CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
COMPAGNIE DU SCIOTO MEETING AT CAFÉ LE PROCOPE Novel #3A
In 1787 High-level American politicians and military officers succeeded pressing the Scioto Land Grant, a sub-grant of the Northwest Territory Ohio Land Grant, through Congress. In 1788 these men, hoping to reap a fortune from their investment in this land, sent poet/politician Joel Barlow to France to sell a large chunk of it. Joel failed dismally until he met an Englishman, William Playfair, and an aristocrat, a monarchiens, a leader of the National Assembly of France Jean-Jacques d’Epremesmil.
Hoping to make money in land speculation, William and Jean-Jacques helped Joel craft a land-sale deed that included the formation of a land-sales company, Compagnie du Scioto, on November 3, 1789. Persons joining this company were well-to-do capitalists, military men, noblemen, officials and visionaries. The major participants, many who bought acreage for their own land speculation, became known as The Societe des Vingt-Quatres. Members purchased at least one thousand acres, while Jean-Jacques, realizing the potential for a huge financial gain, purchased 11,000 acres.
January 1790, Paris, France
Joel Barlow, William Playfair and Jean-Jacques d’Epremesnil occupied a table that offered privacy at the crowded Café le Procope (view photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyncholland/3298110433/ ) while waiting for Jean Baptiste de la Roche, Louis Des Isles and Charles de Laittre, to join them. The three men waiting, founders of The Societe des Vingt-Quatres, sipped (more…)
