Meanwhile, in Pratt, Galveston Island, or, A Few Months Off the Coast of Texas. The Journal of Francis C. Sheridan, p. 62, Sheridan repeats a story current on Galveston in 1840 that said Laffite was shot in the head in a battle with a Spanish vessel. Manuel López said in circa 1840 that Jean died "of a wound he had received in an encounter with a Spanish vessel at which time he was taken prisoner." In publishing Lopez's story, the editor of the newspaper commented that it was similar to accounts brought back by officers of the United States Navy. Houston, Morning Star, February 8, 1842.
68. The article from a March 1823 issue of the Gaceta de Cartajena is republished in the Bogotá, Gaceta de Colombia, April 20, 1823.
69. Porter to Thompson, March 28, 1823, M-125, NA; Porter, Memoir, pp. 279–81.
70. Pensacola, Floridian, August 23, 1823.
71. Ibid., May 3, 1823.
72. Logbook of the USS Alligator, May 4, 1823, Entry 118, RG 24, NA.
73. Pensacola, Floridian, May 24, 1823.
74. Porter, Memoir, p. 282; New Orleans, Courier, May 12, 1823.
75. Providence, Rhode Island Republican, June 4, 1823.
TWENTY-TWO
1. Pensacola, Gazette, May 1, 1824.
2. Ibid., September 4, 1824.
3. Thomas Randall to Adams, October 31, 1824, Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting Information Relative to Piratical Depredations, &c., Furnished In Pursuance of Two Resolutions of 21st and 23d December last (Washington, 1825), p. 21.
4. Francis B. C. Beardslee, Piracy in the West Indies and Its Suppression (Salem, MA, 1923), pp. 55–56.
5. Hollon and Butler, William Bollaert's Texas, p. 90.
6. Newark, NJ, Daily Advertiser, February 12, 1840.
7. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 20, 1871.
8. Houston, Morning Star, February 8, 1842.
9. Hollon and Butler, William Bollaert's Texas, p. 160; Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 434.
10. Stafford, Graham, p. 85.
11. These stories and a host of other nonsense based on spurious findings by Dr. Louis Genella appeared in articles by Meigs O. Frost in the New Orleans, States in 1928. See also The Lafitte Cemetery, Louisiana Legends, taken May 1, 1939, Federal Writers Project Collection, NSUL.
12. K. T. Knoblock to Lyle Saxon, n.d., ca 1930s, Melrose Collection, NSUL.
13. Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 435n.
14. James Dick to Laurent Maire, April 27, 1820, Notary Philippe Pedesclaux, Vol. 15, item 837, NONA.
15. Process verbal of sale, November 6, 1827, Laurent Maire Estate Inventory, September 15, 1827, Orleans Parish Court of Probates, Louisiana Division, NOPL.
16. Dominique You to Nathaniel Jenkins, March 3, 1823, Notary Philippe Pedesclaux, Vol. 26, Act 151; Jenkins to You, April 2, 1824, Vol. 29, Act 164, NONA.
17. New Orleans, Le Courier de la Louisiane, November 15, 16, 1830.
18. Jane Lucas De Grummond, Renato Beluche, Smuggler, Privateer, and Patriot, 1780–1860 (Baton Rouge, LA, 1983), pp. 230–31.
19. William F. Gray, From Virginia to Texas, 1835: Diary of Col. Wm. F. Gray (Houston, TX, 1909), p. 170.
20. Pratt, Galveston Island, or, A Few Months Off the Coast of Texas. The Journal of Francis C. Sheridan, pp. 54—55.
21. Henry Stuart Foote, Texas and the Texans; or, Advance of the Anglo-Americans to the South-west (Philadelphia, 1841), I, p. 196.
22. John H. Lee to Porter, May 12, 1824, Charleston, Southern Patriot, July 21, 1824.
23. Stephens, Yucatan, II, p. 296.
24. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, December 19, 1948; Houston, Post, July 10, 1960.
25. Pratt, Galveston Island, pp. 56–57.
26. G. Harrison Orians, "Lafitte: A Bibliographical Note," American Literature, IX (November 1937), pp. 351–53.
27. Louisville, KY, Journal, November 30, 1836.
28. See, for instance, James Rees, "The Gold Chain: A Passage in the Life of Lafitte," New York, New World, October 17, 1840.
29. James Rees, "Passages in the Life of Lafitte," clipping in Jean Laffite Vertical File, CAHUT. See also "The Pirate of the Gulf; or, the Hidden Treasure," Colburn's United Service Magazine 1846, Part 1 (February 1846), pp. 236ff.
30. Bollaert, "Lafitte," p. 435n.
31. Boutte, LA, St. Charles Herald, September 25, 1873.
32. Galveston, Flake's Daily Bulletin, November 5, 1871.
33. New Orleans, Daily Picayune, January 27, 1895.
34. Ebenezer Allen to Gideon Lincecum, November 10, 1853, Rosenberg Library, Galveston.
35. Boutte, LA, St. Charles Herald, September 25, 1873.
36. New Orleans, Daily Picayune, January 27, 1895.
37. Galveston, Daily News, April 21, 1878.
38. Lake Charles, LA, Echo, January 5, 1884.
39. Lake Charles, LA., American, April 30, 1909.
40. Clipping from an unidentified Houston, TX, newspaper, in possession of Pam Keyes.
41. Lake Charles, American Press, November 15, 1981, November 30, 2002. A substantial number of other treasure stories connected with the Laffites will be found in the Laffite Collection, Rosenberg, and also in the Laffite Vertical File in the Louisiana State Library in Baton Rouge. See also J. Frank Dobie, "The Mystery of Lafitte's Treasure," Yale Review, XVIII (September 1928), pp. 116–34.
42. Interview with Captain J. E. Fehann, August 10, 1939, conducted by Dawn F. Jameson, Folder 554, Federal Writers Project Collection, NSUL.
43. New York, Spectator,; June 28, 1820.
44. Charles E. Nolan and Dorenda Dupont, eds., Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Volume 16, 1824–1823 (New Orleans, 2001), pp. 221, 350. At the birth of Charles Roup, son of Pierre and Catherine Coralie, on November 3, 1827, Catherine Roup is spoken of again as the daughter of "Pierre Lafitte dec[eased]." Charles E. Nolan and Dorenda Dupont, eds., Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Volume 18, 1828–1829 (New Orleans, 2003), p. 352.
45. 1830 Census, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, p. 28.
46. Marriages, Free Persons of Color, 1830–1835, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 35, SAANO. As will be discussed below, the page with the marriage has been torn out but the year can be reconstructed from the volume's index.
47. Nolan and Dupont, Sacramental Records, Volume 18, p. 57. No record of Martin's death had been found, but his widow was married to François Leon by 1831, as their first child was born August 8, 1832. LBRI Vol. 4, p. 124.
48. Rieder and Rieder, Ship Lists, pp. 29, 41, 68.
49. Marriages S-Free Persons of Color, Vol. 1, Part 2, 1777–1830, p. 79, act #372, SAANO; Mary Louise Christovich and Roulhac B. Toledano, Faubourg Treme and the Bayou Road: North Rampart Street to North Broad Street, Canal Street to St. Bernard Avenue (New Orleans, 2003; Vol. VI of Samuel Wilson and Bernard Lemann, eds., New Orleans Architecture), p. 22.
50. Baptism Book 35, p. 6, SAANO.
51. Saxon, Lafitte, p. 264, says that an 1830 New Orleans directory shows Marie Josephe living with Joseph Sauvinet at 141 Hospital Street. This is apparently pure invention, as there is no city directory known to have been published in 1830, and the 1832 directory shows Sauvinet at 124 Hospital, not 141, and does not list other occupants.
52. Her death is recorded in the LDRI, IV, p. 101, as both Villard and Ramos.
53. Funerals S-Free Persons of Color, Vol. 10, Part 2, 1833–1834, p. 219, entry #1426, SAANO.
54. 1850 Census, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, 1st Ward, 3d Municipality, p. 90; LDRI, Vol. 74, p. 418.
55. LDRI, Vol. 14, p. 538.
56. Funerals S-Free Persons of Color, Vol. 9, 1829–1831, Part 1, p. 317, entry #2015, SAANO, lists the death and burial on October 24, 1832, of Jean Lafitte, aged sixteen, the son of Catherine Villard and a father identified only as "Mr. Lafite." It is just possible that this Jean was a second son of Jean Laffite and Catherine Villard. Jean's brief time in New Orleans in March 1816 prior to his Arkansas trip raises the possibility that he
and Catherine conceived another child then, a child born in December 1816 or January 1817, who would thus be just shy of sixteen in October 1832. But far more likely this is the son Pierre born on November 4, 1815, which would make him sixteen as of October 24, 1832, and a perfect fit with the death record, raising the probability that though he was baptized as Pierre, his full name was Jean Pierre. At the moment this can be nothing more than speculation.
57. LDRI, Vol. 14, p. 357.
58. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, August 20, 1871; LDRI, Vol. 50, p. 49.
59. Statement of André Tessier, October 31, 1845, Case File 113863, George Renton vs. Miriella Farr, Orleans Parish Civil District Court, Division A, Archives, University of New Orleans.
60. Testimony of Rosalie DuHart, March 29, 1921, Case #25813, State ex rel. Allnet et al. vs. Board of Health of City of New Orleans, March 10, 1924, Supreme Court of Louisiana, University of New Orleans Archives. The testimony of DuHart that mentions the mementos makes it pretty clear that the family had confused the origins of the items.
61. LBRI, Vol. 6, pp. 397, 398, Vol. 10, pp. 225, 565.
62. 1880 Census, Louisiana, Orleans Parish, 7th Ward, p. 596.
63. LMRI, Vol. 14, p. 558.
64. LBRI, Vol. 105, p. 227, 228, Vol. 115, p. 636.
65. LBRI, Vol. 97, p. 738.
66. Statement of Mirielle A. Farr, October 16, 1815, George Renton vs. Mirielle A. Farr, Case #113863, Division A, Civil District Court Archives, University of New Orleans.
67. Petition of George Renton, October 1, 1915, Ibid.
68. Affidavit of Mirielle A. Farr, October 16, 1915, Ibid.
69. In Marriages, Free Persons of Color, 1830–1835, Vol. 2, Part 1, SAANO, this is all quite apparent, and a signed statement by archivist G. Lugano, dated December 21, 1915, attests to his discovery.
70. Testimony of Gaspar Logano, September 30, 1921, June 8, 1922, Testimony of E Joanen, Sr., n.d., Case #25813, Supreme Court of Louisiana, University of New Orleans.
71. Testimony of Rosalie DuHart, March 29, 1921, Ibid.
72. Testimony of Horace E. Farr, May 24, 1921, Ibid.
73. Testimony of Edward Allnet, June 7, 1921, Ibid.
74. Statement of Mrs. Edward Farr, January 17, 1918, Case file #132700, Division E, Edward Allnet et al. vs. Board of Health of the City of New Orleans, Civil District Court Archives, University of New Orleans.
75. Testimony of Marie Gras Gregory, March 21, 1921, Case #25813, Supreme Court of Louisiana, University of New Orleans.
76. Testimony of Rosalie DuHart, March 29, 1921, Ibid. Saxon, Lafitte, p. 264, makes this same confusion of the Pierre Lafitte who married Marie Berret being the son of Pierre Laffite the pirate.
77. New Orleans, Times-Picayune, November 21, 1922; New Orleans, Official Daily Court Record, November 27, 1922.
78. File #25813, Supreme Court of Louisiana, State ex rei. Allnet et al. vs. Board of Health of City of New Orleans, March 10, 1924, Civil District Court Archives, University of New Orleans.
79. Mirielle Farr vs. George Renton, Case #145204, Division F, Civil District Court, NOPL. The actual case file is missing.
80. Saxon, Lafitte, pp. 117–18, 264–65, tells this story in substance, but gets most of the details wrong, though he had the transcript of the trials at hand. Subsequently they could not be found again until unearthed in November 2003 during research for this work.
81. Statement of Mrs. Edward Farr, January 17, 1918, Case file #132700, Division E, Edward Allnet et al. vs. Board of Health of the City of New Orleans, Civil District Court Archives, University of New Orleans.
* * *
BIBLIOGRAPHY
THE SOURCES ON the Laffites and their world are considerable, and of vastly varying quality. So far as biographies of the principals are concerned, all deal only with Jean Laffite in the main, and only two are of value. Lyle Saxon's Lafitte the Pirate is a hodgepodge of legend and lore and some original material, much of which he misused or did not understand, but it has been the standard. Jack C. Ramsay, Jr.'s Jean Laffite, Prince of Pirates is a serious effort to do much better, and while it has problems of organization, it is certainly an improvement. Stanley Clisby Arthur's Jean Laffite, Gentleman Rover is just a rehash of Saxon laced liberally with unreliable stuff from the collection associated with the spurious Laffite Journal. Arthur did uncover some new material, but generally did not understand it, and so made poor use of it.
The articles of Stanley Faye, Robert C. Vogel, Harris Gaylord Warren, and a number of contributions in the Laffite Society Chronicles, along with Warren's The Sword was their Passport, represent the bulk of the genuinely original and reliable Laffite publications of the last few generations. For genuinely reliable and new information on the brothers, there is no substitute for the original documents in such places as the New Orleans Notarial Archives, the city and parish records in the New Orleans Public Library, the case files of the Federal district court now at the National Archives Southwest Region in Ft. Worth, Texas, and the records of the Navy, Customs and Treasury, and other branches of government at the National Archives in Washington. The several collections generally headed as Archives of the Indies, located at Chicago's Newberry Library and the Center for American History in Austin, Texas, are invaluable.
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MANUSCRIPTS
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The Pirates Laffite Page 69