Background
Charles Benjamin Gratiot Sr. , was born on 28 Jun 1754, in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was the son of Huguenot parents, David and Marie (Bernard) Gratiot.
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Memorial of Charles Gratiot: Stating That He Had Been Unjustly Dismissed From the Army of the United States, and Asking an Expression of the Opinion ... Him. January 15, 1852. Ordered to Be Referre
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Charles Benjamin Gratiot
Edit ProfileEducation
Gratiot received some schooling in Lausanne.
Career
At seventeen, Gratiot was sent to his mother’s brother in London, who in turn sent him to a brother in the fur trade in Montreal.
Arriving in that city in May 1769, he remained in the employ of his uncle for six years. He then took a partner, and on means advanced by his uncle made a trading venture to the west, but returned sixteen months later after suffering heavy losses.
In 1777, he joined with two partners, under the firm name of David McCrae & Company, and again went west. In December, he opened a store in Cahokia, in the present Illinois, the other partners establishing themselves in Kaskaskia.
He formed the acquaintance of George Rogers Clark, on his invasion of the Illinois towns the following July, became strongly attached to him, and with Jean Gabriel Cerré and Father Gibault rendered many services to the American cause.
Early in 1781, he moved to St. Louis.
The McCrae partnership appears to have been dissolved before Gratiot left Cahokia. His affairs prospered, and to extend his trade connections he traveled repeatedly to New Orleans, to the Atlantic seaboard, and to Europe. It is said that he was the first resident of St. Louis to visit Philadelphia (1783 - 84).
On one of these journeys, possibly that of 1793-95, he formed the connection with John Jacob Astor that was to continue till his death. With his fur trading he combined the operation of a distillery, a tannery, and a salt works and he also dealt extensively in land.
It was on his portico, with himself as interpreter, that the formal transfer of Upper Louisiana was made on March 10, 1804.
He was the first presiding justice of the court of quarter sessions of St. Louis; on the incorporation of the village as a town, in 1809, he was elected a trustee.
He continued actively in business until his death.
Achievements
Works
book
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Memorial of Charles Gratiot: Stating That He Had Been Unjustly Dismissed From the Army of the United States, and Asking an Expression of the Opinion ... Him. January 15, 1852. Ordered to Be Referre
( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
-
Memorial of Charles Gratiot: Stating That He Had Been Unjustly Dismissed From the Army of the United States, and Asking an Expression of the Opinion ... Him. January 15, 1852. Ordered to Be Referre
Personality
Though not the wealthiest of the St. Louis traders, Gratiot was the most widely known, and he brought the frontier fur center to the attention of the world.
He was a man of exceptional initiative, energy, and persistence. He had a good knowledge of law and a logical mind; often in litigation, he prepared his own briefs, with an equal skill in the use of French and English, and is said to have won all his cases.
Though the value of his services to Clark has been variously appraised, there is no dispute as to his sincere and active friendship for the American cause.
His son Charles was one of the four French youths appointed by Jefferson to West Point immediately after the transfer of Louisiana.
Connections
On June 25, 1781, Gratiot was married to Victoire, the half-sister of Col. Auguste Chouteau, allied himself with the wealthiest and most powerful family in Upper Louisiana.
References
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Born
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Died
April 20, 1817 (aged 62) -
Nationality
American