1756 Financial Document Connecting Prominent French Nobility with the the Father of the American Revolution

On offer is fascinating manuscript from 1756, detailing a significant financial transaction with the document’s author, Germain Pierre Blanchebarbe, the Lord of Grandbourgone, who was one of France's leading noblemen in the mid-18th century. The document describes an agreement to pay for wood provided by one Francois Blanche.

An excerpt from the document follows:

Nous mandons de payer a francois Blanche...la somme de sept cent une livres trois sols neufs deniers...du prix de bois

[Translation: We mandate to pay to francois Blanche...the sum of seven hundred and one livres three sols nine cents remaining...of the price of wood]

The price is a significant sum, equal to approximately three years ordinary wages so the amount of wood cut must have been substantial.

The importance of the document is the author. Blanchebarbe was a French nobleman who also served as Grand Master of Waters and Lands of Blois under Louis XV. This was a purchased position and to hold it meant that Blanchebarbe was indeed a wealthy man. 

Of significance is that he sold this position to Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont Jacques-Donatien. Le Ray de Chaumont was one of the wealthiest and most powerful aristocrats in all of France. He made a fortune in shipping and in ceramic manufacturing. In 1750, he acquired the Château de Chaumont as a country home. He served Louis XVI at the Court at Versailles as the Governor of Les Invalides in Paris and as Grand Master of Waters and Lands of Blois, the position he purchased from Blanchebarbe.

Le Ray de Chaumont was very sympathetic to the American cause for independence and used his powerful position to sway the King and the powerful administrators of the French government to provide huge loans to the nascent American government. Le Ray also provided a fully staffed mansion for Benjamin Franklin. Le Ray's support for the American cause also involved having his shipyards refit a merchant vessel into a warship that he then gifted to America under the name USS Bonhomme Richard for use by Captain John Paul Jones (named after the character in Franklin’s book Poor Richard’s Almanac). As a result of his efforts, he is often referred to as the French Father of the American Revolution.

Unfortunately, his support for the Americans led to the bankruptcy of the French government. When crops failed in France in the 1780’s, there was no money to purchase grain to stave off mass starvation and the population rose in revolt. As such, Le Ray can also be considered a Father of the French Revolution.

For a historian, especially of American history, this document connects directly with two of the most significant revolutions in modern western history. Such a simple page would be a prize in any library due to its connections.

The manuscript is a one-page, single-sided document measuring 9.75 inches by 7.25 inches. The edges show feathering and staining that would be appropriate to its age. The page bears a printed seal. The wording is obscured but there is a clear image of a sailing ship. The handwriting is generally very legible.