Appendix I, Document No. 3. It Is Impossible to Say Whether

the heading as given in my copy of this act was in the original or not.

An English writer once gave the name of Audubon's mother as Mlle. La Forêt.

Audubon's signature underwent frequent variations during the first twenty-five years of his life, but after 1820 he almost invariably signed himself "John J.," or "J. J. Audubon." In the record of the civil marriage of his sister, at Couëron in 1805, his name appears as "J. J. L. Audubon;" in the "Articles of Association" with Ferdinand Rozier, signed at Nantes in 1806, it is "Jean Audubon," and in the release given on the dissolution of this partnership, at Ste. Geneviève, in 1811, the English form, "John Audubon," appears.

This statement was made to me by Miss Maria R. Audubon in 1914.

For full text of the six wills drawn at different times by Jean Audubon and his wife see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 13-18.

See Chapter XVII.

This unique document reads as follows:

"To all to whom these presents may come: know ye that I, John Audubon, having special trust and confidence in my friend, G. Loyen Du Puigaudeau, of the Department of Loire and [sic] Inférieure, and Parish of Couëron, near Nantes, in the kingdom of France, [do constitute him] my true and lawful attorney, and the true and lawful attorney in fact of Jean Rabin, husband of Lucy Bakewell, of the County of Henderson and State of Kentucky, in the United States of America, for us [?], the said Jean Rabin, and in our name to our use and benefit, to ask, demand, sue for, recover, and receive all and every part of the Real and Personal Estate, that is to say Lands, Tenements, Grounds, Chattels, and credits, which I have, or either of us, in the Department of Loire and [sic] Inferieure in the kingdom of France, aforesaid, and to make sale of the same, either at auction, or by contract of the said Lands and Tenements, Goods, Chattells, and Credits, to receive the money arising from said sale, to give any Receipt, acquittance, or other discharge for the said money or any part thereof, if money or specie shall be received, or for any property he may receive in exchange or barter for said Real and personal Estate, and our said attorney, or the attorney of Jean Rabin aforesaid, is hereby authorized and empowered to make, give, execute, and deliver any Deed, Covenant, or transfer of said Real and Personal Estate to the purchaser of all or any part thereof for us, or for the said Jean Rabin, in as full and ample a manner as he, the said Jean, could do, was he personally present in said Department, in the Kingdom. In testimony whereof the said John Audubon has hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal the Twenty Sixth day of July, Anno Domini One thousand & Eight hundred and Seventeen. JOHN J. AUDUBON [Seal within]

On the back of the preceding is the notary's certificate that Jean Audubon appeared before him; seal affixed, and dated July 26, 1817.

Signed, "A[MBROZE] BARBAND, Notary of Henderson County, Kentucky."

See Chapter XVI.

Vol. i, p. v; see Bibliography, No. 2.

Published by Maria R. Audubon (Bibl. No. 78) in Scribner's Magazine, vol. xiii (1893).

Whether Jean Audubon had other sons born in Santo Domingo is not recorded, and this reference of the naturalist, which was repeated in his later sketch, cannot be verified.

See Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and His Journals, (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i, p. 7.

See Note, Vol. I, p. 38.

See J. W. Crozart, "Bibliographical and Genealogical Notes Concerning the Family of Philippe de Mandeville, Ecuyer Sieur de Marigny, 1709-1800," Louisiana Historical Society Publications, vol. v (New Orleans, 1911). The portrait referred to below now hangs in the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, New Orleans.

Gordon Bakewell (Bibl. No. 90), ibid., p. 31.

See Laws of the United States, Treaties, Regulations, and Other Documents Respecting the Public Lands, vol. i, p. 301 (Washington, 1836). In Number 756, entitled "An Act for the Relief of Bernard Marigny, of the State of Louisiana," Marigny is mentioned as assignee of Antonio Bonnabel, and his claim, which was confirmed, is described as follows: a tract of land of 4,020 superficial arpents, in the State of Louisiana, parish of St. Tammany, "bounded on the southwest by Lake Ponchartrain, and on the northwest by lands formerly owned by the heirs of Lewis Davis."

I am informed by Mr. Gaspar Cusachs, president of the Historical Society of Louisiana, who has carefully investigated the titles of this property and to whom I am indebted for much information concerning it and its owners, that the tract described above included the estate of "Fontainebleau." Marigny's claim included also a smaller tract of 774 arpents in the same parish. This land was bounded on the southwest by Lake Ponchartrain, on the north by Castin Bayou, and on the south by the tract acquired from Bonnabel; it was granted to the heirs of Lewis Davis in 1777, and certain of them filed a claim for it in 1812.

One period of this service bears date of May 31.

See Note, Vol. I, p. 27.

The mayor, Saget, at the moment he was crossing the Place Egalité (the Place Royale of today) received point-blank a ball in his right thigh and another in his left leg, and lost both limbs.

For the revolutionary history of Nantes I am chiefly indebted to M. A. Guépin's excellent Histoire de Nantes, 2d ed. (Nantes, 1839); Hipp. Etiennez, Guide du Voyageur à Nantes, et aux Environs (Nantes, 1861); A. Lescadien et Aug. Laurent, Histoire de la Ville de Nantes, t.2 (Nantes, 1836); F. J. Verger, Archives curieuses de la Ville de Nantes et des Départments de l'Ouest, t. 5 (Nantes, 1837-41); and to a scholarly monograph by Dugast-Matifeux, entitled Carrier à Nantes: Précis de la Conduite patriotique et révolutionnaire des citoyens de Nantes (Nantes, 1885).

The unpublished documents of this Department are preserved in the archives of the Préfecture at Nantes, and through the courtesy of their custodians I was enabled to examine them freely. These documents deal with all the revolutionary changes in church and state consequent upon the breaking down of the old régime, and with the enrollment of volunteers and the dispatch of armed forces to centers of disturbance throughout that district. The present manuscripts are said to represent but a fraction of those which originally existed, the archives having been subjected to repeated raids, thefts, and wanton destruction by fire and other means. The most important have been listed and published by the Government in summary form under the title, Les Archives du Département de la Loire Inférieure, 1790-1799, Série L. (Nantes, 1909).

During the Revolution Jean Audubon always added to his signature the cabalistic sign of three dots between parallel lines, which possibly stood for the three watchwords of the Republic—"Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité."

In the published orders and correspondence of the royalist General Boulart the following letter, given here in translation, is addressed to Citizen Audubon: "I give you notice, Citizen, that my aide-de-camp will arrive immediately from Niort. I beg you to do all in your power to come this evening to confer with me, since I have something to ask you of the utmost importance. I also inform you that there has arrived at Les Sables Citizen Anguis, the people's representative. Perhaps it would be more advantageous that you should see him this evening, and that tomorrow early we attempt to bring all three together. You could depart in the morning for Nantes." [Signed] "THE GENERAL BOULART." Jean Audubon filed this letter from the enemy with his Department, but his answer is not given. See Ch. L. Chassin, Etudes Documentaires sur La Révolution Française: La Vendée Patriote, 1793-1800, vol. ii, p. 306, t. 1-4 (Paris, 1894-1895).

Délibérations-Arrêtés de Directoire du Département. In MSS. pp. 107-108.

Jean was actually in command of this war vessel in March of that year, as shown by a document given in full in Chapter IV (p. 59).

These records are on file in the archives of the Department of Marine at Paris, but access to them will doubtless be denied until peace is restored in Europe.

M. L. Lavigne writes that he possesses a copy of a letter addressed by M. G. L. du Puigaudeau to a lawyer in Paris, in which it is stated that Lieutenant Audubon's losses amounted to 1,500,000 francs. After making due allowance for the psychological tendency to overestimate losses, especially when sustained in remote and romantic lands, the true amount was no doubt large.

Or "lieutenant of a frigate," and corresponding to "mate" in the merchant marine.

The certificate which Lieutenant Audubon received at the time of his discharge is preserved among the Lavigne manuscripts and documents at Couëron, and is headed:

ETAT des Services du Citoyen Jean Audubon natif des Sables d'Ollonne Département de La Vendée âgé de 58 ans.

It is signed by the Chief of Administration, Daniel, the Naval Commander-in-Chief of the District, Martin, and by the naval commissioner and clerk, February 26, 1801 (le sept Ventose, an 9 de la République).

Jean Audubon was 11 years, 6 months and 25 days in the service of the merchant marine of France (service au commerce), in the course of which he rose to the rank of captain of the first grade in 1774. He served in the French navy (service à l'état) 8 years, 2 months and 17 days, ranking successively as sailor, ensign-commander, and lieutenant-commander (lieutenant de vaisseau); 8 months and 22 days of this period (1768-1769) were in intervals of peace, and 7 years, 5 months and 25 days (1793-1801), in times of war. Any conflict which may seem to occur in titles must be attributed to this double service.

This property was evidently encumbered to a considerable extent, for he repeatedly filed with the Department letters for the removal of restrictions placed upon it (lettres pour obtenir la main levée). I cannot give the dates of these letters, but believe that they were drawn in 1801 or shortly after.

This house was rented at the time to Françoise Mocquard (see Note, Vol. I, p. 57), but it is probable that Lieutenant Audubon had reserved rooms which were occupied during his visits to the city while his permanent home was at Couëron. In the power of attorney issued by Jean Audubon, his wife, and Claude François Rozier, at Nantes, April 4, 1806, the senior Audubon gave his residence as "rue Rubens, No. 39."

Presumably a widow of one of the Coyrons (or Coironds), merchants at Nantes, whose business interests in Santo Domingo were entrusted to Jean Audubon's hands in 1783 (see Chapter III, p. 38).

The following extract from the registry of deaths at Nantes, which is here given in translation, indicates that Lieutenant Audubon passed away suddenly, since his death did not occur in his own apartments (for original see Appendix I, Document No. 19):

"In the year 1818, on the 19th day of February, at eleven o'clock in the morning, in the presence of the undersigned, deputies and officers of the civil service, delegates of Monsieur the Mayor of Nantes, have appeared the Messrs. Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, gentleman of leisure, son-in-law of the deceased, residing hereafter at Couëron, and Francis Guillet, grocer, living on the Quai de la Fosse, of legal age, who have certified in our presence that on this day, at six o'clock in the morning, Jean Audubon, retired ship-captain, pensioner of the State, born at Les Sables d'Olonne, department of La Vendée, husband of Anne Moinet, died in the house of Mlle. Berthier, in the Chaussée de le Madeleine, No. 24, 4th Canton.

"The witnesses have signed with us the present act, after it was read to them. The deceased was 74 years of age."

{ GABRIEL LOYEN DU PUIGAUDEAU, "Signed in the register:-{ GUILLET, and JOSEPH DE LA { TULLAYE, deputy

The Audubons and Du Puigaudeaus were probably buried in one of the large cemeteries at Nantes, since no trace of their graves has been found at Couëron by M. Lavigne.

Audubon said that he was at the time fourteen years old, which could not have been the case, but when writing in 1835 he placed this experience at shortly before his return to America, which would have been in the winter of 1805-6; "I underwent," to quote this later account, "a mockery of an examination, and was received as a midshipman in the navy, went to Rochefort, was placed on board a man-of-war, and ran a short cruise. On my return, my father had in some way obtained passports for Rozier and me, and we sailed for New York."

Audubon, writing in 1820, described himself at this time as "a young man of seventeen, sent to America to make money (for such was my father's wish), brought up in France in easy circumstances;" but in the same journal he said that he did not reach Philadelphia until three months after landing, and that "shortly after" his arrival at "Mill Grove" the Bakewell family moved to "Fatland Ford." Mr. G. W. Bakewell, the historian of his family, states that in the spring of 1804, William Bakewell, Audubon's future father-in-law, with his son, Thomas, traveled through Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland in search of a farm; they purchased "Fatland Ford," which was then the property of James Vaux. Audubon's account of the Pewee (Ornithological Biography, vol. ii, p. 124) shows that he was at "Mill Grove" before April 10, when "the ground was still partially covered with snow, and the air retained the piercing chill of winter." If these various statements are correct, they would indicate that Audubon left Nantes about the middle of November, 1803, and that he finally reached "Mill Grove" not far from the end of March, 1804. On the other hand, Mr. W. H. Wetherill, the present owner of "Mill Grove," informs me that his records indicate that the Bakewells occupied "Fatland Ford" in January, 1804. If this were the case, young Audubon could not have left France later than August, 1803. Too much weight, however, should not be attached to such references of a biographical character in Audubon's own writings; for in the account referred to above Audubon said that after his first visit to the United States he remained two years in France and returned to America "early in August;" while we know that his sojourn in France lasted but little more than a year and that he landed in New York on the 28th of May.

A plague of genuine yellow fever had visited New York in 1795, but in 1804 and 1805 the city suffered from a malignant fever of another type, and to such an extent that 27,000 persons, or one-third of the entire population, are said to have fled to escape the pestilence. This was possibly the malady which seized young Audubon not far from the beginning of the former year.

The rough draft of a letter in English, evidently written by Lieutenant Audubon to be delivered by his son to the ship's captain, and probably in duplicate to his agent, Miers Fisher, but bearing no name or date, (Lavigne MSS.)

See Note, Vol. I, p. 98.

The yearly rent of "Mill Grove" in 1804, according to the accounts of Francis Dacosta, who had then acquired a half interest in it, amounted to $353.34.

"Mill Grove" farm is in Montgomery County, twenty-four miles northwest of Philadelphia, in the town known, after 1823, as Shannonville, but in 1899 rechristened "Audubon;" Norristown is five miles to the east.

Mr. William H. Wetherill of Philadelphia, whose hospitality I have enjoyed and to whom I am indebted for many interesting facts and records pertaining to "Mill Grove." Samuel Wetherill, Mr. W. H. Wetherill's grandfather, was one of the first to bring "black rock," or coal, from Reading to Philadelphia. Samuel Wetherill, Junior, who is said to have started the first woolen mill in the country and to have produced the first white lead made in the United States, purchased "Mill Grove" for the sake of its minerals in 1813, the war having put a stop to all importations from England at that time. He actually succeeded in extracting several hundred tons of lead from the "Mill Grove" mines, doing better, it is thought, than any who preceded or followed him. Samuel Wetherill, Junior, died in 1829, and was succeeded in the lead and drugs industry by his four sons, of whom Samuel Price Wetherill became the owner of "Mill Grove" in 1833. The farm remained in the hands of the Wetherill family until 1876, and returned to them again, when the present owner came into possession, in 1892.

In 1761 James Morgan, the first miller and builder, conveyed one-half of the mill site of five acres to Roland Evans, who came into possession of the other half, with the adjoining farm, in 1771; the property was sold to Governor John Penn in 1776; it passed to Samuel C. Morris in 1784, and to the Prevosts in 1786.

The lease, which was drawn up in English, April 10, 1789, reads in part as follows: "This indenture, made on the tenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord, One thousand Seven hundred & Eighty nine, Between John Audubon, of the Island of St. Domingo, Gentleman, now being in the City of Philadelphia, of the one party, and Augustine Prevost...." The lease included the messuages, grist mills, saw mills, plantation and tract of land, which is described, tools, implements, stock, and furniture of the mills and farm, and was drawn for one year; it was signed in the presence of Miers Fisher, agent and attorney for Jean Audubon.

In the inventory were included one windmill, one pair of scales, with weights of 56, 28 and 7 pounds, "skreen," four bolting cloths, two hoisting tubs, and one large screw and circle for raising the millstones. This lease was renewed in October, 1790, when Jean Audubon, who was then living at Nantes, agreed to keep the house in good repair from that time onward. It was the Prevost mortgage that Miers Fisher paid but forgot to cancel (see Vol. I, p. 122); it was finally cleared up by Dacosta in October, 1806.

Miers Fisher's Philadelphia residence, called "Ury," which Audubon often visited, was near Fox Chase, now in the Twenty-third Ward. See Witmer Stone, Cassinia, No. xvii (Philadelphia, 1913).

For a photograph of this portrait of Lieutenant Audubon here reproduced, I am indebted to Miss Maria R. Audubon; the originals of both portraits are now in possession of Audubon's granddaughter, Mrs. Morris F. Tyler.

See Note, Vol. I, p. 99.

For this and the preceding quotation, see Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and his Journals (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i, pp. 18 and 27.

In Dacosta's final statement of his account, which was disputed, carried into court, and eventually settled by arbitration at Philadelphia, on August 1, 1807, these items occur: "Omitted, $300.00, paid by Francis Dacosta to Miers Fisher, on May 24, 1803;" and "Ditto $176.67, the proportion of Francis Dacosta in the rent of the first year, which has not been paid to him." (See Appendix I, Document 11a; MSS. in possession of Mr. Welton A. Rosier.)

It seems probable that Dacosta was sent to this country by Lieutenant Audubon to act as his agent for the disposition of "Mill Grove," and to succeed Miers Fisher in the conduct of his business affairs. Interest in the neglected and forgotten mine may have diverted them from their original plans.

The following notice, copied from Relf's Gazette, appeared in the New York Herald for Saturday, November 17, 1804:

"The lead mine discovered on Perkiomen creek, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, the property of Francis Dacosta, has been lately opened, and attended with great success. The vein proves to be a regular one, and of long continuance. Its course is N.N.E.; its direction is nearly perpendicular, and its thickness from one foot to 15 inches. Two tons of that beautiful ore were raised in a few hours, and one ton more at least was left in the bottom on the pit, which is yet but nine feet deep. From the situation of this mine, its nearness to navigation and market, its very commanding height, its richness in metal, and the large scale it forms on; it is thought by judges to be one of the first discoveries yet made in the U. S.

"From the analysis made of 100 parts, it contains:

Oxyd of lead 85 Oxyd of iron 1 Sulphuric acid 13 Water 1 —— 100

"The lead being coupelled, has proved to contain 2½ oz. fine silver to 100, which is nearly 3 dollars worth of that metal."

For the sum of 31,000 francs, or $6,200, a slight advance on the cost to Jean Audubon, when he had taken over the farm fifteen years before (see Vol. I, p. 105).

The following item appears in Dacosta's final account: "To compensation claimed by Francis Dacosta for making up half of his expenses, in managing the mining works, the mill-repairs, and taking up the formation of a company during two years of constant cares, troubles, and loss of time, at 300 dollars a year—$600.00." (From statement of disputed claim; see Note, Vol. I, p. 168.)

For copies of a part of the Audubon-Dacosta correspondence, which is perhaps half of what exists but all that it was possible to obtain, I am indebted to Monsieur Lavigne. The first letter, the present copy of which is incomplete, was evidently written in the winter of 1804-5. Lieutenant Audubon, who at this time was sixty-one years old, was living at Couëron, but came to Nantes to conduct his correspondence. All the letters were carefully transcribed in a separate copybook, and are here translated as literally as possible from the French.

That is, after having become a part owner of the "Mill Grove" property.

That is, at Couëron.

This name appears as "Rost" in all the letters.

Member of the firm of Audubon, Lacroix, Formon & Jacques, engaged in the Santo Domingo trade (see Chapter II, p. 33). In these letters the name usually appears as "Formont."

Vessels in which Jean Audubon was personally interested, and upon which he endeavored in vain to collect the money and interest due him (see Vol. I, p. 34). In a document in English, dated [Les Cayes] April 9, 1782, concerning the Annette, of which Jean Audubon was captain and part owner, and signed by him and David Ross & Company, it is stated this vessel was bound for Nantes with a cargo of tobacco, in the purchase and sale of which Captain Audubon was under orders of Mr. Ezekiel Edwards of Nantes.

This was probably the mortgage which Jean Audubon gave to Prevost when "Mill Grove" was purchased in 1789, for in Dacosta's final account for 1806-1807 this item occurs under October 15, 1806: "To the recorder in Norristown for entering satisfaction of John Audubon mortgage to John Augustin Prevost ... $2.83."

The principal house at "Mill Grove," which Dacosta was preparing to occupy.

Owing to the delay in receiving his legal papers from France, Dacosta had threatened to carry his case to the courts, and had stopped work at the mine.

In the light of the preceding letters, Dacosta would appear in these respects to have been only attempting to carry out his instructions.

Probably Sarah White Palmer, Benjamin Bakewell's sister-in-law, and widow of the Rev. John Palmer, who at one time was associated with Joseph Priestley in editing the Theological Repository, an organ of the Unitarians. Her son-in-law, Thomas W. Pears, was later a partner in Audubon's business ventures at Henderson, Kentucky. Her grave is in the Bakewell burying plot at "Fatland Ford."

See Appendix I, Document No. 7.

Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and his Journals (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i, p. 39.

Dr. d'Orbigny had three sons, all of whom were born in Couëron: Alcide Charles Victor in 1802, Gaston Edouard in 1805, and Charles in 1806; the youngest and eldest became distinguished naturalists. So far as known, Audubon was godfather only to the second, Gaston Edouard, who according to the records of the Catholic church at Couëron, "was born on the 3d day of the present [month], the issue of the legitimate marriage of Mr. Charles Marie d'Orbigny, doctor of medicine, and of Anna Pepart," was christened on August 20, 1805, in the presence of the godfather, John James Audubon, the godmother, Rosa Audubon, the father and mother, together with the "undersigned" (Extracted by Monsieur Lavigne). D'Orbigny appears as a witness to the powers of attorney which Jean Audubon and his wife issued jointly to their son and to Ferdinand Rozier at Couëron in 1805 (see Appendix I, Document No. 8) and on November 20, 1806 (see Vol. I, p. 153).

For copies of this and the following letters, which are here translated from the French, I am indebted to Monsieur Lavigne.

A daughter of Catharine Bouffard, regarding whom see Vol. I, p. 56.

See Appendix I, Document No. 8.

The civil ceremony of Rosa Audubon's marriage was performed at the mayor's office in Couëron, on December 16, 1805 (le 26 frimaire, an 14), when the bride was in her eighteenth year; the contract had been drawn on the 12th day of that month (le 22 frimaire, an 14) by notary Martin Daviais, who was mayor of Couëron in the following year, and the religious ceremony was conducted by the Bishop of Nantes. "The following have assisted," so reads in translation the Couëron record, "at the marriage, aforesaid, on the side of the groom, M. André Loyen du Puigaudeau, his brother, and M. Honoré François Guiraud, his brother-in-law; by the side of the bride, her father, and M. Jean Audubon, her brother, [and these have] undersigned, together with the bridegroom." Audubon's signature reads "J. L. J. Audubon."

For the full text of these two documents, which are so interesting for our story, see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 9 and 10; and for translations, Documents Nos. 9a and 10a. For the privilege of examining and reproducing the first of these papers I am indebted to Mr. Charles A. Rozier, of St. Louis, and for the second, as well as the power of attorney of 1805 (see Document No. 8), referred to earlier, to Mr. Tom J. Rozier, of Sainte Geneviève, Missouri. In the case of this second warrant it will be noticed that the grantors signed only the minute which was filed with the notaries, who, with the judge of the Court of the First Instance, affixed their names to the document itself. No better illustration could be given of the dignity which the French attach to the office of notary, to the honored incumbents of which their private affairs are unreservedly entrusted, than this elaborate judicial document.

In the register of the Central Committee of Nantes it is noted, under date of October 4, 1793, that "owing to the friendly relations then existing between France and the citizens of the United States, and to the good feeling evinced by them in sending to us for food, four American ships are accordingly permitted to leave the port of Nantes, with cargoes of wine, sugar, and coffee, and also to take enough biscuit for the voyage."

The receipt which the captain handed the young men, and which the methodical Rozier preserved, remains as a souvenir of this voyage (in the Tom J. Rozier MSS); it reads as follows:

Recvd. from Mr. John Audubon & ferdinand Rozier the sum of five Hundred and twenty five Livers being in full for their passage from Nantes to New York in the Ship Polly........................... S. Sammis

The total population of Couëron, as given in the official directory for 1913, was 2,035, but the total working population is probably three times as great.

There is also the grand calvaire, which stands on an eminence in the village. This was erected in 1825 on the foundations of the chateau of the dukes of Brittany, the last of whom, Francis II, died at Couëron in 1488. His tomb is in the nave of the cathedral at Nantes; the grand calvaire was restored by two Couëron families in 1873, and is a very elaborate structure.

Mr. William Beer, who paid a visit to "La Gerbetière" with Dr. Louis Bureau in 1910, writes me that the woodwork was poor in quality, and that all the rooms had been altered in size and appearance.

But not related to M. L. Lavigne, to whom I am indebted for extracts from the deed, a translation of which is given below, as well as for many other references.

That is, the landlord to receive one-half the produce.

A "journal" of land being as much as a man could cultivate in a day's labor.

See Chapter XVII.

For the privilege of examining Ferdinand Rozier's copy of their "Articles of Association" I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Charles A. Rozier, of Saint Louis. This is written on three sides of hand-made, hand-ruled Government linen, small letter size, with printed revenue stamp (50 centimes) of the French Republic at top, and stamped with the seal of the Department of Registration and Stamps ("ADM. DES DOM. DE L'ENREG. ET DU TIMBRE REP. FRA.—Administration des domaines de l'enregistrement et du timbre, République Française"). The signature of "Jean Audubon" bears a close resemblance to that of the father, Lieutenant Jean Audubon, who was undoubtedly the author of the document. For the "Articles" in full, in French and English, see Appendix I, Documents Nos. 9 and 9a.

Among the elder Rozier's papers was part of an old letterbook belonging to his son; it is written in French, and labeled "Correspondence of Ferdinand Rozier." On one of the four sheets preserved this item occurs: "4 July, 1806, Philadelphia; record of an agreement with Mr. Dacosta proprietor of one half of the Mill Grove farm,—at least of the value of sale." The first entry is dated "19 février—1806, New York," which, if correct, would imply that Rozier spent two years instead of one in the United States when he visited this country in 1804 (or came a second time), and that he returned, with young Audubon, almost immediately after reaching France (see Vol. I, p. 245); the last record is "August, 1807, New York." (MS. in possession of Dr. Louis Bureau, Nantes.)

According to the records of Montgomery County, as collated for Mr. W. H. Wetherill, the remaining half interest in "Mill Grove" was sold by J. J. Audubon (and Ferdinand Rozier) to Francis Dacosta & Company, for a consideration of $9,640.33. The business was conducted mainly by Rozier, acting under the advice of their friend, Miers Fisher.

Translated from the French of Ferdinand's copy, in possession of Mr. Welton A. Rozier, to whom I am indebted for the privilege of reproducing it.

"Gourdes," that is, piasters or Spanish dollars.

Claude François Rozier, at this time an aged man, died at Nantes on September 7, 1807; he had two sons and six daughters, of whom Ferdinand was the second son and the fifth child; his wife, Renée Angelique Colas, died at Nantes, February 9, 1824.

This was issued, so the letter reads, to "their son, John Audubon, and Ferdinand Rozier, both of the said city of Philadelphia, Gentlemen," by "John Audubon, late of the city of Philadelphia, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, now residing in the commune of Couëron, near the city of Nantes in France, Gentleman, and Anne Moynette, his wife," to apply to all lands and other property belonging to them in the United States, with the power to "raise or borrow money on the whole or any part or parts of the said lands, tenements, or hereditaments, to secure the repayment of said monies by bond, warrant of attorney, to contest judgment of the mortgage of the said lands, tenements, or hereditaments, or any part or parts thereof...." Written in French and English; signed by Jean Audubon, Anne Moynet, his wife, by Doctors Chapelain and C. d'Orbigny as witnesses, by the mayor of Couëron, the prefect of the arrondissement and the prefect of the department; countersigned on December 4, 1806, by W. D. Patterson, of the "Commercial Agency of the United States at Nantes." For the favor of examining this paper, I am indebted to the kindness of Miss Maria R. Audubon.

For the privilege of examining these letters I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. Louis Bureau, Director of the Museum of Natural History and Professor in the School of Medicine at Nantes, maternal great-grandson of François, and grandnephew of Ferdinand Rozier. The letters were found in an old trunk that once belonged to his grandfather, François Denis Rozier. Five were written in French (Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7), and addressed from New York to François Rozier at Nantes; one (No. 3) in English and another (No. 5) in French were sent in care of Rozier, to his father, John Audubon, Esq., Nantes, with the direction to be delivered as soon as possible; all are on unruled foolscap, wafer-sealed, and each also bears an outside seal in wax, stamped with Bakewell's initial (B). It is not possible to say whether Lieutenant Audubon ever received these letters of his son; if received, it is not very obvious why they should have been left in the old merchant's hands, unless his ill health at the time, and subsequent death were the cause (see Note, Vol. I, p. 152). I am further indebted to Mr. William Beer, for the perusal of his copies, which have been followed to a large extent.

Since all of these early letters throw an interesting light upon the times as well as upon Audubon's personal history, we shall give them in full, rendering the French into English as literally as practicable.

This Philadelphia merchant was evidently in France and intending to visit Nantes at this time.

"Of the St. Domingo packet."

"Mr. L. Huron did, a few days ago, receive some wines on a/c of M. Rozier, and hopes they prove good," etc.

Miers Fisher, for many years Jean Audubon's trusted agent and attorney in America. See Vol. I, p. 100.

Gabriel Loyen du Puigaudeau, his brother-in-law.

That is a miniature or an old portrait of his father in the uniform of a lieutenant-commander, which with its companion, representing Mme. Jean Audubon, his stepmother, then hung in the house of "La Gerbetière" at Couëron. The original portraits, which are reproduced facing page 78, measure 23½ by 18½ inches, and were painted probably between 1801 and 1806; they were inventoried in documents bearing date of November 14, 15 and 17, 1821, shortly after Mme. Jean Audubon's death. They were restored in Paris about ten years ago for Monsieur Lavigne, to whom I am indebted for the photographs and this information.

Audubon's intimate friend, see Vol. I, p. 128.

"Serinettes," the old time music boxes, or bird-organs, of Swiss origin, that were very popular in America down to the time of the Civil War, or even later. They were manufactured at St. Croix as late as 1880; instruments of similar type, with dancing figures, have been adapted to the penny-in-the-slot machines common in Switzerland to-day.

Marchand, or retail merchant.

Initials of the head of his firm, Benjamin Bakewell.

The reference was to Mme. Stephanie-Felicité de Genlis (1746-1830), teacher of the children of the Duke of Orleans, Philippe-Egalité, and authoress of many works on education, once popular, but now known only to the antiquary and the ragman.

Meaning possibly his prospective brother-in-law, Thomas W. Bakewell, a fellow clerk in the office.

One Louis was equal to twenty francs, or four dollars.

Maria R. Audubon, Audubon and his Journals (Bibl. No. 86), vol. i, p. 32.

Especially his account current, from June 1, 1806, to July 25, 1807, with the "Mill Grove" farm, and "John Audubon of Nantz," drawn up and signed at Philadelphia on the latter date. Dacosta then claimed a balance due him of $950.64 above the returns from farm and mine, of which he was entitled to one-half; this sum included his salary and numerous minor expenditures. When his account was contested and taken out of court for settlement, it was cut by the arbitrators to $530. See Appendix I, Document 11a.

The following is a "copy of the Award given by John Laval & Laurence Huron appointed referees by Francis Dacosta and John Audubon the elder by a rule of reference in the Common Pleas of this county to have their differences in accounts settled:"

"We the within named referees, having heard the parties and examined their respective accounts & vouchers, do award that there is due by the defendant, John Audubon the elder, to the plaintiff, Francis Dacosta, the sum of five hundred and thirty dollars, which we find to be the full balance of all current accounts between them, and we award that the said ballance be paid by the said John Audubon the elder to the said Francis Dacosta by defalking the same from the account of the condition of the Bond of Eight Hundred Dollars—mentioned in the within rule of reference conformably to the agreement endorsed on the said Bond."

"Witness our hands Philadelphia 1st August, 1807."

"Signed—JOHN LAVAL."

"LAURENCE HURON."

(Copy of original MS., in possession of Mr. Welton H. Rozier.)

In 1811 "Mill Grove" was conveyed by Francis Dacosta & Company, to Frederick Beates, who in 1813 sold it to Samuel Wetherill, Jr., for $7,000, the property having shrunk to less than one-half the value placed upon it in 1806. For the enterprises of the Wetherills, see Note, Vol. I, p. 102.

Since we have been obliged to enter rather minutely into the history of "Mill Grove," in order to trace the relations of the Audubons to it in an important period of the naturalist's career, the reader may be interested in the anticlimax which its famous mines reached at a later day. The Ecton Consolidated Mining Company had been in operation at "Mill Grove" for a considerable period, when, in 1848, the Perkioming Association was formed and ten thousand dollars was at once invested in machinery. In 1851 these two companies were combined under the name of the Perkioming Consolidated Mining Company, which issued 50,000 shares of stock, at six dollars each, thus representing a capital of $300,000. A mining settlement quickly sprang up on Audubon's old farm, where numerous buildings of stone, a general store, and miners' houses were to be seen. In the first annual statement issued by this company, the buildings were said to represent an outlay of $15,000, while $140,000 had been expended on machinery, both above and below ground. A Cornish expert, who was summoned from England, was paid $1,414 for a verbose report, the substance of which, it was said, was expressed in conveying the information, already known, that the "mineral mined is copper ore" (copper pyrite occurring in association with lead). This company closed its business in 1851, by assessing its stockholders one dollar a share, thus bringing the total loss in this final effort to $350,000, nearly one-third of which had been drawn from Philadelphia. After one, or two, further unsuccessful attempts had been made, all the substantial buildings of the mining works became a quarry, from which stone was sold by the perch, the ruins of the old engine house alone remaining to this day as a witness of the follies of the generations that are gone. (This account is based upon reports which have appeared in the press of Philadelphia or in other Pennsylvania newspapers.)

Samuel Latham Mitchell (1764-1831), physician, naturalist, politician and voluminous writer on many subjects. In 1797 he founded, in association with Dr. Edward Miller and Dr. Elihu H. Smith, the New York Medical Repository, and was its chief editor. He began also, at the University of New York, one of the earliest collections in natural history, and in 1817 appealed to the Historical Society of his city for the foundation of a Zoölogical Museum; in the same year he organized the Lyceum of Natural History, and was its first president, Joseph Le Conte serving as corresponding secretary, and John Torrey as one of its curators. On April 9, the following subjects were assigned to different members for investigation, "Ichthyology or fishes, Plaxology or crustaceous animals, Apalology or mollusca, and Geology or the earth" being reserved for the president; Samuel Constantine Rafinesque (see Chapter XIX) took charge of "Helmintology or worms, Polypoligy or polyps, Atmology or Meteorology, Hydrology or waters, and Taxodomy or classification;" John Torrey, who became a distinguished botanist, was more modest, and assumed charge only of "Entomology or insects;" while to John Le Conte were given "Mastodology or mammalia, Erpetology or reptiles, and Glossology or nomenclature." See the American Monthly Magazine and Critical Review (New York) for August, 1817, p. 272.

See Vol. I, p. 185.

Cuvier stated in his report on Audubon's Birds, delivered at the Academy of Sciences, Paris, September 22, 1828, that the author had been twenty-five years before a pupil in the school of David. This would place the date in 1803, but earlier than the autumn of that year, when Audubon started for America. See Note, Vol. I, p. 99.

Ornithological Biography (Bibl. No. 2), vol. i, p. viii.

F. T. Verger, Archives curieuses de la ville de Nantes et des départements de l'ouest (Nantes, 1837-41); for further references to David in this chapter I am mainly indebted to Georges Cain, Le Long des Rues (Paris, 1812), and Charles Saunier, Louis David (Paris, no date).

The implication as to time, which is repeated above, contradicts an earlier statement, which is probably more nearly correct, for when Audubon returned to America in 1806 he was twenty-one.

See R. W. Shufeldt, in The Auk and the Audubonian Magazine (Bibliography, Nos. 184 and 190).

Referring to the fire of 1835, in New York.

See Chapter XXI.

When it passed into the equally worthy hands of Mr. Joseph Y. Jeanes, of Philadelphia. Mr. Jeanes purchased from the estate of Mr. Edward Harris, 2d, directly or indirectly, and at different times, about 110 of these early originals; others were dispersed, four of early date being in the Museum of Harvard University. Mr. Jeanes also possesses a large section of the Audubon-Harris correspondence, which extended over nearly a quarter of a century, and of which little has been published; to his kindness I am indebted for the privilege of reproducing some of the drawings, as well as numerous extracts from the letters, in the present work.

Audubon said that some of the originals of The Birds of America were "made as long ago as 1805," which may well have been the case, but the earliest date which has been preserved on the drawings is that of July 1, 1808, for "Rathbone's Warbler," later recognized as an immature form of the Summer Warbler. The Carbonated Warbler was drawn May 7, 1811. Seven bear the date of 1812, namely: Yellow-rumped Warbler, April 22; Le petit Caporal, April 23; Wood Pewee, April 28; Blackburnian and Bay-breasted Warblers, May 12; Chestnut-sided Warbler, May 17; and Cuvier's Wren, June 8.

For a list of Audubon's early dated drawings see