Prince Louis and Francis the Baker

      This is an abbreviated version for newspaper of an earlier post, “The Royal Visitors,” about Prince Louis Philippe of France’s visit to the Marietta area.. To read the full version, click here.

     In July 1839, King Louis Philippe I of France received an American visitor, a Mr. Hughes, the American charge d’affaires in Stockholm. After introductions, conversation turned to the King’s visit to America in the late 1790’s.

King Louis: “Have you ever been at Marietta?”

Mr. Hughes, surprised at the familiar connection, said yes! He had lived there for several years.

King: “Did you know a French baker there, named Thierry?” Francis Thierry was a French immigrant who arrived in Marietta in 1790 with his wife and two children.

Mr. Hughes answered that indeed he knew Thierry.

King, explaining with amusement: “Well, I once carried him away from his family,” referring to a decades-earlier "kidnapping" incident during Louis Philippe’s visit to Marietta in 1797.

     Louis Philippe De’Orleans, later King Louis Philippe I, visited the United States with his two brothers in 1796 and 1797. He was anxious to see natural wonders, Indians, and the backwoods of the new country. The King often amazed visitors with his memory of minute details of his American tour decades earlier.

           Portrait by James Sharple of Prince Louis Philippe at the time of his American visit in 1797.   

     Toward the end of their American tour, Prince Louis and his brothers visited Marietta on a frigid December day in 1797. They were floating down the Ohio River on a keelboat, headed to New Orleans for a return trip to Europe. River travel was treacherous with the ice, swift currents, and snags. They pressed on anyway. At Marietta they stopped for supplies. Louis Philippe wanted fresh bread and was directed to Francis Thierry, a French baker living in Marietta. Thierry fired up his oven to begin baking while the Frenchmen toured Marietta. They were fascinated by the Indian mound earthworks and made a sketch of them.

     As they prepared to leave Marietta, Mr. Thierry rushed the fresh bread to their boat on the Muskingum River. But ice on the river was breaking up at that exact moment. The boat lurched away from the shore - with Thierry still on board - to avoid the ice. He was frightened and visualized never seeing his family again. He was relieved to be returned to dry land by canoe when the ice danger passed. The future King and his party continued down the Ohio River, grateful for the fresh bread. He later amused listeners, such as Mr. Hughes, in retelling the adventure of "kidnapping" a French baker at Marietta.

     There was another Marietta connection during his American tour. He had a chance meeting with pioneer leader Ephraim Cutler who recorded the event in his journal. Cutler met two Frenchmen while boiling salt at the "Salt Works" on Salt Creek in Muskingum County, Ohio. He was working there as a volunteer with a friend, Peter Noblaise, a Frenchman from Gallipolis, Ohio.

     The two visitors asked to stay with Cutler and Noblaise that night at their cabin. Cutler noted that the three Frenchmen became "quite loquacious in their native language." Noblaise was a good singer and sang the Marseilles hymn and several French airs. Cutler reported that one of the men asked him detailed questions about the Ohio Company, and the settlements at Marietta and Gallipolis. After midnight they retired; Ephraim gave him his bunk and bear skin. Cutler learned the next day that the man was Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, the future King of France.

     Louis was king from 1830 to 1848 when he was forced to abdicate. He was the last king of France; the monarchy ended with the French Revolution of 1848. He treasured memories of his American visit; stating that it profoundly influenced his beliefs and judgment during his reign. Likewise, he left fond memories with those he visited in Marietta.

Marietta College Ambulance Corps

     There is a monument at the corner of Gilman and Virginia Streets in Harmar. It sits near busy traffic lanes, yet offers a serene view of the Ohio River. It was a gift of France, donated as part of the Northwest Territory Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1937-38 in appreciation for the service of the World War I Marietta College Ambulance Unit. On October 17, 1920, French military attaché General Collardet decorated the Corps members for their “noble service.” The solemn ceremony took place in Muskingum Park in the presence of college faculty and community members.

Twenty young men, primarily students from Marietta College and Miami University, had volunteered in 1917 to serve in the Ambulance Corps. Beman G. Dawes, Jr. organized the group with help from his father and others. The group received a rousing send-off by thousands of Mariettans on May 22. 

Photo of Ambulance Corps Ceremony in Marietta College Yearbook, from Marietta College Legacy Library Special Collections. CLICK TO ENLARGE

They landed in France at Bordeaux bearing the first American flag carried by a military organization in WW I. The Corps were actually assigned to “camion service,” not ambulance service, driving large Pierce Arrow trucks to move supplies because that was the most pressing need when they arrived. Yet the “Ambulance Corps” moniker stuck. It was strenuous, dangerous duty, often conducted at night. 

Photo of Ambulance Corps in France with last names written at bottom. From Marietta College Legacy Library Special Collections. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

Several letters from corps members gave fascinating views of their experience. 

Donley Parr from Dayton OH reported in a letter to his brother that the liner Rochambeau which transported the men was followed by German U-Boats. In the U-Boat zone of the Atlantic, “passengers slept on deck in chairs.” Luckily for them, they saw no submarines, but U-Boats sank the Mississippi which followed their boat. The cruise ship menu - offering “French bills of fare” - were not to the group’s liking; they missed their typical American food from home.

On landing at Bordeaux, no one greeted them; they had to fend for themselves at first. Parr described the country as “very attractive and beautiful…It’s wonderful to see the great (patriotic) enthusiasm for their cause. We in America do not appreciate what it means to be fighting for existence.”

 H. Ellis Sibley wrote in a letter that they saw other Americans there. “A fellow named Hall knew friends” of the group. He went out yesterday and failed to come back…So it goes….It is a pretty grim business…..Today we (saw) part of the Aisne battlefield. There were barb-wire entanglements and trenches by the hundreds…We have heard big guns often.”

“The weather here is most peculiar to us…we roast during the day and nearly freeze during the night under three blankets…it rains frequently and our barracks leak!”  

Sibley learned about the war first hand from men on the front. A Canadian soldier was on leave after 32 months. Physically he was ok, but “his nerves were shot.” “Sherman was right,” Sibley astutely observed, referring to General William Tecumseh Sherman’s quote admonishing those who glamorize war. “War is hell,” Sherman bluntly stated. 

A newspaper article reported on Rutherford M. DeArmon’s experience with “the famous Marietta College Ambulance Corps.”  He said the corps members were treated well, including a seven day leave after three months during which they toured Nice. His photos and the reporter’s narrative document the destruction wrought by German artillery. Orchards were “laid waste,…houses shown in ruins, churches were not spared….” Other photos show “stacks of shells ricked up like wood” in public parks and captured German planes on exhibit, plainly showing the German cross. 

The “Ambulance Corps” turned truck drivers worked until mid-November of 1917 when their enlistment ended. Many transferred to other American military units after that. The French recognized not only their dedication but their excellent work doing a difficult task - as civilian volunteers.

Sidebar notes: 

I was surprised to read that the president of Marietta College at the time, George W. Hinman, criticized the Ambulance Corps group. The Marietta Times reported that he called them “cowards,” saying that they recruited their parents to pull strings for them to avoid the draft. I saw no other indication of draft dodging as a motivation for their service.

Your author was curious how the idea for the Ambulance Corps came about. Before researching, I had thought it was a purely grass roots student idea which became an altruistic reality. But I noticed the names of some prominent business people, including parents, who provided financial and other help. So, did the students recruit the parents to help or did the parents recruit the students? It’s not clear; perhaps it was a team effort

Notice of Beman G. Dawes, Jr.’s engagement to Miss Janet Newton appeared in the Washington D. C. Times Herald on July 9, 1917 while Dawes was in France.

H. Ellis Sibley’s father, W. G. Sibley was in New York to see off his son to France. He was editor of the Gallipolis (OH) Tribune and quite a renowned angler. The Idaho Statesman newspaper reported on Sibley’s advice given at New York for successful fishing. He extolled the value of “spitting on the bait” to improve fishing success. “Many fishermen scoff at the idea,” he explained, “but the practice is one of the best aids to anglers.” Why would an Idaho newspaper publish fishing advice given by a man from Ohio offered while he was visiting New York City? Who knows, but it’s entertaining.