James Pitot (1761–1831), also known as Jacques Pitot, was the third

Mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans (french: Maire de La Nouvelle-Orléans) has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the acquisition by the U.S. ...

, after Cavelier Petit served for a ten-day interim following Mayor Boré's resignation. Because he had already attained American citizenship, he is sometimes called New Orleans' first American mayor.

Biography

Born Jacques-François Pitot in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and educated in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, Pitot's family was of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and fled that nation during 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Jacques Pitot left Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) and settled in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where he became an American citizen, and then lived in Norfolk, Virginia. After his 1796 arrival in Spanish-held Louisiana, he prospered as a merchant and became a member of the New Orleans city council. James Pitot was appointed

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

by Territorial Governor William C. C. Claiborne. He served from 6 June 1804 to 26 July 1805. During Mayor Pitot's administration the first

city charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document ('' charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charte ...

of New Orleans was enacted, including the first public elections of aldermen or city councilmen. After he resigned as mayor, Claiborne appointed him as

Probate Court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

judge for the

Orleans Territory The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Louisiana. History In 1804 ...

, a position he continued to hold after

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

became a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. Judge James Pitot served the legal community until his death on November 4, 1831. He was also President of the New Orleans Navigation Company, which was granted the right to operate a toll

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

extending from

Bayou St. John Bayou St. John () is a bayou within the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bayou as a natural feature drained the swampy land of a good portion of what was to become New Orleans, into Lake Pontchartrain. In its natural state, it extended much ...

into the Tremé neighborhood, terminating in the 'turning basin' which eventually gave its name to

Basin Street Basin Street or Rue Bassin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery. It ...

. This route saved shippers many expensive days and risks of navigating the winding Mississippi River below New Orleans, in the age of sail. (Bayou St. John connects to

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

, which in turn leads to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. Pitot's home alongside

still stands, now a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, the Pitot House. The home is near the "bayou bridge" which Governor Claiborne ordered the military "to permit no Negroes to pass or repass the same," during the event known as the 1811 slave uprising.

Battle of New Orleans

Jacques Pitot is not properly remembered for his role as president of the

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

police jury In the U.S. state of Louisiana, the typical governing body of the parish is called the Police Jury (French: ''le Jury de Police''). Not every parish is governed by a Police Jury, but 38 of the 64 parishes use this system. The Police Jury is the ...

(comparable to the head of a 'county commission' elsewhere), when during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, on January 31, 1814, he authorized the re-enlisting of free people of color into the local

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

.Eaton, ibid. This was a bold move, coming eighteen months after

had become a

and less than seven years after Orleans Territorial Governor Claiborne had been wounded in a duel with his nemesis, Daniel Clark. Clark's challenge was based on Claiborne's recognition of the militia battalion of free men of color in 1804, shortly after the United States took possession of the formerly French province. Pitot's action built upon the long-standing network of kinship, economic ties, trade, and cultural ties free people of color had, not only up and down the Mississippi River from New Orleans with both slave-holding whites and with enslaved people, but also throughout the Caribbean and

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

trade region, including

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, where the British launched their attack against New Orleans in December 1814. British efforts to lure away both slaves and free blacks to their side of the conflict were not as successful as they had hoped. Pitot's volunteer

, including the free men of color, joined other units of free men of color, as well as numerous slaves, who were crucial to the defeat of the British invasion under the unified command of General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

References

External links

Pitot
in the

Louisiana Historical Association The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization established in 1889 in Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20 ...

's online ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' (Scroll down.)
Pitot biography on New Orleans Public Library site
transcription from a 1940

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

compilation; birth year given is incorrect.
Pitot's tenure as mayor
(in Kendall's ''History of Louisiana'', Chapter 4) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitot, James 1761 births 1831 deaths Louisiana Creole people Mayors of New Orleans

Biography

Battle of New Orleans

See also

References

External links