John Marrast was a Norfolk merchant until at least 1820, and before moving to Alabama. By 1829, he was among the Americans who had joined the Tombeckbee Association, originally a group of French refugees who, in 1817, had received special considerations from Congress to purchase lands in Alabama Territory for “the cultivation of the vine and olive.” During this same period, Marrast sought help from Congress in retrieving nearly 600,000 francs in property losses caused by French spoliations prior to 1800 (Norfolk American Beacon, 19 Aug. 1820; ASP description begins American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1832-61, 38 vols. description ends , Public Lands, 3:343; 6:21; JS description begins Journal of the Senate of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1820-21, 5 vols. description ends , 16:56; 41:38; James F. Hopkins and Mary W. M. Hargreaves, eds., The Papers of Henry Clay, 11 vols. [Lexington, Ky., 1959–92], 5:166; John Marrast, Memorial of John Marrast: of Greensborough, Alabama, Praying Indemnity for Spoliations by France, Prior to 1800, &c. [Washington, D.C., 1832], 1-2).