The Diary of Lieutenant Francis Henry French at Fort Clark, Texas 1883 (continued)

In this 34th installment, Lieut. French is on leave from Fort Clark visiting his family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Two excusions to Rome City highlight his week.

Monday, Aug 20, 1883

Went down town with Father to talk with Judge Morris over what I learned in Indianapolis about the canal case. The girls and Sue went down town this morning. After talking with Judge Morris went around town for awhile and then came home. In the afternoon got a carriage from Perrin's and took Lula and the girls out to Grandmother's and then took a long ride. In the evening Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, Will Ruthrauff and Potter called. Telegraphed to Akron to enquire about Fiebeger1 today.

Went down town and up to see Howard McCullough about the picnic tomorrow. Got a letter from Marie this morning. When I reached home found Ambrose McC----- here, having come down to visit at Aunt Martha's for a while. He spent the morning & took dinner with us. We sat out in the yard & swung in the hammock & had a gay time. After he left, finished my letter to Marie as I have been unable to write it before, then went down town to mail it. In the evening Chapman took Lizzie out for a ride. Potter called and spent the evening. Mecca Hoagland and Will Fleming returned today. Received a telegram from Fiebeger saying he could not visit Fort Wayne now.

This morning we all went up to Rome City to spend the day, except Father & Mother. The party included a number of people and we all had a very pleasant time. Mother has commenced to imagine that Lizzie Jacobs is trying to win Potter from Sue and was very anxious for me to take charge of Miss Lizzie today. Like a fool I permitted myself to be influenced somewhat and now imagine that everybody saw what I was about, but hope not. Sue behaved splendidly in this matter. But there is no ground at all for Mother's thinking the way she does. In the afternoon took Aunt Mary, Lizzie Jacobs & Lula out for a ride. A rainstorm came up and thoroughly drenched us. Got home about midnight feeling very tired and sleepy. John Hoagland was at the picnic.

Went down town this morning and met Mecca Hoagland in Will Fleming's & saw him there too. Did not have breakfast this morning as I got up too late to eat with Father & could not wait until the others got up. Went up to see Chapman, Potter & Howard McCullough about going up to Rome City to spend next Sunday. Then returned to the house for a while & went up to the train to say good bye to Lizzie T Hoagland who went up to Chicago to live again. She has been here with Mr. Hoagland while Mecca has been East. I may not see Lizzie & John again before returning to Texas. In the afternoon read and wrote at home. Went down town for a short time to get my pantaloons which had to be pressed after yesterday's drenching. In the evening before tea Sue & I called on Mrs. Holman Hamilton and her daughter Kate & on Mrs. Allen Hamilton & Miss Eliza. Kate is a charming young lady but her father will not permit her to have any gentlemen callers. I guess I am the first one that ever called on her at her home. The girls and Lula went to Mrs. Jacob's, a grand aunt of Lizzie's for tea. After supper called on Alf Lukens & wife2 and on Mecca Hoagland. Was just settling down to have a good talk with her when Chapman came in. Did not stay long after he came. Found Henry Meyer & Potter at the house calling. Went to sleep on the porch.

Got a letter from Fiebeger this morning explaining why he could not visit Fort Wayne now. Went around town to make arrangements for spending Sunday at Rome City, in the morning. In the afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Hedekin3 called to see about West Point. Their son has just been appointed by Congressman Lowry.4 After their call, Mecca Hoagland called on the girls. She took Lula & Annie out to Grandmother's in the carriage and then returned for Sue & me. I dressed while she was taking Lula & Sue out (sic). While dressing, Henry came for Lizzie in an old two wheeled cart, and fantastically dressed up. He did this as a joke. Ambrose was out to Grandmother's and we all spent the night there. In the evening we played cards and had pillow fights and played all kinds of jokes on each other. Lovie Withers came out to call with a young gentleman, but neither Lula, Sue nor I spoke to her. Ambrose & I slept together.

Was awakened early this morning by Henry who was playing some joke on the girls. Did not go down to breakfast until after eight o'clock as the girls hid our clothes and played other jokes. After breakfast we all rode over to town and I came home after doing some errands down town. About 3-30 P.M. the girls, Sue, Lula, Aunt Mary, Mary & Kate, Chapman, Howard McCullough, Ambrose & I went up to Rome City.5 Potter & Henry were unable to go with us, but the former was at the train. Had a pleasant ride up and found quite a number of Ft. Wayne people there at the Spring Beach Hotel6 where we stopped. After washing we had supper and were then joined by Cary, who had come up yesterday and was out fishing when we came today. Rowed around on the lake after supper and a few went to the roller skate rink.7 I tried & failed, falling three or four times. After rowing returned to the hotel & sang and played games until midnight.

After breakfast, the whole party took boats and went out for water lilies and were out until dinner time. There were hundreds of the lilies in bloom and we had a great many. Lula, Kate, Cary & I decorated our boat and came back in style. Sat around talking & eating apples, and slept until supper. Afterward all went out on the lake and sang. After all the other guests had retired our party met in the parlor and had a cold lunch of pie, chow chow8 & biscuits.

1 Fiebeger, Gustav Joseph, (1858-1939) USMA Class of 1879. A classmate of Lieut. French. After frontier service he joined the faculty of the Military Academy in 1896 as Professor of Civil and Military Engineering. Fiebeger first revised and later rewrote all the textbooks on Engineering and Military Art in use at the Academy. He served as Chair of Engineering at West Point for twenty-six years until his retirement as a Colonel in 1922.

Francis Henry French was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 27, 1857. Deeply impressed from his youth by the stirring deeds and stories told by veterans of the Civil War, he realized his ambition for a military career by entering the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York where he graduated twelfth from the class of 1879. He was assigned as 2nd Lieutenant of “E” Company, 19th Infantry and came west. Following service at Fort Garland, Colorado Territory, and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the regiment moved to Fort Brown at Brownsville, Texas where Lieutenant French was detailed as the Regimental Adjutant. In December 1882 the 19th Infantry was posted to Fort Clark. At Fort Clark, on January 1, 1883, Lieutenant French began diaries, which he faithfully maintained for the next thirty years. The Fort Clark period of these diaries from 1883-1888 and his letters home are an intriguing window to late 19th century Army life at Fort Clark and to the American experience of the Victorian era. Lieutenant French’s command of the famed Seminole- Negro Indian Scouts is particularly noteworthy as the young officer developed a lifelong respect for the scouts as soldiers and men. Lieutenant French is a caring and sensitive man with opinions on people and politics. He is a bachelor immersed in the “society” of the regiment and Fort Clark. However, always in the background is his profession of being a soldier and an officer, which he takes quite seriously. The fascination of any diary is of course the private thoughts and observations of another human being, revealed, and in this case the direct link to local history. What the diary truly brings to light is the complex society of a regiment at a frontier post amid the tedium of garrison routine and soldiering, all of which serve to season the young officer. The reader can’t help but become engrossed in the almost soap opera like situations and personalities observed and commented upon on a daily basis by the very perceptive Lieutenant. French falls in and out of love and debt, and is the consummate social butterfly as he takes full advantage of his bachelor status. 

Submitted by Fort Clark Heritage Council - Bill Haenn, FCHC Senior Historian. Fort Clark Heritage Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, established in 2023, to advocate for the preservation and protection of the architecture and other historic resources in the Fort Clark National Register Historic District… committed to endorsing and promulgating the rich history of Fort Clark by expanding upon related educational and research efforts.