Gallipolis, Ohio

Gallipolis

On October 17, 1790, land speculators representing the Scioto Company persuaded about 500 French immigrants to come to the United States. Among those are the Marquis Lezay-Marnezia, Count de Barth de Walbach, the Baron de Breteche, and Pierre Charles DeHault DeLassus et DeLuzier, Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael. These immigrants built a settlement in the Ohio Country called Gallipolis, meaning "City of the Gauls."

Once the French arrived, the French 500 discovered that the company's representatives had misled them. The land that they had purchased actually belonged to the Ohio Company of Associates rather than to the Scioto Company. In 1795, the United States Congress established the French Grant near Gallipolis to compensate the immigrants for their treatment by the Scioto Company. Some people chose to settle in the French Grant, but most either purchased land from the Ohio Company of Associates or returned to the East.

Sources

See also:

• Category: Gallipolis, Ohio
• "The French 500"
• "Trek of the French 500"