Talk:Jean Lafitte

This article was modified by descendant of Jean Lafitte; if you contact him, send a mail to : [email protected] Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.253.111.81 (talk) 12:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

NOR

I removed this passage:

Circa 1970, Jean Lafitte's estate included land and at least one oil well, the proceeds of which were divided among his approximately 3000 heirs. These heirs included the descendants of many illegitimate children, whom he fathered by various women. (This information is provided by one of those descendants, whose father received 75 cents and a book naming those descendants.)

because it violates Wikipedia's policies on citation, verifiability, and maybe original research. It's an interseting addition to the article, and it may well be true, but we need a verifiable citation. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 21:09, 1 November 2005 (UTC)

External links

The Nola Mae Ross item is in fact an ad for a book for sale. Contraband Days is a tourist festival, the site is not about Lafitte. The Phantom FAQ was some kind of spam for a comic book.

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas, though legit, is so brief that, considering the many other much longer and more detailed sources available, probably doesn't make the cut.

The Pictorial History of Texas, though it has an engraving of Lafitte, is a very broad text, very little of which is about Lafitte.

The other items, I set in an approximate descending order of importance, with the longest items and those most centered on Lafitte himself toward the top (including a new item), and shorter items and those somewhat tangential toward the bottom. Bill 23:40, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Late life in Yucatan

For whenever this article starts to be fleshed out with biographic details, I note that John Lloyd Stephens was somewhat interested in the figure of Lafitte, and recounts some folks' memories of him in Yucatan some 15 to 20 years earlier in "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan". -- Infrogmation 18:37, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Jean vs. Jean

In the fiction Star Trek: The Next Generation: Captain's Table Novel Dujonian's Hoard, Jeean LaFitte makes an appearance as Captain of the Pride. He is said to be the best swordsman in the place. at least until Jean-Luc Picard bested him. Should his be included in 'other appearances'? Rev. James Triggs 20:57, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

I think the appearances of Lafitte as a fictional character should be kept a bit more distinct from the actual person. (If you think the Star Trek apperance is a particularly notable example of his Lafitte in fiction, go ahead and add it. I hope more material can be added about the real person.) -- Infrogmation 22:16, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

there is a fictional section on the main entry. This should go there. ill add it. mdelvecchio99

Biography

The first sentence is not a sentence that I can recognize. Subsequent sentences are not much better. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 131.252.212.246 (talk) 13:37, 28 March 2007 (UTC).

on this death -- how can the first sentence say his death was a mystery and unknown, and then the last sentence say how & where he died? this is a contradiction. -mdelvecchio99

Jean Lafitte's Portrait?

The picture currently displayed in the main entry claimed to be Jean Lafitte, is one that I have never seen before and cannot find anywhere else. It also does not match any physical descriptions of the man that I have read. Could someone please provide more explanation as to why this picture is being used and if it is indeed valid? The source material provided for it only links the picture to a website with absolutely no verification that this is a portrait of Jean Lafitte...save for the fact it is named Jean Lafitte. 72.203.150.54 22:42, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Certainly image it needs better info-- supposed date of 1850, he would have either been quite a bit older than the fellow in the image if he indeed had not died earlier. Do we even know the image linked is intended to depict the same person as this article is about? -- Infrogmation 20:26, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

The paintings of Jean Lafitte and his alleged family on display at the Sam Houston Library in Liberty Texas were all done by the same artist, although each painting bears the "signature" of a different artist. It takes a little observation by anyone who has studied art to see the same brush strokes, composition, color choices, formation of shapes, etc.. are in all three paintings. This would suggest that they were done by one artist alone. I don't know why this hasn't been studied. The paintings are part of the display that suggests that The Journal of Lafitte is authentic. According to American History there is only one authentic, known portrait of the pirate and that is the one with his arms folded where he stands in his battle uniform. Treasurelore. 03:14, 21 December 2007 (UTC)Treasurelore (talk)t

Birth

Almost all sources say France, though exact place, date, and parentage are unknown. Given that the Inquisition was in decline by the 1770s, I am removing several passages asserting a birthplace in Haiti or Jewish descent, because the diary theory is much better explained later in the article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.38.24.214 (talk • contribs). '

Suggestion for reworking article

It is my understanding that the authenticity of the "Journal" is still the subject of debate. If there is no accademic consensus, Wikipedia should not take sides. I therefore suggest we seperate material. A possible structure would have one section of biography based on confirmed sources, then a second section based on the "Journal" with the disputed nature noted. Possibly a third section as well relaying other unconfirmed but notable accounts. Other thoughts? -- Infrogmation 18:53, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Text removed

I was rather surprised to find several paragraphs with "[Ed.]" & "[Vogel]" at the end. A bit of poking through the page history showed that an anon editor openly cut-&-pasted this material from "the web page of the Lafitte Society of Galveston Texas, http://www.thelaffitesociety.com/JLaffite12.html". Since the ownership & licensing of this text is not explained -- nor are the contradictions between this section & the rest of the article -- I have deleted it. We don't need copyright violations in Wikipedia. -- llywrch (talk) 06:29, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I think we have the wrong image

As someone else pointed out, the image looks a lot like Jacques Laffitte. A quick google search turned up this image. Any thoughts on the subject? AlphaEta 01:53, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm removing the image of until someone can confirm that it does indeed represent Jean Lafitte. I'm convinced that the website from which it was taken misidentifies the subject. Every image on the site is depicted with the caption: "This steel engraving by [name] was around the year 1850." Depictions of Jean Lafitte can be found here and here. Of course, these drawings were done by Edward Howard Suydam, who lived from 1885 - 1940, well after Lafitte had died. Now compare those images with Jacques Lafitte here and here. AlphaEta 15:48, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Thank you; I raised a question about the image a while back above. I think you have identified who it really depicts. The E.H. Suydam image of Jean Lafitte with folded arms seems to be the most widely reproduced and is sometimes claimed to be contemporary, but IIRC orinated as a book illustration in the early 20th century. Image:LafitteClaiborneJackson.jpg might be as close to a contemporary illustration of Lafitte as we have, and even that dates from some 20 years later as an illustration of a sensationalistic book, and from comparing the artist's depictions of Jackson and Claiborne with better known images of those men leaves much to be desired. -- Infrogmation (talk) 00:23, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Death year?

I realize there is some uncertainty, but the first line says 1854?, while the body seems pretty definite about 1826. Uncertainty is one thing, but outright contradiction is another. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bigmac31 (talk • contribs) 01:10, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Missing comma?

There seems to be punctuation missing in this sentence:

When Laffite left Galveston Island in 1820 he made Jao de la Porta, a Jewish Texan merchant a full-time trader.

Does it need a comma after "merchant"?

--Skb8721 (talk) 21:23, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Lafitte and Battle of New Orleans

As this entire article seems to be 99 percent taken from Ramsay's book (and only ONE other reference), I wonder what are Ramsay's references for the allegation of Lafitte's presence at the battle or him suggesting to Jackson to "extend the line"? If one happens to read THE HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF THE WAR IN WEST FLORIDA AND LOUISIANA IN 1814-15 by Arsene Lacarriere Latour (who actually WAS Jackson's chief engineer in building that line) Edited with an Introduction by Gene A. Smith, there is NO mention of Lafitte making any such suggestion let alone his presence on the battlefield. See page 58.

Regarding, "Jackson also singled out Jean and Pierre Lafitte for having "exhibited the same courage and fidelity", (see page 341 Latour) the actual dispatch by Jackson states, (after giving praise of the US Naval Officers and Sailors involved in the battle) "The brothers Lafitte have exhibited the same courage and fidelity; and the general promises that the government shall be duly apprized of their conduct." No other mention of Lafitte. --ninety3rd