Frederick Notrebe (1780–April 4, 1849) was an early settler and businessman in

Arkansas Post, Arkansas Arkansas Post is an unincorporated community located along the north side of the Arkansas River in Arkansas County, Arkansas. It is home to the Arkansas Post National Memorial. History In 1805 the U.S. government established a store at the l ...

. A Frenchman and former soldier, Notrebe immigrated to the United States around the year 1810 and soon moved to Arkansas Post. He originally was involved with the fur trade and trade with the Native Americans, but became a dominate figure in the eastern Arkansas cotton market, both growing his own cotton and purchasing cotton from others for resale. He was one of the founders of Napoleon, Arkansas, which he named after

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Having to conduct some of his business on the

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

basis and desiring greater circulation of money in the region, Notrebehelped bring a branch of the State Bank of Arkansas to Arkansas Post, for which purposes he donated land. Notrebe's land holdings grew to and he owned 119 slaves; for a time he was the largest slaveholder in

Arkansas County, Arkansas Arkansas County, officially the County of Arkansas, is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,149. Located in the Arkansas Delta, the count ...

. He entertained many notable guests at his home, including

Albert Pike Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate States Army general who served as an List of justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court, associate justice of the Arkansas Supr ...

and

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

; Notrebe may have been the inspiration for a character in Irving's short story "The Creole Village". Notrebe died in 1849 of either cholera or pneumonia in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Biography

Little is known about the early life of Frederick Notrebe. He was born in France in 1780. That he served in the French military is known, but the details of this are unclear. Some sources state that he served under

Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey (or Jannot de Moncey), 1st duc de Conegliano (31 July 1754 – 20 April 1842) was a French military officer and a prominent commander in the French Revolutionary Wars and later a Marshal of the Empire during the Napo ...

, while others indicate service during the time of the

French Consulate The Consulate () was the top-level government of the First French Republic from the fall of the French Directory, Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire on 9 November 1799 until the start of the First French Empire, French Empire on 18 May 1804. ...

. It is possible that he was a soldier during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. Notrebe was an admirer of

. Circa 1810, Notrebe immigrated to the United States of America. According to archaeologist Kathleen Cande, Notrebe entered the country at New Orleans, Louisiana Territory before moving to

Arkansas Post The Arkansas Post (; ), officially the Arkansas Post National Memorial, was the first European colonization of the Americas, European settlement located along the Mississippi River, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the present-day U. ...

. By 1811, Notrebe owned a house in Arkansas Post, and another early settler later stated that Notrebe was there in mid-1810. He married Mary Felicite Bellette in 1811, she was 17 at the time. According to

George William Featherstonhaugh George William Featherstonhaugh ( /ˈfɪərstənhɔː/ '' FEER-stən-haw''; 9April 178028September 1866) was a British-American geologist and geographer. He was one of the proposers of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad and was the first geolo ...

, Mary was a Creole with some Native American ancestry. Boyd W. Johnson, in a biographical article about Notrebe, writes that the couple had "at least five" children, while Cande states that the couple had six. A contemporary stated that Notrebe had a dark complexion and black hair. Notrebe traded with the Native Americans for bear oil and pelts, and became a successful businessman, eventually owning a plantation from Arkansas Post. A business partnership with

Antoine Barraque Antoine Barraque (born April 15, 1773October 29, 1858), also known as Antoine Barraque Sr., was a French Indian trader who founded New Gascony, Arkansas. Biography Barraque was born in France, on April 15, 1773. A veteran of Napoleon's Old Gu ...

for trading and fur trapping employed over 100 people. Notrebe owned 119 slaves, the first of which was acquired in 1817. Notrebe first expanded his business interests from the trading operation to include the ownership of a dry goods store. In 1819, he entered the cotton trade, and in the words of Cande, "eventually had a virtual monopoly on the cotton market in eastern Arkansas". Notrebe's prominence in cotton growing was the result of the high quality of the cotton he grew; he experimented with foreign strains of cotton. After constructing a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

in 1827, Notrebe made improvements to it that reduced the risk of fire. Besides producing cotton under his own auspices, Notrebe would purchase cotton from others, often contracting with local farmers at the beginning of the growing season to purchase their entire crop; after paying cash for the cotton, he would ship it down to New Orleans. According to Arkansas County tax records, between 1825 and 1840, his property grew from to and from 8 "taxable slaves" to 43; he was the largest slaveholder in Arkansas County in 1840. Notrebe alone accounted for 18% of the increase in taxable property for the entire county. His land holdings eventually grew to across what became five counties in Arkansas. The historian S. Charles Bolton describes Notrebe, as of 1840, as "the only merchant of note in Arkansas Post". By 1830, the Arkansas Post area had become a major cotton production area, predicated upon slave labor and the development of the steamboat. He was one of the founders of Napoleon, Arkansas, which he named after the French leader. A shortage of currency in the region resulted Notrebe having to carry on some of his business on the

basis. Desiring more circulation of money in the region, Notrebe helped bring a branch of the State Bank of Arkansas to Arkansas Post, and donated land for the site of the bank branch, which was built in 1839. The Arkansas Post region entered into an economic downturn after the 1830s; the State Bank of Arkansas failed in 1843 and the Arkansas Post branch building eventually became a stable. He was known as Colonel Notrebe; this may have been an honorary title originating with his French military service and informally bestowed by his friends, or an actual rank derived from service in the militias of the

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southe ...

and the

Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a organized incorporated territory of the United States, territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the ...

. He entertained a number of important visitors, including

, and Territorial Governor John Pope; Pope was surprised to find that Notrebe had silverware,

cut glass Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of Molding (process), moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasiv ...

, and a number of servants in the frontier setting of Arkansas Post; after the territorial capital had relocated to

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

in 1821, many of the Arkansas Territory's leading citizens had moved to that city. Notrebe may have been the inspiration for a character in Irving's short story "The Creole Village". Notrebe died while on a business trip to New Orleans, on April 4, 1849. An article published in the ''Arkansas Democrat'' attributed his death to pneumonia, but Johnson notes that his death has also been attributed to cholera. Johnson describes his will as "one of the most unusual legal documents on record at the court house in DeWitt". Cande notes that one source claims Notrebe was buried at Arkansas Post but that the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

Biography

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