Estate Was Basis For Town Times Picayune February 15, 1990 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ This year marks the 150th anniversary of Mandeville's incorporation by its founder, Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville. Before March 24, 1840, when the official plan for the town was submitted, Marigny owned a vast amount of acreage east of Bayou Castin. He named his lands "Fontainbleau" after the royal palace of France. The plantation was not included in his plans for the town, however. For this Marigny looked west to the lands of Morgan Edwards and his heirs. Edwards was of Irish descent and immigrated in the late 1700s to New York, where he became a prosperous merchant trading along the Hudson River. In 1770 Morgan married Margaret Amanda Smith. That year Edwards received a British land grant of 1,600 acres fronting Lake Pontchartrain and Bayou Castin, and the family arrived in June 1777 to take possession of the land. The Edwards plantation was one of the most prosperous of its time. On the estate were several brickyards and a fleet of schooners used to transport bricks to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Much of the masonry and brickwork used in the area at that time came from the Edwards kilns. After 20 years of prosperity, Morgan Edwards died in May 1799. He was buried near his home on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Sadly, no remains are to be found of Edwards' last resting place nor the exact site of the main house. In 1810 a hurricane swept the plantation, and the family's graves, into the lake. Morgan and Margaret's eldest child, Daniel, continued in his father's footsteps until the call to arms launched him on a new and exciting career. In 1811 Daniel was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Louisiana militia to command a detail under Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans. Gen. Edwards became a close friend of Jackson's and on Jackson's return to the North, he stayed for a short time with the Edwards family. During his visit Mrs. Edwards went into labor with her fifth child. The boy was named for his godfather, Andrew Jackson. Feeling restless after the war, Daniel was unhappy with planting and stock raising. Like so many well-to-do planters of the time, he began a fruitful and rewarding political career beginning with an appointment to the staff of Gov. Jacques Villere as a financial adviser. Later, Daniel was elected senator, representing St. Tammany, Washington, St. Helena and Livingston parishes. He served for four years. During this time the family plantation was beginning to decline in productivity. A family meeting was held and they decided to sell the land. On Feb. 18, 1829, Daniel and his five brothers and sisters signed an act of sale for the estate conveying the lands to Bernard Marigny for $4,525. With this new acquisition Marigny could set his plan for the town of Mandeville into motion. Five years later the town was founded. The Edwards tract today encompasses all of Mandeville from Bayou Castin west to Lafitte Street. Mandeville's history is colorful, and with founders such as the Marignys and Edwardses it is no wonder that the past, present and future of this city is being celebrated so earnestly.