*THE STORY, . - Conway County, Arkansas | . *THE STORY - Arkansas Gravestone Photos

. *THE STORY

Petit Jean Cemetery
Conway County,
Arkansas

In the early days of the French revolution, Jean Chavet, a young nobleman, fled France to the New World. He promised his lover, a commoner named Adrienne Dumont, that he would send for her as soon as he found a place to settle. She pleaded to be taken along, but he would not agree. The dangers were too great.

Adrienne followed Jean to the docks, where she noticed that the cabin boy was just about her size. She purchased his identity on the spot, dressed in his clothes and took his place as cabin boy on the ship. She also took his name--Petit Jean.

Long story short. She fooled everybody, her lover included, for THREE YEARS, while they crossed the Atlantic and then sailed up the Mississippi, the Arkansas, and then the Petit Jean rivers. Then she became sick and was given over to one of the local tribes for treatment. It was the Indians who discovered she was a woman. What must they have thought about the Europeans?

So she died, was buried here, and now the place is named after her and on still, calm nights people can see two lights, the souls of the two lovers, floating along the ridge.
arkansasroadstories.com

Contributed on 9/14/14 by hawkinsdonna
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Record #: 1038517

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Submitted: 9/14/14 • Approved: 9/14/14 • Last Updated: 9/17/14 • R1038517-G0-S3

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