The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-10
FRENCH EXILES IN ALABAMA,
 THE VINE AND OLIVE COLONY
Story of the Bonapartists and San Domingans s Unsuccessful Colony in Marengo County, The Most Picturesque Chapter of
 Alabama History.
BY WILL T. SIBERIAN.
CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
 The French establ1shed no charac teristic civilization in Marengo County; They built no monuments. They left
 Today, more than eighty years since the colony, the impress of the French is not upon the land of the Canebrake. but 1t Is upon the people For all the in princely. hospitality the French m fuence makes itself felt in the Canc- brake. But there are no houses, no towns, no visible mementoes or , tne Bonapartists who came and went ike pilgrims who had camped for the night in fleeing from misfortune. Not all. however, went away But only few nd Thsy wede o the the needs and rewards of the successful opera ton of a Southern plantation, or learned to know these things.
 mopolis for material mementoes of the picturesque colony. made few weeks ago was in vain. Here and there were occasional and unimportant souvenirs of the men and women who had loved Napoleon, and shared with him his for tunes and his misfortunes. That was all.
 The site of the original colony made In the years of 1877 and 1918 Is still known and talked of in Demopols. It Is on the banks of the Tombigbee riv- CT a few blocks from the heart oA the city. It was from this spot that the colonists moved when they found that they had gone astray and settled on land not included In the government. grant. An American town was built on the same ground when the Frencn had moved further to the east. It was characteristic of the pioneer towns of Alabama built along the rivers of the State, in that 1t was built upon the rise of the bank from the river landing, to get the most advantage from the boat landings. Here in time ware houses, hotels and stores of brick were built. Demopolis grew to be lively town and the river bank had most of the business. The steamboat trade waned. the landing became no longer important and as a business section the old colony site lost It's standing. The business quarter was moved TUT ther to the east. The old brick build ings burned or were pulled down and now the site is only residential por- tion of Demopolis.
 The French souvenfrs.
 Choctaw 'factorage" had been es- tablished et Demopolis long before the with the Indians. George s. Gaines vas in charge of it 1t, and nd he n helped a the ne for them. Whent the French came they gave the place the name of Demopolis. the city of tho people, and this name
 Marengo County recalls their pres ence and one of Napoleon's victories. Linden Is suggestive of the ancient emigres and Arcole carries its own sig nificance.
 There may be found one is told iso- lated specimens or the vines the colo nists planted in the district between Demopolis and Greensboro. A few of them and a few of their descendants have endured the hardships of all these years. The one olive tree in the yard of Captain John c. Webb near the old river bank site is the only record ed specimen of its kind.
 In the old. cemeteries many of the French gentlefolks are sleeping. The old fashioned custom of family bury ing grounds obtained then. And on a few of the old stones are cut honored French names. In some instances. as Is the case elsewhere in Alabama. the very site of the old burying grounds have been lost sight of and the blow has been run over the narrow home of the dead.
 On old maps of Demopolis are seen two crosses which mark old cemeteries of the French. But for these maps their location would not be known.
 And here and there iu the homes of the Cenebrake are found a medallion. an engraving, a framed portrait, some splendid bits of old silver that tell of the time when Alabama was the hope and refuge of brilliant refugees, :
 COlOuy's Dissolution.
 The colony began to dissolve in the first two or three years of its history. The Bourbons had grown conciliatory and lenient This was sufficient cause for some of the wealthier class of the emigres to return to France. General L'Allemand, a distinguished officer of Napoleon's army and who had been complimented by death sentence from a Bourabon court martial conceived the idea of forming a land grabbing expedi- tion of his fellow colonists and begin ming a new community in Texas, which was then Mexican. He led his fellow Frenchmen to Texas, but the effort ended in failure and disappointment.
 It brought on him the displeasure of the American Government. a circum- stance from which the Alabama colo nists suffered more than he. On Gal weston Island these adventurers under General LAllemand suffered hunger and privation. But for the kindness of the pirate La Fitte they would have all perised, as many of them did.
 A brother of General L'Allemand was among the colonists on the Tombigbee. Both LAllemands were distinguished both fought with daring courage at Waterloo, while the Napoleonic fall ures hung in the balance.
 Distinguished COlOnests.
 After his Alabama experience with his fellow emigres General Bertrand Clousel returned to France and rose to great distinction under Louis Phil lippi He became in time Marshal and Governor of Algiers. General Clausel had been in command at Bordeaux dur ing the famous Hundred Days. He did not settle in Marengo with the colo nists, but with few distinguished Frenchmen he settled near Mobile. At Mobile he engaged in truck farming The vegetables from his little farm he peddled himself on the streets of Mobile.
 A learned neighbor and fellow emil grant of General Clausel at Mobile was NJ. Lakanal, a famous savant of France He was a member of the assembly and his vote was cast for the death of Louis XVI. He too returned to France.
 A member of the Philadelphia asso- eiatIon and one to whom land was granted in Marengo County was Mar shal Grouchy of unenviable fame. It was his failure to arrive in time to save the day at Waterloo that caused the final tragedy. His fellow emi- grants never, ceased to criticize him, and perhaps. because of their unfriendly feeling he did not care to come with them to Alabama.
 One of the wealthier members of the family was Colonel Frederick RaVeises. He had the unusual distinction of being the member of a Bourbon family. His father was driven from Bordeaux to san Domingo by the apartists. In the uprising of the slaves his mother and sister were murdered but the father and son escaped to Philadelphia There the son obtained a splendid business training. He was a moving spirit in the Marengo County colony and he was one of the few who remained. He amassed fortune. There are a num- and in Mobile and some of the land he aCouired is still in the family. He