Amos Stoddard

Amos Stoddard (October 26, 1762 — May 11, 1813) was the only commandant of Upper Louisiana for the French Republic and the only commandant for the District of Louisiana for the United States in 1804 during the handover of the Louisiana Purchase.

Spain ceded the territory Third Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 to Napoleon and France and then France turned around and sold it to the United States in 1803. However the transfer from Spain to France had not formally taken place when France sold the territory to the United States. As a result Spain had continued to govern the territory and refused Lewis and Clark permission to explore the territory forcing them to spend the winter of 1803-04 at Camp Dubois in Illinois.

On November 30, 1803 Spain formally turned the territory to France which governed for 20 days in New Orleans, Louisiana before turning it over to the United States on December 20, 1803. However the news was not conveyed upstream in the winter navigation season on the Mississippi River.

France did not deploy and army or representatives for its brief governance but rather appointed existing leaders to represent it in the mostly ceremonial transfer. [ [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01192778&id=3mYOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&dq=Amos+Stoddard#PPP15,M1 The Spanish Regime in Missouri by Louis Houck - 1909] ]

In the Three Flags Day ceremony on March 9-10, 1804 at Government House, at the southeast corner of Main and Walnut in St. Louis Stoddard represented both the United States and France.

Stoddard was born in Woodbury, Connecticut. He served in the American Revolutionary War. After the war he represented Hallowell in the state legislature. [ [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1584776285&id=za0r7H9YF3MC&pg=RA1-PA148&lpg=RA1-PA148&ots=XOQ7sbd8WV&dq=Amos+Stoddard&sig=q6o1PeQEKqTLHBFePNRGeHN-3cs A History of the Law: The Courts, And the Lawyers of Maine, from Its First Colonization to the Early Part of the Present Century by William Willis] ISBN 1584776285]

While at the territorial capital in St. Louis, Missouri, Stoddard noted this about the residents:

:Nothing ever restrains them from amusement which usually commences early in the evening, and is seldom suspended till late the next morning. [ [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0252064224&id=Z4F1gJ92qMoC&pg=RA1-PA5&lpg=RA1-PA5&dq=Amos+Stoddard&sig=pnSLtspqu_-F-_HyQoKTAbiC3OM The Urban Frontier: The Rise of Western Cities, 1790-1830 By Richard C. Wade - 1996] ISBN 0252064224]

Stoddard held the position as a military commander until October 1, 1804 when the territory came under civilian leadership of William Henry Harrison as part of Indiana Territory

Stoddard died after acquiring tetanus after being wounded in the Siege of Fort Meigs at Perrysburg, Ohio in May 1813.

Stoddard County, Missouri is named for him.

References

* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~mostodd2/stod-settlers/amos-stod.htm Rootsweb biography]
* [http://www.mohistory.org/content/LibraryAndResearch/DownloadFiles/StoddardPapers.pdf Moshistory.org papers]