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A Letter of Interest Both
Locally and Historically
(Among the papers read at a meet
ing of the Historical Society of East',
and West Baton Rouge was a letter
from Colonel James Gibbs Morgan to
his nephew Hon. Howell Morgan,
State Treasurer. As it is historical
as well as local, Woman's Enterprise
takes the liberty of publishing same.)
Washington, D. C., March 25, 1916.
My dear Howell:
Many thanks for your very inter
esting letter and the enclosures. I
was immensely interested in the news
paper clipping giving an account of
the meeting of the Historical Society,
and I hope that it will be a great suc
cess. You have plenty of historical
matter connected with Baton Rouge,
if it can only be hunted up, but, un
fortunately, many, if not all, of the
records were dstroyed when the
state house was burned, and many
others were pillaged or scattered into
the streets when private houses were
ransacked at the time of the capture
of the city during the Civil War. For
instance, among other things of great'
historical value, there was taken from
your grandfather's house the duelling
pistols of his grandfather, Colonel
George Morgan of the Revolutionary
army. It was with these pistols that
the celebrated historical duel between
General Cadwallader and the Comte
de Conway was fought. The duel
grew out of the "Gates Cabal" against
General Washington, in which the
French officer with the Irish name
was severely wounded. Whoever the
man is who is now in possession of
those weapons, he cannot have the
slightest idea of their historical val
ue.
The Spaniards always claimed that
they had not sold Baton Rouge and
that part of Louisiana to the French,
and when Bonaparte sold Louisiana to
the United States, they claimed that
he had no right to give title to that
part of the colony north and east
from Baton Rouge to Florida. Be
fore the sale, Colonel Philip Hickey
and my mother's father, Major Rich
ard Fowler, both held commissions
from the Spanish King. Col. Hick
ey's commission is still in the posses
sion of his family. Major Fowler was
a retired officer of the British army.
Both he and Col. Hickey were British
aubjeets, and you will see from a
copy of a letter I am sending you that
beither of them seemed to relish the
idea of the Yankees governing them.
Your great-grandmfather Fowler had
several plantations, one in the "High
lands," near Baton Rouge; one two
c.r three miles from the city on the
road that goes to Greenwell Springs,
not very far from where Thomas
Green Davidson's place was, which
was called "Little Misery," and an
other some place in the bayou coun
try. He also owned estates in Brit
ish Guina, and it was in going to look
after these that he took passage in
a ship bound for l)emerara and neith
er he nor the ship was ever heard of
afterwards. He left a widow, who
died immediately after his departure,
and their children were very young,
and the usual thing happened; that
is why you and I are poor today.
I am also sending you a copy of a
letter of Benjamin Franklin to your
great-grandfather, Gen. John Mor
gan. Make a copy of it and send it
back to me, if you think it worth
while, as this is the only copy I have.
The original is in the possession of
our relatives in Pittsburg.
Colonel George Morgan was the
first man in America to receive a
gold medal for agriculture; the medal
is still in the pozsession of the ram
Sily.
I am much interested in the names
so familiar to me which I see in the
account of the meeting of the His
torical Society ... I notice John Fred
Odom. I remember Anthony Odom,
whom we used to call "Tony"; he
, was several years older than myself,
but used to make a great pet of me
land I was very fond of him. The
f names Favrot, Bird, Magruder, Klein
peter, etc., made me homesick to see
the dear old place once more.
In the early part of the last cen
i tury there lived in Baton Rouge a
[quiet French gentleman who was very
modest and had very little to say of
himself. His name was LaNoue. He
was one of the aristocrats who es
t caped the guillotine during the Revo
lution in France. He never told any
one who he was, until in some legal
business one day it was necessary
- for him to do so, and then he put his
S papers into my father's hands, beg
ging him not to tell any one that he
was the Comte de Verre, and it was
s only after Mr. LaNoue's death that
my father told me who he was. La
* Noue was his family name.
a (Your son) Gibbes is Thomas
it Gibbes Morgan, 3rd. Your grand
e father was named after Colonel Thom
.t as Stanyarne Gibbes of -South Caro
d lina, who married Anne Morgan, sis
ter of your great-grandfather and in
cidentally great-grandmother of the F
present Lord Astor (William Wal
dorf).
ENCLOSURES.
A.
Philadelphia, Jan. 8, 1787.
Sir:
I find myself greatly obliged to
your good father for his hive full of p
honey which he has so kindly sent r
me, and to you for thinking of me and
proposing it. I use it as a part of s
my regimen every morning at break- t
fast. It is much the best I have met
with in America, and I think fully
equals the famous Honey of Nar
bonne so much esteemed in France.
With my hearty thanks please pre
sent to him my best wishes for his
prosperity and many happy years to
you both, in all of which this family
joins me. I am, Sir ,
Your most obedient servant,
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
Mr. John Morgan,
Prospect, near Princeton.
B.
Note from the Washington (Pa.)
"Review and Examiner", December
17, 1875:
In 1786 while he was residing at
Princeton he was presented with an
elegant gold medal by the Philadel
phia Society for Promoting Agricul
ture. We have been permitted to ex
amine this souvenir by our fellow
townsman, D. T. Morgan, Esq., its
present possessor. It is a beautiful
specimen of mechanical art-one and
three-fourths inches in diameter. On
the obverse side are the words:
"Phila. Society for Promoting Agri
culture to George Morgan for his Es
say on Farmyard. Adjudged Feb
ruary 7, 1786." The reverse contains
a representation of a farm scene. In
dustry holding a plough drawn by a
yoke of oxen, farm buildings.
O
WOMAN-I-TORIALS.
Jazz and "Shimmy."
These much condemned dances are
both of western hemisphere oringin.
Jazz was invented by the Incas in an
effort to frighten away the troops of
Pizarro at the battle of Cuzco. The
"shimmy" was a part of the cere
mony of the redskin."
Mother-the Censor.
Movie censorship is a fine thing,
and it is to be hoped that unfit pic
tures may eventually be culled out.
- But that glorious day has not yet ar
rived. The responsibility still rests
s with Mother to decide which pictures
- her children shall see. Of course,
- Mother cannot see all pictures in ad
- vance and know exactly what is
- what, but she can take a little care
that obviously unwholesome pictures
are not attended by her children.
When in doubt, be a little conserva
tive. There are plenty of good ones,
so the children will not suffer.
To save sugar in canning cherries,
add a pinch of soda the size of a
cherry-pit to each quart of cherries.
Tobias-Gass Company
LIMITED
The Grocers
Headquarters for
PURINA FEEDS
In Checkerboard Sacks
STONEWARE
Jugs all sizes, Churns all sizes, Jars all sizes,
Coolers all sizes.
Agent for
POPE BICYCLES
Bicycle Aceessories
EVERYTHING UIISED ON TE FARM
Barb and Wove Wire Fence
Certainteed Paints and all kinds of
Building Material
Only the highest class of goods sold here.
Coutry rluce loDght a1 Sold
North and Gaines St. Phones 181 and 947
NEW
BOOKS
COVERED WAGON
Emerson Hough
MAN AND MAID
Elinor Glyn
MAN-SIZE
William Macleod Raine
CYTHEREA
Joseph Hergeshiemer
THE MOON OUT OF
REACH
Margaret Pedler
A SON OF THE SAHARA
Louise Gerard
Southern
Stationery
Store
447 Third St.
THE SPOOK-A r
CHILD'S STORY he
(By Virginia Bransford.) h(
Two tired, scared little faces were
pressed against the window pane,
peering out into the darkness of the -o
night.
The street light at the corner was
so far off, it cast a weird shadow over tc
the garden,* where lilac bushes and
small shrubbery held sway.
Their mother had been called to a
sick neighbor, and Mr. Clark, their
roomer, up stairs, had slipped out
noiselessly; so they were alone, oh!
so alone.
The black cat got up from the rug,
and stretching himself, slowly made
a circuit of the room.
Bye-and-bye the wind started up,
and clouds began to send across the
sky, making the street light dimmer.
Jim put his arm protectingly around
Nancy, and drew her closer to him.
What was that creaking noise? It
sounded exactly like some one creep
ing up the stairs. They held their
breath, and Jim almost dragging -
Nancy tip-toed to the partly opened
door, and peeped out into the hall;
gloomy shadows, and silence, except
for a soft, flappy sound which caught
their attention.
"Oh! Jim," said Nancy," this looks
exactly like the same night Nora saw
the Spook, in old Ireland, before we
got her."
"Hush, you silly tiring, we don't
have Spooks in America," and Jim
felt a glow of pride that he was help
ing his little sister, as his mother
had asked him to do.
The window, with its awfully en
ticing shadows, held their attention,
although it took all their courage
to look out. Though full of fear, the
swaying bushes, gloomy clouds, and
semi-darkness, held them there.
Just as Jim was feeling his cour
age at its lowest, a white object
e floated softly down from the sky; he
and Nancy saw it at the same time;
n it was pure white, and there was no
doubt it had arms, for wasn't it wav
e ing them frantically at them?
There it stood right in front of the
tall, slender lilac bush, hiding it com
pletely from view. It was swaying
from side to side like a drunken man;
then again it was beckoning them to
come out, for several times its long
arms were held out towards the win
dow. Nancy could stand it no longer.
She opened her mouth and just
squealed, "Oh, why did Mrs. Jones
I get sick such an awful night, and
is why did you say Jim, there were
no Spooks in America?"
Jim took one long look at the
1. Spook; just then a stronger gust of
wind came, and Jim was sure he saw
the thing bend nearly tc the window;
then he joined Nancy, and their unit
ed cries reached the ears of mother,
who was not for away.
a Mother rushed in, and gathered her
. terror stricken children to her.
S"What on earth is the matter?"
[she demanded.
"Oh, mother," said Nancy, "look
out of the window, there is a sure
enough Spook in our garden, and he
is beckoning us to come out."
In the meantime Jim was putting
on an air of bravado, which his moth
er saw, and she smiled to herself.
Mother went to the window, struck
herself by the gloomy scene, curious
to see what had caused such terror to
her little ones. There, sure enough
was seen an object, swaying back
and forth, all pure white, waving a
pair of long, lanky arms. She knew
of course it was something that could
be explained and was just going out
to see what it could be when Mr.
Clark came in. He volunteered to go,
so with flash light in hand he went to
the garden.
After a short while he came in,
with twinkling eyes and produced the
Spook, and what do you think it was?
Why it was his long white night shirt
which had been hung in the window,
and the wind had carried it up in the
air, and then lifted it over the slender
lilac bush, where it had its fun scar
ing Jim and Nancy.
To You Young Men
Just out of school or college embarking on a business or
professional career, we say
Save Your Money
Of course you know that already. Still we repeat:
Save a reasonable amount of your income each month and
in the years to come-in proportion to what you are sav
ing you will be either independent or "broke."
Which Will It Be?
If you are interested in becoming independent we
would be pleased to have you call.
Louisiana National Bank
Why worry with cooking these hot days?
Visit Meyerer's
Delicatessen
601 Main Street.
We carry a full line of Kasher Meat.
Our lHomie Boiled 1Ham
There is none so good.
Fresh Crab Meat Every Friday.
We deliver. Phone No. 201
"JELLY TIME"
Make this year's preserving time easy and economical by
using the new
U Press It
Glasses and Jars
Just fill the glass, a gentle firm press of the hand and the
fruit is sealed air tight. No wrist breaking screwing or
bothersome paraffine.
See these new glasses and jars at
Lobdell Hardware Co.
Third Street. Phone 237
ALUMINUM WARE, CUTLERY, SPORTING GOODS.
The Crystal Creamery
announces the purchase of the
Puritye Creamery Co., Inc.
With our fleet of six trucks and with the best
creamery products obtainable in the city we
are in a position to satisfy the most exacting.
SPhone us an order any time of day for
:I Pure Pasteurized Milk, Good Butter Milk,
Creanm, Cream Cheese and Butter.
The Crystal Creamery
S171S North St. Phone 2351
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