Cajun Pioneers of the Vermilion Prairie and Marsh Land

DRAFT

ERATH SUGAR COMPANY

Rufus J. LeBlanc, Jr.
(the author is the grandson of Aladin LeBlanc and great great grandson of Pierre Ubal “Piglow” LeBlanc)

Introduction [Note: Figures are at the end of the article]

The early Vermilion Prairie Acadian settlements of Grosse Isle (1781), Prairie Gregg (1785), Bayou Tigre (1789), and the LeBlanc Community (1802), as well as the later established town of Erath (1899) illustrated in Figure 1, each played an instrumental role in the operations, success, and the very being of the Erath Sugar Company (1907-1973).  Additionally, the Erath Sugar Company was a major economic stimulus for a period of over 60 years to the early 20th century economy of this area of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana which had been previously completely disrupted by the Reconstruction Period following the Civil War.

The majority of the information for this article was gleaned from the definitive reference book of General Curney J. Dronet on the history of Erath, Louisiana published in 2000 by the Acadian Heritage and Cultural Foundation, Inc. (see References). The other cited references provided additional supporting information.

The author personally witnessed the sugar cane field operations of this area in the 1950’s from the farm of his paternal grandfather Aladin LeBlanc, a petit habitant, and the refinery operations from the home of his maternal grandparents in Erath.  Edmae LeBlanc Broussard, the author’s maternal grandmother, was the grand-daughter of Pierre Ubal “Piglow” LeBlanc.  Additionally, the author’s cousin, Carrie Ann LeBlanc Menard of Erath Louisiana, is a third generation sugar cane planter on the ancestral lands of the LeBlanc Bayou Tigre farm.  Nine grandchildren of Aladin and Aurore LeBlanc now receive proceeds from the sale of the annual sugar cane crop.  The Vermilion Prairie continues to provide for its inhabitants.

Early History of Erath Sugar Company

The Erath Sugar Company was started in 1909 by Vernon and Summa Caldwell and Emile and Damus Moresi.  A very large capacity sugar cane refinery was built in south Erath on the site where Bayou Tigre crosses Kibbe Street (Figure 1).  A picture of the refinery is shown in Figure 2.  The refinery was one of the most advanced-design mills in the whole country at the time it was built.  Around the same time a second sugar cane refinery was built in Abbeville by the same consortium.

The sugar cane refinery in Abbeville was called the Vermilion Sugar Company, however, it did not have any associated plantation lands as did the Erath Sugar company.  The raw sugar cane was supplied to the Abbeville refinery by about 800 contracted growers of both large farms and larger plantations that were along some 30 miles of the Vermilion River both south and north of Abbeville.  Derricks and scales were located on the banks of the river, such as in the Community of Woodlawn and the sugar cane crop was brought to the refinery by using 18 100-ton barges and one steam towboat (Figure 3).

Through various land acquisitions, the Erath Sugar Company assimilated about 1700 acres of land to the west, east, south, and north of Erath in the above mentioned country communities (Figure 1) for the purpose of growing sugar cane.  In addition, the company built 17 miles of railroad tracks which extended south from the refinery to the towns of Boston and Henry in Prairie Gregg and to the north and northeast of Erath (Figure 1) in the general vicinity of the extensive Pierre Ubal “Piglow” LeBlanc family property and other contracted growers.  This area has been loosely referred to by historians as the LeBlanc Community.

Company Sugar Cane Fields, Refinery, and Contracted Growers
The rail line passed through, or near, the areas of company-owned acreage and also through other privately owned sugar cane fields for which the company contracted to buy the annual sugar cane crops (Figure 1).  The Erath Sugar Company had contracted with about 1200 growers in the surrounding areas to provide sugar cane in addition to what the company grew on their own lands.

One of the growers under contract was the author’s grandfather, Aladin LeBlanc, who had a farm comprised of 95 acres to the southeast of the refinery (Figure 1).  Aladin had a sugar cane derrick and scales on his land for weighting and loading sugar cane from surrounding farms since this area of the Bayou Tigre Community was not on the company’s 17 miles of rail line.  The weighed and recorded loads of sugar cane were brought to the refinery by mule-drawn wagons over 2 miles of dirt roads from the LeBlanc derrick and scales northwest to the refinery.  Figure 3 shows sugar cane being delivered to the refinery both by mule-drawn wagon and by railway car.

There were 16 loading stations, or an average of one station per mile, along the Erath Sugar Company 17 miles of rail line with derricks to load the gondola railroad cars with the harvested sugar cane.  The sugar cane-loaded gondola rail cars were brought to the refinery by three company owned steam locomotives which were purchased used from Southern Pacific Railroad. The locomotives were of the 4-4-0 and 4-6-0 design (Figure 4).  The railroad gondola cars were unloaded at the refinery by the very large derrick shown in Figure 2. The three locomotives were used interchangeably between the Erath and Abbeville refineries. The locomotive used primarily at the Abbeville refinery was a 4-6-0 design used for switching of gondola cars from the refinery to the main tracks.  The Erath and Abbeville refineries were connected by the New Iberia to Abbevile rail line that had been recently built in 1892.  With the great flexibility of this well designed network, the Erath Sugar Company was able to operate the refinery 24 hours a day.

The large refinery was located at the intersection of Kibbe Street and Bayou Tigre (Figure 5). Since the refining process was a 24-hour continuous operation a rooming house with boarding house annex was provided for the refinery workers on the refinery site. The skilled laborers worked 12-hour shifts with most having to be brought in from New Iberia, Lafourche Parish and Cuba.  A labor force of about 100 skilled persons was needed for each shift.  Additionally the two owners Vernon Caldwell and Damas Moresi had to live on site the entire three month period for supervision and administration of the refinery.  It generally took three months to finish processing the entire crop of sugar cane and the grinding season lasted from November thru January.  The refinery was operated by steam boilers that were heated by four large furnaces which required continuous maintenance as did the large cane-crushing machinery. The furnaces burned the dried fiber from the crushed cane for fuel.  The milling operations were hot, noisy and gave off very noticeable putrid odors.  The shrill steam whistle from the refinery announcing shift changes could be heard all over the countryside.

Laborers were also needed in the company 1700 acres of sugar cane fields.  Until the late 1930’s, the plowing of the fields and was done by mule-drawn plow.  Harvesting and planting of the sugar cane was also done by hand.  Company houses were provided for the field hands free of charge to compensate for the low wages of $0.75 per day.  The field superintendent for sugar cane production was Vernon Caldwell’s oldest son Charlie Caldwell (Figure 6) who had an assistant field foreman.

                                            

Laborers hand-cutting and loading sugar cane

LeBlanc Family Involvement

The Pierre Ubal “Piglow” LeBlanc family (Figure 6) was heavily involved in the operations of the Erath Sugar Company and a willing seller of nearby acreage north of Erath to the company for their plantation lands.  In 1893, the LeBlanc family decided to start disposing of their land holdings two miles northeast of Erath and reinvest in town property.    The Erath Sugar Company purchased 600 acres of land from Pierre Ubal “Piglow” LeBlanc.  Hazel LeBlanc , a grand-daughter of “Piglow”  was married to a later manager of the refinery, Paul Moresi, Sr. The youngest son of “Piglow”, L.R. LeBlanc, (Figure 6) was the public relations coordinator between the refinery management and the growers that were under contract to the Erath Sugar Company.  This was a very important position because the very existence of the refinery depended upon the sugar cane supply from these farmers.  Inez LeBlanc, daughter of L.R. LeBlanc was one of the office employees.

Closing of Refinery
The refinery management was faced with major decisions at the start of the 1970’s such as having to deal with old and outdated machinery and environmental pollution problems.  The ashes from the smokestack were an ever-present nuisance to the population surrounding the refinery and the discharge from the acids used to clean boiling equipment would overflow into Bayou Tigre thereby killing fish and causing even more unpleasant odors.  The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality issued a compliance order requiring the refinery to install necessary equipment to protect the environment. The management decided to close the refinery in 1973 due to the high costs of updating the refinery and complying with the environmental issues.

Most of the machinery of the refinery was sold to the Cuban Government.  The 4-4-0 steam locomotive #737 of the Erath Sugar Company was transported to the Steamtown Foundation in Vermont, an historic railroad museum.  The sugar cane growers now had to contract with other refineries such as those in nearby Iberia Parish to sell the annual sugar cane crops.

Lasting Effects of the Erath Sugar Company
Besides the railroad in 1892, the Erath Sugar Company was arguably the predominant reason that, early on, the Grosse Isle, Prairie Gregg, Bayou Tigre, and LeBlanc Communities began to identify with the newly established town of Erath rather than Abbeville which was the Parish Seat.  In effect these four older communities, which surrounded the 10-year old town of Erath, became “Metropolian Erath” (Figure 7) with the establishment of the Erath Sugar Company in 1909.  The primary reason for this is because the Erath Sugar Company needed the petit habitats of the surrounding countryside to “feed” raw sugar cane to the new “giant” refinery that had been recently constructed in Erath.  Twelve hundred farmers from the surrounding area were under contract to supply the annual sugar cane crops to the new refinery.  The refinery in Abbevile, named the Vermilion Sugar Company, on the other hand had contracted with the owners of large sugar cane plantations along the Vermilion River for their supply of sugar cane (Figure 7).  The plantation owners along the Vermilion River were a different society from the Vermilion Prairie small farmers.  The plantation owners along the Vermilion River, likewise, identified themselves with Abbeville. 

The petit habitants of the greater Erath area could now actually depend on a ready market for their annual sugar cane crop and had a mechanism for improving the quality of life of their families.  This new type of large and well organized industry and the accompanying economic stimulus in the Vermilion Prairie made substantial impressions on the inhabitants, especially farm families.  The author’s father, being raised on a sugar cane farm and witnessing the operations of the Erath Sugar Company for 17 years, upon entering Louisiana State University in 1935, planned to major in sugar cane engineering.

Figures:

Figure 1 - Early Vermilion Prairie Settlements

Figure 2 - Sugar Cane Refinery

Figure 3 - Sugar Cane Crop Transportation Methods

Figure 4 - Steam Locomotives

Figure 5 - Former Location of Erath Sugar Company Refinery

Figure 6 - LeBlanc & Caldwell Family Members

Figure 7 - Location of Sugar Cane Plantation Owners

 

REFERENCES

Dronet, General Curney J., 2000, A Century of Acadian Culture. The Development of a Cajun Community: Erath (1899-1999), Acadian Heritage and Cultural Foundation, Inc., Erath, Louisiana, 276 pages.

LeBlanc, Rufus J., Jr., 2010, in preparation, Early Land Grants in the Vermilion Prairie, Cajun Pioneers of the Vermilion Prairie and Marsh Land Website, http://www.vermilioncajuns.com/

LeBlanc, Rufus J., Jr. and Paul LeBlanc, 2010, Aladin LeBlanc - A Typical Petits Habitants - An Eyewitness Account As Observed and Related by His Grandsons, Cajun Pioneers of the Vermilion Prairie and Marsh Land Website, http://www.vermilioncajuns.com/

Map Card, 2010, Online website for Topographic Map and Aerial Photograph Coverage, http://mapcard.com/

Steamtown, 2010, Special History Study, American Steam Locomotives, Erath Sugar Company and Vermilion Sugar Company - http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/steamtown/shs2t.htm

Tobin Land Ownership Maps, Dec. 2009, Abbeville East Quadrangle, 1:24,000 Scale, Tobin Maps, San Antonio, Texas.

USGS, 1975, Abbeville East Quadrangle Topographic Map, Louisiana, Vermilion Parish, USGS Denver, Colorado 80225.

Vermilion Historical Society, 1983, History of Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas TX, p. 106-107.