Pierre Derbigny
Pierre Derbigny was a French born judge and politician who served as the sixth governor of Louisiana. He was an advocate of integrating Louisiana into the United States and played a central role in the establishment of Louisiana's legal system.
Early life
Pierre Augustin Bourguignon Derbigny was born in Laon, France, on June 30, 1769, the eldest son of Louise Angélique Blondela and Augustin Bourguignon d'Herbigny. His father was President of the Directoire de l'Aisne and Mayor of Laon.Derbigny studied law at Ste. Genevieve but fled France in 1791 during the French Revolution. He first went to Saint-Domingue, and then arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and finally settled in New Orleans, then part of the Spanish Colony. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he became private secretary to Etienne Bore, first mayor of New Orleans, and was appointed Secretary of the Legislative Council. In the same year Governor Claiborne appointed him official interpreter of languages for the territory.
Career
Derbigny was one of the representatives who travelled to Washington D.C. seeking self-government for the Orleans Territory. The U.S. Congress approved and in 1805 a territorial legislature was established in Louisiana which included an elected lower house. While in Washington, he also protested against the 1804 closing of the slave trade.As the territory was integrated into the United States, Derbigny opposed British common law in Louisiana and defended the retention of civil law practices established during the French and Spanish colonial periods. Following the Governance Act of 1804 that set up Louisiana's territorial government, Derbigny, along with Jean Noel Destréhan and Pierre Sauve, delivered to Washington, D.C., the protest created by citizens speaking out against this Congressional Act. This complaint was entitled, "Remonstrance of the People of Louisiana against the Political System Adopted by Congress for Them," and was ultimately presented to President Thomas Jefferson by the three men from Louisiana.
Pierre Derbigny also led a movement to establish the College of Orleans and served as Regent. In 1812, he was selected as Secretary of the Territorial Senate. He also served in Captain Chauveneau's Company of cavalry in the Louisiana Militia.
He resigned from the Legislature to become a justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. His nomination was first rejected by the Senate, but was afterwards returned and confirmed at the Senate's request. He served as a Justice from 1814 to 1820.
In 1820, Derbigny resigned from the Supreme Court of Louisiana to run unsuccessfully for Governor against J. N. Destréhan, Abner L. Duncan, and Thomas B. Robertson. Despite his loss to Robertson, Derbigny was appointed Secretary of State of Louisiana and served from 1821 to 1828. He was one of the principal drafters of the 1825 Civil Code of Louisiana, along with Edward Livingston, François Xavier Martin, and Louis Moreau-Lislet.
In 1828, he ran for Governor again and this time defeated his former supporter Bernard de Marigny, Thomas Butler, and Congressman Philemon Thomas. The Louisiana State Legislature confirmed his election over the other three candidates. Derbigny was affiliated with the nascent National Republican Party, an anti-Jackson group.
In Derbigny's inauguration speech, he urged internal improvements, which the legislature supported, including: incorporation of a gas light company for New Orleans, several navigation companies for the Mississippi River and important bayous in the state, and the construction and repair of levees. On October 3, 1829, after ten months in office, Governor Derbigny was thrown from a carriage and died three days later, in Gretna, Louisiana. Pierre Derbigny was interred in Saint Louis Cemetery Number 1 in New Orleans.