AFTERWORD: AUDUBON'S FAMILY IN AMERICA
Bachman completes his text on the _Quadrupeds_—Victor
Audubon's success in canvassing—John Woodhouse
Audubon's family—New houses at "Minnie's Land"—Second
octavo edition of the _Birds_—Victor Audubon's illness
and death—Attempt to reissue _The Birds of America_
in America—The residual stock of this imperfect
edition—Death of John Woodhouse Audubon—His career
and work as an artist and field collector—Mrs. Audubon
resumes her old vocation—Fate of "Minnie's Land"—Death
of Mrs. Audubon—Her share in her husband's fame—Story
written on Audubon's original drawings—Fate of the
original copper plates of the _Birds_—A boy comes to the
rescue—"Minnie's Land" today—The "Cave"—A real "Audubon
Park."
After the death of the elder Audubon, his sons, under the leadership
of Bachman, continued the work on the _Quadrupeds_ until the third and
last volume of the letterpress was completed in 1852. On March 13 of
that year Bachman wrote to Edward Harris:[229]
Rejoice with me, the book is finished. I did not expect
to have lived to complete it. But Victor Audubon came
on, and I made him hold the pen, while I dictated with
specimens and books before me, and we went on rapidly;
we worked hard, and now we are at the end of our labors.
I have, at last, prevailed on them to give the Bats. At
the end of the work, I intend to give a synopsis and
scientific arrangement of all our American species,
including seals, whales and porpoises. This will be
included in the letter-press of the Third Volume.
Here I will venture to consult you in regard to the
publication of additional plates of species, not figured
in the Large Work. A very small Arvicola and Shrews, we
may not obtain, and they cannot be figured; but nearly
all are within our reach. Some of the subscribers have
bound up their plates, and there cannot be a sufficient
number to make even half of another Volume. I propose,
as all these figures will be contained in the _Small
Work_, that they should be inserted in the letter-press
of the _Large Work_, so that subscribers, by merely
paying the cost of the small plates, would have the work
complete—what do you think of this?
What do you think of Victor's obtaining one hundred and
twenty-nine subscribers in about three days, and I think
he will double the number, next week; so, if the "Large
Work" will not pay, the "Small" one, and this is large
enough, is sure to do it.
When Victor was canvassing the South for the second or composite
edition of this work, Bachman wrote to a friend in Savannah, on March
25, 1852:[230]
My son-in-law, Victor G. Audubon, is on a rapid visit to
the South, and has a week or two to spare, which he is
desirous of devoting to the obtaining of subscribers to
the "American Quadrupeds." The Work (Miniature) will be
complete in about thirty numbers, furnished monthly at
$1.00 per number.
The figures were made by the Audubons, and the
descriptions and letter-press were prepared by myself.
I have no pecuniary interest in this work, as I have
cheerfully given my own labors without any other reward
than the hope of having contributed something toward
the advancement of the cause of Natural History in
our country. I am, however, anxious that the Audubons
should, by a liberal subscription, receive some
remuneration for the labors and heavy expenses incurred
in getting up this work. Of the character of the work it
does not become me to say much. I will only add that in
my department is summed up the result of investigations
pursued through a long life, and, I think, the figures
have never been equalled in any publication either in
Europe or America.
May I bespeak from you a little aid to my esteemed
son-in-law, Mr. Audubon, in assisting him to procure
subscribers. He is a stranger in your city; his time
is limited, and his stay among you will necessarily be
short.
By the aid of two friends here, he obtained two hundred
and fifty subscribers in a few days.
On the 9th of April Bachman wrote to his son-in-law: "Will you not
return to New York by the way of Charleston and sail from here, take a
manuscript volume in your pocket, and four hundred good and true names
on your list?"
The reception accorded to the illustrations and text of this work had
encouraged the brothers to do for the _Quadrupeds_ what their father,
with their aid, had so successfully accomplished for the _Birds_, by
presenting text and plates, as Bachman said, in "Miniature." In this
they succeeded as admirably as before, John reducing all the large
plates, by the aid of the camera lucida, for the octavo edition which
was published in 1854.
The following historical evidence of the appreciation which Audubon's
works have received at the hands of the National Government I owe
to Mr. Ruthven Deane, to whom the reader of these pages is already
indebted for many illuminating facts. Dr. Theodore S. Palmer was
recently inspecting governmental records at Washington, when he
accidentally came upon the following entry:
Chap. CXXIX.—An act making appropriations for certain
Civil Expenses of the Government for the Year ending the
thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven.
To enable the Secretary of State to purchase one hundred
copies, each, of Audubon's "Birds of America" and
"Quadrupeds of America," for presentation to foreign
governments, in return for valuable works sent by them
to the Government of the United States, sixteen thousand
dollars.
[Act of August 18, 1858 (LL State., 90).]
In John Woodhouse Audubon's family there were two sets of children,
two by his former wife, Maria R. Bachman, and seven by Caroline Hall,
to whom he was married on October 2, 1841. Victor Gifford Audubon, who
had no children by his first wife, May Eliza Bachman, was married on
March 2, 1843, to Georgiana Richards Mallory, an Englishwoman, and six
children were born to them between 1845 and 1854. Of the naturalist's
fifteen grandchildren, six are believed to be now living (1917).[231]
[Illustration: HOUSE FORMERLY BELONGING TO VICTOR GIFFORD AUDUBON,
EAST FRONT, AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY; MRS. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON KEPT HER
PRIVATE SCHOOL IN THE CORNER ROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR.]
[Illustration: HOUSE FORMERLY BELONGING TO JOHN WOODHOUSE AUDUBON,
SOUTH FRONT, AS IT APPEARS TO-DAY; AT THE RIGHT IS "THE CAVE,"
WHERE THE COPPER PLATES OF "THE BIRDS OF AMERICA" WERE STORED.]
In 1852-3 Audubon's sons built houses for their growing families on
their mother's estate; Victor's was placed just north of the original
homestead, and John's not far away. On the slope behind John Audubon's
house, a small building, later known as the "Cave," was specially
constructed for the safer keeping of the famous copper plates, which
had already passed through fire,[232] and not wholly unscathed. Mr.
John Hardin, now (1915) a serene and clear-eyed man of eighty-four,
who settled in that neighborhood in 1852 and who was intermittently
employed by the younger Audubons for a decade, has told me that he
boxed with his own hands all of the copper plates, after wrapping
each in tissue paper, and stored them in that building; whenever John
Audubon wanted a plate, John Hardin would go to the "Cave" and get it
for him.
In 1856 Victor Audubon published a second reduced edition of his
father's _Birds of America_, in which the text and plates of the first
octavo were reproduced with little or no change. At about that time
Victor suffered an injury to the spine,[233] and after 1857 he was
completely invalided; he died in his own home, August 18, 1860.
To quote the daughter of John W. Audubon:[234]
During this long period of my uncle's illness all the
care of both families devolved on my father. Never a
"business man," saddened by his brother's condition,
and utterly unable to manage, at the same time, a fairly
large estate, the publication of two illustrated works,
every plate of which he felt he must personally examine,
the securing of subscribers and the financial condition
of everything—what wonder that he rapidly aged, what
wonder that the burden was overwhelming! After my
uncle's death matters became still more difficult to
handle, owing to the unsettled condition of the southern
states where most of the subscribers to Audubon's
books resided, and when the open rupture came between
north and south, the condition of affairs can hardly
be imagined, except by those who lived through similar
bitter and painful experiences.
In 1858 or 1859 John W. Audubon entered upon an ambitious project,
which the outbreak of the Civil War, aided, it is believed, by the
unscrupulous dealings of business partners, rendered disastrous.
In association with Messrs. Roe Lockwood, & Son, New York, and the
lithographers, Messrs. J. Bien & Company, Number 180 Broadway, with
whom considerable money had been invested, a second and American
edition of his father's great folio on _The Birds of America_ was
attempted. An atlas of 106 double elephant plates, reproduced in colors
on stone with slight but numerous changes from the original copper
plates, was completed as Volume I in 1860;[235] the war, which broke
immediately afterwards, completely ruined the enterprise, so that but
few copies of the work were dispersed and an immense stock of plates
was rendered useless; the burden of debt was undoubtedly increased by
the issue of seven octavo volumes of text.[236]
Many years later, hundreds of persons who knew of Audubon's work only
through its great reputation, and who had never learned to discriminate
between a hand-colored copper-plate engraving and a lithograph, were
deceived by an adroit, but essentially spurious advertisement of these
inferior reproductions when they were being exploited by a firm of
Boston book dealers. The original bulk of these large lithographs must
have been vast indeed, if the following story, which was attributed
to a member of the firm in question, be true: "We bought the entire
stock of those plates, many years ago," so this man is reported to have
said, "and, though the sales of every succeeding year since have been
sufficient to cover the original cost, the number of plates has not
appreciably diminished."
When this larger venture failed, one of the publishers, who was not
satisfied with the surplusage of books and plates left on his hands,
is said to have placed encumbrances upon the Audubon estate. At
about this time John W. Audubon's health broke down; "Worn out," as
his daughter has said,[237] "in body and spirit, overburdened with
anxieties, saddened by the condition of his country, it is no matter of
surprise that my father could not throw off a heavy cold which attacked
him early in 1862." He died at the age of forty-nine, on the 18th of
February of that year.
John Woodhouse Audubon, like his brother, Victor, had inherited decided
artistic abilities, and from a youth had been his father's assistant,
field companion and friend. Victor Audubon, on the other hand, was
never a field collector, but aided his father more in a financial and
secretarial capacity. Both in adult life were fond of music and good
cheer, and at one time John was probably as devoted to adventure and
sport as his father had ever been in his palmiest days. One of his
youthful pranks is thus guardedly referred to by the senior Audubon
when writing at American Harbor, on the coast of Labrador, June 25,
1833:[238] "The young men, who are always ready for sport, caught a
hundred codfish in half an hour, and _somewhere_ secured three fine
salmon, one of which was sent to the 'Gulnare' with some cod." Whether
the fishermen at American Harbor, who had obstinately refused to sell,
ever missed those fine salmon from their pounds, is not recorded.
Another adventure has been related by Mr. Fraser,[239] whose family was
on intimate terms with the Audubons and MacGillivrays at Edinburgh,
when John Audubon, John MacGillivray (William MacGillivray's eldest
son), and himself were caught in the Ravelston woods while shooting
birds; the boys, he said "were rather roughly handled," but got off by
giving up their guns.
Under his father's tuition John Audubon became an observant and
self-reliant collector in the field, and an animal painter and
draughtsman of no mean powers. At twenty-one, as we have seen, he
accompanied his father's expedition to Labrador, was with him and
Harris in Florida and Texas in 1837, made successive visits to England,
and traveled again in Texas and in Mexico, all in the interests of his
father's works. He painted nearly one-half of the large plates of the
_Quadrupeds of North America_, besides reducing all the drawings for
the smaller editions of the _Birds_ and _Quadrupeds_, an enormous labor
in itself, representing the redrawing, with numerous alterations, of
655 elaborate octavo plates. After his return from California in 1850,
he began to bring out an account of his western travels, —projected
for ten monthly numbers, but this never advanced beyond the first
part.[240]
If not a "business man" by instinct or training, John Audubon
in emergencies could turn his hand to many things. For a time he
superintended the building of houses, including his own and Victor's,
which were completed in 1853, as well as another that was built on
the Audubon estate for Mr. Hall, a brother-in-law; he also took charge
of lighting the streets, and at another time was superintendent of a
quarry in Vermont. "He was a bluff, gruff, but friendly man," writes
George Bird Grinnell,[241] and was always willing to talk about
birds, mammals, or, indeed, any natural history object, to any boy
who asked him questions." On the other hand, an ardent sportsman,
who had lived with the family for years,[242] has described him as a
lovable companion, "genial in speech, full of anecdote, and a capital
conversationalist;... in person of more than median height, and of
commanding appearance, his face told plainly of the humanity of the
man; he was as tender-hearted as a girl, and his expressive voice could
command any key of which the vocal organs were capable; to the last he
retained the Southern habit of softly clipping the ends of words."
John Woodhouse Audubon will be remembered chiefly as his father's aid
and companion, although in his _Western Journal_,[243] written in his
thirty-eighth year but not published until forty-two years after his
death, he has left a record of which anyone could be rightfully proud.
Mrs. John James Audubon was very active in body and mind for a long
period after her husband's death, and in 1857, when in her seventieth
year, she returned in a degree to her old vocation of school teaching,
which had been so successfully followed in Ohio and Louisiana when her
husband was on the threshold of his extraordinary career. Her pupils
now consisted of some of her numerous grandchildren and a few others
drawn from the neighborhood; among the latter was the well known writer
and father of the original Audubon Society, George Bird Grinnell, who
pointed out to me the room in Victor Audubon's old house where his
revered and venerable teacher had gathered her little flock. "She loved
to read, to study, and to teach," said one who had known her, and "she
knew how to gain the attention of the young, and to fix knowledge in
their minds. 'If I can hold the mind of a child to a subject for five
minutes, he will never forget what I teach him,' she once remarked;
and, acting upon this principle, she was as successful, at three score
and ten years, in imparting knowledge, as she had been in early life
when she taught in Louisiana."
Mrs. Audubon's own house was rented and eventually sold. Meanwhile, it
seems, she lived for a number of years with the family of her eldest
son, and it was at Victor's house, as just noticed, that she started
a small school. Finally, in 1863, at the age of seventy-five, bereft
of children and fortune, she left the scenes of her once happy home,
then "Minnie's Land" no longer, and for a considerable period lived
with a granddaughter at Washington Heights, as that section on the
river, including Carmansville, came to be called, and a little later
at Manhattanville, a short distance below; there at the home of the
Reverend Charles Coffin Adams, who prepared the original draft of the
_Life_ of her husband, the history of which has been given,[244] she
passed a number of years after 1865.
In a letter written to a relative from "Washington Heights, N. Y., July
11, 1865," Mrs. Audubon spoke thus of the present, while memories, not
untinged with sorrow, filled the retrospect:
We have passed through a very cold winter which tried
both my Granddaughter ... and myself much. I have hoped
until I almost despair that [she] would have a short
Holiday so that we could go up to Hudson for a week
and see you all and mingle with those who sympathize
and care for us, but in a Boarding house, one seems
a stranger in the world, and as I pass my days alone
generally from breakfast till our dinner hour six
o'clock evening when [my granddaughter] comes home from
her music Pupils of whom she has now ten, and from that
time I am glad when she is invited out to refresh her
mind.
I seldom leave home but to go up to see my other Grand
Daughter Lucy Williams, but being sixteen miles off we
do not go there often....
I have heard from my Sister Gordon lately of Orleans,
she has her Son at home! but they are likely to lose
all their Property on account of Sister's Son having
been engaged in the Confederate War. It does seem to me
... as if we were a doomed family for all of us are in
pecuniary difficulty more or less. As to myself I find
it hard to look back patiently upon my great ignorance
of business and the want of a wise adviser who I now
find could have saved me half the property I have under
errour and ignorance sacrificed and have just enough
left to keep us but not enjoy life by any travelling
about in this beautiful World. I sat on Sunday night
after Church on the Piazza, contemplating the beautiful
Moon & its Creator, and I cannot yet say I wish to
leave it, notwithstanding all my disappointments and
mortifications. Excuse this long detail about myself. I
cannot help looking back as well as to the present and
future.
After Mrs. Audubon had passed her eightieth year she left New York and
again made her home in the West. In 1874, when with a granddaughter at
Louisville, she dictated and signed the following letter to a gentleman
who had asked for an autograph of her husband:
_Mrs. Audubon to William R. Dorlan_
LOUISVILLE _Jan. 30 1874_
MR. WM. R. DORLAN
DEAR SIR
I regret that your letter of Jan. 10th has remained
so long unanswered, but my granddaughter who usually
writes for me, is so constantly occupied with her pupils
that until to-day she has not been able to find time to
write to you. I regret that I cannot give you a letter
of my husband _John James Audubon_ with the autograph
attached.
The enclosed, the best I have to send you is one from
which the autograph and a portion of the letter were cut
off many years ago.
With many regrets that I cannot more fully grant your
request
I am dear Sir
Yours respectfully,
LUCY AUDUBON
Mrs. Audubon's closing days were spent at the home of her
sister-in-law, Mrs. William G. Bakewell, at Shelbyville, Kentucky,
where she died, with her mental faculties unimpaired, at the age of
eighty-six, June 13, 1874, having outlived this sister-in-law and
her younger sisters, Mrs. Alexander Gordon, of New Orleans, and Mrs.
Nicholas Augustus Berthoud, of St. Louis.
Not long after John W. Audubon's death, his family disposed of
their house on what had been the "Minnie's Land" estate, and lived
successively at Harlem, New Haven, Connecticut, and Salem, New York,
where Mrs. John W. Audubon died, and where her daughter, Maria Rebecca,
the biographer of her father and grandfather, with a sister, still
resides. Victor Audubon's family, with some of their kinsfolk, remained
at the Hudson River place, which was included in the section known as
"Audubon Park," until May, 1878, when they took a house in New York,
where Mrs. Victor Audubon died in 1882.
A brother of Mrs. Victor Audubon, Mr. E. Mallory, in writing to a
friend in Buffalo from "Audubon Park, August 31, 1874," said that it
was a source of deep regret to Mrs. John James Audubon that her last
years were not passed with them, under the shadow of her old home on
the Hudson; and he continued: "She was a kind and good friend, very
intelligent, and much beloved here; I remember her telling a young
lady, who asked her if she had read some fashionable novel, that
she had no time; 'at my age,' said she, 'I must make the most of my
time.' As she was a wide reader, it was a great trial when, in age,
her eyesight completely failed her. The minister who pronounced her
eulogy[245] said:
Many of you can recall that aged form and benignant
countenance, as she moved along these streets upon
errands of usefulness and benevolence, with benedictions
on her tongue, and smiles that were a blessing to all
who met her.
Madame Audubon interested herself in all that pertained
to the welfare of the neighborhood where she lived.
Although it was not without a pang that she saw her
sylvan home invaded by the growth of the city, and all
old associations broken up, she did not treat those who
came to live near her as strangers. She had a large
and generous heart, and with her husband had always
exercised a liberal hospitality and hearty kindness
towards all. In prosperity and adversity she was equally
sincere and humble, a friend of all worthy people....
Mrs. Audubon, during the period of her husband's greatest activity,
had traveled much and met people distinguished in every walk of life.
If, as some have thought, when Audubon was struggling for recognition,
he was somewhat oblivious of the privations which his wife endured, in
the sunshine of later years, when fame and fortune had smiled upon him,
he showed by every token of affection how fully he realized his debt.
Let it also be remembered that the monument by which Americans have
signalized their appreciation of his labors, is honored by the ashes of
his beloved Lucy, which rest by his side.
[Illustration: LUCY BAKEWELL AUDUBON
AFTER AN UNPUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN 1871. PUBLISHED BY
COURTESY OF MISS FLORENCE AUDUBON.]
[Illustration: LUCY BAKEWELL AUDUBON
AFTER A MINIATURE PAINTED BY FREDERICK CRUIKSHANK IN LONDON, ABOUT
1831. PUBLISHED BY COURTESY OF CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.]
The original drawings of the plates of _The Birds of America_ were
sold by Mrs. Audubon on June 2, 1863, to the Historical Society of New
York,[246] and a few of them are now displayed in its building in that
city; it is still hoped that a fire-proof and adequately lighted hall
can be constructed so that the whole of this great series of pictures
may be exhibited under more perfect conditions. The artistic beauty
and historical value of these drawings, with the added charm which
personal association has so richly supplied, would render Audubon's
"Book of Nature" one of the most unique and interesting exhibits in the
New World. The collection appears to be nearly complete, although some
notable pieces, such as the Wild Turkeys, are lacking, but there are
other drawings, and some of early date, which were never reproduced;
all are inclosed in the original portfolios, scarred by hard knocks
and the tooth of time, massive, leather-bound containers, which two
strong arms would raise with difficulty from the ground. Most of these
originals are mounted on a gray backing, with plate margins in each
case indicated by ink lines. As was noticed in an earlier chapter,
many original legends and notes written by Audubon's pencil or pen
still remain on the drawings, though many have been trimmed off or
erased; these include names of localities and dates, and directions to
the engraver for changes in the background and composition or for any
improvement of the whole or a part.
As a further illustration of the care which Audubon exercised over the
minute details of his great undertaking, we will reproduce the penciled
orders on the drawing of the Great White Heron (Plate cclxxxi), which
shows an adult male performing the gymnastic feat of seizing a large
striped fish, a view of Key West forming the background: "Keep closely
to the sky in depth & colouring! have the water a _Pea-green_ tint.
Keep the division of the scales on the leg in fact white in your
engraving—The colouring over these will subdue them enough! finish the
houses better from the original which you have; have the upper back
portion very mellowing in the outline." Again, on the drawing of the
Great Cinereous Owl (Plate cccli), we read: "Raise the bird about 4
inches on the copper—higher than in the Drawing, and put in a landscape
below of Wild Mountains," a direction which in this instance was not
followed, for the bird was eventually shown on a branch against the
sky.
In many instances towards the end of his work, Audubon furnished Havell
with drawings of the birds only, with directions to supply "an old
rotten stick" for perch, or to "amend this rascally sky and water"; as
we have already seen, he often depended upon him to combine several
detached pictures into one plate, but not always with happy results.
The following note was written on a drawing of the Carolina Parrot,
reproduced in a very striking plate (No. xxvi), in which seven gaudy
individuals of this nearly extinct species are represented feeding on a
favorite weed, the cockle-bur: "The upper specimen was shot near Bayou
Sarah, and appeared as very uncommon having 14 Tail feathers all very
distinct—uniformly affixed in 14 distinct receptacles that I drew it
more to exhibit one of those astonishing fits of nature than anything
else—it was a female.—The Green headed is also a Singular although not
so uncommon a variety as the above one. Louisiana—December (1821?) J.
J. Audubon." The upper bird, which is here referred to, is noticed in
his "Biography" of the species as "a kind of occasional variety."
On the drawing of the Swamp Sparrow (Plate lxiv), which was published
in 1829, Audubon wrote, evidently with the wish of having his wife's
name appear: "Drawn from Nature by Lucy Audubon, Mr. Havell will please
have Lucy Audubon name on this plate instead of mine...!"
Vandalism is always short-sighted, but seldom has its vision been more
myopic and sinister than in the case of the copper plates of _The Birds
of America_, most of which were sold for old metal and converted into
copper bars. Had they been preserved to this day, their value would
have been an hundred-fold greater than that of the few paltry tons of
metallic copper which they were supposed to represent. Mr. Ruthven
Deane, whose researches in the field of "Auduboniana" have added
greatly to this subject, has given a history of these plates,[247] and
of the interesting way in which a remnant came to be snatched, as it
were, from the very mouth of the furnace, through the persistence and
enthusiasm of a lad of fourteen. To follow this writer's account, it
seems that shortly after the death of her son John, Mrs. Audubon sold
the copper plates to a firm in New York, where they remained until
about 1865, stored in the warehouse of Messrs. Phelps, Dodge & Company.
Not far from that time the plates were sorted and a few were given
away; the large remainder was sent to a brass and copper company, of
which William E. Dodge was president, at Ansonia, Connecticut. How some
of these were fortunately rescued, in about the year 1873, is told in
a letter to Mr. Deane from Mr. Charles A. Cowles, of Ansonia:
At that time I was about fourteen years old. I was
beginning the study of taxidermy, and was naturally
deeply interested in birds. I happened to be at the
refinery watching the process of loading one of the
furnaces, and noticed on one of the sheets of copper
that a man was throwing into the furnace, what appeared
to me to be the picture of a bird's foot. I took the
plate from him, cleaned it with acid, and thereupon
discovered the engraving, or as I termed it, the
picture, of a bird (Plate cvi, Black Vulture), I made
an immediate but unsuccessful request to the foreman of
the furnace not to melt the plates; and then I appealed
to the superintendent, but without avail. I next brought
the matter to the general manager of the concern, my
father, from whom I received no encouragement. This
sort of treatment was evidently what I needed, for
I hastened back to the works in a state of mind so
determined that I succeeded in having all the plates,
that had not been melted, removed to a place of safety.
This occurred in the spring of that year; and the plates
remained undisturbed until the annual inventory was
taken the first of the following year. At that time the
disposition of the plates was taken up. I appealed to
my mother and interested her to such an extent that she
drove to the factory and looked at one of the plates.
She of course recognized that they were Audubon plates;
and instructions were given by my father to keep them
intact. The plates were subsequently submitted to a
treatment which removed all oxidation and then taken to
the main office of the company, and to the best of my
recollection, distributed as follows: Mr. Wm. E. Dodge,
president of the company, had a few plates sent to the
American Museum of Natural History, New York City, and a
few plates to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington,
D. C., and I think he retained one or two for himself.
The remainder of them, with the exception of two, my
father kept; and they have since come into my possession
by purchase from the estate. The two plates just
excepted were Nos. xxii and lxxxii [Purple Martin and
Whippoorwill], and they particularly struck my fancy,
so much that when the plates were first discovered I
managed to secure them on the quiet, cleaned them myself
and hid them; and when the plates were distributed no
one knew of the existence of these two and they later
became my property.
It was thought possible that some of these plates had been sold in New
York City before the bulk of them were condemned as junk and sent to
Connecticut, but in 1898 Mr. Deane was able to give the designation
and resting place of only thirty-seven;[248] among these, however, were
the Wild Turkeys, Canada Goose, Great Northern Diver, Raven, American
Robin, and Ruby-throated Hummingbird, all among the finest of the
original 435.
Under the guidance of Mr. George Bird Grinnell, on April 6, 1916, I
paid a visit to "Audubon Park," now "Minnie's Land" no longer, where
country roads have given way to business streets and forests to subways
and skyscraper apartment houses. Notwithstanding the momentous changes
which the extension of upper New York City has effected both above
and below ground during the recent era of rapid transportation, the
old Audubon houses still remain, like boulders amid stream, the impact
of the city which has flowed around and beyond them being checked for
the moment by a rampart of solid masonry, the retaining wall of the
far-famed Riverside Drive, which rises above Audubon's old house close
to its rear veranda and there makes a wide turn. For Mr. Grinnell this
was a return to the scenes of his boyhood; the home of his father,
Mr. George Blake Grinnell, stood on the hill just above the Audubon
house, not far from the present "Riviera" building at One Hundred and
Fifty-Seventh Street; the Grinnell apartment house which towers aloft
close at hand stands in their old cow pasture, while their garden site
is marked by the present entrance to the subway station on Broadway.
The first part of Audubon's original tract to be sold was the easterly
section, extending from what is now the east side of Broadway to the
Bloomingdale Road, and between the present One Hundred and Fifty-sixth
and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Streets; on that portion John
Woodhouse Audubon built a large frame structure which, for a number
of years, served as a boarding house for workmen employed in the sugar
refinery of Messrs. Plume & Lamont that stood on the river-bank, at the
foot of the present One Hundred and Sixtieth Street. Victor and John
W. Audubon also built three houses on the hill, one of which, between
One Hundred and Fifty-sixth and One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Streets,
was occupied by Mr. Grinnell; another, at one time the dwelling of
Henry A. Smythe, a former Collector of the Port of New York, was on
land now covered by the Numismatic Building, while a third, which was
occupied by Wellington Clapp, was on a part of the Archer M. Huntington
estate, south of One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Street, and stood a little
easterly of the present Riverside Drive; all of these houses have
disappeared. In September, 1842, the Corporation of Trinity Parish
acquired from Richard F. Carman, in Carmansville, the tract of land
later known as "Trinity Cemetery"; this extended from Bloomingdale Road
to the River, and between the present One Hundred and Fifty-third and
One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Streets.[249]
The original Audubon house, standing in the angle nearly opposite One
Hundred and Fifty-fifth Street, is all but concealed, except from the
river side, but may be approached by a lane which leads off from One
Hundred and Fifty-eighth Street. In 1913, when this old landmark was
in imminent danger of demolition, the Commissioner of Public Parks
made an eloquent plea for its preservation to the Audubon Societies
and to lovers of birds and nature everywhere. It was then suggested
that instead of permitting the historic structure to be destroyed,
the city should acquire it, float it up the Hudson River to Fort
Washington Park, and re-establish it there as a permanent memorial
to the naturalist; it was also noticed that the public interest was
enhanced by the fact that the father of telegraphy, Samuel F. B. Morse,
had worked upon his invention while Audubon's guest, and that the first
message to be received from Philadelphia came over a wire which entered
his room at the northwest corner of the building.
An early engraving[250] represents the naturalist's house essentially
as it appeared during his lifetime, surrounded by goodly forest trees
of oak and chestnut, but these, when standing at all, are now reduced
to gaunt and scarred remnants. A later print[251] shows the three
Audubon houses, the river, and between it and the lawn "that eye-sore
of a railroad,"[252] which was built not long after Audubon settled
upon his estate. The original house was sold before 1862,[253] and
about eight years later its new owner occupied it, after having given
it a mansard roof and made numerous changes which were sanctioned
by an era of bad taste. The naturalist's house overlooked the river
and commanded a grand view from its high veranda on the front, while
Victor's, which later adjoined it to the north, owing probably to
the encroachments of the railroad, was built to face the hill-slope
opposite; a top studio, at a corner of its roof, is an addition of a
later purchaser.[254]
Adjoining Victor's house on the north was that of his brother, John,
and on the east side of this was built the "Cave" and a barn since
converted into a dwelling; at one time the loft of this barn was piled
with boxes of bird skins and the surplus stock of the _Ornithological
Biography_, good copies of which now bring from $30 to $50.
The three houses which were built and occupied by the great nature
lover and his two sons, though in dire neglect, are not beyond repair;
if such a project were practicable, they should be converted into
a museum, and their walls once more ornamented with those beautiful
pictures of birds and beasts which father and sons united to create.
The triangle of ground between Riverside Drive and the Hudson River
should be spared by the proud city that for years was the home of
America's pioneer naturalist and animal painter, as well as the
scene of his youthful experiments in trade, and converted into a true
"Audubon Park." Such a memorial would contribute to the instruction and
pleasure of all the people, for every generation of Americans that is
to come.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS
1. Copy of the original bill rendered by Doctor Sanson, physician at
Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, to Jean Audubon, containing the only record
known to exist of the birth of his son, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon
(see entry for April 26, 1785). Les Cayes, December 29, 1783-October
19, 1785; paid, June 7, 1787.
DOIT Mr. AUDUBON ngt. A SANSON
Chirurgien aux Cayes
SAVOIR
----
|
L
1783 Xbre " 29 " ipecacuanha pour un
nègre Bossal " 6 " "
" 31 " ipecacuanha pour un
nègre Bossal " 6 " "
1784 janvier " 3 " une medecine pour un
nègre Bossal " 6 " "
" 5 " une medecine pour un
nègre Bossal " 6 " "
" 7 " une medecine pour un
nègre Bossal " 6 " "
" 9 " une medecine pour un
Bossal " 6 " "
" 10 " une medecine pour un
Bossal " 6 " "
" 14 " une medecine pour le
mulâtre joue " 6 " "
" 26 " une medecine pour Mr
Audubon " 10 " "
mars " 27 " inoculé cezard 30 " inoculé
jupiter 30 inoculé
Rose 30 " " 90 " "
avril " 1 " apozême purgatif pour
joue mulâtre " 6 " "
" 3 " une medecine pour le
mulâtre joue " 6 " "
" 8 " apozême purgatif pour
le nègre Dominique " 6 " "
" 10 " une medecine pour
Dominique " 6 " "
" 15 " une medecine pour
Zemire " 6 " "
" 20 " une medecine pour Rose " 6 " "
" apozême purgatif pour
jupiter " 6 " "
" 21 " une medecine pour
Dominique " 6 " "
may " 2 " une medecine pour la
negresse therese " 6 " "
" 11 " pour soins, visites et
remedes pendant la
petite verole du mulâtre
joue " 66 " "
" 21 " Liqueur minerale
d'hoffman pour mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
juin " 20 " inoculé un petit nègre
Bossal nommé joue " 30 " "
juillet " 20 " Remis a mr audubon le
compte du traitement
de la galle de
marianne et de sa
fille, tout acquité " 36 " "
7bre " 14 " apozême purgatif pour
le nègre jean maçon " 6 " "
" 16 " une medecine pour jean
maçon " 6 " "
" 21 " saigné au bras mr audubon " 3 " "
" 23 " eau de tamarinds
compee. pour mr Audubon " 10 " "
" 24 " une medecine en deux
Dozes pour mr audubon " 10 " "
8bre. " 22 " une medecine pour le
negrillon joue " 6 " "
" 23 " traité soigné et fourni
le medicament a joue
attaqué de piano " 132 " "
---------
L 513 " "
* * * * *
[_Page 2_]
Suite de l'autre part L 513 " "
8bre. " 25 " saigné au bras mlle.
Rabin " 3 " "
" 26 " Liqueur minerale
d'hoffman pour mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 30 " une medecine pour le
negrillon joue " 6 " "
9bre " 15 " une medecine pour le
negrillon joue " 6 " "
Xbre " 8 " une medecine pour joue " 6 " "
1785 janvier " 18 " une medecine pour mr
audubon " 10 " "
" 21 " une medecine pour le
negrillon joue " 6 " "
fevrier " 15 " 2once. manne pour mlle.
Rabin " 3 " "
" 18 " une medecine pour le
tonneliere " 6 " "
mars " 6 " une medecine pour le
tonneliere " 6 " "
" 10 " une medecine pour le
tonneliere " 6 " "
" 11 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 12 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 13 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 14 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
avril " 2 " une visite de nuit pour
mlle Rabin " 10 " "
" 3 " une Lotion pour un
Erésipèle, que mlle.
Rabin a à la jambe. " 6 " "
" 5 " une Lotion pour mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 7 " une Lotion pour mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 8 " une medecine pour le
tonneliere " 6 " "
" 9 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 10 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 11 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 12 " trois Dozes de kina
pour le tonneliere " 9 " "
" 24 " Passé la nuit pres de
mlle. Rabin. en mal
d enfant " 66 " "
" 25 " Passé la nuit pres de
mlle. Rabin " 66 " "
" 26 " mlle. Rabin est
accouchée " ..." "
may " 2 " une visite de nuit et
Liqueur minerale
d'h.p.mlle. Rabin " 16 " "
" 3 " Liqueur minerale
d'hoffman p.mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 4 " six Bouteilles d'eau
blanche pour les
cataplasmes nécessaires
au mal de sein
de mlle. Rabin " 18 " "
juin " 19 " ouvert un abcès au sein
de mlle. Rabin soins
et pour pansements " 36 " "
" 26 " une medecine pour
augustin negrillon " 6 " "
---------
L 897 " "
* * * * *
[_Page_ 3]
Suite de l'autre part L 897 " "
juin " 30 " une medecine pour
augustin L 6 " "
juillet " 1 " une medecine pour la
vielle jeanne " 6 " "
" 16 " une medecine pour
mlle. Rabin " 10 " "
aout " 15 " une medecine pour
mlle. Rabin " 10 " "
" eau blanche pour mr
audubon " 3 " "
" 20 " une medecine pour mr
aubinais commis " 10 " "
" 22 " une medecine pour mr
aubinais " 10 " "
" 24 " tinture de Rhubarbe
pour mr aubinais " 6 " "
" 26 " tinture de Rhubarbe
pour mr aubinais " 6 " "
7bre. " 23 " une bouteille vin
medicinal pour le
nègre enflé " 15 " "
" 27 " une medecine pour la
vielle jeanne " 6 " "
8bre " 7 " une medecine pour le
nègre enflé " 6 " "
" 11 " une medecine pour le
nègre enflé " 6 " "
" 16 " une medecine pour
thérése " 6 " "
" 19 " une medecine pour
therese " 6 " "
---------
acceptée apercu [?] Le 12 octob L 1009 " "
---------
1786
AUDUBON 330
---------
1339 " "
---------
Pour acquit aux cayes ce 7 juin 1787
——
—— SANSON
Recu de Mr
Sanson
7. Juin 1787.
1784 janvier traité mr ...
soins et fourni services 330 "
1a. Translation of the Sanson bill. (For comment, see Chapter IV.)
M. AUDUBON, merchant, to SANSON,
Physician at Cayes
Dr.
TO WIT
----
|
Francs
1783 December " 29 " Ipecacuanha for a negro
Bossal " 6 " "
" 31 " Ipecacuanha for a negro
Bossal " 6 " "
1784 January " 3 " A medicine for a negro
Bossal " 6 " "
" 5 " A medicine for a negro
Bossal " 6 " "
" 7 " A medicine for a negro
Bossal " 6 " "
" 9 " A medicine for a Bossal " 6 " "
" 10 " A medicine for a Bossal " 6 " "
" 14 " A medicine for the
mulatto Joue[255] " 16 " "
" 26 " A medicine for M. Audubon " 10 " "
March " 27 " Inoculated Cæsar, 30f;
inoculated Jupiter,
30f; inoculated Rose,
30f " 90 " "
April " 1 " Purgative decoction for
Joue, [the] mulatto " 6 " "
" 3 " A medicine for the
mulatto, Joue " 6 " "
" 8 " Purgative decoction for
the negro Dominique " 6 " "
" 10 " A medicine for
Dominique " 6 " "
" 15 " A medicine for Zemire " 6 " "
" 20 " A medicine for Rose " 6 " "
" Purgative decoction for
Jupiter " 6 " "
" 21 " A medicine for Dominique " 6 " "
May " 2 " A medicine for the
negress Theresa " 6 " "
" 11 " For attentions, visits,
and remedies during
the smallpox of the
mulatto Joue " 66 " "
" 21 " Hoffman's mineral water
for Mlle. Rabin " 6 " "
June " 20 " Inoculated a little negro
Bossal named Joue " 30 " "
July " 20 " Account rendered to M.
Audubon for treatment
of the _gale_[256]
in Marian and her
daughter, all receipted " 36 " "
September " 14 " Purgative decoction for
the negro, John Mason
[or John, mason(?)] " 6 " "
" 16 " A medicine for John
Mason " 6 " "
" 21 " Bled M. Audubon at
the arm " 3 " "
" 23 " Tamarind water compound
for M. Audubon " 10 " "
" 24 " A medicine in two doses
for M. Audubon " 10 " "
October " 22 " A medicine for the little
negro Joue " 6 " "
" 23 " Treated, attended, and
furnished remedies
for Joue attacked by
the _pian_[257] " 132 " "
---------
L 513 " "
* * * * *
[_Page 2_]
Brought forward from
other part L 513 " "
October " 25 " Bled Mlle. Rabin at
the arm " 3 " "
" 26 " Hoffman's mineral water
for Mlle. Rabin " 6 " "
" 30 " A medicine for the little
negro Joue " 6 " "
November " 15 " A medicine for the little
negro Joue " 6 " "
December " 8 " A medicine for Joue " 6 " "
1785 January " 18 " A medicine for M. Audubon " 10 " "
" 21 " A medicine for the little
negro Joue " 6 " "
February " 15 " Two ounces of manna
for Mlle. Rabin " 3 " "
" 18 " A medicine for the
cooper " 6 " "
March " 6 " A medicine for the
cooper " 6 " "
" 10 " A medicine for the
cooper " 6 " "
" 11 " Three doses of kino[258]
for the cooper " 9 " "
" 12 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 13 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 14 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
April " 2 " A night visit for Mlle.
Rabin " 10 " "
" 3 " A lotion for an erysipelas
which Mlle.
Rabin has on the leg " 6 " "
" 5 " A lotion for Mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 7 " A lotion for Mlle.
Rabin " 6 " "
" 8 " A medicine for the
cooper " 6 " "
" 9 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 10 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 11 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 12 " Three doses of kino for
the cooper " 9 " "
" 24 " Passed the night with
Mlle. Rabin [who
was] in child-birth " 66 " "
" 25 " Passed the night with
Mlle. Rabin " 66 " "
" 26 " Mlle. Rabin is delivered " .. " "
May " 2 " A night visit and
Hoffman's mineral
water for Mlle. Rabin " 16 " "
" 3 " Hoffman's mineral water
for Mlle. Rabin " 6 " "
" 4 " Six bottles of _eau
blanche_ for
poultices needed in
an affection of the
breast of Mlle. Rabin " 18 " "
June " 19 " Opened an abscess in
the breast of Mlle.
Rabin; for attentions
and dressings " 36 " "
" 26 " A medicine for the little
negro Augustine " 6 " "
---------
L 897 " "
---------
* * * * *
[_Page_ 3]
Brought forward from
the other part L 897 " "
June " 30 " A medicine for Augustine " 6 " "
July " 1 " A medicine for old Jane " 6 " "
" 16 " A medicine for Mlle.
Rabin " 10 " "
August " 15 " A medicine for Mlle.
Rabin " 10 " "
" Eau blanche for M.
Audubon " 3 " "
" 20 " A medicine for M.
Aubinais, clerk " 10 " "
" 22 " A medicine for M.
Aubinais " 10 " "
" 24 " Tincture of rhubarb
for M. Aubinais " 6 " "
" 26 " Tincture of rhubarb
for M. Aubinais " 6 " "
September " 23 " A bottle of medicinal
wine for a swollen
negro " 15 " "
" 27 " A medicine for old Jane " 6 " "
October " 7 " A medicine for the
swollen negro " 6 " "
" 11 " A medicine for the
swollen negro " 6 " "
" 16 " A medicine for Theresa " 6 " "
" 19 " A medicine for Theresa " 6 " "
---------
Accepted viséd [?] October 12 L 1009 " "
---------
1786
AUDUBON 330
---------
1339 " "
---------
Paid at Les Cayes this 7th June, 1787
——
—— SANSON
M. Sanson's receipt
June 7, 1787.
1784 January Treated
M.... For care and
services rendered 330 "
2. Copy of the Act of Adoption of Fougère (John James Audubon) and
Muguet (Rosa Audubon). Nantes, March 7, 1794. (For translation, see
Chapter IV.)
Extrait des registres des naissances des sections de la Halle
et de Jean-Jacques de la commune de Nantes, département de la
Loire-Inférieure, le 17 Ventose, an 2 de la République, une et
indivisible, 10 heures du matin.
Devant moi Joseph Theulier, officier public élu pour constater
l'état-civil des citoyens, ont comparu en la maison commune Jean
Audubon, commandant la corvette "le Cerbère," bâtiment de la
République, âgé de 49 ans, natif des Sables-d'Olonne, département
de la Vendée et Anne Moinet son épouse, agée de 58 ans, native de
la ci-devant paroisse de Saint-Léonard, de cette commune, lesquels
assistés de René Toussaint Julien Beuscher, fabricant, âgé de 25 ans
demeurant section de la Halle rue Rubens et de Julien Pierre Beuscher,
chirurgien marin, âgé de 24 ans, demeurant section de la Fraternité,
rue du Marchix, et employé par continuation sur la dite corvette le
Cerbère, m'ont déclaré adopter et reconnaître dès ce moment comme leurs
propres enfants savoir:
Un enfant mâle nommé Fougère, issu depuis le mariage d'eux comparant
contrôlé le 24 Août 1772 dans la commune de Paimboeuf en ce département
de lui Jean Audubon avec une habitante de l'Amérique morte il y a
environ huit ans et une enfant femelle nommée Muguet issue aussi
depuis le mariage sus dit de lui Jean Audubon d'une autre habitant de
l'Amérique nommée Catherine Bouffard dont il ignore le sort.
Les deux enfants ci-présents, âgés le premier de 9 ans qui échoieront
le 3 Floréal prochain, le second de 7 ans que échoieront aussi au 7
Floréal prochain tous deux nés en Amérique d'après cette déclaration
que les témoins ci-dessus ont certifié véritable, j'ai rédigé le
présent acte que le père naturel et la mère adoptive ainsi que leurs
témoins ont signé avec moi les dits jour et an.
Signé au registre: AUDUBON
CITOYENNE ANNE MOINET
JEAN AUDUBON, BEUSCHER & BEUSCHER JEUNE.
3. Copy of the Act of Baptism of Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon. Nantes,
October 23, 1800. (For translation, see Chapter IV.)
Premier brumaire, an neuvième.
Nous soussignés certifions avoir baptisé ce jour, premier brumaire,
an 9 de la République, Jean Jacques Fougère Audubon fils adoptif de
Jean Audubon lieutenant de vaisseau de la République et d'Anne Moinet
sa légitime épouse, présents et certifiant l'adoption qu'ils ont fait
du dit Fougère ainsi et de la même manière qu'il est porté dans l'acte
ci-dessus.
Signé: TARDIVEAU, prêtre de Saint-Similien
de la Ville de Nantes.
4. Copy of a bill of sale of Negroes rendered by Monsieur Ollivier to
Monsieur Audubon. Les Cayes, Santo Domingo, 1785.
1785.—M. Audubon doit à Ollivier ce qui suit:
Juillet pour 4 négresses à 1750 7.000
— — 1 " 1750 1.750
— — 1 négresse borgne 1.600
— — 1 négritte 1.200
------
11.590
Pour acquit en compte et billet à mon ordre sous la réserve d'une
augmentation de cent livres sur la négritte si elle vit an delà de six
mois.
Aux Cayes, le 25 Juillet 1785.
Signé: OLLIVIER.
5. Statement of Accounts of Messrs. Audubon, Lacroix, Formon, & Jacques
in the purchase of negroes from M. Th. Johnston, Les Cayes, Santo
Domingo, 1785. (For comment, see Chapter III.)
Compte de vente frais et net produit de quarante nègres achetés de
Monsieur Th. JOHNSTON, de compte à demi entre MM. AUDUBON LACROIX
FORMON & JACQUES, pour prix la somme de soixante mille livres, payée au
dit sieurs la dite somme comme suit:
Par Monsieur Audubon 20.000}
Par Lacroix Formon & Jacques 40.000}
60.000
1785 Vendu par Monsieur AUDUBON, dont il se charge:
Février 11 1 à. Reynaud Chateaudun f 1650
— 12 1 — Garreau 2100
— 12 3 — Bourseret 6000
— 12 1 — Lui-même 1500
— 14 2 — Cossard 3564
— 15 1 — Lenoir 1782
— 18 1 — Blanchet 1782
— 19 3 — Jacques Bourry 6000
Mars 24 3 — Bouffard 4950
— 24 1 — Lui-même 1500
— 24 1 — Ch. Gettée 1800
— 24 1 — Bouffard 1650
--- ----
19 têtes 34.278
Vendu par Lacroix Formon & Jacques dont il se charge:
Février 12 3 à. Bourseret 6000
— 12 1 — Menard 2000
— 12 2 — Reynaud fils 3780
— 13 2 — Peridigon 3800
— 13 3 — Maillet Lacoste 5700
— 15 1 — Dugay 1712
— 19 3 — Jacques Bourry 6000
— 19 1 — Lui-même 1782
— 19 1 — Eux-mêmes 1500
— 19 1 — Begon M. 1700
— 19 2 — Millet 3300
Mars 2 A. 1 de mort chez Villeneuve chirurgien
pour mémoire...; 37.274
----
f 71.552
Frais à deduire payés par Lacroix Formon & Jacques
Pour 80 régimes de bannanes 15 60}
— 8 têtes de boeuf 3 24}
Payé à Villeneuve chirurgien }
pour le traitement du nègre mort 99} 183
--} ---
Net produit: f 71.369
La demi de Monsieur Audubon 35.684.10
Il a reçu en les reprises dont il
se charge: 34.278."
——
Il lui est dû pour Lacroix Formon & Jacques 1.406.10
Clos et arrêté le présent compte en double par lequel il résulte que
M. Audubon doit à Lacroix Formon & Jacques dix mille livres pour sa
demi du payement des dits nègres dont il les débite au compte courant
arrêté ce jour en double, et les dits Lacroix Formon & Jacques devant
au dit Sieur Audubon celle de cent six livres dix pour sa demi qui lui
revient du net produit de la vente des dits nègres, lesquels portés au
crédit des deux comptes courant, dont quitté aux Cayes, le plus porté
au crédit de M. Audubon la somme de dix sept cent quatre-vingt deux
livres pour la demi du billet du sieur Collard qui nous reste aux Cayes
le 16 Septembre 1785.
Pour MM. Lacroix Formon & Jacques
Signé: CLERC
Nous avons reçu de M. Audubon la somme de trente mille livres pour la
portion d'achat des dits nègres au-dessus.
Aux Cayes, le 16 Septembre 1785.
Pour MM. Lacroix Formon & Jacques
Signé: CLERC.
6. Copy of bill of sale of Negroes to Monsieur Audubon, and a statement
of his account with Messrs. Lucas Brothers & Constant. Les Cayes, Santo
Domingo, August 7, 1785-June 9, 1788. (For comment, see Chapter III.)
Nous soussignés déclarons avoir vendu et livré à Monsieur Audubon,
négociant de cette ville les nègres ci-après, nation Hibo et Canga....
Savoir:
1 nommé Autron Etampé Lucas
1 — Jupiter — —
1 — Antoine — —
1 — Pitre — —
1 — Thehimaque — —
1 — Jeanpierre — —
1 — Magloire — Jh. Lucas
1 — Lagrilade — —
1 — Patté — —
1 — Parisse — —
—.Négresses.—
1 nommée Françoise — —
1 — Lucie — —
1 — Julie — —
--
13 Ensemble treize nègres ou négresses à deux mille livres
chaque formant la somme de vingt six mille livres sur laquelle
somme nous avons reçu vingt-quatre mille livres comme suit:
16.000 en un mandat en sucre sur MM. Lacroix Formon
& Jacques.
7.100—17—8 en un billet de Formon Plumardière.
889—24 en son billet.
------
24.000 pour payement et à compte des treize nègres
ci-dessus détaillés, dans le nombre desquels le nommé Patté pour
engagement de le livrer à M. Audubon dès qu'il sera en état
de se rendre aux Cayes. Le dit sieur Audubon se réservant
vue dessus quand nous lui en ferons la remise pour le prix
de la somme de deux mille livres en argent comptant et moi
Audubon accepte le dit marché et déclare avoir reçu livraison
des douze têtes de nègres ou négresses que j'ai bien vus et visités
et desquels je suis satisfait, aux Cayes, le 7 Août 1785.
Signé: AUDUBON—LUCAS FRÈRES.
Nous avons reçu à compte de M. Audubon 162
660
----
882
Pour acquit porté en debit de notre compte courant arrêté
ce jour, au Fond, le 9 Juin 1788.
LUCAS FRÈRES & CONSTANT.
7. Accounts of William Bakewell, of "Fatland Ford," as protégé of his
future son-in-law and as attorney or agent for Audubon & Rosier, giving
certain exact indications of the naturalist's movements and personal
relations, before and after finally leaving "Mill Grove." January 4,
1805-April 9, 1810. (For further reference, see Chapter VIII.)
Messrs Audubon & Rozier in a/c with Wm Bakewell Cr
_1805_ _1805_
Jan 4 Cash for sundries 11.25 March 18 Cash 5
12 do 1
18 Brother 150
_1807_ _1807_
Apl 22 Cash Mr Rozier 66 Apl 1 Cash of Miller 150
Advertists in Philada & do of Jackson 50
Norristown 7
Cash pd M Fisher 40
do paid Vendreman 3
_1808_ _1808_
Adv.ts & hand bills 3.75 Jan 8 do of Longacre 50
Cash Mr Pears 14.50 Jan 8 do of Longacre 50
May 3 Exps of Horses to Philada 4.76 Apl 2 do of Longacre 50
20 Sundries 18.50 do 25 d 100
June 8 Cash 3.18 May 12 do formon 31.84
17 Smith's work 5.00 Dec 20 Cash of Longacre 30
Advertiset 1
Oct 10 Exchange of Horse 10
Keep of Horses 23 weeks 42.50
Decr 31 Cash pd Mr Pears 18.92
_1809_
Advertisets & Vendue Exps 12.82 Apl 18 Clennell 20
25 Bills payable to W. Apl 18 Clennell 20
Thomas 607.10 Sept 30 Kymar 22
Cash pd Mr Page for Nov 6 d 22.50
powr of Attorney 1.37 Dec 23 do 10
13 Paid Attachment fees 9.28
Cash paid for tax 2.91 _1810
25 mortes [?] & half taxes 7 Feb 13 do of Miller 20
------ Balle of
Commission 7998 a 1½ per Cent 119.97 Neckland 237.32
------ Apl 3 Miller 8
Jany 23 omitted Exps at Vendue 3.77 9 do 6.12½
------ ---------
$1176.91 $1159.22½
NOTE BY THE AUTHOR. This record proves that Audubon
upon his first return to France from the United States,
must have left "Mill Grove" on the 12th of January,
1805, or not more than a day later; three days were
required to walk to New York, which could not have
been reached later than the 15th, and probably as many
more were needed for a letter to go to "Fatland Ford."
He probably sailed for Nantes shortly before January
18, the day when William Bakewell recorded that he
had sent his "brother," Benjamin Bakewell, commission
merchant in New York, $150; this was undoubtedly in
payment of the loan which the brother in New York had
made to young Audubon for his passage to France. The
next item, of April 22, 1807, was for money advanced to
Ferdinand Rozier, probably when he was acting as clerk
to Laurence Huron, in Philadelphia; "advertisements in
Philadelphia and Norristown" possibly had reference to
the lease and final sale of "Mill Grove" of the year
before. Miers Fisher was the Quaker merchant, who for
many years served as Lieutenant Audubon's American agent
and attorney, and who was later the adviser of his son
and Ferdinand Rozier. Thomas W. Pears, a relative by
marriage of the Bakewells, was with Audubon in Benjamin
Bakewell's office in New York, and afterwards associated
with him and Thomas W. Bakewell in their disastrous mill
experiment at Henderson, Kentucky. The bill of William
Thomas, former Quaker tenant of "Mill Grove," was
possibly in liquidation of his claim against Lieutenant
Audubon and Dacosta in their mining operations at this
farm (see the letters to Dacosta, Vol. I, p. 117). The
credit entry under May 12, 1808, "formon—31.84," may
represent interest collected on an unsettled claim
of Lieutenant Audubon against Mr. Formon, a former
partner in Santo Domingo, in relation to the sale of
the ships, the _Count of Artois_ and the _Annette_ (see
Chapter II, p. 33). Dacosta had been urged to apply to
Mr. Formon's son-in-law, who appears to have lived at
Philadelphia, but was unable to obtain anything from the
Formon estate. The "Cash of Dacosta 299.44" possibly
represented interest on the mortgage which we have
assumed was given to Audubon and Rozier when Dacosta and
his mining company came into possession of "Mill Grove,"
September 15, 1806 (see Chapter XI, p. 148).
8. Concerning a Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Audubon and Anne
Moynet Audubon to Ferdinand Rosier and John Audubon, the Younger, at
Couëron, France, in 1805; parts in French translated by a Philadelphia
notary; signatures of original document authenticated by the Mayor of
Couëron, October 21, 1805; his attest of the legality of Anne Moynet
Audubon's signature, at Couëron, October 27, 1805; authentication of
the signature of the Mayor of Couëron by the Subprefect's of Savenay,
November 27, 1805; attest of the Subprefect's signature by the Prefect.
(Remainder of document missing.)
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ss:
I, Peter Stephan Du Ponceau, notary public & Sworn Interpreter of
foreign Languages for the Commonwealth aforesaid, residing in the City
of Philadelphia, do hereby certify that I have carefully translated
into English so much of the Instrument of writing hereunto annexed as
is written in the French language, as follows, to wit:
At the bottom of the Deed [act] and immediately after the Signatures of
the Witnesses, there is a Certificate in France [French], which being
translated, is as follows:
Seen by us, the Mayor of the commune of Coueron, who
attest the above Signatures of G. Loyen, assistant
mayor, C. D'orbigny, Doctor of medicine, Audubon, & Anne
Moynet Audubon, to which full faith and credit is to be
given, whereever it may be necessary—Done in our Office
at Coueron, the thirtieth of vendemiaire fourteenth year
of the French Empire [_sic_].
G. VALLIN, mayor.
[Mayor's seal]
And on the back of the said Deed [Act] is written in French what
follows.
We, Germain Vallin, Mayor of the commune of Coueron
in the Department of Lower Loire in the French Empire,
certify to all whom it may concern, that on this day,
personally appeared before me John Audubon and Anne
Moynette, his wife, both now residing in this said
commune, and represented to us, That in order to give
its full force & effect to the Instrument written on the
other side hereof, in the English language, which they
have declared to be a letter of attorney in favor of
Messieurs Ferdinand Rozier, & John Audubon, junior for
the purposes therein mentioned, it was necessary that
the said Instrument be by them acknowledged before us,
according to the forms prescribed by the Laws of the
State of Pennsylvania, and that the said Anne Moynette
Audubon should be examined by us separate from her
said husband, in order to declare that she has signed
and executed the said Deed [Act] of her own free will
and accord, and without being compelled thereto by her
husband; That this formality is rigorously required by
the Laws of the State of Pennsylvania, and no other act,
not even a notarial Instrument, can in any manner Supply
the same.
In consideration thereof, we have received the
acknowledgment which the said appearers have made before
us, by which they have declared and acknowledged that
the said Instrument, written in the English Language
on the other sides hereof is their own Act and Deed,
and that they desire that it may be recorded as such,
whenever it may be necessary.
And the said John Audubon having withdrawn, we have
examined the said Anne Moynette Audubon separately and
apart from her said husband, and She declared to us,
That She knows & perfectly understands the contents of
the said Deed [Act], and that She has Signed, Sealed,
and declared [delivered] the same, of her own free
will and accord, without being compelled thereto by her
said husband, either by threats or by any other means
of compulsion whatever. In faith whereof, we the Mayor
aforesaid, have Signed the present Certificate, and
have caused the Seal of this mayoralty to be thereunto
affixed—Given at Couëron the thirtieth of vendemiaire
fourteenth year of the French Empire [_sic_]
G. VALLIN.
[Seal of the mayoralty
of Couëron.]
(Afterwards is written also in the French Language, as follows:)
I have seen the above and attest the Signature of G.
Vallin, mayor of the commune of Couëron, above and on
the other side affixed.
Done in the Subprefect's office, at Savenay, the fifth
Brumaire fourteenth year.
The Subprefect of the first District.
MAGONET TREMELOTRIE
[Seal of the District
of Savenay]
I attest the above Signature of Magonet Tremelotrie.—
Nantz, the 7th. Frimaire 14th. year
The Prefect
BELLEVILLE
which [remainder
wanting.]
9. Articles of Association of Jean Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier to
govern their partnership in business; drawn up at Nantes, March 23,
1806. (See Chapter IX.)
[stamp]
REP. FRA.
50 cen
Entre nous soussignés Ferdinand Rozier et Jean Audubon, nous proposant
de passer aux états Unis sommes Convenus de former une société de
Commerce aux Conditions Suivantes.
Article Premier.
La société sera régie sous les noms Collectifs de Ferdinand Rozier et
Jean Audubon et chacun de nous aura la Signature pour toute affaire de
notre Commerce seulement.
Art. 2.
a Notre arrivée nous prendrons possession de La terre de Mill-Grove,
et nous ferons rendre Compte a Mr. Dacosta qui a la procuration d
Mr. Audubon pére. nous nous occuperons des moyens de faire valoir cet
établissement ou prendre Connoissance de La mine de Plomb Découverte,
et avant d'y continuer les travaux Commencés, nous Examinerons si les
dépenses faites par le Sr. Dacosta ont été et peuvent nous etre utiles.
enfin nous fairons où fairons faire des devis Estimatifs des frais et
des produits qui peuvent en résulter. et nous n'entreprendrons rien
que nous ne soyons tous deux parfaitement d'accord sur le principe
en Conséquence nous signerons l'un et l'autre le projet que nous en
arrêterons afin que l'un de nous ne s'en écarte, et il en sera de meme
pour toute les nouvelles Dépences qui changeraient les profits arrêtes.
Art. 3.
Il est convenu que la Moitié du produit de cette habitation seront
entre nous par Moitié et pour en Connoitre ainsi que la perte, nous
aurons un Livre particulier pour cet Objet, d'un Coté seront Inséres
les articles de dépences par Jour, et au moment que nous en fairons,
de l'autre Coté les ventes et Produits des fermes et de tout ce qui
pourra résulter de cette Opération en sorte que le Bénéfice se verra
tous les jours par l'addition des articles qui Composeront le débit et
le Crédit.
Art. 4.
La Maison cy dessus sera un objet distinct. de tout Commerce afin
de pouvoir régler cette propriété tant et tant de fois que Nous le
désirerons. il est même Convenu que joindrons aux frais de cette
Exploitation ceux nécessaires pour la vie et autres dépences communes
tant qu'il nous Conviendra de vivre et d'habiter ensemble.
Art. 5.
Il ne peut nous etre interdit de faire tout autre Commerce, mais avant
d'en entreprendre nous resterons six mois a prendre des Informations
aux pays de ce qui pourroit nous etre avantageux, alors nous nous
livrerions à quelque opération de commerce ou Intérieur ou Maritime.
Art. 6.
Nous pourrons l'un et l'autre faire quelque voyage a l'effet de nous
procurer des Connoissances, et s'il arrivait que nous decidions quelque
Négociants a envoyer des Marchandises à la vente ou à la Consignation
de Mr. Rozier pére nous fairions la Condition que le Bénéfice qui
resulteroit de ces Consignations seroit partages entre nous et le Sur.
F. Rozier pere.
Art. 7.
Tous les bénéfices comme les pertes résultant de nos Opérations
Commerciales seront partagées Egalement entre les associes.
Art. 8.
Les frais de Passage et autre communs entre nous fairont le premier
article de nos dépences sociales....
Art. 9.
Nous nous promettons l'un et l'autre amitié et Intelligence, et
convenons très expressement qua la moindre difficulté, nous prendrons
chacun un arbitre qui sera authorisé a se choisir un troisieme et nous
engageons sur notre honneur a en passer par tout ce qui sera décidé,
sans que jamais nous puissions en faire appel devant aucuns tribunaux.
Art. 10.
En cas de mort de l'un ou l'autre (ce qu'a Dieu ne plaise) le survivant
sera seul charge de la Liquidation pour en tenir Compte à qui de droit,
c'est a dire aux héritiers du Déffunt, mais la societé ne pourra etre
dissoute que neuf années à Compter du Jour de la Datte du présent. ce
Cas seulement arrivant, il sera alloué au survivant une Commission sur
les produits de l'Etablissement fixe à Dix pour Cent.
Fait double et de bonne foy entre nous.
Nantes ce 23 Mars 1806.
JEAN AUDUBON
FERDINAND ROZIER
9a. _Translation of the Articles of Association of John Audubon and
Ferdinand Rozier._
[stamp]
REP. FRA.
50 cen
We, the undersigned, Ferdinand Rozier and John Audubon, who are
intending to go to the United States, are agreed to form a partnership
in business upon the following conditions:
Article First.
The partnership will be administered under the joint names of Ferdinand
Rozier and John Audubon, and each of us will have the power of
signature for all matters of our business only.
Art. 2.
Upon our arrival we will take possession of the farm of Mill-Grove,
and we will call to account Mr. Dacosta, who has the power of
attorney of Mr. Audubon, Senior. We shall take measures to improve the
establishment, or make an investigation of the lead mine discovered
[on the property], and before continuing the work already begun we will
ascertain whether the expenditures made by Sr. Dacosta, have been, and
can still be, advantageous to us. Finally we shall prepare, or attempt
to prepare, estimates of the expenses and the products which accrue
from these, and we shall undertake nothing upon which we are not both
perfectly agreed in principle; consequently we shall both subscribe
to the project which we shall decide upon, in order that neither of us
may depart from it, and it will be the same for all new expenses which
might alter the plans that are reached.
Art. 3.
It is agreed that half the product of this plantation shall be
divided between us on a one half basis, and in order to recognize this
[profit], as well as the loss, we shall keep a special book for the
purpose; on one side shall be entered the items of expense, day by
day, and, at the moment this is done, on the other side [shall also be
given] the sales and products of the farms, and of all that can result
from this business, in such a way that the profit shall be always
apparent by the addition of the items which compose the debit and the
credit.
Art. 4.
The house above mentioned [Mill-Grove farmhouse] shall be an object
separate from all business, in order that we may settle matters as
completely as we desire. It is agreed that we shall add to the expenses
of this exploitation, those necessary for life, and others of a common
character, so long as it shall suit us to live and dwell together.
Art. 5.
We cannot be prevented from engaging in any other kind of business, but
before undertaking it we shall remain six months in order to gather
from the country information of a kind that would be advantageous
to us; we shall then apply ourselves to some commercial occupation,
whether inland or maritime.
Art. 6.
We are both at liberty to make any journey in order to procure
information, and should it happen that we persuade any merchants to
send goods to Mr. Rozier, Senior, we would establish the condition that
the benefit which might result from these consignments would be divided
between us and the Mr. F. Rozier, Senior.
Art. 7.
All the benefits as well as the losses resulting from our commercial
transactions shall be divided equally between the partners.
Art. 8.
The expenses of the journey and others of a common nature shall make
the first item of our social expenses....
Art. 9.
We both resolve to maintain friendship and mutual understanding, and
we agree very expressly that, upon the least difficulty, we shall each
select one arbitrator, who will be authorized to choose a third, and
we promise upon our honor to fully accept the decision that shall be
reached, without ever having it in our power to make an appeal from it
before any courts.
Art. 10.
In case of the death of one or the other (which, God forbid), the
survivor shall have sole charge of making a settlement, in order to
give an accounting to those entitled to it by law, that is to say to
the heirs of the deceased, but the partnership cannot be dissolved
until after nine years, counting from the day of the date of the
present [instrument]. Only in this event, the survivor will be allowed
a commission upon the products of the establishment fixed at ten per
cent.
Done in duplicate and in good faith between us.
Nantes this _23 March 1806_.
JOHN AUDUBON
FERDINAND ROZIER
10. Power of Attorney issued by Lieutenant Jean Audubon, Anne Moynet
Audubon, and Claude François Rozier to their respective sons, Jean
Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier, at Nantes, France, April 4, 1806,
eight days before the latter embarked to America to enter upon their
partnership in business.
[stamp]
REP. FRA.
75 cen
Par devant Royer et Son Collégue, notaires à la résidence de Nantes,
département de la Loire-inférieure soussignés,——————ont comparu le
Sieur Jean Audubon, rentier, et dame Anne Moinet, son épouse qu'il
autorise, demeurants rue Rubens, No. 39, et monsieur Claude-françois
Rozier, négociant, rue de la fosse, tous trois commune de nantes,
Les quels constituent pour leurs Procureurs généraux et spéciaux
Jean Audubon, fils, et ferdinand Rozier, fils, aux quels, l'un en
l'absence de l'autre, ils donnent pouvoir et procuration de faire,
pour et au mieux de l'intérêt de Constituants, tous réglements de
comptes, éligements de crédits, recovrements, payements, et autres
actes analogues avec tous fermiers, correspondants, débiteurs et
créanciers des Constituants aux Etats-unis d'Amérique; plaider,
constituer, transiger, recevoir, donner quittances, renouveler,
prendre termes, expedier et géréralement faire pour leur utilité,
tout ce qui leur semblera le plus convenable; le tout, d'après les
renseignements, pieces et documents relatifs, qui leur ont été, leur
sont ou leur seront fournis tant par les constituants que par autres
leurs précédents chargés d'affaires et fondés de pouvoirs aux dits
Etats-unis de régir, gérer et administrer la moitié appartenante aux
constituants de la terre de Mill Grove en Pensylvania même d'exploiter
ou faire exploiter la mine de plomb récemment découverte sur la
dite terre: consulter dans tous les cas importants, monsieur Miers
fisher,—négociant à Philadelphie, comme ami commun et bon conseil;
tenir tous livres et registres nécessaires, faire à la fin de chaque
année ou plutôt, la balance de la recette et dépense pour la régie
de la dite terre et l'exploitation de la mine, s'il y a lieu; vendre
aux prix, charges, clauses et conditions dont il conviendront, mais
d'accord avec monsieur Dacosta, propriétaire de l'autre moitié, la
moitié de la dite terre de Mill grove, appartenante aux constituants,
en toucher le prix, en donner quittances, faire tous partages, accepter
tout lot et généralement faire pour l'intérêt des constituants tous
actes conservatoires et definitifs en tous tribunaux, devant toutes
administrations et officiers publics, qui leur paraitront nécessaires
ou utiles; à l'effet de quoi, tous pouvoirs analogues exprimés ou non
exprimés pour tous cas prévus ou imprévus, même de substituer en tout
ou partie des dits pourvoirs, qui bon leur semblera et de le revoquer,
leur sont donnés par la présente procuration qui ne sera pas sujette à
surannation.——
fait et passé en l'étude et au rapport de Royer, l'un de nous, sous les
seings des comparants, après lecture, ce jour trois avril mil-huit-cent
six. la minute est signée des parties et des Notaires soussignés; elle
est restée à Royer, l'un d'eux, enregistrée à nantes le trois avril
mil-huit-cent-six par Dufau, qui a reçu un franc dix centimes.
VARSAVAUX
J. NOYER
vu par nous président du tribunal de première instance
séant à nantes, pour légalisation des Signatures
varsavaux et Noyer apposées ci-dessus.
Ce jour trois avril mil huit cent six
GANDON
COMMERCIAL AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
I William D. Patterson Commercial agent of the United
States of America for the Port and District of Nantes
do hereby certify that the Signatures affixed to the
foregoing Document are those of Messrs J Royer and
Varsavaux both Notaries publick for the City of Nantes
and of Mr Gandon President of the Tribunal of premiere
Instance at the said City and that to their Signatures
and Ads as such, full faith and Credit is and ought to
be due and given
[Seal]
In testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my Hand &
affixed my Seal of Office at Nantes this 4th. of april
1806.
W D PATTERSON
10a. Translation of the Power of Attorney issued by Jean Audubon,
Anne Moinet Audubon, and Claude François Rozier to Jean Audubon and
Ferdinand Rosier, April 4, 1806.
[stamp]
REP. FRA.
75 cen
In presence of Royer and his colleague, notaries, living at Nantes,
department of the Loire-inférieure undersigned,—————————have appeared
Sieur Jean Audubon, capitalist, and Madame Anne Moinet, his wife, whom
he authorizes [to act], living at Number 39, rue Rubens, and Monsieur
Claude François Rozier, of rue de la Fosse, all three of the commune
of Nantes: who empower, to act as their general and special attorneys,
Jean Audubon, the younger, and Ferdinand Rozier, the son, to whom,
jointly and severally, they give authority and warrant of attorney to
make, for and in the best interest of the grantors, all settlements of
accounts, assignments of credits, recoveries of debts, payments, and
other analogous acts with all tenants, representatives, debtors and
creditors of the grantors in the United States of America; to go into
court, settle, compromise, receive, to give receipts, to renew [loans
or notes], to grant time, to expedite, and in general to do for their
benefit all that shall seem to them most fitting; the whole, according
to the instructions, papers, and documents relating thereto, which have
been, are, or shall be furnished them, as well by the grantors as by
their previous agents and attorneys in the aforesaid United States, to
govern, conduct, and administer the half, belonging to the grantors,
of the farm of Mill Grove in Pennsylvania, as well as to exploit, or
cause to be exploited the lead mine recently discovered on the said
farm; to consult, in every important matter, Mr. Miers Fisher,—merchant
at Philadelphia, as a common friend and good counsellor; to keep all
necessary books and registers; at the end of each year, or sooner, to
strike the balance of receipts and expenses for the control of the said
farm and the exploitation of the mine, should there be reason for it;
to sell at prices, charges, stipulations, and conditions, upon which
they shall agree, but In accord with Monsieur Dacosta, owner of the
other half, the half of the said farm of Mill Grove, belonging to the
grantors; to receive the price thereof, to give receipt for it, to make
all divisions, to receive all allotments, and in general to perform
for the interest of the grantors all conservative and final acts in
every court of justice before all jurisdictions and public officers,
which shall seem to them necessary or useful: to the effect of which
all analogous powers, expressed or unexpressed, foreseen or unforeseen,
even of substituting in whole or in part of the aforesaid powers,
whosoever shall seem good to them, and of revoking him, are given
to them by the present bill of attorney, which will not be subject
to expiration.—— Done and granted in the office and on the report of
Royer, one of us, under the signatures of the persons in appearance,
after reading, this third day of April, one thousand eight hundred and
six. The minute is signed by the parties and the undersigned notaries;
it remains with Royer, one of us, recorded at Nantes the third of April
one thousand eight hundred and six, by Dufau, who has received one
franc, ten centimes.
VARSAVAUX
J. NOYER
[Seal] Examined by us, judge of the Court of the First
Instance, sitting at Nantes, for the authentication
of the signatures Varsavaux and Royer, affixed
above, this third day of April, one thousand eight
hundred and six.
GANDON
11. Account Current of John Audubon and Ferdinand Rozier with the
estate of Benjamin Bakewell, late commission merchant in New York,
showing their dealings and standing with this house during the first
sixteen months of their business experience in the West. Covers the
period, August 1, 1807 to December 13, 1808. (Statement accompanying
the letter of Thomas Bakewell, reproduced in Vol. I, p. 196.)
Drs Messrs John Audubon & Ferdinand Rozier in Account
Current with Benjn Bakewell
1807
Augt 1 To Sundry Merchdize pr Invoice $2482 35
31 " Cash sundry expences on the above 6 44
Septr 29 " Merchdize Powder Horns shot bags &c 57
Novr 13 " W Taylor exps on Do to Pittsburgh 3 77
" Cash certificate property pr Mentor
to Nantes 2
30 " Do postage sundry french letters 3 14
Decer 31 " Advt pr Jane # for Indigo & expences 1516 43
1808
Jany 29 " Cash frt & cartge Oil from Philada 12 45
30 " Do pd Hislop for breast pins on your
a/c 9
Balance 695 12
-------
4787 50
1808
March 1 To Merche pr Bill @ 6 mos $ 161
April 7 " your note due this day 3647 29
" R. Henderson amt due him by you 72 12
June 27 " Cash cartge & Lighterage on tobacco 7 50
" Freight & primage— " Do 105
July 28 " your note due this day 787 73
Septr 23 " Mdse 1 doz sans paraitres 24 24
-------
$4804 90
Decr 13 To Balance $924 49
-------
* * * * *
Messrs John Audubon & Ferdinand Rozier in Account
Current with Benjn Bakewell Crs
1807
Augt. 4 By your note at 8 mos $3647 29
Decr. 31 " net proceeds sales on 4.50
your a/c 319.35 323 85
" Francis Rozier balance his a/c 816 56
-------
$4787 50
1808 -------
Feby 1 By Balance as pr a/c rendered $ 695 12
March 1 " your dft on U S Bank Philada 2000
" commission on goods allowed
you $118.20 [paper torn]
deduct ⅓ profit on
french goods 24.26 [ 93.94 ]
25 " R Kinder & Co's accepte @ 6 mos. [paper torn]
" L Huron's note — " 9 days. [ " ]
" your note @ 4 mos for balance [ " ]
Balance [ 924.49 ]
New York Decemr. 13th. 1808
for the Assignees of the [estate of Benjamin
Bakewell]
TH[OMAS BAKEWELL]
NOTE BY THE AUTHOR. For brig _Mentor_, see Chapter XI,
Vol. I, p. 163, and for the ship _Jane_, Captain Sammis,
_ibid._, p. 158. For Messrs. Robert Kinder & Company,
see accompanying letter of Thomas Bakewell, Vol. I,
p. 196, and letter of William Bakewell, his uncle,
_ibid._, p. 199. Laurence Huron was a French importer,
resident in Philadelphia; for his award in the disputed
Dacosta claim, see Vol. I, p. 168. At this time Benjamin
Bakewell's importing business was in the hands of his
creditors, but his son, Thomas Bakewell, was still
employed in the office.
11a. Final Account of Francis Dacosta, rendered July 25, 1807,
to Lieutenant Jean Audubon, his partner in the unfortunate mining
enterprise at "Mill Grove"; later contested and settled by arbitration.
(For comment, see Vol. I, p. 168.)
Dr. Mill Grove Farm—in account with Francis Dacosta
1806
July 15th. To printers Charges for advertising 4 44
Aug. 23d To horse hired 4 50
Octb 15 To housing the chair 4 months 4
Nov. 29 To Notariat and Consular charges in Bordeaux for
Certificate to make void the mortgage & bond
given to M. Fisher as agent 29 52
1807
July 25 Ballance 390 62
-------
$433 8
Dr. John Audubon of Nantz in Account
1806
June 1st To Balance brought from the last account 316 27
1807
July 25 to interest of the same to this day 13 m.,
25 Dc 21 15
Sepbr 26 to his half in the Lead ore delivered to him &
valued as 80
above $160
ditto
1806
ditto to ditto in the tools and furniture do do at
$189.36 94 67
Octbr 15 to ditto in the chair Sold 75 Dollars 37 50
to the recorder in Norristown for entering
satisfaction of John Audubon mortgage
to John Augustine Prevost 2 83
to compensation claimed by Francis Dacosta for
making up half of his expences, in managing the
mining Works, the mills repairs, & taking up
the formation of a Company, during two years
of constant cares—troubles—and loss of time
at 300 dollars a year 600 00
-------
$1152 42
* * * * *
Mill Grove Farm—in account with Francis Dacosta Cr.
1806
Sepbre 26 By lead ore valued & divided 160
ditto By tools & furniture—ditto—ditto 189 36
By M. Mackley s/ refunding money / 2 00
Oct. 11 By sale of the Chair 75
1807
april 6 By Sale of 84 panes of Glass to John Pawling 6 72
-------
$433 8
Current with Francis Dacosta Cr.
1807 By cash 6 47
July 25 By half of the ballance of the Mill Grove
Farm—account current amounting as per
the above account to 390.62 195 31
do do Ballance claimed this day 950 64
-------
$1152 42
E. E. Philadelphia the 25th July 1807
[Signed] FRANCIS DACOSTA.
* * * * *
Erreurs à réléver dans le Compte de M. J. Audubon
Veritables valeurs " an lieu de Difference
dans le Balance " 125"8 300 " 174.92
do Furnitures " 189"36 270 " 80.64
do Chairs " 75" 125 " 50 "
do Mine 120.29
280.29 400 " 119 71
do — 160 " ------ -------
$425-27
la moitié est de 212.63½
Omis $300 payé par francis Dacosta à Miers Fisher
le 24 May 1803 300
Ditto $176"67 La proportion de Fis Dacosta dans
la rente de la premiere annee qui ne lui a pas été
payé 176.67
-------
$689.30
12. Quit Claim or Release given by John James Audubon to Ferdinand
Rozier on the Dissolution of their Partnership in Business at Sainte
Geneviève, Upper Louisiana (Missouri), April 6, 1811.
I John Audibon having this day by mutual Consent with Ferdinand Rozier,
dissolved and forever closed the partnership and firm of Audibon &
Rozier,—and having Received from said Ferdinand Rozier, payments and
notes to the full amount of my part of the goods & debts of the late
firm of Audibon & Rozier—I the said John Audibon one of the firm
aforesaid, do hereby release and forever quit Claim to all or any
Interest which I have or may have in the Stock on hand and debts due to
the Late Firm of Audibon & Rozier unto him the said Ferdinand Rozier,
all my rights titles, claimes and Interest in the goods merchandise and
debts due to the late Firm of Audibon & Rozier—and do hereby authorize
and empower him for my part to collect the same in any manner whatseer.
either privately or by suit or suits in law or equity—hereby acclaiming
him sole and absolute proprietor and rightful owner of all the goods
merchandises & debts of the firm aforesaid, as completely as they were
the goods and property of the Late firm of Audibon & Rozier—
In witness whereof I have hereto Set my hand & Seal this Sixth day of
April 1811
[Seal]
JOHN AUDUBON
ED D. DE VILLMONTE
NOTE BY THE AUTHOR. It will be noticed that the
naturalist writes his name seven times as "Audibon," in
this document, but signs in the way usual with him at
the period. See Vol. I, p. 24.
13. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon.
Couëron, May 20, 1812. (For comment on this and documents Nos. 14 to
18, see Chapter IV.)
Jean AUDUBON, propriétaire demeurant à sa maison de la Gerbetière
commune de Couëron, lequel sain d'esprit a fait son testament comme
suit:
Par les présentes mon testament.
Je donne et lègue à dame Anne Moinette mon épouse, la part et
portion disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai ou non de
descendants de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui
m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès.
Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean Audubon que je crois actuellement aux
Etats-Unis sans cependant en être sûr, la moitié en toute propriété de
généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront
à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et disposer en toute
propriété et à sa volonté à la charge toutefois par lui de laisser dame
Anne Moinette mon épouse jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus en sa
faveur.
Je donne et lègue à dame Rose Bouffard épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen
du Puigaudeau, demeurant actuellement an Port-Launay en Couëron, la
moitié en propre de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles
qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et
disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté à la charge toutefois par
elle de laisser dame Anne Moinette mon épouse, jouir sur iceux du legs
que je fais ci-dessus en sa faveur.
Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de Monsieur Audubon ou de madame
Puigaudeau, mes deux derniers légataires aux présentes ou même de
tous les deux, les héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre
recueillent entr'eux le legs fait en leur faveur, c'est-à-dire que
les héritiers de M. Audubon recueilleront le legs qui lui est fait
et ceux de Madame Puigaudeau celui fait à la dite; en cas toutefois
que les sieurs Audubon et la dame Puigaudeau ne recueilleraient pas
eux-mêmes le legs, soit parce qu'ils précéderaient moi le testateur, ou
autrement,...
14. Copy of the second and last Will of Lieutenant Jean Audubon. March
15, 1816.
Moi, soussigné, Jean AUDUBON, demeurant à la Gerbetière en la commune
de Couëron, département de la Loire-Inférieure.
Par les présentes mon testament.
Je donne et lègue a dame Anne MOINETTE, mon épouse la part et portion
disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai de descendants de
généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront
à l'instant de mon décès.
Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean RABAIN créole de Saint-Domingue,
que je crois actuellement aux Etats-Unis, sans cependant en être sûr,
époux de Mademoiselle Lucy BACKWELL, la moitié en toute propriété de
généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront
à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en faire et disposer en toute
propriété et à sa volonté, à la charge toutefois par lui de laisser
dame Anne Moinette, mon épouse jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus
en sa faveur.
Je donne et lègue à dame Rose BOUFFARD, créole de Saint-Domingue
épouse de M. Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, demeurant actuellement an
Port-Launay en Couëron, la moitié en propre de généralement tous les
biens meubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par
elle en faire et disposer en toute propriété et à sa volonté, à la
charge toutefois par elle de laisser à dame Anne Moinette, mon épouse
jouir sur iceux du legs fait ci-dessus en sa faveur.
Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de M. RABAIN ou Madame Puigaudeau,
mes deux derniers légataires aux présentes, ou même de tous les deux,
les héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre recueillent
entr'eux le legs fait en leur faveur.
Cela dit, que les héritiers de M. RABAIN recueilleront le legs qu'il
lui est fait et ceux de dame Puigaudeau celui fait à la dite dame
en cas toutefois que les dits sieurs Rabain et dame Puigaudeau ne
recueilleront pas eux-mêmes les legs faits, parce qu'ils précéderaient
moi le testataire, ou autrement et dans le cas ou par quelque motif
que ce puisse être les présentes dispositions en faveur de Jean
Rabain et Rose Bouffard épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau seraient attaquées
et annulées, je déclare donner mes biens meubles et immeubles sans
exception quelconque à la dame Anne Moinette mon épouse en toute
propriété.
Fait dans ma demeure susdite à la Gerbetière en Couëron le 15 Mars
1816. Vive le Roi!
Signé: AUDUBON.
15. Copy of a portion of the first Will of Madame Anne Moynet, wife of
Lieutenant Audubon. December 4, 1814.
Par les preséntes mon testament.
Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, mon mari, la jouissance
en toute propriété des biens meubles et celle en usufruit des biens
immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès, pour qu'à l'un
et l'autre titre de cette epoque, il en jouisse fasse et dispose comme
de tous ses autres biens sans être tenu d'en donner caution, voulant et
entendant qu'il puisse faire sur les immeubles tous changements, coupes
de bois et autres qu'il lui plaira, le tout avec dispense des dommages
et intérêts.
Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean Audubon fils et
à dame Rose Bouffard, épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau
à chacun par moitié, la totalité de tous les biens qui composeront ma
succession immobilière à l'instant de mon décès, duquel néanmoins par
suite du legs fait ci-dessus en faveur de mon mari, ils ne pourront se
mettre en possession qu'a sa mort.
Arrivant que mon mari fut mort avant moi, je veux et entends que
M. Jean AUDUBON fils et la dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Puigaudeau,
recueillent aussi ma sucession mobilière à l'effet de quoi le cas
arrivant, je leur lègue et donne en toute propriété.
Mes intentions que si M. Jean Audubon fils ou la dite dame Puigaudeau
étaient morts l'un ou l'autre avant moi ou même tous les deux, leurs
enfants soient mes légataires, c'est-à-dire que les enfants de M.
Audubon recueilleraient entr'eux ce que celui-ci doit avoir et que ceux
de Madame Puigaudeau recueilleraient aussi entr'eux ce que celle-ci
doit avoir à l'effet de quoi je les donne et lègue aux dits enfants.
Si à ma mort l'un ou l'autre de M. Audubon fils ou de Madame Puigaudeau
étaient eux-mêmes morts sans enfants, je veux que ce soit alors les
survivants d'eux deux ou ses enfants qui recueillent ma succession
entière, pourquoi à cette cause, je lègue la totalité de mes biens
meubles et immeubles,...
16. Copy of a portion of the second Will of Madame Jean Audubon. May
10, 1816.
... Je donne et lègue à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, mon époux, la part
et portion disponible en usufruit à raison de ce que j'aurai ou non
d'enfants de généralement tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui
m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès pour par lui en jouir sa vie
durant, sans pouvoir être tenu à en fournir caution et à ma mort mes
héritiers les prendre dans l'état où ils seront.
Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à M. Jean RABIN, créole de
Saint-Domingue, époux de demoiselle Lucy BACHWELL, laquelle je crois
aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique, sans cependant en être sûre et à dame Rose
Bouffard, créole de Saint-Domingue, épouse de Monsieur Gabriel Loyen
du Puigaudeau, demeurant an Plessis commune de Couëron, la généralité
de tous les biens meubles et immeubles qui m'appartiendront à l'instant
de mon décès, pour par eux s'en mettre en possession, les partager par
moitié et chacun jouir faire et disposer de ceux qui lui échoieront
comme de ses autres biens propres de ce jour. Si M. Jean Audubon mon
époux, est mort avant moi, mais seulement du jour de sa mort s'il me
survit parce que je veux expressément que le legs fait ci-dessus en sa
faveur ait sa pleine et entière exécution de préférence et avant tout.
Je veux et entends qu'en cas de mort de Monsieur RABIN ou de Madame
Puigaudeau mes deux derniers légataires ou même de tous les deux, les
héritiers en ligne directe de l'un ou de l'autre réunis recueillent
le legs fait en faveur de leur auteur, c'est-à-dire que les héritiers
de M. RABIN recueuilleraient le legs à lui fait et ceux de Madame
PUIGAUDEAU ce que celle-ci aurait recueilli.
Arrivant que les libéralités faites en faveur de Monsieur Rabin
ou celles faites en fabeur de Madame Puigaudeau ou même toutes les
deux par quelles causes ou raisons que ce soit viendraient à être
déclarées nulles, je veux que Monsieur Audubon, mon époux recueille
en toute propriété les biens meubles et immeubles qui en font l'objet
et auraient passé aux mains de celui ou ceux qui ne pourraient les
faire à l'effet de quoi je l'institue mon héritier en droits, fonds et
propriétés pour les biens que mes autres légataires ci-dessus ou l'un
d'eux seulement ne recueilleraient pas,...
17. Copy of the third Will—"No 169—of Madame Anne Moynet, widow of M.
Jean Audubon, living at his house of La Gerbetière, situated near the
village of Port-Launay, not far from Couëron." December 26, 1819.
Par les présentes mon testament;
Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean RABIN époux
de dame Lucy BACKWELL, que je crois présentement aux Etats-Units
d'Amérique et à dame Rose BOUFFARD, épouse de M. Gabriel Loyen du
Puigaudeau aîné la généralité de tous les biens meubles et immeubles de
toute espèce et nature qui m'appartiendront à l'instant de mon décès en
quelles mains et lieux qu'ils soient et par quelques personnes qu'ils
soient dûs ou possédés pour par eux deux en jouir faire et disposer
en toute propriété comme de leurs autres biens, et ainsi qu'ils le
jugeront convenable, sauf à les partager par égale portion s'ils le
trouvent à propos et nécessaire et sans que qui que ce soit étant ou se
prétendant mes héritiers, puissent y apporter aucune opposition, parce
que par ces mêmes présentes, j'institue le dit M. Rabin et la dame
Puigaudeau, mes seuls et uniques héritiers.
Je veux que dans le cas de mort de M. Rabin, ses enfants recueillent
entr'eux le legs fait en sa faveur, je veux également qu'en cas de mort
de Madame Loyen du Puigaudeau, ses enfants recueillent entr'eux le legs
fait en faveur de la dite leur mère.
Je veux également qu'en cas de mort de M. Rabin sans enfants, Madame
Loyen du Puigaudeau ou ses enfants, recueillent seuls la totalité de
ma fortune et par ces mêmes raisons, qu'en cas de mort de Mme Loyen du
Puigaudeau sans enfants, Jean Rabin ou ses enfants recueillent seuls la
totalité de ma dite fortune.
18. Copy of a portion of the fourth and last Will of "Madame Jean
Audubon, living at the house of Les Tourterelles ('The Turtle Doves')
at Couëron." July 16, 1821.
Par les présentes, mon testament,
Je donne et lègue en toute propriété à Monsieur Jean AUDUBON, dit
Jean RABIN, époux de dame Lucy BACKWELL, et que je crois présentement
aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique et à dame Rose BOUFFARD, épouse de Monsieur
Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau aîné, demeurant à Couëron. Je leur donne
et lègue, dis-je la généralité de tous biens meubles et immeubles
de toute espèce et nature que je laisserai et qui m'appartiendront à
l'instant de mon décès, en quelques mains et lieux qu'ils soient et par
quelques personnes qu'ils soient dûs ou possédés pour par eux deux en
jouir, faire et disposer comme de leurs autres biens et ainsi qu'il le
jugeront convenables, sauf à les partager par égale portion quand et
comme ils le voudront sans que qui que ce soit se disant ou prétendant
les héritiers puissent y apporter aucune opposition parce que par les
dites présentes, j'institue les dits M. Jean Audubon, dit Jean Rabin et
la dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau, les deux seuls et
uniques héritiers de mes droits, actions, possessions et généralement
tous autres, sans exception pas même pour les préventions.
Je veux et entends que dans le cas où l'un ou l'autre ou même tous les
deux ne pourraient pas recueillir les effets de ma libéralité, soit
parce que je leur survivrais ou par toute autre raison, les enfants
qu'ils laisseraient soient mes héritiers et légataires, c'est-à-dire
que les enfants de Monsieur Jean Audubon dit Rabin, recueilleraient
entr'eux la moitié de ma succession que je leur lègue et ceux de
dame Rose Bouffard, épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau, recueilleraient aussi
ensemble l'autre moitié que je leur lègue également.
Je veux et entends qu'avant de mort avant moi de Monsieur Jean Audubon,
dit Jean Rabin sans enfants, Madame Rose Bouffard épouse Loyen du
Puigaudeau ou ses enfants recueillent seuls la totalité de ma fortune,
et par même raison qu'en cas de mort avant moi de Madame Rose Bouffard,
épouse Loyen du Puigaudeau; sans enfants, Monsieur Jean Audubon, dit
Jean Rabin ou ses enfants recueillent seuls cette totalité,...
19. Notice of the Death of Lieutenant Jean Audubon, from the Official
Registry of Nantes, Nantes, February 19, 1818. (For translation, see
Chapter V.)
Extrait du registre des actes de décès des 3o & 4o cantons de la Ville
de Nantes, département de la Loire-Inférieure.
L'an 1818, le 19 Février à 11 heures du matin, devant nous soussignés,
adjoints et officiers de l'état civil, délégués de M. le Maire de
Nantes, chevalier de Saint-Louis, ont comparu les sieurs Gabriel Loyen
du Puigaudeau rentier, gendre du défunt ci-après demeurant à Couëron
et François Guillet, épicier demeurant quai de la Fosse, majeurs,
lesquels nous ont déclaré que ce jour à six heures du matin, Jean
Audubon, ancien capitaine de navire, pensionnaire de l'Etat, né aux
Sables d'Olonne département de la Vendée, époux de dame Anne Moinet,
est décédé en la demeure de demoiselle Berthier, située chaussée de la
Madeleine, No 24, 4o canton.
Les déclarants ont signé avec nous le présent acte, d'après lecture
leur faite. Le dit défunt âgé de 74 ans.
Signé an registre: GABRIEL LOYEN DU PUIGAUDEAU,
GILLET et JOSEPH DE LA TULLAYE,
adjoint.
20. Letter of Lieutenant Jean Audubon to Francis Dacosta, his American
agent and attorney, relating to the conduct of his son and to the lead
mine at "Mill Grove" farm; transliterated from photographic copy of
duplicate (Letter No 4) in Jean Audubon's letter-book. Nantes, March
10, 1805. (For translation, see Chapter VIII.)
NANTES _Le 19 ventose an 13, 10 mars 1805_
Mr DACOSTA
a phyladelphie
p Duplicata.
Je viens de recevoir dans ce moment votre duplicata du 12. 9bre. & la
votre du 5. Decembre, qui n'est pas aussi avantageuse, Sous plusiers
rapports que votre précédente, mais enfin il faut espérer que l'item
vous prouvera que votre dernier sillon ne sera point déserteur, et que
les occides de fer qui se trouvent se dissiperont en fouillant plus
avant, an moins c'est ce que je désire, vous faites bien de faire tous
vos efforts pour avoir des associés & Si cela ne réussit pas, & que
vous vouliez travailler pour notre compte Je trouverai toujours bon,
tout ce que vous ferez, puisque vous avez ma confiance dans ce cas je
crois que vous s... igé[?], de faire faire des reparations les plus
urgentes Surtout à la maison principale, Devant vous y loger. Quand
à Mr W. Thomas, vous ferez bien de vous le garder, pour toutes les
raisons, que vous me dites & Je crois qu'il ne doit pas sopiniatrer à
se retirer, qu'il ne sache, s'il à mérité, oui ou non, sa récompense.
Je suis Mr. on ne peut plus faché de ce que vous ayez à vous plaindre,
de la conduite de mon fils, car le tout, bien considéré n'est
occasionné, que par de mauvais conseils & un deffaut d'usage on a
aiguillonné son amour propre, et peut être avait-il été assez jeune
pour se vanter, dans la maison ou il va que cette plantation devait
lui echoir, à lui seul; vous avez tous les moyens de detruire cette
présomption, on n' ignore point a philadelphie, que vous avez autant
de droits que moi & que vous ne faites rien que pour notre mutuel
avantage.
Je lui ecris a ce sujet, car il ne men parle point, et je lui donne la
cémonce que mérite son indiscrétion; vous lirez cette lettre et voudrez
bien avoir la complaisance de la cacheter avant de lui remettre. Vous
me dites que je puis m'en rapporter sur son compte an rapport que m'en
fait Mr. Meyers fisher, dans sa longue lettre du mois de Septembre que
Malheureusement je n'ai pas reçu, car Mr fisher, ne me parle point
de lui, ni en bien, ni en mal. Quand à venir dans le pays, cela me
parraît presqu'impossible, rappeller mon fils n'est pas plus aisé, les
raisons qui me l'en fait l'envoyer existent toujours; il ne faut qu'un
instant pour le faire changer du mal au bien, sa grande jeunesse et sa
pétulance sont tous ses torts et si vous avez la Bonté de lui donner
l'indispensable, il sentira bientot la Nécessité de se rapprocher de
vous et pourra vous être d'une grande utilité, si vous exploitez par
vous même.
Il faut donc Mon cher monsieur, que nous tachions de le ramener par la
douceur à son Devoir. Si vous avez de l'indulgence pour lui ce sera moi
qui vous en aurai toute l'aubligation; j'espere que la lettre cy-jointe
operera chez lui un changement. C'est mon seul fils, mon heritier, & je
suis vieux. Quand Mr Meiers fisher aura montré ma lettre au prétendu
beaupere, il verra qu'il s'est trompé dans son calcul sur le prétendu
Mariage de sa fille, car s'il avait lieu sans mon consentement tout
secours de ma part cesserait des cet instant; et c'est ce que vous
pouvez bien si vous voulez avoir cette bonté, dire an prétendu beau
pere, ne voulant pas que mon fils se marie aussi jeune; vos lettres du
28 Octobre & 12 Novembre sont à la campagne. Je ne puis point répondre
categoriquement sur leurs contents; Je les examinerai & vous dirai
par ma prochaine ce que J'en pense. Votre famille que J'ai vu se porte
bien. Nos dames vous rémercient de votre bon souvenir. Je suis &.
[JEAN AUDUBON.]
21. Letters of John James Audubon to Claude François Rozier, father,
and to Ferdinand Rozier, son, immediately preceding and following his
active partnership in business with the latter: 1807 and 1812. (For
translations see Chapters XI and XV.)
[Letter No. 2, superscribed] Monsieur Fr. ROZIER,
Negociant
Nantes.
Loire inferieure.
NEW YORK _avril 24 1807_—
Mr. ROZIER Negociant
Nantes
MON CHER MONSIEUR
Je profite d'une bonne occasion pour Bordeaux pour vous accuser
reception d'un Duplicats des pouvoirs que nous vous demandai plusieurs
mois passes. Vous saurez aussi que les vins consignes a M. L. Huron de
Philadelphia sont arrives en cette ville et ont sauves les assurances;
votre fils s'est transporte sur la place et par une de ses lettres
m'apprend que les 60 caisses sont vendues il me dit que vous pouvez
compter sur un profit net d'a peu pres 20 p. ct. s'il s'est trouve tres
bons et le reste ne manquera de trouver acheteur: Mr. Le Ray est arrive
et a apporte avec lui une petite Boite de dentelles pour M. Benjamin
Bakewell d'icy elle doit arriver en peu de jours de Philadelphia. Mr.
B. B. a paru satisfait de la vente de son Bois Futtie. il lui tarde
seulement de voir les retours il est malheureux que le commerce de
votre ville avec ce pays ne soye pas aussi regulierement suivi qu'a
Bordeaux d'ou nous avons des Batiments tous les mois et par plusieurs.
Comme notre ami Ferdinand vous ecriva de Philadelphia concernant Mr.
Huron je ne m'ettendray pas sur son compte: dans plusieurs de vos
Lettres que si nous nous decidions obtenir un magasin de detail que
vous pourriez nous tenir constamment employe nos idees sur ce sujet
sont parfaitement d'accord et ce serait avec bien du plaisir que nous
commenserions sous auspices et les bons avis de Mr. Bakewell ici; les
objects bien choisis bien achette et envoye avec soins sont toujours
sur de rencontrer un bon marche: j'ose esperer que le Navire la Jeanne
Capt Sammis sera arrive a votre port et que les Indigos charges par M.
B. Bakewell pourront y etre venu en temp de vente de cette marchandise
dont j'ai neanmoins quelque crainte vu le prix qu'ils lui avaient
coute. Nous vous remercions sincerement pour le prix courant que
vous nous avez envoye, dans une de mes dernieres ecrite par voye de
Bordeaux je vous priais de demander a Mr. Fleury Emery une boite de
graines de la Martinique et de se pays cy. nous esperons sous peu vous
envoyer quelque marchandises et peut etre Mr. Bakewell profitera d'une
occasion que nous allons avoir en peu de jour pour votre port. A peu
plus trois semaines passees Je fus a Mill Grove et l'affermais pour un
an ne pouvant faire mieux pour le present. Votre fils a Philadelphia a
present va essayer de terminer les comptes de mon pere avec Mr. Dacotta
[Dacosta] qui n'oublie pas aisement d'etre chicanneur... presentez Je
vous prie mes respects et amities a votre bonne famille et epouse et
croyez en moi comme votre devoue
et constant
serviteur
J. J. AUDUBON
Ayez la complaisance de faire parvenie l'incluse a mon bon pere.
[Superscribed] Mrs F. ROZIERS
Mercht
St Genevieve
u. L.
SHIPPINGPORT, _10th. Augst. 1812_
MON CHER ROZIER:—
Come il est presque probable que l'occasion que je trouve est sur, je
suis avec elle le plaisir de t'écrire quelque mots—
Je reçus en temps ta lettre envoyé a Phila a lequelle je repondis
alors; depuis je n'ai entendu de tes nouvelles que par voies très
indirectes, je serais bien content si tu peux donner quelques instants
a tes amis que tu me compte aux nombre et m'écrire par temps; je
partis avec ma femme et mon fils de Phila au mois passé, la plus grande
parties de ce temps a été à descendre L'Ohio qui est actuellement très
bas nous avons eu la Barge et L'Equipage du Gl Clark, avec la compagnie
de Mr R. A. Maupin et de Mde Gait qui avaient rester plusieurs mois a
New York & a Phila. Je vais probablement descendre a la N. Orléans cet
autumn avec N. Berthoud, les merchandizes sont extremement rare et très
chere, partout, mais plus encore les gros Lainages que l'on ne trouve
du tout.
Je n'ai pas de doute que ton plomb ne se vende tres bien cet article
ayant augmenté considerablement depuis la guerre.—dans les derniers
jours que j'etais dans l'Est j'ai recu une lettre de mon père et une
de ton frère toute ta famille se portait alors bien dit 4 mois passés,
ton frère desire beaucoup entendre de toi, si la paix vient un jour non
bien loin (ce qu'à Dieu plaise) j'espere entrer en liaison avec lui.
Je lui est écrit et l'engage a faire de même tes lettres pouront se
rendre si envoyers a N. York et de la dans la Cartel. Ma femme se porte
bien et mon fils sois de même et compte au nombre de tes amis est ce
que dison celui qui t'estimera toujours.
Adieu
J. AUDUBON
APPENDIX II
AUDUBON'S EARLY DATED DRAWINGS MADE IN FRANCE AND AMERICA
Drawings now in the Collections of Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes, of
Philadelphia, and formerly belonging to Mr. Edward Harris,
of Moorestown, New Jersey; of Mr. John E. Thayer, Lancaster,
Massachusetts; and of Harvard University. (See Chapter XII.)
In addition to the serial numbers, here given, the drawings usually
bear French and English names, with various notes in French relating to
weights and measurements, and rarely with sketches of detail.
Mr. Jeanes' collection contains the following: