The Delassus-St. Vrain Family Collection consists of legal documents, correspondence, land records, journals, and genealogical information. The vast majority of the documents are written in French and Spanish. Despite the poor penmanship, incorrect grammar usage, and use of archaic forms of the languages by the document’s creators, every attempt has been made to provide a complete and correct translation of the documents. It should be noted that many of the documents in the collection remain untranslated. The Marquis Pierre Charles de Hault Delassus (1544-1797) Series comprises royal decrees, legal documents, commissions, and unidentified documents dating from the sixteenth century to the late eighteenth century. The papers were apparently brought to America by Pierre Charles de Hault Delassus when he and his family left France in 1790. All of the documents are written in French. A number of the sixteenth-century documents have not been translated due to the difficulty of reading and translating early French script. The series includes royal commissions signed by King Henry III of France (1551-1589) and several multi-page sixteenth- and seventeenth-century manuscripts relating to the De Hault family in France. Pierre Charles de Hault Delassus’ personal papers (1766-1795) are included in the collection. Pierre Delassus preferred the title M. de Luziere and most of the documents refer to him in this manner. Family documents such as the baptismal records of Pierre Charles’ children are found in Folder 5. In 1786, Pierre Charles de Hault Delassus was accepted into the Royal Military Order of St. Michael. A parchment declaring his induction and noting that he does not have to prove his noble birth to be accepted into the order is signed by King Louis XVI of France (1754-1793) (located in Box 1b). Various official papers and correspondence of M. de Luziere (Box 1/folder 6) while serving as civil commandant of the New Bourbon settlement are included in this series. The Charles Auguste de Hault Delassus Series (1758-1842) contains official correspondence, military orders, reports, commissions, journals, land petitions, receipts, and invoices. The series begins with papers relating to the early military career of Charles de Hault Delassus. Among the items are Spanish military documents regarding regiments, troop movements, and battle casualties while Delassus led a regiment in the War of the First Coalition during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1795). A number of the documents bear the royal signature stamp and seal of King Carlos IV of Spain. Documents relating to Delassus’ service in the 6th Regiment of the Louisiana troops and his duties as lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana (1797-1804) are filed in folders beginning with Box 1, folder 8. These documents include correspondence, reports, land petitions, military orders, receipts, invoices, and an inventory of the documents held in the Archivo de St. Luis at the beginning of Delassus’ tenure as lieutenant governor. The series provides a revealing look at the military and political situation that existed in Upper Louisiana. Among the correspondence is a letter dated 26 May 1797 relaying intelligence information concerning possible hostilities between the United States and Spain in the Mississippi Valley and a copy of a 1795 common defense treaty agreed upon by France and Spain that contains Delassus’ signature. Later documents detail the steps taken to transfer St. Louis and Upper Louisiana to the United States after the conclusion of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Copies of letters discussing the impending transfer and a copy of the Louisiana Purchase agreement are included in Box 2, folder 5. The series contains a number of documents relating to the Native Americans of Upper Louisiana. Certificates of loyalty issued on behalf of various Ayoa (Iowa) Indian chiefs and warriors by the Spanish crown bear the signature of Delassus. In addition, the series contains a journal that chronicles Delassus’ 1802 military expedition to New Madrid for the purpose of carrying out the execution of members of a band of Mashcoux or Talapousa Creeks found guilty of killing settler David Trotter. The incident is discussed at length along with translations of Delassus’ official documents in Goodspeed’s History of Southeast Missouri (reprint: Cape Girardeau, 1955). Additional documents mention the Yankton Sioux and the Loups (Delaware) tribes, as well as individual chiefs such as White Hair of the Osage Nation. These sources can be found in Box 2, folders 4 and 5. Official documents and correspondence that pertain to slaves in Upper Louisiana or those owned by Charles DeHault Delassus can be found throughout the series. Delassus owned several slaves during his lifetime. Many of the documents refer to these slaves by name, such as a transfer of title (9 February 1804) to Delassus from M.P. Leduc for two slaves, a twenty-eight-year-old woman named Madeleine and her twelve-year-old son, Paul. Other references to slaves appear in the form of burial expense receipts for slaves that died in New Orleans while under Delassus’ ownership and the baptismal record (10 October 1804) of a slave woman named Ester Salisbury who was owned by Delassus during his time in St. Louis. Correspondence and receipts relating to the mercantile businesses of Derbigny and Company, Derbigny and LaForge, and LaForge can be found in Box 2. Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny (1769-1829) was an early resident of New Madrid and a brother-in-law of Charles DeHault Delassus. Derbigny became a prominent merchant of the Mississippi Valley before moving to New Orleans in 1800. After the transfer of Louisiana to the United States, Derbigny became active in state politics. He was a principal member of the group that opposed the adoption of English common law for Louisiana and helped author a state constitution based on traditional French and Spanish law. He served on the Louisiana Supreme Court, served as secretary of state, and was elected governor in 1828. Pierre Antoine LaForge ( -1811) settled in New Madrid in 1796. He also became a prominent colonial merchant but additionally served as adjutant of the local militia, justice of the peace, and notary public of the settlement. After the Louisiana Territory was transferred to the United States, LaForge was appointed civil commandant of the post. He died in 1811 shortly after the great New Madrid earthquake. Delassus maintained a business relationship with Derbigny and LaForge during his service in St. Louis. The folders contain receipts, statements, and business correspondence with both partners. Delassus maintained a close friendship throughout his life with Marie Phillip Leduc (1772-1842) who served as Delassus’ secretary during his time as lieutenant governor. Leduc was born in Paris and immigrated to the United States in 1792 with his mother and brother. He arrived in St. Louis in 1799. Leduc married Marguerite Papin, granddaughter of Madame Chouteau, in 1802. During his lifetime, Leduc served in twenty different positions, among them the recorder for the office of probate and notary in St. Louis County, justice of the peace in St. Louis Township, clerk of the circuit court, translator for the Board of Land Commissioners, recorder of boatmen in St. Ferdinand Township, territorial and state legislator, and judge of probate. The friendship between the two men is apparent by the many letters present in the collection. After Delassus left Missouri, Leduc kept him aware of business and land affairs in the territory. Many of the letters are business correspondence but also contain a great deal of family and personal news. The two men corresponded frequently. The series includes a sorrowful letter Delassus wrote to Leduc after the death of Delassus’ wife in 1816 and another in which Leduc attempts to consol Delassus after the death of his daughter Odille in October 1817. A number of letters between William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), then governor of the Indiana Territory, and Delassus appear in this series (Box 2/folders 4-5) The letters express a very friendly and familiar tone. In the first letter dated 6 November 1802, Harrison thanks Delassus for the kind hospitality he received on a recent visit to St. Louis. Later correspondence includes letters of introduction (1803) from Harrison on behalf of George Wallace who wishes to start a mercantile business in St. Louis and letters discussing the possibility of a transfer of Louisiana to the United States. References to Spanish galleys and riverboats are found in this series. Many of the references discuss the transport of Spanish troops but some refer to the transport of goods. The names of some of the vessels and the crews can be found in documents pertaining to the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Upper Louisiana in 1804. A baptismal record (Box 2/folder 7) for two African American servants of Charles DeHault Delassus notes that a witness to the baptism was Jacques DeHault Delassus, captain of the S.M. La Flecha. In Delassus’ account of the departure of Spanish troops in November 1804, he includes information on the condition of the Mississippi River and problems surrounding its navigation. Also included in the collection is a passenger receipt (Box 3/folder 6) for an 1816 steamboat trip from New Orleans to New Madrid, Missouri, and references to the steamboat Franklin (Box 3/folder 8) in 1818. An account of the withdrawal of Spanish officials and troops from St. Louis (Box 2/folder 8) after the conclusion of the Louisiana Purchase was recorded by Delassus in November 1804. The diary describes the weather conditions in St. Louis and along the Mississippi River, discusses the attitudes of those citizens that they encountered as they left the region, and describes such places as Ste. Genevieve and New Madrid. There are also references to Campo del Esperanza, a small military post that sat along the Mississippi River in Arkansas on the opposite bank from present-day Memphis, Tennessee. Box 3 contains documents relating to Delassus’ duties as civil commandant of West Florida. These include correspondence, military records, and a copy of the restitution bill passed by Congress to repay Delassus for property lost during the West Florida Rebellion. The role of Charles Delassus as governor of West Florida and his actions during the West Florida Rebellion are discussed in “The West Florida Rebellion” by Thomas P. Abernathy, published in The Louisiana Purchase and its Aftermath, 1800-1830 (University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1998). A series of letters from Marie Felicite Odille DeHault Derbigny (1773- ), wife of Pierre Derbigny, to her brother Charles DeHault Delassus can be found in Box 3. The letters were written from their home in New Orleans and discuss family matters. Letters from Charles DeHault Delassus’ nephew Felix St. Vrain are found in Box 4. St. Vrain acted as Delassus’ business agent in Missouri while he lived in New Orleans. The correspondence discusses many of Delassus’ land transactions including one letter in which St. Vrain tries to persuade his uncle to donate his land in the Murphy Settlement (Farmington, Missouri) for use as a site for the St. Francois County seat. Documents pertaining to Ceran St. Vrain and his involvement in the Santa Fe trade can be found in Box 4. A transcript copy of Ceran St. Vrain’s will that was written before he left on a trip across the plains is filed in Box 7/folder 4. According to a letter written by Martha St. Vrain, wife of Benedict M. St. Vrain, dated August 23, 1909 (Box 10/folder 2), Ceran St. Vrain’s personal papers were destroyed in an office fire in 1871. Among the items destroyed was an original history of the Delassus family written on parchment. A tracing of his signature and those of other members of the St. Vrain family can be found in the Genealogy Series, Box 10/folder 10. Official Dispatches and Correspondence of the Spanish Governors Subseries is filed according to individual officials, with each set of papers arranged chronologically. The official correspondence discusses matters relating to relations with the Osage Indians, commerce, finances, and defense. The original translations were completed by Ysabel C. Sandoval in 1904. The governors included are the Baron de Carondelet (1791-1797), Gayoso de Lemos (1797-1799), Marques Manuel de Casa Calvo (1799-1801), Juan Manuel de Salcedo (1801-1803) and Intendants Juan Ventura Morales (1796-1799; 1801-1803) and Ramon de Lopez y Angulo (1800-1801). The subseries also contains a folder of dispatches between Delassus and the military commander of the Illinois Country, Carlos Howard, and another with dispatches from miscellaneous Spanish officials. The Pierre Auguste Delassus Series comprises correspondence, ledgers, business papers, and account books. A portion of the correspondence in this series is nearly illegible due to ink migration through the onion-skin paper. The majority of the documents and the Civil War journals are written in French. Most of the documents relate to Auguste Delassus’ real estate properties in Missouri. A list of all the properties and the counties in which they lie are included in the collection. These can be found in Box 8/folder 2. Among the correspondence is a letter written by Confederate General G. T. Beauregard, then president of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern Railroad, to Delassus, dated December 29, 1869, discussing family and business. Descriptions of lots within the town of Delassus in St. Francois County, Missouri, are found in Box 8, folder 2. Auguste Delassus’ Civil War journals and letterbook (Box 7/folders 5-7) were written during his service as an officer in the Confederate army. The journals discuss events in New Orleans, such as General Benjamin Butler’s use of colored troops, but also mentioned are various major battles of the war and the Confederate cause. Since much of the journals are written in pencil, the writing is sometimes difficult to decipher due to fading. These journals are written in French and are not yet translated. The Placide Delassus Series comprises personal and business correspondence. The series contains letters between Placide Delassus and the attorneys and land agents who were assisting him in the sale of the Delassus land that remained from the original Spanish land grants in St. Francois, Schuyler, Knox, and Franklin Counties. Later correspondence (Box 9/folder 6) between Placide's niece in New Orleans, Miss Jeanne Delassus, daughter of Charles Delassus, and attorneys in Missouri detail the family's attempts to recover some of the properties that were in dispute. In addition, the series includes a number of letters written by Raoul DeHault of the Belgian branch of the family to Placide and Charles Delassus in regard to family history. The Genealogy Series consists of genealogical information compiled by various members of the family and historians. A number of printed and typed genealogical charts are filed in Box 10/folders 6-8. There are three folders of correspondence containing letters written between members of the family, genealogists, historians, and archivists of the Missouri Historical Society. Among the correspondence are letters written between Saint Louis historian Walter Douglas who researched the Delassus family for a genealogy project sponsored by the Missouri Historical Society. These letters contain many interesting facts and reminiscences written by members of the family. The series also contains obituaries and news clippings relevant to the family and its related history.