THE BREAKUP
La Réunion was a failure from the moment it started; it was never a
success. Of course, a historian cannot predict what would have happened
under certain given conditions, but it seems reasonable to believe that
any other type of colony formed by the same people under the same
conditions would also have been a failure.
In the first place, Considerant was not a suitable man to head such an
enterprise. His theory of colonization as propounded in _Au Texas_ is
reasonable enough and, if followed, could probably succeed under
favorable conditions. However, his weaknesses were his personal attitude
and his lack of administrative ability. Savardan says that Considerant
was a great organizer and promoter but did not possess a sense of
continuity or of development. He easily became discouraged and soon lost
interest in proposed plans and procedures. When he arrived in New York
in 1854 on his return to Texas, he was met by the denunciation of the
Know-Nothing Party (American Party.) Tirades against foreigners made by
leaders of the party were diplomatically and ably answered by
Considerant's pamphlet, _European Colonization in America_, but in spite
of his confident tone exhibited in this pamphlet, he became discouraged
from that moment. His absolute faith in the sense of justice of the
American people, as stated in _Au Texas_, vanished and he was forced to
realize the absurd servility of people who will subject themselves to
demagogues in time of national hysteria. Considerant never exhibited any
sign of vigor, initiative, or enthusiasm after the publication of his
address to the American people.
When he joined Savardan's party in Galveston, a change in his attitude
was evident. He was sullen, withdrawn, and sensitive to criticism.
Instead of going with the party from Houston to Dallas, he went to
Austin and then to La Réunion. However, there is no indication in the
records of any initiative on his part to put the colony in shape, or of
any plan of unity of development worked out. The moment he reached La
Réunion he began to think of leaving it. In a conversation between
Cantagrel and Savardan in April, 1856, before all the colonists had
arrived, Savardan understood that Considerant had come to the conclusion
to disband the colony, to parcel out the land to colonists and others,
and to break up the community affairs. Savardan states that not more
than ten per cent of the colonists wanted to divide up the land, that
most of them felt that they could not exist independently.[1]
Considerant, leader of the whole undertaking, was never in the colony
for any length of time. He was alternately at Austin, San Antonio, or
Uvalde, and consequently, when he was at La Réunion, he could not make
any decision because he was unacquainted with the workings of the
organization. Apparently, refusal of the state legislature to grant the
lands which Considerant had expected to obtain for the colonists
completely destroyed what hope he had left; it was after this refusal
that he wrote to France advising that no more colonists be sent.[2]
Finally, after an absence of five months, he returned to the colony from
a trip into Southwest Texas, and being convinced that the colony was
doomed, appointed a successor to himself and suddenly, on July 7, 1856,
departed in secret.[3]
Considerant, in his pamphlet _Du Texas_, assumes all blame for the
failure of the La Réunion experiment and confesses that he had a serious
lack of confidence in himself. After his plans failed, he became a
despairing and broken man, often planning to end all by
self-destruction.[4] It is certainly true that this lack of
self-confidence prevented success of the colony.
The second reason for its failure was the mismanagement of financial
affairs. Considerant reported about 1857 that "During two years, the
greater part of the disposable funds were wasted under my own eyes."[5]
But Savardan gives a different story: he lists several funds which he
claims Considerant, himself, wasted. His evidence is as follows:
a. $3,000 wasted by an inefficient gardener who, Considerant insisted,
should be at the head of the agricultural work.
b. That Considerant paid double price for meat when it could have been
raised on the farms of La Réunion. There were no sheep or pigs--$300.
c. That he bought carriages and horses for himself which he did not
need, at least they were better than were required, for which he
charged the society under the head of personal expense--$300.
d. That he built for himself and family a cottage instead of living in
the commodious buildings of the colony with the remainder of the
colonists and charged the cost to personal expenses--$1,000.
e. The horses that were lost by theft or death unnecessarily and the
carriages and other equipment which soon depreciated in value because
of lack of sheds, etc., the poorly constructed houses and other
buildings, which would soon have to be replaced--$10,000.
f. The failure of Considerant to pay his own passage and
transportation as other colonists had done--$100.
g. Numerous trips from San Antonio to Uvalde for the purchase of land
when one or two trips would have been sufficient.
While the above does not convict Considerant of serious mismanagement,
it does indicate a lack of system. However, in another place he is
charged with using funds without giving any account to the directors,
and of entrusting the financial affairs of the colony to dishonest
men.[6]
Even though the society owned all its tools, cattle, and other property,
there was apparently no method used to check the use of this property
until toward the close of 1856, nearly two years after the organization
was started. Bussy, who had charge of the equipment, became disgusted
and resigned; then Savardan took over the work. He listed all equipment
and tools on cards and then numbered each object so he could keep up
with all the property belonging to the company. The records of this
checking were kept in a large book which he left at La Réunion on his
departure therefrom. All the cattle, hogs, and other livestock were also
numbered, and a proposal was made that even the colonists themselves
should be assigned a number by which their accounts could be checked.
All property loaned and assigned to members of the colony had to be
checked out and a record of it kept by a young man appointed as
caretaker. This scheme apparently worked well and the serious loss of
materials which had occurred previously was checked. However, a minor
reform such as Savardan made could not revitalize the faulty financial
system.[7]
In addition to mismanagement there was downright dishonesty and
misapplication of funds. This was especially true in the mismanagement
of the restaurant and in the keeping of accounts with individuals of the
colony. Savardan stated that Cousin took $98.00 from him which he
deposited with the treasurer of the colony for safe-keeping. Others had
the same experience. Apparently some one applied to the courts in Dallas
for redress, for on July 16, 1857, the Dallas court made inquiry as to
the administration. Considerant refused even to attempt a settlement of
the accounts and the company sent a Mr. Simonin to La Réunion from New
York to audit the accounts. He spent three months in the colony and
investigated more than 200 accounts, arranged them satisfactorily, and
then turned the business over to another man also sent from New York.
A third reason for the failure of La Réunion was the failure of the
Americans to participate in its promotion and settlement. Both Brisbane
and Considerant had planned to have as many Americans as Frenchmen in
the colony, but there were never more than twenty and perhaps less than
a dozen. One colonist tells about Pendleton and Newton, two American
carpenters, who joined the colony. They knew nothing about Fourierism
and had merely heard about socialism. Their wives wore bloomers, being
followers of Mrs. Blummer who advocated freedom of women's dress.
Savardan said that he had no objections to bloomers as they were an
improvement over the old "hoop skirt" which flew up every time a woman
sat down in a carriage. In addition to these four Americans there were
only a few others, all of whom had left the colony by September, 1857.
Lack of interest on the part of the Americans might be explained on the
grounds of the intense American nationalism of the time, the sad
experiences of Peter's Colony, and the "law of reserve" which had caused
a very sudden rise in the price of land in the vicinity of La Réunion.
After Brisbane's visit and the first flush of excitement and investment,
very little attention was paid by Americans to the experiment. The
attitude of the Texas newspapers and the total lack of interest, even
hostility, of the state legislature, certainly contributed to the
failure.
The climate might be cited as a fourth reason for the breakup of the
colony. The years 1855-1857 seem to have been unusual years judging from
reports of the colonists themselves and of other Texas settlers living
in various parts of the state. Considerant reports that the winter
1856-1857 was a very cold one, and was considered by old settlers to
have been the coldest in their memory. Another colonist says that there
were twenty-three days of ice in January and from February 7 to March 2
the temperature measured an average of fifteen degrees above zero inside
the cabins. This statement is supported by Bureau who arrived in La
Réunion January 17, 1857, and found the temperature fifteen degrees
below zero. The cold brought great suffering to the settlers, especially
to women and children living in the poorly built cabins.
When spring came there was no relief. Drought took the place of cold.
Springs dried up and the obtaining of water became a serious problem.
Crops came up only to wither and die under the blast of dry winds.
Cattle had to be driven to the river for water, but there was no water
available for the gardens. The farmers found it difficult to raise
anything, especially since they refused to follow instructions of the
scientific farmers in the colony. Thus, cold weather, drought, and
discouragement undermined the morale of the group and one by one the
settlers began to disperse.
Nevertheless, after these things are taken into consideration, and all
due allowances are made for these factors, there remains the pertinent
fact that the colonists could never agree. There were racial divisions,
Belgians vs. French, and conflicts arising between individual members.
The most severe disagreements were between the leaders rather than in
the rank and file. Savardan, the most garrulous and troublesome of the
whole group, tells numerous stories about these misunderstandings. He
states that Considerant, Rogers, and Raizant made every effort in their
power to prevent colonists from coming to La Réunion. Barclay, a Swiss,
came to the colony in 1855 with twenty others, all healthy and strong,
intending to become permanent settlers. However, because of the attitude
of the colonists, especially of Considerant, all except one soon left
and established themselves elsewhere. He also wrote about the coming of
Santerre and his family. Santerre sold his farm in France and with seven
children started to America. They were dumped on the shore near a
Houston farm without anyone to guide them, finally reaching the farm
after much trouble. There Raizant did everything he could to prevent
them from continuing their journey to La Réunion, but without success.
When the family did arrive at La Réunion, Cousin tried to make them
leave by the use of sarcasm.[8]
Once when Savardan accused Cousin of forgery of a document which placed
him in control of the colony, Cousin threatened to place Savardan in
prison, whereupon Savardan immediately withdrew into the house and
challenged Cousin to enter, at the same time reminding him of the
American law which gave a man the right to protect his own home. After
considerable trouble the two men were quieted and the incident passed
without any serious results.
Several times, near riots occurred when the men of the colony met to
discuss various complaints, those concerning wages especially. Sometimes
these disturbances would be ended by the appointment of a committee to
consider the matter, after which very little was done--in fact, nothing
could be done, as the company had no resources with which to pay nor to
make good losses which had occurred. These continual bickerings would
have destroyed the colony had nothing else entered the situation to
hasten the end. Finally, no socialistic experiment could have been a
success under frontier conditions in Texas. The doctrine of Utopian
Socialism is a system which deals with industrial conditions and could
hardly be applicable to the agrarian frontier. In addition, the
capitalistic system had greater rewards to offer individual efforts than
did the Utopian social dream.
Thus, a fantastic plan of a French socialist colony came to an end,
wrecked upon the individualistic tendencies and weaknesses of its
membership. Texas has been made richer culturally by the attempts of
these dreamers to better conditions and transform the society in which
they lived, even though no economic gain came to these individuals.
APPENDIX
A. Partial List of Settlers
This list has been compiled from all the bibliographical data used in
this research, including the census report of 1850 and 1860. There are
doubtless duplications since no effort has been made to check transfer
of a son or daughter from a family list to a new family by marriage,
etc. American reporters of that time and writers of a later date were
not accurate in spelling French names. A careful check of names has been
made on tombstones in the Old French Cemetery. Many times names were
found such as "Dumirel" with no first name and no further appearance. In
this case the name was listed just as it appeared. This list is not
complete but it contains more names than any other list known at this
time. The symbol (S) has been used where the spelling or listing is
different but evidently of the same family. The most helpful list and
the most complete is by Eloise Santerre contained in her thesis,
_Réunion ... with a Biographical Dictionary of the Settlers_. She also
identifies each settler wherever possible.
Achard, E.
Allen, John
Amyard
Baer, two sisters
Baer, Gaspard, wife and four children
Bar, wife and son
Barbeau
Barbier, Alexander, wife, children: Alexis and François
Barbot
Barret, Francois
Begnier
Belinger
Bernard, wife and mother-in-law
Bessand, wife, son and daughter
Besseraux
Besseron, Adel
Billard, wife and son
Blot
Boger
Boll, Henry, wife Elizabeth, children: Henrietta, Lizatte, Mrs. Ernest
Arnold, Charles, and Jacob
Boll (S) Henry, wife Elizabeth, children: Ann and Minnie, (relative)
Lena
Boll, Henry, Sr.
Bollanger
Bonneville
Bossereau, Abel
Bossereau, Catherine
Bouge and wife
Boulay, Dominique, wife Isabelle, son Adolphine, sister, niece
Boulay, Francois (uncle of Dominique), children: Domine K. and Adolphe
Boulay, J. F., wife, daughter Louise
Bourgeois, Lucien and wife Louise
Boyer
Brison
Brisson
Brisot, Pere
Brochier, A., wife
Brochier, O. (brother of A. Brochier)
Brochier, P.
Brunet, Eugene (brother of Joseph Brunet)
Brunet, Joseph, Father
Bucher
Bureau, Allyre, wife, three sons and daughter Alice
Burki, Emil
Bussey
Candie, daughter
Cantagrel, Francois Jean, wife, children: Simon and Josephine
Capy, Charles, wife Notiva, (seven children): Mrs. Segarri, Alfred
Carpenter, Noel, wife and daughter
Chamboard, wife and daughter
Charpentier, Joseph, wife Elizabeth and children: Joseph Alfred, and
Nativa
Charron
Chavennes
Christian, M.
Christophe, Henry
Cillard, Jules
Coiret, Francois, wife, (two daughters): Mathilde
Coleman, Louis
Colin, Denis
Colm, Francois
Come, Sebastien
Considerant, Francois, wife, daughter and three sons
Considerant, Victor Prosper
Corne
Cousin, Vincent
Cretien, Athanase, wife Augastine, children: George and Emil
Crisset, Josephine
Dailly, Abel, wife Catherine
Daly, Ceaser
Danderet
Debray
De Guelles
Deiterall
Dellard, wife, son and two daughters
Delasseau, Michel, wife Amelee, children: Angele and Anatole
DeLord, Alphonse, wife, son and two daughters
Derigni, wife and son
Destnet, Henri, wife and daughter Marie
Despart, Henry
Dessau, Mlle.
De Vry
Dillard, wife, son and two daughters
Divion
Doderet
Doelly, Abel
Dominique
Drevet
Droxal
Dumirel
Desseau
Duterall
Duythoya, Tristan, daughter
Enginard, (Enginaid)
Ettienne, wife
Eymar
Farine, Nicholas, wife Jeannette, (second wife) Miss Mills, son Albert
Ferguson
Forette, Antoine
Franchot
Frishot, Achille
Frishot, Desire Christophe, wife Susan, children: Laura, Henrietta,
and Bertha
Frishot, (S) Christopher Desire, wife, two daughters and two sons
Frishot, D., (S) wife Susana, daughter Laura, (relatives) Pere, D.,
and Hershel
Frishot, Leontine (perhaps daughter of Phillip)
Frishot, Pierre Philip, wife Marie Adeld Simmonett, children: Achille
and Leontine
Frick, Heinrich, wife Barbara, children: Adolph, Otto, and Henry
Frique
Gaudel, Mlle.
Gaudel, daughter
Giard, Pierre, three sons: Pierre, Joseph and Francois
Girard, Francois (S)
Girard, Pierre (S)
Godelle, Mlle.
Goetsels, (Goodseels) John, wife Lucine, children: Philip, Colette,
Clemence, and Jennie
Goetsel, Philip (son of John Goetsel)
Goetseed, (Goodseels) (S) Lucine, children: Philip, Colette, Clemenie,
Jennie, Ana, Lena, and Jean
Gordia
Goudsill, wife, son and three daughters
Gouffre, A. J., wife and son
Gouhenans (perhaps not a member of colony)
Grimot, Pierre
Grisset, Pierre, wife Josephine, daughter Marie
Grisset, (S) Josephine and daughter
Guerin
Guillemet, August, wife Marie E., children: Angelle, Alexandrine and
Augustine
Guillemet, (S) Auguste, wife Marie, children: Angel, Augustine,
Alfred, and Amen
Guillemet, Augustine (daughter of Auguste)
Guiller
Guillot, August and wife (son of Maxime)
Guillot, Maxime, wife Mary, son August
Guillot, Remy
Guyot, Remy, wife and son
Gusman
Haeck
Haize, Jules
Henry, (Henri) Paul R., wife, children: Paul, Rene, Marie and Asea
Henry (S)
Hetten, F. T.
Heymens, F. T., A and V. (relatives)
Hitten, Gustavus
Joffre, Christophre
Jones, Samuel S., wife Louisa, daughter Guillilmine
Knopfli, Jacob, wife Barbara, daughter Elizabeth
Lagogae, Jean Baptiste, son and daughter
Lang, Benjamin, wife Eugenia, children: Mrs. Louis F. Rick, Mrs. F.
Rick, and Mrs. Anna Lotzinhiser
Lanotte, Jules, wife Josephine, children: Jules and Alice
Lanotte, (Lonet), (S) Alexander, wife
Lassagne
Lavinge
Leinhardt, George
Le Pere, Lagogue
Leray
Lescrenier, (Le Lecrenier)
Lesonier
Long, Ben
Lord, M. D.
Louckx, John B., wife Mary, second wife Louisa, (seven children): Mrs.
Thomas B. Matney, Mrs. Willard Boyer, Minnie, and Marie
Louckx, Mrs. Louisa Lenison (S), (perhaps wife)
Louis, Louis, wife Margaret
Loupot, Francois
Loupot, Jean, wife Rosina, children: Rosina, John, Ema, Maxime, and
Emile
Loupot, John
McDelore, Aut., wife Augustine, Jennie
Maguet
Manduce, John
Manduel, John (S)
Mansion, Emanuel, wife Jeannie
Marins
Marius, Antoine, accompanied by brother
Marold
Mayrus
Michel, Ferdinand, wife Salomee
Migoureaux
Mique
Monduel, Jean, wife, daughter Julia
Monpate, two sons and daughter
Morize
Moulard, Mrs. Jean, daughter Julia
Moulard, John, wife, daughter and son
Naton, (Newton)
Nicholas
Nusbaimer, Robert Jacques
Nussbaimer, (S) Jacob, wife Dorothes, children: Mary and Theodore
Pascal
Peier, Jacob
Peier, Jean
Peloux, wife and daughter
Pendleton
Perison
Petit, wife, son and daughter
Pierquet
Pierson
Pimpare, (Pinpare), Rene, wife Isabelle
Potevin, (Poitevin), Guillome, wife Anna Dusseau
Priot, (Prict), Jean, wife Leontine, children: Ernest, Ernestine, and
two other sons
Protat, (Prota), Antoine, wife and two daughters
Prunet, Joseph
Quinet, Nicholas, wife children: Ledre and Matilde
Raijan
Raizant, (Raizen), (S)
Regnoir
Reinhardt, George
Remond, Emile, wife Cesarine
Renier
Reverchon, Jacque Maximilien
Reverchon, Julian Maximilien, children: Julien and Louise
Roger, (Rogers)
Rose, Jules, wife and son
Rouby
Royer, Julius, wife and son
Royer, (S) Joseph
Santerre, (Saunterre), Francois, wife Marie, children: Apploinaire,
Cesarne, German, Luce, Emmanuel, Raphael, and Gustave
Santerre, (Saunterre), Germane (son of Francois)
Santerre, (Saunterre), Gustave (son of Francois)
Savardan, Dr. Augustin
Scherer
Sellier
Steere
Stiffel
Taupin
Thevenet, Michel, wife, children: Marie, Charles, Henry, and Philip
Thivnet, Bessare, wife and daughter
Toidevin, wife
Tourneville
Tuillot, (Teulot), R., wife and son
Vacher, Alexandrine, wife and daughter
Vaizian
Valentine
Vanderbosch, (Van Den Bosch), Guillam (William J.), wife Collet
Vardack
Vigoureaux, Madame Clarisse, daughter
Vilmain
Vogel
Voirin, Charles, wife and two sons
Voision, Pierre
Van Grinderbeck, Guilliame (William), wife Clemence
Van Grinderbeck, Louis
Vreidag, Rudolph
Wealms, John, wife Barbara, daughter and two sons
Wealms, (S) John, wife Barbara, children: Clemantine and John H.,
(relative) Dominic
Willemain
Willemet, F. L., wife and two daughters
Willis, wife, daughter and two sons
Willdme, Richard
Witiker
Yeuch
B. PLAN OF THE PHALANSTERY
[Illustration: B. PLAN OF THE PHALANSTERY]
C. ACTS INCORPORATING THE COLONY