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THE HISTORIAN OF HANCOCK COUNTY
NEW MEMBERS
April—May, 2003
Joseph W. Gex, II,Kiln
Uneeda Laitinen, BSL
Henry C. Magee, Waveland
Mercedes G. Manieri, New Orleans
Deborah & Steve Piacsek, Waveland
THE
HISTORIAN
OF HANCOCK COUNTY
Editor - Dale St.Amant Publisher - Paul LaViolette
Published monthly by the HANCOCK COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2003 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jim Henrie, President Charles Gray, Exec. Dir.
Ruth Carlson Marine Collins Marlene Johnson Paul LaViolette Ellis Cuevas Vivian Ramsay Roland Schexnayder
108 Cue Street or P.O. Box 312 Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi 39520 Telephone/Fax [228] 467-4090 On Line www2.datasync.com/history Email: history@datasync.com LOBRANO HOUSE HOURS MONDAY — FRIDAY 10:00 AM — 3:00PM
Closed from 12:00—1:00.
scribed in Paul La Violette’s book, Waiting for the White Pelicans, as Lister’s pond.) These are natural formations, and in fact are shown in the earliest maps of the area.
Why is this significant? It does not take much imagination to picture the little bayou and the pond shrouded by trees and brush in the early 1800’s. Certainly, the site would have been very secluded in those days, and small boats could easily have gone into that pond to secretly unload contraband cargo. Could the description as told and retold over the years have been modified to be thought of as a tunnel? There is no hard evidence for this, but it seems right to postulate that the house was built next to a convenient pond and bayou for a reason.
But then there is the question of its possible use of the house and grounds. Smuggling seems to be a rather poor use for the structure, bribing the Spanish officials was at the time a proven cheaper method. What actual pirating in the accepted fashion of robbery on the water was conducted in the area by pirates on the lowest rung of the pirate profession and beyond the needs of such an estate.
Thus the more likely use was to bring contraband slaves into the United States, specifically Louisiana. But the trading and importation of slaves was legal in the United States in the early 1800’s. Why then would pirates, such as Jean Lafitte or any other, have to be secretive in their operations. The answer is found partly in the Constitution of the United States and partly in the charter given to Louisiana after its purchase in 1803.
Although the Constitution allows for continued importation of “such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit” until the year 1808, Congress specifi-
cally outlawed such importation in Louisiana. This was at the suggestion of President Thomas Jefferson, who had attempted to do the same for the thirteen states in his initial wording of the Declaration of Independence, but was thwarted in the final draft by the Continental Congress .
Jefferson’s position on slavery was an anomaly. While he owned slaves, and apparently had children by Sally Hemings, his writings were decidedly anti-slavery. At his suggestion, Congress established the government of Louisiana on the basis of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, w'hich outlawed slavery. Moreover, he appointed as governor of Louisiana, W.C.C. Claiborne, who clearly hated the institution of slavery. In a letter to Jefferson dated November 25, 1804, Claiborne stated, “The Searcher of all hearts knows how little I desire to see another of that wretched race set foot on the shores of America.” But Louisiana and its plantation economy craved more slaves. In the same letter, Claiborne wrote, “But, on this point, the people here are united as one man. There seemed to be but one sentiment throughout the province. They must import more slaves, or the country was ruined forever.”
Regarding Claiborne’s problem, Charles Gayarre, in his History of Louisiana, wrote, “Negroes were daily smuggled into the territory through the Spanish possessions...” It is therefore, reasonable to assume that pirates such as Jean Lafitte knew of this opportunity for profit. Certainly, the then Spanish coasts of what is now Waveland, Bay St. Louis and Pearl River, would have been ideal for the transport of contraband slaves because of their proximity to the back door of New Orleans through Lakes Borgne and Pontchar-train.
But was Jean Lafitte, the famed