People Original constitution for West Florida Republic back in Louisiana By LAURIE SMITH ANDERSON Advocate staff writer Advocate staff photo by Richard Alan Hannon The original Constitution of the West Florida Republic, which has been restored by the Louisiana State Archives, will be on display in St. Francisville. ST. FRANCISVILLE -- The West Florida Republic of 1810 may have been short-lived, but it had its own capital, president and constitution. St. Francisville was the capital of the free and independent nation, which lasted for 74 days. Fulwar Skipwith was the president, and the constitution has been handed down among his descendants for nearly 200 years -- until now. Skipwith's 89-year-old great-granddaughter, Leila Lee Roberts, of Staten Island, N.Y., donated the original copy of the West Florida Republic Constitution and supporting letters and documents to the state of Louisiana. The documents will be on display for several months at the West Feliciana Historical Society Museum. On loan from the State Archives, the exhibit opens next Sunday with a reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. "We kept the documents in a safety deposit box for as long as I can remember, but I felt like it was important to have it on display so that school children in Louisiana could learn about their history," said Roberts, who will attend the opening of the exhibit. The Republic of West Florida represented the first successful attempt to overthrow Spanish control of a territory in the New World and was the first democracy established in any part of Spanish territory in the Western hemisphere. What are referred to as Louisiana's eight "Florida parishes" today once made up part of West Florida, which was ruled first by the Spanish (by right of discovery and exploration), then the French, the British and the Spanish again before independence was declared. The Florida parishes were not a part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; they remained under Spanish rule. West Florida stretched west from the Perdido River in Florida to the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Everything north of Lake Pontchartrain and south of the 31st parallel was part of West Florida, including the tail ends of Mississippi and Alabama, part of the Florida panhandle and the Louisiana parishes of East Baton Rouge, East and West Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany and Washington. A cotton planter who lived just north of Baton Rouge, Fulwar Skipwith was a former diplomatic appointee of George Washington and a consul general of the United States to France under President Thomas Jefferson. Shortly after moving to Baton Rouge in 1809, he became involved in the effort to free West Florida from Spanish domination. General discontent with Spanish rule and Gov. Don Carlos De Lassus led Skipwith and other area settlers to seek annexation to the United States through insurrection. On June 23, 1810, more than 500 local men, mostly planters, gathered at Egypt Plantation to establish a convention of citizens of West Florida. They selected John Hunter Johnson, William Barrow, John Mills and John Rhea as their representatives. Additional meetings were held through the summer to establish a form of government. Philemon Thomas was appointed commandant of the militia and, under his leadership, rebels successfully attacked the Spanish fort in Baton Rouge, where the government had its headquarters, on Sept. 23, 1810. The Feliciana dragoons sneaked into the fort in the early morning hours under cover of cows entering for milking. The Spanish were defeated and the first "Lone Star" flag, the official banner of the newly established West Florida Republic, was raised. On Sept. 26, Rhea, as presiding officer of the revolutionary congress, proclaimed the declaration of independence of the "Free and Independent State of West Florida," and Skipwith was elected president or governor. President James Madison subsequently issued a proclamation annexing the region west of the Perdido River to the United States and instructing Gov. William C.C. Claiborne to incorporate the area into the Louisiana Territory. The U.S. flag was raised in St. Francisville on Dec. 6 and in Baton Rouge on Dec. 10, 1810, signifying the end of the republic. Claiborne proclaimed that the area eastward from the Mississippi River to the Perdido River "shall constitute one county to be known and called by the name of Feliciana." Both Spain and Great Britain protested the annexation, to no avail. In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state, including the eight parishes that had formerly been a part of the Republic of West Florida. While the West Florida Republic is not mentioned in many history books, Roberts said her own research on the rebellion and the role her grandfather played intrigued her. She has kept the documents in a safety deposit box for years, but, having no children or grandchildren to pass them on to, she decided to donate them to Louisiana. She is currently working on a history of Fulwar Skipwith for Prestwould III, the only family plantation still in existence in Clark Country, Va. "You have a street named after my great-grandfather in Baton Rouge," she said. "He remained in Louisiana and built a retirement house at Mon Repos at Montesano just north of Baton Rouge where he died in 1836." Roberts, who still considers herself a Southerner at heart, said she is looking forward to her return visit to Louisiana. She has been invited to speak at the ceremony to unveil the constitution. Modeled closely after the U.S. Constitution, the Constitution of the West Florida Republic is 27 pages long and in fairly good condition, according to State Archives conservator Doug Harrison. Also included in the act of donation are several documents and letters including correspondence from Rhea to Claiborne regarding the Act of Independence for West Florida. Curator Amy Louviere said she got very excited when she first saw the documents because one of her best friends, Patrick Tandy of St. Francisville, is a descendant of John Rhea. "It made history come alive for me. When I saw that letter; I squealed and jumped up and ran to the phone to call Patrick." State archivist Florent Hardy Jr. said his office staff is thrilled to receive the historically significant documents from Roberts and is delighted by the interest and enthusiasm shown for the display in St. Francisville. Hardy said he will consider Mayor Billy D'Aquilla's request to place the documents on permanent loan. The public is invited to view the exhibit. The reception will include a formal presentation and flag-raising ceremony and a re-enactment by the West Florida Republic Drum and Fife Corps from Chalmette. The West Feliciana Historical Society Museum is located at 11757 Ferdinand St. in St. Francisville. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 225-635-6330. Sources: This article was based on interviews and research from historical references including "The Story of the West Florida Rebellion" by Stanley Clisby Arthur, "Louisiana: A Narrative History" by Edwin Adams Davis, "A History of Louisiana" by Henry E. Chambers and newspaper archives.