|
an ACADIAN EXILE article
Cultures
of Acadiana |
Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser's, March 30,1999
'Acadian Coast' was among first settlements in Louisiana
by Jim Bradshaw
When the first Acadian exiles began to come to Louisiana, most of them settled along the Mississippi River or what is today the town of St. Gabriel. They built a church there that still stands. Historians think it is the lest surviving church structure in the entire Mississippi river Valley. The settlement stretching from the church in there direction along the river came to be known as La le des Acadians, the Acadian Cost.
This early map shows the English For Bute and the Spanish Fort St, Gabriel facing each other across Bayou Manchac (Riviere d'Hiberville) as it branches from the Mississippi River ( Fleuve St. Louis).
The orginal map is undated, but according to research by David Broussard of the Old St. Gabriel Church Committee, "some clues to its date are available."
Letters and census documents from the Iberville district show many more inhabitants (than are on the map) in the area by 1771,"Broussard says. "The names of settlers from the abandoned Fort San Luis de Natchez show up on these census records. None of these names are on the map. The San Luis settlement was abandoned in late 1769. The names on the map correlate exactly with the list of Acadians arriving at St. Gabriel with the exception of one name. Thus the map mostly likley dates to 1767-1769.
"Apparently this map was used by Gov. Alejandro O'Reilly and Father Dagobert when specific oders were issued for the ablishmentof churches at various colonial settlements," Broussards continues. "The order , dated February 1770, is headed 'Coast of Iberville for the establishment of the Acadians.' The church parish was given the name St. Gabriel and the church itself was designated to be on the right bank between the property of Joseph Richard and Amant Richard (as it is on the map)."
The map designates two lots for the church but it was actually built on lots that, according to this map, were originally granted to Pierre Bain. In October 1770, Babin asked the goverment for compensation for clearing the land where the church was built. In that petition, he said the Acadian community decided that his land was "the most favorable site for the construction of a church and presbytere." A letter in 1772 refers to the church "rising on the site of Pierre Babin."
The orginal church was moved at least once when it was threatend by the rising river. There also apparently a dispute among the Acadians as to whether the church should be built on the left bank or the right bank of the river.
According to Broussard, "As the population grew in the Iberville district, settlers were established on the west bank. On two separate occasions, the governor had to settle aquabbles between the left bank and the right over the location of the new church. In 1774, before the church was built and after the presbytere had been completed, the west bank settlers petitioned the governor to have the church moved to their side of the river. Gov. Luis de Ungaza stood firm on what had already been established and ordered the Acadians to get on with the construction of the church as planned. Then, in 1781, after the church was completed, the east bank settlers petitioned Gov. Bernardo de Galves to stop secretive efforts by the commandant and the west bank settlers to move the church to the other side of the river. Galvez replied by re-issuing Ungaza's 1774 orders."