Historical February 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
It is not known precisely when “Le Vieux Village de Ste. Genevieve” was founded but it is always referred to as the first permanent settlement in Upper Louisiana. Situated some three or so miles south of the current site of Ste. Genevieve, the old village has long since been washed away by the Mississippi.
An old well made of stone was discovered in 1881 which had the year “1732” cut into one of the stones.
For various reasons, it is thought the village was established in some manner by this date, and the year 1735 is now commonly given as the time when Ste. Genevieve was far enough along to be referred to as a village. Therefore, this current year, 1985, is the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of Ste. Genevieve.
The name of Ste. Genevieve probably comes from the date the early settlers landed on the spot—January 3, the feast of Ste. Genevieve.
At least that is the surmise.
The early French were given to such practices and no other reason for the naming seems any more probable than the typical one of the day of the landing.
Not many documents survive from the early days of the village.
The oldest documented land transaction seems to be 1759; the oldest documented marriage was 10 May 1766 between Pierre Roy and Jeanette Lalond.
This is not to say land was not sold or traded, or that personal contracts were not entered into before that date.
The fact is, however, documents from that early period have not survived; in any case, many arrangements were not put onto paper if only because the matter was not needed.
A trip to Ste. Genevieve is well worth it. Such old pieces of creole architecture as the Bolduc House and the Valle House are immensely instructive since that same style of house was built in St. Louis before the Louisiana Purchase.
The local historical society has grown quite active over the years.
The State of Missouri has also become prominent in the preservation of these, the oldest examples of European settlement in Missouri.
Not even an hour’s drive from St. Louis, many schools and private groups make the trip to Ste. Genevieve a special event or a fund raiser.
Once lead was discovered inland from Ste. Genevieve about 1775, the character of the area began to shift slowly from its agricultural and bucolic qualities. Moses Austin came to the area about 1797 and called the lead mines some of the richest in the world. Like many of the original settlers of the village, Austin eventually moved on, founding Herculaneum among other villages and, after the War of 1812, getting into the bank business in St. Louis.
When his bank burst, he moved south, got a land grant from the Spanish in Mexico City, and started what became the state of Texas. Ste. Genevieve really never was able to hold a large population.
There always seemed to be more opportunity in other places and in other cities. St. Louis drew off many of the younger French as well as aspiring Americans like Austin. Immediately after the Louisiana Purchase, many of the new Yankees looked at St. Louis but decided to try Ste. Genevieve first. Typically they moved back to St. Louis before 1810.
During this, the 250th year anniversary, a special issue of “The Gone West!,” the publication of the Friends of the Arch, will feature Ste. Genevieve. Bernie Schramm, the president of the Ste. Genevieve Historical Society, is overseeing this issue along with the editor and historian of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Jon James.
This sort of cooperative historical publishing has only begun to emerge in the past few years and represents a changing spirit of cooperation and marketing among the historical agencies.
If the history of the creole French in Upper Louisiana interests you, this year will be an excellent one for a field trip to Ste. Genevieve.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1985_02.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
