Pierre Lafitte was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico and smuggler in the early 19th century.
17 Facts About Pierre Lafitte
1.
2.
Pierre Lafitte ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business.
3.
Pierre Lafitte died in 1821 near Dzilam de Bravo in the Yucatan Peninsula.
4.
Ramsay speculates that Pierre Lafitte was actually born in the French Caribbean colony Saint-Domingue.
5.
Families with the surname Pierre Lafitte are mentioned in Louisiana documents dating as early as 1765.
6.
Jean stayed with his mother while Pierre Lafitte was raised by extended family elsewhere in Louisiana.
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The elder Pierre Lafitte remarried in 1775 to Marguerite Desteil; they had six children, including Jean Lafitte.
8.
The boys were likely given a basic education, and Pierre Lafitte later joined his father's trading enterprise.
9.
The father died in 1796, and Davis speculates that the younger Pierre Lafitte journeyed to Saint-Domingue.
10.
Pierre Lafitte, probably accompanied by an infant son, left the island aboard a refuge ship in early 1803.
11.
Pierre Lafitte's ship landed in New Orleans, which had originally been part of French Louisiana although it had become a Spanish possession for nearly 40 years.
12.
Records indicate that on March 21,1803, Pierre Lafitte partnered with Joseph Maria Bourguignon to purchase a city lot, home, and outbuildings near Royal Street.
13.
Pierre Lafitte's piracy was pardoned by President James Madison on February 6,1815, by the aiding of Andrew Jackson during the battle.
14.
Pierre Lafitte reportedly conducted his operations in the historic New Orleans French Quarter.
15.
Pierre Lafitte lived in New Orleans or at least maintained his household there with his mulatto lover, who bore him a very large family.
16.
Pierre Lafitte served the arrest warrant and helped to round up the slaves.
17.
Davis speculated that Pierre Lafitte had participated in the raid to try to close down the operations of the slave traders who were not operating through Barataria Bay.