Aigleville (Alabama)
Encyclopedia
Aigleville, literally translated as Eagle Town, was a town on the Black Warrior River
in what is now Marengo County
, Alabama
. The settlement was established in late 1818 by former French
Bonapartist
s and refugees from Saint-Domingue
, as a part of their Vine and Olive Colony
. It was named in honor of the French Imperial Eagle
, the standard used by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I
.
did not lie within the land grants given to them by Congress
and moved one mile (1.6 km) east to this site. There they built pioneer-style log cabin
s on their town lots. These were described by a visiting Treasury Department
official as having hewn
log walls with plank or puncheon
floors and measuring from 16 by 18 ft (4.9 by 5.5 m) to 19 by 23 ft (5.8 by 7 m).
Each settler at Aigleville owned three separate land lots. These included the town lot, a garden lot (called a small allotment
), and a farm (called a large allotment). The town lots commonly ranged from 50 by 100 ft (15.2 by 30.5 m) to 100 by 200 ft (30.5 by 61 m), the small allotments ranged from less than 1 acre (0.00404686 km²) to 12 acre (0.04856232 km²), and the large allotments ranged from 40 acre (0.1618744 km²) to 480 acres (1.9 km²).
The most prominent colonists also owned the largest allotments. These included Honore Bayol, Jean-Marie Chapron, Jean-Simone Chaudron, General Bertrand Clausel, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Charles DeBrosse, General Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes
, Édouard George, Auguste Follin, Marc-Antoine Frenage, Joseph Lakanal
, General Charles Lallemand
and his brother Henri-Dominique Lallemand, Michael LeBouttellier, Bazile Meslier, Stephen Nidelet, Colonel Nicholas-Simon Parmentier, Guillaume Promis, Jean Penieres, Frederic Ravesies, Count Pierre-François Réal, General Antoine Rigaud, Francis Stollenwerck, Francois Teterel, and General Dominique Vandamme
. A few of these men, such as the Lallemand brothers, never lived in the colony. They remained elsewhere and eventually sold their allotments.
With the failure of the colony at large, Aigleville was a largely abandoned by the late 1830s. Despite this, General Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes' house was noted as still standing during a governmental resurvey of the area in 1842. The site was heavily forested by the early 20th century. This gave way to open land with industrial usage during the later half of the 20th and into the 21st century, under its ownership by a local cement
plant.
Black Warrior River
The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles to the Tombigbee River, of which the Black Warrior is the primary tributary...
in what is now Marengo County
Marengo County, Alabama
Marengo County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is named in honor of a battlefield near Turin, Italy, where the French defeated the Austrians on June 14, 1800. As of 2010 the population was 21,027...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. The settlement was established in late 1818 by former French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Bonapartist
Bonapartist
In French political history, Bonapartism has two meanings. In a strict sense, this term refers to people who aimed to restore the French Empire under the House of Bonaparte, the Corsican family of Napoleon Bonaparte and his nephew Louis...
s and refugees from Saint-Domingue
Saint-Domingue
The labour for these plantations was provided by an estimated 790,000 African slaves . Between 1764 and 1771, the average annual importation of slaves varied between 10,000-15,000; by 1786 it was about 28,000, and from 1787 onward, the colony received more than 40,000 slaves a year...
, as a part of their Vine and Olive Colony
Vine and Olive Colony
The Vine and Olive Colony was an ill-fated effort by a group of French Bonapartists who, fearing for their lives after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration, attempted to establish an agricultural settlement growing wine grapes and olive trees in the Alabama wilderness...
. It was named in honor of the French Imperial Eagle
French Imperial Eagle
French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars....
, the standard used by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
.
History
The Vine and Olive colonists, numbering more than 300 people, discovered in early 1818 that their first town at DemopolisDemopolis, Alabama
Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, United States. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census....
did not lie within the land grants given to them by Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
and moved one mile (1.6 km) east to this site. There they built pioneer-style log cabin
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
s on their town lots. These were described by a visiting Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
official as having hewn
Hewing
Hewing is the process of converting sections of a tree stem from its rounded natural form into a form with more or less flat surfaces using primarily, among other tools, an axe or axes...
log walls with plank or puncheon
Puncheon
Puncheon is a tool or instrument for piercing or punching, such as those used for impressing designs onto coin dies. The "barrel" meaning is thought to derive from the fact that it would have been marked by use of a punch to denote its contents....
floors and measuring from 16 by 18 ft (4.9 by 5.5 m) to 19 by 23 ft (5.8 by 7 m).
Each settler at Aigleville owned three separate land lots. These included the town lot, a garden lot (called a small allotment
Allotment (gardening)
An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
), and a farm (called a large allotment). The town lots commonly ranged from 50 by 100 ft (15.2 by 30.5 m) to 100 by 200 ft (30.5 by 61 m), the small allotments ranged from less than 1 acre (0.00404686 km²) to 12 acre (0.04856232 km²), and the large allotments ranged from 40 acre (0.1618744 km²) to 480 acres (1.9 km²).
The most prominent colonists also owned the largest allotments. These included Honore Bayol, Jean-Marie Chapron, Jean-Simone Chaudron, General Bertrand Clausel, Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, Charles DeBrosse, General Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes
Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes
Charles, comte Lefebvre-Desnouettes or Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes became a French officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and a general during the Napoleonic Wars...
, Édouard George, Auguste Follin, Marc-Antoine Frenage, Joseph Lakanal
Joseph Lakanal
Joseph Lakanal was a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France.-Early career:...
, General Charles Lallemand
Charles Lallemand
François Antoine "Charles" Lallemand was a French general who served Napoleon I of France, tried to found a colony in what is now Texas, and finally returned to France to serve as governor of Corsica.-Early years:...
and his brother Henri-Dominique Lallemand, Michael LeBouttellier, Bazile Meslier, Stephen Nidelet, Colonel Nicholas-Simon Parmentier, Guillaume Promis, Jean Penieres, Frederic Ravesies, Count Pierre-François Réal, General Antoine Rigaud, Francis Stollenwerck, Francois Teterel, and General Dominique Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
. A few of these men, such as the Lallemand brothers, never lived in the colony. They remained elsewhere and eventually sold their allotments.
With the failure of the colony at large, Aigleville was a largely abandoned by the late 1830s. Despite this, General Lefèbvre-Desnoëttes' house was noted as still standing during a governmental resurvey of the area in 1842. The site was heavily forested by the early 20th century. This gave way to open land with industrial usage during the later half of the 20th and into the 21st century, under its ownership by a local cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
plant.