Orleans Territory House of Representatives to Thomas Jefferson, 11 November 1805
From the Orleans Territory House of Representatives
Monday November the 11th 1805
In the house of representatives of the territory of Orleans
Sir
In obedience to a provision contained in the ordinance of Congress bearing date the thirteenth of november 1787 and in conformity with a resolve of the house of representatives of this territory herein inclosed, I have the honor to return to you the extract of the journal of this house, which contains every thing that relates to the election by ballot of the ten persons out of whom the president of the United States is to appoint five to serve as councillors for the territory of Orleans. I beg leave further to communicate to you, Sir, the wishes of this house for as speedy an organisation as possible of the legislature of this territory.
With the highest respect I have the honor to be, Sir your most Obedient humble Servant
Jean Noêl Destréhan
Speaker of the house of Representatives
RC (DNA: RG 59, TP, Orleans); in the hand of Eligius Fromentin, clerk of the house, including forenames of signature; surname signed by Jean Noël Destréhan; at head of text: “To Thomas Jefferson President of the United States”; endorsed by Jacob Wagner; endorsed by TJ as received from the Orleans Territory House of Representatives on 16 Dec. and so recorded in SJL. Enclosures: (1) Resolution of the Orleans Territory House of Representatives, 11 Nov., instructing the speaker to transmit to the president an extract from the house journal for 8 Nov. relating to the nomination of candidates for appointment to the legislative council, and also to express the house’s desire for a speedy organization of the territorial legislature (Tr in same, attested by Fromentin). (2) Extract from the journal of the Orleans Territory House of Representatives, 8 Nov., recording the results of a ballot to select 10 candidates for the legislative council: Joseph Deville Bellechasse, 19 votes; John W. Gurley, 19 votes; Pierre Derbigny, 18 votes; Jean Baptiste Macarty, 18 votes; Jean Noël Destréhan, 17 votes; Pierre Sauvé, 17 votes; Dominique Bouligny, 16 votes; Joseph Villars (père), 16 votes; Evan Jones, 15 votes; Charles François d’Anmours, 13 votes (Tr in same, attested by Fromentin).
The territorial House of Representatives convened for the first time on 4 Nov. Governor William C. C. Claiborne delivered an address on that day, and on the 5th the members chose Jean Noël Destréhan as speaker. Destréhan (1754-1823), a Louisiana native, was the son of a former French colonial official and one of the wealthiest sugar planters in Orleans Territory. He became a leading advocate of planter and Creole interests and was a member of the deputation that carried the Louisiana memorial to Washington in 1804. TJ had considered him for appointment to the territory’s first legislative council, and he dined at the President’s House three times during his stay in the capital. Destréhan would remain a prominent figure in the politics and society of Orleans Territory and, later, the state of Louisiana. He declined election to the U.S. Senate in 1812 (Aurora, 27 Dec.; ; Glenn R. Conrad, ed., A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, 2 vols. [New Orleans, 1988], 1:241-2; Vol. 44:15, 17, 24, 255n, 307, 535; Vol. 45:119n, 717, 722, 730).
ordinance of Congress: the Northwest Ordinance, passed by Congress on 13 July 1787. Congress extended terms of the ordinance to Orleans Territory in March 1805 (, 2:322).