Labranche, Alcée Louis, 1806-1861

LA BRANCHE, Alcée Louis, a Representative from Louisiana; born near New Orleans, La., in 1806; attended the Université de Sorreze, France; engaged in planting; member of the State house of representatives 1831-1833 and was chosen speaker of the house January 7, 1833; Charge d'Affaires to Texas from 1837 to 1840, when he resigned; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth Congress (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1845); naval officer at the port of New Orleans in 1847; died at Hot Springs, Va., August 17, 1861; interment in Red Church Cemetery, St. Charles Parish; reinterment in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, La.

<p>Alcée Louis la Branche (1806 – August 17, 1861) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Louisiana. He served one term as a Democrat.</p>

<p>La Branche was born near New Orleans, the son of Alexandre La Branche (a Revolutionary War regimental commander whose family had emigrated to Louisiana from Bavaria and had changed its surname from the German "Zweig" to the French "Branche," with both names meaning "branch") and Marie Jeanne Piseros (whose family was of Spanish ancestry). La Branche attended the Université de Sorèze in Sorèze (France). He served as Speaker of the House of the Louisiana State House of Representatives in 1833 and later served as Chargé d'Affaires to the Republic of Texas. He served in Congress from 1843 until 1845. He died in Hot Springs, Virginia.</p>

<p>LA BRANCHE, ALCÉE LOUIS (1806–1861).Alcée Louis La Branche, United States chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Texas, son of Alexandre La Branche, was born on his father's plantation on the Mississippi River near New Orleans in 1806. The family, earlier named Zweig (the German equivalent of French branche), had come from Bamberg, Bavaria, to Louisiana in 1721. Alexandre La Branche fought as a regimental commander in the Revolutionary War and the battle of New Orleans. He married Marie Jeanne Piseros, daughter of a prominent Louisiana trader, on November 10, 1778, and Alcée was the fourth of their five children. The Piseros family was French, but of Spanish ancestry.</p>

<p>Alcée developed an interest in politics early, since his father was a delegate to the first constitutional convention of the state of Louisiana in 1812. After he attended the University of Sorreze in France, he became a sugar planter in St. Charles Parish. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1831 to 1833, and that body elected him speaker of the House on January 7, 1833. Finding him a man of exceptional ability, President Andrew Jackson appointed him on March 3, 1837, to be the first diplomat from the United States to the Republic of Texas. Texas received him enthusiastically, eager to hear about the question of the annexation of Texas to the United States. The capital city, Houston, named a street in La Branche's honor.</p>

<p>As United States chargé d'affaires, La Branche negotiated the settlement of the cases concerning the brigs Pocket and Durango and a temporary commerce agreement. He aggressively defended the United States claim to disputed territory in Red River County (the present Bowie, Red River, Franklin, Titus, Morris, and Cass counties), although Texas maintained a land office there and Red River County had sent representatives to the Congress of the Republic of Texas. Eventually, on April 25, 1838, the two countries signed the Convention of Limits, which recognized Texas claims to the contested county and the Sabine River as the eastern boundary of Texas. However, tension continued between the Republic of Texas and the United States regarding Indian depredations along the northern border. La Branche protested Texas army crossings of the border in pursuit of Indians. He believed that the majority of Indian attacks were caused by Texans' trespassing and surveying Indian lands. To determine which Indians belonged to which country and to install a United States military post at Shreveport would have solved the problem, he thought. La Branche's reports on real or rumored Mexican attacks expressed optimism about the Texans' ability to retain their independence. On April 2, 1840, La Branche resigned his post to attend to personal affairs. His clear, calm reports enabled his government to be sensitive to the Texas position on various issues.</p>