Jean Payen de Boisneuf | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Olivier Perrin. | |
| Born | 25 February 1738 |
| Died | 1 July 1815 |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation(s) | Military officer, politician, plantation owner |
Jean Payen de Boisneuf (1738-1815), was a French military officer and plantation owner, who had estates in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and in Touraine. He was elected deputy of the bailiwick of Touraine for the Estates General of 1789. As a member of a family of plantation owners, he was a pro-slavery activist and a member of the Feuillants. In 1791 he came to the United States and met with Thomas Jefferson seeking American intervention in the Haitian Revolution, which was refused. He returned to the United States in 1793, settling with distant relatives in Maryland, where they attempted to re-create a plantation similar to that with which they were familiar in Saint-Domingue. L'Hermitage Plantation was notable for its large-scale enslavement and for mistreatment of the slaves.