| 17?? |
Joseph de Maison Rouge is born in Paris, the son of Louis de Maison Rouge and Catalina de Villeneuve. He never married. |
| 1795 March 17 |
A contract with the Marquis de Maison Rouge, a Knight of St. Louis and French Royalist. is signed by Carondelet and Don Francisco Renden, Intendant of the army and Deputy Superintendent of the Royal Domains. It is approved July 14. The Marquis' main objective is bring in 30 families to grow wheat and build a mill. The government offers to pay for passage and subsistence on the way as well as a bonus to get them started at the new settlement. |
| 1795 April 2 |
Lopez de Armesto sends a letter to Maison Rouge instructing him to have his agent de Breard send a list arriving of individuals and their cargo |
| 1795 June 17 |
Governor Carondelet writes to assure Don Juan Filhiol that Maison Rouge is under his command. |
| 1795 |
Maison Rouge sends to Intendant Rendon a statement of the families that are to settle on his designated land. Maison Rouge complains that a Mr. Morrison has settled on part of the land that he has chosen. Morrison alleges that former governor Miro had promised him the land for himself and 16 American families in return for establishing a salt factory. |
| 1796 |
Don
Juan Filhiol to Carondelet: The Commandant is having trouble with Maison
Rouge fulfilling his contract. He has not provided the 30 families and those
that have settled have gotten a larger share which they intend to sell parts
to later settlers in defiance of the spirit of the contract. Also the Marquis
is obliged to honor the lands of earlier inhabitants. George Hook, an American arrives in the area and begins to build a cabin at the mouth of Bayou Barthelomew. A Mr. Hines is another American and Laurence Cavet claims to have farmed the land for 25 years. All of these people are on land the the Marquis has claimed as his own. |
| 1796 June 2 |
Carondelet writes to Commandant Don Juan Filhiol to say that Morrison has no legal right to the land but since he has made considerable improvements he can stay. Maison Rouge should expand his contract elsewhere. |
| 1796 July 30 |
Carondelet to Don Juan Filhiol: Grand Pre is in Natchitoches. Filhiol should compel Maison Rouge to chose other land, but he is not to encroach upon the old inhabitants. |
| 1796August 26 |
Acting Intendant Morales (having replaced Rendon) in a letter to the Chevalier Augustus de Breard (considered an agent of Maison Rouge) at Fort Miro notes that a number of single men who have settled in the area should not have received the $100 stipulated because they are not a family. |
| 1797 March 6 |
Carondelet to Don
Juan Filhiol: Grand Pre has been ordered to compel Maison Rouge to pay
a debt to M. De la Baume or forfeit his property. |
| 1797 June 14 |
The survey plat and process verbal dated on this day by Trudeau is later declared fraudulent as per testimony of Don Juan Filhiol, McLaughlin and Pomier. The actual survey was in December 1802 and January 1803 after the Marquis' death. |
| 1797 June 20 |
Another contract between Maison Rouge and the government. |
| 1798 July 4 |
Maison Rouge finally arrives in Ouachita and settles on a small parcel of land called Prairie Ronde about four miles below the entrance to Bayou Barthelemy. He brought with him clock makers, jewelers and other gentlemen. The rough people of the country were not to his liking. Also in this new group of settlers: , Sieur de Breville, Lt. of the same, merchants: Buchours, Badins, Poiret, Prieur, Coupelly. Zadoc Harmon, free mulatto. Pierre D'Agnet, a doctor. Racines and Roberts originally of Swiss origin. Maison Rouge brings with him a dismounted carriage, but found no roads upon which to display its magnificence. The carriage is returned on the same Bateau without ever having set wheel upon the earth at Ouachita. The contract with Maison Rouge is a failure, he has not built the intended mill and the thirty families have not arrived. |
| 1799 September |
Marquis de Maison Rouge dies in New Orleans. His estate goes to the Louis Bouligny family in New Orleans, except for the house which he leaves to his "servant" Maria Fair who had several children while in Ouachita. |
| 1803 July 16 |
On this date and on June 1, 1804 and January 12, 1812 Louis Bouligny conveys his entire interest in the Maison Rouge "grant" to Daniel Clark. |
| 1803 August 5 |
A certificate is issued at the request of Daniel Clark and endorsed by Intendant Morales approving the compliance of the Marquis to the contract of 1795. |
| 1811 February 25 |
Daniel Clark sells part of an undivided one-half interest in the Maison Rouge "grant" to General Wade Hampton. |
| 1812 May 10 |
Daniel Clark sells the rest of an undivided one-half interest in the Maison Rouge "grant" to General Wade Hampton. |
| 1813 August |
Daniel Clark dies leaving his one-half interest in the Maison Rouge "grant" to his mother Mary Clark. |
| 1814 January 26 |
Chew and Relf, executors and Agents for Daniel Clark sell an undivided fourth part of the Maison Rouge "grant" to Henry Turner of Natchez. |
| 1816 April 29 |
A portion of the Maison Rouge grant is confirmed and patented to Daniel Coxe. It contains 5,942 acres (one league square) and is located in Caldwell Parish. |
| 1827 February |
A petition by Relf and Chew is submitted to the House Committee on Public Lands, which investigates and finds the contracts of March 17, 1795 and June 20, 1797 to be legal. |
| 1817 April 22 |
Wade Hampton retrocedes to Chew and Relf one-fourth part of the Maison Rouge"grant". |
| 1819 March 2 |
Wade Hampton sells his other one-fourth part to Daniel Coxe of Philadelphia on the same date that Chew and Relf transfer one-half to Daniel Coxe. (who now has 3/4 of the "grant") |
| 1819 April |
John Dinsmore ordered to survey the Maison Rouge claim. |
| 1820 March 27 |
Henry Turner and Daniel Coxe have the Dinsmore survey divided into lots. Between 1820 and 1843 Daniel Coxe sells much of the subdivided land. |
| 1820 April 21 |
John F. Girard files a petition in the District Court that land he owns fronting on the Ouachita River is also claimed by Daniel Coxe of Philadelphia and Henry Turner through their agent Henry Bry. He refers to witnesses in the area including Don Juan Filhiol, James McLaughlin, Michael Pomier, Alexander Breard, Charles Betin and the widow Bayergeon. Also living in the area are Jonathan Morgan, John Landerneau, Celestin Landerneau, Jaen Bres, Bastien Olivo, Benjamin Ballew, John T. Faulk and John Etie. The Parish Judge is Oliver T. Morgan. |
| 1824 December 23 |
A select committee of Congress finds that the original contract did not grant the Maison Rouge land to the Marquis individually , but to the emigrants that he was to introduce. |
| 1830 June 5 |
After ordering the sale of public lands including the Maison Rouge and the Bastrop grants, both are withdrawn by the General Land Office. |
| 1842 |
The Louisiana Legislature adopts a joint resolution to eject Daniel Coxe from the Maison Rouge "grant". |
| 1843 |
Suit of the United States vs. King and Coxe Tried in U. S. Circuit Court in New Orleans. Another suit is a claim of the estate by one of the children of Mary Fair, Attorney Solomon W. Downs. |
| 1844 |
In U. S. vs. King and Coxe the Maison Rouge grant is declared fraudulent and void. Richard King had purchased 4,666 acres from Coxe on the west bank in Caldwell Parish. |
| 1844 December |
The U. S. Supreme Court decides against Coxe and Turner but remands the case to the Circuit court for a final decree. |
| 1849 |
For technical reasons the previous decision on the Maison Rouge grant by the U. S. Supreme Court is thrown out and will be decided again. This time the two documents of 1795 and plan of 1797 were deemed authentic but did not contain the word "grant" or did not sever the land from the Royal domain. Judge Taney again led the majority. |