Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/156

 96 lllSTOKY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Pleasant. Francois LeSieur died in- 1826; lie had been married three times. The chil- dren of the first marriage were Francois, Jr., whose wife was a LeGrand; Colestiqne, who became the wife of Noah Gambol ; Mar- guerite, who married Hypolite Thiriat ; God- frey, who mari-ied Mary E. Loignon and reared a family of eleven children ; Matilda who became Mrs. W. B. Nicholas; and Chris- tine, who was married to George G. Alford. His second wife was a Miss Bowman, and their son was named Napoleon. In 1820 he was married for a third time to the widow of Charles Loignon. Another member of this family was Raphael LeSieur who was a nephew of the two brothers and came to Ala- drid in 1798. Another of the other French settlers was Pierre Antoine La Forge who came from France. La Forge was an aristocrat by birth, had been educated to be a priest, but fell in love with his coi;sin Margaret Champagne. He resided in Paris, but was compelled to leave at the time of the Revolution. He came to America then. At first he lived in Gallipolis, Ohio ; he then removed to New Madrid where he was appointed a public writer and interpreter. He was also an ad- jutant of militia and justice of the peace and a notary public. De Lassus thought very highly of La Forge and accounted him one of the best officers in the service of the Spanish. His descendants still live in New Madrid county and have always been influ- ential citizens. Among them we mention Alexander La Forge, A. C. La Forge, Hon. William Dawson, Robert D. Dawson, Dr. Geo. W. Dawson, and Dr. Walton O'Bannon. Others also have attained prominence and wealth. As we have seen, Francis and Joseph Le- Sieur are the first settlers in New Madrid. The third was Joseph Michel. Michel's son, also named Joseph, who was born in 1800, lived to be a very old man, dying in 1895. He lived in New ^ladrid until 1829, when he moved to Hales Point, Tennessee. He was a nephew by marriage of Captain Robert McCoy who was also his guardian. He mar- ried a daughter of John Baptiste Olive one of the early settlers in New Madrid. Captain McCoy was one of the most promi- nent men in New Madrid, he came to the set- tlement with Morgan, and became an officer under the Spanisli authorities, being in com- mand of a Spanish galley, or revenue boat. There were several of these galleys stationed at New Madrid and they were charged with the execution of the Spanish commercial laws. All boats passing New Madrid were required to stop and to give an account of themselves, and to pay the required tax to the government. It was while in command of one of these boats that McCoy captured the celebrated Mason gang of robbers and river pirates who for a number of years com- mitted depredations on the river commerce. Jo.seph Michel who visited New Madrid in 1887 had a vivid recollection of the encounter between McCoy and the Mason gang. The Spanish governor at that time was Peyroux. He ordered McCoy to Little Prairie where he found and captured IMason and his men. They were then brought to New Madrid, sent from there to New Orleans and were then ordered Tip the river again, and on the return while their boat was tied at the river bank with most of the crew on the bank. Mason and his men seized the boat, shot and wounded Captain McCoy and made their es- cape. McCoy was commandant at post of New Madrid in 1799, then he was command- ant at Tywappaty Bottom. He died in New Madrid in 1840.