American Historical Ephemera & Photography

1 page, 5 1/16 x 3 5/8 in., docketing to verso, brown stain to left edge, old creases,

This document dates from the brief era of Napoleonic rule and is written in French. For Vital Dominigues promising to pay Joseph Vendene "Dix neuf paistres argent" (19 silver dollars); "paistres" was the term used by both the French and Spanish for American dollars. With Domingues' mark and witnessed by "B. Olive[y]" and "Lacombe." 

New Madrid (Nueva Madrid), Missouri was settled by Europeans around 1780 as a part of Spanish Louisiana. The settlement faced extensive difficulties due to its remoteness, frequent flooding from the Mississippi, and prevalent disease exacerbated by the swampy terrain. The territory was traded to France by Spain in 1800, in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, and shortly thereafter became American territory as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. The area was the site of intense intraplate earthquakes between December 1811 and February 1812. Due to the political instability and extreme natural disasters, documents from the early period of New Madrid's history are extremely scarce.