“Bully” Proctor

Blackbirder Who Tried to Be King of Futuna

AS a complement to the January “PIM” account of Captain "Bully” Proctor’s adventurous life in the Pacific at the end of last century, the Very Rev. Father L. L. Dubois, SM, of Rome, Italy, has kindly sent us further details of the career of this notorious American blackbirder.

Father Dubois is the Assistant General of the Society of Mary and, as Official Visitor to the Marist Missions, he passed through the Pacific last year on an in spection tour. He has access to many of the valuable old records in Italy dealing with the early missionaries’ work in the South Seas.

The information about “Bully” Proctor was contained in letters written home to the Mission headquarters, under date of May 15, 1876, by Father Padel, a Catholic missionary on Wallis Island. Lying north-east of Fiji, Wallis (or Uvea, as it sometimes is known) and Futuna Island (120 miles north) now comprise a French dependency of New Caledonia.

Extracts from Rev. padel’s letters, translated from the original French, are as follows: — Monsignor bataillon, of the Catholic Mission, had been in resi dence at Futuna for two and a half months when a white man named Proctor arrived, determined to carry out an odious plan to make himself head of the island.

This man, a native of Louisiana (USA), had served under General Beauregard, and, wounded during the war of secession, had suffered the amputation of a leg.

Almost completely ruined, he had come to the South Seas to try his hand in trade.

After acquiring some property in Fiji, he had for several months been running a trading post at Wallis (Uvea) and another at Futuha.

On Futuna, Proctor had been graciously received bv the missionaries upon presen tation of a letter formerly given to him by Monsignor Odin, then archbishop of New Orleans. Father Quiblier was very sympathetic and even gave him shelter.

Unfortunately, Proctor’s business did not succeed, especially at Uvea, where he had to fight against more able com petitors. He attributed his failure to the ill-will of the missionaries and developed an implacable hatred for them and for Monsignor Bataillon.

Proctor arrived in this state of mind at Uvea. One dav he rushed like, a madman to the presbytery at Matautu. where he insulted Father Bouzique. Later he em barked for Futuna, making murderous threats against the bishop and the mis sionaries.

Arriving at Futuna, he began making the wildest statements. He called Mon signor Bataillon and the missionaries the “scavengers of France,” claimed that he himself was the most illustrious and estimable man in the world. He exhorted the people to choose him as their king, promising them wonders if they followed him, but threatening them with death if they dared offer him the slightest resis tance. He told them that a battleship carrying 300 men and furnished with all kinds of arms would soon reach Futuna to put itself at his command.

Monsignor Bataillon appealed to the native population not to head him.

THINGS had reached this pass when, on Saturday. April 21, at about half past five in the evening, Proctor went to the presbytery of St. Joseph.

He was dressed in his finest clothes,

pistols, each loaded with six bullets, and carried a sword-cane concealed in his garments. He looked first into Monsig nor Bataillon’s room, then into Father Quiblier’s; but on finding them both empty he waited in the yard until devo tions had ended.

Father Quiblier was the first to appear.

Proctor at once abused him and, throwing himself upon him, struck him with his fist, but he was immediately seized by a strong Futunian. Before the latter was able completely to overpower the assassin, he had fired twice at Father Quiblier, and twice the revolver went off harmlessly, the caps exploding without igniting the powder.

At this point the men who had just left the church hurled themselves upon him and tore the weapon from his grasp. Four shots were found to have been fired when the revolver was unloaded. I am sure that if we had not been there, our Futunians would have brained the poor wretch. Thev carried off his wooden leg to make sure he could not get away.

As the outrage was so glaring, the Futuna chiefs condemned Proctor to be shot, but Monsignor Bataillon used all his influence to prevent the sentence be ing carried out. Thev contented them selves with locking up the guilty man until the arrival of a warship. * ♦ * EXTRACT from a letter by Father Herve, Julv 1. 1876; The steam sloop “Veri” arrived here yesterday and left immediately. It has rid us of Proctor. We were not very easy while so dangerous a man was being guarded by Futunians.