James Pitot

James Pitot (1761–1831), also known as Jacques Pitot, was the third Mayor of New Orleans, after Cavalier Petit served for a ten-day interim following Mayor Boré's resignation. Because he had already attained American citizenship, he is sometimes called New Orleans' first American mayor.

Born Jacques-François Pitot in Normandy and educated in Paris, Pitot's family was of the nobility of France and fled that nation during the French Revolution. Jacques Pitot left Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) and settled in Philadelphia, where he became an American citizen, and then lived in Norfolk, Virginia. After his 1796 arrival in Spanish-held Louisiana, he prospered as a merchant and became a member of the New Orleans city council.

James Pitot was appointed mayor by Territorial Governor William C. C. Claiborne. He served from 6 June 1804 to 26 July 1805. During Mayor Pitot's administration the first city charter of New Orleans was enacted, including the first public elections of aldermen or city councilmen.

After he resigned as mayor, Claiborne appointed him as Probate Court judge for the Orleans Territory, a position he continued to hold after Louisiana became a state. Judge James Pitot served the legal community until his death on November 4, 1831.

He was also President of the New Orleans Navigation Company, which was granted the right to operate a toll canal extending from Bayou St. John into the Tremé neighborhood, terminating in the 'turning basin' which eventually gave its name to Basin Street. This route saved shippers many expensive days and risks of navigating the winding Mississippi River below New Orleans, in the age of sail. (Bayou St. John connects to Lake Pontchartrain, which in turn leads to the Gulf of Mexico.

...
Wikipedia