User:Jengod/Biodraft4

{{Short description|North American colonial-territorial administrator (1761–1837?) }}

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| birth_date = {{birth date|1761|06|21}}

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| death_date = 1837?

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Joseph Deville Degoutin Bellechasse (June 21, 1761–1837?) was a native of New Orleans who held various positions of responsibility in colonial and territorial governments. There are many recorded variations and misspellings of his name; he signed the 1812 Louisiana constitution as J. D. Degoutin Bellechasse.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=267}} His forefathers were Acadians who relocated to Louisiana.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=266}} He served in the Spanish colonial militia, stationed at many frontier outposts along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=269}} He was credited with the construction of what came to be know as Fort St. Stephens.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=269}} He was the commandant at Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas at present-day Memphis in 1796 and 1797.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=270}} He retired from the Spanish military after more than 20 years of service with a modest pension; he was denied a license for "unlimited trade" as part of his retirement package, which may have contributed to his apparent dislike of interim governor Casa Calvo.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=270}} He provided a secret deposition for the Myra Clark Gaines case in which he described governor William C. C. Claiborne as "'weak-minded' and his policies as 'not wise or conciliatory'."{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=274|pp=}} Nonetheless, Bellechasse had been appointed the head of the territorial militia and served until 1808,{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=281}} and in 1805 he was appointed for a five-year term on the Orleans territorial council.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=278|pp=}} He was also seated for multiple one-year terms on the New Orleans city council during this same period.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=278|pp=}} He participated in Louisiana's first constitutional convention of 1811–1812.{{Cite web |title=Founders Online: Resolutions of the Orleans Territorial Legislature, [19 Januar … |url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0125 |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=founders.archives.gov |language=en}} He lived at Bellechasse plantation from before 1806 until 1814, when he moved to Cuba and became a sugar plantation owner in Mantanzas Province.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=281}} The name Belle Chase was retained after his departure.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|pp=272–273}} The 5,000-acre plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River, six miles below New Orleans, was later owned by lawyer and Confederate States cabinet member Judah P. Benjamin.{{Cite web |date=2016-04-25 |title=Blake Pontchartrain: What’s the story of Belle Chasse? |url=https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/blake_pontchartrain/blake-pontchartrain-what-s-the-story-of-belle-chasse/article_8fe6ac5a-76c3-52eb-b54c-dcd5c0594f50.html |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=NOLA.com |language=en}} He died, apparently in Cuba, sometime after 1837, exact date unknown.{{sfnp|Bradley|2002|p=281}}