Pierre Vernaz

(1825-1905)

Pierre Vernaz

(1825-1905)

Patrick Hoggard

March, 2017

Cover: Bulle, Grand Rue, ca. 1910 patrimoine-gruyère-veveyse.ch

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Switzerland 7

St. Louis 32

Warrensburg 48

Afterword 71

1

Introduction

Four brief summaries of the life of Pierre Vernaz have

appeared in print. One was part of a biography of Pierre’s son,

Adam Vernaz, in the 1918 History of Johnson County, Missouri.1

Adam Vernaz … was born October 3, 1863 in St. Louis,

Missouri, son of Pierre and Callette (Pithoud) Vernaz,

natives of Switzerland. Pierre Vernaz was born in

December, 1823 and Callette (Pithoud) Vernaz was born

in 1828. They were united in marriage in Bulle,

Switzerland, and about 1844, when Pierre Vernaz was

twenty-one years of age, emigrated from Switzerland to

America. They came to America on a sailing boat and

were thirty-one days on the way. Mr. Jaccard, of the

Jaccard Jewelry Company, of Kansas City, Missouri,

came to America from Switzerland on the same boat. To

Pierre and Colette Vernaz were born the following

children: Eva, [now living in] Dwight, Oklahoma;

Adam, the subject of this review; Mrs. Van Meter, [now

living in] Dwight, Oklahoma; and Mrs. W. W. Scott,

1 Ewing Cockrell, History of Johnson County, Missouri, Topeka, Kansas, Historical Publishing Company, 1918, pp. 474-475.

2

[now living in] Darlington, Oklahoma. Her husband is

Indian agent there. J. C. Vernaz, the fourth son [sic] of

Pierre and Callette Vernaz, died in Warrensburg,

Missouri in 1906.

After the Civil War Pierre Vernaz went west with a

government train and when near Ft. Laramie, Wyoming,

was attacked by the Indians. Mr. Vernaz was shot

through the left hand, crippling him for life. He had no

way of procuring medical attention until he returned to

St. Louis, Missouri, and when he went to the hospital it

was too late to cure the wound. Prior to the accident,

Pierre Vernaz had been a tailor, but he was obliged to

give up his trade because of the crippled hand. His

death occurred in December, 1906, at Warrensburg, and

in 1907 his wife died.

Adam Vernaz came to Warrensburg with his parents in

1867, when he was four years of age. The Vernaz family

located in the old town…

While this sketch provides useful details about Pierre’s life, the

dates are completely unreliable.

A second account of his life was an obituary published in the

Sedalia Evening Democrat (Sedalia lies about 30 miles east of

Warrensburg), entitled “Death of a Veteran”.2

Pierre Vernaz, aged 82, and a veteran of three wars, died

at his home in Warrensburg, Sunday morning. He was

born in Bulle, Canton de Fribourg, Switzerland,

December 20, 1823.

During the war of Carlo Alberto, the Italian King, with

Austria, in 1848, he and several other adventurous

2 Sedalia Evening Democrat, December 18, 1905, p. 1

3

spirits from his home joined the Italian army and fought

in several battles.

Afterward he returned to Switzerland and married Miss

Colette Pythoud, shortly afterward emigrating to this

country and settling in St. Louis.

In 1857 he joined a party bound for Fort Laramie. When

near this fort they were attacked by a hostile band of

Indians, and the whole party dispersed.

Mr. Vernaz received a bullet wound in his hand, and,

deserted by his friends and with his wounds undressed,

he tramped his way to Fort Leavenworth. The only

treatment his wound received was to cool the fever in

the water of the streams he crossed.

Mr. Vernaz removed to Warrensburg in 1867. He spent

his latter life in orcharding and the production of native

wines. Among his children are Adam Vernaz, a

Warrensburg printer, whose wife was formerly Miss

Fannie O’Brien, of Sedalia.3

Among the discrepancies between these two stories, the most

striking is probably the timing of the fateful trip to Fort

Laramie. This will be addressed in due course.

A third biography appeared in an 1881 county history:4

Pierre Vernaz, proprietor of the vineyard denominated

Over the Rhine, is a native of Switzerland, and born in

3 A condensed version of the obituary appeared in the Kansas City

(Kansas) Gazette on December 25, 1905, p. 3, with the title “Veteran of Three Wars”. 4 F. A. North, ed., The History of Johnson County, Missouri, Including a

Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City Historical Company, 1881, p. 827.

4

the city of Bulle, in the State of Friburg, December 25,

1828. He was raised and educated in his native country

until the age of eighteen years. When about fifteen years

of age he went and served his time of learning the

tailor's trade. After finishing this he spent some time

traveling western France, Italy and many of her

principal cities. In 1850 he married Miss Colette

Pythoud, of the same county as that of her husband. He

then engaged in the tailoring business for himself, and

his new wife engaged in the millinery business, which

they continued successfully until 1854, when they

emigrated to the United States. Arriving at New York

they immediately went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he

engaged in his former business, making a stay of about

thirteen years. During this time he joined a company

whose object was to go to Fort Laramie to trade with the

Indians. While en route they were attacked by the

Indians and he was shot through the hand, and beaten

and bruised so that he was given up for dead. He was

taken to the hospital at Fort Kearney, NE where he lay

for a long time. After a partial recovery he was taken

back to St. Louis where he continued to reside until 1867,

when he moved with his family to Warrensburg and

settled in Oldtown, where he remained until 1875. He

then purchased five acres of land north of what is now

known as New Town, on which he has grown the

choicest varieties of fruits, including about two acres of

grapes, consisting of eight varieties, from which he

makes the best of wine. They have five children living:

Eve, Adam, Mary A., Ida A. and Julius C.

Yet a fourth biography was written in 1966 as part of a 70 th

year celebration of the existence of the Vernaz Drug Co. in

Warrensburg:5

5 Vernaz Drug Co. 1896-1966, author unknown. I suspect that the

source of information about Pierre Vernaz was Eva Vernaz, his daughter.

5

December 25, 1828, Pierre Vernaz was born in Bulle, Switzerland. He was raised and educated in his native

country until the age of eighteen. When Pierre was fifteen years old, he went to tailor school. After learning

the trade, he spent some time traveling in Western France. In 1850 Pierre Vernaz married Miss Colette

Pythoud of Switzerland. Pierre was in the tailoring

business for himself at that time. After getting married, he went into the millinery business. He and his wife

continued this business successfully until 1854 when they emigrated to the United States.

Arriving at New York, Pierre and his wife immediately

went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in his

former business. They lived in St. Louis about thirteen years.

After the Civil War, Pierre Vernaz joined a company

whose object was to go to Fort Laramie to trade with the Indians. While en route, they were attacked by Indians.

Pierre was shot through the hand, beaten, and bruised

so badly that he was given up for dead. He was taken to the hospital at Fort Kearney where he lay for a long

time. After a partial recovery, he was taken back to St. Louis where he continued to reside until 1867. He then

moved with his family to Warrensburg and settled in Oldtown.

In 1875 Pierre purchased five acres of land at the corner of North Holden Street and Cleveland Street. Here he

grew the choicest varieties of fruits, including about two acres of grapes, consisting of eight varieties from which

he made the best of wine. Pierre’s death occurred in December, 1906, at Warrensburg. In 1907 his wife,

Colette, died.

Several of the discrepancies in dates among these accounts will be discussed in the rest of this narrative. The four biographies will be referred to as (1) the 1918 county history (wherein Pierre’s story is contained within a biography of

6

Adam Vernaz), (2) the obituary, (3) the 1881 county history,

and (4) the Vernaz Drug Store biography.

7

Switzerland

Pierre Vernaz was born in the town of Bulle in the Swiss

canton of Fribourg. Though Bulle had a population of little

more than a thousand at the time, it was a locally important

town, and the capital of its district, Gruyère. The picture

below was drawn around 1910.6

6 Patrimoine Gruyere-Veveyse , www.patrimoine-gruyere-vevyse.ch.

8

The steeple of the Catholic church, the Eglise Saint-Pierre-aux-

liens (St. Peter in Chains), can be seen on the left.

The four biographies in the preceding section give three

separate dates for the birth of Pierre Vernaz. In the 1918

county history it is simply December, 1823. In the 1881 county

history it is December 25, 1828, as it is also in the Vernaz Drug

Store biography. In his obituary, the date presumably

provided by his wife, Colette, or one of their children, it is

December 20, 1823. Perhaps Pierre’s birthday was celebrated

on December 20 each year. Similar inconsistencies occur

among the ages reported in U.S. federal censuses from 1860

through 1900.

None of the dates in the biographies are even close to his

actual date of birth, April 22, 1825, as recorded in the parish

register in the town of Bulle. A copy of the entry, which is in

Latin, is shown below. The translation is as follows:7

On April 22, 1825 was born the legitimate son of Jean Baptiste Vernaz, a citizen of Bulle, and Marie Anne

Adelaide, neé Perroud, from Avry, who are married. He was baptized the next day by me, the undersigned

Pastor, in the parish church of St. Pierre-aux-liens. The

godfather was Vincent Hermann from Glanis; the godmother Catherine Dubourg from Chatel St. Denis,

each an inhabitant of Bulle, and to him was imposed the name Pierre Joseph Vincent.

The entry was signed by Glatis Reidhaar, Pastor of Bulle.

Pierre’s full name was Pierre Joseph Vincent Vernaz, and as will be seen, he was often called Vincent as a child. The town

of Bulle is in the district of Gruyére in the canton of Fribourg.

7 Translation kindly provided by Fr. Leo Stelten, author of Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin , Hendrickson Pub., 1995.

9

Its location within the canton can be seen on the map below.

Bulle is south of Fribourg, and a part of Lake Geneva can be

seen in the southwest corner.

10

The parents of Pierre Vernaz were Jean Baptiste Vernaz, from

Bulle, and Marie Anne Adelaide Perroud, from Avry devant

Pont. As will be seen later in this narrative, the parents of

Colette Pythoud were Joseph Antoine Pythoud, of Albeuve,

and Marie Josephine Felicité Sudan, of La Tour-de-Trême.

These towns are all in the district of Gruyère in the canton of

11

Fribourg. They can be seen in this map of the Gruyère district.

The distance from Montbovon, in the southern extremity of

the district, to Pont-la-Ville, on the northern border, is

approximately 30 km. Bulle is the district capital, and lies

about 20 km south of Fribourg.

Censuses of the canton of Fribourg were conducted at

irregular intervals, commencing in 1811. These provide useful

snapshots of the Vernaz and Pythoud families. In examining

the census information one must keep in mind that at the time

people were often called by their middle names. One might

find a person listed by first name in one census, a middle

name on another, and a nickname on yet another.

12

1811 Census8

By 1811 Joseph Antoine Pythoud had already married Marie

Josephine Felicité Sudan. They were living in Bulle and were

listed on the census as Antoine (age 28) and Marie Pithoud

(age 25). They had two children, Josephine (age 3) and

Caroline (age 2). Antoine’s occupation was maréchal. While

this could conceivably correspond to a high rank in the army,

it is much more likely that it referred to a blacksmith, a

maréchal-ferrant. The 1811 census recorded the owner of each

house, and theirs was listed as Maison Pithoud. Several other

Pithoud families were living in Bulle, probably all of them

originally from the town of Albeuve.

Pierre Vernaz’s father, Jean Baptiste Vernaz, was 19 years old

and living in a household with his mother, sister, and half-

brother, as shown in the extract below.

au ferrage

Maison

Judet

Marie Judet, veuve 57 Point

Jean Vernaz 19 id

Claudine Vernaz 16 id

Silvestre Judet 12 id

The last column specifies the occupation, which for all four

members of the household was Point (id is short for idem).

Here this means “none”.

Maison Judet was located au ferrage, that is, at the forge, or

smithy. A “ferrage” was a place where horseshoes were made

and horses shod with them. The old English word farriery

derives from ferrage, as does the word farrier, the person who

8 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1811”;. Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

13

works at the farriery. According to the census there were five

houses in all situated au ferrage.

The area of the ferrage is shown explicitly on this 1860 map of

the area.9 It is located well outside of town, to the northeast.

On the map there are four houses around the ferrage, which

may well correspond to four of the five houses on the 1811

census. Today there is a rue du Ferrage in Bulle at the same

location, now a residential street on the outskirts of the town.

9 Office fédéral de topographie, map.geo.admin.ch, Journey through

time 1860.

14

Jean’s mother Marie was a widow twice over. Her first

husband was, from information yet to be presented, also

named Jean Baptiste Vernaz. He must have died around 1798.

Marie then married a man named Judet (there were lots of

them in Bulle), who had by 1811 also died.

One other Vernaz lived in Bulle in 1811, Vincent Vernaz, age

26 and unmarried. He lived in one of the other houses au

ferrage, Maison Grangier, where he was a domestique to the

Grangier family. Because of this proximity, it seems likely that

he was a brother to Jean and Claudine.

In 1811 there were 11 other Vernaz families in Switzerland, all

of whom lived in La Tour-de-Trême, which at the time was

slightly less than two kilometers southeast of Bulle. Today the

two towns are contiguous. The patriarch of the Tour-de-

Trême Vernaz clan in 1811 was Pierre Vernaz, 88 years old

and a widower.

As stated in the baptismal entry in the parish records, the

mother of our Pierre Vernaz was Marie Anne Adelaide

Perroud, of Avry devant Pont. In the 1811 census her family is

not to be found in Bulle, La Tour-de-Trême, or Avry devant

Pont. It is likely that they were living somewhere in the

Gruyère District, but I have not yet found them.

15

1818 Census10

In 1818 Antoine and Marie (Sudan) Pythoud were no longer

living in Bulle, but had moved to Albeuve, in the southern tip

of the Gruyère district, the town in which Antoine Pythoud

was born. Albeuve was a small community, with 467

inhabitants, 80 of whom carried the name Pythoud, some

spelled Pithoud on the census. Antoine was still a maréchal

and they had only the same two children they had had in 1811

– Josephine and Caroline, now 10 and 8 years old.

Jean Baptiste Vernaz was still living on the ferrage, with his

mother and half-brother, Silvestre. Jean’s sister, Claudine, had

married Hilaire Baudevin and they had a one-year old son.

On the 1818 census, houses were no longer identified by the

owner but by a permanent house number, a different number

for each building in the town. Hilaire and Claudine Baudevin

were living in Maison No. 121.

The entry in the census for Jean Vernaz’s household in Maison

No. 139 is shown below.

There are several oddities here. One is that Jean’s mother

appears to have aged just three years between 1811 and 1818.

It is unclear which age was correct, but the age of 60 in 1818 is

consistent with her reported age in subsequent censuses.

10 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1818”;. Images. FamilySearch.org,

Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

16

A second oddity is that Marie Judet’s last name was not

recorded in 1818. Instead she was listed as Marie Ursule née

Gendre veuve [widow] de Baptiste Vernaz. As for Silvestre (here

Sylvestre) Judet, his last name was not specified either and, in

fact, one would suppose from what was recorded that both

Marie and Silvestre carried the last name Vernaz.

Bulle was a small town, with about 1300 inhabitants, and one

might imagine that the census taker would know everyone.

However, this census was taken by the prefect, Tobie de

Gottrau, originally of Fribourg. Prefects were appointed by

the government of the canton, and he may not have lived in

Bulle long enough to have met Marie Judet prior to collecting

the information for this census. Mssr. du Gottrau appears to

have been a conscientious census taker. He recorded maiden

names and the names of dead spouses, which was not done in

other localities. It would seem that Mme. Judet simply did not

get around to telling him about her second husband. Perhaps

he had been an embarrassment.

Thus Mssr. du Gottrau may have just assumed that Silvestre’s

last name was Vernaz, like Jean’s. In the next census, both

Marie and Silvestre would again appear with the last name

Judet.

We can use information from the 1811 and 1818 censuses to

bracket the birthdate of Jean Baptiste Vernaz, father of Pierre

Vernaz. In 1811 the census taker visited his house on March

26, and Jean’s age was 19. In 1818 the date on which the

census taker reached his house was not noted, but the entire

census was finished on March 1. Jean was 25 years old. Jean

was evidently born in February or March of 1792. Mssr. du

Gottrau entered occupations on the census form only

occasionally, and unfortunately, Jean’s was not listed.

17

Vincent Vernaz, Jean’s brother, was married to Marie (née

Buchs) and they also lived in one of the houses au ferrage,

Maison No. 136. They had seven children, two of whom were

apparently from Marie’s previous marriage. Vincent’s

occupation was not listed.

Meanwhile, the family of Marie Perroud, who would become

Pierre Vernaz’s mother, had moved from wherever they were

in 1811 to Bulle. Marie was 13 years old, the second of seven

children in the family. Her parents were Pierre Perroud, age

63, and Sophie, née Maradan, age 43. Pierre’s occupation was

not listed. The family lived in Maison No. 134, located au

Verdel, corresponding to today’s Route du Verdel, just to the

west of the ferrage.

At this point we have the names of the parents and

grandparents of Pierre Vernaz.

18

Marriage of Jean Vernaz and Marie Perroud

In 1818 or 1819, Jean Vernaz married Marie Perroud. Their

first child, Marie, was born in 1819 or 1820. Jacques was born

in March, 1821. Francoise was born two years later.

In March, 1824, they left the family home on the ferrage and

moved closer to the center of Bulle, on Rue de bouleyres, a

19

principal street that at the edge of town became the highway

leading eastward (today it is called the Chemin de Bouleyres). A

view of a small part of the Rue de Bouleyres from a photograph

made about a century ago is shown above.

They occupied Maison No. 188, a multifamily dwelling.

Jacques Vernaz reported on the 1870 census that he had

occupied the house he was living in since March of 1824,11

hence that might be when the family moved to Maison No.

188. However, Jacques could not have occupied that house

continuously, because the family later moved to another

house on the same street, and Jacques himself was absent

from Bulle for many years.

As stated in the entry in the parish register, Pierre Joseph

Vincent Vernaz was born April 2, 1825.

1831 Census12

In 1831 the only information recorded on the census was the

name of the head of the household and the number of persons

residing in that house. Jean Vernaz was listed as head of a

household of 10. According to a later census, he and Marie

would have had six children at this point. My guess is that

Jean’s half-brother Silvestre and Silvestre’s new wife were

living with them. Silvestre Judet was not himself listed in the

census. Jean and Silvestre’s mother, Marie Judet, was living by

herself. Vincent Vernaz was listed in a household of one, the

explanation for which is not clear.

11 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1870”;. Images. FamilySearch.org,

Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg , Gruyère district, Bulle DI IIa, p. 175,

familysearch.org. 12 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1831”;. Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

20

1834 Census13

In 1834 Jean and Marie Anne (Perroud) Vernaz were still

living in Maison 188 on the Rue de bouleyres with six children.

This would complete their family, and the names are listed

below, as entered on the census form.

Jean 40

Marie Anne 35

Marie 14

Jacques 13

Francoise 11½

Vincent 9

Joseph 5½

Charles 4½

Note that Pierre, who had been baptized Pierre Joseph

Vincent Vernaz, was listed as Vincent. Again Jean’s

occupation was not given, an infrequent omission in the 1834

census of Bulle.

Jean’s mother, Marie Ursule Judet, age 77, was living sur le

Verdel (near the ferrage, but not on it) in Maison No. 133, with a

family of Judets headed by another Marie Judet, age 53. She

was the widow of Joseph Judet, who may have been a nephew

of the older Marie. Joseph and the younger Marie were living

in the same house they had lived in in 1818.

Jean’s brother Vincent was still in Maison No. 136, but its

location was specified as En Jericho, rather than au ferrage.

Today in Bulle the Rue de Jéricho lies just to the northeast of the

Rue du Ferrage. With Vincent were his wife, Marie, and one of

13 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1834”;. Database with Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

21

their children, Francois, age 20. Vincent’s occupation was

coltivateur.

Jean’s half-brother, Silvestre Judet, was living in Bulle in

Maison No. 72, stated to be au Cabalet. This must be the present

Place du Cabalet, in the center of town. His occupation was

fossoyeur, or gravedigger. Jean’s sister, Claudine Baudevin,

was in Maison No. 293, also au Cabalet, with her husband, two

children, and several Baudevin relatives.

In 1818 Pierre Vernaz’s maternal grandparents, Pierre and

Sophie Perroud, had been living in Maison No. 134, between

Joseph and Marie Judet (Maison No. 133) and Vincent Vernaz

(Maison No. 136). I can find no trace of them in 1834, and they

were probably deceased.

Antoine and Marie (Sudan) Pythoud had moved back from

Albeuve and in 1834 were living in Maison No. 116 of La Tour-

de-Trême. He was still a maréchal (farrier). Marie was listed in

the census as Mariette. They had five children at home,

including Colette, age 5. Since the census was taken in March,

1834, and Colette’s birthday was in October (if her headstone

is correct) she would have turned 6 in 1834 and was therefore

born in 1828.

1839 Census14

In this census street names and other terms for location were

not recorded, but the same house numbers were still in use.

14 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1839”;. Database with Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

22

During the five years between the censuses of 1834 and 1839

Pierre Vernaz’s father, Jean, had died, as had his

grandmother, Marie Judet, and his aunt, Claudine Baudevin.

Jean and Claudine were both less than 45 years old when they

died.

Pierre’s family had moved from Maison No. 188 to Maison No.

280, which was on the same street, Rue du Bouleyres. They

were the sole occupants of this house. Jean’s mother, Marie

Anne, was listed as Marianne. Pierre Vernaz, who on the 1834

census was Vincent, in 1839 was Baptiste. I assume that this

was his confirmation name, perhaps chosen in honor of his

recently deceased father. The family at this time was as shown

in the table below.

Marianne 40

Mariette 19

Jaques 18

Fanchette 17

Baptiste 13

Joseph 11

Charles 9

Pierre’s uncle Vincent was not on the 1839 census of Bulle, but

Vincent’s wife, Marie (age 60), and son, Francois (age 22),

were still living in Maison No. 136. Marie was listed as married

but not widowed. I have not discovered where Vincent was in

1839, but whatever he was doing, he might have been doing it

with his half-brother, Silvestre Judet, who, along with his wife

and son, is also not to be found on the census of Bulle nor of

La Tour-de-Trême.

When the census was prepared, Colette Pythoud was 10 years

old and living with her parents, Antoine and Mariette (as she

was listed) Pythoud, still in La Tour-de-Trême. Antoine was,

23

as always, a maréchal. Colette’s age is again consistent with a

birth date in October, 1828.

1845 Census15

In 1845 the only members of Pierre Vernaz’s family remaining

in Maison No. 280 were his mother, again recorded as

Marianne rather than Marie Anne, and his sister Marie, living

there with her husband, Jean Paquier. His other sister,

Fanchette (Francoise), had married another Paquier and they

were living elsewhere in Bulle.

Pierre was again listed as Vincent (with fils attached, to

distinguish him from his uncle Vincent, who was listed on the

same page). Pierre (Vincent) was living with a family named

Daflon in Maison No. 136, the house in which his uncle

Vincent had lived for many years. None of Pierre’s three

brothers can be found in Bulle or in La Tour-de-Trême.

Speaking of Vincent, he and Pierre’s other uncle, Silvestre

Judet, had returned from whatever enterprise they had been

involved with six years earlier. Silvestre was living with his

wife and son in a large multifamily dwelling, while Vincent

was living alone in Maison No. 139, the house au ferrage in

which Pierre’s father, Jean, had lived as a boy, and probably

the house in which Vincent had grown up.

At the time of the 1845 census Colette Pythoud was 17 years

old, still living with her parents and three brothers and sisters

in the same house in La Tour-de-Trême.

15 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1845”;. Database with Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

24

The First Italian War of Independence

Pierre’s obituary states that in 1848 he participated “in the

Italian army” in Carlo Alberto’s war against Austria. There

was no Italian army at the time, because there was no Italy.

The 1848 conflict is commonly called the First Italian War of

Independence. Below is a map showing the political division

of Italy in 1848.

Lombardy and Venetia had been incorporated into the

Austrian Empire, and the Austrians had many troops

stationed in those two regions. The dukedoms of Parma and

Modena were Austrian puppet states. The rest of the

25

peninsula worried constantly about further Austrian

encroachment.

A lot happened around Europe in the first few months of

1848. In France the monarchy was again overthrown. Sicily

managed to secede from Naples, that is, from the Kingdom of

the Two Sicilies. Popular uprisings secured various levels of

citizen participation in the governments of all of the regions of

Italy not controlled by Austria. In April, citizens of Milan, in

Lombardy, revolted and held off the Austrians for several

days.16 Carlo Alberto, the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, seized

the moment to invade, and supporting troops were soon sent

from Tuscany, Naples, and the Papal States.17

Carlo Alberto had several successes at the beginning. The

Austrians were driven completely out of Lombardy in barely

two weeks, and he won several battles near Verona, the

stronghold of the Austrian army.

So where was Pierre Vernaz during these battles? It is very

unlikely that he hiked down from Bulle and joined the

Piedmont army. Swiss mercenaries had been prized in

European wars for centuries and had often made the

difference between victory and defeat. But these mercenaries

were organized in Switzerland – in the home cantons, to be

specific – and hired out as fighting units. This brought glory

to the soldiers and cash to the cantons.18 This was about to

change for good – in 1848 the recruitment of new Swiss

mercenary units was outlawed, and a few years later 16 G. F.-H. and J. Berkeley, Italy in the Making, January 1st 1848 to November 16th 1848, Cambridge University Press, 1940. 17 Pope Pius IX felt unable to declare war against Catholic Austria,

but his troops soon became part of the Piedmont-Sardinian army. 18 John McCormack, One Million Mercenaries: Swiss Soldiers in the Armies of the World, London, Leo Cooper, 1993.

26

mercenary activity was completely outlawed. Those already

fighting in 1848 were not affected by the new legislation.

Carlo Alberto had not contracted for any Swiss units. Only

two states had – the Papal States, with their legendary Swiss

Guards, and Naples.19 Both of these Swiss contingents saw

action. Which was Pierre in?

We get a hint, but no more than a hint, from the 1850 census

of the canton of Fribourg, which included a special list for

citizens currently living out of the canton. Pierre (as Baptiste

again, as on the 1839 census) and his three brothers are all on

this list.20

The entry for Jacques, Pierre’s older brother, states that he was

in Algeria, working as a domestique. No entry was made for

the year of his departure from the canton.21 Pierre’s

19 G. F.-H. and J. Berkeley, op. cit. 20 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1850”;. Database with Images.

FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg. 21 On the 1860 census, Jacques was again living in Bulle.

27

(Baptiste’s) location is not stated. Probably whoever supplied

the information did not know. The form does state that he was

a sellier, i.e., a saddler, and had departed in 1844 (despite

having been listed on the 1845 census). Pierre’s younger

brother Joseph was a soldier in Naples, for which he had

departed in 1847. The youngest brother, Charles, was also a

soldier in Naples, having left the canton in 1848. Charles was

identified as an invalide, with no hope of return.

Was Pierre, like his two brothers, among the Swiss troops in

the Neapolitan army? If so, was he a soldier like his brothers,

or had he been a saddler in the army? Two of the four

biographies from the Introduction state that Pierre traveled in

France before he was married, and do not mention the war at

all. Was he actually hiring out as a saddler somewhere in

France in 1848? It is unlikely that we will get answers to these

questions.

If Pierre was in the Neapolitan service, his contribution to the

war would have been very limited, if there was any. Less than

half of the Swiss troops from Naples were among those sent

north to oppose the Austrians, and the Neapolitan army was

recalled very shortly after they arrived in the area of battle.

They returned to Naples because a revolt had broken out

there. The Swiss troops in the city were ordered by Ferdinand,

the Bourbon kind, to break down the barricades, which they

did quite efficiently, earning the disapprobation of the

people.22

The Swiss troops were considered the backbone of the Papal

army, and they saw more action than the Neapolitan Swiss in

the fight against Austrian dominion. The first task of the Papal

army was to halt a column sent to reinforce and resupply the

22 G. F.-H. and J. Berkeley, op. cit.

28

Austrians in Verona. The Swiss were sent to intercept the

main column, but the general of the Papal army had been

deceived about the Austrians’ line of march. The Austrians

attacked where the Papal army had the largest number of

troops, but the least experienced, and got through. The Swiss

troops were left out of the main fighting.23

The Austrians were far better organized and more

professional than Carlo Alberto’s army or those of his Italian

supporters. Austria began to regain ground lost. The Swiss

troops again saw action at the Battle of Vicenza, in June, 1848,

defending against an Austrian attack. The Austrians prevailed

and the Papal army capitulated. They were paroled and did

not fight again.

1850 Census24

Despite the fact that Pierre Vernaz appears, with his brothers,

on the 1850 list of citizens of Bulle absent from the country, he

(unlike his brothers) was also enumerated in the regular

census for that year, this time as Pierre. He was residing in

Bulle, in Maison No. 280, with the family of Jean and Marie

Paquier. Marie was Pierre’s older sister. Maison No. 280 was

the house on the Rue de Bouleyres, in which the Vernaz family

was living at the time of the 1839 and 1845 censuses. Pierre’s

occupation was listed as tailleur. Both the regular census and

the list of absent persons were supposed to have been

compiled in March, 1850. Pierre’s listing on the regular census

was dated March 23, while the list of absent persons was

23 Ibid. 24 “Suisse, Fribourg, Recensement, 1850”;. Database with Images. FamilySearch.org, Archives de l’Etat de Fribourg.

29

undated. We can probably assume that Pierre returned to

Bulle after the list of absent persons had been prepared.

Marianne Vernaz (née Marie Anne Perroud), Pierre’s mother,

also lived in Maison No. 280, in a separate apartment together

with a domestique. Vincent Vernaz, Pierre’s uncle, now 66

years old, was living in Bulle in the old Vernaz family home

on the ferrage, Maison No. 139. Pierre’s other uncle, Silvestre

Judet, was also living in Bulle.

Colette Pythoud (spelled Pithoud on this census) was living

with her older sister Caroline in Bulle. Each of them was listed

with the occupation modiste, which means milliner. They sold

hats, and possibly made them too. Their parents were still

living in nearby La Tour-de-Trême.

Marriage and Emigration

A few months after the census was taken, Pierre Vernaz

married Colette Pythoud. The entry in the parish register,

again in Latin, is shown below. Here is an English

translation:25

On October 7, 1850, in a solemn high mass in the church

of the parish of St. Pierre-aux-Liens of the city of Bulle …, by the dispensation of the diocese of Lausanne and

Geneva, a marriage ceremony was performed by Fr.

Cleus Ralli of the parish church of St. Pierre -aux-Liens of the city of Bulle. Pierre Joseph, son of the deceased

Jean Baptiste Vernaz of Bulle and Marie Anne Adelaide, neé Perroud, of Avry devant Pont, was joined together

with Anne Marie Colette, daughter of Joseph Anton Pythoud of Albeuve and Marie Josephine Felicité, neé

Sudan, of La Tour de Trême. Married in the presence of

25 Translation kindly provided by Fr. Leo Stelten,

30

the witnesses Jean Paquier of Bulle and Pierre Ecoffey,

also of Bulle. This marriage contract was entered

without civil impediment on October 5, 1850.

Pierre Ecoffey was a neighbor to another family of Pythouds,

residents of the same building in Bulle. Jean Paquier was

Pierre Vernaz’s brother-in-law.

31

The 1918 county history biography states that Pierre and

Colette emigrated to the United States in 1844, which is clearly

impossible, while the obituary states only that they left for

America shortly after they were married. Both the 1881 county

history and the Vernaz Drug Store biography say that they

emigrated in 1854, which is quite plausible.

According to these two biographies, after being married in

1850, Pierre and Colette either continued their separate trades

or combined to run Colette’s millinery business for four

years.26 They emigrated in 1854, landed in New York, and

went directly to St. Louis. It is unfortunate that Pierre and

Colette cannot be found on a surviving passenger list,

depriving us of more detail. The biography from the 1918

county history states that they were 31 days on the ocean,

which is certainly reasonable. It also states that a Mr. Jaccard,

of the Jaccard Jewelry Store in Kansas City, was on board,

which, unfortunately gets us no further.27

26 Recall that Caroline Pythoud was also part of that business,

probably the founder. 27 The founder of the Jaccard Watch & Jewelry Company in Kansas

City, Eugene Jaccard, was born in 1861. His father, who immigrated

to the U.S. in 1845, was the third Jaccard to be involved with the Jaccard jewelry business in St. Louis. It is certainly possible that one

of the three Jaccards was returning from a trip to Switzerland in 1854, or a son of one of the first two Jaccards.

32

St. Louis

Pierre is not to be found in St. Louis city directories from 1851

to 1854, which is consistent with immigration in 1854. I have

not found directories for 1855 or 1856 (there may not have

been one), but Pierre Vernaz was in the 1857 directory.

Supply Train to Fort Laramie

All of the sketches in the Introduction tell of the incident in

which Pierre was wounded in the hand by a bullet during an

Indian attack while he was part of a supply train headed for

Fort Laramie. The dates given are wildly different: The

obituary states that it was in 1857, while the 1918 county

history and Vernaz Drug Store biography say it happened

after the Civil War. The 1881 county history does not specify a

date, saying it was sometime while they were living in St.

Louis.

In fact it was in 1854, which is attested to in Pierre Vernaz’s

1892 application for a military pension, based in part on the

33

injury sustained at that time. The quotation below is from an

affidavit submitted as part of his application.28

[Pierre Vernaz declares] that he is the identical above

named claimant against application No. 1091480 under

Act of June 27, 1890. States that in year 1854 he went

[with] other parties out on the Western plains, that the

party to which he belonged was attacked by hostile

Indians this side of Fort Kearney, he was shot by said

Indians through the left hand and disabled as that now

appears.

A year later he filed another affidavit, stating in part

[Pierre Vernaz declares] that he is the above named

claimant and in reply to call June 8, 1893, for evidence in

his claim he offers the evidence of J. D. Stauver and Dr.

S. P. Cutlen, who are more personally acquainted with

[him?] in regard to his alleged disabilities …

In regard to gun shot wound of left hand, that was

contracted while driving an ox team, being a part of a

train enroute to Fort Larimie, on the western plains, the

train was attacked by Indians and he received gun shot

wound of left hand as the same now appears; this was in

the fall 1854, he was taken on to Fort Kearney where he

was placed in hospital, it was a Government hospital he

believes. He has no knowledge of any one now living

who were members of said train at that time; he would

refer to the hospital records at Larimie at that time, there

may be a record kept of his surgery and treatment.

Refers to Hon. F. M. Caskness U.S.S., who knows as to

his credibility, now asks that his [testimony] be

28 Civil War and Later Pension Files; Records of the Department of

Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.

34

considered; his disabilities thus exist for many years past

prior May 18, 1892.

In yet another affidavit made another year later, in 1894, the

following was recorded:

[Pierre Vernaz declares] that he is the identical person

who … is the applicant for pension at the Pension Office

at Washington DC, Filings No. 1,091,480 and in reply to

the call from Pension Office Oct 19, 1894, in reply says

upon his oath that he was only treated at Fort Kearny for

gun shot wound of the left hand for two months and

that he never got to Fort Larimy at all. He fears Capt S. J.

Burnett made this error in writing the declaration and he

had been anxious about the same for some time. Also he

fears that two other affidavits sent have not been heard

from, namely Jacob H. Eberling and J. L. Stauver.

Pierre had appointed Captain Burnett to act, for a fee of $10, as

his attorney to pursue his pension claim.

Fort Laramie was a military post on the route used by the

California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails, which followed the

Missouri River to the Platte and the North Platte. The distance

from Fort Kearny, itself far into the wilderness, to Fort

Laramie was about 350 miles. Frequent supply trains to Fort

Laramie were necessary to provision the soldiers at the fort,

around 50 in 1854. There were also a few trading posts in the

near vicinity of the fort, one, for example, run by the American

Fur Company to procure furs from the Indians. Emigrant

parties that needed to resupply themselves might stop at a

trading post or the fort.29 Frequent supply trains were required

for these purposes and also to transport the annuity goods,

29 Douglas C. McChristian, Fort Laramie and the U.S. Army on the High Plains 1849-1890, National Park Service, 2003.

35

those promised by Indian treaties, to the fort or the trading

posts for disbursement. Two of the biosketches in the

Introduction assert that the purpose of the supply train was to

trade with the Indians, so their destination may have been one

of the trading posts.

A new treaty was signed at Fort Laramie in 1851 between the

United States and the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, and several

other Indian nations. The treaty guaranteed safe passage for

settlers, and this agreement was honored, more or less, until

the fall of 1854.

On August 19 of that year a detachment of 30 soldiers from

Fort Laramie under a Lt. Grattan went to a Sioux encampment

to arrest a member of the tribe who had stolen a cow. After

lengthy negotiations, one of the soldiers decided on his own to

shoot Chief Conquering Bear in the back. In response, Indian

warriors mounted their horses and killed all of the soldiers. It

was thereafter referred to as the Grattan Massacre. This was

the beginning of the First Sioux War.30

30 LeRoy R. Hafen and Francis M. Young, Fort Laramie and the

Pageant of the West, 1834-1890, University of Nebraska Press, 1938, p. 221 et. seq.

36

For settlers headed to Utah, Oregon, and California, this

meant that the trails became unsafe, and they remained unsafe

for another two years. Pierre Vernaz’s supply train was

evidently an early victim of the renewed hostilities. It appears

from Pierre Vernaz’s pension application that the attack took

place before the train reached Fort Kearny. Pierre was taken

by survivors of the attack to the fort, and he remained in the

hospital there at least a month.

While I have as yet been unable to find a newspaper account

of the incident, the report below from a mail carrier headed

from Salt Lake City to Missouri, published in October, 1854,

gives some indication of the conditions along the route.31

The trading house on Deer Creek, about eighty miles

west of Laramie, when passed, was almost entirely

consumed, and most of the outbuildings were in flames,

everything indicated that it was the work of hostile

Indians. The inmates were understood to have left in

consequence of the previous difficulties at Laramie. Saw

no Indians that day except four Arapahoes.

Seventy five miles west of Salt Creek, passed a party of

fourteen Pawnees, supposed to be the same which

attacked a party of Californians, wounding one, a few

nights previous, on that stream. From signs of blood on

the ground of the attack, the supposition was that at

least one Indian had been killed, and the party worsted

in the fight.

The company has been compelled to abandon its station,

built at considerable expense, at Ash Hollow, on the

31 Daily Globe, Washington, D.C., 20 Oct 1854, p. 3; originally published in the Independence Agrarian .

37

North Platte,32 in consequence of a notification from the

head chief of the Sioux nation, that he would cut the

throats of all found there after a given day. The

employees of the company chose the alternative of going

to Scott’s Bluffs, eighty miles further west.

Met, this side of Kearney,33 half a dozen different trains,

belonging to resident Indian traders, being probably all

that are on the route. They are getting on well.

Two days before arriving at Kearney, Indians, supposed

to be Sioux, stampeded twenty two head of Government

horses and mules, about an hour before sun in the

morning, and within half a mile of the fort. They were

pursued by soldiers, but with what success is not

known.

One of the trains almost certainly encountered by the mail

carrier after passing Fort Kearny was an eight-man group,

which a day or so later were definitely not “getting on well”.

As recounted by one of the survivors,34

I will give you a few particulars concerning the late

massacre on the South bank of the Platte River, which

occurred Oct. 25, about 9 o’clock P.M., one hundred and

fifty or two hundred miles above Fort Kearney. 35

32 This was an American Fur Company trading post. It was

approximately halfway between Fort Laramie and Fort Kearny. 33 That is, the eastern side (the report was made from Independence,

Missouri). It is very likely that Pierre Vernaz’s train was one of

these. 34 New York Times, Dec. 1, 1854, p. 5. Originally published in the

Weston Reporter. 35 “above” in this case means that they had not yet reached Fort

Kearney, some 150-200 miles distant.. They were probably near what is today Fremont, Nebraska, at that time just wilderness.

38

Our part, composed of eight, en route for Fort Laramie,

camped on the banks of the above mentioned streams, at

1 o’clock. During the afternoon, three Indians came to

camp and seemed anxious to trade. I informed them that

we did not wish to trade at present, but that I would

give them some tobacco, which I did. They seemed

perfectly contented and left.

We were just seated when the report of a rifle and the

dead body of one of our companions told plainly that

“Indians were about”. Sam Mantel, whose name is

known throughout the country, who was acting as our

guide, told us to “take to the wagon”. We did so just in

time to see fifteen savage looking fellows emerge from

the woods, “armed to the teeth”. Sam Mantel told us to

“pick our man and fire”. We did so, and some three or

four fell to the ground. They fled to the woods. I thought

they had left us entirely, and offered to reconnoitre. All

gave their consent, and I started, but hardly did I

proceed ten paces before the remainder of them came

rushing towards me, haloowing and whooping loud

enough to deafen any one. Luckily for me, my

companions were ready to receive them. Already had

the fron Indian raised his rifle to shoot, when the low

voice of Sam Mantel said, “Fire”! Fire they did, and three

or four more fell to the ground to rise no more. Then out

rushed my party and then came the hand to hand fight.

During this I got wounded in the ankle. But they fled

across the river and [we stood] on the south bank, firing

at them, but to no effect....

Mr. Mantel, thinking it best to return and inform those

who were behind us of their danger, if they were not

prepared, I sent a report of the affair to Fort Kearney by

a stranger... Four of our number got killed.

That wasn’t Pierre Vernaz’s supply train, but Pierre’s was

traveling around the same time and under similar conditions.

39

Life in St. Louis

From 1857 through 1867, Pierre Vernaz is to be found in each

of the St. Louis city directories I have been able to find. In most

of them there is an entry for him in both the general listing

(which today would be called the white pages) and the

business listing (today’s yellow pages). His name was seldom

spelled in the same way, even in the two listings of the same

directory. A summary of the residential listings is reproduced

in the table below.36

Year Name Occupation Address

1854 no listing

1857 Pierre Vernaz fruitstore 54 S. 2nd

1859 no listing

1860 Peter Wernet bootmaker 52 S. 2nd

1863 no listing

1864 Peter Werner candystand 101 S. 4th

1865 Pierre Verney confectioner Franklin Ave (btw 21st and 22nd)

1866 Peter Vernaz confectionary Franklin Ave (btw 21st and 22nd)

1867 Peter Vernaz confectioner 2102 Franklin Ave.

The entries generally specify that the residence and the

business shared the same address. The entries in the business

sections are listed below.

Year Name Heading

1857 Pierre Vernaz Fruit & Fruit Stores

1865 Pierre Vernez Confectionery and Fruit Stores

1866 Peter Vernaz Confectionery and Fruit Stores

1867 Peter Verner Confectionery and Fruit Stores

36 Chambers and Knapp St. Louis Directory, 1854; Kennedy’s St. Louis

Directory, 1857, 1859, and 1860; Campbell & Richardson’s St. Louis

Business Directory, 1863; Edward’s Annual Directory, St. Louis , 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867.

40

The fact that Pierre was operating a fruit and candy business is

consistent with the gunshot wound having occurred in 1854.

His time as a tailor in St. Louis must have been quite brief.

Sometime between 1857 and 1860, the Vernaz family moved

from 54 to 52 S. 2nd St, two blocks away. It seems strange that

Pierre would be a bootmaker in 1860, when he was selling

candy and fruit in all other years, especially given the injury to

his right hand. When we examine the census records for 1860

we are dealt another surprise: his occupation was listed as bar

keeper.37 According to the census form, recorded on July 27,

1860, the family at that time was as shown below.

Peter Vernaz 37

Colette Vernaz 32

Eva Vernaz 2/12

After 10 years of marriage, in May, 1860, they finally had a

child who would survive. Colette had previously borne seven

children, some in Switzerland, each of whom had died in the

summer of the second year.38 Someone advised them that if

they named their next child Adam or Eve it would survive.39

The 1860 census reported that they owned no real estate and

their personal property was worth $100. It appears that Pierre

was working at more than one job to just barely get by.

The buildings in which the Vernazes lived in 1857 and 1860,

designated as 54 and 52 S. 2nd St., were in the old French

37 Possibly the canvasser for the city director was also told that

Pierre was a bar keeper, but was confused by Pierre’s accent and heard bootmaker. 38 Oral recollection of Antoinette Van Matre, granddaughter,

January, 1980. 39 Ibid.

41

quarter, though by that time the French were in a distinct

minority. Before 1867 there were no house numbers, as we

know them, in St. Louis. Instead each block in the city was

assigned a unique number. James Green, the compiler of the

1845 St. Louis directory, explains the situation with respect to

the use of the directory:40

A person residing, or doing business on a corner, the

particular corner is always designated, by the

abbreviations ne, se, nw, sw … Thus, the corners being

deducted from the front of a block, the length of front

between the corners not being great, and the side of the

street being defined, the enquirer arrives, without

difficulty, at within a few doors of the one sought, and a

single enquiry does the rest.

40 James Green, Greens’s Saint Louis Directory for 1845 , St. Louis, 1844.

42

The three Vernaz residences in the 1857, 1860, and 1864 city

directories can be seen on the portion of an 1860 city map

shown above.41

54 S. 2nd St. is located on the west side of 2nd St., between

Almond and Poplar. Today Locust St. is gone, part of the

national park containing the Gateway Arch,42 and only a

remnant of Poplar remains, at the southern border of the park.

52 S. 2nd was also on the west side of 2nd St., between Cedar

and Plum. Today the entire block is devoid of buildings,

containing two spurs of railroad track and on onramp to I-64,

which crosses the Mississippi very close to the fold mark in

the map above.

101 S. 4th is just off the upper right corner of the map above,

lying between Pine and Chestnut. Today that block is adjacent

to the one holding the courthouse.

The pictorial map below shows what 2nd St. looked like in

1875, about 15 years after the Vernazes were there (52 and 54

are circled in red).43

41 Julius Hutawa, City of St. Louis, 1860, Harvard Map Collection,

Harvard Library. Note: the large vertical stripe is a fold in the map. 42 Called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 43 Camille N. Dry, Pictorial St. Louis, The Great Metropolis of the Mississippi, A Topographical Survey Drawn in Perspective A.D. 1875 ,

published by Rich J. Compton, 1876. The city of St. Louis

commissioned this map for the American centennial. It remains today the largest panoramic map ever published. The Library of

Congress has a copy, and according to their website (www.loc.gov/collections/panoramic-maps), “it was produced on 110

plates, which when trimmed and assembled created a panorama of the city measuring about 9 by 24 feet.”

43

It’s a little difficult to see much in this view. A close-up of the

54 S. 2nd St. block is shown below. Which of the buildings held

the Vernaz residence is not known.

The 52 S. 2nd St. block had this appearance:

44

This same 52 S. 2nd St. block is shown below as it looks today,

on the left side of the picture. It is vacant, but looking directly

north on 2nd St., you can see the Gateway Arch.

Things were entirely different when the Vernaz family was

living there. The city directory of 1857 provides a description

of the city of St. Louis from which we can gather a glimpse of

what life was like on 2nd Street.

45

The streets run mainly parallel with the river, … west

from Front street, which is the levee; the next, Main, then

Second, Third, etc.

The streets in the older portion – we may say the “Old

French Town” – being that part east of, and including

Third street, are narrow and somewhat irregular… So

great is the business done on these streets east of Fourth

that it is difficult often to get along, in the great rush

during the business season.

All the various classes of mercantile business are

profitably pursued in Saint Louis… The wholesale

grocery trade, which is the largest separate business

here, … is mostly confined to Second street and the

levee… Many of these merchants … are the direct

importers from Europe of their own stocks… On all

these streets there are … also many private dwellings. 44

Civil War

On October 4, 1861, Pierre Vernaz volunteered for, and was

enrolled in, the Union Army. On October 31 he was mustered

into Company E (later called Battery E) of the Missouri 2nd

Artillery Regiment, his name recorded as Pierre Verner. On

some of the regimental rolls he is listed as Pierre Werner.

Battery E first saw action in September, 1862, and was

involved in major battles in western Missouri and Arkansas in

1863-64, but long before any of that, in February, 1862, Pierre

was mustered out, because the injury to his hand rendered

him unfit for duty. The notation on his service record was

44 Robert V. Kennedy, Kennedy’s Saint Louis City Directory for the Year 1857.

46

This man is reported as unfit for service by

reason of a gun shot wound, in consequence

thereof malformation of hand, not received in

service.

After the Army

Sometime during the war the Vernaz family moved again, this

time just outside the old French quarter, to the 104 block of S.

4th St. Of course, we don’t know in which of the buildings they

were living.

When the next city directory came out they had moved again,

to the corner of Franklin St. and 21st St., almost two miles

away. It was still a densely built area of the city, as can be seen

on the 1875 aerial drawing below.

47

Today this part of Franklin St. is now Dr. Martin Luther King

Drive, and the entire block on which the Vernazes lived is now

a vacant lot.

Citizenship

Pierre Vernaz became a citizen of the United States at some

point while the family was living in St. Louis. He appeared on

a list of registered voters there in 1866.45 The 1870 census was

the first to record whether a person was or was not a citizen,

but only for males over 21. Pierre was listed as a citizen.

Despite the question referring only to males, the box for

citizens was also marked for Colette, so it is likely that she too

had obtained U.S. citizenship.

45 Papers in the Case of John Hogan vs. William A, Pyle, House of

Representatives Miscellaneous Document No. 37, 40 th Congress, p. 327.

48

Warrensburg

Perhaps it was the fact that Pierre and Colette had grown up

in small towns, rendering St. Louis uncomfortably large.

Perhaps it was the cholera epidemic of 1866, during which

3,500 died in St. Louis. Perhaps their decision was affected by

the fact that their third child was on the way. Whatever the

reason, in 1867 the Vernaz family moved across the state to

Warrensburg, the seat of Johnson County.

It seems likely that they took the train from St. Louis to

Warrensburg. The Missouri Pacific Railroad reached

Warrensburg in July, 1864. The trip has been described by a

Mr. William Lowe, who made the journey when he settled in

Warrensburg in 1866:46

When I came, there was only one passenger train a day.

It left St. Louis at 8 o'clock in the morning, struggled

along with wood fuel, managing to get to Jefferson City

for dinner. The train would make Sedalia in time for

46 Ewing Cockrell, History of Johnson County Missouri, Topeka, Historical Publishing Company, 1918.

49

supper and my recollection is that we got to

Warrensburg about 8 in the evening just 12 hours after

we pulled out of St. Louis. The fare from St. Louis here

was $12.50.

This 1873 map of central western Missouri shows the location

of Warrensburg relative to Kansas City and other nearby

towns.

On October 24, 1867, Pierre Vernaz bought a lot in

Warrensburg from Clinton and Sarah Middleton. It was

described as 144 feet wide along Main St., 72 feet deep, a total

of 10,368 square feet.47

47 Johnson County Deed Book Z, p. 232, recorded October 28, 1867.

The entry also states incorrectly that the lot is a little over a quarter of an acre.

50

The location of this lot is shown on an old plat map of

Warrensburg, which was first laid out in 1837.

Why did the Vernaz family choose Warrensburg? One might

speculate that Pierre had passed through the town in 1854

with the supply train on the way to Fort Laramie. A more

51

obvious connection is that he was following a countryman,

Louis Gueissaz, who moved from St. Louis to Warrensburg

about one year earlier. Louis Guiessaz is found in St. Louis city

directories up through 1866. His occupation was jeweler or

goldsmith. In the 1866 directory his address was listed as the

north side of Franklin Ave., between 19 th and 20th Streets,

which would place him one to two blocks away from the

Vernaz family. In Warrensburg the Gueissaz family lived near

the Vernazes, separated by just one other family on the 1870

census. Yet another Swiss former resident of St. Louis is on the

same census page – Louis Romer and family.48 In

Warrensburg, Mr. Romer’s occupation was listed as “grinder”,

while in the 1849 St. Louis directory he was a “tinsmith”.

The area in which these three Swiss families were living was

already called Oldtown. The main part of Warrensburg lay to

the east, near the planned (and then completed) rail depot. A

panoramic map published in 1869 shows an outline of the

town as it was shortly after the Vernazes arrived.

48 Incorrectly indexed as Rossier.

52

The Vernaz lot is indicated by a red arrow in the map above.49

Oldtown, with the Vernaz lot outlined in red, is shown below.

Today the property is subdivided into four residential lots.

It was shortly after the Vernazes acquired their lot in

Warrensburg that Pierre fell victim to a double hernia, an

affliction that formed part of his application for a disabled

veteran’s pension in 1892. A supporting affidavit was

submitted by Dr. S. P. Cutler.

[Dr. Cutler declares] that he has been and is now

practicing medicine and surgery for the past 30 years

and became acquainted with the above named soldier

ever since the fall of 1867 and has been the family

physician ever since his first acquaintance and has

consulted with him in regard to his Double Hernia. He

informed him soon after its occurrence [and] upon

inquiry found that the same was the result of a heavy

strain in lifting in removing a building, that he

recommended the use of a truss, which he has

49 A. Ruger, Bird’s eye view of the city of Warrensburg, Johnson Co., Missouri, 1869, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov, Item 73693492.

53

continued to use to the present time; that from his

acquaintance he knows that the same is not the result

of Vicious Habits and that he is a person of undoubted

credibility and ... at the time he consulted with him in

regard to contracting same had no idea of applying for

pensions, and that he has examined his left hand and

finds it is injured from gun shot wounds and that he

does not believe was the result of any Vicious Habits,

that he is totally disabled for the performance of

Manual Labor.

Another deposition was made by Dr. J. D. Stauver:

[Dr. Stauver declares] that he became acquainted with

the above named soldier in year 1872 and that said

soldier ... contracted a Double Hernia which has grown

steadily ever since until it is now very large. He told him

how it occurred by heavy lifting in moving a building

and … he believes his statement is true and further

states that the same could not be the result of any

Vicious Habit of his, as he was and [has] always been a

person of temperate habits ever since he has know him,

and that he is a person of unquestionable veracity and is

believed to full credit and belief . He has explained to

him how he was shot through the hand on the Plains by

Indians and his injuries are now and [have] been for a

long time such that he is incapacitated to perform

Manual Labor.

In the “bird’s eye” map on the previous page there are three

buildings on the Vernaz lot. One of them had evidently been

moved in 1867, causing the double hernia.

The 1870 census shows the following data for the Vernaz

family.

54

Name Age Sex Occupation

Peter 45 M Candy Maker

Collate 40 F Keeping House

Eva 10 F At School

Ida 6 F

Mary 2 F

Edith 4/12 F

Pierre’s age in this census is accurate, unlike other U.S.

censuses, while Colette was actually 42. The biggest problem,

though, was with the names. Perhaps Pierre’s or Colette’s

accent was just too difficult to understand. “Ida” was actually

Adam, a boy. “Edith” was Eda, though her name might have

been anglicized for the census taker, as Pierre’s had been.

Marie (Mary) had originally been named Marianne,50 the name

Pierre’s mother used, though she had been Marie Anne before

she was married.

Pierre appears to have been following the same profession,

candy maker, he had exercised in St. Louis. That, however,

was soon to change. In 1875. according to the Vernaz Drug

Store biography, Pierre bought five acres of undeveloped land

on a corner of N. Holden St. and Cleveland St., where he

subsequently planted wine grapes and fruit trees.51 He made

wine that carried the label Over the Rhine. In an extract from

an 1898 atlas of Johnson County,52 shown below, we see the

property in question under the name Perry Vernaz, on the

northeast corner of N. Holden and Ray St., bounded by Miller

St. on the right (today named Hickory St.). Cleveland St. is one

block off this map to the north.

50 Oral recollection of Antoinette (Van Matre) Morton, January, 1980. 51 The north half of the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of

the northwest quarter of Section 24, Township 46, Range 26. 52 Johnson County 1898, Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1898.

55

When the panoramic map of Warrensburg was drawn in 1869,

the streets referenced above did not yet exist.

Pierre and Colette’s last child, Julius, was born in 1873. The

1880 census recorded the Vernaz family as follows.

56

Name Age Occupation

Pierre 56 Attends @ vineyard

Colette 51 Keeping house

Eva 19 At home

Adam 16 Printer

Mary 12 At school

Eda 10 “

Julius 7 “

They were enumerated in Warrensburg Township rather than

in the town of Warrensburg, which means that they were

living on the property with the vineyard and orchard, which

lay outside the town boundary.

It was probably in the spring of 1883 that Pierre made a trip

back to Switzerland. He certainly visited his family in Bulle,

but the trip may also have had something to do with his

vineyard. He may have wanted to consult with winemakers,

and perhaps even bring back some rootstocks.

On his return trip, Pierre’s arrival was recorded. He took the

ship Frisia and disembarked in New York on August 7, 1883.

The Frisia embarked from Hamburg and picked up more

passengers at Le Havre, which is where Pierre must have

caught it. The entry in the log book is shown below.53

53 Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

57

Pierre Vernaz, 60 years old [he was actually 58], was a wine

dealer and a citizen of the United States. With him was his

nephew, Charles Vernaz, a writer and a citizen of Switzerland.

Charles was the son of Pierre’s older brother, Jacques,

probably named for their youngest brother, who had died

from injuries suffered as a Neapolitan soldier in 1848. What

Charles Vernaz might have written I have been unable to

discover.

In January, 1887, Pierre and Colette’s son Adam married

Fannie O’Brien of Sedalia, Missouri. Although Adam was the

first of their children to marry, their older daughter, Eve (Eva),

had attracted a great deal of attention two years earlier when

she prosecuted, and won, a breach of promise suit. A florid

account of the circumstances appeared in the Sedalia Weekly

Bazoo on August 18, 1885, under five successively smaller

headings: Breach of Promise, How David Hughes of Kansas

City Loved, How He Promised to Marry and Then Backed

Out, A Very Cheap Subterfuge to Get Out of a Contract, A Suit

for $25,000 in the Jackson Circuit Court.

It would seem in the annals of the day that the

numerous cases of man’s inhumanity to man, and

especially his perfidy to woman had been cited so often

that others would sicken at the record and hesitate long

before embarking in a like undertaking. That this is not

so, however, needs but a moment’s reflection , for every

city, every village, hamlet and even country

neighborhood has its dire deeds. Here it is a murder,

there it is a rape, yonder a seduction and everywhere the

trail of the serpent. In no instances can the perpetrator of

these deeds of darkness hope to escape punishment for

like Nemesis, it is ever awake and ever ready to claim

vengeance. Now and then a heart is broken and a life

wrecked by the false promises of some gallant who has

found wooing so delightful that he has proposed

58

marriage with no very clear idea of coming to the

scratch, and who, when he can no longer postpone his

marriage, resorts to some cowardly trick to evade it.

Who shall in such a case, then, blame the deserted and

wronged victim if she should seek redress at the hands

of the law? Not many, for although a trying position to a

delicate girl, yet there is a stern justice in making those

who dance pay the fiddler. A recent case of this kind

hails from Warrensburg and is as follows:

There resides in the suburbs of Warrensburg, the county

seat of Johnson county, Pierre Vernaz. The family

consists of father, mother, three daughters and two sons.

They obtain a livelihood by raising grapes and other

fruits and making wine. They are natives of France, and

are honest, upright, frugal and good citizens. The

children, while they are well educated in the English

language, speak French fluently.

A few evenings since, a Bazoo representative by chance,

dropped into the humble home and passed an hour

under their roof. The parents speak English quite

imperfectly, but the genuine gentility and well-known

hospitality which is characteristic of all Gauls was very

prominent toward their stranger guest.

The eldest child of the family is a daughter named Eve.

She is 24 years old. She possesses a fine form, bright,

sparkling eyes, and an expressive and intelligent

countenance. She is endowed with a large amount of

native shrewdness, and although unaccustomed to the

ways of the world, she has a knowledge of books, and

also being a close observer of the public press, she is not

readily deceived. During the stay of the representative of

the press, Miss Eve and her sister Mary treated him to

some choice instrumental and vocal music, they both

being fine performers on the guitar. They sang the

Marseilles hymn – the national song of France – in the

59

French language. It was artistically rendered, and

charming in the extreme.

MISS EVE’S COURTSHIP

David Hughes is of the firm of Hughes & Dugan, doing

business at Twenty-Fourth, Jefferson and Summit

streets, Kansas City. Th ey manage a stone yard, that is

they purchase the famous Warrensburg stone in the

rough, and mould and curve it to suit their customers in

the city of the hills, and it is currently reported that they

have made a fortune at the business. Being in the stone

business brought Mr. Hughes to Warrensburg quite

often. He was a customer of Mr. Wm. Bruce, who owns

and conducts one of the largest quarries at that place.

Periodically Hughes and Bruce would call at the Vernaz

place, and it was on one of these occasions that Bruce,

who was and still is a warm friend of the Vernaz family,

introduced Hughes to Miss Eve. This was some five or

six years ago. Since that time Hughes has been a regular

caller at the home of Miss Vernaz. David Hughes was a

married man, possessing a wife and one daughter of

tender years. Mrs. Hughes died three years ago.

THE ENGAGEMENT

After Hughes’ wife died his visits became more frequent

and more lengthy. Often did he accept the hospitality of

the humble family, who always vied with each other in

making his stay pleasant.

It was Saturday night, June 27, 1885. It was late in the

night, there came a rap at the door which is usually

entered by those who come on business.

The party was on business and he pounded at this door.

60

It was the custom of the family to pay no attention to

those who knocked after ten o’clock at night, unless it

was an intimate friend’s knock. So in this case. The party

then rapped at the parlor door. Miss Eve Vernaz heard

this and interrogated the caller , “Who is there?”

“Frenchman”, was all the reply she received.

Miss Eve recognized the voice as that of her lover, David

Hughes.

The young lady called her father who went to the door

and invited him in.

SHE COULD NOT SLEEP

That night Hughes proposed to marry the young lady.

He told her that his thoughts had been in that direction a

long time and now he made a formal proposition for her

hand in marriage. It was early Sunday morning that the

proposition was made. Very wisely did the young lady

decline to give Hughes a hasty answer, although he

pressed her for a favorable reply.

“IT WAS TOO SUDDEN”

Miss Vernaz told Hughes that he must wait until the

parents and family could be consulted.

“During Sunday I finally consented to become his wife,

and a sorry consent it proved to be,” said the young girl,

who was being interviewed.

FRESH PROSPECTIVE SON-IN-LAW

On Monday, June 29, Hughes and Miss Vernaz prepared

to go to the county recorder and secure the license. Just

before starting Hughes said to Mrs. Vernaz:

61

“Mamma, suppose we should marry before our return

from town?”

“Oh, No!” spoke up Miss Eve. “ I will not be married

from under my father’s roof,” she continued

emphatically.

“No! No! No!” said the prospective mother-in-law, “Eve

must be married at home.”

The license was secured of G. W. Patton, the recorder,

Miss Mary Vernaz, Eve’s sister, accompanying the

couple to town.

Hughes told Miss Eve a doleful tale of his situation –

how lonely he was – that his sister was keeping house

for him, but that it did not suit him – he wanted a wife at

the head of his household and to that end urged this as a

reason for a hasty marriage.

Miss Vernaz objected and proposed that the wedding

should be deferred until autumn. This did not suit and

finally Saturday, July 4 th, was selected as the time for the

wedding, to which he agreed, and seemed pleased that

the time was no farther away than it was. That Monday

night, June 29th, he returned to Kansas City.

HUGHES WRITES HIS AFFIANCED

“Kansas City, July 1.

Dear Eve:- I reached home all safe, but my sisters are not

satisfied the way I did, however, but it is too late now. I

can’t get Father Dalton to come down; so you will have

to get your own minister. You had better make

preparations to come up to Kansas City along with me

and we can board for some time. So you see I am in hot

62

water all around. Well, good-bye, with my best love to

you and all the family.

From your affectionate and ever loving

DAVID HUGHES”

HUGHES COMES WITH HIS LIP DOWN

Hughes returned to Warrensburg July 3 rd, on the night

train. He came directly to our house. He came with a

long face and said he was sick. He said his sister came to

Warrensburg with him and was at the Tyler house.

The children of the Vernaz family made sport of his

being sick, but he hung his lip to such an extent that his

illness assumed a serious aspect, and they contemplated

sending for a physician. Later he elevated his under lip

enough to tell Miss Eve that he had a fearful and

obnoxious disease, and could not marry her. This was

about midnight previous to the day of their appointed

wedding. He told Miss Eve that he would not marry her

for millions, as he had seen too much of the world and

its vices, and he would not wreck her life by marrying

her, which no doubt was only a subterfuge and an

excuse to break his solemn promise of plighted love to a

heart and a one that had learned to love him.

HUGHES’ MOVEMENTS

David Hughes and William Bruce registered at the Eads

House that night and occupied the same room. The early

train going west the morning of the Fourth took Hughes

and his sister to Kansas City. He told Bruce that he was

afraid to stay there any longer, he feared something,

nobody knows what, but the trite adage that “the

wicked flee when no man pursueth” fits his case. That is

the last that the Vernaz family have heard from Dave

Hughes.

63

SUIT FOR DAMAGES

Miss Eve Vernaz, by her attorney, S. P. Sparks, has

commenced a suit in the Jackson county circuit court

against David Hughes, laying her damages at $25,000,

which case will be called in September.

It is to be hoped that the young lady will win the case,

thereby teaching the gay deceiver a lesson in dollars and

cents that he cannot trifle and betray without smarting

under the lash of public indignation and before a proper

tribunal.

The Sedalia Weekly Bazoo followed up in October, 1885, after

the trial was underway, with a subheading She Has the

Sympathy of the Public:

The $25,000 breach of promise suit of Miss Eva

Vernaz, of Warrensburg, against David Hughes, of

Kansas City, came up for trial today in Judge Slovel’s

division of the circuit court, and will be concluded

tomorrow.

The plaintiff is represented by Samuel Sparks, of

Warrensburg, and the defendant by O. H. Dean, of

Kansas City, and A. B. Longan, of Warrensburg. The

plaintiff has proven beyond a doubt an engagement

and breach of promise of marriage, but the defense

have so far, in their examination of the witnesses,

showed that Hughes was drunk, and on this are

basing a defence.

THE WOOING

The Bazoo readers will recall the facts of the case

which are more or less sensational, and at the time

were published exclusively in the Bazoo. Miss Vernaz

64

is the eldest daughter of Mr. Adam Vernaz [sic], who

is to some extent engaged in the manufacture of wine

between Warrensburg and the quarries. Mr. Hughes is

of the firm of Hughes & Dugan, dealers in cut and

sawed stone, Kansas City. His business was such that

he had occasion to pass the Vernaz house and after

cultivating the acquaintance of the family and the

elapse of three years, he again visited the house and,

according to the testimony of Miss Vernaz on the

stand, offered to marry her on June 28 th. The wedding

day was set for July fourth and according to

agreement, Hughes went to the Vernaz house on the

night of the third and stated that he could not marry

Miss Vernaz, giving as his reason according to the

plaintiff’s testimony, that he had “a terrible disease”.

STRAIGHTFORWARD TESTIMONY

Miss Vernaz was straightforward in her testimony and

made a good impression upon the whole court, as did

also all the members of her family, and it is quite

certain that, considering the strength of the testimony,

the marriage license having been introduced as

testimony, that she will be awarded small damages.

IN SYMPATHY WITH MISS VERNAZ

Considerable interest has clustered around the case

here, and a feeling has been awaked in behalf of Miss

Vernaz. A verdict is expected some time tomorrow.

The next day David Hughes was indeed declared guilty and

Eve Vernaz was awarded $15,000. Many newspapers around

the country picked up the story, though in a considerably

more neutral tone than the Bazoo, from the nearby town of

Sedalia. A newspaper in St. Paul, Minnesota, published a six

65

line summary of the verdict under the wry heading “Been

Cheaper to Have Married”.54

Eve put the money to good use by enrolling in the Newland’s

School of Midwifery and Lying-In Institute in St. Louis, from

which she graduated in 1887.55 She must have put her

midwifery skills to use in Warrensburg, though I can find no

direct evidence. Her niece, Antoinette Morton, thought that

she had taken nurse’s training in Philadelphia.56 In the 1900

census, no occupation was listed for Eva Vernaz. In 1920,

however, she was, according to the census, a live-in nurse with

a couple in Drumright, Oklahoma.

Marie Vernaz was a reporter for the newspaper in

Warrensburg.57 She married William Van Matre, of nearby

Holden, Missouri, in 1898. William then worked as a postman

in Warrensburg. A few years later they moved to Altus,

Oklahoma, and later to Drumright, in the same state. Sister

Eva followed them. Eva also followed them to Downey,

California.

In 1900 the Pierre Vernaz household, as recorded in the

census, was as shown below.

Name Age Occupation

Pierre 76 none listed

Colletta A. 73 none listed

Eva 40 none listed

Julius 27 druggist

54 St. Paul Globe, October 3, 1885, p. 1 55 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 1887, p. 5. 56 Oral recollections, Antoinette Morton, January, 1980. 57 Oral recollections, Antoinette Morton, January, 1980.

66

At this point Julius had gone into business with his brother,

Adam, to open the Vernaz Drug Store. Julius, however, died

six years later. Pierre was unable to do much of anything, not

just because of his injured hand and his double hernia. He was

also almost completely blind. In 1895 Eva added an affidavit to

Pierre’s claim for an invalid pension:

[I declare] that I make my home with my father Pierre

Vernaz and since the Spring of 1889 claimant my father

the pensioner aforesaid became afflicted with cataract of

both eyes. The right eye is blind and the left one is

almost blind, and that said injuries are not the result of

vicious habits and I am governed in making this

affidavit by having helped wait on him from the above

date of 1889 to the present day.

Pierre Vernaz died on December 16, 1905, at the age of 80. In

1903 he arranged for a will to be drawn up by Thomas W.

Miller and O. H. Brock. Despite his blindness, Pierre was able

to sign it himself. It reads as follows.

I, Pierre Vernaz, of the city of Warrensburg, County of

Johnson, State of Missouri, being of sound and disposing

mind and memory, make, execute, publish and disclose

this my last will and testament. The persons entitled to

my bounty are my wife, Colette Vernaz, and my living

children, namely my two sons Adam Vernaz and Julius

C. Vernaz; and my three daughters, Eva Vernaz, Marie

Anne Vanmatre, and Ida Augustine Scott.

1. I will and bequeath to my wife Colette Vernaz all my

personal property including moneys, notes, bonds,

account and rights in action, to have and to hold the

same absolutely.

2. I will and devise to my wife Colette Vernaz, all my

real estate wherever situate, to have and to hold during

67

her natural life, coupled with a power to dispose of all or

any portion of the same by deeds of gift, bargain and

sale, mortgage or any other form of conveyance she may

use, and also empower her and authorize her to dispose

of any and all proceeds arising from any sales thereof by

using them for herself, or making any gifts or donations

to her children or others, or to reinvest the moneys or

funds so arising in such property as she may deem

proper. It is my express will that all gifts by deed or of

money made by my said wife Colette Vernaz and all

conveyances of the real estate, and all investments of the

proceeds of the sales thereof shall be held good in all

courts of law or equity.

3. At the death of my wife Colette Vernaz, I will that all

the real estate that remains undisposed of and property

in which she may have reinvested the proceeds of the

sale of said real estate, shall pass to and become vested

in my said children in equal parts, share and share alike,

in fee simple absolute, provided that the real estate or

funds that she may have transferred by gift or moneys

that she may have applied to her own use shall not pass

but shall remain as determined by her my said wife.

In case of the death of any of my said children before the

death of my said wife the share belonging to or that

would have vested in said deceased child shall pass to

and become vested in the child or children; but if said

deceased child shall have no child or children, then said

share shall lapse and be equally divided among the

remaining shares.

I hereby appoint my wife Colette Vernaz and my son

Julian C. Vernaz executors to carry out the provisions of

this my will and to act as such without bond being

required of them by the Probate Court proving this will.

68

It is my will that all my debts be paid by my said

executors out of the first moneys that come into their

hands without proof before the Probate Court and that it

shall not be required of them in making settlements in

the Probate Court to show that claims for which the said

executors shall ask credit were allowed by said Probate

Court.

In case there may not be sufficient money on hand to

pay said debts I direct that my executors sell without

order of court such personal property as may be

necessary to pay the same. It is my will that said debts

shall stand first and take priority over all the bequests

and devises above set out.

Done at Warrensburg in the presence of the undersigned

witnesses this 27th day of June 1903.58

On December 2, 1905, two weeks before his death, Pierre

submitted a note to the court to substitute Adam Vernaz for

Julius as executor. At this point Pierre could only sign with an

X. Julius was ill, but he nevertheless assisted Adam in the

execution of the will.

Colette Vernaz also felt herself unable to act as executor, and

she also deferred to Adam. Colette filed the following letter

with the court.

58 A typed copy of the will was entered in the Johnson County, Missouri, Will Book G, p. 36.

69

Adam and Julius Vernaz submitted an inventory of Pierre’s

possessions on January 10, 1906, listing

$300 in United States certificates bearing interest @ 3%

one wine press

one cider mill and press

one lot garden tools

one cow

one horse plow

These items were subsequently appraised at a total of $352.

Ten days after Pierre’s death, Colette Vernaz filed a

declaration for a widow’s pension with the Bureau of Pensions

of the Department of the Interior. In it she noted that her

husband had been Pierre Vernaz, alias Werner, and that he

had served under Captain E. Menche in Company E of the

Second Missouri Light Artillery. The application was drawn

up by Ewing Cockrell, the author of the 1918 history of

Johnson County.

70

Colette died a few months later, on August 26, 1906. Julian

Vernaz died two months afterwards. Pierre and Colette were

buried in the Sunset Hill Cemetery in Warrensburg.

In a final settlement of the estate, after bills owed and bills due

had been taken care of, the distribution to the four remaining

children amounted to $71 each.

71

Afterword

The headstone shown below was probably erected by the

children of Pierre and Colette – Eve Vernaz, Adam Vernaz,

Marie Van Matre, and Eda Scott.

Yet another incorrect birthdate for Pierre is recorded on the

headstone - December 2, 1828. The birthdate for Colette is also

incorrect – October 8, 1827. She was born in 1828. Whether

October 8 is the correct birthday is unknown.

One has to wonder whether they even kept track of birthdays

in the Vernaz family when Pierre was young. How else to

explain that Pierre’s birthday, though the day and year of birth

appeared to vary considerably by source, always seemed to be

in December, even though he was actually born in April?

72

Pierre’s obituary, cited in the Introduction, states that he was a

veteran of three wars. By this must have been meant the First

Italian War of Independence, the First Sioux War (1854-1856),

and the Civil War. In the Sioux War he was a casualty of war,

but not a combatant.