JOHN CASENAVE & EUGENE MALIBRAN
John Casenave was born on a farm on December 8, 1770, in Sauvelade, France. It is still a small village in southwestern France of about 300 people situated about 50 miles from the border with Spain and 500 miles south of Paris.
The area around Sauvelade
John's birth name was Jean Casenave dit Nebout. His parents were Jacques and Catherine Jeanne (nee Candau). Dit (pronounced "dee") is a French form of the word dire, which means "to say," and in the case of dit names is translated loosely as "that is to say," or "called." Therefore, the first name is the family's original surname, passed down to them by an ancestor, while the "dit" name is the name of the person/family.
The Casenave surname is a habitational name of several places in southwestern France. Nebout is from a local Sauvelade dialect meaning 'nephew'.
Unfortunately, records of his life have not been found of what he did or where he was before arriving in New York City in 1797. Both of his parents had died by 1793 and he had a business partner named Eugene Malibran in Paris. He must have been a successful merchant there because shortly after his arrival, he purchased a 750-acre farm on Long Island in the town of Jamaica. It was the first county seat of Queens County and was also the first incorporated village on Long Island. The name came from the word "Yameco", a corruption of the word "yamecah", meaning "beaver", in the language spoken by the Lenape, the Native Americans who lived in the area at the time of first European contact.
The Casenave surname is a habitational name of several places in southwestern France. Nebout is from a local Sauvelade dialect meaning 'nephew'.
Unfortunately, records of his life have not been found of what he did or where he was before arriving in New York City in 1797. Both of his parents had died by 1793 and he had a business partner named Eugene Malibran in Paris. He must have been a successful merchant there because shortly after his arrival, he purchased a 750-acre farm on Long Island in the town of Jamaica. It was the first county seat of Queens County and was also the first incorporated village on Long Island. The name came from the word "Yameco", a corruption of the word "yamecah", meaning "beaver", in the language spoken by the Lenape, the Native Americans who lived in the area at the time of first European contact.
John Casenave's Long Island Land
Instead of staying in New York City Casenave may have moved to Long Island to escape the yellow fever epidemics. Outbreaks of yellow fever were an almost annual occurrence in the decade 1795-1804 and reached epidemic proportions in New York City between July and October 1798. Some 2,100 of the city's population of about 35,000 died of the fever that year. Many of the dead were buried in mass graves in what is now the site of Washington Square Park, which then was on the outskirts of the city. No case of yellow fever was ever reported on Long Island during these years.
John purchased his farm from lawyer Cary Ludlow for $6,000 ($150,000 today) then sold it for a profit the next year to a fellow French merchant Stephen le Breton for $9,000.
In 1800 he moved to New York City and we find him living at 28 Whitehall. This is on the very south edge of the city by the river. It was also located away from the main yellow fever areas of town which were near the docks on the then upper east side of the city. John is also now married to an English lady and they had a baby daughter.
By 1803 Casenave opened a store nearby at 23 Pearl Street. Pearl was a very commercial street and his Whitehall address was more residential.
The book "Third Series of The Old Merchants of New York" (1863) by Walter Barrett says this about the area;
"Property in Pearl Street in 1800 could not have been worth a great sum. The rent of a three-story house and store beneath did not exceed $400 (per year) and the cost of the building and lot 25' x 100' was not over $4,000. There are several good reasons why rent was reasonable and real estate was low. In 1800 the taxes were comparatively nothing. There was no water rent and people swept the streets. In those days Whitehall Street was the residence of some of the most noted merchants"
Local newspaper ads show that Casenave was also importing pipes and wine from Spain and flax and dry goods from Baltimore,
John purchased his farm from lawyer Cary Ludlow for $6,000 ($150,000 today) then sold it for a profit the next year to a fellow French merchant Stephen le Breton for $9,000.
In 1800 he moved to New York City and we find him living at 28 Whitehall. This is on the very south edge of the city by the river. It was also located away from the main yellow fever areas of town which were near the docks on the then upper east side of the city. John is also now married to an English lady and they had a baby daughter.
By 1803 Casenave opened a store nearby at 23 Pearl Street. Pearl was a very commercial street and his Whitehall address was more residential.
The book "Third Series of The Old Merchants of New York" (1863) by Walter Barrett says this about the area;
"Property in Pearl Street in 1800 could not have been worth a great sum. The rent of a three-story house and store beneath did not exceed $400 (per year) and the cost of the building and lot 25' x 100' was not over $4,000. There are several good reasons why rent was reasonable and real estate was low. In 1800 the taxes were comparatively nothing. There was no water rent and people swept the streets. In those days Whitehall Street was the residence of some of the most noted merchants"
Local newspaper ads show that Casenave was also importing pipes and wine from Spain and flax and dry goods from Baltimore,
28 Whitehall (Red Arrow) and 23 Pearl (Yellow Arrow)
In 1803 tragedy struck when their three-year-old daughter Catherine died from burns in a fire. The family attended Saint Peter's Roman Catholic Church so Catherine was buried there. This was the first Catholic cemetery in New York City and in the State of New York. In 1785, a group of Catholics in New York acquired land on the southeast corner of Barclay and Church streets. The first St. Peter’s church was erected on the site and the remainder of the property was reserved for a burial ground. In 1801 St. Peter’s purchased land at the corner of Prince and Mott Streets to serve as a new burial ground. Subsequent acquisitions expanded this property, which became the site of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1809.
In 1836, St. Peter’s began construction of a new, larger church on the same site as the old church and graveyard on Barclay Street. The graves in the churchyard were removed at that time and were re-interred in the graveyard adjacent to St. Patrick’s Cathedral at Prince and Mott Streets. Some remains were reburied under the new church building, which still stands today. According to a statement made by Vicar General William Quinn in 1883, remains that had been buried beneath the present church were disturbed during excavation work in the mid-1800s and were reburied at Calvary Cemetery in Queens.
St. Patrick's Cathedral at Mott & Prince Streets
By 1808 John had changed his merchandising business over to mainly a wine-selling business and moved a couple doors down Pearl Street to #10. He soon added imported hides, indigo, and fustic which is a wood used for dyeing to his inventory.
The 1810 census showed he had two adult men and a teenage girl living with him along with two servants. There is no information that these three others were family or renters. John was the only Casenave listed in the city directory.
For some reason, John decided to also start a new business in 1810...playing cards. Within the last two years, Henry Hart and George Gilfert had started making their American playing cards in New York City. I have not found any association between John and these two men. Hart had a bookstore and circulating library and Gilfert made piano-fortes.
John's court card design did not mimic any English court card design of the time or even Crehore's popular American cards made in Boston.
The 1810 census showed he had two adult men and a teenage girl living with him along with two servants. There is no information that these three others were family or renters. John was the only Casenave listed in the city directory.
For some reason, John decided to also start a new business in 1810...playing cards. Within the last two years, Henry Hart and George Gilfert had started making their American playing cards in New York City. I have not found any association between John and these two men. Hart had a bookstore and circulating library and Gilfert made piano-fortes.
John's court card design did not mimic any English court card design of the time or even Crehore's popular American cards made in Boston.
Above are examples of John Casenave's court cards. New York card maker, L. I. Cohen, would copy these designs in the 1840s and are shown below.
Casenave's factory was located just off Broadway at Broome & Crosby streets near the north edge of the city at that time. It was only listed in the city directory for one year and no ads for his cards have been found in any surviving newspapers.
A wrapper design for his cards was designed and made by the famous New York City engraver Alexander Anderson.
From 1812 to 1816 John was only listed as a merchant in the city directory. He now had a second store on South Street along the East River about four blocks from his home.
Misfortune struck John again in October 1814 when his forty-year-old wife Mary Ann died from a stroke. He was now a widower with a fourteen-year-old daughter.
Records show that Mary Ann was not buried with her daughter Catherine, but instead in the Trinity Churchyard at Broadway and Wall streets. This was an Episcopal church. The Episcopal Church has its origins in the Church of England in the American colonies, The church was organized after the American Revolution when it became separate from the Church of England, whose clergy are required to swear allegiance to the British monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church describes itself as "Protestant, yet catholic".
I think Mary Ann was interred there due to her English roots. Maybe she even had family there. The cemetery is full of famous early New Yorkers including Alexander Hamilton, Robert Fulton, and Albert Gallatin.
Casenave was now importing items from Puerto Rico. Then on August 10, 1815, Spain issued the Royal Decree of Grace allowing all foreigners to be admitted to Puerto Rico for trade. At the same time, Puerto Rico's meager gold supply was exhausted, and the islanders were struggling to develop an agricultural economy. Cattle, sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee were the main investments. Spain restored absolute power to the king and reinstated Puerto Rico to its former condition of a colony subject to the unrestricted power of the Spanish monarch.
John decides to go to Puerto Rico for his business shortly after this decree. But, he first writes his Will. On December 5th he writes in the document "considering the uncertainty of life and the dangers of the sea" as the reason for making his Will. The next day he, his daughter Ann Maria and their servant Leonor Wise left New York City for Puerto Rico on a Brig apply named "Ann Maria".
John and his teenage daughter spent six months in the Caribbean before heading home the next June. But, he is ill and dies onboard the ship during the voyage. His sixteen-year-old daughter arrives in New York City as an orphan. But she is not well herself. About a week after her return, she died from tuberculosis. Ann Maria was interred with her sister Catherine at St. Patrick's.
Since John died on board the ship his death is not listed in the New York City death records so I could not find where is interred.
John's Will gave a lot of his estate to his sister Jane and her children back in Sauvelade. He specifically left $1,000 ($21,000 today) for his nephew John Lacassy to come to New York to take over the business. There is no evidence that he did, but John's partner Eugene Malibran immediately arrived. He is shown in the city directory as having the store on South Street.
Thirty-five-year-old Eugene Malibran (shown on the left) arrived in New York City in 1816 and immediately got to work. He expands the business by bringing in rum, molasses, sugar, coffee, and wine from all over the Caribbean. He even traveled there several times.
Eugene was doing very well. He wasn't rich, but was getting close. Then an eighteen-year-old María Felicitas García Sitches arrived in New York City and his life changed forever.
María Felicitas García Sitches (Shown on the left) was born into a famous Spanish musical family in Paris. Her mother was an actress and operatic singer. Her father was a celebrated tenor, a composer, and an influential vocal instructor. He was described as inflexible and tyrannical.
Maria first appeared on stage in Naples with her father when she was eight years old. When she was 17, she was a singer in the choir of the King's Theatre in London. When prima donna Giuditta Pasta became indisposed, García suggested that his daughter take over the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. The audience loved the young mezzo, and she continued to sing this role until the end of the season.
Maria first appeared on stage in Naples with her father when she was eight years old. When she was 17, she was a singer in the choir of the King's Theatre in London. When prima donna Giuditta Pasta became indisposed, García suggested that his daughter take over the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville. The audience loved the young mezzo, and she continued to sing this role until the end of the season.
When the season closed, García immediately took his operatic troupe to New York City in 1826. The troupe consisted primarily of the members of his family. This was the first time that Italian opera was performed in New York City. Over nine months, Maria sang the lead roles in eight operas, two of which were written by her father. She was the new sensation in New York City and commanded $500 ($15,000) a performance.
When Malibran heard her perform he was immediately smitten and wined and dined the superstar who was almost thirty years his junior. On March 23, 1826, they wed.
The marriage was good for a while but Maria's opera market was limited in New York City. Plus, even with her success, her father was bankrupting the opera troupe. Malibran tried helping by forming the New York Opera Company but it failed. Maria wanted to return to Europe where she was in now larger demand.
Eighteen months after the wedding things got worse for Malibran. The United States government was prosecuting him for something he did previously.
When Malibran heard her perform he was immediately smitten and wined and dined the superstar who was almost thirty years his junior. On March 23, 1826, they wed.
The marriage was good for a while but Maria's opera market was limited in New York City. Plus, even with her success, her father was bankrupting the opera troupe. Malibran tried helping by forming the New York Opera Company but it failed. Maria wanted to return to Europe where she was in now larger demand.
Eighteen months after the wedding things got worse for Malibran. The United States government was prosecuting him for something he did previously.
In 1817 Eugene Malibran had made a deal with another merchant in Puerto Rico and cosigned him a ship called Science. Some time later this ship was sailing near Africa after changing her colors in Puerto Rico to a Spanish flag.
Cruising the area was an American ship under the command of Lt. Silas H. Stringham shown on the left. Strigham had made the newspapers the previous year for his bravery in trying to save a sinking ship during a storm near the Rock of Gibraltar when other ships refused to help. After stopping the Science he searched the crew and found letters from Malibran to the Captain. The letters detailed how the ship was to transport slaves from Africa to Puerto Rico to sell. The ship was commandeered and sailed to the port in Baltimore.
Finally, in February 1828 Malibran was sentenced and fined $2,000 ($65,000) for slave trading. He was now broke and in jail. Maria then headed for Europe.
Mrs. Malibran started making money again and became romantically involved with the Belgian violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot. They would eventually have children together while she tried to divorce Eugene through the French courts. She even enlisted the help of Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette of American Revolutionary War fame. She was finally granted an annulment on a technicality when the French marriage laws were changed in 1835.
On October 19, 1830, Malibran's sentence was commuted by President Andrew Jackson. He soon headed to Europe to get the money his wife was making singing. His attempts failed and he settled in England.
Maria was quite a "wild child" in her day and loved riding horses recklessly. In September 1836 she fell while riding and suffered several bad injuries but refused treatment. A few days later she collapsed during an encore performance in England and died a week later. Three weeks after that her ex-husband was in Paris visiting friends when he experienced a severe headache. A doctor tried the common practice of bleeding him to help the pain. It failed and Malibran died of a stroke later that day.
On October 19, 1830, Malibran's sentence was commuted by President Andrew Jackson. He soon headed to Europe to get the money his wife was making singing. His attempts failed and he settled in England.
Maria was quite a "wild child" in her day and loved riding horses recklessly. In September 1836 she fell while riding and suffered several bad injuries but refused treatment. A few days later she collapsed during an encore performance in England and died a week later. Three weeks after that her ex-husband was in Paris visiting friends when he experienced a severe headache. A doctor tried the common practice of bleeding him to help the pain. It failed and Malibran died of a stroke later that day.
Eugene Malibran is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. There are several other Malibrans interred near him that may be family. Others buried in this 110-acre cemetery are such notables as singer Jim Morrison, Napoleon's General Michel Ney, the composer Frédéric Chopin, novelist Marcel Proust, the famous mime Marcel Marceau, actresses Olivia de Havilland and Sarah Bernhardt and the poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.
Eugene Malibran is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. There are several other Malibrans interred near him that may be family. Others buried in this 110-acre cemetery are such notables as singer Jim Morrison, Napoleon's General Michel Ney, the composer Frédéric Chopin, novelist Marcel Proust, the famous mime Marcel Marceau, actresses Olivia de Havilland and Sarah Bernhardt and the poet and playwright Oscar Wilde.