Jonathas Granville

Pierre Joseph Marie Granville, known as Jonathas Granville (possibly 1785-1841) was a Haitian soldier. He born a free mulatto in Santo Domingo. He was a musician and poet, skilled swordsman, experienced diplomat, and civil servant. He later worked in the United States, promoting the emigration of free Blacks to Haiti.

Under Emperor Napoleon, Granville served as a junior officer during the emperor's campaigns in Germany, France, and Austria. Granville was regarded as elegant and refined, a man of knowledge and virtue.

Boyer's plans

When President Jean-Pierre Boyer of Haiti extended his plans of the 1820s for the emigration of free Blacks living in the United States, Granville serving as his emissary would play a major role in Boyer’s plans. Boyer believed free blacks should migrate to Haiti instead of Liberia, where the American Colonization Society (ACS) promoted as the preeminent location for emigrants.

With tension growing between the ACS and Boyer, Boyer used Granville to seal his plans for the free Blacks of the United States.

Work in the United States

In May, 1824 Granville was sent to Philadelphia in an attempt to encourage freed blacks to migrate to Haiti. Along with fifty thousand pounds of coffee, Boyer provided Granville with a fund to pay in full the emigrants passage to Haiti.

Granville’s appeals to the blacks began in Philadelphia and soon spread to New York and Boston. His message highlighted the benefits that Haiti provided, and eventually spread to Baltimore and Indiana.

With the backing of the Haitian government, Granville and his companions, Prince Saunders and Loring Dewey, guaranteed the emigrants economic prosperity in Haiti. They were also promised free passage, provisions for several months, and three acres of land a piece. Other incentives included higher wages for artisans, a guaranteed six to twelve Haitian dollars per week and forty dollars per family for simply taking the voyage to Haiti.

Granville along with his colleagues preached in churches, fraternal halls, and amongst mutual aid societies. This created excitement for many Black Americans and soon spread too many important figures and leaders in the Black community. Granville won over many influential people such as Nicolas Biddle, President of the Bank of the United States, merchant prince Stephen Girard, and publisher Mathew Carey. Also lending their support to Granville were the Marquis de Lafayette and Scottish reformer Frances Wright.

With impeccable manners and an ability to keep his feelings to himself, Granville was able to work with and convince others. Granville was often confused about the way black Americans lived and the things that concerned them, especially their constant disagreements about religion. Feeling uncomfortable surrounded by whites who frequently mistreated him, Granville often requested that Boyer relieve him of his duties in America and allow him to return to Haiti. Boyer repeatedly denied his request, instructing him to finish the work he began.

One incidentduring his mission in the US was Granville’s encounter with a lieutenant from the south. While dining at a restaurant in New Brunswick with his colleagues, Granville was addressed inappropriately and rudely by the visiting Lieutenant. The "Boston Commercial Gazette" records the incident as such “Observing Mr. Granville at his elbow, the officer remarked, ‘sir are you not aware that it is contrary to custom for white men and colored people to eat at the same table?”. He continued to insult Granville by “declaring that he would not eat with a negro.” Granville maintained his composure. Granville responded “Sir, I am an officer also in my own country, and if I were there, it would be a part of my duty, Sir, to take into custody those Haytiens who insult strangers.” The lieutenant later realized his mistake and wrote a letter apologizing for his behavior. Granville responded “Sir, I write insults in the sand; and favors, on marble.” Many came to regard Granville as a man of honor. “This officer has conducted himself with the greatest circumspection; and has made every favorable impression on the minds of our citizens with respect to his character and talents.”

Jonathas Granville left a lasting impression on many people in the United States, both Black and White. “Mr. Walsh of the National Gazette said the following about of Granville, “We have had the pleasure of conversing with, and formed a very favorable opinion of his understanding and feelings. He is himself a man of colour, but his information, diction, sentiments and manners, place him upon the level of the good society of any country.” According to the Newbury Port Herald many were fond of Mr. Granville and the work he did, “It is due to Mr. Granville to state, that, from the day of his landing to the day of his embarkation, we have not heard a whisper against him, although we have heard much in his favour, not only as to the manner in which he had executed the duties of the delicate and important mission, but as the general deportment.” Granville’s work in the United States was instrumental in the success of Boyer’s plans for Haiti. Through his demeanor he not only left a positive impression as a distinguished gentleman of color and also left a lasting positive impression about the charter of the Haitian people. “If this is a specimen of Haytien manners, it would not be amiss to send some of our young men to President Boyer that they may learn how to behave themselves le gentlemen and like Christians.”

Migrants to Haiti

Granville was directly responsible for the first ships that sailed from the United States with emigrants. On August 23 1825 the ship "Charlotte Corday" left with thirty families on board. Later Granville along with other emigrants finally left Philadelphia for Haiti. After Granville's stay in the US approximately six thousand blacks left for Haiti. Later that number would rise to almost thirteen thousand people, leaving from places such as Maryland, Delaware and New York.

Family

Jonathas Granville married Louise Sarasin, a cousin of President Boyer, on November 24, 1817 in Port-au-Prince Haiti. He had two children: Anne Victoire Jonathine (1818) and Henri Theodore Granville (1825). His son Henri would later publish works about his father and his work in Haiti. Henri included in the volume letters written between Boyer and his father as well as personal notes of Granville.

Jonathas Granville died in 1841 in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. He left behind his family and two sisters, Thérèse Rachelle and Anne-Marie T.F. Granville.

References

*Jonathas Henri Théodore Granville, "Biographie de Jonathas Granville, par son fils" (Paris, 1873)
*Elizabeth Rauh Bethel, "Images of Hayti: The Construction of An Afro-American Lieu De Memoire", Callaloo, Vol. 15, No. 3, Haitian Literature and Culture, Part 2 (Summer, 1992), pp. 827-841