You are browsing the archive for scrapbook.

Jean Laffite and the Laflin Connection

April 28, 2013 in American History, general history, History

LaffiteScrapSmallAd  Although the “Journal of Jean Laffite” was introduced to the public by John Andrechyne Laflin, a person with a shady past and a reputation as a forger, we cannot entirely discount his claim that there was some connection between the well-established Laflin family and Jean Laffite.

Toward the end of the journal  — actually a memoir and scrapbook — there are several clippings that relate to Matthew Laflin and to the Laflin  family gun powder business. At the very least, if the journal is indeed that of Jean Laffite, the privateer must have had more than a passing acquaintance with the Laflins.

Matthew Laflin was  born  in 1803 in Southwick, Massachusetts and died in 1897 in Chicago,  Illinois. His father was a gunpowder manufacturer, and he continued successfully with the family business. His great grandfather arrived in America in 1740 from Ulster, Ireland. That much, the Wikipedia tells us. But if we are looking for a picture of  the said Matthew Laflin, the Wikipedia does not answer that need. On the other hand, “The Journal of Jean Laffite” supplies a curious likeness.

LaffiteScrapMathewLaflin

 

What does it all mean? Why is Mathew spelled with only a single letter t ?  Who drew the picture and why was it included in the scrapbook? Clearly this picture does refer to the manufacturer of gunpowder, for on an adjoining page we have this full page ad:

 LaffiteScrapBigAd

 Could Jean Laffite have been a silent partner in the St. Louis branch of the Laflin business? Could he even have pretended to be part of that family, going by the name of Laflin? If we want to find out more about the Laffite/Laflin connection, where should we go to learn more? Would Ulster County, New York be a good place to start?

 

Theodosia and the Pirates: The War Against Spain (This book is about Jean Laffite in Galveston, Cartagena and St. Louis)

Copyright 2013 Aya Katz

Theodosia and the Pirates The Battle Against Britain (This book is really about Jean Laffite and the Battle of New Orleans)

The Scrapbook of Jean Laffite

April 27, 2013 in American History, general history, History

“The Journal of Jean Laffite” is a historical manuscript that surfaced in 1948 when John Andrechyne Laflin presented it to the Missouri Historical Society. He claimed that it was a journal kept by Jean Laffite from 1845 to 1850. The authenticity of “the Journal” has been questioned by many, and while not everyone believes it was written by Jean Laffite, it is an artifact from the latter half of the nineteenth century, is written in a hand that looks like the signature of Jean Laffite on his ship’s manifest, and does tell things from the point of view of Jean Laffite and in his voice, to the extent that we know his point of view and voice from other documents. Some believe that the Journal was not written by Jean Laffite himself, but rather by a close associate, one of his sons or by his second wife. Most, however, cast doubt on John Anderchyne’s role in bringing the “The Journal” to light, and many doubt his claims to be related to Jean Laffite.

“The Journal” is written in French and currently resides at the  Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Texas. It is not really a journal. It is much more like a memoir written toward the end of his life by an old man about events that happened much earlier. Not only that, but the journal is also a scrapbook.

JJL-105.MartialLaw

Jean Laffite discusses martial law in New Orleans under General Andrew Jackson

Kept in a memorandum notebook,  the hand-scrawled memoirs are also decorated with scraps of newspaper clippings from a number of different years.

lLaffiteScrapInsideFrontCover

The inside cover of the scrapbook.

We can learn much about a man from the sorts of things he chooses to record and the types of events he never mentions. But equally revealing is the sort of material he chooses to clip from the newspaper and keep as a memento. Take, for instance, the clipping posted below. Written in rhyme, it tells the terms and conditions under which someone was willing to do business: trade or cash, but no credit.

LaffiteScrapNoCredit

A poem published in the paper by a merchant who was willing to trade or take cash, but would grant no credit.

In verse, the advertisement runs as follows:

He has received of any kind,
That you in any store can find.
And as I purchase by the Bale,
I am determined to retail
For READY PAY a little lower
Than ever have been had before.

I with my brethren mean to live
But as for credit shall not give.

I would not live to rouse your passions
For credit here is out of fashion.
My friends and buyers one and all
It will pay you well to give a call.
You always may find me by my sign
A few rods from the house divine.

The following articles will be received in payment: Wheat, Rye, Buckwheat, Oats, Corn, Butter, Flax, Ashes and Raw Hides. These articles will be taken in at Esopus prices. Cash will not be refused.

Warsink. December 25, 1799.

While arguably the reason Laffite kept that ad was not because of the verse, but because of the business arrangement that it describes, another clipping is a poem written by a young lady about the death of George Washington.

 LaffitteScrapPoembyYoungLady

The poem, while not necessarily high art, does have a very solemn patriotic tone. But the journal is not always solemn, and the clippings are sometimes humorous. Here is an anecdote about swearing that was clipped into the scrapbook of Jean Laffite.

 LaffiteScrapCursing

 The above clipping tells an anecdote about a Dr. Desaguliers. The Doctor was invited to a party with “illustrious” company, one of whom, an officer, kept swearing and then apologizing for having sworn. This went on for some time, until, tired of this, the Doctor said: “If God Almighty does not hear you, I assure you I will never tell him.”

What can we learn from “The Journal of Jean Laffite”? Most of the facts it relates about his life are already well known. Those facts that are under dispute, will probably remain under dispute. But the scrapbook of Jean Laffite is another matter entirely. From it we can learn about the character of the man who kept it, what he found amusing, poignant, funny or worthy of note.

Sometimes it is not what we say about ourselves that matters the most. It’s how we see others and which of their writings we value that reveals our own true character.

 

Copyright  2013 Aya Katz

Skip to toolbar