Jean Lafitte (ca. 1776 – ca. 1823) was a pirate and privateer in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He often spelled his name Jean Laffite. Lafitte is believed to have been born either in France or the French colony of Saint-Domingue. By 1805, he operated a warehouse in New Orleans to help disperse the goods smuggled by his brother Pierre Lafitte. After the United States government passed the Embargo Act of 1807, the Lafittes moved their operations to an island in Barataria Bay. By 1810, their new port was very successful.
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Origins
A number of details about Jean Lafitte's early life are obscure and often contradictory. In one document, Lafitte claimed to have been born in Bordeaux, France, in 1780. He and his brother Pierre alternately claimed to have been born in Bayonne, while other documents of the time place his birthplace as St. Malo or Brest. However, as Lafitte's biographer Jack C. Ramsay states, "this was a convenient time to be a native of France, a claim that provided protection from the enforcement of American law."[1] Further contemporary accounts claim that Lafitte was born in Orduna, Spain or even Westchester, New York.[1] Saint-Domingue Ramsay speculates that Lafitte was actually born in the French territory Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).[1] It was not uncommon in the late 18th century for the adult children of the French landowners in Saint-Dominique to resettle in the Mississippi River delta, also owned by France. Families with the surname Lafitte are mentioned in Louisiana documents dating as early as 1765.[2] According to Ramsay, Lafitte, his elder brother Pierre, and his widowed mother journeyed from Saint-Dominique to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 1780s. In approximately 1784, his mother married Pedro Aubry, a New Orleans merchant; Jean stayed with his mother, while Pierre was raised by extended family elsewhere in Louisiana.[3] According to Ramsay's theory, as a young man, Lafitte likely spent a great deal of time exploring the wetland and bayou |
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France
Biographer William C. Davis reports a different childhood for Lafitte. According to his book, Lafitte was born in or near Pauillac, France, the son of Pierre Lafitte and his second wife, Marguerite Desteil. The couple had six children, with at least three being daughters. Jean Lafitte was likely born in 1782, although he was not baptized until 1786. Pierre Lafitte also had one child, also named Pierre, from his first marriage to Marie LaGrange, who likely died in childbirth. The boys were likely given a basic education.[5]
Although acknowledging that details of Lafitte's first twenty years are sparse, Davis speculates that Lafitte spent much time at sea as a child, probably aboard ships owned by his father, a known trader.[6] Davis places Lafitte's brother Pierre in Saint-Domingue in the late 1790s and early 1800s. Due to escalating violence from the Haitian Revolution, in early 1803, Pierre boarded a refugee ship for New Orleans.[7] By 1806, several "Captain Lafitte"s operated in New Orleans; Jean Lafitte was likely one of them.[6]
The source of this article is Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
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