Thomas Jefferson Papers
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To Thomas Jefferson from Pierre Derbigny, 7 February 1805

From Pierre Derbigny

february 7th. 1805.

Sir

I have the honour to inclose herewith the notes on Wachitaw, & must beg to be excused for presenting you a blotter in so bad order. Had I foreseen that an occasion would occur to offer them to you, I would have had them copied beforehand. I need not observe that these notes having been written for the use of the French Prefect, while Louisiana expected to be under the government of France, contain many things which are altogether useless at present.

With great respect I am Sir Yr. most obedt. hble. servant

P Derbigny

RC (DLC); at foot of text: “Thomas Jefferson, Esqr. President of the United States”; endorsed by TJ as received 8 Feb. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: see below.

Pierre Augustin Bourguignon Derbigny (1769-1829) was born in northern France and studied law. He emigrated from France in 1791 and spent time in Saint-Domingue, Pittsburgh, New Madrid, Florida, and Havana before settling in New Orleans in 1797. He worked as an interpreter for Spanish authorities and in 1803 became the secretary and registrar for the municipal council created by French prefect Pierre Clément Laussat. Although he repeatedly found work as an interpreter or clerk with the U.S. territorial government, Derbigny was a staunch critic of the administration of the territory. William C. C. Claiborne believed that he was the anonymous author of a pamphlet that excoriated Claiborne’s governance, although this attribution remains unproven. Derbigny was one of the three residents who presented a remonstrance of territorial citizens to Congress and also met with TJ to make their case. Excelling as a lawyer, he represented New Orleans in its fight to retain public claims on the Batture, a legal position that allied him with TJ in later years. He fought to preserve French and Spanish civil laws and contributed to Louisiana’s civil code, published in 1825. During statehood, Derbigny served as a judge on the state supreme court and as secretary of the state. Elected governor in 1828, his term was cut short when he died in a carriage accident. One eulogist, while noting political disagreements with Derbigny, lamented the loss of an “unblemished” citizen, who had been elevated to the office “from a knowledge of his competency, unobtained by the delusive arts of political intrigue” (Glenn R. Conrad, ed., A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, 2 vols. [New Orleans, 1988], 1:238-40; Peter J. Kastor, “‘They Are All Frenchmen’: Background and Nation in an Age of Transformation,” in Peter J. Kastor and François Weil, eds., Empires of the Imagination: Transatlantic Histories of the Louisiana Purchase [Charlottesville, 2009], 239, 246-51, 260-2; Eberhard L. Faber, Building the Land of Dreams: New Orleans and the Transformation of Early America [Princeton, 2016], 195-7; New Orleans Abeille, 8 Oct. 1829; Madison, Papers description begins William T. Hutchinson, Robert A. Rutland, J. C. A. Stagg, and others, eds., The Papers of James Madison, Chicago and Charlottesville, 1962- , 41 vols.; Sec. of State Ser., 1986- , 11 vols.; Pres. Ser., 1984- , 10 vols.; Ret. Ser., 2009- , 3 vols. description ends , Sec. of State Ser., 8:200; RS description begins J. Jefferson Looney and others, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Princeton, 2004- , 15 vols. description ends , 4:631-2; Claiborne to TJ, 10 Nov. 1804).

Derbigny was likely enclosing an account of the Ouachita (Wachitaw) River watershed, “Mémoire sur le district du Ouachita dans la province de la Louisianne,” written by Charles François d’Anmours in 1803 at Laussat’s request. It provided detailed descriptions of the river and its tributaries and the resources of the area, with some attention to the people who lived there (MS in PPAmP; printed as Memoire sur la district de Oachita dans la Province de la Louisianne [Alexandria, Va., 2004]). See also TJ to John Vaughan, 5 May.

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