VILLERE, Joseph Philippe Roy de, soldier, born in France; died in Louisiana in 1769. He was an officer in a French regiment that was stationed in Canada, his father having come to Louisiana with Iberville's first expedition. Afterward he was naval secretary of Louisiana. In 1769 he headed an insurrection against the Spanish authorities, and was arrested, and executed.
His son, Jacques, governor of Louisiana, born near New Orleans, Louisiana, 28 April, 1761; died there in 1831, was a major-general of volunteers under Gem Andrew Jackson in 1814-15, and counselled him to accept the proffered services of Pierre Lafitte and his outlaws, and to flood the ground on which the British troops were encamped by cutting the dikes of the Mississippi. He was the second governor of Louisiana, succeeding William C. C. Claiborne in 1818, continuing in office four years, and did much to diminish the friction between the French population and the United States authorities and English-speaking emigrants.
Jacques's son, Gabriel, soldier, born in Louisiana, 15 March 1785; died in New Orleans, Louisiana, 6 July, 1852, held a major's commission in the militia, and at the time of the British invasion was detailed to watch the Bayou Bienvenu. The enemy, landing at Fisherman's Village, captured him, but he escaped and reached New Orleans, giving General Jackson warning of their approach.
