Jean-Baptiste d'Estrehan de Beaupré (surname often written as Destrehan; died 26 February 1765, New Orleans, Louisiana)
was a high-ranking
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
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* The French (band), ...
official in
colonial Louisiana and the founder of the Destrehan family there. A native of France, he was appointed Royal Treasurer of Louisiana early in the colony's history.
He arrived in New Orleans in 1722, the year it was designated as the
capital
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Econom ...
of
Louisiana (New France)
Louisiana or French Louisiana was a administrative divisions of France, district of New France. In 1682 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle erected a cross near the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the whole ...
.
Biography
D'Estrehan is credited with the completion of the
Harvey Canal on the west bank of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
in 1739, which connected the river with
Barataria Bay
Barataria Bay (), also Barrataria Bay, is a bay of the Gulf of Mexico, about 15 miles (24 km) long and 12 miles (19 km) wide, in southeastern Louisiana, in Jefferson Parish and Plaquemines Parish, United States. It is separated from ...
to the south and thus to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
.
The canal work took many years. He cultivated
indigo
InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
as a commodity crop on his west bank plantation. In 1746, d'Estrehan was appointed as Comptroller of
the colony. He held both this position and the treasurer position until his death in 1765.
D'Estrehan married Jeanne Catherine de Gauvret (daughter of Jean-Baptiste de Gauvret, an officer of colonial troops, and Jeanne Catherine Pierre). They had six children together,
the most notable of whom was
Jean Noel Destréhan
Jean may refer to:
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* Jean (female given name)
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* Jean ...
, after whom the town of
Destrehan
Destrehan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340. It is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River. Destrehan is par ...
was named. Another son, Jean Baptiste Honoré d'Estrehan, was the first husband of Marie Felicité de St. Maxent. After his death, she married
Bernardo de Gálvez
Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New S ...
, a
Spanish colonial
The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...
governor during the decades of Spanish rule in the late 18th century. D'Estrehan's daughter, Marie Marguerite, married
Étienne de Boré
Jean Étienne de Boré (27 December 1741 – 1 February 1820) was a Creole French planter, born in Kaskaskia, Illinois Country, who was known for producing the first granulated sugar in Louisiana. At the time, the area was under Spanish rule. Hi ...
, who was appointed as the first mayor of
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
after the United States made the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...
. Daughter Jeanne Marie d'Estrehan, married Pierre Philippe de Marigny, the son of
Antoine Philippe de Marigny
Antoine Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (17 July 1721 – 6 November 1779), Chevalier de St. Louis, was a French geographer and explorer. Born in Mobile in 1722, he was part of the Creole elite of French Louisiana.
Biography
Antoine Ph ...
, a French Creole geographer and explorer. She was the mother of
Bernard de Marigny
Jean-Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville (1785–1868), known as Bernard de Marigny, was a French- Creole American nobleman, playboy, planter, politician, duelist, writer, horse breeder, land developer, and President of the Louisian ...
.
[Louisiana Historical Societ]
''Publications of the Louisiana Historical Society'' Vol. 5
1911, p. 44
In his role as a colonial official, d'Estrehan clashed with the colonial governor
Kerlerec, who described him as being "too rich and dangerous."
In 1763, Kerlerec ordered d'Estrehan to be returned to France, along with the Commissary-Commissioner
Vincent de Rochemore Vincent Gaspard Pierre de Rochemore (–1763) was a French nobleman from Languedoc who entered the military as a career. In the mid-18th century, he was appointed as a colonial official in French Louisiana, where he served as the Commissary-Gene ...
and Antoine Philippe de Marigny, with whom the governor was in conflict.
[ King, Grace Elizabeth. ''Creole Families of New Orleans'', pg. 16] In France d'Estrehan and the other men were briefly held in the
Bastille
The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...
. They convinced the colonial administration of their view, and Kerlerec was recalled. D'Estrehan returned to New Orleans, where he lived for the remainder of his life.
See also
*
History of Harvey, Louisiana
References
External links
"Jean-Baptiste Destrehan" ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography''] (scroll down through the D entries)
{{DEFAULTSORT:d'Estrehan, Jean Baptiste
1765 deaths
18th-century French civil servants
French slave owners
People of Louisiana (New France)
Politicians from New Orleans