Cape archive center releases new book

The Cape Girardeau County Archive Center has released a new book, "Translations of the French Documents of the Old Cape Girardeau District during the Spanish Regime and the United States Territorial Period 1796-1807."

The book was made possible through a grant from the Secretary of State, the Local Records Grant program and the translation work of Larry Havelock Jackson, who lives in Cape Girardeau.

Jackson spent about a year and a half translating the documents along with his wife, Jane Randol Jackson.

"We would find French documents and set them aside for future translation," Jane Randol Jackson said. "After a while, they built up and we applied for a grant and hired Larry to do the translation. There's no brand-new information. The book is a mix of probate and court information."

Probate information included is for Elijah Everrets or Averett, Richard Williamson and Samuel Randol, son of Enos Randol, as well as indentures for children Nancy and Salley Worth, daughters of Lewis Worth to Mr. William Boner. Cape Girardeau County Probate records include those for James Rayen, Lountz, Jacob, Waters Burrows, William Lowry, Rees Meredith, Andrew Summers and James Hodge.

For French words no longer in use, the project used Internet-based dictionaries to accurately translate the text.

The handwriting is sometimes illegible, but one distinctive hand is identified as the writing of Barthelemi Cousin, secretary to Louis Lorimier, commandant of the post of Cape Girardeau.

Larry Jackson has a master's degree in French from Middlebury College in Vermont and completed a year of graduate studies at Sorbonne in Paris. He has more than 20 years experience as a freelance interpreter at the United Nations in Vienna, Austria and the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Jackson was also assistant professor of French at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Jane Randol Jackson, director of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, has a master's degree in French from Middlebury College in Vermont and a year of graduate studies at Nanterre University in Paris, France. She spent 20 years teaching French in Cape Girardeau and Vienna, Austria.

The book is available at the Archive Center at 112 E. Washington St. in Jackson. Call 204-2331 for more information.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133