Jim Bradshaw: 'Providence' led schooners into the Teche with fancy goods

When we think about boats on Bayou Teche in days gone by, we think first about steamboats.
But a surprising number of ocean-going schooners regularly visited Franklin and other bayou towns, bringing fancy goods and staples from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and other places.
According to a story in Harper’s magazine in 1853, this schooner trade started by accident. A captain uncovered the rich Teche trade in the early 1800s when he was hunting for a place to weather a storm.
“Tradition says that … a shrewd downeaster found himself hunting for a harbor along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico,” according to that story. “His brooms, his soap, candles, onions, and cod-fish were tossed about in uncertainty for days and nights, but, true Yankee-like, he turned his misfortunes to a good account, for, ‘guided by Providence,’ he finally found himself after many days in the Teche, surrounded and warmly greeted by a rich agricultural country.
“Here without a rival, he traded and bargained to his heart’s content, exchanging his cargo of ‘notions’ for cotton, fruits, and money, and then bore himself back to the land of ‘steady habits’ a far richer man than when he left it, and the possessor of a secret that gave him the trading monopoly of … the [Teche country].”
That monopoly didn’t last long. A traveler from New Orleans wrote in 1838 that “Franklin … imports direct from the North, and her wharves, in the winter season, are filled with brigs, schooners, and flatboats.”
The Franklin newspaper said in September 1849 that the boats were one of the things that made the fall “a season of interest and excitement” that was “about to break in upon us like a refreshing shower after a severe drought.”
The boats, that story said, “are now beginning to move from the north deeply freighted with rich stores of merchandise with which to flood the country — the bosom of the Teche is soon to be whitened by the sails of northern vessels with gallant streamers floating high in the air — half a score of splendid steamboats will soon be ploughing their way through our lakes and bayous — the dull horn of the oyster-man will soon announce the reappearance of salt water luxuries, and huge flatboats from the upper counties will, before many weeks, [will begin] floating lazily upon the tide of the Teche.”
Two weeks later, ads began to appear in the newspaper for newly filled shops.
S. Smith promoted merchandise brought by the schooner Nimrod, which had just arrived “direct from New York.” Smith promised that “the balance of my goods will arrive in a few days in the Aurora Borealis and the Friends, the whole comprising a very large and well assorted stock.”
Bloch & Godchaux also waited for a “general assortment of clothing and goods” due to arrive aboard the Friends.
The schooner Lanfier delivered to Levy’s store “a splendid assortment of clothing, carpeting, blankets, prints, ladies’ dress goods, hats, boots, and shoes … cutlery, and a general assortment of goods.”
When the Friends did arrive, it turned out to be an unhappy trip. The Planters’ Banner reported on Nov. 1, that after unloading its cargo and heading back to sea, it had to return to Patterson “under the most unpleasant circumstances.”
“The Captain and one of the hands died after they returned to the Bay from Last Island, and the vessel being unable to put to sea under those circumstances has come up the river to remain until arrangements can be made for her to depart.”
Schooners and other small ships called at Franklin regularly enough that the Planters’ Banner began to feature a column of “Marine News” listing arrivals and departures from the town. The column listed more than 20 sailing ships coming or going in the single month of February 1850.
Those schooners brought in tons of goods and also hauled out local produce.
A compilation for the full year 1848 shows that 145 sailing ships called at Franklin.
They left laden with, among other things, 16,589 hogsheads of sugar, 19,614 barrels of molasses, and 55,900 feet of timber.
It appears that crafty Yankee captains weren’t the only ones to turn a profit from the trade.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.