Source:Fleming-street-names-of-french-origin
George T. Fleming. "Street names of French origin: Fayette brings up recollections of exciting days at fort of that name here: History of Brunot." Pittsburgh Gazette Times, June 13, 1915, sec. 5, p. 2. Newspapers.com 85627705.
NAMES of French origin or distinctly French that have left an impress on our local history and have found commemoration here in geographical and street nomenclature are of three kinds: First, those coming by reason of French domination 1754–1758; second, those from friends of America who assisted in gaining independence for the colonies during our Revolutionary War; third, names derived from natives of France who located here, and have been commemorated.
In the first class can be placed Duquesne, Chartiers, Joncaire, Jumonville and DeVilliers; in the second class Fayette and Brunot; in the third De Ruad Brunot can go in this class also. And we have Montour also, French Indian.
We can add if we desire a fourth class. Such designations as LaPlace, Antoinette, Alsace, Camelia, Chalfonte, etc., given simply as designations with no thought of commemoration.
The first class, while unmistakably historic and to be retained, is acknowledged to commemorate the names of foes; the second and third friends, chief among these the Marquis de la Lafayette [sic], putting it in the French way. Most commonly now Lafayette, more correctly La Fayette, and authorities differ, some encyclopedias of biography giving both forms without recommendation of either. The separation of the name is to be preferred as following the French idiom. Most often we find the name in the United States simply Fayette as in our neighboring county and our North Side street.
Name Marks an Era.
The name, Fayette, given to the street now called "French," in the old Fourth Ward, extending from Ninth street to Garrison alley (now way) marked an era and commemorated a historic locality in Pittsburgh, the site of the fort named in honor of the renowned French marquis that was used by Gen. Anthony Wayne as his headquarters while he was gathering his little army here in 1792 preparatory to establishing his camps at Legionville on the Ohio.
The name Fayette by every consideration of historic connection, should have been permitted to remain, no matter how insignificant the street, and despite the fact that its residence character had long gone. It was the first street here named for La Fayette and close to the site of Fort La Fayette, the name later changed to Fayette. In street renaming the originals had no firm standing on account of commemoration.
However, there have been other offenders against the scriptural injunction, "Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers set up." As long ago as 1857 the historian, George Bancroft, wrote Townsend Ward as follows:
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania ought to protest against effacing historical names. In New York they have changed Fort Stanwix to Rome, giving up a name with a meaning for one that is absurdly inappropriate. In your state the name of Bushy Run, which seems to me one of the best and which carries with it most interesting associations, is, I am afraid, lost.
Historic Names Lost.
Then you had Red Stone Old Fort, which is a picture of itself, and you have changed it to Brownsville. If I lived in the town, I would try to go back to the true name. If we proceed as we have done, we shall by and by have no historic names left.
Bushy Run seems to have survived, but Brownsville is a fixture and Red Stone old fort a "dead one." Historian Bancroft is quoted for what his protest is worth and if it be treason we must "make the most of it." No one can deny Fayette as a name has gone from the ancient site and for no good reason.
But about that fort. It marked an epoch in Pittsburgh. It is as worthy of remembrance as Duquesne, Pitt or the block house of Bouquet. Neville B. Craig tells us of it in his history of Pittsburgh, and he knew it, for his father, Maj. Isaac Craig, built and named it. No harder worked man, then, than Isaac Craig, revolutionary veteran and sturdy pioneer.
Maj. Craig was deputy quartermaster general and military storekeeper in Pittsburgh. His duties were onerous and his labors were indefatigable in the days of real peril. After the defeat of Gens. Harmar and St. Clair on the Western border the Indians became bold and aggressive. Their incursions were extended even to the vicinity of Pittsburgh.
A very extensive correspondence between Maj. Craig and the secretary of war, Gen. Henry Knox, and other military officials has been handed down. It comprises eight bound volumes and a mass of loose letters. Some extracts will show why Fort Fayette became a necessity.
Store House in Fort.
The store house in the abandoned Fort Pitt was an old log building erected with the fort in 1759. It was much decayed and unguarded or otherwise protected in 1791–92.
Craig wrote frequently of Indian outrages and murders in Western Pennsylvania—some even within 10 miles of Pittsburgh.
October 6, 1791, Craig wrote:
Messrs. Turnbull and Marmie continue to pull down and sell the materials of the fort. Small parties of Indians are still thought to be in our neighborhood.
Gen. Knox wrote Craig December 16,
I request you immediately to procure materials for a blockhouse and pitcketed [sic] fort to be erected in such part of Pittsburgh as shall be the best position to cover the town as well as the public stores, which shall be forwarded from time to time. As you have been an artillery officer during the late war, I request you to act as an engineer. I give you a sketch of the work generally, which you must adopt to the nature of the ground.
It is possible that some private property may be interfered with by the position you take, but an appraisement must take place according to law and the result sent to me.
Maj. Craig replied December 29, 1791:
I am making every possible exertion for the erection of a work to defend this town and the public stores. Account from Fort Franklin, as well as your orders urge the necessity of prompt attention to the defense of this place.
Sketch Is Promised
By next post I shall enclose you a sketch of the ground and the work that I have judged necessary; it will be erected on eight lots, Nos. 55, 56, 57, 58, 91, 92, 93 and 94; they belong to John Penn, Jr., and John Penn. Anthony Butler, Esq., of Philadelphia is their agent; the prices were fixed when the town was laid out.
It is not intended to cover the whole of the lots with the work, but the portion not covered will be suitable for gardens for the garrison.
I am mounting for [sic] six-pounders on ship carriages for the blockhouses; but there are no round shot nor grape shot for that caliber here, the last being sent to Fort Washington.
Fort Washington was at Cincinnati. Fort Franklin was at the site of Franklin, Venango county.
Craig wrote Knox again, January 12, 1792:
As there is no six-pound shot here I have taken the liberty to engage four hundred at Turnbull and Marmie's Furnace which is now in blast. Reports by the way of Fort Franklin say that in the late action (St. Clair's defeat November 4, 1791), the Indians had three hundred killed and many wounded, that there were eight hundred Canadians and several British officers in the action.
I shall take the liberty of communicating to the inhabitants of Pittsburgh your assurance of such ample and generous means of defense. I believe with you that Cornplanter is sincere, but would not work at Presquile on the giving greater confidences to him and his adherents. Presque Isle—now Erie.
Pittsburgh, while an important post and strictly a border town, was small. A table is found in the "American Museum," quoted by N. B. Craig, enumerating 36 mechanics in the town, and adding that the number of families was said to be 130.
Pittsburgh Small Place.
This would make less than 700 people. We consider, however, that in those days there were numerous parties going via river to Kentucky and that there were some soldiers also.
Turnbull and Marmie had purchased Fort Pitt about this time. This was a Philadelphia firm. Their furnace, N. B. Craig states, was the first west of the mountains, that it was situated on Jacobs Creek, 15 miles from its mouth and that it went into blast November 1, 1790.
Craig is wrong in location. In the public documents issued by the state in 1876, entitled "Pennsylvania and the Centennial," Vol. I, under the head, "Iron Making in Pennsylvania," the account quotes Craig and Maj. Craig's letter to Knox, and gives the location as Jacob's Creek, two and one-half miles above its mouth, that the furnace was called the Alliance Iron Works and that the Stack's ruins were standing in 1876. Jacobs Creek enters the Youghiogheny above Connellsville.
May 18, 1792, Craig wrote Secretary Knox:
Capt. Hughes with his detachment has occupied the barricks [sic] in the new fort since the 1st instant. Two of the six pounders are very well mounted in the second story of one of the block houses. The others will be mounted in a few days. The work, if you have no objections I will name Fort La Fayette.
Secretary Knox approved the name. Lafayette had been associated closely with him in the continental army.
June 15, 1792, Craig wrote Knox:
"Gen. Wayne arrived here yesterday."
Town Has a Paper.
While Pittsburgh was small it is well to remember that it had for six years supported a newspaper, the Pittsburgh Gazette, and incidental to the exigencies of the time N. B. Craig, subsequently one of the editors and proprietors of the paper, reproduces a letter from John Scull, the founder of the paper, to Maj. Craig, under date July 1, 1792, asking the loan of three reams of paper until his stock, delayed in transit from Chambersburgh by John Wright's pack horses, should arrive.
Maj. Craig wrote Quartermaster General Samuel Hodgdon, November 9, 1792:
This morning a detachment of the troops and the artificers, with the necessary tools for building, set off for the winter ground below Logstown on the Ohio; in a few days the whole army will follow.
November 16, 1792, Craig wrote Knox:
The troops have descended the river to their winter ground at Logstown.
November 30, 1792, again:
This morning at an early hour the artillery, infantry and rifle corps except a small garrison left in Fort Fayette, embarked and descended the Ohio to Legionville, the cavalry crossed the Allegheny at the same time and will reach the winter ground as soon as the boats. As soon as the troops had embarked the General (Wayne) went on board his barge under a salute from a militia artillery corps of this place, and all have, no doubt, before this time, reached their winter quarters.
We note two things—the name of the fort had been shortened to Fayette and the name Legionville, the camp of Wayne's Legion of the United States, had arisen. In this camp the troops remained until April 30, 1792, all the time subject to constant and severe drill and exercise.
Historic Toasts.
Among the toasts responded to at the celebration of Washington's birthday in the camp, Washington then president, and Philadelphia our capital, were these:
The nation of France—may her arms be triumphant and her liberty permanent.
Our friend and brother, La Fayette—may a generous nation forgive his errors (if any) and receive him to her bosom.
The troops under Wayne embarked for Fort Washington in the boats provided by Maj. Craig May 3, 1792.
A Philadelphia paper published the following news item:
Pittsburgh, May 4, 1773.
Lieut Col. John Clark, commandant of the Fourth Sub-Legion, is to command the different posts on this frontier. His headquarters will be at this place.
For many years the United States government retained a part of the old fort property, that running from Penn avenue to the Allegheny, on the corner of Garrison way. During the Civil War it was a recruiting office and so used for some years later. Many will remember the flag that was daily hoisted and taken in.
For many years the property was used as a bonded warehouse for imported goods by the surveyor of the port. A fine business block now occupies the site.
William G. Johnston was a reliable historian of old Pittsburgh, his native place. He built the Johnston Building at Ninth and Penn in 1884. In his "Life and Reminiscences" he has much to say of Fort Fayette, quoting N. B. Craig, whom he knew well.
Famous Names on Deeds.
The Johnston Building was erected upon the site of the southeast bastion of the fort. Among his title deeds are two bearing the signatures of James Madison, President of the United States, and James Monroe, Secretary of State, for two of the lots, showing therein that the lots were sold at public sale on September 30, 1815, by authority of Congress. Prior to that time the fort had been demolished.
The map of Pittsburg of 1795 shows Fort Fayette crossing the present line of Penn avenue between Hand street (Ninth) and an alley, subsequently named Garrison alley.
A small run turned at right angles between Irwin and an alley, now Eighth street, formerly Hancock, and emptied into the Allegheny River. The southern front of the fort was upon this run, about Ninth street and Exchange alley.
The two-story brick building mentioned above, Mr. Johnston states, was used as a recruiting station, doing service both in the Mexican and Civil wars. He says he remembered it from early boyhood and remembers his father taking him there to call upon an army captain of the same name as his.
In digging foundations for buildings on Penn near Ninth street there were unearthed a number of cannon balls, one of which was given to Mr. Johnston, undoubtedly from the ammunition of the old fort.
Mr. Johnston obtained from the War Department a full-size copy of the original plan of Fort Fayette, from which the reduced engraving shown today was made.
When the Legislative Committee about 1880 was collecting information under the direction of Dr. William H. Egle they endeavored unsuccessfully to obtain this.
Details of the Fort.
Dr. Egle noted the following extract from a letter written May 19, 1792, and incorporated it in the report:
The fort begun at this place (Pittsburgh) stands on the Allegheny River, within about one hundred yards of the bank on a beautiful rising ground, about one-fourth mile higher up than the old garrison of Fort Pitt. Captain Hughes of the 2nd U. S. Regiment commands the fort which last Saturday, May 12, was named Fort Fayette.
William G. Johnston's plan of the fort furnished by the War Department, he states, was a fine blue print, and he first published it for public information.
It has been mentioned that among Lafayette's companions on his first voyage to America in 1777 was the Baron De Kalb. There were 10 others, among these Felix Brunot, a fellow-countryman and a foster brother, who became a surgeon in the Continental Army and whose name is familiar in Brunots Island that he once owned.
Felix Brunot was born in Morey, France, January 9, 1752. He was hence five years older than Lafayette. Similarly he was left an orphan at an early age. His mother on her deathbed entrusted her boy to the care of her brother, who was a bishop of the Roman Catholic church.
The uncle designed to train the boy for the priesthood, but this was so little to the boy's taste that he strongly objected and was about to run away. The uncle relented and told the boy he might choose his own vocation. Young Felix announced that he would be a doctor of medicine, and this intent he carried to its fulfilment.
Brunot's Early Life.
The one important item of Dr. Brunot's early history is that he became the foster brother of the Marquis de la Fayette, how the biographer of Felix R. Brunot, the grandson, does not relate.
Dr. Felix Brunot was 25 years old when he came to fight the battles of the struggling colonies. He was of excellent health, full of vigor, and gave himself ardently to the cause. He needed not the inspiration of his devoted friend, the marquis, to keep him firmly to his resolution to fight for the cause he had espoused. He was engaged in many battles, notably at Brandywine.
When LaFayette returned to the fatherland in 1781 Brunot remained and henceforth the United States was his country. He first resided at Annapolis, Md., then in Philadelphia, Pa., until 1797, when he crossed the Alleghenies and settled in Pittsburgh.
He became prominent in his profession and was greatly esteemed for his worth and attainments.
The Pittsburgh directory of 1815 published by James M. Riddle does not contain the doctor's name. Upon his arrival he had purchased the island that bears his name and thereon he built a fine mansion.
There were many French gentlemen touring America in those days and Dr. Brunots' [sic] villa became a constant scene of gracious hospitality. Here in 1825 he entertained LaFayette.
There was testimony that when the two met they ran to each other, joyously greeting, then embraced and wept from excess of feelings. Eye-witnesses told of this for many years.
In the generous hospitality of the doctor's gentle wife, Elizabeth Krieder, was an able and beloved helpmate, "as generous to mankind as she was reverent toward God" we are told. She was of Huguenot decent [sic].
Of several children born to them two sons became noted. Hilary and Sanson. Hilary was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 14, 1795. He was one of the early graduates of West Point Military Academy, class of 1814. A few weeks later he was in action at Fort Erie.
The War of 1812 over, he was stationed at various frontier forts and later at Newport, R. I., where he met Randel Reville, a Maryland gentleman who had come on a visit bringing along a young and charming daughter, Ann. A strong attachment sprang up between the young lieutenant and Miss Reville and they were married May 6, 1819.
A son was born to the couple in the arsenal at Newport, January 7, 1820, who was first named Felix Randolph, later, to please the boy who desired to bear his mother's family name, Felix Reville Brunot.
When Felix was about a year old his father was ordered to the Allegheny arsenal in Lawrenceville—now on Butler street, Pittsburgh.
Ultimately the frequent removals of a military life became irksome, and Lieut. Brunot resigned and engaged in the manufacture of white lead in Pittsburgh. His beautiful home was located in open grounds surrounded by a beautiful garden and occupied the site of the Pennsylvania station and passenger train yards adjoining. He resided here until the railroad came to convert the place into an abode of dirt and noise, but here Felix R. Brunot grew to manhood.
We have the family commemorated in Brunot street, Twentieth Ward, Sheraden, and there is so much interesting in the Brunot family history it will have to be taken up later.