Came across this one doing some online genealogy. My Great Grandfather, Alexandre “Frenchy” LaCout was pretty interesting fellow.
I might also point out that he was a sprit-maker by trade and had gone to a lot of trouble to build his own tavern right before the government changed the rules and declared his chosen profession was suddenly illegal. According to my grandmother, as one would expect, this led to an “interesting period” in the family history. I wholeheartedly recommend the book Dapper and Dangerous: The True Story of Black Charlie Harris if you’re into interesting local history and getting a feel for what it must have been like in St. Louis, Wood River, and Southern Illinois during the prohibition era.
