Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1919-09-26

iuenCe Of DIberYille at Louis court
AIphonse de Beaucalre had originally
received a royal grant of ten thou
,and acres Of land bordering the west
1ank Of the Mississippi a few miles
above st. Louis, When his master re-
turned to France leaving him unem-
Dloyed, Beaucalre, possessing ample
means Of his own, had preferred to re-
main In America. In fiatboats, pro-
PEELED by voyageUrs, and accompanied
by a considerable retinue Of slaves he,
with his family, had ascended the river
and finally settled on his prlncely es-
tate Here he erected what for those .
early days was a stately mansion, and .
devoted himself to culhyating the .
land. Twenty years later, when his
death occurred, he possessed the finest .
property along the upper river, was I.
shipping heavily to the New Orleans
market, and was probably the most
influential man in all that section.
His only son, Felipe, succeeded him
but was not 50 successful In admins
tration, seriously lacking In business
judgment, and being decidedly indO
lent by nature. Felipe married into
one Of the oldest and most respectable
families of st, Louis, and as a result
Of that union had one son, Lucius, who
grew up reckless of restraint, and pre-
ferred to spend his time In New Or
leans, rather than upon the plantation.
Lucius was a young man Of twenty
six. unsettled in habits, when the IA
Their died and against his inclination.
was compelled to return to Missouri
and assume control Of the property
He found matters in rather bad condl'
ton, and his was not at all the type
of mind to remedy them, Much Of the
land had been already irretrievably
| lost through speculation and when hi7
| fathers obligations had been met, and
his own gambling debts paid, the es'
tate, once so prlncely and magnificent
was reduced to barely five hundred
acres, together with a comparatively
small amount of cash. This condition
suflced to sober Lucius for a few
years, and he married a Menard Of
Cape Girardeau, of excellent family
but not great wealth, and earnestly
endeavored to rebuild his fortunes
Unfortunately his reform did not last
The evil influences of the past sooI
proved too strong for one Of his TEN
permanent. The plantation house be
came In time q rendezvous for all tn
wild spirits of that nelghborhood, AM
stories of fierce drinking bouts ant
mad gambling were current in 81
Louis.
Have you ever been at Beaucalrt
captainf I asked.
I'VE always stop at the landing bu
I have only once been up the cliff t
where the house stands. The judg
was away from home-ln St. Louis,
believe-the day of my visit. He hal
sold me some timber, and 1 went gu
with the family lawyer, a man nance
Haines, living at the landing, to loo.
it over"
1.-THE house was closedp
mo; it is never closed. The house
: keeper was there, and also the tw
daughters"
"DaughtersP
"Certainly; hadn't I told you abou
y them? Both girls are accepted as hi
daughters; but, if all I have heard
true one must be his granddaughter
u He paused reminiscently, his eyes o
the river. "Haines told me a numbC
of strange things about that family
- had never heard before he admitte
at last. "You see he has known the
- for years. and attended to most
~, Beaucaire's legal business. This
!, about how the story runs, as he told
- 1t wasn't generally known, but
- seems that Luclus Beaucaire has bee
- married twice-the first time to d Or
ole girl in New Orleans when he W,
10 scarcely more than boy, NoboC
~ now living probably knows whatev
+, became of her but likely she did
=. early; anyway she never came mort
= or has since been heard from. III
:. important part is that she gave Dir
y - to a son, who remained in New Q
" leans, probably in her care, until
=, was fourteen or fifteen years old, III,
>. some occurrence, possibly his mother
- death, caused the judge to send +
the lad whose name was Adelbei
and had him brought to Missouri. 4
!, this happened before Haines settled
~ the Landing, and previous to Bea
" CARES second marriage to Madem
selle Menard. Bert, as the boy W
called, grew up wild, and father a
I'd" son quarreed so continuously tn
~ finally, and before he was twenty, t
latter ran away, and has never be
heard of since-simply diSappeart
and no one knows to this day wheth
he is alive or dead. At least if Jud
Beaucalre ever received any We
ne from him he never confessed as mu
~ to Haines. However, the boy left
Vi hind tangible evidence Of his ext
>" ence."
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