, Harry, married Hattie Henry, and another son, Charles Murphy, married Alberta Hartman. Their daughters, Mrs. Marsten (Iris) Miller and Mrs. T.A. (Doris) Smith, live in Lake Charles. Albert, another son of Miguel and Mary Jane, married Thia Clara Fruge. Paul married Ida Herr. Most of the descendants of these families live in Lake Charles today. A great-grandson of Babe Rosteet is Conway Rosteet, who lives in Lake Charles. He has spent many years researching the family history. ''I believe that, like many of the early families, ours changed their name from Juan to Rosteet, sometime after they left the Canary Islands and came to Bayou Vallenzuela, near Donaldsonville, and then to Lake Charles,'' said Conway Rosteet. ''Francois Bedriana, who came to Lake Charles and was stepfather to the second Miguel, operated a boarding house with Jacob Ryan, located on Ryan Street near the Immaculate Conception property. It was listed in abstracts as 'The Ryan and Bedriana Hotel.' Bedriana died in 1855, and his son, Ralphael Bedriana, died young after being bitten by an alligator down on the lakefront.'' In Sulphur lives another grandson of Babe Rosteet, Edgar M. Rosteet. He is the son of Albert Rosteet and is married to Betty Tyler Rosteet. Betty Rosteet has gathered a lot of family stories, as well as the Civil War records of family veterans. Billy Rosteet, an owner of the Belmont Motel, is the great-grandson of Babe Rosteet and the son of J.W. ''Bill'' Rosteet, who was well known in this area as a businessman and politician. Bill Rosteet was a veteran of World War II and was a member of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury from 1961 until 1972. He was the police jury president from 1964-72. Many other Rosteet descendants live in Calcasieu today. Some are politicians, some cattlemen, some farmers and some merchants. They are all vital and members of the community where their ancestors chose to make their homes.