Lake Arthur History, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Kathy LaCombe-Tell Source; Lake Charles American Press Publication Date: 10/20/1991; Page and Section: 20 IM Submitted April 2002 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************Parish History Lake Arthur Area Settled Early settlers drawn to fertile ground, plentiful game The Indians who lived there probably had a name for the lake. The French settlers probably had a different name for it. Lake Arthur is the name that finally stuck. It was named for Arthur LeBlanc, who settled on its shores. People began calling it la lac d'Arthur, which translates into Lake Arthur. In ''History of Lake Arthur,'' Calvin Dale Smith and Allen Fitzgerald wrote, ''In 1811 Atanas Hebert came to Lake Arthur to settle. That marks a date we can follow with accuracy.'' The little village of Lakeside was across the lake to the south and the area called Shell Beach was also south of the lake. Both areas were settled before the present town of Lake Arthur. With a post office, hotel, newspaper and several stores it appeared Lakeside might become the largest resort in Southwest Louisiana. Many of the earliest settlers, who later moved to Lake Arthur, chose that side of the lake. It was planned as a resort, with orchards and small crops. But within a few years Lakeside fell. Two freezes killed the orchards and crops and schooners bringing tourists and freight began going to the north side of the lake. The railroad came in 1903 and roads were built to bigger towns, so gradually most of the commercial projects moved north of the lake to the village of Lake Arthur. Some of the earliest settlers were patrician Creoles from New Orleans, who built south of the lake. Jean Revlon built a large residence in 1853, which still stands and is now known as the Macdonell plantation. The deLauneys, Deschamps and Gaithes, all of whom had been involved in the French Revolution came from New Orleans. Mrs. deLauney played leading roles in French theater and opera.Louis Gaithe moved from France to New Orleans in 1870 where he stayed a short time and played French horn at the French Opera House. Gaithe and his wife, Charlotte Morris Gaithe, had three sons Eugene, Jules and Paul who remembered that their father had at first lived in a small lean-to under the oaks, before building his home south of the lake. Paul, who was born south of the lake at the old home place, later bought in Lake Arthur. He told many stories of his family's early days in this area. ''When ducks were so plentiful they clouded the sky and as they swooped down to eat acorns, before there was much rice, my brothers and I one day shot 200 pairs of ducks,'' he said. ''We iced them good and had Captain Laurents take them to the French Market in New Orleans where the fancy restaurants were offering two dollars a pair. ''But the Gaithes had a problem typical to shipping of those days. ''The restaurateurs,'' Paul related, ''said most of our birds were rotten and they would not pay for the whole lot. They sent back $14 and we bought a surrey with it.'' The same thing was happening to the rice farmers. Gaithe recalled one time during a rather rough voyage; water spilled over two bags of rice. The Galveston mill turned down the whole cargo, and the Gaithes had to pay $125 for shipping and received nothing for the crop. Paul and Teresa Gaithe have four daughters, Marguerite Gaithe, Louise, Lillian Longman and Marion Perry.Eugene and Isabel Gaithe had five children, Alvin ''Newt,'' Louis, Hortense Miller, Isabel Theriot and Cecile Duhon.Jules and Ernestine Gaithe have three children in Lake Charles, Laurence Faithe, Catherine Barnett and Eldora Gaithe. Henry, Leon and Laura are deceased. Desire Hebert became one of the wealthiest men in the area and owned vast tracts of land, most of which he sold to Captain Lowery before moving to Lake Arthur. The first sawmill within Lake Arthur corporate limits was built and operated by Lee Fox. Three major events turned this area into great rice-raising country. In 1876 the first rice mill was built by Gustave Laurents and D. Derouen. Originally built where the Emile Andrus home stands, it was moved across the lake to Myer's Point. In 1887 Anatole Gauthier and C. St.Germain brought in the first rice thresher and portable steam boiler. In 1890 the first rice irrigation pumping plant was built on Bayou Lacassine by Leon and Jacque Viterbo. All of this turned Lake Arthur into successful rice country. Dominique Monzelun was another early settler of Lake Arthur. He came from the Basque country of southern France in about 1876 and settled on the Vermilion side of the lake. He was a carpenter and all of his sons were carpenters. They built many of the present homes in Lake Arthur. Dominique had five children, Joachin, Emile, Theodore and Antoine, all of whom lived in Lake Arthur, and Josephine, who was married to a Murray and lived in Westlake. Many descendants live in Lake Arthur and Lake Charles today. Boat captains were an important part of the lives of these early settlers. The lake, which is about one mile wide and nine miles long, connects with the Mermentau River, a navigable waterway to the Gulf of Mexico. Capt. Frank Dyer was an early captain who operated steam tugs and barges, hauling rice and other freight. Capt. D.E. Sweet brought his tug ''Ida'' south in 1886 and then bought the ''Harry Bishop,'' followed by the sternwheeler ''Louisa Storm'' and the ''Olive'' which made trips to Grand Chenier for 17 years. That was the only means of travel between Lake Arthur and Cameron Parish. One of the largest families in the area was the Broussards. It is almost impossible to pinpoint which Broussard arrived first. One of them, T.C. ''Tozan'' Broussard was a popular druggist in Lake Arthur. There was Pete, whose son Adam lives in Lake Arthur today. South of the lake, near Vermilion Parish, was Pierre Mozard Broussard, whose grandson and granddaughter, Patrick Broussard and Irene Coco, are current Lake Charles residents. There are more Broussards in Lake Arthur than any other family. When the famous comedian of the '20s and '30s, Irwin Cobb, visited Lake Arthur on a duck hunt, he remarked, ''Broussard is not a family, it is a clan.'' Another visitor during hunting season was Franklin D. Roosevelt, before he was stricken with polio. Industrialist S.R. Kress was another well-known hunting visitor. ''The Live Oak Hotel was quite a spectacle in this comparative wilderness,'' wrote Smith and Fitzgerald. ''It was one of the most modern hotels in south Louisiana. It was maintained and operated as a hotel until 1922, and then turned into the Lake Arthur Hunting Club.'' Florin Champagne is remembered as one of the prominent guides of that club, before he opened his own.He was widely recognized as a master guide and marksman and won many trophies and awards. Dorothy Dix was also a frequent visitor to Lake Arthur as a guest of the Deschamps family. In 1895 the Lake Arthur Camp Grounds was incorporated as South Louisiana Holiness Camp Meeting Association. The group bought 10 acres of land along the lakefront for $550. The campground is still widely used. Dormitories were built in 1895 for men and women. At first, hay was put on the cabin floors for beds. The Rev. R.P. Howell was instrumental in its founding and was also Lake Arthur's first village clerk in 1904. His son, Dr. Robert Howell, now deceased, was a prominent Lake Charles doctor. In 1899 community leaders platted the town and in 1903 a petition was submitted to Gov. W. Heard for its incorporation. There were 250 landowners in the immediate area. The petition was granted and the appointed officers were Dr. V.A. Miller, mayor; J.B. Streater, Lee Fox and M.M. Young, aldermen; and the Rev. R.P. Howell, clerk. For the first time, the Southern Pacific Railroad came to Lake Arthur from Lake Charles in 1904, bring an excursion to the campgrounds. Just north of the lake is a little group of homes and farms, in an area called Andrus Cove. It was settled before 1832 by an old patriarch, Hiram Andrus. ''Hiram Andrus was lord and master of all he surveyed,'' wrote Franklin Hildebrand in ''As I Remember.'' ''He could stand under the spreadInvalid measure ing branches of the great oaks which shaded his homestead, in the cove bearing his name, and look north, south, east or west and all that he saw spreading prairies, thousands of cattle and wild horses and highly nutritious grass to feed the mall were his as far as the eye could see.'' Hiram and his wife Lizeme had eight children D.D., Eliza Valdetero, Tabitha Gauthier, Joe,B.C. ''Cake,'' Elise Gauthier, Emile and Pumela. According to Hiram's descendants, he had a Spanish land grant and also bought other acreage for 25 cents an acre. But when it came time to pay taxes, he gave away some of his land. His property reached from Lake Arthur to Jennings. The Andrus descendants are well known in the Lake Arthur-Jennings area. One descendant-in-law, Miriam Andrus of Jennings, recalls a family incident in which Arthur Andrus came home from World War II in a shell- shocked state and was sent to a VA hospital. The hospital got this man mixed up with another patient, calling him by another name for many years, before the family got it all straightened out. Edward L. Andrus was an all-state football player for Jennings High School and also a football hero at LSU. Today Lake Arthur citizens are a mixture of Acadians and French soldiers who came to the area in the early days in addition to Anglo-Americans, who arrived, mostly from the state of Iowa, during the 1890s. They have all come together as a community who work happily and with pride in their heritage.