French Legation

Infobox nrhp | name = French Legation

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caption = The French Legation now serves as a period museum and host to a variety of community events.
location = 802 San Marcos St.
Austin, Texas, USA
lat_degrees = 30
lat_minutes = 16
lat_seconds = 01
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 97
long_minutes = 43
long_seconds = 56
long_direction = W
built = 1841
added = November 25, 1969
refnum=69000213
governing_body = Daughters of the Republic of TexasThe French Legation is a historic legation building in east Austin, Texas, built in 1841 to represent the French government in the new Republic of Texas.

History

Following Texas' declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836, France was one of three countries (the other two being the United States and United Kingdom) to officially recognize Texas as an independent state. This was sealed in the 1839 Treaty of Amity, Navigation, and Commerce between the two countries. France subsequently assigned Monsieur Jean Pierre Isidore Alphonse Dubois, a secretary in the French Legation in Washington, to be the new chargé d'affaires of his majesty Louis Philippe, the King of the French to the Republic of Texas. Dubois was to remain in Austin to maintain an official presence there. When the common-born Dubois arrived in September, 1840, he had added "de Saligny" to his name and declared himself a count.

The legation structure was completed in mid-1841, approximately a half-mile east of the city center, and was a truly lavish abode compared to the standards of Austin at that time (temporary log structures were the norm). Count de Saligny was rather notorious among the people of Austin for his haughty attitude and non-payment of bills, to the point where he was referred to as "No-Count de Saligny." His conflict with Austinites even came to blows in the so-called 1841 Pig War, when his butler fought with a neighbor whose pigs had been eating the corn that Count de Saligny fed his horses.

After the young nation's capitol was moved to Houston in 1842, the legation buildings were abandoned and deteriorated rapidly. The French Government recalled Count de Saligny in 1846, when the Republic of Texas ceased to be a country.

The mansion was later occupied by John Mary Odin, first Bishop of the Diocese of Galveston, and then Moseley Baker, hero of the Texas Revolution, in 1847. Dr. Joseph W. Robertson bought the estate from Baker and generations of his family resided there until 1940. The State of Texas purchased the site from Robertson's heirs in 1945. At that time, the state placed the property in the custody of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT), who established the French Legation Museum in 1949. The DRT restored the legation building and grounds and opened the site to the public on April 5, 1956.

It is the oldest extant frame structure in Austin. The building and surroundings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.

ee also

*Texas Legation

External links

* [http://www.frenchlegationmuseum.org/ The French Legation Museum]