Pg. IX

Mons. Jean Gabriel Gervais was born in 1764 in Paris. His first visit was to the island of Cuba, and returning to France after accumulating considerable wealth, he came to this country, in 1790, with the French emigrants. The terrible disappointment which they experienced at the deception which had been practiced upon them discouraged him, and he soon went back, but returned again in 1792. From this time until the autumn of 1796, he was variously engaged, remaining most of the time at Gallipolis. He was fond of hunting, a man of excellent culture, and gained some reputation as a poet. He was present at the wedding of General Newsome, an old resident of Gallipolis, and the next morning composed and presented to the town a poem, written in answer to a question which came up the previous evening, which was long sung and admired by the French, and is yet extant.

He was one who was most influential in procuring the 25,200 acres from Congress for the French settlers; was the bearer of the petition, and his valuable and efficient services were recognized by an award of 4,000 acres in addition to the 217-1/2 acres which were allotted to each. As the grant was awarded upon the condition that a settlement should be made within a specified time, M. Gervais settled upon his land for that purpose, erecting shanties in the fall of 1796, for the reception of his effects the following March, when he started for this new home, in company with Mons. Duduit, Bertrand, Lacroix and Duteil, landing at the grant on the 21st. He was at Gallipolis when the news of the proclamation of peace arrived, and celebrated the occasion by a grand display of sky-rockets of his own manufacture. He was fond of music and dancing, and a fiddle for which he paid fifty dollars, brought from Paris, and used by him for many years, is exhibited by the descendants of General Newsom.

The village of Burrsburg, now Haverhill, was laid out as a town in 1806, by M. Gervais, who employed M. LeClercq, the subject of a preceding sketch, as surveyor. He sold his lot of 4,000 acres in two parcels – 200 acres to P. S. Duponceau, the lawyer employed by him at Phiadelphia in obtaining the grant, for $600, September 23, 1805; the balance, 3,800 acres, May 26th, 1806, to a Yankee named Samuel Hunt, for two dollars per acre, and also his grant of 217-1/2 acres. The land for which he received about $8,750, is now worth over a quarter of a million.

After selling his land he spent the remainder of his sojourn in America at Gallipolis, in the society of his old friends. He deposited his money with Mr. Menager, a merchant, for safe-keeping, receiving his board for the use of it, and agreeing to give six months’ notice when it would be required. He continued to reside here until June 1817, when he returned to the land of his birth. Before leaving he presented his horse, which he loved and valued very highly to E. S. Menager. He died, unmarried, at Paris, in 1824, aged 60 years.