Difference between revisions of "Saint Malo"

Latest revision as of 14:57, 21 July 2016

Saint Malo was a small fishing village in St. Bernard Parish on the shore of Lake Borgne near Shell Beach. The village was built in the mid-18th century and occupied into the early 20th century, when it was destroyed by a hurricane.

The fishing village and the Shell Beach area were home to many Filipinos, including the first Filipinos to settle in the United States. Lafcadio Hearn famously described St. Malo as a "strange settlement of Malay fishermen--Tagalas from the Philippine Islands." ^[1]

Manilamen

From the late 1700's through the 1800's, Filipino sailors settled on the island of St. Malo and around the Shell Beach area. These sailors were commonly referred to as Manilamen or Malays. Lafcadio Hearn described St. Malo as a community inhabited primarily by Filipino men who he describes as "mostly cinnamon-colored men" with a few "glossily yellow," some with eyes "set slightly aslant," all with black hair. To Hearn the men represent the "varieties of the Malay race." ^[1]

1880's

Saint Malo

In 1883, Del Carpio at 80 years old was the oldest man on St. Malo. He arrived at St. Malo around 1848 at the age of 45. He had been a sailor on one of the many ships that dock in Louisiana. He found his way to St. Malo. and settled to make a living as a fisherman. ^[2] We can surmise that Carpio had heard about St. Malo before he ventured out into the distant swamp. We will never know whether he heard about the settlement from letters, through informal network of sailors, or at the docks.

Despite their isolation in the swamp, the residents of St. Malo had a communication network that allowed them to send money and letters to family and friends. The sailors would have been familiar with the trade routes of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and the Pacific. It is not difficult to imagine that they could negotiate with other sailors to deliver their messages to the Philippines. Perhaps Carpio could have been part of the process, as he spend a part of each year to Mexico to play cards. ^[1]

Hilario, "El Maestro," was considered the leader of the village. His home was called the gambling den, and he hosted card games when the weather didn't allow the men to fish. Hilaro raised fighting cocks and dried fish. Hearn describes him as the only "white man" in the settlement.

Thomas De Los Santos married a white woman and had two children, Valentine and Winnie. Valentine went to school in New Orleans and secured a job with a judge. He gave up the job to return to St. Malo and the life of a fisherman. He was the best piroque oarsman in the village.

St. Malo Proprietors ^[1]

Hilario	Thomas De Los Santos
Paosto	Juan de La Baptisto
Matteo	Francisco Carpio Florenzo
Victoriano	Serafino Marcelo Massenciano
Marcelino

Common Baptismal Names of St. Malo residents ^[1]

Marcellino	Francesco	Florenzo	Serafino
Hilario	Marcetto	Victorio	Paosto

Shell Beach

The 1880 census of the 7th ward of St. Bernard covered Shell Beach and St. Malo. The absence of all of the proprietors in St. Malo suggests that the census taker didn't make it out to the island. The 7th ward census lists six dwellings with Filipino residents. Two of the dwellings were single-occupant. Three housed families. Two of these family homes listed another male adult, presumed to be a boarder. One was a labor camp that housed eighteen fishermen. ^[3]

Single Occupant Dwellings^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Race	Trade	DOB	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mothers Birthplace
Francisco Carpio	Male	55	Black	Fisherman	1825	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines
Andreas Bernow	Male	40	Black	Fisherman	1840	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines

Seraphino Family ^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Race	Trade	DOB	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mothers Birthplace
Marales Seraphino	Male	43	Black	Fisherman	1837	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines
Darby Seraphino	Female	28	Black	Keeping House	1852	Louisiana	South Carolina	Virginia
Lilly Seraphino	Female	2	Mulatto		1878	Louisiana	Philippines	Louisiana
John Seraphino	Male	0	Mulatto		1880	Louisiana	Philippines	Louisiana

Tagalled Family ^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Race	Trade	DOB	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mothers Birthplace
John Tagalled	Male	40	Black	Fisherman	1840	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines
Anne Tagalled	Female	23	Black	Keeping House	1857	Louisiana	Philippines	Ireland
Augustine Tagalled	Female	4	Black		1876	Louisiana	Philippines	Louisiana
Florencius Tagalled	Male	2	Black		1878	Louisiana	Philippines	Louisiana
Helen Tagalled	Female	0	Black		1880	Louisiana	Philippines	Louisiana
John Macaro	Male	31	Black	Fisherman	1849	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines

Peniard Family ^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Race	Trade	DOB	Birthplace	Fathers Birthplace	Mothers Birthplace
Osto Peniard	Male	40	Black	Fisherman	1840	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines
Zilphie Peniard	Female	40	Mulatto	Keeping House	1840	Missouri, United States	Virginia, United States	Virginia, United States
Salidonis Pedro	Male	50	Black	Fisherman	1830	Philippines	Philippines	Philippines

The labor camp housed eighteen fisherman, with all but three from the Philippines. The fishermen ranged in age from 23 to 95. In this census, "Black" was the designated race of the Manilamen.

Filipinos in Shared Labor Housing ^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Trade	DOB	Birthplace
Hilaris Carlos	Male	45	Fisherman	1835	Philippines
Federico Poublic	Male	30	Fisherman	1850	Philippines
Eusebis Francisco	Male	60	Fisherman	1820	Philippines
Pedro Malagay	Male	29	Fisherman	1851	Philippines
Pedro Juan	Male	23	Fisherman	1857	Philippines
Philip Sourdan	Male	30	Fisherman	1850	Philippines
Felix Santos	Male	31	Fisherman	1849	Philippines
Martin Guiblado	Male	24	Fisherman	1856	Philippines
Thomas Ecaris	Male	47	Fisherman	1833	Philippines
Victorio Florencia	Male	45	Fisherman	1835	Philippines
Felix Messa	Male	35	Fisherman	1845	Philippines
Juan Lacrux	Male	39	Fisherman	1841	Philippines
Antonio Bato	Male	35	Fisherman	1845	Philippines
Carpis De La Crux	Male	22	Fisherman	1858	Philippines
Carlos Gonzales	Male	95	Fisherman	1785	Philippines

Other Nationalities in the Labor Housing ^[3]

Name	Sex	Age	Race	Trade	DOB	Birthplace
Theodore Valcoon	Male	34	Black	Fisherman	1846	Mexico
Antonio Lopez	Male	32	White	Fisherman	1848	Mexico
Sebastian Trilliay	Male	70	Black	Fisherman	1810	Spain

1890's

In 1893, many of residents of the island of St. Malo and nearby Shell Beach were Filipino, or descendants of Filipinos, but were often referred to as Malays or Manilamen. They were described as Spanish-speaking "mixtures of Malays, negroes, and whites" with "some of the Chinese in them." ^[4] They were known for being excellent seamen and fishermen. By 1893, many of them had accumulated some wealth supplying fish and oysters to New Orleans. ^[4]

The storm of 1893 destroyed the homes and the belongings of residents all along the Louisiana coast. The structures on the island of St. Malo were badly damaged by the storm surge. The lake waters rose over all single story buildings and washed everything outside of a structure away. In Shell Beach, buildings were completely destroyed. The storm killed a number of residents, including Filipinos. The survivors were impoverished and distraught over the loss of family and friends. After the storm, many vowed to move inland. ^[4]

Saint Malo

Shell Beach

The storm destroyed Shell Beach which had a large population of Filipinos and Filipino descendants. John Baraido, a Filipino, survived the storm and found the bodies of Lilly and Johnnie Serapino two miles from Shell Beach. ^[4]

Status of Filipino Residents of Shell Beach ^[4]

Survived	Missing	Died
John Baraido	John Marrilina	John Undone
		Lilly Seraphino (16)
		John Seraphino (14)
		Martin Bentico

Organizations

Sociedad de Beneficencia de los Hispanos Filipinos

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Hearn, Lafcadio. “St. Malo, A Lacustrine Village in Louisiana,” Harper’s Weekly 27, 31 Mar 1883. 195-199.
2. ↑ "St. Malo: The Times-Democrat Expedition to that Mysterious Island." New Orleans, The Times-Democrat, 14 Mar 1883.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDX6-3H6 : 21 December 2015), 7th Ward, St Bernard, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district ED 149, sheet 304A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0467; FHL microfilm 1,254,467.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5} "The First Trip to Shell Beach." The Daily Picayune. New Orleans, 6 Oct 1893.