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The collection contains various French, Spanish, British, Dutch and American documents that date roughly from 1685 to 1799. Most of the documents relate to French maritime commerce in North America, French-American maritime problems, naval ordnance, the American Revolution, the American system of government and the French Revolution. Most of the documents are in French.
Subjects covered at length include French packets ("paquebots"), trade and politics in the West Indies, the Treaty of Versailles, the affairs and trial of the Admiral de Grasse and France's relations with the new United States and with Great Britain. Notable individuals documented through letters, journals and autographs include the Count of Maurepas, the chevalier Du Coudray, Edward Church (containing his account of the French Revolution), Robert Livingston, Patrick Grant, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, William III of Orange, William IV of Holland and King George III of England. The Jefferson document is a letter of thanks for a "valuable work on the French Revolution" and discusses the importance of national liberty.
Also included are several items relating to naval activities in West Florida at Pensacola, including the Battle of 1781 in which Spaniards captured the city from the British. Other documents concern the quality of life in North and South Carolina, Virginia and Jamaica. Maps of Louisiana, the Mississippi River, Cuba, Florida and the Bahamas form part of the collection. Among other items are two editions of the St. James Evening Post from 1720 and gravures of the Siege of Pensacola in 1781 and of Napoleon entering Paris.
In addition to the late-18th and early-19th century documents, the collection contains a miscellany of material from the late-19th and the early-20th centuries. This includes an 1888 letter of regret from the White House during the administration of President Grover Cleveland in which the president declines an invitation to view a panorama of the Battle of Gettysburg, and compliments to General John Pershing during the First World War, 1914-1918. Last in the collection is a 1922 monograph by Ales Hrdlicka, titled "The Anthropology of Florida," about the native peoples of Florida.
Finding Aids:
Item listing available at the Archives.
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Microfilm.
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
In possession of donor.
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Multiple languages.
Ownership/Custodial History:
The documents seem to have originated in the archives of three different people or institutions: the Marechal de Castries, the Le Brun family of Metz, and the French Navy. Sometime later an individual, perhaps Phillippe or Leon Feve of New York City, may have purchased these materials from D. Janvier, a Paris bookseller. The purchaser then sold the materials to the Hudson family, who donated a microfilm copy of the collection to the Florida State Archives.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Pershing, John J. 1860-1948 (John Joseph), Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908 Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 Washington, George, 1732-1799 Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813 Church, Edward, 1740-1816
West Florida. Pensacola (Fla.) United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 France History Revolution, 1789-1799 Florida History Florida Maps --Early works to 1800
for detailed listing.