Collection Information
Biographical Sketches
Scope and Content Note
Cataloging Information
Processed
by
Charles Latham
27 October 1995
Updated 13 May 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 item
COLLECTION DATE: 1816
PROVENANCE: Hamill & Barker, Antiquarian Booksellers, 1719 Howard St., Evanston, IL 60202, 20 October 1995
RESTRICTIONS: None
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: M 0416, Claude Coupin; M 0435, Lasselle Collection; SC 2003, Estate of Benjamin Read 1804
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1996.0021
Antoine Marchal (d. 1816) was a man of substance in Vincennes, Indiana, in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. From 1802 to 1805 Marchal was administrator of the estate of Claude Coupin, who had died intestate, leaving an estate mainly of debts. The list of Marchal's goods at his death in 1816 shows that he had considerable property, and perhaps was in the leather business.
Hyacinth Lasselle (1777-1842) was a French trader, a lieutenant and then a major general in the Indiana militia. He married Julia Bosseron, daughter of a fur trader, and they had four children. In 1820, in a suit arranged by a group of lawyers to test a constitutional provision, Lasselle's slave Polly sued him for her freedom. She lost her case in circuit court, but won on appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court.
General Washington Johnston (1776-1833; General is a name, not a title) was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, and moved to Vincennes in 1793. He was a lawyer, having passed the bar examination in 1801. He served as postmaster in Vincennes in 1801-1802 and 1803-1812. He was a member of the territorial legislature from 1805 to 1811, and then held multiple positions as state attorney general (1811-1814), auditor (1813), and treasurer (1813-1814). In 1815 he was listed as owning a theater and a bookstore in Vincennes. From 1818 to 1832 he was on the bench.
Perhaps Johnston's most important achievement was his 1808 report to the territorial assembly arguing against slavery on both legal and moral grounds. In 1809, at a time when Masonry was still unpopular, he founded a Masonic lodge in Vincennes.
Sources: Materials in collection
Barnhart and Riker, Indiana to 1816 (1971), see index
Biographical Directory of Indiana General Assembly, Volume 1
(Johnston)
Indiana Magazine of History, XX (1924), 123-159 (article on
Johnston)
This collection contains one item, the legal "Account of Sales of the Goods of A. Marchal deceased made the 22d, 23d & 25th March 1816" at Vincennes, Indiana. Twenty-eight pages long, the document is signed by H. Lasselle, Admr. and tested by Gen. W. Johnston, Clerk. The sale netted a total of $2487.08. The goods sold included items as diverse as buffalo horns, crucibles, corn, salt, bars of lead, and candle molds. Nearly a third of the goods were hides of leather or leather goods such as horse collars.
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:
1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog: http://157.91.92.2/
2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.
3. Select "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.
4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC 2504).
5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.