Gilbert-Antoine de Saint Maxent
Gilbert-Antoine de Saint Maxent was the Lt. Governor of Louisiana and West Florida, Commandant of the Militia of Louisiana and the Captain-General of the new Bureau of Indiana Affairs of Louisiana and West Florida. He was also an ally and business partner to Aveline de Grandpré and her father, Philippe Olivier de Grandpré.
Born in France in 1724, he immigrated to New Orleans at the age of 23 and enlisted in the military. After marrying Elizabeth La Roche, he used the dowry to open a shop for supplying fur traders. When New Orleans was handed over to the Spanish, Gilbert Antoine was the first Frenchman to voice his support for the Spanish governor, Antonio de Ulloa.
This resulted in his imprisonment within his own plantation during the Louisiana Rebellion in 1768, while the governor was being ousted. Following the reclaiming of the colony by the Spanish in 1769, Gilbert Antoine's daughter Marie Elizabeth married the next Spanish governor, Luis de Unzaga.
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