To James Madison from William Dubourg, 4 August 1806 (Abstract)
From William Dubourg, 4 August 1806 (Abstract)
§ From William Dubourg. 4 August 1806, St. Mary’s College, Baltimore. Mr. Pierre Dormenon, a distinguished lawyer of a character cherished by all who know him, after having passed twenty-six months at St. Mary’s as a professor, has determined to leave in a few days for New Orleans, where he intends to resume his former profession. Having learned that some complaints existed among a group of French inhabitants of Louisiana, and wanting to repel on his arrival there all suspicions and apprehensions that could attach to him as a lawyer and a Frenchman, he has asked Dubourg to solicit from JM a recommendation in his favor to the governor of New Orleans. If Mr. Dormenon were known to JM, Dubourg has no doubt that JM would consider him extremely capable of helping to put a stop to the dissension that exists in that country and by his advice bring back those of his former compatriots who might be disposed to resist the principles of reasonable compliance.1 It is chiefly on these grounds that Dubourg recommends Dormenon to JM and hopes, from his knowledge of JM’s goodwill, that his testimony will carry some weight. Asks for a prompt response, with the requested recommendation.
Printed copy (Pierre Dormenon, Reponse á des calomnies [New Orleans, 1809], 26). 1 p.; in French; certified on 29 Mar. 1809 by John Vassant, chief clerk in the secretary’s office, as in conformity with the original deposited in the governor’s office. The Reponse (28 pp.) defends Dormenon against unnamed charges “dont il était même dangereux de parler ici” (of which it was dangerous even to speak here), and includes numerous statements testifying to his good character. The final page bears William C. C. Claiborne’s initialed note: “Some of the above Documents in support of Mr Dormenon’s reputation, were seen by me, previous to his being named a Parish Judge, & particularly the Letter, from Mr, Dubourg.” Enclosed in Claiborne to Robert Smith, 21 Apr. 1809 (DNA: RG 59, TP, Orleans, vol. 10), which explained that Dormenon, the judge of Pointe Coupee Parish, was involved in a bitter dispute with the parish priest; Claiborne also enclosed an 8 Mar. 1809 deposition given by Pierre Cullion, Charles Ellinghaus, and Antoine Remi, carpenters and contractors in New Orleans (3 pp.), stating that during the Haitian revolution they had lived near Jacmel, where Dormenon orchestrated at least two massacres of white citizens, ordered the execution of white prisoners, married a “Mulatresse,” and otherwise made known his sympathy with the Black revolutionaries. For the ensuing court case, which dealt with these or similar charges against Dormenon, see François-Xavier Martin, Orleans Term Reports, or Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior Court of the Territory of Orleans (7 vols.; New Orleans, 1811–20; 23606), 1:129–32.
1. On 30 June 1807 Claiborne appointed Dormenon a territorial judge for Pointe Coupee Parish (, 9:749).