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Prosperity through cultural literacy. Contact Encyclopedia Louisiana |
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1769-1829 |
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Prosperity through cultural literacy. Contact Encyclopedia Louisiana |
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1769-1829 |
| 1769 June 30 |
Born Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny at Laon near Lille, France, eldest son of Augustin Bourguignon d'Herbigny who was president of the Directoire de l'Ainse and mayor of Laon, and Louise Angelique Blondela, |
| 1791 | Studies law at St Genevieve. Flees France as a noble during French Revolution for St. Domingue, then Pittsburgh, The Illinois country, New Madrid, Florida and Havana. Serves several years as an interpreter in the Illinois Territory. |
| 1791 June 29 |
Marries Felicite Odile de Hault de Lassus at Pittsburgh. They will have five daughters and 2 sons. Charles Zenon Derbigny will be a politically active Whig in the 1840s and with the American (Know Nothing) Party during the 1850s. |
| 1797 | Arrives in New Orleans. Serves as an English language interpreter for Spanish authorities. |
| 1803 | Holds variety of elective posts including Secretary of Municipality when Etienne De Boré was mayor, Clerk of Court of Common Pleas and, in 1804, Secretary of the Legislative Council. He was also appointed official interpreter of languages for the territory and the Regent of the Central and Primary Schools of New Orleans. |
| 1804 | One of three lobbyists to Congress for a memorial urging self-government for the Orleans Territory. His oration of July 4, 1804 also urges for the reopening of the slave trade. |
| 1805 | Congress allows a lower house to be elected in the territory. Derbigny opposed British Common Law in Louisiana and leads a movement to establish the College of Orleans. |
| 1806 | He is the attorney for the city in the Batture case vs. Edward Livingston. Leads opposition to British common law in Orleans Territory, contributing to the retention of civil law practices established during the French and Spanish colonial colonial periods. |
| 1811 | Helps establish the College of Orleans and becomes a regent. |
| 1812 | Serves briefly as the secretary of the territorial Senate. |
| 1814-1821 | Appointed a Louisiana Supreme Court Justice |
| 1815 | Serves as a private in Captain Chauveneau's Company of Calvalry in the Louisiana Militia. |
| 1819 | Works with Livingston and Lislet on the 1825 Civil Code. |
| 1820 | Part of a group issued the first license for a steam ferry at New Orleans. Resigns from the Supreme Court to run (unsuccessfully), with the support of Bernard Marigny, for the governor's office against J. N. Sestrehan, Abner Duncan and Thomas B. Robertson. Opens a law firm on St. Louis, later Royal Street and works as a moderate to ease tensions between Creoles and Americans |
| 1820-1828 | Serves as Secretary of State of Louisiana. He supports national politics of John Quincy Adams. |
| 1826 | Builds a home for his large family on the right bank of the Mississippi River at Nine Mile Point. |
| 1827 | Serves as regent of the Central and Primariy Schools of New Orleans. |
| 1828 July 7 |
Elected Governor of Louisiana, running against Thomas Butler, Bernard Marigny and Philemon Thomas. The state Legislature confirms his election versus 3 opponents. |
| 1828 Dec. 12 |
Inauguration speech urges internal improvements which the legislature supports including: incorporation of a gas light company for New Orleans, several navigation companies for New Orleans and important bayous in the state, and the construction and repair of levees. |
| 1829 October 6 |
After 10 months in office Derbigny is thrown from a carriage on the West Bank and dies three days later in Gretna. |