Friday, September 3, 2010

Pierre Lafitte


Here's a little bit of information about Pierre Lafitte. He is a minor character in my book and is the older brother of Jean Lafitte. He was also known as a pirate and is also mentioned several times as an integral player in the Battle of New Orleans. In my book, he runs Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop which was his business in New Orleans. He used this business to handle the sale of pirated goods. Pierre spent the majority of his time in New Orleans while Jean spent most of his time at the pirate colony at Barataria. This arrangement worked well for the brothers.

It is believed that Pierre was born in France in 1770, the son of a sailor and trader father. Pierre worked with his father learning the business of trade. At some point he moved to Saint-Dominigue and fled from there after the Haitian Revolution arriving in New Orleans. Not long after, he and Lafitte set up shop. Pierre remained in New Orleans after Jean left for Galveston. Pierre was married and had many children. He died in 1821 and still has descendents in New Orleans.