1909 History

Saint Mary Parish, established in 1811 during the territorial administration of Gov. Claiborne, is one of the parishes created out of the Attakapas district. The town of Franklin was made the seat of justice and Henry Johnson was the first parish judge. One of the first settlers in the district was Louis le Pelletier de la Housaye, a descendant of Claude de la Houssaye, who was sent to i.ou isiana as an official by Louis XV. Some of the settlers who came directly from France were the Sigurs, De Vals, Coners, Darbys, De Clouets, Oliviers and Bienvenus, while such French Acadians as the Garbeaus, Charpentiers, Demarests, Dejeans and Leblancs settled on the Teche after 1765. The Navarros, Moras and other Spanish families were among the first to start plantations. After the Revolutionary war a number of settlers of English and American blood emigrated from the eastern states and settled in the valleys of the Atchafalaya and the Teche. St. Mary is situated in the southern part of the state and is bounded on the north by Iberia parish; on the east by Assumption and Terrebonne parishes; on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, and on the west by Vermilion bay and Iberia parish. The northern portion of its original territory was taken to form a part of Iberia parish. It is well drained by the Atchafalaya river, Grand Lake, and Bayous Teche, Sale and Cypremort, and has an undulating surface of 658 square miles, consisting of alluvial land, wooded swamp, coast marsh and prairies which break into considerable hills. Although St. Mary's area is small the lands are rich and very productive. The soil is of alluvial deposit and immense crops of sugar-cane are grown in the bottom land of the Bayou Teche and Atchafalaya river, making St. Mary the greatest sugar producing parish in the state. Rice, corn, potatoes and all kinds of garden vegetables grow with great luxuriance in the mild climate and rich soil of this favored region. Such fruits as oranges, lemons, grapes, guavas, pears, pomegranates, olives and bananas are raised, and the nuts of the pecan tree, which is native to this part of the country, are exported in large quantities. Salt water fish, crabs and terrapin are taken in great numbers in the bayous in inlets, and in recent years, under state protection, the oyster industry has become important. The parish has a wealth of valuable timber such as oak, cottonwood, gum, elm and willow and cypress. Excellent transportation facilities are provided by the Southern Pacific R. R., which extends through the parish, and by steamboat on the Teche and Atchafalaya. Franklin, the parish seat, is the most important town, but there are a number of towns worthv of mention, as Adeline, Amelia, Ashton, Baldwin, Charenton, Crawford, Foster, Berwick, Irish Bend, Centerville, Glencoe, Louisa, Morgan City, Patterson and Ramos. The following statistics concerning the parish are taken from the U. S. census for 1900: number of farms, 609; acreage, 184,126; acres under cultivation, 92,389; value of land and improvements exclusive of buildings, $6,359,810; value of farm buildings, $1,916,700; value of live stock, $816,920; total value of all products not fed to live stock, $2,781,500; number of manufactories, 85; capital invested, $8,178,194; wages paid, $772,581; cost of materials used, $3,804,246; total value of products. $5,749,854. The population for 1900 was 13,789 whites, 20,264 colored, a total of 34,145, an increase of 11,729 over the year 1890. The estimated population for 1908 was over 35,000.

Extracted 2020 Jun 24 by Norma Hass from Louisiana; Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, edited by Alcee Fortier, published in 1909, volume 2, pages 420-421.

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