George Rapalje

George Rapalje, far left, at about age 11, painted in the Province of New York

George Rapalje (1757–d. c. 1816)[1] was an 18th-century settler of the Mississippi River valley. Originally from the British province of New York, he and several siblings migrated to the province of West Florida about the time of the American Revolutionary War. He is best remembered today for the journal he kept for a decade at a remote trading post on the Big Black River, and for marrying into another wealthy family of settlers. He was indicted for murder by a grand jury in Mississippi Territory in 1800.

Life and career

George Rapalje was the son of Garret Rapalje, a "prominent merchant-shipper associated with Peter Remsen" who settled in the lower Mississippi River valley in the late 18th century.[2] The Rapaljes were a family from Long Island, New York that had been in the colonies since the 17th century and were Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War.[2] Children of Garret and Diana Rapalje was painted c. 1768 by John Durand; as noted on the back of the painting: "Jaques Rapalje born in 1752 / Garret dº 1757 / George dº 1759 / Anne dº 1762". The painting is now held in the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

The Rapaljes had been interested in what was then the western reach of the British backwater province of West Florida since 1773, when Jacques Rapalje communicated to governor Peter Chester and the provincial council that he was looking at a large tract of land for settlement on behalf of his father Garret Rapalje.[3] Garret Ralapje Sr., James (Jacques) Rapalje, Garret Rapalje Jr., Isaac Rapalje, and George Rapalje were among the members of the family who settled land in the lower Mississippi River in the 1770s and 1780s.[4]

In April 1781, a George Rapalje was part of a conspiracy of men determined to prevent the Spanish from taking over the Natchez District. According to one history, "...with friends joining them numbered about two hundred, prepared to make a stand against the Spaniards at White Cliffs, but soon received word that General Campbell had been defeated and that, West Florida had become a Spanish province...John Alston with another small party of loyalists, which seems to have included Captains Blomart and Winfrey, Parker Carradine, George Rapalje, John Smith, and William Eason, made his way to the Creek nation, where he and his companions were arrested by the Indians. After being carried to Mobile, they were forwarded to New Orleans and condemned to death on the charge of rebellion, but were pardoned by the governor".[5] Historian Albert Tate asserts that George Rapalje "is not mentioned as a leader of the revolt, and he was not one of the rebels imprisoned at New Orleans; he is mentioned briefly as an emissary to the Spanish commander of the inhabitants who were still loyal."[6]

George Rapalje of Natchez, West Florida, North America was listed as bankrupt in a British newspaper in 1787.[7] Rapalje had a trading post at Nanachehaw on the Big Black River where he traded with White settlers and the western band of Choctaw (Chahta).[8] Among the products he sold or traded for animal pelts were "knives, axes, blankets, salt, sugar, coffee, salve, thread, razors, silk handkerchiefs, trousers, shirts (some with ruffles), powder, bullets, ear rings, beads, gun flints, cheese, venison hams, ducks, and geese."[9] His journal, which covers the dates April 9, 1788, to April 1, 1797, is a valuable primary source document for studying the pioneer economy of colonial-territorial Mississippi.[10]

According to the minute books of the Mississippi Territory courts, he was indicted in 1800 for the murder of John Cotty.[11]

He was married to Jane Ellis, daughter of early Mississippi settler Richard Ellis.[12] George Rapalje was said to be related to "the Livingstons of New York."[13] If the couple had children, none survived.[13] Upon Jane Ellis Rapalje's death she left "her fortune of bank stocks, cash, slaves and lands consisting of Beaux Pres plantation, the Clifford plantation and the town house and house servants to nieces and nephews. She thus carried out the letter of her father's will which entailed her property by willing that it revert to Ellis heirs".[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Edith Wyatt (January 1, 1932). "Natchez, the City Unusual: Laurel Hill". Tensas Gazette. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  2. 1 2 Rothstein (1979), p. 80.
  3. ↑ Johnson (1934), p. 488.
  4. ↑ Tate (1983), pp. 79–81.
  5. ↑ Siebert (1916), pp. 478–479.
  6. ↑ Tate (1983), p. 81.
  7. ↑ "Bankrupts". Leicester Journal, and Midland Counties General Advertiser. May 19, 1787. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  8. ↑ Cotton, Gordon (March 11, 2001). "George Rapalje's journal a trove of Warren County's Spanish-era history". The Vicksburg Post. p. 13. Retrieved 2026-01-31.
  9. ↑ "Life in Spanish West Florida: George Rapalje's Journal". Vicksburg's Old Court House Museum. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  10. ↑ "Z 0580.000 Rapalje/Rapalji (George) Notebook". Mississippi Department of Archives and History Finding Aids. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  11. ↑ "Minutes of the Territorial Supreme Court, 1799–1803". State of Mississippi Judiciary Administrative Office of Courts. p. 12.
  12. ↑ Tate (1983), p. 80.
  13. 1 2 3 Wyatt, Edith Moore (June 3, 1932). "Natchez, the City Unusual: Mercer House". Tensas Gazette. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-01-31.

Sources

Further reading

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