Jean Laffite revealed : unraveling one of America's longest running mysteries

by Ashley Oliphant

313 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Denis · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading William C. Davis's authoritative The Pirates Laffite, this book popped up on my radar. It is published by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) Press, so I figured that there was some "vetting" of its content. Well, apparently not enough. The mother-daughter duo authors tout themselves as "Jean Laffite scholars," but they seem to lack the critical and analytical skills of true historians, even amateur ones.

The narrative is quite well-written, if a little too conversational and brassy. But its conclusions are obviously predetermined and totally "out there." The authors start with the idea that a "Frenchman" named Lorenzo Ferrer/Lorendzo Ferrier (and other variants) was in fact Jean Laffite, who faked his death in a naval battle off in the Gulf of Honduras off Central America, and settled in North Carolina. Lots of speculation, supposition, useless references thrown in as "padding," and wishful thinking! The authors obviously began with the supposed rumors of Ferrer being Laffite and then tried to find (or fabricate) "evidence" that supported their premise, including wild theories about Laffite being a documented Freemason (Where's the proof?) to connect him with Ferrer, who joined a lodge in North Carolina. Hey, Lorenzo Ferrer spoke French and was "mysterious" to those old Tarheel stumpjumpers who settled Lincolnton. Maybe he was really Jean Laffite! Other "connections" and "clues" are vague, broad, and "forced." They even offer their own forensic psychological profiles of Laffite and Lorenzo Ferrer. (Of course, they match!) They claim that Lorenzo Ferrer was independently wealthy, but make no mention of a 1915 newspaper article stating that earlier research depicted Lorenzo Ferrer as a "ne'er do well squatter" who lived in shacks built on others' land and didn't own most of the property described in his will. The book has footnotes and appendices, but no index. Go figure.

My reading of this book convinces me that it is a thinly-disguised tourism promotion "puff piece" for Lincolnton, North Carolina. The authors congratulate themselves on their "exhaustive" research, but 80% of the book consists of boring historical tangents of peripheral characters in their "drama" that prove absolutely nothing regarding Jean Laffite. And their credulous claims regarding the Freemasons (I am a Freemason myself) are right out of the fiction of "National Treasure." The authors conclude that the purported Journal of Jean Laffite is a forgery -- hardly a revelation, since most competent historians demonstrated that long ago. (It is likewise hardly surprising that they disagree with the Journal claim that Laffite died in Missouri under the name "John Lafflin"; otherwise there would be no point to their book and they could have saved themselves a lot of work.)

They claim a letter written by Arsene LaCarriere Latour, a Frenchman who certainly knew Laffite, is "pivotal" in proving he was alive after his reported death in a naval battle off the coast of Central America. The letter mentions someone named "Maison Rouge," so they immediately connect that name to Jean Laffite's legendary house in Galveston called the "Maison Rouge." Obviously, according to the "Two Blondes," "Maison Rouge" is a code word for Jean Laffite! The problem with that hypothesis is that there was in fact a French nobleman named Joseph de Maison Rouge who fled France during the French Revolution and came to New Orleans. He left two illegitimate sons bearing his family name who were alive when Latour wrote the letter. The simple and most logical solution is that Latour was referring to one of the brothers, who wanted help recovering some of their ancestral property in France. All of this is documented in historical archives but the authors simply hide those inconvenient facts in a footnote and say, in effect, "Our theory is better!" And an old sword they find in a Lincolnton, NC, Freemasons' lodge with a crude scratched inscription that seems to read "Jn Laffite?" Oh, it can't POSSIBLY be faked!

I live in Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish on Bayou Lafourche, where most of my ancestors lived and died after 1785 (and even before). Bayou Lafourche was frequently traveled by the Laffites and their Baratarians. (It is even proposed by the "Two Blondes" as the route he used to secretly re-enter the United States after faking his death.) The authors invite their readers to draw their own conclusions about the validity of various claims they make. I have, and this book simply doesn't prove what they claim it does. And I don't appreciate the authors' contrived attempt to appropriate the Louisiana legacy of the Laffites to their "neck of the woods."

[Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book while I was in New Orleans. I don't actually know much about Laffite (or Lafitte), and it might have been better to start with a book about his life. Still, I learned a lot; the authors are clearly passionate about the topic and have put a ton of research into their theory. The writing could be a little more polished (it's pretty conversational at times), and my biggest challenge to the theory is that the interpretations of much of the evidence feel like one possible explanation out of many other different possibilities. Some of these historical things seem impossible to know. Because of the abundance of evidence, I do find the theory convincing, just not conclusive. I will note that tour guides in New Orleans talk about a fight and disposing of a corpse in Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop fireplace (it's a bar). Interesting that the same rumor popped up in this book in an entirely different setting.

[Robert Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores the possibility that Jean Laffite faked his death and lived in anonymity in North Carolina. The authors make a compelling case and are themselves convinced that this did indeed occur. Very well researched, and pleasantly presented.