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THE SEA COAST ECHO, TERCENTENNIAL EDITION, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1999-5
Mr. A. A. Ulman had a woolen mill on Nicholson Avenue which was capitalized at $40,000. He had 54 people employed and paid a total of $14,000 in wages per year.
Mr. Ulman also had. a smaller leather factory in the neighborhood of Bay St. Louis where he employed six men and paid total wages of $2,000 per year.
The V. & H. Landrheu Company had a brick yard of $1,500 value and they employed three men at $1.25 per day.
Mr. A. F. Cazanave had a leather factory where he employed eight men working 11 hours per day. Their wages were $1.12 per day.
There were a number of saw mills in the neighborhood. B. S. Besson had a mill that cut two million feet of lumber per hear and he employed 10 men.
Mr. Wm. S. Keel had a mill which cut one million and eight hundred thousand per year and employed 12 men at $1 per day.
Wherever the French explorers unfurled their banner, they planted at the same time the Cross of Christ.
Along with d’Iberville’s very first expedition to the Coast were two priests, Father Athanasius Douay and Father Bordenave. The pioneer settlers of Bay St. Louis were all of the Catholic faith.
Reverend Louis Stanislaus Mary Buteux was appointed first pastor of Bay St. Louis on July 31, 1847. He was also confided by the Suplican Bishop Chanche at Natchez the communities of Pass Christian, Pearl River, Jourdan River and Wolf River, and as far as 20 to 25 miles to the north.
Father Buteux reached Bay St. Louis Aug. 8 and stopped at the Grand Hotel conducted by Mr. J. B. Toulme. On Aug. 15, the Feast of the Assumption, he offered what he called the first Mass.
The service was conducted at the Courthouse. On Sept. 15, just before he started Mass, the deed for the property on which he was to build the church arrive.
On March 26, 1848, he held the celebration for the laying of the cornerstone of the new church. Bishop Chanche
blessed the church Aug. 19 1849, and Bishop Blanc of New Orleans honored the Bay with his presence.
That night there was still another ceremony performed by Bishop Blanc — the blessing of the bells, which were named for Mary and Joseph.
Following in the consecrated and dedicated footsteps of Father Buteux was Rev. Henry Leduc who was appointed pastor of Bay St. Louis on Nov. 17, 1859
For nearly, 38 years he spent his energies at this assignment. It is true that when he arrived in Bay St. Louis, he found a church, a rectory, an academy for girls and a school for boys, but these projects were all in their infancy-
Following the difficulties of the Civil War, Father LeDuc decided to construct a bell tower as the original church built by Father Buteux had no bell tower, or a very small one.
In 1868 the tower was completed and a bell weighing 1,540 pounds was installed. Father LeDuc dedicated the Cemetery of St. Mary on Dec. 22, 1872.
It was during the next few years that the good priest became keenly aware that the old church was falling into ruin and had to be rebuilt.
He got word to Bishop Elder who granted permission for the work to begin and also granted a loan to complete the construction.
The new magnificent structure was nearly completed by February of 1877.
Thirty years later on Nov. 16, 1907, the church was destroyed by fire.
However, visitors coming to Bay St. Louis today will see the new Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church which rises in glory on the same spot where rests the ashes of the old one.
Little known, but recently brought to light are interesting facts on the ending of the War of 1812. The British Fleet with all its mighty strength sailed in from the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico headed for the harbor of the Bay of St. Louis.
Spotting inhabitants on the island of Cat, a tiny island about six miles off shore from the town of Bay St. Louis, they
dropped anchor.
The British were seeking a water route to New Orleans. Had they succeeded immediately in their quest, the tide of battle would have been turned, with victory for the . British instead of the American forces, as Andrew Jackson would not have yet arrived to fortify the city, and the famous Battle of Chal-mette could not have been fought as it was.
The loss of this battle could have been the means of the English defeating the Americans in the war and reclaiming this vast land for the crown.
The inhabitants'spotted on the island were guests of the City of New Orleans, a Spanish Grandee, Don Juan Cuevas, Official Emissary from the Court of Spain.
An ardent hunter and fisherman (the island was filled with thousands of small game resembling cats.). Don Cuevas with his retinue of servants and slaves was enjoying a hunting and fishing expedition.
The Spanish don was invited aboard the English Flagship and requested to give information on the water route to New Orleans.
Being a gentleman of honor who would not betray his hosts, he refused to divulge this information, and he and his entire household were thrown into chains and kept prisoners aboard ship while the British foundered around the coast seeking an entry route to the strategic city.
The thousands of inlets and bayous of this territory made it impossible without charts to easily learn the correct route, and so while time was lost by the British, the American troops in New Orleans were reinforced by General Jackson and the men from Tennessee.
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