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The Effect of the Assimilation of the La Reunion Colonists on the Development of Dallas and Dallas County

Velma Irene Sandell · 1986 · English — secondary

Transcription: doc/text/theses/la_reunion/assimilation_la_reunion.md

What it is

MA thesis on the colonists' assimilation into Dallas, built from Texas archives — the Cockrell papers, deed records, tax rolls, census, city council minutes. Kagay cites it short-form as "Effect."

Author's position

Outside historian. Stake is the Dallas-side story: how former colonists became property owners, officeholders, and businessmen.

Stake

Argues assimilation/integration. Foregrounds the post-colony Dallas trajectory over French origins.

Access

Strong: Texas archival record — deeds, 1859 tax rolls, 1867 town register, census, Cockrell papers, council minutes. Weak: French origins and pre-colony biography (defers to or lacks the French sources Cordillot used).

Known distortions / how to weight

Cross-references

[[cordillot]] (the French-origins complement), [[santerre]] (name overlap), deed/tax/register data in src/land/deeds.py.

Timeline extraction

Sandell timeline — events extracted from the Dallas-side assimilation thesis

Source: Velma Irene Sandell, The Effect of the Assimilation of the La Reunion Colonists on the Development of Dallas and Dallas County (M.A. thesis, University of North Texas, 1986). Clean text at doc/text/theses/la_reunion/assimilation_la_reunion.md. Locators are chapter ([I] Experiment in Socialism · [II] Problems in a New Land · [III] Influences in Business · [IV] Contributions in Government · [V] Social/Cultural). Dossier: src/sources/sandell/dossier.md.

Why this source matters: This is the post-1858 backbone. Every primary memoir poured so far (Savardan, Wolski, Bürkli, Colas) goes silent at the dissolution; Sandell is the one transcribed source built from the Dallas archives that record what happened next — the Cockrell family papers (deeds, the 1867 Town Assessor register), the 1859 tax roll, the 1860/1870 census, and the Dallas city-council minutes. Its chapters III–IV are a near-month-by-month civic chronology of how ex-colonists became Dallas's property owners and (under Reconstruction) its officeholders — exactly the spine gap. Chapter II also carries a per-colonist biographical register (occupation + Dallas fate) parallel to Santerre's epilogue. It is the documentary engine of the project's central thesis (the colonists built Dallas).

Caution on stratum: secondary (1986), but unusually close to the records — it quotes deed volume/page, tax-roll acreages, register lot/block, and dated council actions, so it functions as a finding-aid to primary data (cross-check against deeds.py + the deed scans). Two cautions: (1) it has a known internal contradiction on Willemet's council dates (and a second on Long's Switzerland trip) — flagged below; (2) chapters I–II retell the 1853–57 story second-hand (corroboration, not independent witness). The OCR mangles names and some figures (e.g. "Codain-Lemaire," "Naufraze"); names kept as printed.

Dated events (the spine)

Pre-1858 — corroboration only (the founding story is better-led elsewhere)

1853.??.?? - Considérant's first Texas visit; stays with Gouhenant at Dallas;
             favours the site across the Trinity [II] (corrob hammond/santerre)
1854.09.26 - SCEAT articles signed, Brussels — Sandell names EIGHT signatories:
             Considérant, Bureau, Guillon, Godin-Lemaire, Émile J.B. Bourdon, Jean
             Claude Just Muiron, Gustave Landon, M. Barclay (Bureau/Guillon/Godin =
             the original directors); shares $5/$25/$125 at 4% [I]
             ↳ fuller signatory list than hammond/santerre (who name only the first
               four). Cross-check the four extra names against the statutes/cordillot.
1854.late  - Cantagrel + "Rogers" contract the 5 surveys (320 Horton + 640
             McCracken + 640 Coombs + 320 Griffin + 160 Reed ≈ 2,080 ac) from Peters
             Colony owners [I] (corrob santerre; same ≈2,080 figure — verify vs deeds)
1855.??.?? - first settlers arrive (April); Cantagrel elected director, Goetsell
             supervisor of construction; ~18 houses on 40 acres [II]
1856.??.?? - Swiss under Nussbaumer leave first for Moon Lake / Capt. Jefferson Peak
             Addition (land at 50¢/acre); Belgians under Goetsell to Mountain Creek
             [II/III] (corrob santerre/savardan)
1856.09.01 - Texas legislature incorporates the EACS [II] (corrob hammond; Sandell
             frames it as the land-grant denied 1855, incorporation granted 1856)
1857.??.?? - Considérant leaves for good; Jules Lanotte leases the store + closes the
             restaurant [II]

The liquidation (1858–1875) — Sandell's documentary spine

1857.10.15 - S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell, deed G/2, 3–4 acres [III]
1858.02.17 - S.H. Cockrell → P.P. Frichot, deed G/313, 2 acres [III]
1858.??.?? - directors place colony holdings in RECEIVERSHIP; appoint Michel Thévenet
             + Alexis Bessard to liquidate; stockholding colonists take land @ $4/acre
             (J.M. Reverchon, Crétien, A.J. Gouffré, A. DeLord, Rémond, J. Loupot,
             Santerre, J.P. Henry) [II]
             ↳ CORROBORATES the santerre receivership entry now in TIMELINE
               (`1858.??` Thévenet+Bessard). Two independent secondaries (descendant +
               archival) agree → upgrade that spine entry's confidence.
1859.??.?? - 1859 Dallas County tax roll: 11 colonists own rural property (acreages
             in Specific items) [III]; townsite by 1859 has blacksmith, mechanic
             shop, store, hotel, bootmaker, tailor [II]
1859.06.27 - S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell, deed F/664, 2¾ acres [III]
1860.??.?? - French stockholders send Thévenet + Bessard to close the accounts; assets
             sold at 12½¢ on the dollar; Thévenet runs the account (under Cantagrel's
             direction) through the Gaston & Thomas Bank, J.B. Adoué agent (→ later
             National Bank of Commerce) [III]
             ↳ DIVERGES on the liquidation valuation/mechanism from savardan's Cousin
               sales (10–20 $/acre, Feb–Apr 1857). Likely successive phases: Cousin's
               1857 power-of-attorney sale, then the 1858–60 Thévenet/Bessard
               receivership through the bank. Reconcile against the deeds. UNRESOLVED.
1860.07.18 - the Dallas fire — turning point: creates demand for colonist building
             skills; Crétien, the Frichots' brick business start now [III]
             ↳ already a project Key Date; Sandell supplies the colonist-labor causal
               link (George Crétien interview, W.S. Adair). [III]
1861.??.?? - Lanotte operates the store until the Civil War; Nussbaumer buys the
             communal stove for his abattoir; Capy rents the forge [II]
1861.11.11 - S.H. Cockrell → Charles Capy, deed L/519, 1 acre [III]
1862.05.16 - 25 colonists petition the Governor of Texas to be reimbursed for firearms
             seized "by threat and assault" by Col. N.H. Darnell's Regiment [IV]
1862.??.?? - Joseph Charpentier (cobbler) killed at the old Trinity ford by renegades
             during the war [II/IV]
1866.07.25 - S.H. Cockrell → A.J. Gouffré, deed J/300, 8 acres [III]
1866.12.17 - S.H. Cockrell → F. Michell, deed J/428, 1–2 acres [III]
1872.10.22 - S.H. Cockrell → A. Crétein, deed R/538, 7 acres [III]
1875.??.?? - Cantagrel authorized to sell the last of the colony assets [II bio]

The Reconstruction civic spine (1867–1876) — ex-colonists govern Dallas

1867.03.02 - First Reconstruction Act; Gen. Sheridan (5th Military District) begins
             appointing officers [IV]
1867.11.?? - appointed Dallas County officers incl. A.J. Gouffré* = Treasurer [IV]
1868.06.02 - Benjamin Long* appointed (county), replacing Spillman [IV]
1868.09.?? - Gen. Reynolds appoints the city slate: Mayor Ben Long*, Marshal John F.
             Barbier*, Asst Marshal Alexis Barbier*, Treasurer Gouffré*, Alderman
             Henry Boll* (+ McKnight, Miller, Taylor, Tenison) [IV]
             ↳ Boll resigns at the first meeting (not a city resident); replaced
               eventually by John Loupot*. Matches CLAUDE.md's 1868 Key Date.
1868.11.?? - Michel Thévenet* appointed (county), replacing Long [IV]
1868.11.24 - council names a Main St grading committee; 2 days later Loupot* replaces
             the resigning Jones [IV]
1868.12.03 - Jacob Nussbaumer* contracts to grade Main Street [IV]
1869.02.12 - Nussbaumer* completes the grading, paid $250 [IV]
1870.01.11 - city council resolves to "assist as much as possible" a Trinity bridge [IV]
1870.04.04 - Long* announces a trip to Switzerland; Ervay made mayor pro-tem [IV]
             ↳ INTERNAL CONFLICT: ch. V dates Long's Switzerland visit to 1869; ch. II
               bio to 1870 (returning with 35 Swiss in 1871). See Reconciliation.
1870.08.08 - council approves laying out streets to the east line; committee includes
             Nussbaumer* + Thévenet* [IV]
1870.11.19 - F.L. Willemet* joins the council [IV]
1870.12.05 - Willemet* (w/ Tucker, Crosley) tasked to select a city burial ground (4
             acres by the Masonic Cemetery) [IV]
1871.02.15 - Barbier Street opened, named for J.F. Barbier* [IV]
1871.03.18 - council selects 9 acres of Nussbaumer* land (Jefferson Peak Addition) for
             the H&TC depot [IV]
1871.04.03 - voters approve the depot-land tax 167–11; $14,650 paid [IV]
1871.05.01 - Henry Boll* appointed City Treasurer; (July) Julius Royer* council
             secretary; (Aug) Boll* treasurer pro-tem of the railroad tax [IV]
1871.12.01 - citizens loan the city for Main St grading: Boll* $100, Nussbaumer* $150,
             Leinhardt* $50 [IV]
1872.04.16 - city buys fire equipment; Long* provides land for the first fire station
             (near Lamar & Commerce) [IV]
1872.06.15 - Dallas Herald publishes the new city ordinances (the boom-town vice code) [IV]
1872.07.16 - the Houston & Texas Central Railroad reaches Dallas; pop. jumps ~3,000 →
             ~7,000; Nussbaumer* donated the station land [III/IV]
             ↳ corroborates CLAUDE.md's 1872 Key Date; 725 buildings raised in 1873.
1872.11.05–08 - first election under Reconstruction: Ben Long* elected mayor 348–246
             over Hunt; Charles Capy* alderman (1st Ward, short term), Michel
             Thévenet* alderman (3rd Ward, long term); Boll* elected Treasurer (4–4
             tie broken by Mayor Long*) [IV]
1873.01.?? - hospital committee of 7 ladies incl. Mrs. Boll* + Mrs. Thévenet* [IV]
1873.02.13 - council orders a Pest House (smallpox epidemic spread by the railroad) [IV]
1873.02.25 - council publishes a commendation of the hospital ladies (→ the seed of
             Parkland Hospital) [IV]
1873.03.20–22 - city-charter dispute with Austin; 7 of 8 councilmen (incl. Capy* +
             Thévenet*) resign in protest, forcing a special election (June 9) [IV]
1874.04.08 - W.L. Cabell defeats Long* for mayor [IV]
1875.04.10 - F.L. Willemet* elected alderman, Ward 1 [IV]
             ↳ INTERNAL CONTRADICTION (REGISTER-flagged): ch. II bio says Willemet
               "served on city council from 1870 to 1875"; ch. IV has him joining
               1870.11.19, then "no La Reunion members served for the next year until
               Willemet's election April 10, 1875" — i.e. a gap, not continuous
               service. UNRESOLVED within Sandell. (cf. findings.md, which attaches the
               same 1875→1876 dates to Capy — check which colonist the council minute
               actually names.)
1876.??.?? - Willemet* leaves the council; no colonist in city government again until
             1885 [IV]

Afterlife — colony-people milestones (1879–1925)

1879.??.?? - Émile Rémond returns to his Dallas property (from Hutchins); resumes the
             soil/clay analysis that seeds the cement industry [III]
1884.??.?? - John B. Louckx* on the first Dallas Public School Board; designs/builds
             Sacred Heart Catholic Church; Knopfli & Sons build "the first skyscraper"
             (Poydras & Main, stained glass, $2,800); Jean Priot* builds a new brick
             post office (1880s) [III/IV]
1884.??.?? - Henry Boll*, seeking eye treatment in Switzerland, recruits Dr. T.E.
             Arnold to emigrate to Dallas [V]
1885.??.?? - Louckx* elected alderman Ward 1 (serves to 1890) [IV]
1889.05.12 - Mayor W.C. Connor presents Boll* a testimonial signed by 130 Dallas
             citizens [II bio]
1901.??.?? - Texas Portland Cement Co. organized (James T. Taylor et al.), drawn by
             Rémond's research [III]
1904.??.?? - city park board established; Emil Fretz (came with Long) a founding
             commissioner [V]
1924.04.10 - DAR (Jane Douglas Chapter) places the colony-site marker ("Settled
             1854") [V]
1925.??.?? - Times-Herald "Half Century Club": Mrs. Nativa Capy, Mrs. John Louckx,
             Mr. & Mrs. Gus Santerre [III]

Other dated layers (Sandell's structured reservoirs)

Civic firsts / economic (reception + economic register, not spine)

1856 - Gouhenant closes his Dallas saloon/art-room, leaves town [V]
1857 - Texas Supreme Court rules for Gouhenant vs Cockrell (tax sale); Charles Capy*
       organizes a singing society — the first in Dallas [V]
1859 - first Dallas County fair (Dallas Co. Agricultural & Mechanical Assoc.), ~2,000
       attend (site now Union Station) [V]
1860 - second fair, 5 days, ~10,700 attend — the seed of the State Fair of Texas [V]
1862 - Goetsell moves from Mountain Creek to Dallas, several Belgians with him [III]
1872 - Long* returns from Switzerland with ~35 Swiss settlers (the "second wave":
       Hess, Fretz, Mueller, Wagner, Waespi, Schmidt, Meisterhans, Ott, etc.) [V]
1874 - Dallas Grütli Verein (Swiss Benevolent Society) + Swiss Bell Ringers Maifest [V]
1878 - the Dallas city directory first includes many colony names (1875 directory had
       none) — a marker of post-war reintegration [III]

Census / property tables (structured data — to match against deeds.py/census.xlsx)

Biographical register (Ch. II) — occupation + Dallas fate, ~80 colonists

Parallel to Santerre's epilogue but Dallas-weighted (who stayed, what trade, where they settled). Held in the source; mine against the colonist files. Dated nuggets embedded: Boulay left Dallas 1866, returned 1882; Brunette → Austin 1861 (ice factory); Long married Eugenia de Vleschoudere, visited Switzerland 1870 → 35 Swiss 1871, US Commissioner 1877; Nussbaumer donated the T&P depot land 1872; Knopfli skyscraper 1884; Priot post office 1884.

Reconciliation with TIMELINE.md

Witness key for this source: sandell (already in the Conventions key-list). Stratum: secondary (1986), archival-grade for the Dallas side.

Names

Sandell — "cast of characters" (verified colonist directory)

Sandell's own curated directory of colonists, transcribed and categorized like the [[savardan]] index — but this is a selected list of important / verified people, not raw index entries. Her inclusion rule (her pp. 27–28): only colonists who were "heads of households" and can be documented as staying in Dallas and Dallas County, built from the 1860 U.S. Census plus other records, with variant spellings consolidated to one person. So this is the Dallas-stayer roster — by construction the complement of Savardan's colony cast (many of whom left or returned to Europe).

Source: Sandell, The Effect of the Assimilation of the La Reunion Colonists… (NTSU M.S., 1986), the alphabetical listing on pp. 28–[end], transcribed in doc/text/theses/la_reunion/assimilation_la_reunion.md (lines 440–879). Format preserved: Name (variant spellings) — occupation, origin. Note.

Defect to flag: a digitization gap (a page "inserted during digitization… original page was missing") drops the rest of S, all of T, and U, into the start of V — the Santerre entry is truncated mid-sentence and any Sc–U surnames are lost. See the gap marker below.

Cross-list links & identity resolution (the high-value part)

Conflict to log — Brochier vs Bürkli:

Resolutions / confirmations:

Core cast confirmed with occupation + origin (matches the project's recurring cast): Boll ×3, Nussbaumer, Long, Capy, Cretien, Frichot ×3, Michel, Priot, Remond, Reverchon ×2, Santerre, Willemet.

Population contrast worth noting: none of these Dallas-builders appear in Savardan's 1855 colony index (and vice-versa, most of Savardan's colony cast is absent here) — direct evidence for the colony-cast vs. Dallas-stayer split.

The directory (alphabetical, as Sandell gives it)

Origins tagged: FR France · CH Switzerland · BE Belgium · others spelled out.

⟨digitization gap⟩ — Sandell's note: "This page has been inserted during digitization. Either the original page was missing or the original pagination was incorrect." The rest of S, all of T, and U are missing here (and the Santerre note is cut off). Recover from the PDF/original if those surnames are needed.