Charles-Jules de Menou

Charles-Jules de Menou received much of his education in the United States. The Litchfield Historical Society identifies him as Count Charles Julius De Menou, a student at St. John’s in Annapolis, St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, and the Litchfield Law School. He entered the Maryland bar in 1809. These American connections preceded his service in the French legation, where he served as chargé d’affaires during the interval between Hyde de Neuville and Durant de Mareuil. ¹

Menou helped prepare the commercial convention signed on 24 June 1822. During the comparison of the French and English copies, Menou read the French text while State Department clerk Daniel Brent read the American copy. Adams and Hyde de Neuville signed the agreement. ²

During another period as chargé in 1830, Menou challenged the additional customs duty charged at Pensacola on the French vessel Pactole. His February note argued that the charge violated the 1822 convention. Martin Van Buren deferred a definitive answer while seeking the collector’s explanation. ³

Menou also helped return a Charles Willson Peale portrait of George Washington from France. The Litchfield account traces its purchase from him by Charles B. Calvert in 1841 and its eventual transfer to the Capitol. Menou lived in Baltimore in 1843 and Paris by 1856. ¹