Page "Jean Lafitte" Paragraph 9

Acknowledging that details of Lafitte's first twenty years are sparse, Davis speculates that Lafitte spent much time at sea as a child, probably aboard ships owned by his father, a known trader.

Davis places Lafitte's brother Pierre in Saint-Domingue in the late 1790s and early 19th century.

Due to escalating violence from the Haitian Revolution, in early 1803, Pierre boarded a refugee ship for New Orleans.

By 1806, several " Captain Lafitte " s operated in New Orleans ; Jean Lafitte was likely one of them.