Joseph Deville Degoutin Bellechasse

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.^[1] His forefathers were Acadians who relocated to Louisiana.^[2] He served in the Spanish colonial militia, stationed at many frontier outposts along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.^[3] He was credited with the construction of what came to be know as Fort St. Stephens.^[3] He was the commandant at Fort San Fernando De Las Barrancas at present-day Memphis in 1796 and 1797.^[4] 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.^[4] In the 1830s he provided a deposition for the Myra Clark Gaines case in which he described governor William C. C. Claiborne as having been "'weak-minded' and his policies as 'not wise or conciliatory'."^[5] Nonetheless, Bellechasse had been appointed the head of the territorial militia and served until 1808,^[6] and in 1805 he was appointed for a five-year term on the Orleans territorial council.^[7] He was also seated for multiple one-year terms on the New Orleans city council during this same period.^[7] He participated in Louisiana's first constitutional convention of 1811–1812.^[8] He lived at Bellechasse plantation from before 1806 until 1814, when he moved to Cuba and became a sugar plantation owner in Mantanzas Province.^[6] The name Belle Chase was retained on the plantation after his departure.^[9] 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.^[10] Bellechasse died, apparently in Cuba, sometime after 1837, exact date unknown.^[6]

• Bradley, James W., ed. (2002). Interim Appointment: W.C.C. Claiborne Letter Book, 1804–1805. The Louisiana Purchase Collection. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-2684-4. LCCN 2001004234. OCLC 47746051.