Background
Gustavus Schmidt was born in Mariestad in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. He was educated at the classical school in Jönköpings, where his father, Hans Kristian Schmidt, was a judge of the Aulic Council for the south of Sweden.
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Gustavus Schmidt
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Five years later he went to Richmond, Virginia where he studied law and after being admitted to the Virginia State Bar, practiced the legal profession for a number of years.
Career
He was the author of a number of law books and also founded the predecessor of the School of Law at Tulane University. In 1810 he entered the Swedish Royal Navy. In 1815 he settled on the eastern shore of Maryland, where he was engaged as a private tutor.
Among the important cases with which he was connected was that of Jose Murando, Jose Hilario Casares, and Felix Barbieto, three Spaniards charged with piracy and murder on board the brig Crawford.
The two brothers corresponded frequently throughout their lives. The case of the brig Crawford created an unusual sensation, owing to the horrible nature of the crime.
Subsequently Schmidt published A Brief Sketch of the Occurrences on board the Brigadier Crawford (Richmond, 1827). She was the daughter of Dominique Seghers (1767-1848), a prominent attorney who had immigrated with his family from Brussels in 1807.
Schmidt established himself in the legal profession and in New Orleans society.
He was associated with Henry Clay as co-counsel for the heirs of Claude Joseph Villars Dubreuil (1689-1757) in their suit for the recovery of the land on which the United States Mint stood. His knowledge of the Spanish language led to his selection by the merchants of New Orleans to look after their interests in Mexico. Subsequently he was sent to Havana, Cuba to supervise the details of certain contracts between investment banker James Robb (1814-1881) and the Spanish authorities in Cuba.
James Robb had established the first gas-works for lighting the city of Havana.
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Born
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Died
September 20, 1877 (aged 82) -
Nationality
American -
Ethnicity