LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / February 23, 2000

It’s a window to the past, a glance into the world of days gone by. And it’s avaluable asset to learn what people years ago were like.

It turns out they were much like us, at least according to the records dating back to 1734 and still maintained at the St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court’soffice.

They had land sales, business partnership and even prenuptial contracts, some of which still exist in a row of preserved documents.

At that time, the straggling group of German colonists who first arrived in 1721 were clustered in the region extending from the present-day Taft to Lucy. The region was known at first at Le Cote des Allemands, or the GermanCoast.

The colony was led by a commandant, who filled most of the functions of judge, sheriff and clerk of court for more than 55 years. Here in the GermanCoast, Karl Friedrich d’Arensbourg was the acknowledged leader of the German settlers in the region.

D’Arensbourg was born in 1693 in a then-province of Sweden. He led a groupof colonists to the German Coast in 1721 and married four years later at the tiny St. Jean des Allemands church, predecessor to St. CharlesBorromeo Catholic Church.

The colonists struggled initially, from disease, natural disaster and the local Indians. The “Le Grand Ouragan” hurricane of Sept. 12, 1722, and the Indianmassacre of Nov. 29, 1729, nearly wiped out the colony.Nevertheless, colonists continued to endure. By 1723 the area includedseveral dozen homes, contained in the settlements of Hoffen (later Glendale, Hymelia, Trinity and Killona plantations), Augsberg (to the rear of Killona and Waterford plantations) and Mariental (behind the present site of Agrico and OxyChem industrial plants).

One of the earliest dated records is a land sale from Andre Strumpfle to Daniel Popfe. As neither could write, their “marks” were indicated andwitnessed by D’Arensbourg’s flowing signature.

Other early documents include a partnership agreement between the same Popfe and Josephe Kintoreck, to which each brought a number of slaves and cattle. A 1741 document is the bill of sale for slaves in the colony.A 1747 marriage contract between the widow Chatme Bunique and widower Christophe Houbert showed that long-term marriages were rare, with disease, Indians and other hazards to a long life.

However, by the 1750s life was getting better as the farms prospered and the colony strengthened. A 1753 marriage contract between Jean GeorgeHeydlel and Marie Jacobine LeRoux included the clause that her dowry was 500 livres, meaning they had money. The 1755 inventory of the widow YveDorpin, also in the courthouse records, includes iron kettles, an iron skillet, two pickaxes and five chairs.

D’Arensbourg was one of the leaders in the 1768 revolt against Spanish governor Ulloa, a reaction to the secret sale of Louisiana by France to Spain.

The short-lived revolution was short-lived and D’Arensbourg was arrested and convicted of high treason.

However, because of his advanced age, 75, he was not one of those executed. Instead, he died peacefully in 1777.Deputy Clerk of Court Irma Zeringue, who has worked in the office for 30 years going back to the days of the old courthouse, has found special pleasure in reading back through these documents of bygone days.

Fortunately, former clerk of court and present Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edward Dufresne Jr. likewise took a special interest in these records.He took office in 1964 and, upon discovering the colonial records, had them microfilmed and the originals laminated to protect them. His successor, thepresent Clerk of Court Charles Oubre Jr., has continued the preservationprocess and is up to the Civil War.

In addition, a handy index is available for the records from 1734 through 1871.

Dufresne also had the first volume of documents (1734-1769) translated, enabling the present-day reader easy access to this window to the past.

Later records include a birth register from the 1830s, court dockets dating back 150 years and court minutes going to the same period.

Researchers into their local family histories could turn up surprises when one discovers family names on trial for various crimes, from murder to robbery.

“They are so fascinating,” Zeringue observed.

Zeringue added that researchers have almost always been respectful of these records, but one volume, an 1872 volume of official Acts, has been missing and assumed stolen for 30 years.

Tracing land records for more than 150 years here is easy enough, but with time, patience and excellent eyesight (along with a good working knowledge of the French language), one can discover a whole new world – much as those colonist discovered the German Coast and made it their home.

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