Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
French on the Clinch: The eXtreme misadventures of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
French on the Clinch: The eXtreme misadventures of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf One of the remarkable stories of Southwest Virginia is that of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf, a one-eyed Frenchman who acquired more than 50,000 acres in present Russell, Dickenson and Wise counties, settled himself and his followers on Clinch River at a place later and not coincidentally named St. Paul, then was bludgeoned to death under mysterious circumstances within four years of his 1792 arrival there. As a wealthy foreigner transplanting himself to the Virginia back country, Tubeuf corresponded with Jefferson, Washington and Patrick Henry. Henry’s successor as governor of Virginia facilitated a sizable state loan, secured by a mortgage with ramifications echoing through local land titles for more than a century after the Frenchman’s demise. Tubeuf’s Clinch Valley misadventures are well-known to local historians, and his European back story is likewise known to European scholars, with biographies published in England and France. Surprisingly, however, there has been a nearly complete disconnect between the two research streams, with local scholars generally unaware that this stranger who landed himself in one of America’s richest coalfields had a long history in coal mining in his native country. Was that merely coincidental, or did Tubeuf have (or later evolve) plans other than his stated purpose of settling an immigrant colony on the Appalachian frontier? While answers to those questions remain speculative, my presentation will reflect on the readily documented impact of what are still known as the French Lands on local settlement and county formation.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Ken Sullivan has been the executive director for the West Virginia Humanities Council since 1997. He spent the previous 18 years as editor of Goldenseal magazine, serving concurrently for most of that time also as folklife director of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Ken has a B.A. from the University of Virginia, a M.A. from the University of Rochester, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, all in the field of American history.
French on the Clinch: The eXtreme misadventures of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf
French on the Clinch: The eXtreme misadventures of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf One of the remarkable stories of Southwest Virginia is that of Pierre-Francois Tubeuf, a one-eyed Frenchman who acquired more than 50,000 acres in present Russell, Dickenson and Wise counties, settled himself and his followers on Clinch River at a place later and not coincidentally named St. Paul, then was bludgeoned to death under mysterious circumstances within four years of his 1792 arrival there. As a wealthy foreigner transplanting himself to the Virginia back country, Tubeuf corresponded with Jefferson, Washington and Patrick Henry. Henry’s successor as governor of Virginia facilitated a sizable state loan, secured by a mortgage with ramifications echoing through local land titles for more than a century after the Frenchman’s demise. Tubeuf’s Clinch Valley misadventures are well-known to local historians, and his European back story is likewise known to European scholars, with biographies published in England and France. Surprisingly, however, there has been a nearly complete disconnect between the two research streams, with local scholars generally unaware that this stranger who landed himself in one of America’s richest coalfields had a long history in coal mining in his native country. Was that merely coincidental, or did Tubeuf have (or later evolve) plans other than his stated purpose of settling an immigrant colony on the Appalachian frontier? While answers to those questions remain speculative, my presentation will reflect on the readily documented impact of what are still known as the French Lands on local settlement and county formation.
