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Taille de Noyer’s History Traces Back to a Land Grant from 1798
ON THE MOVE: Taille de Noyer as it looked in 1961 as preparations were made for its move by the E. F. David House Moving Company.
Taille de Noyer’s history can be traced back to land records from April 23, 1798. Hyacinthe Dehetre, an early settler, carpenter, and builder of the first church in the village of St. Ferdinand de Fleurissant, petitioned for a grant of the land.
Dehetre petitioned Don Zenon Trudeau, Lt. Capt. of the Regiment of Louisiana and Commandant in Chief of the Western Part of Illinois. He requested a grant in the amount of “20 arpents in width and 20 arpents in depth, the said land to be situated to the south of the Commons of said village, in such manner as to include a place called La Talle de Noyer.” The grant was made by Trudeau.
On Aug. 20, 1804, Dehetre sold the property to George Gordon. Gordon sold the property to John Mullanphy on Dec. 24, 1805.
Mullanphy gave the property to his daughter, Jane, and her husband, Charles Chambers, in 1819.
Their son, John Mullanphy Chambers, passed it on to his grandaughter, and she in turn to her sister, Sarah Chambers Polk, who had possession of the property until it
was sold to the R-2 School District in 1960.
Jane wrote to her father-in-law: “Our plantation is called Walnut Grove. It was called by the French Taille de Noyer. Walnut and hickory trees abound on it, and there is also much oak.”
Seventeen children were born to Jane and Charles Chambers, and the expanded the home, as did succeeding families. When the Florissant Valley Historical Society acquired the house, it has 22 rooms and was three stories high.
In April 1960, historical society officers met with the R-2 School Board to urge that Taille de Noyer be preserved as an historical site. In July 1960, the historical society voted to restore Taille if it were made available by the school district.
The school district agreed in Jan. 1961 to let the Florissant Valley Historical Society take over Taille, provided it was moved. A moving contract was signed with E. F. David House Moving Company in March 1961.
In June 1961, the concrete footing was poured for Taille, and the house was successfully moved 200 yards.
