Re-enactors sign plat of Cape Girardeau at bicentennial event

~ Louis Lorimier donated four acres, timber, money and labor to get the city started.

He came in wearing leather moccasins, his hair was tied back in a ponytail hanging down to his knees, and he wore an Indian-bead necklace.

Louis Lorimier came to donate four acres of land to form a new city.

Local history buffs gathered at the Common Pleas Courthouse Friday to celebrate the bicentennial of an event that Mayor Jay Knudtson said "began our history as a city."

The platting took place in 1806, when Lorimier, a native of Quebec, donated the land for Cape Girardeau, then home to the richest and most prosperous fur-trapping community in upper Louisiana. He also donated the timber used to construct the first public buildings and gave $200 and 30 days' labor to support the town's creation.

However, Lorimier, played by George Dordoni, did not renounce all rights to his land, saying, "It is understood that I am entitled to the same privilege of this timber as any other inhabitant."

The real Lorimier died in 1812 shortly after the great New Madrid earthquake.

The platting could not have occurred without two other men. One was Barthelemi Cousin, a native of France, who served as Lorimier's interpreter and surveyor. Cousin, who was played by Larry Jackson, drew up the original plat.

Also present was Joseph McFerron, an Irishman who once killed a man in a duel on a local Mississippi River sandbar and served as the first clerk of the courts of Cape Girardeau District. McFerron, played by Charles Hutson, evaluated the plat, and all three men signed it using a quill pen.

The Sons of the American Revolution displayed three historical flags with 13, 15 and 24 stars. The last flag, authorized for use in 1822, commemorates the admission of Missouri to the Union.

Historical background was provided by Mike Shain of KFVS12, who narrated the event.

About 40 people were present for the event. Lorimier showed his hospitality to those present inviting all for "a cup and a biscuit" at his residence, the Red House. For those hard of hearing, town crier Darryl Morgan repeated the invitation at a significantly higher decibel level.

The re-enactment was the first of many events celebrating Cape Girardeau's history this year. Highlights will include a February United We Read event where participants will read and discuss the novel "The Gold of Cape Girardeau" by Morley Swingle, a genealogy workshop held by the Cape County Genealogical Society on May 9, a bicentennial photo contest sponsored by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in April, and regular events at the Red House.

For more information, call Jane Randol Jackson at 204-2331.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245