BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG: THE PIRATE JEAN LAFITTE WAS REALLY MORTIMER WILSON

It is entirely possible that the real Jean Lafitte never sailed into or had a home in Galveston. But that depends on whose accounting of Lafitte's life you want to believe.

The real Jean Lafitte was one of two brothers. Jean was the elder and Pierre was the younger. They were probably born in St. Malos, France in the 1780s. Jean was described as "tall, finely formed, and in his pleasant mood was always agreeable and interesting. He would stand for hours with one eye shut. At such time his appearance was harsh....

"Long before he had reached the age of manhood, he had made several voyages to the different sea ports of Africa and Europe. With suavity of manners and apparent gentlemanly disposition, combined with a majestic deportment and undoubted courage, he swayed boisterous passions of those rude and untutored tars (seamen) of whom he was the associate and chief. He was universally esteemed and respected by all of his crew. They were taught to admire his commanding mind, his firmness, his courage, his magnanimity and professional skill."

There is evidence that Lafitte became a mate in the French East Indiaman just after his twenty-first birthday. The following year he took command of the "La Confiance" with which he captured the "Queen," the best of the English East Indiamen. At one point he was captured and held in prison for several years by the English. They treated him so poorly that, after he was released, he took out his hostilities against them through a privateer's commission against Spain which he had gotten from the Carthaginian government. With that authority to sail, the only acts of pirating he committed were against British vessels - a way to pay the British back.

He and his brother were in New Orleans by 1807, and at least one of them worked as a blacksmith at the corner of Bourbon and St. Phillip street. There, one historian says, they became agents of the Baratarian buccaneers. Others say that because both the names "Jean" and "Lafitte" were common names at the time, perhaps there were two Jean Lafittes - one a blacksmith, the other a pirate. Or maybe the only one of the Lafitte brothers was a blacksmith in New Orleans, was Pierre.

Nevertheless, by the time Jean Lafitte had made it to Galveston, it's possible that his name wasn't really Jean Lafitte and that he was not a Frenchman. He could have been Mortimer Wilson!

After Lafitte's death, a Galveston attorney was contacted by a representative of a family named Wilson who were trying to recover title to 80 leagues of Galveston land and a "portion of the contiguous coast, granted by the Spanish crown, not to Jean Lafitte, but to a Mortimer Wilson." The Wilson family's representative claimed that Jean Lafitte and Mortimer Wilson were one and the same.

After Mortimer Wilson had passed away, family members were going through his papers and came across a Spanish grant to the Galveston land. Knowing that a man in Galveston had been a friend of their father's, they wrote him a long letter asking if he could shed any light on the matter.

What they learned was that Mortimer Wilson had been born in New York. His parents were well-respected English immigrants who had come onto hard times. An uncle of Mr. Mortimer's was the head of a very wealthy mercantile house in New York City. He agreed to adopt and raise Mr. Mortimer when the lad was ten.

Mr. Mortimer was bright and quick-witted, so his uncle was so impressed with his potential that he sent him to the best schools. After his graduation, his uncle took him into the family business, and by 19, Mr. Mortimer was offered a partnership.

Just before the new partner was taken into the business, he was sent to Charleston to handle some important business for the firm. Mr. Mortimer was tall, young, and good looking, and he not only had a commanding appearance, but he was well-spoken and polished.

It wasn't long until he was taken into the society of the city, and the "haughty dames and bewitching belles of that proud old city" made sure he was at every social function.

Sure enough, Mr. Mortimer fell in love with one of the Charleston beauties, and they became engaged. Unfortunately, that engagement was at the expense of another of her suitors, who was also in love with the young lady. And to make matters worse, that suitor's sister was in love with Mr. Mortimer.

So the other suitor confronted Mr. Mortimer in private at a party, and they got into a scuffle. The suitor's pistol discharged and the bullet killed the suitor. Afraid he would be charged with murder, Mr. Mortimer quickly left, got together some of his belongings, and took passage on a ship headed for Havana.

The vessel was captured off of the coast of Key West, and the few survivors, of which Mr. Mortimer was one, were taken to a small island near Cuba. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Mortimer escaped and made his way to Havana where he rented a room in a seaman's boarding house. There he met some of Jean Lafitte's men, who told him they were on their way to Lafitte's secret rendezvous off the coast of Charleston.

Mr. Mortimer took passage with them, and when he got to the rendezvous, he impressed Lafitte with his "frank and independent manner." So rather than have Mr. Mortimer "put to the mast" and killed, Lafitte told Mr. Mortimer that he could be his lieutenant, but that he would have to assume the name of Lafitte and pose as Jean's nephew.

Soon Mr. Mortimer put on a disguise and went into Charleston to see his fiancé. That's when he learned from his intended father-in-law that when she had learned that the boat on which Mr. Mortimer had taken passage from Charleston had been captured by pirates and all on board had perished, "she soon drooped and died of a broken heart."

"Frantic with grief, charged with murder, although innocent, he finally resolved to abandon his former pursuits..." That's when he took the position of second in command on Lafitte's ship.

It was on a trip where Laffite's boat was in waters near Galveston that they were chased by the fastest and most armed Spanish boat known. By then Jean Lafitte was old and not up to the fight, so he gave the command to Mr. Mortimer, who quickly brought the vessel into the harbor of Galveston, waters that were too shallow for the Spanish boat to navigate.

But as the fight was going on, Jean Lafitte left his cabin and was standing high abreast in the companionway to watch. He was struck with a shot and fell to his death at the foot of the stairway. When he was found, the crew proclaimed that Mortimer Wilson, whom they thought to be Lafitte's nephew, would assume command.

Mortimer Wilson decided that he would also take on the given name of Lafitte, so when they sailed into Galveston to establish their new rendezvous, Mortimer Wilson came in as Jean Lafitte. As far along as the Civil War, the adventures of Jean Lafitte were, in reality, the adventures of New Yorker, Mortimer Wilson.

The biographical accountings of Jean Lafitte are told in a two volume set, "Galveston" by Charles Hayes that was published in 1964 by Jenkins Garrett Press in Austin. One of the leading authorities on Jean Lafitte is scholar Dale Olson, who holds dual citizenship in Galveston and California. He was invited to write the story of Jean Lafitte for a book that was published by the University of Texas Press. It is probably the most accurate accounting to date.

                                                Copyright 2005 - William S. Cherry

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