Compagnie du Scioto Meeting at Cafe le Procope (Novel #3B)

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

COMPAGNIE DU SCIOTO MEETING AT CAFÉ LE PROCOPE: Novel #3B

 

 

To read the first part of this post click on: Compagnie du Scioto Meeting at Café le Procope: Novel #3A

   “This coffee is superb,” Jean-Jacques said, standing up to greet them, and, tilting his head almost inaudibly said, “and this table is in a spot where we can talk with some privacy of the matter before us.”
    As the men as they settled down, making certain the stranger was between them, Jean-Jacques asked   “How was the trip from Alencon?” Then he took his seat, all the while eyeing the stranger before him.
     “This is Richard,” Charles said softly to Jean-Jacques while not quite looking at him. “He heard about the American lands, how they offer the opportunity to have a French settlement in the new land, and is quite interested. I brought him with me so he can hear more about our plans.”
     The man, not quite looking up, shook his head, as a confirmation of Charles’ words. There was something quite appealing in his gesture, something familiar to Jean-Jacques, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
     “Are you sure he should be here?” Although Jean-Jacques asked Charles this question with his eyes, Charles understood

Compagnie du Scioto Meeting at Café le Procope: Novel #3A

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

THE OHIO COMPANY AND SCIOTO ASSOCIATES LAND PURCHASES (Novel #2)

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

THE OHIO COMPANY AND SCIOTO ASSOCIATES

LAND PURCHASES (Novel #2)

 

     The blog category, NOVEL SEGMENTS, will present information and scenes being developed for a historic romance novel to be written in three sections. Numerous actual romances intertwine throughout the segments. One romance replicates Tennyson’s poem, Enoch Arden.
     The writing is historical in that it follows real people in real situations. It’s a novel because conversations must be created and scene material filled in. Characters cannot be interviewed, since the dateline of the story is about 1786 to 1845. However, numerous lines are factual, since they come from actual documents.
The complete tale travels from Boston, Massachusetts to Revolutionary France to the Virginia-Boston Atlantic corridor to Lamoine, Maine, British Guiana, and finally ends in Alencon, France.
     The first few segments being posted recreate a political backdrop of the novel. The romance parts will follow. The first segment was: A 1786 MEETING IN VERMONT (Novel #1) Visit the category “1790s BACKGROUND at www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com for interesting background information.

     On March 8, 1787, the Ohio Company met at Bracket’s Tavern, Boston, where accounts showed that 250 Ohio Company shares, at $1,000 a share, were sold. This provided them with $250,000 to purchase land in the Ohio section of the Northwest Territory. Three directors—Rufus Putnam, Samuel Parsons and Manasseh Cutler—were appointed to apply to Congress for a private land purchase in the Northwest Territory, and to bargain on its price.  Dr. Cutler was ill, and did not attend.
     “Since the Doctor sold the most shares, over one hundred, and his skills are such that could lead us to success, I think we should appoint him to go to New York and purchase as much land as our money will buy,” Rufus suggested. “Samuel, you could go with him.”
     “It won’t be easy, negotiating for a private purchase of land,” Samuel noted.
 “No, it won’t,” Rufus acknowledged. “But surely Dr. Cutler will agree.

A 1786 MEETING IN VERMONT (Novel #1)

The blog category, NOVEL SEGMENTS, will present information and scenes being developed for a historic romance novel to be written in three sections. Numerous actual romances intertwine throughout the segments. One romance replicates Tennyson’s poem, Enoch Arden.

The writing is historical in that it follows real people