Pam Keyes

Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Auguste Davezac, the Creole Celebrity That History Forgot 6 years, 2 months ago

A noise began from the back of the massive crowd, light at first, then swelling gradually as it spread, as the next speaker was introduced to the throng of some 6,000 present. The name of Major Davezac was […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Eyewitness Pension Record Testimonies Place Jean Laffite at Battle of New Orleans 6 years, 10 months ago

Privateer-smuggler Jean Laffite’s active service at the Battle of New Orleans on Gen. Andrew Jackson’s line is firmly verified by eyewitness testimonies found in newly digitized pension records of the Nat […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, New Book Reveals Arsene Latour’s Adventures 6 years, 10 months ago

Engineer-mapmaker, War of 1812 historian, architect and erstwhile secret agent Arsene Lacarriere Latour comes vibrantly to life in the new English translation of “A Visionary Adventurer, Arsene Lacarriere L […]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, The British Visit to Laffite: A Study of Events 200 Years Later 6 years, 11 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The British Visit to Laffite: A Study of Events 200 Years Later When Commander Nicholas Lockyer sailed in HMS Sophie from Pensacola towards Jean Laffite’s Grande Terre encampment o […] View

I should be getting your translation of Garrigoux’ bio of Latour by Friday, and will immediately begin reading it. Most likely, I will post a book review here on Historia Obscura within a couple of weeks.
Pam Keyes commented on the post, The British Visit to Laffite: A Study of Events 200 Years Later 6 years, 11 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The British Visit to Laffite: A Study of Events 200 Years Later When Commander Nicholas Lockyer sailed in HMS Sophie from Pensacola towards Jean Laffite’s Grande Terre encampment o […] View

Thank you, Gordon, for the news of the newly published translation of the Garrigoux book, I shall have to get a copy, as I am not proficient enough in French to read the original edition.
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Pirates, Privateers and Ethics in the New Orleans Courtroom 7 years, 1 month ago

Ethics meant everything to attorney John Dick, an Irish emigrant to New Orleans. He felt compelled in May 1813 to ensure everyone else knew that, too, even if it meant possibly provoking a duel with his […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Bicentennial of Jean Laffite’s Takeover of Galveston Is April 8 7 years, 8 months ago

Privateer Jean Laffite, a hero of the Battle of New Orleans, took control of the Island of Galveston in a bloodless coup two hundred years ago this April 8, taking the small pirate base which had been used […]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, Commemoration of a Hero: Jean Laffite and the Battle of New Orleans 7 years, 8 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Commemoration of a Hero: Jean Laffite and the Battle of New Orleans Almost 200 years ago, privateer-smuggler Jean Laffite became a hero because he did something most people wouldn’t h […] View

I have invested too much time on this discussion today, considering I am working on a lengthy new article about the Philadelphia connection to early New Orleans. Everyone is entitled to their own viewpoint about what did or did not happen at the Battle of New Orleans, and it is true there are quite a bit of variances between historians. It would…[Read more]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans 7 years, 11 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans Life was good for the New Orleans business firm of Chew & Relf in the early 1800s: young partners Beverly Chew and […] View

The Chew portrait was posted online at Ancestry.com by a descendant. Chew was in New Orleans at least as early as 1798 (with William Clark, no less!) His mission to Bilbao is still shrouded in mystery, but appears at this point in my research to be connected with political intrigue. It was not a simple merchant mission. More information about…[Read more]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, New Book Reveals Explorer William Clark’s Dubious Past 8 years, 3 months ago

Spying, smuggling, and possibly abetting treasonous conspirators against the United States are not actions most historians would associate with explorer William Clark of Lewis and Clark 1803-1806 Expedition […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, One Vote Made Thomas Jefferson President 8 years, 7 months ago

Astonishingly, only one vote from a very young Tennessee state representative handed Thomas Jefferson the presidency of the United States in the 1800 Election.

The 25-year-old who cast that ballot was […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The True Tale of Mitchell, the Zombie Pirate 8 years, 9 months ago

When notorious Gulf Coast pirate William Mitchell came back from the dead in 1835, he looked like a zombie from Hell.

One-eyed, the man was covered with horrible scars, evidence of many deep and dangerous […]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans 8 years, 9 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans Life was good for the New Orleans business firm of Chew & Relf in the early 1800s: young partners Beverly Chew and […] View

Thank you for the compliment about the Chew article. I did not know that Crawford’s instructions for revenue officers had originated with Hamilton.

Re the Le Brave case, no, I have never seen anything that Chew has written concerning that particular ship and/or trial. It is frustrating that the details about the trial have been lost, even the…[Read more]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The Bizarre Case of the Wannabe Pirate 8 years, 10 months ago

Methodist missionary Daniel F. De Putron sought more adventure in his life, so in late spring of 1841 he bought a small schooner in New Orleans, got a sidekick of an affable Irishman with the nickname of […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Paddy Scott: The Irish Pirate Who Plagued Mobile 8 years, 10 months ago

Irish pirate Paddy Scott terrorized residents and visitors of the Mobile Bay area for some ten years over the 1820s and 1830s, earning himself national notoriety as that “vile pirate.” Oddly, no one now seem […]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans 8 years, 11 months ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans Life was good for the New Orleans business firm of Chew & Relf in the early 1800s: young partners Beverly Chew and […] View

Thank you for your interesting comment. The Beverly Chew listed in 1914 was likely the New Orleans Beverly Chew’s grandson, who was famous in his own right as a rare book collector. The Pilgrims Society sounds quite fascinating indeed, I wonder if they were a branch of the Masons or Scottish Rite. Re whether or not the banker/customs collector…[Read more]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, The Laffite Portrait Proves the Authenticity of the Laffite Journal 9 years ago

In reply to: Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The Laffite Portrait Proves the Authenticity of the Laffite Journal At least part of the Jean Laffite journal collection at Sam Houston Regional Library at Liberty, Texas can be […] View

Yes, it is compelling evidence for authentication of the Laffite journal. Even so, there always will be those who believe the journal is a forgery.
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, The Laffite Portrait Proves the Authenticity of the Laffite Journal 9 years ago

At least part of the Jean Laffite journal collection at Sam Houston Regional Library at Liberty, Texas can be proven authentic through association with a portrait of Laffite never a part of the archives of […]
Pam Keyes wrote a new post, Beverly Chew: the Man Behind the Curtain in Early New Orleans 9 years, 1 month ago

Life was good for the New Orleans business firm of Chew & Relf in the early 1800s: young partners Beverly Chew and Richard Relf controlled a virtual monopoly of the banking, shipping, trading, insurance, and […]
Pam Keyes commented on the post, The Letter That Tried to Scuttle the Baratarians’ Pardon 9 years, 2 months ago

Poindexter seems to have been quite jealous of Livingston’s close attachment to Jackson during the campaign against the British, particularly the fact that Livingston basically wrote every public speech Jackson […]
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