Savoring a French Flavor

More than half a century before the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, French settlers from Canada were helping shape the future of a colonial settlement along the Mississippi River. Their legacies live on in Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

Settled about 1740, Ste. Genevieve (pop. 4,476)—named after the patroness of Paris—is among the best preserved French colonial communities in America and evidence of the town’s original settlers survives in its architecture, street and family names, customs and celebrations.

“Ste. Genevieve has the most vertical log French colonial structures in North America,” says Frank Myers, president of The Foundation for the Restoration of Ste. Genevieve.

The Amoreux, Vital Beauvais, and Bequette-Ribault homes are built in the poteaux-en-terre (post-in-ground) style with vertical log walls, made of cedar, set directly into the ground without a foundation. As many as 20 other Ste. Genevieve homes have vertical log walls with stone foundations, a construction method called poteaux-sur-solle (post-on-sill).

Some of the town’s narrow streets bear French names such as DuBourg Place, Gabouri and LaHaye, and many buildings and homes in the downtown National Historic Landmark District have markers with names such as Beauvais, Buldoc, LeCompte and Hubardeau, some dating to the 1770s.

One French custom that survives in Ste. Genevieve is la guignolée (Gi-O-nee), in which 25 masked merrymakers dressed in outrageous outfits stop at inns, bars and other locations on New Year’s Eve to sing a folk song in French welcoming the new year.

Some say la guignolée, which is analogous to the English custom of wassailing, dates back to medieval times in France. Others say the tradition started in Canada.

Today, Ste. Genevieve residents carry on the age-old tradition in honor of their ancestors. “My grandfather taught it to my cousins and me,” says Steve Papin, 33. “I’m proud to sing it in honor of him.”

Seven generations of the Papin family have participated in the event. Steve’s uncle, Pete Papin, 67, taught the tradition to his granddaughter, Erin Martin, 7, who first sang with the group in 2001.

The roving wassailers, mostly men, are composed of four lead singers dressed in frock coats and top hats accompanied by two fiddle players and about 20 chanters. The leaders sing a verse followed by the chanters, dressed as trappers, soldiers, Oriental potentates, American Indians and pirates, repeating it while circling them in a shuffling march. Their reward is food and drink.

Celebrations throughout the year honor the town’s French heritage. Les Petits Chanteur (little singers), ages 4-19, perform at the King’s Ball in February, La Fete Francaise (French Festival) on Memorial weekend, Jour dé Fete (Day of Celebration) in August (the largest art and craft fair in Missouri), and Christmas Walk in December. “We sing in French, German and English,” says Patti Naeger, director of the singing troupe.

Led by Naeger playing an accordion, the children, dressed in French colonial costumes, skip along, singing songs.

Open house at the 1818 Felix Vallé House, a state historic site once home to a prominent merchant, is held each December. “We try to recreate some customs of the early 1800s that might have been here in Ste. Genevieve,” says Jim Baker, administrator. French Christmas carols, decorations, customs and food are a part of the event.

Art Papin, 74, speaks for other local residents when he says, “We’re dedicated to the town’s history.”

Diana West is a freelance writer in Joplin, Mo.

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