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Notes on Dispatches from William C. C. Claiborne, 4 July 1804

Notes on Dispatches from
William C. C. Claiborne

July 4. Govr. Claiborne’s lre May 24. 04. St. Julien’s case
the local judge should decide if crimes commd under Span. govmt are cognisable under ours & proceed accdly
do. May 29. dispute between 2. priests. let their chief decide
  French privateer with American prize.
do. May 30. his expences.
do. June 2. his answer to the impertinencies of Govr. Folch perfect

MS (DLC: TJ Papers, 140:24332); entirely in TJ’s hand; follows, on same sheet, Topics for Consultation with the Secretary of War, 16 May 1804.

St. Julien’s case: Claiborne’s dispatch to Madison of 24 May discussed the case of Pierre Louis St. Julien, whom Spanish authorities charged with murdering his wife. Pierre Clément Laussat subsequently released him, however, believing St. Julien to have been framed for the crime due to his pro-French proclivities. Following the cession of Louisiana, public “agitation” demanded St. Julien’s return to prison, but Claiborne doubted his authority to punish offences committed in Louisiana “previous to the late change of dominion” and sought instruction from the administration before proceeding (Madison, Papers, Sec. of State Ser., 7:250-1).

In a letter of 29 May, Claiborne informed Madison of a dispute in the Attakapas region involving two Catholic priests, Miguel Bernardo Barriere and Étienne Bernard Alexandre Viel. Laussat had replaced Barriere with Viel, but the head of the church in Louisiana, Patrick Walsh, reinstated Barriere and declared Viel’s authority null. The rival priests and their respective supporters, “very much inflamed,” appeared at the church simultaneously, which forced the civil commandant of the district, Henry Hopkins, to shut the church until he reported the matter to Claiborne for instructions. Claiborne referred the affair to Walsh. The same letter reported that a French privateer had anchored two prizes, one American and one British, in the Mississippi River and might attempt to sell their cargoes at New Orleans. Claiborne gave additional information in dispatches of 24 May (same, 250, 251, 265).

expences: Claiborne’s lengthy dispatch of 30 May included a detailed discussion of the heavy expenses he incurred as a commissioner to accept the transfer of Louisiana (same, 266-8).

Writing to Claiborne from Pensacola on 1 May, Governor Vicente Folch y Juan of West Florida vehemently protested the recent congressional act authorizing the establishment of a collection district at Mobile and the administration’s assertion that the Perdido River constituted the eastern boundary of Louisiana. Replying on 2 June, Claiborne stated that such matters more properly belonged to their respective governments to settle. He added that Folch’s “tone of Menace” was neither justified nor consistent with the harmony existing between the United States and Spain. Claiborne enclosed Folch’s letter and his reply in his dispatch to Madison of 2 June (same, 272-3; Rowland, Claiborne Letter Books description begins Dunbar Rowland, ed., The Official Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne, 1801-1816, Jackson, Miss., 1917, 6 vols. description ends , 2:182-6).

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