Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2006 - (Page 39) Ships routinely stopped in St. Domingue en route to Louisiana, turning early travelers into agents of cultural cross-pollination. Louisiane (1810), and L’Abeille de la Nouvelle Orléans (1827). Two of New Orleans’ early mayors arrived with the first emigrant wave. James (Jacques-François) Pitot, a native of France, was in the sugar business in St. Domingue from 1782 to 1792. With the slave revolt, he returned to France, but the unstable political situation propelled him to Philadelphia, where he became an American citizen. He next moved to New Orleans, enjoying success as an importer and exporter. An active civic career culminated in his service as the first mayor of New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase. Denis Prieur (1791-1857), another St. Domingue native, was only an infant at the time of the slave uprisings. Brought to Louisiana by his parents, he was among a number of St. Domingue transplants who served with distinction on the American side in the Battle of New Orleans. He briefly entered his father’s mercantile business but turned to politics in the 1820s, and in 1828 was elected mayor. A longtime associate of Andrew Jackson, Prieur hosted the general’s triumphant return to New Orleans in 1840 on the 25th anniversary of the battle. The emigrant stream continued to flow through the 1790s and early 1800s, its pace picking up after the Purchase. Many of the new émigrés, highly educated and highly ambitious, played major roles in New Orleans’ professional renaissance. Witness the impact of one émigré, Louis Casimir Elisabeth Moreau-Lislet, on the profession of law in Louisiana. Born in Cap Français and educated in some of the finest French schools, Moreau-Lislet moved to Louisiana about the time of the Louisiana Purchase and distinguished himself with such publications as Explication des lois crimelles du territoire d'Orléans (1806), Digeste des lois civiles maintenant en viueur dans le territoire d'Orléans (1808), and an English translation of Spain’s Las Siete Partidas (1820). Along with Pierre Derbigny and Edward Livingston, Moreau-Lislet prepared a revised Civil Code of the State of Louisiana (1825), a foundational legal document. Both Derbigny and Livingston’s wife, Louise Davezac, were also St. Domingue natives — further evidence of the span and clout of the émigré network. (continued, page 42) Chief among the early arrivals was Luis Duclot, who arrived via New York circa 1794 and that same year established the first newspaper in the Mississippi Valley, Le Moniteur de la Louisiane. Duclot’s pioneering newspaper helped establish a vibrant press presence in New Orleans, with St. Domingue émigrés subsequently serving as publishers of many of the city’s leading journals, among them L’Ami des Lois (1809), Le Courrier de la St. Domingue nurtured Louisiana “as a child” by sending supplies to the younger colony. It was customary for French ships to stop for provisions in St. Domingue before continuing to New Orleans. This practice is depicted in Route pour le voyage de la Louisiane by Antoine Francois Laval (1664-1728), a Jesuit mathematician and astronomer. courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection Spring 2006/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 39
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.