FRANK MARCHAND INVITED TO REMINESCE
ABOUT EARLY HISTORY OF BONNE TERRE
Lead Belt News, Flat River, MO., Wednesday, July 1, 1964

     The lake across the road from the hospital is a familiar landmark in Bonne Terre.  It has been there since 1888.  Seven years before the lake was formed, Frank Marchand was born and for the greater part of his long lifetime has lived in Bonne Terre, becoming one of the better known citizens of the town which is currently celebrating its Centennial year.

     Continuing the series of Lead Belt News interviews with interesting people of the county, it was our pleasure last week to visit with Mr. Marchand.  He resides with his sister and her husband, Christine and Linn Thompson, in their lovely home at 416 Grove Street.

     Frank's father, Louis Marchand, was born in France where he learned the art of weaving.  Upon coming to the United States, Louis Marchand worked in the weaving mills of the New England states until repeated strikes and work stoppages prompted him to move to the midwest.  He worked for a time in the iron mines at Pilot Knob and was living on a farm in Franklin County near St. Clair, when Frank was born on Nov. 29, 1881.  Mrs. Marchand was the former Matilda Straub, American born daughter of German parents.

     Twelve children were born to Louis and Matilda Marchand, with five dying infancy or childhood.  Frank, the only living son, has four sisters, Mrs. Linn (Christine) Thompson, Tillie Cox and Agnes Wilkson of Detroit and Catherine Freeman of Desloge.  Two other sisters who died in recent years were Mrs. Walter (Lizzie) Reynolds and Mrs. Mike (Alice) Kohut of Bonne Terre.

     The Marchand family moved to Bonne Terre when Frank was about 8 years old.  The family name was a familiar one in the town's annals as Louis Marchand served as Justice of the Peace for the last 13 years of his life.  Duties of his office included officiating at marriages, presiding at trials and performing many of the functions now handled by magistrate judges.

     Judge Marchand's office was on Division St. in the block long frame structure which also housed the Fraser Grocery Store, Pirtle's Tin Shop, Fraser's Barber Shop and Apple's Shoe Shop.  From this point south of Division St., Frank recalls that at one time there were thirteen saloons where alcohol beverages could be purchased by the drink, bottle or bucket.  Thirst could also be quenched at two or three places in the Hill section.

     Frank went to parochial grade school and graduated from Bonne Terre High School shortly after the turn of the century.  He attended high school in a frame building which was situated between what is now the elementary and junior high buildings.  The frame high school structure was later moved to the lot on Allen St., where Dr. Berry family now lives.

     The two high school teachers Frank remembers are John Malugen and a Miss Spurgeon.  Some of the 18 seniors who graduated in the class with Frank were Paul Benham, Ed Mahn, Malinda Roux, Maude Bouchard, Ewell Smith, Edna Babb and Louis Wolf.

     Then, as now, St. Joe provided most of the jobs in Bonne Terre.  One could go to work in the mines or offices or on the company owned farms or railroad.  St. Joe's farm holdings were quite extensive at this time and the man who supervised agricultural operations was John Hobbs.  The Hobbs home is still standing on Benham St., and is now occupied by the farm manager's daughter and only surviving member of the family, Miss Jessie Hobbs. 

     After working for a short time in the foundry, Frank was employed by St. Joe.  He worked underground and his boss was Captain Porter.  Still with St. Joe, Frank quit mining and took a position as railroad supply clerk in Bonne Terre.  His immediate supervisor in this job was R. C. Deggendorf.  

     Developing a yen to see more of the country, Frank left in a few years to go to California where he found employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad.

     It was not a prosperous time in the United States, in general; Californians, in particular, were recovering from the effects of the great San Francisco earthquake in 1906.  The money panic of 1907 came on the heels of the disaster.  Quantities of money were hard to come by, even for those with substantial bank deposits.  During the money shortage crisis, Frank was paid half his wages in gold or silver and the other half in scrip.  Interest of 2% could be collected by those who held on to the scrip instead of claiming immediate cash value.  

     It was not long before Frank came back to Bonne Terre to stay.  After working a short period at his former railroad job, he went to work on the diamond drills.  He stayed with this occupation until he was injured while working at Leadwood.  Frank was then made a St. Joe night watchman, a job which he held until retirement.  

     Two events stand out in Frank's memory from his years as night watchman.  One was the foiling of a store robbery and the other was the finding of a mortally injured man struck down by an unknown assailant. 

     One night in the early 1930s when Frank was making his regular rounds of company property, he heard groans in the area of the shaft behind the Cash & Carry Store and the rear of the old Star-News Register office.  The watchman investigated but the beams of his flashlight did not reveal anything.  Waiting for the sound to come again, he followed it to its source and found the groans were coming from the rock bottom of the nearby sewer ditch.  Lying face up in the ditch was Thomas A. Jackson, a 72 years old carpenter and contractor.  Jackson was a highly respected citizen who had that same evening attended a meeting of WPA foremen and civic leaders at the Star-News Register office.  Marchand called for help to remove the man who had obviously been attacked and shoved over the fence into the deep sewer ditch.  Jackson was taken to the Bonne Terre Hospital where he died within a few hours without regaining consciousness.  The story of what happened to him remains a mystery.

     On another occasion, Frank was at the right place at the right time to prevent robbers from escaping with valuable loot from Oman Roberts' Rendevouz, Bonne Terre's teen-town of pre-World War II years.  Orman's place was located on the site of the present post office parking lot and the rear entrance was adjacent to St. Joe property.  It must have been a shock to the three thieves as well as to Frank, when the escaping robbers were suddenly spotlighted in the glare of the watchman's light.  In their haste to get away the robbers tripped over a guy wire and scrambled off to a waiting car, leaving three feed sacks of loot spilled on the ground.

     Frank Marchand never married.  He devoted much of his time to his parents while they were living and has also been a faithful member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, where he is a daily attendant at Mass.

     He is a charter member of the Knights of Columbus which was organized in Bonne Terre in 1906 with the first Grand Knight being B. A. Roy, newspaper editor.  Frank is holder of two 50 year pins from the Knights of Columbus, one for his Third Degree and one for his Fourth Degree attainment.

     While he nurses a slight case of gout, the mind of Frank Marchand is sharp and his memory spans a long period of Bonne Terre's history.  He remembers when the industrialist Felix Thomure, as a youth, played baseball with the "Silk Sox" on the old ball field now covered with slime - when the Tetley Lumber Yard filled the wedge of Park & Benham St. - when buildings were pried from their foundations on mule drawn rollers and moved to other locations - the narrow gauge railroad tracks - the first Catholic Church and adjoining cemetery on the old Wheelehon property.  

     Solid citizens such as Frank Marchand have experienced and helped to make Bonne Terre's interesting history which will be celebrated in a spectacular Centennial event from July 11 through July 18 (1964).