[1] A nineteenth-century account of his life states that he first settled in Boston, where he stayed for a short time, then moved to New Haven, where he married Marie Therese Felicité Le Breton, a daughter of a gentleman from Martinique.
Moving again to New York, he set up in business and became one of the leading merchants of the city.
His neighbors were David Dunham, Cornelius Dubois, and the Stuyvesant family.
He founded the Societe Francaise de Bienfaisance (French Benevolent Society of New York), and was a leading director and friend to the old Mechanics' Bank.
He is the ancestor of Vice Admiral François Picard-Destelan, Vice Admiral Leo Hewlett Thebaud, Rear Admiral Cynthia McCulley Thebaud, former president of the International Monetary Fund Jacques de Larosière, and French journalist Laurence de Cambronne.