Charles Trudeau letter to Mayor James Mather, 1807 November 28. - Charles Trudeau letter to Mayor James Mather, 1807 November 28.

Charles Laveau Trudeau (approximately 1750-1816) was the surveyor general of Spanish Louisiana from the early 1780s until he resigned in 1805. His name on maps and grants is recorded as Don Carlos Trudeau. Later in life, he served as recorder for the city of New Orleans and president of the city council. He was born in New Orleans to Jean-Baptiste Trudeau and Marianne Carrière. He married Charlotte Peyraud. The couple's children were: Caroline, who married Thomas Urquhart; Celestine, who became the second wife of General James Wilkinson; Josephine, who married Manuel Andry, fils; and Mannette, who married David C. Kerr.</br></br>James J. Mather (1750?-1821) was a merchant, landowner, politician, planter, and mayor of New Orleans from 1807-1812. He was born in Coupland, Northumberland to Peter and Eleanor Mather. In 1776, he immigrated to America where he established a mercantile firm and acquired extensive land holdings in Southeast Louisiana. He married Frances, and the couple had five children: James; George; Ann, wife of Philip Hickey; Frances Sophia, wife of Abner L. Duncan; and Isabel, wife of William Wykoff. He died in St. James Parish on October 7, 1821.</br></br>John Minor Wisdom (1905-1999) was a liberal Republican from Louisiana and a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during the 1950s and 1960s, when that court became known for a series of decisions crucial in advancing the civil rights of African-Americans. He attended Tulane Law School and was later an Adjunct professor of law there from 1938 to 1957. The documents in this collection were items collected by Wisdom.