![Leray de Chaumont by Nini](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Leray_de_Chaumont_by_Nini.jpg)
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont (1 September 1726 – 22 February 1803) was a
French "Father of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
", but later an opponent of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. His son of the same name, known also in America as James Le Ray, eventually became a United States citizen and settled in
Le Ray, New York
Le Ray is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 25,574 at the 2020 census, up from 21,782 in 2010. The town is named for Jacques-Donatien Le Ray, known as a French "father of the American Revolution".
The town i ...
USA.
American Revolution
Le Ray de Chaumont served
King Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...
at the
Court at Versailles as the Governor of
Les Invalides
The Hôtel des Invalides ( en, "house of invalids"), commonly called Les Invalides (), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and the Grand Master of Waters and Lands of
Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.
With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...
. Following the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, by the American
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
on 4 July 1776, emissaries were dispatched to France by the new
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
revolutionary government to seek assistance from the French king. Although anxious to see Great Britain weakened, Louis XVI had to walk a political tightrope. He understood that support for the rebellion in America was a contradiction of France's global
colonization
Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
policies and could spark a revolt in any number of France's own colonies. As such, the American delegation could not be officially recognized at the French Court.
Sympathetic to the American cause for independence, Le Ray de Chaumont used his powerful position to act as intermediary between the King and the American representatives. But, Le Ray did much more than broker talks and exert influence. In addition to swaying the King and the powerful administrators of the French government, Le Ray provided a fully staffed mansion for Franklin and his family in the wealthy commune of Passy, then outside of Paris.
In December 1776,
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
was sent to Paris with the primary goal of obtaining French aid for the United States. He quickly developed a close relationship with Le Ray and his family and lived at Le Ray's estate in Passy for several years. Franklin however did not visit Le Ray's luxurious Chateau at
Chaumont-sur-Loire
Chaumont-sur-Loire (, ), commonly known as Chaumont, is a commune and town in the Loir-et-Cher department and the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France, known for its historical defensive walls and its castle.
Château de Chaum ...
in the
Loire Valley but his grandson Temple did. As a result of their friendship, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont helped obtain French support for the American cause with both money and French armed forces.
Along with Benjamin Franklin, Le Ray de Chaumont worked with
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
,
Silas Deane
Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became the ...
, the
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...
and the
Comte de Vergennes to help with the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. For an aristocrat in that day and age, what Le Ray did for ordinary Americans was astonishing. At heart, he believed in the equality of all men and backed up his beliefs by providing massive amounts of his own money to purchase weapons, supplies and clothing for the fledgling American armed forces. Le Ray was asked by the American government to take charge of the equipment and management of the combined French and American naval fleet. Working closely with Admiral
Charles-Hector Estaing
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French general and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the ...
, the Commander of the French Fleet, Le Ray's support for the American cause involved having his shipyards refit a merchant vessel into a warship that he then gifted to America under the name for use by Captain
John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...
.
When the war ended with the
treaty of 1783 signed in Paris, Le Ray de Chaumont had a portrait medallion made of Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Nini. Today, it is Franklin's most recognized profile. And, when Franklin was recalled to America in 1785, Le Ray honored him with a commissioned portrait painted by
Joseph Siffred Duplessis
Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (22 September 1725 – 1 April 1802) was a French painter known for the clarity and immediacy of his portraits.
Early life
He was born in Carpentras, near Avignon, into a family with an artistic bent and received his ...
that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery of the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont's son named Jacques Le Ray (1760–1840) went to America in 1785. There, he acquired a property in Otsego county, New York where he built the first saw-mill. Known in America as James, the English translation for Jacques, Le Ray Jr. also made large land purchases in the State and on 17 July 1789 he married Grace Coxe from New Jersey and became an American citizen. He signed the marriage bond as Le Ray de Chaumont, but in the body of the instrument his name is entered as James Donatien Le Ray de Chaumontt.
The towns of
Le Ray, New York
Le Ray is a town in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 25,574 at the 2020 census, up from 21,782 in 2010. The town is named for Jacques-Donatien Le Ray, known as a French "father of the American Revolution".
The town i ...
,
Chaumont, New York
Chaumont ( ) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. Its population was 624 at the 2010 census. The village is named for Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, son of Benjamin Franklin's landlord and friend at Passy in France. Th ...
and the borough of LeRaysville, Pennsylvania are named after him.
Aftermath
In the end, the political ideals that Le Ray de Chaumont cherished came back to haunt him. The huge financial support he had elicited from King Louis XVI for the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
led to massive debts that would bankrupt the government of France. When a drought caused a deep famine in 1788, there was no money available from the French Treasury, as had been done in the past, to subsidize the cost of flour for bread to prevent mass starvation. As a result of France's generosity and Le Ray de Chaumont's love of America, he inadvertently helped pave the way for the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, in 1789, that dramatically impacted on his own finances, resulting in the new French Revolutionary government seizing his assets including his beloved Chateau at
Chaumont-sur-Loire
Chaumont-sur-Loire (, ), commonly known as Chaumont, is a commune and town in the Loir-et-Cher department and the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France, known for its historical defensive walls and its castle.
Château de Chaum ...
.
References
* L. H. Everts, ''Jefferson County History'' (1878).
* Thomas J. Schaeper, ''The Life of Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont'' (1995; ).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Ray de Chaumont, Jacques-Donatien
1726 births
1803 deaths
French people of the American Revolution
People of the French Revolution
French businesspeople in shipping
18th-century French businesspeople