The Post of Pointe Coupee, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana Part One of "Historic Sketch" File submitted by Pauline Bizette Brandy This is an excerpt from the booklet, Historic Sketch, St. Ann Parish, Morganza, La. Diamond Jubilee, 1872 to 1947. It was compiled and published for the church's Diamond Jubilee which was celebrated at Morganza, La. on January 18, 1948. It is reprinted by permission of St. Ann's Catholic Church, Morganza, La. For records of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, you may contact the Archives via mail: Diocese of Baton Rouge, Archives, P.O. Box 2028, Baton Rouge, La. 70821-2028 Phone: (504) 387-0561 Fax: (504) 387-8789 E-mail: chancery@diobr.org Or visit their website at http://diobr.org/Welcome.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------ ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------ Seventy-five years ago, the northern part of Pointe Coupee Parish was organized on a Catholic parochial basis with the establishment of the historic Our Lady of Dolors parish of Raccourci, La. Later the parish seat was transferred to St. Ann's Church at Morganza, and it is the priveledge and honor of the latter to commemorate the diamond jubilee of the Catholic parish orgainzation in that section. However, these two churches had an ancient forebear, the venerable mother parish of St. Francis of Assisi of the Post of Pointe Coupee, both church and post being original establishments of French colonial days and both served by the first French Capuchin missionaries of the Louisiana colony. St. Francis Mission, just like its daughter parishes of Raccourci and Morganza, was a river parish. The soil, fertility, history, progress, aspirations - all were bound up in this area, forming a triangle bordered by the Mississippi, Red and Atchafalaya Rivers, with the rise and fall and flow of these streams. The very name of the civil parish comes from one of the vagaries of the great river - a point o land, severed by a short cut taken by the Mississippi on the occasion of Bienville's trip up the great stream. Then and there the section was dubbed "la pointe coupee" - the cut point - and the name has come down to us through the decades. The great arc of the river, severed from the main stream, became "Fausse Riviere", False River, and that name too, has remained. Further upstream in the same are, a century and a half later, again the river route was shortened and we got "Raccourci Island". The fantastic John Law's company granted a vast seignory to Sieur de Mesue in that stretch of rich lands along the river, an area already well known as "la Pointe Coupee." But the deMeuse grant and the development project failed, and instead smaller plantations and farms began to dot that area. Indigo, tobacco and lumber were produced by this section, and later sugarcane and cotton. Pointe Coupee became a favorite stop over point or jumping off point for the river travellers bound for Fort Rosalie at Natchez or the Yazoo Post up river, or Fort St. Jean Baptiste at the Post of the Natchitoches, far up the Red River. It was also a starting point for those traders going into the interior, past Sieur Courtableau's plantation, to trade with the Attakapas Indians and other tribes for furs, bear's grease, tallow, horses and other Indian goods. The French governor of the colony saw the importance of the point, so installed a garrison there under a commandant, and had a fort built. This became the Post of Pointe Coupee. Among the commandants mentioned might be made of de la Houssaye , Joseph Delfau de Pontalba and Charles de Grandpre. Other officials included such men as Sieur Bernard Louis Potin, M. Lenormand, Trenaunay Chanfret, and George Baron, also Richard the warehouse keeper for the Company of the Indies. Father Philibert de Viauden, one of the first four Capuchins to come from France, had as his task to visit all the posts along the Mississippi River, from New Orleans to Pointe Coupee. This he did from 1722 to 1724, and was the first priest to minister to the people of the Pointe Coupee area. Father Raphael de Luxembourg, superior of the Capuchins in Louisiana, visited the Post of Pointe Coupee in 1726, and promptly recommended building of a church there with a resident priest. Colonial officials approved, but more than a decade elapsed before this was carried out. Meanwhile DuPoisson, Father Souel and Father Dumas, three famous Jesuit missionaries on their way up river to the Arkansas Post, stopped off at Pointe Coupee in 1727. Father DuPoisson performed two Baptisims there, one in April and another in August. Finally, Father Maximim, Capuchin missionary, was designated to serve both Natchitoches and Pointe Coupee in 1728. The next year, he was commissioned by Governor Perier and Moncieur de la Chaise, to collect the taxes for the Pointe Coupee area. Father Pierre is listed as officiating there in 1728 also. Then for the next seven years, there was no regularly assigned missionary for the post. It depended on priests voyaging up or down the river, who stopped off at the post for a rest, such as Father Irenaeus, the Capuchin in 1735, and the Jesuit, Father Pierre Vitry. In 1736, Father Pierre, a Capuchin, was named pastor of Pointe Coupee, and during the next year, he was joined by Father Jean Francois de Civray, awaiting his transfer to Natchitoches. Father Anselm de Langres, Capuchin, became pastor in 1738, and at last a church was erected, and it was dedicated on March 16, 1738, under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi. On the Holy Saturday following, Father Anselm blessed the two small bells. Probably due to the encroachments of the Mississippi, the church was rebuilt in 1760, during the pastorate of Father Irenaeus, and a cemetery was blessed in 1764. The 1750 census states that there were 100 Catholic families in the area of the Post of Pointe Coupee. In 1769, the total population was set at 783, but by 1785 it had risen to 1,521. The St. Francis Mission was located close to the Pointe Coupee fort, all writers agree. The post is said to have been located at the St. Francisville Ferry Landing, on the west bank, and close to the river. An old newspaper article states that some 20 years before the War Between the States, on Arthur Porche's plantation, there could still be seen traces of the old fortifications. The English officer, Captain Philip Pittman, who visited the Louisiana colony in the late 1760's, wrote: "The settlements at the Pointe Coupee commence 10 leagues from the River Iberville. They extend about 20 miles on the west side of the Mississippi.....and there are some plantations back on the side of (what is generally called) 'la Fausse Riviere'. The fort is situated on the side of the Mississippi, about six miles above the lowest plantation. The church is very near the fort, and is served by a Capuchin." For a time, distant St. Martinville and Opelousas were served from Point Coupee's St. Francis Church; likewise the Indian village of the Tunicas. After the French withdrew from Louisiana, Spanish Friars took up work at Pointe Coupee, and several French priests, refugees from the French Revolution served the post. Irish priests from Spain - Father Charles Burke, the Carmelite, and Father Francis Lennan, a Capuchin, - also attended the Catholics of St. Francis Mission. For a time, the church was served from Baton Rouge or from the New Feliciana church or from Bayou Sara. St. Francis was neglected for nearly two decades and services were irregular. But with the appointment of Father Antoine Blanc in 1820, (the future first Archbishop of New Orleans), St. Francis once more came into its own, and the church served as the center for the whole Pointe Coupee area. A church, St. Mary's, was established at False River (New Roads), and later, another at Chenal. Father Blanc continued his zealous work until 1831. Difficulties arose with the wardens of the parish church in the early 1840's, one of several similar outbreaks in south Louisiana, but after the cse went to the courts, affairs were arranged, and Father Martin resumed his pastorate. For many years, False River and Chenal were served as missions from St. Francis of Pointe Coupee. One of its famous pastors was courageous Father Mittelbronn, who was arrested by the Federal soldiers for conducting services for the Confederates and blessing the flags of departing volunteers. A famous center of that area was Poydras College, which by 1857, had 70 students. After the war, in 1866, St. Mary's became a separate parish and in 1867, the same was done for Chenal, but St. Francis continued as a parish church, serving the river settlements. It continued in that status until 1889, when It became a mission, and it was attached to Our Lady of Seven Dolors Church of Raccourci. St. Francis Church of Pointe Coupee was one of the pioneer churches of Louisiana, the fifth oldest parish to be erected. It was surpassed in age only by the parishes at New Orleans, Natchitoches, Les Allemands (the German Coast, St. Charles Borromeo of Destrehan) and La Balize. Since the last, however, was discontinued, St. Francis is the fourth oldest, continuous parish in the state.