To Thomas Jefferson from Étienne Barras, 4 March 1805
From Étienne Barras
Nouvelle-orleans. Le 4. mars. 1805.
Monsieur Le Président
Jai Lhonneur de Remettre Cy Joint, a votre Exelence, Copie d’une lettre que Jai adressée a Son Exelence, Le Gouverneur Claiborne, Pour lui demander l’office de Sherif mayor; D’apres le Refus qu’il a deja fait de m’accorder D’autres Places. Non Seulement il m’a Encore Refusé celle ci; mais il a oublié ce quil devoit au Nom que Je Porte En ne me faisant Pas même Lhonneur de Repondre a mes lettres.
Jai Lhonneur de Rendre Compte, à votre Exelence, de ce qui Se Passe afin que vous Puissiez Juger Vous même Si Les Barras Doivent Etre Oubliés & méprisés Par le Gouvernement. Surtout Lorsqu’il est question D’un des Individus de cette famille qui a Eu le bonheur de servir Lui meme Les Etats unis, & qui les à adoptés En Se faisant Naturaliser
qu’els Sont Les Droits, et Les Services, de ceux a qui Monsieur Le Gouverneur, a Donné la Préférence sur moi? … il Repond, qu’ils sont Nés dans les Etats unis. … Il n’Est Pas moins Vrais que le nom flatteur de Vos Chers Concitoyens, que votre Exelence, a Donné aux habitants de la Louisianne, Leur Laisse LEspoir D’obtenir Justice, & Le Retour aux Sentiments qu’ils vous Portent
Je Suis avec Respect, & de Votre Exelence Le tres humble & trés Obeissant Serviteur
Etne. Barras.
Editors’ Translation
New Orleans, 4 Mch. 1805
Mister President,
I have the honor of enclosing for your excellency a copy of a letter that I sent to his excellency Governor Claiborne requesting the position of sheriff-mayor, following his refusal to award me another position. Not only has he refused me this one again, but forgetting the obligation he has to my name, he did not even do me the honor of responding to my letters.
I have the honor of relating to your excellency what happened so you can judge for yourself whether the Barras family should be forgotten and disdained by the government, especially when it is a question of one of the members of this family who had the good fortune of serving the United States personally and who adopted this country by becoming a naturalized citizen.
To what rights and services did the governor give preference over me? He replies that they are born in the United States. Yet, it is no less true that the flattering name of “your dear fellow citizens” that your excellency gave to the inhabitants of Louisiana gives them hope of obtaining justice and a reciprocity of the sentiments they hold for you.
With respect, I am the very humble and obedient servant of your excellency.
Etne. Barras.
RC (DLC); ellipses in original; endorsed by TJ as a letter of 19 Feb. 1805 received 23 Apr. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosure: Barras to William C. C. Claiborne, 19 Feb., reminding Claiborne of his promise to provide Barras with a position on his arrival in New Orleans as a reward for the crucial role Barras played in the American Revolution; Barras notes also his decision to opt for U.S. citizenship after a six-year residence in New York (Tr in same; in French).
Étienne Barras served under his uncle, Admiral Jacques Melchior Saint Laurent de Barras, the commander of the French naval squadron at Newport, Rhode Island, during the American Revolution. The squadron transported troops and materials and blockaded Chesapeake Bay before the battle of Yorktown in 1781. Étienne Barras and his wife, Marie Catherine Mesnard Barras, were naturalized as U.S. citizens on 1 Nov. 1803 in New York City (Vicomte de Noailles, Marins et soldats français en Amérique pendant la guerre de l’indépendance des États-Unis [Paris, 1903], 235n, 257, 367; Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in Federal, State, and Local Courts located in New York City, bundle 3, record 15, in DNA; , Rev. War Ser., 3:363).