Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/172

 112 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI capital of Upper Louisiana was St. Louis. The government was administered by a com- mandant. Only one served; lie was Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, from July 17, 1765, to May 20, 1770 (de facto j. On May 20, 1770, the Spanish officials act- ing under the treaty of November 3, 1762, took possession of Upper Louisiana. They styled the commandant of Upper Louisiana, the lieutenant governor of the province of Upper Louisiana, with capital at St. Louis. The following were the lieutenant governors of this province: Pedro Piernas, May 20, 1770, to May 19, 1775; Francisco Cnizat, May 19, 1775, to June 17, 1778; Fernando De Leyba, June 17, 1778, to June 8, 1780: Francisco de Cartabona, June 8, 1780, to September 24, 1789 (acting") ; Francisco Cru- zat, September 24, 1780, to November 27, 1787; Manuel Perez, November 27, 1787, to July 21, 1792; Zenon Trudeau, July 21, 1792, to August 29, 1799 ; Carlos Dehault de Delas- sus, August 29, 1799, to March 9, 1804. These lieutenant governors of Upper Lou- isiana were sometimes called in the Spanish official documents, lieutenant governors at St. Louis for "San Luis, San Genoveva and the District of the Ylinneses, " The lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana was regarded as subordinate to the governor and captain gen- eral of Louisiana w'ho had his seat at New Orleans, This province of Upper Louisiana under the authority of the lieutenant governor was, as we have seen, divided into districts. Over each one of these districts was stationed a commandant who had both civil and military authority. He was regarded as the subordi- nate of the lieutenant governor at St. Louis. An exception, however, was made in case of the commandant at New Madrid. He was a sub-delegate, was the direct subordinate of the governor general at New Orleans and was thus independent of the authority of the lieu- tenant governor at St. Louis. Each of these commandants had under him one or more subordinate officers known as .syndics. In each one of the various settlements within the district there was appointed a syndic, usually the most prominent and influential citizen in the settlement, who became a personal rep- resentative of the commandant exercising a part of his authority. Each commandant was charged with the administration of the law in his district. He had authoritj- to try minor cases, both civil and criminal. His jurisdiction, however, was limited by the amount of jsroperty involved, All cases which involved a considerable amount fell under the direct jurisdiction of the lieutenant governor. The commandant was also charged with the care of all govern- ment papers relating to his district and was required to take possession of the estates of deceased persons and to make an inventory thereof. The commandant was, also, com- mander of the military force consisting, usu- ally, of one or two companies of militia. The law administered by all of these vari- ous officials, governors, lieutenant governors, commandants and syndics was verj' largely French law. When the province of Louisiana was granted to Cruzat it was with the express understanding that the law of Paris, called by the French "coutume de Paris," was to extend over Louisiana. It was clearly with- in the province of the Spanish authority to have entirely changed its law and to have substituted for it the Spanish system of law ; this, however, they did not do. They made certain changes in the law, e.speaially with