French Refugee Life in the United States 1790-1800 - an American Chapter of the French Revolution

Originally published in 1939. INSTITUT FRENCH REFUGEE LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1790-1800- AN AMERICAN CHAPTER OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION by FRANCES SERGEANT. FOREWORD: A French refugees papers, business records and personal letters yellowed by time and blackened by fire but yet alive, formed, some years ago, the inspiration for this study. The search for similar and relevant material, in public and private collections along the Atlantic seaboard, soon marked its inception. Its completion today is the fruit of that search and has been facilitated by the kindness of many people, to all of whom my thanks are due. They go in the first place to the history department of Columbia University for the SchiflE Fellowship which made possible much of the necessary research and very specially to Professor Carlton J. H. Hayes and Professor John A. Krout under whose guidance this study has been written. To librarians and assistants in many eastern libraries, particularly the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, the Boston Athenaeum, the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, where Mr. Lawrence Wroth has been exceptionally kind, I am indebted for valuable aid in finding rare and forgotten material and for clues to still further treasures. I am likewise indebted to the descendants of the French revolutionary exiles, especially Miss Elizabeth Keating, for a welcome of the Old World in its grace and of the New World in its warmth, and for permission to see and use their family re cords. Miss Louise Beaman, Mrs. Avery Claflin and Miss Beulah Parker have given me friendly and patient assistance in the tedious tasks of typing, translating and editing, Mrs. Ernest Tracy in the difficult one of proofreading they all deserve my sincere thanks. Last but by no means least I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Gilbert Chinard of Princeton University for stimulating and generous assistance and for the opportunity to publish this study under the aus pices of the Institut Frangais de Washington. FRANCES S. CHILDS. Hewlett, Long Island, New York. September 29, 1939. Contents include: INTRODUCTION xiii CHAPTER I. THE BACKGROUND OF THE EMIGRATION . . 1 II. THE EMIGRATION ... 23 III. THE REFUGEES IN THE NEW WORLD . . 62 IV. THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE REFUGEES . . 84 V. ASPECTS OF REFUGEE LIFE IN PHILADELPHIA 103 VI. THE REFUGEE PRESS ... . . 122 VII. REVOLUTIONARY OPINION IN PHILADELPHIA . 141 VIIL THE REFUGEES AJSTD THE FRENCH MINISTERS . 161 CONCLUSION AND COMMENT ... . . 186 BIBLIOGRAPHY . INDEX IX ILLUSTRATIONS Mme la Marquise de La Tour du Pin . Frontispiece. Seal of the Societe fran aise de bienfaisance de Philadel phie, 1793 . .... xvii From a print in the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. facing page Jean-Louis Lefebure de Cheverus, Bishop of Boston, by Gilbert Stuart 40 In the possession of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Francois-Alexandre-Frederic de La Rochefoucauld, due de Liancourt . . . 74 In the possession of the New York Public Library. Tableau des Membres de la loge frangaise IAmenite. . . 108 In the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Articles of association for publishing the periodical work entitled the Level of Europe and North America . . 134 Original in the Archives Coloniales, Paris photostat in the possession of the Library of Congress. Protestations des colons patriotes de Saint-Domingue, ref ugies a Philadelphie 154 In the possession of the John Carter Brown Library. Page from The American Star or LEtoile Americaine .... 172 In the possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania...