History of the French Community in L.A.

I'm not French, but in my quest to learn more about LA history, I am attaching this article from the French Consulate's website about the French settlers in LA and how they influenced our city's development. Throughtout this forum, we've learned about other ethnic group's early histories in the city and I'm adding this to that knowledge base. This may be especially interseting to those who do not live here.

History of the French community in Los Angeles
1st part : 1779-1859
2nd Part: 1859-1911
LINK:
http://www.consulfrance-losangeles.o...id_article=304

1st part : 1779-1859
French influence in Los Angeles began even before the city itself was founded! It was actually Théodore De Croix (b. Lille 1730 - d. Madrid 1791), ruler of the Northwestern Provinces of Mexico for King Charles III of Spain, who recommended the founding of a pueblo on the banks of the Porciúncula. This wish was realised by Governor Felipe de Neve who signed the proclamation of foundation on August 26, 1781. On September 4, 1781, "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles" was inaugurated.

It was then necessary to wait until Mexican independance in 1822 for California to be open to non-Spanish immigrants. The establishment of the Spanish Basques explains, for the most part, the large attraction of their cousins from the Soule, Basse-Navarre, and Labourd regions to California.

The Basques maintain to this day a great tradition of cattle breeding and farming in Southern California. The first French immigrants, former members of Napoléon Bonaparte’s old guard who had fought for Mexican independance from Spain, arrived in the Pueblo around 1828 with their leading officer Louis Bauchet (also spelled Bouchet or Bouchette).

The first vineyards in California were planted in 1832 bordering Macy and Aliso Streets by Louis Bouchet and Jean Louis Vignes (who arrived in 1831 from Béguey, Cadillac district, Gironde). The vineyards would later produce 150,000 bottles of wine per year.
In 1834, Vignes also established the first orange grove in Los Angeles. From 1832 to 1837, the Plaza Church of the Pueblo was presided over by Jean Auguste Bachelot, a French Father of the Picpus Order.

According to the census of 1836, seven other Frenchmen had already settled in the Pueblo of Los Angeles: Charles Baric, Jean L. Braun, Joseph Feviru, Jean Mayen, Léon Victor Prudhomme, Pierre Raumerau and Louis Tolmayes.

Others settled in Santa Barbara: Augustin Janssens (a member of Napoléon Bonaparte’s old guard who opened a bakery there), Lataillade (who bought a ranch), and Joseph Aguirre (a navy captain who built a famous chateau).

After having established themselves, many French pioneers married into large local Californian families like Alvarado, Lugo, and Suñol: - Bouchet and Lataillade, - Léon Victor Prudhomme (named Captain of the Militia and assistant to Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1838; promoted to lieutenant-colonel and assistant to General Vallejo, Commander of the Mexican Army; captured by American troops in 1846; and later requested to serve in the American army under General Jean Frémont, himself born of French parents in Savannah, Georgia), - Joseph Mascarel (navy captain who immigrated in 1844; bought 40 acres of land north of where Gower Street in Hollywood is today and grew tomatoes; opened a large store in 1849; and was mayor of Los Angeles from 1865 to 1866), Pierre Sainsevain (built lumber and flour mills in Santa Cruz; bought his uncle J.L. Vignes’ vineyards in 1855; became the first producer of champagne in California; and opened the first Californian wine shop in New York in 1860), - Louis Robidoux (arrived in Los Angeles in 1844; bought Jurupa lands which later became Riverside; built the first grist mill in Southern California; and along with his brother, Antoine, and other French settlers such as Londeau, Mascarel, and Perrot, helped General Frémont separate California from Mexico).Because of their high level of education, French influence in Los Angeles was enormous; in 1850, the French represented a large part of the 619 literate inhabitants of Los Angeles (out of a total population of 1,734). It is noteworthy to add that until 1875-1880, all commercial, financial, and administrative activities were conducted in Spanish, a language close enough to French to allow new immigrants to assimilate quickly.

In 1852, another Picpus Father, Anaclet Lestrade, founded the first boarding school for boys in Los Angeles. From 1850 to 1860, French immigration to Los Angeles exceeded that of other nations. The French settled for the most part around Commercial and Alameda Streets, site of the ancient Native American village of Yang-Na, and made the district the principal commercial center of Southern California.

Among others who arrived in Los Angeles before 1860, it is necessary to note Charles Baric (he discovered the first Californian gold recorded by the United States Mint in Placerita Canyon in 1843, five years before the Gold Rush); Jean-Louis Sainsevain (Pierre’s brother, an engineer and agriculturalist, chosen as the first Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of Los Angeles when it was founded in 1854); the bakers, Joseph Lelong, André Maneau, Amada Medlia and Auguste Ulyard; the butcher, Salandié; the businessmen, Charles Ducommun and Maurice Kramer; the farmers Vincent Botiller, De La Bach, Pierre Domecq, Lemoreau, L. Perault and Laurent Smith; the Basque shepherds and cattle breeders, Dominique Amestoy (in the Cahuenga Valley), Pascal Ballade (in San Juan Capistrano), Jean Etchemendy, Bernard Etcheverry (founder of the city of Ramona in San Diego County), Simon Gless, Pierre Larronde, Miguel Leonis, and Gaston Oxharte; the French-Swiss couple of François Henriot and Theresa Bry (this Genevese opened the first private school in 1854 on First Street, later to be relocated to Pasadena); the confectioner, Papier; the physician, Hippolyte Blanchard; the shoemaker, Jean Réal; the watchmaker, Monnet; the carpenters, Heulme and Charles Roussillon; the cattle breeder, Pierre Reynier; the artist, Henri Pénelon (he repaired and redecorated the Plaza Church in 1856-57); and captain C. A. Faralle, who commanded a corps of 105 French uniformed infantrymen organized in 1857 to protect the French Colony and its allies against outlaws.

In 1860, 600 of the estimated 5000 inhabitants of Los Angeles were either French or spoke French.

Not only did 1859 have one of the highest rates of French immigration to Los Angeles, but it also signaled the importance of the French Colony in civil matters with the election of Damien Marchessault as Mayor. He would be reelected as Mayor in 1861, 62, 63, 64 and 67. In 1865 and 66, it was another Frenchman, Joseph Mascarel, who was elected mayor of Los Angeles. It is particularly significant to note that Angelinos elected Frenchmen to serve as Mayor of Los Angeles during the entire period of the American Civil War.

Marchessault and his partner Victor Beaudry were ice vendors. At first, they sold ice blocks to saloon keepers. But after building their ice house in 1859, they sold ice door to door throughout the Summer months. Marchessault also built the first water distributing system with Charles Lepaon in 1863. Marchessault’s success in these activities certainly kept him in contact with a large part of the population. This was also the case of numerous other Frenchmen, including his nephew Jean Trudel, who supplied the city with salt reclaimed from Playa del Rey.

Also in this period, an Alsatian by the name of André Briswalter pursued farming and sold his vegetables door to door with a horse and wagon. The growth and success of his business allowed him to purchase vast tracts of land, including most of what is today known as Playa del Rey. At his death, he left $25,000 for the building of a church over his tomb (St. Peters Church at 1039 North Broadway).

Another Alsatian, Georges Lehman, had become a very popular owner of a brewery and beer garden transformed in 1856 from the "Roundhouse," an eccentric house designed and built by the French sailor Raymond Alexandre. Its gardens, which extended from Third to Fourth and Main to Spring Streets, could accomodate 2,500 guests.

Another Frenchman who benefited from an unfalli-able reputation was Solomon Lazard, a shopkeeper on 53 Main Street. Since there was no bank in Los Angeles in this period, those Angelinos who did not want to hide money in their house or entrust it with the sisters of the convent (on the corner of Alameda and Macy), usually entrusted their savings with Solomon. It was only after his brother arrived from France in 1859 that Solomon decided to found an official bank. This bank would later earn a worldly reputation rarely to be equaled.

This is precisely the time when Dominique Bastanchury, a Basque, threw himself into cattle and sheep raising and intensive agricultural production of grapes and citrus fruits: he would become owner of the largest orange grove in the world, located in Fullerton. Today, a road and a plaza in Fullerton bear his name.

(Text based on the "Vida de Fray Junípero Serra" of Francisco Palou and the "Guide Français de Los Angeles et du Sud de la Californie" published in 1932 by F. Loyer and C. Beaudreau. Compilation: Jean-Marie Lebon. Translation: K. Gohar)

While reading this article, you may have discovered names that seem familiar. Today, they are affixed on blue signs around the ancient pueblo: these streets and avenues serve, in effect, as the only living witness of the old land and buildings where numerous French pioneers like Bauchet, Beaudry, Bernard, Ducommun, Leonis, Mignonette, Mesnager, Nadeau, Naud, Prudent, and Vignes lived. But our pioneers also established themselves throughout Southern California, as Amestoy Avenue in the San Fernando Valley, Robidoux Boulevard in Riverside, Bastanchury Road in Fullerton and De Longpré Avenue in Hollywood notably indicate.

Photo: J-M. Lebon

2nd Part: 1859-1911
In 1859, four men arrived in Los Angeles who dynamically changed the French Colony and established their own reputation in civil affairs: Louis Mesmer, Rémi Nadeau, Eugène Meyer and Jacob Moerenhout. Moerenhout was born in Antwerp on January 17, 1796, served with Napoléon Bonaparte in Belgium and had a life that would itself fill several books alone.

Soon after immigrating to Chile where he married a Chilean, he left for Tahiti in 1829 to pursue business. Appointed American Consul to Tahiti in 1835 and later French Consul in 1838, Moerenhout success-fully oversaw the French annexation of Tahiti. From 1845 to 1859, he represented France in Monterey, the old Mexican capital of California.

On October 29, 1859, he inaugurated the first Consulate of France in Los Angeles, where he remained as Vice-Consul of France until his death on July 13, 1879.Louis Mesmer, a native of Sarrebourg, was a baker in Strasbourg, Colmar, and Paris before moving to Tippecanoe, Ohio where he married Katherine Frost.

After many adventures, he came to Los Angeles and bought the Ulyard Bakery, and then the Balz bakery which he renamed the "New York Bakery." He also supplied the three companies of private soldiers in La Ballona Rancho (present day Culver City) and bought the U.S. Hotel and made it profitable (on the corner of Main and Requena Streets). Furthermore, Mesmer also oversaw the construction of the St. Vibiana Cathedral from 1871 to 1876.

Rémi Nadeau (born of French parents in Québec) moved to Los Angeles in 1859 and engaged in the transportation industry with his mules and wagons. He then proceeded to open a corral and blacksmith shop on Fifth Street, between Hill and Olive Streets. His transportation company, Cerro Gordo Freighting Co., rapidly developed and extended beyond Southern California with its 65 stations. He also partook in numerous agricultural projects - i.e. grapes, wheat, barley, sugar - but without any success. In 1885, he built a 4-story hotel on the corner of First and Spring Streets.

The Nadeau Hotel’s numerous bathrooms and its passenger elevator (the first of its kind in Southern California) contributed to its rapid success. The Biltmore Hotel was constructed on the property of Nadeau’s old home after he died in 1887.Amongst other Frenchmen of this era, one must recognize: Emile Bordenave, restaurant owner; Joseph Couget, cotton planter, sheep herder, and associated with Louis Dartigues in San Juan Capistrano; the brothers François and Léon Escallier, viticulturalists; Eugène Meyer, dry goods store owner at 57 Fort Street, entrepeneur and Vice-Consul of France from 1879 to 1884; Paul Molle, Malibu cattle breeder and dairyman; Jean and Louis Sentous, dairymen and cattle breeders on the corner of Western and Jefferson, immortalised by streets in Downtown, Industry, and West Covina; Jacques Taix, baker as were also his five brothers; and Emile and Théophile Vaché, wine producers.

History has not forgotten the names of numerous Frenchmen active in the economic and commercial life of the city. Many of them invested tremendous effort in their respective domains with incredible success: Charles Ducommun and his Pioneer Oil Co., Mascarel, the Beaudry brothers, Mesmer, the Lazard brothers, Dr. Griffin, Meyer, Charles Lepaon, and Jean Barri to name a few. These Frenchmen are also the same Angelinos that founded the Los Angeles City Water Company in July 1868, distributed water to all of the city, and constantly upgraded the system. At the expiration of their license in 1898, the City of Los Angeles bought the system for $2 million. Aside from these industrialist giants, other Frenchmen engaged in more limited but just as lucrative activities: for example, Louis Vieille and Fréderic Guiol established a restaurant in 1868 on Main Street, between Commercial and Requena Streets; Louis Christopher; Victor Dole and his "Commercial Restaurant;" or still, Casson and Flotte who established in front of the Pico House.

One cannot forget the hotel owner, Firmin Mirassou; the shoemaker, Joseph Mesmer; the grocer, Jean Jaussaud; the baker, Jean Dorée, the Sheriff, Eugène Biscailuz, of Basque origine,...

The premier event of 1860 was the creation of the French Benevolent Society on March 1 at the invitation of Vice-Consul Moerenhout. It was decided that all funds collected would be expended on medical care for those members requiring it, but the ultimate goal was to build a hospital open to all, regardless of religion, sex, ethnic origin, or nationality (as several of the founding members were Italian). Dr. A. Lacharmois was named as the official medical aide of the Society. Members contributed an initial $2 upon membership and a monthly fee of $1.

The amassed revenues eventually allowed the cornerstone of the building to be laid on October 4, 1869 on the corner of College and Hill Streets. The French Hospital still survives today, but it is now located in Chinatown.

A large statue of Joan of Arc and numerous commemorative signs at the entrance of the hospital bear witness to the prestigious realization of the French Colony.

French was the second most widely spoken language at the time in Los Angeles, less than Spanish but more than English. That is why on the occasion of his official visit to Los Angeles at the end of the Civil War in 1865, American General McDowell, who did not speak Spanish, addressed the crowd in French because the majority of Angelinos did not understand English. Teaching in the Henriot School and at St. Vincent’s College (later to be named Loyola University) was in Spanish and in French.

It was another Frenchman, A. Chevalier, who opened the first pharmacy in Los Angeles, soon to be followed by Laux, Jules Violé, André Rouseyrol and above all, Lucien Brunswig, a native of Montmédy (Meuse district), whose pharmaceutical laboratory and warehouse still stand in the Pueblo today.When the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles was established in 1871, four Frenchmen, Ducommun, Lecouvreur, Amestoy, and Mascarel each subscribed $500,000 of the bank’s capital.

None of Los Angeles or its neighboring com-munities escaped French investment: it was Eugène Aune who built the first house in Santa Monica in 1875 and opened a restaurant famous enough to attract clients within a 20 mile radius.A few cattle and sheep breeders from the Alps and Aquitaine (i.e., the Amars, Jacques Forgues) wisely manuvered around the price fluctuations of wool, invested their fortunes in their respective communities and built many prestigious buildings, as did Edouard Amar in San Pedro (a Theatre, an Hotel).

There are still hundreds of persons to name, but we will finish our history with the cinema. We won’t mention all of the many French actors and directors who established themselves in California, but we will say that the first film studio was built in 1911 in the barn of a Frenchman by the name of René Blondeau in Hollywood.

(Text based on the "Guide Français de Los Angeles et du Sud de la Californie" published in 1932 by F. Loyer and C. Beaudreau, and on the "1872 Los Angeles City and County Directory". Compilation: Jean-Marie Lebon. Translation: K. Gohar)

 

(written: June 28th, 2006, 09:05 PM , http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=367672)