The 1868 St. Bernard Parish Massacre

by C. Dier

  The last recorded lynching in St. Bernard Parish occurred in 1896. Two white women were leaving the Poydras Plantation when they were allegedly attacked by James Dandy, also known as Jim Dazzle by some accounts. Dazzle was caught and imprisoned for the alleged attack. The next morning, a group of about twenty-five men broke into the prison with relative ease, as the jailer was atypically absent from his post. The mob dragged Dazzle from his cell, shot him and strung him up to a nearby tree. Dazzle denied the allegations until his last breath, but the mob was not swayed. He was left swinging until the next morning. According to the Daily Item, no arrests were made, “as it would be utterly impossible to fasten the guilt on any particular persons, the firing being so general that it can not be said which shots took effect.” It concluded, “Even if any arrests were made no jury could be found to convict anyone, as it is generally considered that the negro deserved his fate.” Newspapers concocted clever headlines for its readers to enjoy the story. The Birmingham State Herald titled its piece “He’ll Dazzle No More. Short Shrift for a Dusky Fiend in St. Bernard Parish, La.”211

  IT WAS DURING the Bourbon Era that de jure segregation was solidified throughout the South. In 1890, Bourbon Democrats passed the Separate Car Act, which required segregated railway cars. Local resistance to the law in New Orleans orchestrated a plan to challenge the ordinance. The Comité des Citoyens (Committee of Citizens), a powerful multiracial group, convinced Homer Plessy, an “octoroon” (someone who is one-eighth African American), to board the “whites only” car in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, just a few miles from the St. Bernard Parish line. The activists hired a private detective to ensure that Plessy would be charged with violating the Separate Car Act. As expected, he was denied entrance and arrested by the detective. Plessy lost his case against Judge John Howard Ferguson and appealed to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, which denied his appeal. Notably, one of the Louisiana justices who voted to deny the appeal was a member of the Crescent City White League. Plessy and the committee took their appeal to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in 1896. The Supreme Court ruled seven-to-one in favor of “separate but equal,” setting a legal precedent for St. Bernard Parish and the entire South.

  Harsh economic conditions of the Bourbon Era impacted both poor African Americans and poor whites, especially in St. Bernard Parish and regions where poverty was already present. One Catholic bishop complained that the new economic conditions amounted to a “new form of slavery for both white and colored people.” The improvements that Bourbon Democrats had promised to poor whites failed to materialize. According to Gilbert C. Din in his work The Canary Islanders of Louisiana:

  Distressing economic conditions and rampant racism characterized Louisiana in the late nineteenth century. Depressed agricultural prices and land values continued after Reconstruction. Dishonest methods in sugar and cotton marketing defrauded yeoman farmers of the rewards of their labors. Many small farmers failed and became sharecroppers. Government expenditures declined, and white illiteracy actually rose between 1880 and 1890. Bourbon politicians waved the “bloody shirt” of Reconstruction and exploited the race issue to rally support from lower-class whites.212

  The rise of populism addressed these insufferable economic conditions and exposed the divisive tactics of Bourbon Democrats. Lower-class Republicans and Democrats formed alliances, much to the dismay of those in power. Bourbon Democrats faced the startling realization that their voter base was dwindling. In 1892, integrated unions consisting of over three thousand workers went on strike throughout New Orleans to obtain a ten-hour workday with overtime pay. Despite numerous appeals to racial hatred to divide the strikers, the workers stood in solidarity and won almost all of their demands.

  Similar episodes became more frequent and increasingly frightened the elite. In the elections of 1896, the Bourbon Democrats desperately resorted to rigging the election, a practice they had decried when employed by Republicans during Reconstruction. If the issue of increasing alliances across racial lines to achieve economic and political rights went unaddressed, the power structure in Louisiana would sway. Bourbons needed to obstruct the voting power of the poor, both black and white. They convened a new constitution to address their crisis and restrict suffrage among poor Louisianans. The constitution of 1898 banned voting for illiterates, issued a poll tax and required grandfather clauses. The black voting bloc declined from 130,000 to a mere 1,342, while the white voting bloc declined from 164,000 to 92,000. By 1910, the number of registered black voters had dropped to 730, less than a half percent of eligible black men. The political voice of the poor was effectively silenced.213

  Such policies and strife defined the Bourbon age of Louisiana. The poor suffered miserably under economic policies that disproportionately harmed them. Black Americans lost many rights gained during Reconstruction. The influence of Bourbon Democrats lessened at the end of the nineteenth century. As a new century emerged, different entities flexed their muscle. Natural gas and petroleum companies and salt and sulfur companies started to exercise control over the state government. They passed legislation to avoid taxation and regulation while exploiting labor through lower wages and horrid working conditions. This economic activity would both unite Louisiana’s working poor and divide them. St. Bernard Parish experienced that rift.

  Chapter 8

  RECOLLECTION

  Economic conditions did improve slightly for some of the Isleños and other impoverished whites during the Bourbon Era; however, it was hardly due to the Bourbon policies. During this era, facets of the Industrial Revolution reached lower St. Bernard Parish as newer innovations were introduced. More railroads were built, roads were improved and some people embraced the concept of obtaining a formal education to improve their economic position. However, others continued to work as their ancestors did and regarded education as an impractical solution out of poverty or unnecessary as they were complacent with their way of life.214

  Despite improvements, visitors remarked about the archaic lifestyle of the Isleños. In 1891, Alcée Fortier, a Louisiana historian, took the newly built New Orleans and Shell Beach Railroad. He discussed his two-hour journey:

  Our train passed through historic ground, for shortly after leaving the city we saw the plain of Chalmette, where Wellington’s veterans were defeated by Jackson and his brave troops, among whom were many Louisiana Creoles. We saw the charred ruins of Villere’s house where were established Pakenham’s headquarters; we looked with sorrow and shame at the monument erected to Jackson on the battle field, and which stands dilapidated and unfinished. We crossed the canals and bayous by which the British troops had come from the lakes; we passed Poydras plantation, which had belonged to the poet, statesman and philanthropist, the friend of the sick, of the orphans and of indigent girls.215

  Chalmette Monument after its completion, circa 1910. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

  Fortier continued on the economic condition of the Isleños:

  A number of these people are men of education and of some wealth; the senator from St. Bernard parish is an Estopinal and the sheriff is a Nuñez. The great majority, however, as with descendants of the Acadians, are poor and ignorant. They cultivate their little patch of ground and raise vegetables, chiefly potatoes and onions. They are also great hunters. They all speak Spanish, but a few speak the Creole patois and the younger ones speak English. The language is not as corrupt as might be expected.216

  Fortier spoke with an illiterate elderly woman in Spanish. She was fluent in Spanish and French. She bemoaned the youth’s preference to attempt English over their native tongue. When Fortier apologized for bothering her with questions, she responded, “Nada, seño (señor); al contrario, me alegro mucho de su visita; me ha alegrado el corason (corazon).” Fortier’s translation: “Not at all, sir; on the contrary, your visit pleases me very much; it has pleased my heart.”217

  Fortier made a second visit the same year and stayed on Ben Olivier’s plantation, w
hich he described as “one of the oldest and most distinguished in Louisiana.” After detailing their royal ancestry, he visited Delacroix Island, which he referred to as “l’Ile.” He wrote:

  The dwellings are on both sides of the bayous and are mostly palmetto huts. As it was a cold day nearly all the men had gone hunting and fishing, and the women were indoors; a few children, however, dark-haired and brown, were running about in the cold wind, bareheaded and barefooted, and a young man in a canoe was crossing the bayou in the direction of a hut.…

  The Spaniards on l’Ile live entirely by hunting and fishing. The women fish in the bayou in front of their huts, but the men go to the gulf for fishing and to the lakes for hunting. They bring back immense quantities of fish and ducks, which are sent to the Olivier railroad station, ten or twelve miles distant, in small carts drawn by oxen, yoked Spanish fashion, by the horns.…The palmetto huts struck me with amazement—how could human beings in a civilized country live in such dwellings! 218

  Fortier often compared the rural life to an industrious and more modern New Orleans with pretention. In Delacroix, he met with Mr. Pepe, a patriarch of the island, to discuss the customs of the island. Mr. Pepe claimed no one in the region was literate. (This illiteracy probably contributed to the lack of written records from the perpetrators and victims of the St. Bernard Parish Massacre.) Fortier wrote, “They lived without the schoolmaster and physician, and only needed the priest for marriage and funeral ceremonies.” He referenced their racial beliefs: “The Isleños are a pure race; they have a perfect horror of the negro and marry among themselves.” He noted that the “women are rather handsome and are very dark.” Mr. Pepe sung Fortier a décima, a popular poetic song among the Isleños featuring complex rhymes in ten-line stanzas. Mr. Pepe stated that he did not desire more in life than beans, coffee and bread.219

  People of lower St. Bernard Parish also had to contend with the harsh elements of nature. In 1892, the Mississippi River flooded and resulted in loss of property in Terre-aux-Bouefs. Hurricanes in 1893, 1901 and 1909 continually devastated fragile structures on the water. The hurricane of 1893, known as the Great October Storm, bombarded lower St. Bernard Parish as it made its way to the island of Chenière Caminada. The storm completely decimated the island and resulted in over two thousand total deaths, making it one of the country’s deadliest hurricanes.220

  Education improved throughout the parish. Although schools existed in upper St. Bernard Parish, Delacroix Island opened its first schoolhouse in 1894. In 1902, its teachers were paid $12.50 a month. Despite educational progress, school enrollment was slow. In 1906, only 328 white and 46 black students were enrolled in school. In 1907, the parish had six white and two black schools. An eighth-grade education was the highest achievement. Outstanding students went elsewhere to continue their studies. A few males even received scholarships to Louisiana State University or Tulane University. Excelling females were sent to two-year teacher training programs.221

  ECONOMIC PROGRESS OCCURRED throughout the parish as outsiders sought to exploit the parish’s vast resources. In 1886, the construction of the Violet Canal connected the Mississippi River to Lake Borgne. It was expanded in 1900. The community of Violet developed around the canal. Italians continued to immigrate to the parish to sell their labor, just as they did during Reconstruction. Our Lady of Lourdes Church was built in 1916 to serve the growing population, and sermons varied between three languages: Italian, French and English. Newspapers referred to the area as having an “Italian colony.” In 1907, the Chalmette Slip opened to provide the parish with a deep-draft harbor, followed by new massive tanks constructed by Standard Oil.222

  Arabi experienced the largest increase in economic activity, perhaps due to its proximity to New Orleans and its already bustling local economy complete with slaughterhouses, cattle pens and dockyards. In the 1880s, Arabi became part of St. Bernard Parish to avoid the regulations on slaughterhouses. The town named itself after Ahmed ‘Urabi, an Egyptian who fought for independence against Great Britain in the early 1880s. Local newspapers often misspelled ‘Urabi as Arabi. The political and business leaders of Arabi likened themselves to his struggle as they fought to become independent from New Orleans’s increasing regulations. Prior to this renaming, the area was referred to as Stocklanding. In 1909, the American Sugar Refining Company completed the largest sugar refinery in the world in Arabi. The same year, the St. Bernard Voice also announced the construction of a cypress mill. In 1914, the building of an automobile plant was announced. Collectively, these industries would employ thousands.223

  Archaic industries suffered as the newer ones dominated the region. By the early twentieth century, the catfish industry reported abysmal gains in comparison to earlier years despite the plentiful amount of catfish caught by fishermen. The fishermen claimed it was due to the newer occupations as the workers “employed at the industries now in operation in St. Bernard do not leave the premises until knocking-off time, when they go straight home.” In 1910, the parish’s last sugar mill was removed. Locally grown sugar would be exported elsewhere on newer railroads and paved roads. Many plantations that once epitomized the glamour and wealth of renowned families and elites were destroyed or remained idle and decrepit.224

  “The Crescent City Live Stock Landing and Slaughter House Company” in contemporary Old Arabi, 1874. Courtesy of the New Orleans Historic Collection.

  The progress St. Bernard Parish experienced in the early twentieth century was halted by a catastrophic hurricane in 1915. Property throughout the parish was destroyed, and it was felt hardest among the poor in lower St. Bernard Parish. Many Isleños and African Americans lost everything. The Filipino settlement of Saint Malo was permanently obliterated, as were remnants of Bas du Fleuve and other colonies along Lake Borgne. New businesses in Arabi closed due to heavy losses, and unemployment surged. Newly built schools were in ruins. At least thirty people died, although that is likely an underestimated figure.225

  WORLD WAR I also upended normalcy as it flung many of the “local boys beyond the marsh” into Europe. According to Samantha Perez in The Isleños of Louisiana, “Various disasters, both natural and political, forcefully tossed many Isleños headfirst into modernity.” Over five hundred St. Bernard Parish men of various races registered for the draft. The parish united and rallied behind them. Some, such as Isleño Joachim Sanchez Jr., did not return. On August 17, 1919, the parish held a welcome home ceremony in Arabi for the returning participants. The Great War brought some of the parish’s most impoverished to vast regions of the world more than ever before in the parish’s long history. After the war, the “pace of life” accelerated in the region.226

  Ten days after that celebration and in the same hall, striking butchers met with the New Orleans Live Stock Exchange in an attempt to reach an agreement. The unionized butchers did not agree to temporarily work during the strike to slaughter the remaining cows. The New Orleans Live Stock Exchange threatened to bring in nonunion labor to slaughter the cows before they “deteriorate.” The machinists’ and engineers’ union stood in solidarity with the butchers’ union and threatened to cut the supply of light and water if nonunion labor was employed. The unions eventually won their demands.227

  Less than a year later, forty black and white butchers at the St. Bernard Rendering and Fertilizing Company went on strike to increase their pay by a dollar a day. The company refused to recognize the union because it claimed it wanted to treat its workers as “individuals.” The company employed nonunion workers as the strike ensued. Newspapers claimed the strike almost led to riots between union workers and their temporary replacements. The secretary-treasurer had a bullet graze his head during an ambush by the strikers. Several black workers were arrested in retaliation. After four months, the strikers won some of the demands and saw their pay increase along with collective bargaining rights.228

  Biracial strikes for better worker conditions were common throughout the era, but their successes faded at the onset of th
e 1920s due to the economic prosperity of industrial powerhouses and the subsequent weakening of unions. One of the largest biracial strikes in the parish’s history occurred at the American Sugar Refinery in 1920. Over four hundred white and black workers went on strike for union recognition and better wages; they resorted to violence at times. In February 1920, strikers boarded and attacked workers on streetcars traveling to the refinery with the justification that the workers were strikebreakers. Violence escalated in one of the streetcars, and an African American worker was shot in the head and killed by a striker. The streetcars halted, and workers returned home instead of work, causing the refinery to temporarily close down. A month later, the New Orleans States reported that streetcars refused to enter Arabi out of fear of strikers. Strikers also roamed around the refinery and scuffled with police and watchmen. The strike, despite employing all efforts, did not succeed, as the strikers were eventually replaced with relative ease with desperate laborers.229

  AS ST. BERNARD Parish progressed into modernity, the chaotic events of 1868 faded from collective memory. Other events replaced the memories of the residents. During Prohibition, the waterways of lower St. Bernard Parish became a corridor for the illegal importation of alcohol; humble men became wealthy by importing the desired poisons to a thirsty New Orleans. In 1922, the Mississippi River flooded lower St. Bernard Parish, and approximately two thousand inhabitants immediately lost their homes. In 1926, Isleño trappers engaged in a battle, known as the Trappers’ War, with men who tried to control the territory the Isleños had occupied for well over a century. Less than a year later, the government blew up the levees during the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 to save New Orleans, flooding lower St. Bernard Parish and leaving thousands homeless once again. The victims were never adequately compensated.