Pierre Derbigny

{{Short description|American judge}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Pierre Derbigny.jpg | order1 = 6th | office1 = Governor of Louisiana | term_start1 = December 15, 1828 | term_end1 = October 6, 1829 | predecessor1 = [[Henry Johnson (Louisiana)|Henry S. Johnson]] | successor1 = [[Armand Beauvais]] | office2 = [[Secretary of State of Louisiana]] | term_start2 = 1820 | term_end2 = 1828 | governor2 = [[Thomas B. Robertson]] [[Henry S. Thibodaux]] [[Henry Johnson (Louisiana politician)|Henry Johnson]] | preceded2 = [[Etienne Mazureau]] | succeeded2 = [[George A. Waggaman]] | birth_date = June 30, 1769 | birth_place = [[Laon]], [[Kingdom of France|France]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1829|10|6|1769|6|30|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Gretna, Louisiana]], U.S. | party = [[National Republican Party (United States)|National Republican]] [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] | spouse = Felicité Odile de Lassus | office3 = Justice of the [[Louisiana Supreme Court]] | term_start3 = 1813 | term_end3 = 1820 | children = 7 }}

'''Pierre Derbigny''' (June 30, 1769 – October 6, 1829) 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Pierre Auguste Charles Bourguignon Derbigny |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/pierre-auguste-charles-bourguignon-derbigny |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=64 Parishes |language=en}}</ref>

Derbigny studied law at [[Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève|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 [[Louisiana (New Spain)|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 [[William C. C. Claiborne|Claiborne]] appointed him official interpreter of languages for the territory.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Wymond">''Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana'' (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., ''The Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1922), p. 115.</ref>

== Career == Derbigny was one of the representatives who travelled to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington D.C.]] seeking self-government for the [[Territory of Orleans|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.<ref name=":0" />

As the territory was integrated into the United States, Derbigny opposed British [[common law]] in Louisiana and defended the retention of [[Civil law (legal system)|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kastor|first=Peter J.|title=The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America|url=https://archive.org/details/nationscruciblel00kast_799|url-access=registration|date=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven and London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nationscruciblel00kast_799/page/n71 57]–59|isbn=9780300101195 }}</ref>

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 (United States)|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.<ref name="Wymond"/> He served as a Justice from 1814 to 1820.

In [[1820 Louisiana gubernatorial election|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]], [[Francois Xavier Martin|François Xavier Martin]], and [[Louis Moreau-Lislet]].

In [[1828 Louisiana gubernatorial election|1828]], he ran for Governor again and this time defeated his former supporter [[Bernard de Marigny]], [[Thomas Butler (Louisiana politician)|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 (United States)|National Republican]] Party, an anti-[[Jacksonian democracy|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 [[levee]]s. On October 3, 1829, after ten months in office, Governor Derbigny was thrown from a (horse-drawn) carriage and died three days later, in [[Gretna, Louisiana]]. Pierre Derbigny was interred in [[Saint Louis Cemetery]] Number 1 in New Orleans.

== Personal life == Derbigny married Felicité Odile de Hault de Lassus with whom he had five daughters and two sons. The Derbigny family lived on the Derbigny Plantation in Gretna. His son [[Charles Derbigny|Charles Zenon Derbigny]] was the 14th [[List of speakers of the Louisiana House of Representatives|Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives]] and a candidate for governor in the [[1855 Louisiana gubernatorial election]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Derbigny Plantation Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=80975}}</ref>

==See also== *[[List of United States governors born outside the United States]]

==Sources== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080221023709/http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/364/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]

== References == <references />

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{succession box| title=[[List of justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court|Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court]] | before=newly created position| after=[[Alexander Porter]]| years=1813–1821 '''Chief Justice May 29, 1813 – 1821 ''' }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before=[[Etienne Mazureau]] | title=[[Louisiana Secretary of State]] | years=1821–1828 | after=[[George Waggaman]] }} {{succession box |title=[[List of governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]] | before=[[Henry Johnson (Louisiana)|Henry S. Johnson]]| after=[[Armand Beauvais]] | years=1828–1829}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derbigny, Pierre}} [[Category:1769 births]] [[Category:1829 deaths]] [[Category:People from Laon]] [[Category:Louisiana National Republicans]] [[Category:Governors of Louisiana]] [[Category:Secretaries of state of Louisiana]] [[Category:Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court]] [[Category:French emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:National Republican Party state governors of the United States]]