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n Back in the family home in Couëron, John JamesnAudubon had little trouble convincing his father, Jean, and his chère mamannof the treachery of Francis da Costa. He had more problems with his love fornLucy Bakewell. Like her father, Jean Audubon believed that, at seventeen, shenwas too young for marriage and that young John James was, as yet, unable tonprovide financial security for a young wife.
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| The Audubon family home at Coueron |
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nHe advised his son to wait and tongain some experience of business, turning his thoughts away from his love of thennatural world and more toward the acquisition of money. But in the spring ofn1805, John spent his days ‘in the lap of luxury’ collecting specimensnfrom the banks of the Loire, in the company of a young local doctor, CharlesnMarie d’Orbigny, who lived close by with his wife and infant son. During thesenhappy days, Audubon conceived his ambition to produce detailed, accuratenillustrations of birds, and took the first faltering steps to improve hisndrawing skills.
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| Audubon – Early Drawings of Birds – 1805 |
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nBut the outside world intervened, as the Napoleonic regimenruling in France began to look for conscripts. John received call up papers,nunderwent a ‘mockery’ of an examination and made a short cruise as a midshipmannof a man-of-war. His father intervened, acquired a passport that stated Johnnhad been born in New Orleans, and another for the son of his business partner,nRozier, written in Dutch (a language that Frederick Rozier could not speak),nand supplied them with business contracts in America.
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| Business Agreement of Audubon and Rozier |
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nEarly in 1806, the twonyoung Frenchmen departed for New York; a customs official was so impressed withnthe passports, he admitted that he wished he had such excellent qualificationsnthat would allow him to leave ‘unhappy France.’ A fortnight out ofnNantes, the Polly was pursued by a British privateer, the Rattlesnake,nshots were fired across her bows, and she was boarded. Two of the best seamennwere impressed, the livestock and provisions were stolen, as were somenvaluables, although Audubon and Rozier had hidden their gold in a stockingnbeneath cables on the bow, which was not found.
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nAnd then, thirty miles fromnSandy Hook, they were hailed by a fishing-smack, which warned them that twonBritish frigates were waiting by the harbour entrance, and were firing onnAmerican shipping. The captain of the Polly changed course and headednfor Long Island Sound, where a gale forced her onto a sand spit, butnfortunately she floated off when high tide arrived and landed safely in New York harbour.
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| Mill Grove |
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nAudubon andnRozier went straight to Mill Grove, where the two young Frenchmen began theirnbusiness enterprises. The lead mining interests of Mill Grove were sold, withnlegal restrictions, to the untrustworthy da Costa, Rozier began work in thenFrench importing house of Laurence Huron in Philadelphia, Audubon took anposition in the wholesale importing business of Benjamin Bakewell, (Lucy’snuncle), in New York city.
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nIt has to be said that he was not a naturalnbusinessman, he lost a substantial amount of money speculating on indigonexports, and on one occasion he forgot to seal an envelope containing a paymentnof $8,000. Rozier fared no better – a shipment of hams he sent to the WestnIndies recovered only one fifth of the initial investment. Audubon’s heart wasngiven over to the world of nature, he spent all of his spare time out in thencountryside surrounding New York (then, a place of a mere 75,000 inhabitants),nand sent many specimens back to d’Orbigny in France, receiving French artnsupplies in return.
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| Audubon – Drawing of a Marmot – 1805 |
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nAs the summer of 1807 drew to a close, Audubon and Rozierndecided to invest money borrowed from Benjamin Bakewell on a variety ofnmerchandise, which was loaded onto Conestoga wagons and shipped West, with thenintention of starting a general store catering to the needs of the thousands ofnemigrants heading into the rich Ohio valley country.
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nOn August 31st,nthe two young merchants boarded the stage-coach for Pittsburg, a journey of 300nmiles that took between 7 to 10 days on a fast stage, and 20 to 35 days fornfreight wagons. It was hard going, many passengers chose to dismount and walknrather than suffer the joltings of the coach on the rocky roads, clouds of dustnwere raised by the mixture of stage-coaches, Conestoga wagons and herds ofnlivestock on the rough trails, rattlesnakes were a constant danger, and thenwayside inns were hard, rough and ready shacks.
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| Down the Ohio River by Flatboat |
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nThe final part of the journeynwas made from Pittsburgh to Louisville down the Ohio river, on a flatboat, andnAudubon and Rozier, Merchants, opened their store. They had initial success,nand returned a good profit, so much so that in April 1808, Audubon returned tonFatland Ford and married Lucy Bakewell – he was 23, she was 3 years younger.nThe newly-weds returned to Louisville, where the business continued to grow, asndid Audubon’s stock of natural history drawings.
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nThe retail side of thenbusiness was run by Rozier, who grew into the role, and Audubon made buyingntrips back to the East, giving him ample opportunity to observe the wildlife asnhe passed through the countryside, although he sometimes became so involved innhis drawings that he forgot his business responsibilities; on one occasion henallowed the pack-horses carrying the stock and all of his money to wander off,nout of sight, while he was fascinated by the coloration of a small woodlandnwarbler.
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| J J Audubon the Frontiersman |
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nIn 1810, a strange visitor appeared in the counting room of Audubonnand Rozier, Merchants, Louisville; a man who would, unwittingly, change thencourse of Audubon’s life.
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nTomorrow – The Scottish Visitor
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