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After some inquiry we located "To oldest inhabitant," who
turntyd out to be an anolent shrimper and fisherman, named Paul Pit.
e found his in his aback located about holt way between cld it.
Joe nd mew r -t. Joe. He was engaged An repairing his nets, and upon
introduoing ourselves and telling his that we had come to his for
some information as to .the past of the vicinity, he bec:me very
friendly rnd talkative.
e told us that he was born in -t. Joe in Poptembwr, l839;
ariLi w-11, oonsoquently, in his 84th yenr. Pelona the flat that his
flee was a masa of wrinkles Nnd that hi had only, apparently, two
teeth loft, he showed little signs of his adv%ncold age, being about
fivo feet and eleven inches in height, thin, but atrone nd solve,
An1 Reighing about one hundred and fifty. pounds. ,Ifiy attention was
at once attracted to a most singular and prominent birthmark. it
we of 1 vivid solrlet hue, triangular in shape, 3#10 locAled on his
nook abolA half an inch below the lobe of his left ear, the mark
beinp, nearly an inch in 9120. tUs varying moods seemel to have no
effect go its oolor, it remaining at -11 time(' a bright seriolet.
Upon my alluding diplosatiollly to this stark, he told ms that
the irst male onild in each generation of his ftueily, beginning
with his prandfathei anti on down to his own greA—TrIndson, had
borne this mark, ech exactly alike and appearing only on the eldest
son of esdh generation. This unvarying birthmark appearing regularly
from generation to generation was the foundation of his belief in
he;3dity, of whish more on.
Re told us that his paternal grandfather, also named Paul
Bigot, was on, of the smerrie oompsny" who sailed with Jean 'Witte
Pigs 5
in his voye4Ings Oast and forth on the !vanish iin, enc40:ed in
the honorable 008%11: of relieving Ppanish Ships, and oathers, too,
of their surplus riehes, and.1most s frequently'their lives.
TrAPJ,kii trcudfether must 1-4tNe stood high in the good grams of
t?p,J celcorated Orte end gentleam of fortune, Jean !.?fitte.
t.le confirms thel z;4(rt of titerioan history whieb s4s that
1,,Jitte ked hout one hundred members of his ores xerttVna
full nordon by the IVIAted Qtttes novernitent fter their br-ve end
successful servinr, of Auerel Jeeksonla trent guns pt the Psttle
ot 4.11c orlens, this being qn instance where skill sootAred for
nf.frious mirr.osee wf,s put to 4Aood tttriotio use.
oome of t,!tittele men erfrilod of this amnesty und lived
pnd diPd honett men. (lone others, including theta leder, re
turned to their old veya ,r1C, met verirue fetes. xmone7 the former
7,7,9 rlul Picot who, mfter ypwinering %round in the tlaretaria
eccti,A; of touisiens for n while fin:lly metJaed at rt. Joseph,
enxning e .ncagre livelihood in flAhine 74td perhope other just as
honorale zays. f.;Tivjther figot married a young girl of qt.
Je'7 in 1616. ale eon, ftther of my historilaft, uke born of this
unim in 1t1?, tnia son 111%s oonaewcntly teenty-one vers of
e7et he time :4 the Constituti:mal Convention in t. Joe in
1.
ti sppet,red in the murals of :ur, conversation sith old roil
that he wqo no mrdent oeliever in heredity, nnd he cited him ma
family history in our2ort of his belief. ltnatfl ny attempt
to give his longuaget interspersed eith dharsateristio Ihrugs mod
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reaolved to avnll of the first op:-,ortunity to ,.ivmnoe hi a fortune
rei,rdleee of otrt.:clee. Po, th01-efore, hailed the trip to rfcris
RO ii%tly to 0,V4 hi th-hlnoe 1n1 urred Pis mAst r. Arlo needed
u:si4;, the deeirnbility of ti e trip.
ten thc -o anan,:ofiiv t-:rted on their trip to t'srie
oonsirted 7r the hunt hi 7 f.mily anl ;i?ot 4nd his
wife, young oirl of -bout tenty yr.qrs of 'he ir.ri.,ted on
Eolac, .th rtot, tboh .t the timc exeoting to becoce t mother
n ntirly cte. T rtvr1 dbed in July, 17C1, after
ratht.r leek, than thc usue obst,.elen -ttemlant upon
re1111,4 in thows 1%,1101 1-ving ,ewr.fle,d his f 1.11y Ath an
cyiit frienr1 in thc -ur at/,r., :he z.otd,lcd
PAtTliZinf all 01.20 procslution to 9ravent st-
trrctin4 '01E. o,tenVi'n of the "evolutItinary vovernmmit.
Now it Ilpe:.:rs tLat Ficotio Rife was dovoUttly cAtadhed
tc h.r 4n peoi ily tt Little. boy. =Ala -,rrivlod in
115 f1.31 -C joomy orebodinly LAC in a hiohly n-rvc\te• state,
ouingç.rt 1.y .c r.r phyric9,1 111.)t, olmrelf,
-419.tely rit,t.,ched to Ni ct.rt,inly :a tuct One of
bib colc! and cnlloup ncturie c. -.1:11t1 br, -n6 ne hf.1 usvd ,vrry effort
i.rt of -,)ocitAve refui.-1 to prevent his aifo scoompanyinp the
7erh4s, e”Pn then, he ha, :,...entmA.nt o fnture, el-
th.-)uU., he hA no fixed 1n wr.oept thmt ho inteneled to lo.so no
opi,ortunity of advLmoing nimself in no counsels of the frtramount
party.
It is unnecessary, and indeed it would be impOsaiblo, for
we to even attempt to portray the terrible °Pedalo** ealellst is
ve.,nos generally and in Paris especially at this time. be trade
of the informer and the spy was universal and woe betide the un-
fortunate even suspeated of being an aristocrat lot alone one she
w e known to belong to that persecuted class.
After only a short deliberation, bigot decided to sell his
master and his wife and child to the suthorities. This he did
and they were arrested about one week after their arrival and taken
to prison. Ds ampso aM his wife were at onos eendenned to the
Notilletine. The child was delivered to Bigot's wife upon her promise
to take it away from Paris at once. The news of the fete of her
neater and mistress had the most dreadful *fleet upon Pligotis wife
and she passed from ens terrible attest of hysteria to another.
Finally ihe basalts quieted suffielently to be removed upon bigot's
promise to take her and the Counts* child bask to mrittany.
After their arrival, Bigot, in his rags at not being able to
profit by his unepeakable trosehery, said enough tor his wife to,
tuaderstand that the Count ,4nd his wife had met their death threu.
his act. The went into vielent'sonvulsions and, in a lucid mascot
just, before her death, she cursed Slava and his deoendants for all
ties. In the midst of this catastrophe had shim it biomes evident
that she suet die, premature child.birth was indicated and the Ooa..
pliocAions were such that the attending physician decided to perform
the ''Ceasaresn* operation, nuring this the mother died in the child
was born. It was a boy, perfect physically, irscapt that it had a
triangular birthmark below the lobe of its left ear, the shape being
exactly the some as the knife of the guillotine.
nondered desperate by hie well—doseirved misfortune, hide,
aWranged for the 'Ex* of the little De Arsine° shild with me of his
peasant nsiObbors Eand in mhos* onre be oleo plaoed his con boy. is
enlisted in the am and was killed at the Settle of the riruside.
The ft e of the De Arsignao Child is unknown. Little Paul Bigot If
developed into a. r•troog, active boy of violent passions and head—
strong nAuse. At the age of 17 no rats off to sea and finally fouled
his n.Jural elesent es a asober of Jean Latittele pirate orew. in
outlined lready, be finally drifted to 9t. .Joe. One day, IWO three
"gifts u!ter he ease $o :I. Jo*, in stepping odt of hie'aost he get
into quioksand aid perished miserably and alone. Paul Bigot TT!, his
eon _adthe father of our historian, ess stabbed te'death by a 4runko4
Meriuoie InCian in a tavern broil in et. Joe.
'bowing the family history, our Paul node up his mind to dm
everything poebible to avoid the Qom:unman= of the family moo sad
to such good effect that he had molted the good old age of eighty—
four yez_ra. The curse, however, did not stop. at his. Paul Piglet !V
use killed by the bite of a rattlesnake. In tan, hie son, Paul Mint
V, aied at &a Juan Hill in Cubs., mad his eon, in turn, 'Paul &tint VI,
gave up his life et Chateau...ft/Derry during the ‘orld as.
Thus it lobs that the curse bad never failed in any veneration
except La Lhe saes of the Pal bigot se hare set. Vol only had violent
death purrued this unfortunate fatly but the, eldest son in er:44b gese•
ration had borne the eoarlet goillotlaw-abspod
rur interest in his t -la bad nvidently given oh i niul a
kindly feeling for us mid we could not i7et awriy from him. The
next night ws unnt to t.lhe the 7 r. P. trnin grol'nhicols mad
r -,u1 7ent mith us to the depot. stood .rounci itin7, for trlin
tine n1 --411 went exmona tho etr'et X some oivrIttes. Mast
lc b -et n utemobile r -,n over him, kiilinE instAntly.
r 4o not -tempt to &in1.1,in th- mhys or the Trhc-refores of
thi: nirtstive, Ihrt -11 If it h-,mened.