St. Louis - The Fourth City, Volume 1. Walter Barlow Stevens

France formally retired from the Illinois with the withdrawal of Neyon de Villiers and that St. Ange remained only to garrison the fort until the British arrived.

      Friction attended the delivery of Fort Chartres. Aubry mentions this. "The same difficulty as at Mobile," he wrote in his journal, "occurred at the Illinois. The English claimed the cannon and implements of the fort, but they secured only seven little cannon of which four were damaged, precaution having been taken to remove the rest to the other side of the river. After having protested, St. Ange passed to the other side with two officers and thirty-five men."

      At this point, in his journal, Aubry makes the only mention of the action taken by St. Ange which proved of such importance to St. Louis.

      "He established himself at Paincourt, near Ste. Genevieve, and returned to me fifteen men because of lack of flour left him by the English."

      Aubry comments on the ingratitude of the English as shown at Fort Chartres:

      "It was only on the incessant prayers of Mr. Farmer that Mr. D'Abbadie left in Fort Chartres a garrison and cannon instead of evacuating it. It does not seem just that the English in taking possession of the fort which we had guarded for them only from kindness should oppose us in taking the effects of the king."

      From the journal it seems that there can be no misunderstanding of the status of St. Ange and of the garrison of forty following the withdrawal from the Illinois of Neyon de Villiers, the soldiers and the settlers. A reason existed for the choice of St. Ange to guard the fort until the English came. Of all the officers who were evacuating French posts in the Illinois, St. Ange had the most influence with Pontiac. He was a very brave soldier. As soon as if was known to the Indians that France had ceded the Illinois to England the warriors began to assemble in the vicinity of Fort Chartres and to threaten that the English should never be allowed to occupy it. All of St. Ange's influence and power of persuasion were required to prevent actual hostilities.

      St. Ange marched up the river, fifty miles, to St. Louis. He was received in Laclede's house. His soldiers were quartered nearby. The garrison remained year after year. As he had done from Fort Chartres, St. Ange continued to send reports from St. Louis to Aubry, upon conditions, especially as to the Indians. It does not appear that he received specific orders from Aubry. It does appear that Aubry knew what was going on at St. Louis and that he did not disapprove. Was St. Ange given latitude to act upon a general understanding that he might be useful in the Illinois for the "security of the habitants who remained?" Had he come under the spell of Laclede's personality as had so many of the settlers on the east side of the river? St. Ange never left St. Louis. When he retired from active service, on the coming of the first Spanish lieutenant-governor, he continued to reside in Laclede's family. When he died, he entrusted the disposition of his estate to Laclede.

      Until the coming of St. Ange and the soldiers, Laclede had governed St. Louis by the force of his personality. Up to this time he had been supreme in all matters. The settlement was growing rapidly. It was reaching out for the fur trade of the Missouri country. It was assuming important relations with the Indian nations.

      The first great day in the history of St. Louis was when the boy, Auguste Chouteau, arrived "with the first thirty" and felled the first tree. The second great day was when St. Ange de Bellerive marched in at the head of his

      soldiers. Gladly Laclede welcomed the garrison. Military authority was established, so far as seemed necessary to insure tranquility. French settlers on the east side, who had delayed departure so long as the French flag floated over Fort Chartres, followed the garrison to St. Louis.

      St. Ange assumed no civil functions upon his arrival. When he delivered Fort Chartres to the English he referred to himself as "captain of infantry commanding for the king." Had he succeeded Neyon de Villiers he would have added, probably, to the designation of himself, "commandant of the Illinois." Sterling, the English officer, receipted to St. Ange for the fort. He made no mention of anything beyond that.

      Three months St. Ange continued in military authority at St Louis before he began to exercise civil functions. He was a soldier. He expected orders. He stood ready to obey them. No orders came. St. Ange was willing to act in some minor matters not strictly military, but he was not willing to perform duties which partook of judicial character. Not until January, 1766, did St. Ange began to yield to the public pressure and to the arguments of the strong men of the community.

      The civil government for St. Louis was planned in Laclede's house. To the new settlement came from the east side of the river Joseph Labusciere and Joseph Lefebvre. Perhaps the names should be reversed. At the time of coming Lefebvre was the most important person. But Labusciere soon became the most prominent of the two in St. Louis. Both were educated, shrewd men. They had been strongly attracted by Laclede's personality. They caught his confidence in the future of St. Louis. They were among the foremost to accept Laclede's leadership rather than Neyon's advice.

      "Judge" Lefebvre, he was at Fort Chartres. In 1743 he came from France bringing his wife and son to Louisiana. He must have had influential friends. A year after his arrival in New Orleans Lefebvre was given a grant of the exclusive privilege to trade with the Indians of the Illinois district for five years. He settled at Fort Chartres and remained after his privilege expired. He became the judge of the district.

      Labusciere came from Canada to Fort Chartres before Laclede founded St. Louis. He was a lawyer, skilled in the drawing of official papers. He married in the village of St. Phillippe, four miles above Fort Chartres and became the leading citizen of that community. St. Phillippe was the settlement from which the entire population, with the exception of the miller, moved to St. Louis. It is not difficult to infer that Labusciere was the leader in the migration. That he was regarded as a person of importance by the founder is seen in the fact that Labusciere was allotted an entire block of ground in St. Louis. He received the verbal assignment of the block bounded by Main and the river, Vine and Washington avenue. At Fort Chartres, Labusciere had performed notarial functions. He had been called deputy for the king's attorney. When the form of grant or title to real estate was agreed upon at Laclede's house, Labusciere 's lot was one of the earliest, if not the first to be entered in the register or livre terrien.

      On his arrival in 1765, about the time of St. Ange's coming with the troops, Lefebvre was given by Laclede a half block of ground. He built a house of posts at the corner of Main and Locust. Their course indicated a complete understanding on the part of Lefebvre and Labusciere with Laclede arrived at before the coming of Captain Sterling and the Highlanders to Fort Chartres. The judge and the notary had decided not to follow Neyon down the river. They had agreed together to join their fortunes with Laclede. The year 1765 found them permanently settled in St. Louis.

      Judge Lefebvre strongly supported Laclede's views in favor of the establishment of civil government. Labusciere contended that, without systematic recording of public events and official acts, in time all matters would become confused. Many things would be forgotten. There would ensue much trouble. The weeks went by with the almost daily conferences until at last St. Ange yielded. The plan of government was agreed upon. Lefebvre and Labusciere were to assist. Both of these men, as already stated, had been prominent in affairs of government on the east side of the river before the cession. Their willingness to act with the old soldier doubtless had its influence to bring about his reluctant consent. The settlers in St. Louis were summoned to Laclede's house. Announcement was made that St. Ange, assisted by Lefebvre, would administer public affairs. The announcement met with the approval of the settlers. And thus, what might be called acting independent government was established and became effective at St. Louis. A tablet, erected by the Wednesday Club, on Main street just north of Walnut, bears this inscription:

      On this site

      January 21, 1766,

      in the house of

      Maxent, Laclede & Co.

      civil government was first

      established in St. Louis,

      by Capt.

      Louis St. Ange de Bellerive.

      Died Dec. 27, 1774,

      Military