James Gallatin

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Portrait of Gallatin by George Linen, 1837, Fogg Art Museum

James Gallatin (December 18, 1796 – May 29, 1876)[1] was an American banker who was the son of Albert Gallatin.

Early life[edit]

He was the eldest of two sons and four daughters born to Hannah (née Nicholson) Gallatin and Albert Gallatin, the 4th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and France. His siblings were Catherine, Sophia, Hannah Marie, Frances, and Albert Rolaz Gallatin. Catherine, Sophia and Hannah Marie died as infants while his sister Frances married Byam Kerby Stevens (a son of Gen. Ebenezer Stevens) and his brother Albert Rolaz married Mary Lucille Stevens (a granddaughter of Gen. Stevens).[2]

His father was born to a wealthy family in Geneva, Switzerland, the son of Jean Gallatin and his wife Sophie Albertine Rollaz. His maternal grandparents were Frances Witter Nicholson and Commodore James Nicholson, an officer in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War. His grandfather was from a well-connected Maryland family and was the elder brother to Samuel and John Nicholson, both of whom were also officers in the Continental Navy.[3]

Career[edit]

While his father helped broker the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States, James acted as his personal secretary during this diplomatic trip. After the success at Ghent, the Gallatins traveled to France just as Napoleon arrived at Cannes after escaping Elba. James' diary includes a detailed look into the lives of the nobles as they faced the threat of Napoleon's return. At one point, he is asked by the famous artist Jacques-Louis David to sit as a cherub for his painting l'Amour et Psyche:

3 March 1815. — We were received privately this morning by the King, only the Duchesse d'Angouleme was present. She looked very sad. The King moved to the embrasure of a window, motioning to Father to follow him, they remained in conversation for a quarter of an hour. Amongst other things His Majesty intimated a wish that Father would be sent as Minister to Paris adding, "you must not forget that your family belonged to France, before you belonged to America." The Duchess talked to me most graciously, asked me about my Mother and said "You are too young to begin political life. I assured her I was 18; she exclaimed "Mais c'est un bebe." Monsieur David the great Artist has requested Father to allow me to pose to him for Cupid, Father has consented and I sit tomorrow.

Gallatin succeeded his father as the president of the Gallatin National Bank in 1839.[1] After his retirement in 1868 he relocated to Paris, France.[2]

Published journal[edit]

His journal entries from his 1814-15 voyage were published in the September 1914 issue of Scribner's Magazine and include a detailed historical account of the negotiations and infighting between the American representatives as well as with the British delegates.[4] However, Raymond Walters, biographer of Albert Gallatin, and other historians believe the diary to be a forgery. Walters wrote "... I reached the conclusion that the diary is a complete fraud."[5] Walters notes that no manuscript for the diary has survived or was ever known to have been seen by anybody other than James Gallatin.[6]

Personal life[edit]

Portrait of his wife, Josephine, and their son, Albert Gallatin II, c. 1837–1840, Fogg Museum

In April 1834, after deciding against marrying Eliza Astor, the youngest daughter of John Jacob Astor,[7] Gallatin was married to Josephine Mary Pascault (1801–1885), a daughter of Louis Pascault, Marquis de Poleon, who built Pascault Row in Baltimore.[8][9] Her elder sister Henriette married the French General Jean-Jacques Reubell (who came to Baltimore with Jerome Bonaparte, later King of Westphalia) and her other sister, Eleanora, married Gen. Columbus O'Donnell of Baltimore.[10] Together, they were the parents of:[7]

James styled himself Count Gallatin, though his right to the title was disputed, but he was known to his own family as "bad Jimmy".[5]

Gallatin died on May 29, 1876, in Paris.[2] His widow also died in Paris in 1885.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Homans, Isaac Smith (August 1864). "James Gallatin, of New York". The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review. 51 (2): 97–105. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "OBITUARY.; CAPT. JEREMIAH BRIGGS. JAMES GALLATIN. WHO OWNS THE TRIBUNE..." The New York Times. May 30, 1876. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  3. ^ USS Constitution Museum
  4. ^ James Gallatin; Viscount Bryce (introduction) (1914). Count Albert Gallatin (ed.). A Great Peace Maker: The Diary of James Gallatin, Secretary to Albert Gallatin, 1813 to 1827 (1914). Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0-548-01374-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b [1] archive of http://thenewsfromwaterloo.com/the-hoax-diary.html "The Hoax Diary", thenewsfromwaterloo.com; accessed December 28, 2015.
  6. ^ Raymond Walters, Jr. (July 1957). "The James Gallatin Diary: A Fraud?". The American Historical Review. 62 (4): 878–85. doi:10.2307/1845518. JSTOR 1845518.
  7. ^ a b Dungan, Nicholas (28 September 2010). Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father. NYU Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-8147-2111-7. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  8. ^ Thomas, David; Donnelly, Theresa. "Pascault Row". explore.baltimoreheritage.org. Explore Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  9. ^ Walters, Raymond (15 October 1957). Albert Gallatin: Jeffersonian Financier and Diplomat. University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 327, 346. ISBN 978-0-8229-7408-6. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  10. ^ "ADRIAN ISELIN DEAD AT HIS CITY HOME; Banker's Illness Developed Into General Breakdown. NEW ROCHELLE'S BENEFACTOR Rumor That He Was Deathbed Convert to Roman Catholic Church, to Which He Gave Much". The New York Times. 29 March 1905. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  11. ^ "DEATH OF MRS. GALLATIN IN PARIS. From the Baltimore Sun, Oct. 17". The New York Times. 19 October 1885. Retrieved 28 October 2021.

External links[edit]

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