APPENDICES

Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s

DOUCET

[DOO-set, doo-SET, doo-SAY]

ACADIA

Germain Doucet, sieur de La Verdure, of Couperans or Conflans-en-Brie, east of Paris, France, a minor nobleman and "captain at arms," born in the mid-1590s, came to Acadia with Isaac de Razilly and the sieur d'Aulnay in 1632, four years before the first French families arrived in the colony.  He was master at arms at Pentagouët, present-day Maine, in 1640 and testified in an inquiry against former governor Charles La Tour that year.  Germain was mentioned in the will of the sieur d'Aulnay, written in 1649, the year before the governor died.  In 1654, when the English seized Port-Royal, Germain commanded the post and was guardian of d'Aulnay's children.  Germain is not listed in the first Acadian census of 1671 because he likely returned to France after the English seized the colony.  According to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, if Germain had been listed in the first census, he would have been age 76 that year. 

Germain married twice, but the names of both of his wives have been lost to history.  According to Acadian genealogist Stephen A. White, Germain married his first wife in c1620, probably in France, a dozen years before he came to Acadia, probably without her.  According to White, Germain and his first wife had four children, including two sons who created families of their own.  Their daughters married into the Dugas and Lejeune dit Briard families.  The capitulation papers that Germain presented to English officer Robert Sedgwick in 1654 said that Germain left his "brother-in-law" and lieutenant, Jacques Bourgeois, as hostage with the English to insure that he fulfilled the terms of surrender, so Germain's second wife, who, according to White, he married in c1654, may have been a sister of Jacques Bourgeois's wife Jeanne, daughter of Guillaume Trahan and his first wife Françoise Corbineau, but, again, her name has been lost to history.  According to White, no children by his second wife have been recorded (but see below).

Sieur Germain's older son Pierre, by his first wife, was born in France in c1621.  He came to Acadia probably in the mid-1630s with his mother and sisters and settled at Port-Royal, where he worked as a mason.  According to Stephen A. White, he did not marry until c1660, when he was nearly 40.  His wife Henriette, daughter of Simon Pelletret and Perrine Bourg, was 20 years his junior and gave him 10 children.  Their four daughters married into the Hébert, Bernard, Doiron, Chênet Dubreuil, and Comeau families.  Pierre died at Port-Royal in June 1713, age 92.  Five of his six sons, all born at Port-Royal, created families of their own:  

Oldest son Toussaint dit François, born in c1663, married Marie, daughter of Irishman Roger Caissie and Marie-Françoise Poirier, at Port-Royal in c1690.  Toussaint dit Francois and Marie settled at Chignecto and had 11 children, including three sons who married into the Poirier, Brasseur dit Mathieu, and Cormier families.  Their five daughters married into the Girouard, Gaudet, Bertrand, Doiron, and Richard families.  Toussaint died probably at Chignecto in c1733.  

Jean, born in c1665, married Françoise, daughter of Martin Blanchard and Françoise LeBlanc, at Port-Royal in c1692.  They settled at Minas and had seven children, including a son who married into the Hébert family.  Their five daughters married into the Landry, Daigre, and Bugeaud families.  In August 1714, after the British gained control of Acadia, Jean applied for and received permission from the French to move to Île Royale, but the marriage records of his children reveal that his family remained at Minas.  

Pierre, fils, born in c1667, probably died young and did not marry.  

Louis, born in c1674, married Marguerite, daughter of Jacques Bourgeois and Marguerite Gautrot, at Port-Royal in c1702.  They settled at Chignecto and had seven children, including two sons who married into the Richard and Carret families.  Three of their daughters married into the Poirier, Richard, Gaudet, and Orillon dit Champagne families.  

René, born in c1678, married Marie, daughter of François Broussard and Catherine Richard, at Port-Royal in c1702.  They remained at Port-Royal and had 10 children, including four sons who married into the Dugas, Petitot dit Saint-Seine, Préjean, and Bourg families.  Five of their daughters married into the Landry, Pitre, Garceau, Arseneau, Babineau, and Bourg families.  

Youngest son Mathieu, born in c1685, married Anne, daughter of Julien Lord and Anne-Charlotte Girouard, at Port-Royal in June 1712.  They had seven children, including three sons who married into the Bourg, Comeau, and Lavergne families.  Two of their daughters married into the Thibodeau and Comeau families.  Mathieu died by July 1760 during Le Grand Dérangement.  

.

Sieur Germain's younger son, Germain, fils, born in c1641, was, according to White, from Sieur Germain's first wife.  (However, according to recent yDNA evidence garnered from nearly a dozen Doucet descendants, Germain, fils may not have been a son of Sieur Germain at all but rather a Mi'kmaq whom the captain at arms adopted, perhaps when he married the boy's mother in c1654.)  Germain, fils married Marie, daughter of René Landry l'aîné and Perrine Bourg, at Port-Royal in c1664.  They had nine children.  One of their daughters married into the Loppinot family.  Germain, fils died at Port-Royal in the late 1690s, in his late 50s.  Five of his seven sons, all born at Port-Royal, created families of their own.  Most of Germain, fil's sons remained at Port-Royal, at least until Le Grand Dérangement:  

Oldest son Charles, born in c1665, married Huguette, daughter of François Guérin and Anne Blanchard, at Port-Royal in c1684.  They had nine children, including six sons who married into the Poirier, Robichaud, Carret, Comeau, and Pitre families.  Their only daughter married into the Lavigne family.  Charles became a sailor and a carpenter.  Soon after the British gained control of Acadia in 1714, Charles took his family to Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, which remained in French hands.  Charles died at Port-Royal in May 1739 in his early 70s.  

Bernard dit Laverdure, born in c1667, married Madeleine, daughter of Jean Corporon and Françoise Savoie, at Port-Royal in c1690.  They had four children, including a son who married into the Bourget family.  One of their daughters married into the Savary family.  Bernard died at Port-Royal in August 1709.  His wife remarried twice.  

Laurent, born in c1669, married Jeanne, daughter of Antoine Babin and Marie Mercier and widow of Michel Richard, at Port-Royal in c1689.  They had 12 children, including six sons who married into the Sylvestre dit Champagne, Pellerin, Doiron, Brun, Babineaux, and Martin families.  Three of their daughters married into the Lord, Levron, and Garceau dit Boutin families.  In 1714, soon after Britain gained control of Acadia, Laurent took the ship La Marie Joseph to Île Royale with other Port-Royal Acadians to look at land there.  Evidently he did not like what he saw; he returned to Port-Royal, probably where he died by January 1728.  His oldest son Pierre, meanwhile, left Nova Scotia, married at Pointe-aux-Trembles, near Montréal, in February 1716, and settled a "fief" at Chicot, Berthier Parish, in the 1720s; in other words, he and his family became Canadiennes.  

Jacques dit Maillard, born in c1671, married Marie, daughter of Étienne Pellerin and Jeanne Savoie, at Port-Royal in c1695.  They had 11 children, including three sons who married into the Bourg, Léger, and Dugas families.  Three of their daughters married into the Lord, Simon dit Boucher, and Landry families.  

Youngest son Claude dit Maître Jean, born in c1674, married Marie, daughter of Étienne Comeau and Marie-Anne Lefebvre, at Port-Royal in c1696.  They had 11 children, including four sons who married into the Préjean, Surette, Robichaux, and Pellerin families.  Five of their daughters married into the Gaudet, Préjean, Chiasson, Grosvalet, and Le Borgne dit Cotte families.  

[For more of this family in pre- and post-dispersal Acadia and Canada, see Book Three]

By 1755, descendants of Germain Doucet de La Verdure could be found in several of the major Acadian communities along the Fundy shore--at their home base in the Annapolis valley and at Minas, Cap-Sable, Chignecto, and Chepoudy.  They also could be found on French-controlled Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, as well as on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island.  

~

Other Doucet males, none of them kin to the other Doucets, lived in greater Acadia.  One of them was a Canadian priest:

Alexandre, son of Jacques Doucet and Marie Binet, was born probably at Québec in c1663.  He was counted on Île d'Orléans, just downriver from Québec City, in 1681, age 18.  Alexandre was ordained a priest at Québec in March 1689, age 26, and died at Port-Royal in March 1701 in his late 30s.

Another Germain Doucet, this one an "Amérindien de la rivière du Port-Royal," so he probably belonged to the Mi'kmaq tribe, married Françoise, surname unrecorded, probably at Port-Royal in c1708.  According to one Acadian historian, this "German Doucet's family appears in the 1708 census [at Port-Royal] under the name Medosset."  Acadian genealogist Stephen A. White notes, however, that there "is ... a conflict in the documentation.  In the census, Germain Medosset's wife is called Marie-Charlotte, but in the parish register Françoise is clearly given as the first name of [this] Germain Doucet's wife."  Their son François, born at Port-Royal in c1709, married Marie, 17-year-old daughter of Pierre Pisnet and Anne ____, at Annapolis Royal in June 1726.  

Jean Doucet dit Lirlandois, said to be an Irishman and therefore not kin to the other Doucets, married Anne, daughter of Philippe Pinet and Catherine Hébert, probably at Annapolis Royal in c1711.  They had five children, two sons and three daughters.  The older son died young, and the younger son may not have married.  Two of their daughters married into the Joubert and Lucas dit Bergerac families at Louisbourg on Île Royale and at Port-Lajoie, Île St.-Jean, respectively.  Jean and his family were at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, in the late 1720s.  In June 1728, Jean bound out one of his daughters to a wealthy Louisbourg widow for three years service.  Jean remarried to Thérèse, daughter of Jean Dauphin and Jeanne-Ursule Gély of L'Ancienne-Lorette, Canada, and widow of Étienne Boyer, at Cap-St.-Ignace, present-day Québec Province, in April 1729.  Their daughter was born during the family's move from Québec back to Louisbourg in the summer of 1730 and died soon after they reached the French citadel.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

[For the family's travails during the Great Upheaval, see Book Six]

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Doucets were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.  The first of them reached New Orleans in February 1765 with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue.  After a short stay in the city, during which they attempted to exchange their Canadian card money for Louisiana funds, they followed the Broussards to the Attakapas District, where they helped created La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche:  

Agnès Brun, age 22, widow of Paul Doucet, came with daughter Anne dite Nannette, age 1.  Agnès remarried to widower Olivier Thibodeaux at Attakapas in c1769.  Anne dite Nannette married Jean-Baptiste, son of French Creole Jean Huval of New Orleans, at Attakapas in September 1786, and remarried to Henri, son of Léonard Ranconné or Ranconnet of Liege, Flanders, at Attakapas in February 1802.   Nannette died at Attakapas four months after her second marriage, in July 1802, age 38.  

Michel-Laurent Doucet of Port-Royal, age 45, came with wife Marguerite Martin, age 44, and five of their children--Joseph dit Hilaire, age 13, Michel, fils, age 12, Pierre, age 9, Jean, age 3, and Marie-Marthe, age 1.  Marie-Marthe died on Bayou Teche, age 20 months, in November 1765, one of the last victims of the epidemic that killed dozens of her fellow Teche Acadians that summer and fall.  Michel and Marguerite had no more children in Louisiana.  They settled at first at La Manque, on the lower Teche, before moving to the Opelousas District in the 1780s or 1790s.  Michel Laurent died at Opelousas in October 1805; the priest who recorded his burial said that Michel was age 105 when he died, but he probably was in his early 80s. 

The majority of the Doucets of the Bayou State are descended from Michel-Laurent and three of his sons, especially his eldest: 

Descendants of Joseph dit Hilaire DOUCET (c1752-1803; Germain. Germain, fils, Laurent, Laurent, fils)

Joseph dit Hilaire, eldest son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin, was born probably at Annapolis Royal in c1752.  He followed his family to Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, after they escaped the British roundup at Port-Royal in the fall of 1755; went with them to the prison camp at Halifax in the late 1750s; and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Joseph dit Hilaire married Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Landry and Madeleine Broussard, at Attakapas in July 1772.  In the late 1770s or early 1780s, they moved north to the Opelousas District.  Their daughter married into the Leger family.  Joseph died at Opelousas in December 1803, in his early 50s. 

1

Oldest son Joseph, fils, baptized at Attakapas, age unrecorded, in May 1776, married Céleste, daughter of Antoine Bellard and his Acadian wife Marie Trahan, at Opelousas in May 1805.  A child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died in St. Landry Parish, age 5 months, in August 1807, Joseph III was born in September 1809, Maximilien in February 1813, Joachim in May 1814, Jean in March 1815, and Joseph Julien, called Julien, was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age "about 4 years," in October 1821.  They may also have had a son named Alexandre.   Their daughter married into the Comeaux family.  Joseph, fils died near Grand Coteau in November 1840; the priest who recorded the burial said that Joseph was age 70 when he died, but he probably was in his 60s.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--a 24-year-old black female, a 22-year-old mulatto male, and a 5-year-old black female--on Céleste Doucet's farm; this may have been Joseph, fils's widow, Céleste Bellard.  

1a

Joseph III married Marie Carmelite, called Carmelite, "natural" daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Richard and Spanish Creole Clothilde Quintero, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1828.  Their son Joseph IV was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1836, Martin in August 1838, Émile in April 1843, Charles in July 1845, Alfred near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in November 1847, Hippolyte in October 1849, Léon O'Neil near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in September 1854, and Narcisse in December 1857.  They also had a son named Zéphirin.  Their daughters married into the Comeaux, Cormier, Figurant, Frugé, Matte, and Sonnier families. 

Martin married Irma, daughter of French Canadian Simon Matte and his Acadian wife Célestine Chiasson, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1858.  Their son Martin, fils was born near Church Point in April 1870.  During the War of 1861-65, Martin served probably as a conscript in Company B of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery, which included many Acadian conscripts and which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Martin was captured at Vicksburg in July 1863 with the rest of his unit, but, unlike most of his fellow conscripts, who refused parole and went to Federal prisoner-of-war camps, Martin accepted a parole of honor, was exchanged, returned to his regiment, and surrendered with his unit at Meridian, Mississippi, in May 1865.  He was a farmer after the war and was living in Crowley, Acadia Parish, in 1891.  

Émile married Pauline, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Lejeune and Creole wife Phelonise Hall, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in December 1863.  Their son Joseph was born near Church Point in November 1864.  Émile remarried to cousin Julie or Julia, daughter of fellow Acadians Louis Thibodeaux and Zelima Richard, at the Church Point church in December 1866. 

During the War of 1861-65, Charles served in Company D of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in Lafayette and St. Landry parishes, which fought in Louisiana, especially against prairie Jayhawkers.  Charles married French Creole Caroline Lebleu, widow of Charles Bellard, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in November 1866.  Their son Grégoire was born near Church Point in November 1870.  Charles died near Church Point in December 1931, age 86.  

Zéphirin married Alida or Hida, daughter of French Canadian Joseph Lavergne, fils and his Acadian wife Emeline Jeansonne, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1867.  Their son Philogène was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1870. 

1b

Maximilien married Marie Anne, daughter of Hippolyte Marcantel and Marguerite Olivier, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1834.  Maximilien died in St. Landry Parish in October 1841, age 28.  His family line probably died with him.  

1c

Joseph Julien married Joséphine, daughter of Joseph Fontenot and Céleste Jacques Fontenot, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1839.  Their son Joseph Julien, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1840, Julien near Grand Coteau in December 1843, Jules in December 1849, Onésime near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in February 1853, Célestin in March 1863, Félicien near Grand Coteau in July 1865, and Pierre Arvillien near Church Point in March 1867.  Their daughter married into the Lejeune family. 

Joseph Julien, fils married Mélaïde, daughter of Creoles Louis Valière LeBlanc and Marie Caroline Racca, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1861.  Their son Joseph Edmond, called Edmond, was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in July 1862, and Joseph Lastie in March 1864.  During the War of 1861-65, Joseph Julien, fils served in Company D of the 7th Louisiana Regiment Cavalry, raised in Lafayette and St. Landry parishes, which fought in Louisiana.  Joseph Julien, fils remarried to fellow Acadian Hyacinthe Richard, widow of Numa Leger, at Church Point in March 1879.  Joseph Julien, fils died at Palmetto, St. Landry Parish, in February 1924, just shy of his 83rd birthday, and was buried in Immaculate Conception Catholic Cemetery, Lebeau. 

Jules may have married Anastasie Villeneuve in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1870. 

1d

Alexandre married fellow Acadian Céleste Comeaux in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1850.  Their son Joseph was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1851, Jean Dupré in March 1853, Jules le jeune in July 1859, Gerasin in July 1861, and Mirza in November 1863.  

1e

Jean may have married French Creole Adeline Dufrene, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, by the early 1850s.  

1f

Joachim may have married Carmelite Braysand, place and date unrecorded.  

2

Anselme, born at Attakapas in October 1777, married Marie-Angèle, called Angèle, daughter of fellow Acadians Blaise Lejeune and Marie-Josèphe Breaux, at Opelousas in November 1802.  Their son Anselme, fils, also called Anse, was baptized at Opelousas, age 6 weeks, in January 1807, Achille was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1809, Mélon, also called Menton or Mouton, in December 1811, Orien in February 1814 but died at age 16 months in June 1815, and Hilaire le jeune was born in September 1819.  Their daughters married into the Venable and Young families. 

2a

Anselme, fils, married Pauline, 15-year-old daughter of Joseph Bergeau and Marie Miller, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1828.  They settled at Pointe-aux-Loups, now Iota, Acadia Parish.  Their son Paulin was born in December 1830, and Ursin in December 1831.  Anselme, fils remarried to Adélaïde, daughter of Joseph Venable and his Acadian wife his Acadian wife Anastasie Savoie and widow of André Meche, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1836, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1847.  Their son Simon was born near Grand Coteau in July 1839, Narcisse in Lafayette Parish in January 1841, Onésime near Grand Coteau in November 1842, Joseph in November 1844, and Mélon le jeune in February 1851.  Their daughters married into the Gay family, and perhaps into the Caruthers and Leger families as well.  Anselme, fils's estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in September 1838, years before he died.  Anselme, fils died by May 1853, when a second succession record, probably post-mortem, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse; he would have age 46 that year.  

Ursin, by his father's first wife, married Eudalie Miller in the mid- or late 1850s and settled near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish.  During the War of 1861-65, Ursin served with two of his brothers in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862.  Ursin died at Opelousas in December 1862, age 31, no cause of death given, before the company became part of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry.  Ursin's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in April 1863.  

Paulin, by his father's first wife, married Celima or Selina, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Trahan and his Creole wife Celina Fontenot, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1860.  During the War of 1861-65, Paulin served in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia.  The company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862, but he was discharged on a surgeon's certificate in October 1862 and went home before the company became part of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry.  Paulin's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in July 1867; he would have been age 37 that year.  Did he father any sons? 

Narcisse, by his father's second wife, married Angelina Gatte in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1859.  During the War of 1861-65, Narcisse served with his two older half-brothers in the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862.  Narcisse may have served in the unit when it was Company K of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, which fought in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.  Like his half-brother Paulin, he survived the war.  Narcisse died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in June 1914, age 73. 

Simon, by his father's second wife, married Marguerite or Marie Cora, called Cora, daughter of fellow Acadians Dositée Leger and Marcellite Semer, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1859.  Their son Simon, fils was born near Grand Coteau in September 1862 but died at age 4 in August 1866, Trasimond was born in July 1864, and Joseph Adam in January 1870.  During the War of 1861-65, Simon served in Company A of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

2b

Achille married Mélanie, daughter of Joseph Matte and Esther Bellard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1828.  Did Achille father any sons?   

2c

Mélon married Hélène, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians François Richard and Hélène Brasseaux, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1831.  They settled at Pointe-aux-Loups, now Iota, Acadia Parish.  Their son Mélon, fils was born in March 1835, Théodule in February 1836, Joseph Portalis, called Portalis, in December 1847, and André Duprélon, called Duprélon, in November 1848.  Their daughters married into the Doucet, Lavergne (French Canadian, not Acadian), Miller, Richard, and Veroni families.  Melon, père died probably at Pointe-aux-Loups in April 1859; the priest who recorded the burial said that Melon was age 49 when he died, but he was 47.  

Théodule married Marie Azéma or Zulma, daughter of French Creole Joseph Lavergne and his Acadian wife Émelie Jeansonne, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1856, and recorded the marriage at the Opelousas courthouse the following April.  Their son Joseph Théodule was born in St. Landry Parish and baptized the day of his birth at the Bois Mallet chapel in July 1857, Pierre O'Neil was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1862, Erase, probably Eraste, near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in July 1867, and Christophe in Lafayette Parish in September 1870.  During the War of 1861-65, Théodule may have served in Company F of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi. 

Mélon, fils married Marie Irma, called Irma, daughter of Alfred Reed and his Acadian wife Marie Hermance Lejeune, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1859.  Their son Clémile was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in December 1861.  During the War of 1861-65, Mélon, fils served the Prairie Rangers Company Cavalry or Todd's Prairie Rangers when it was part of the state militia; the company was transferred to Confederate service in August 1862.  Mélon, fils may have served in the unit when it was Company K of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, which fought in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi.  After the war, he was a farmer and stock raiser.  He died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in March 1916, age 81.  

André Duprélon married Octalie or Ortalie, daughter of Denis Quebedeaux and his Acadian wife Louise Trahan, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in May 1868, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry Parish but now in Acadia Parish, in August.  Their son André, fils was born in near Church Point in April 1869. 

Joseph Portalis married Eugénie, daughter of Eugène Vallet and Marguerite Quebedeaux, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in December 1869. 

2d

Hilaire le jeune married Azélie or Émelie, 14-year-old daughter of Julien Lasage and Marguerite Bock, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1839.  Their son Joseph Duprélon, called Duprélon, was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in December 1843.  They also had a son named Achille le jeune.  Hilaire le jeune remarried to cousin Marie Hermance, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Lejeune and his second wife Marie Josette Bellard and widow of Alfred Reed, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1859, and sanctified the marriage at the Opelousas church in May 1861.  At age 47, Hilaire le jeune remarried again--his third marriage--to Célestine, daughter of French Creole Jean Simon and his Acadian wife Céleste Granger and widow of Antoine LeBlanc and David Potier (so this was her third marriage also), in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1867, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in August 1868. 

During the War of 1861-65, Joseph Duprélon, by his father's first wife, served in Company D of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Mary Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  Joseph Duprélon married cousin Virginie, daughter of fellow Acadians Mélon Doucet, père and Hélène Richard, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1867, and may have remarried to fellow Acadian Eugénie Leger in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1868.  Joseph Duprélon died near Iota, Acadia Parish, in January 1913, age 69.  

Achille le jeune, by his father's first wife, married stepsister and cousin Azélime or Selima, daughter of Alfred Reed and his Acadian wife Marie Hermance Lejeune, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1867, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in October; Azélime's mother was Achile's stepmother. 

3

Hilaire, baptized at Opelousas, age 2 1/2 months, in April 1780, married Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Granger and Anne Babin, at the Opelousas church in January 1805.  Their son Hilaire, fils was baptized at Opelousas, age 6 weeks, on New Years Day 1806, a child, perhaps a son, name and age unrecorded, died in St. Landry Parish in September 1808, and another child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, born in c1809, died at age 4 in March 1813, and Dosité was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 9 months, in July 1812.  Hilaire, père died in St. Landry Parish in April 1813, a widower; the priest who recorded the burial said that Hilaire was "about 30 yrs." old when he died; he was 33; his will was dated the day before his death. 

3a

Hilaire, fils married Marie Louise, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Lejeune and his Creole wife Marie Louise Lacase, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1828.  Their son Hilaire III was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1829, Onésime in November 1834, Joseph le jeune was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, age 5 months, in May 1838, and Jean was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 2 months, in March 1843. 

3b

Dosité married Caroline Lejeune, perhaps a fellow Acadian, in St. Landry Parish during the early or mid-1830s.  Their son Onésime was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in March 1837, Dosité, fils in October 1847, Hilaire le jeune in February 1850, Émile in October 1852, and Hippolyte in April 1855.  Their daughter married into the LeBoeuf family.  Dosité, at age 56, may have remarried to Marie Courtine in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1869. 

4

Valéry, born at Attakapas in February 1783, died at Opelousas in June 1806, age 23, and did not marry.  

5

Youngest son Jean-Louis, born probably at Attakapas in c1786, married Susanne or Julie, daughter of fellow Acadians Basile Chiasson and Anne Marie Thibodeaux of Opelousas, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1812.  Jean Louis was a resident of La Butte, then in St. Martin but now in Lafayette Parish, when he died at Prairie Sorel, St. Martin Parish, in December 1812; he was only 26 years old.  Jean-Louis's succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in March 1813.  He and his wife probably had no children, so this line of the family would have died with him.  

Descendants of Michel DOUCET, fils (c1753-1804; Germain. Germain, fils, Laurent, Laurent, fils)

Michel, fils, second son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin, was born at Annapolis Royal in c1753.  He followed his family to Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, after they escaped the British roundup at Annapolis Royal in the fall of 1755, went to the prison at Halifax with them in the late 1750s, and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Michel, fils married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians René Landry and Marguerite Babin, at Attakapas in January 1793, when he was 40.  They settled on upper Bayou Teche at La Pointe near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  Their daughter married into the Foreman family.  Unlike his brothers, Michel, fils remained in the Attakapas District, where he died at La Pointe in November 1804; the priest who recorded his burial said that Michel was age 45 when he died, but he probably was in his early 50s; his succession was not filed at the St. Martinville courthouse until May 1817.  

1

Their oldest son, name and age unrecorded, died of "liver illness" at Attakapas in 1793.  

2

Jean-Ursin, called Ursin, baptized at Attakapas, age 8 months, in November 1795, married Marie Apollonie, called Pauline, daughter of French Creole Philippe Doré and Marie Grolot of Île des Cypres or Cypress Island, now Lake Martin, at the St. Martinville Church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1816.  Their son Ursin, fils, also called Fondalise, was born in St. Martin Parish in November 1816. 

Ursin, fils married Irma, also called Emma, daughter of François Champagne and Lise Champagne, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1838.  Their son Ursin III was born in St. Martin Parish in February 1844 but died  the following October, and Aurelien Ursin was born in September 1845.  Their daughters married into the Bertrand, Delahoussaye, and Doré families.  Ursin, fils remarried to Amelina, daughter of Balthazar Delahoussaye and Modeste Champagne, at the St. Martinville church in September 1850.  Their son Alexandre was born in St. Martin Parish in October 1851, and François Balthazar in March 1856.  Their daughter married into the Lopez family.  Ursin, fils died in St. Martin Parish in August 1858; the priest who recorded his burial said that Ursin was age 40 when he died, but he was 42; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse a few days after his death. 

Aurelien Ursin, by his father's first wife, married French Creole Louisa Delahoussaye and died in St. Martin Parish in January 1868; the St. Martinville priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Aurelien died "at age 22 yrs."; his succession, naming his wife, was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse two days after his death. 

3

Their youngest son, name unrecorded, died at Attakapas, age 1 month, in July 1799.  

Descendants of Pierre DOUCET (c1756-1807? 1840?; Germain. Germain, fils, Laurent, Laurent, fils)

Pierre, third son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin of Annapolis Royal, was born probably at Miramichi, present-day eastern New Brunswick, in c1756 during Le Grand Dérangement.  He went to the prison at Halifax with his family in the late 1750s and followed them to Louisiana in 1765.  Pierre married Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Comeaux and Marie-Madeleine Girouard, at Attakapas in August 1782.  During the 1780s or early 1790s, they moved north to the Opelousas District.  Their daughters married into the Carrière, Daigle (German Canadian, not Acadian), and Thibodeaux families.  Pierre died at Opelousas in February 1807; the priest who recorded his burial said that Pierre was 55 years old when he died, but he probably was in his early 50s; his succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse the following July and again in October 1817.  Strangely, a civil record from St. Landry Parish states that Pierre Doucet died in February 1840; he would have been in his early 80s then.  His sons, typical of Acadians living in St. Landry Parish, favored French Creole wives.  The oldest son moved down into the old Attakapas District, while the younger sons remained in St. Landry Parish.  

1

Oldest son Jean-Pierre dit Fifi, baptized at Attakapas, age 4 months, in November 1783, married Marie Louise, called Louise, daughter of French Creole Charles Lacase, at Opelousas in January 1802.  Their son Pierre Zéphirin was baptized at Opelousas, age 5 months, in May 1805, and David was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 6 months, in July 1807.  Jean-Pierre's succession record, probably following Louise's death, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in September 1812.  Jean Pierre remarried to cousin Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Martin and Isabelle Thibodeaux of La Pointe and widow of François Melançon, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1813.  They settled at La Pointe on upper Bayou Teche.  She gave him no more sons.  Jean Pierre died at La Pointe in June 1823, age 40; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in June 1824.

Pierre Zéphirin, by his father's first wife, married Adeline, also called Azéline, daughter of fellow Acadians François Breaux and Silesie Dugas of La Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1822.  Their son Pierre Zéphirin, fils was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1829, Valsin in April 1833, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died 2 hours after its birth in January 1840, Théodule was born in July 1841, and François Dassas in January 1854.  They also had sons named Gerasin, Cléobule, and Joseph Adolphe, called Adolphe, though Gerasin may have been Valsin, and Cléobule may have been Théodule.  Their daughters married into the Breaux, Broussard, Judice, and Landry families.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 19 slaves--10 males and 9 females, all black, ranging in age from 40  years to 6 months--on Pierre Z. Doucet's farm in the parish's western district.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 36 slaves--24 males and 12 females, all black, ranging in age from 58 years to 2 months, living in 11 houses--on Pierre Doucet's plantation next to Gerassin Doucet.  

Gerasin married Carmélite, daughter of fellow Acadians Treville Broussard and Sidalise Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1855.  Their son Valsin le jeune was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1861.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--a 23-year-old black female, living in her own slave house--on Gerassin Doucet's farm next to Pierre Doucet.  During the War of 1861-65, Gerasin served in Company A of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, the "Lafayette Prairie Boys," raised in Lafayette Parish, which  fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  

Pierre Zéphirin, fils married Anaïs, daughter of fellow Acadian Valéry Boudreaux and his Creole wife Celphanie Patin, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1856. Their son Léo was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1856, Pierre Léopold in December 1860 but died at age 6 1/2 in August 1867, Valéry was born in August 1866 but died at age 1 in September 1867, and Albert was born in July 1868. 

During the War of 1861-65, Cléobule served in Company F of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  Cléobule married Émilie, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Guidry and Carmélite Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1865.  Their son Luc was born in Lafayette Parish in July 1866. 

Adolphe married Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadians Émilien Landry and Uranie Prejean, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1866. 

2

Joseph Éloi, called Éloi, born at Opelousas in May 1792, married Modeste Divine, daughter of French Creole Michel Carrière of Mobile and St. Charles Parish and Julienne Marcantel, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1811.  Their son Louis, also called Don or Jean Louis, was born in St. Landry Parish in May 1813, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died of "an injured jaw or an illness of the jaw," "at a young age after birth," in April 1815, Éloi, fils, called Éloisin, in April 1816, and Joseph Valsin, sometimes called Valsin, in January 1824.  They also had a son named Jean Pierre, called Pierre.  Their daughters married into the Bellard, Leger, Lejeune, and Miller families and perhaps into the Richard family as well.  Éloi died in St. Landry Parish in March 1842; the priest who record the burial said that Eloi was age 45 when he died, but he was 49. 

2a

Don Louis married cousin Sidalise, daughter of Jean Carrière and Marie Stouts, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, January 1834.  Their daughter married into the Darbonne family.  Don Louis may have remarried to fellow Acadian Adeline Chiasson.  Their son Joseph was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1841. 

2b

Joseph Valsin married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Chiasson and Marie Tarsille Dugas, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1840.  Their son Onésime was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1841, Joseph, fils in October 1842, David in December 1847, and Pierre in July 1852. 

2c

Jean Pierre married Caroline, daughter of Jean Baptiste Taylor or Teller and Céleste Moore, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1847, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1848.  Their son Jean Pierre, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in June 1848, Joseph near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in August 1856, Zéphirin in February 1858, and Éloi in January 1860.  They were living near Arnaudville in the late 1860s.  Jean Pierre may have died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in September 1869; the priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Pierre died "at age 52 yrs." 

3

Jacques dit Jean le jeune, born at Opelousas in April 1796, married Marie Éloise, Héloise, or Louise, daughter of Jean Baptiste Duplechin and his Acadian wife Marie Rose Trahan, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1818.  Their son Cyril was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1821, and Louis le jeune in May 1824. 

3a

Cyril married Émeline, called Meline, daughter of fellow Acadian Hilaire Leger and his Creole wife Émilie Pariseau, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1842.  Their son Zéphirin was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in March 1845, and Philemon in June 1847.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 1-year-old black female--in the household of Ww., perhaps Widow, Meline Doucet, so Cyril may have died in the late 1840s, still a young man.  Or perhaps he was the Cyrille Doucet who married--in this case, remarried to--Nancy Rosberry.  Their son Thomas was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in April 1866 but died "in Opel.," that is, Opelousas, at age 2 in August 1868.  And he may have been the Cyril Doucet who died near Church Point in May 1870; the priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Cyril died "at age 53 yrs.," but this Cyril, son of Jacques dit Jean, would have been age 48.  

3b

Louis le jeune married French Creole Marie Bellard in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1859; he was 35 years old.  Their son Eugène was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in January 1862 but died at age 3 in June 1865, Adam was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in October 1863, and Louis, fils in February 1866.  

Jean DOUCET (c1762-1803?; Germain. Germain, fils, Laurent, Laurent, fils)

Jean, fourth and youngest son of Michel-Laurent Doucet and Marguerite Martin of Annapolis Royal, was born probably at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in c1762 during Le Grand Dérangement.  He followed his family to Louisiana in 1765, lived with them at Attakapas and followed them to Opelousas.  Jean married Céleste, daughter of Dutch Creole Guillaume Voorhies, probably at Opelousas in 1801 or 1802; he was nearly 40 years old at the time of the wedding.  Jean may have died at Opelousas in September 1803, age 41; his succession records were filed at the Opelousas courthouse in October 1803 and July 1804.  Jean and Céleste seem to have had no sons.  

~

In the 1810s, an Acadian Doucet from the river whose father had come to the colony probably from French St.-Domingue in the late 1760s settled on upper Bayou Teche:  

Descendants of Firmin-Maurice DOUCET (1779-1842; Germain. Pierre, Jean, Jean, fils)

Firmin-Maurice, called Maurice, younger son of Jean-Baptiste Doucet and Anne Comeaux of St.-Gabriel on the river, was baptized at St.-Gabriel, age unrecorded, in November 1779.  He married Marie, daughter of German Creole Thomas Reel, Rill, Rille, Rils, Ritter, Vils, or Wiltz, at St. Gabriel in January 1804.  After his father died in 1814, Maurice and his family crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at Grand Pointe on upper Bayou Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  Their daughters married into the Guidry, Latiolais, Melançon, Patin, and Villier families.  Maurice's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in February 1840, two years before he died in April 1842 at age 62; a post-mortem succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the month he died.  Amazingly, none of his four sons seems to have created a family of his own, so this family line, except for its blood, probably died with him.  

1

Oldest son Eugène, born near St. Gabriel in December 1805, was age 36 and unmarried in April 1842, when his father died.  He probably did not marry.  

2

Jean Baptiste, born at St. Gabriel in November 1807, died in St. Martin Parish in May 1835.  The priest who recorded his burial said that Jean Baptiste was age 25 when he died, but he was 27.  He probably did not marry.  

3

Léonard, born near St.-Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in March 1813, died 6 days after his birth.  

4

Youngest son Firmin Bélisaire, born in St. Martin Parish in November 1823.  His succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in July 1857; he would have been age 34 that year.  Like his older brothers, he probably did not marry.  

~

By the 1840s, an Acadian Doucet from Bayou Lafourche moved his family to the New Iberia area, which was then part of St. Martin Parish:

Descendants of Hippolyte Mederio DOUCET (1809-; Germain. Germain fils, Bernard, Jean, Augustin dit Justice)

Hippolyte Mederio, second son of François Doucet and Marie-Adélaïde Engilbert of Lafourche Interior Parish, born in Assumption Parish in August 1809, married fellow Acadian Célestine or Clémentine Bourg.  By the early 1840s, they had moved to St. Mary Parish on lower Bayou Teche.  Their daughters returned to the Lafourche valley and married into the Foret and Trosclair families in Terrebonne Parish.

William Osémé was born in St. Mary Parish in August 1846.

~

Other DOUCETs on the Western Prairies

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link many Doucets in the western parishes with known Acadian lines of the family there.  Some may have been French-Creole Doucets, who also lived on the western prairies during the colonial, antebellum, and immediate post-war periods.  Others may have been Afro Creoles once owned by members of the Doucet family:

Marie-Josèphe Doucet married Nicolas-Joseph Mouton or Mathon at Attakapas in January 1788.  A witness to the marriage was Attakapas commandant Alexandre Chevalier Declouet.  Marie Josèphe died a widow in Lafayette Parish in December 1821; her succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in June 1824.  The parish clerk who recorded her death and succession did not give her parents' names or mention any children.  

Marie Catherine Doucet of La Rochelle, France, married Jean Boissier, place and date unrecorded.  Marie Catherine died son magazin, that is, at her store or shop near the church in St. Martinville in August 1820.  The priest who recorded her burial said that she was age 57 when she died.  He did not record her parents' names, so she may have been French Creole or Foreign French, not Acadian.  

Marie Doucet married Pierre Caillier or Cuvilier, place and date unrecorded.  She died at St. Martinville in September 1829.  The priest who recorded her burial did not give her parents' names, her birthplace, or her age at the time of her death.  Her succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following December. 

Marie Amelina Doucet gave birth to daughter Marie Doralise near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in September 1843; daughter Julie was born in c1844 and baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 12, in 1856; and son Jules was born in St. Landry Parish in August 1855.  The priests who recorded the children's baptisms did not give the father's name or names or the identify Marie Amelina's parents.   

Simon, son of Samuel Doucet, was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1839.  One wonders how Samuel was connected to the other Doucets in the area. 

Léandre Doucet married Mélanie Baudin, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Silesie was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1850. 

Joséphine Doucet gave birth to son Jean Simon in St. Landry Parish in October 1854.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's name or identify Joséphine's parents.  

Zéphirin Doucet married Eurasie Clément probably at Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in the late 1850s.  Daughter Amélie was born near Church Point in August 1860, and Marie in November 1864. 

Marie Doucet died "at Grand Prairie" in St. Landry Parish, age 18, in April 1859.  The Opelousas priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names. 

In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 3-year-old black male--on Civonise Doucet's farm.  Who dat?

Louasin, child of Auralise Doucet, was born in January or February 1861 in St. Landry Parish and baptized at the Opelousas church in May 1862.  The priest who recorded the baptism did not give both parents' names. 

Jean dit Méance, son of Jean Doucet and Adèle Racca, married Marie Advelia, called Advelia, daughter of Acadian Joseph Valsin Trahan, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1865.  Their son Jules was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in August 1867. 

Onésime Cyprien Doucet married Julie Doucet, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, by the late 1860s. 

Cyril Doucet married Madeleine Comeaux, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, by the late 1860s. 

Jean Doucet married Adeline Stute, place and date unrecorded, and settled in Lafayette Parish by the late 1860s. 

Onésime Doucet married Marie Azoline Mayer in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1866.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Jean, fils, son of Jean Doucet and Mary Louis Dugen, married Adeline, daughter of French Canadian Joseph Istre, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in September 1869. 

Sophie Doucet married Alexandre De Ville in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1868.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Ursin, son of Pierre Doucet and Élisabeth Boudreaux, married Louise, daughter of Alexandre Estilette, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1868.  Louise's mother was a Senegal, a common surname among Afro Creoles. 

Jarvais Doucet married Marie M. Young, perhaps a descendant of an Acadian Lejeune, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1869.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

David Doucet married Buta ____, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Pierre Louis was born at Washington, St. Landry Parish, in June 1869.  Were they Acadians?

Cyrille, son of Dominique Doucet and Marie ____, married Elisa, daughter of Élise Broussard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in December 1869.  Were they Acadians? 

Onésime Doucet married Victoire Laine in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1870.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Two other Doucets came to Louisiana from Halifax in 1765, but they did not follow their cousins to Bayou Teche.  They settled, instead, at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before:  

Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, Doucet, age 29, husband Pierre Gaudet, age unrecorded, and three children, ages 5 to infancy, remained at Cabanocé, where Madeleine remarried to fellow Acadian Abraham Roy in June 1768.  

Paul Doucet, age 21, was part of Verret's Company, Cabanocé militia, in April 1766; he had no one else in his household.  Eleven years later, in January 1777, Spanish authorities counted him at St.-Jacques.  According to the census taker, Paul was 33 years old and working as an engagé with the family of fellow Acadian Joseph Thériot.  The census taker said nothing about a wife for Paul, so he may not have married.  

~

A young Doucet from Grand-Pré reached the colony from either Maryland or French St.-Domingue by July 1767, when Spanish officials counted him at New Orleans.  He was still single then.  

Descendants of Jean-Baptiste DOUCET (1743-1814; Germain. Pierre, Jean)

Jean-Baptiste, also called Jean-Baptiste-Maurice, son of Jean Doucet, fils and Élisabeth or Isabelle Hébert, born at Grand-Pré in August 1743, followed his family into exile in Pennsylvania in 1755 and moved from that colony either to Maryland or to French St.-Domingue after August 1763.  He came to Louisiana by July 1767, when Spanish officials counted him at New Orleans with other Acadian exiles.  No other member of his family was with him.  (One wonders if he was one of the relatively few Acadian exiles who came to Louisiana directly from the French Antille.)  He married Marianne, called Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Comeaux and Madeleine Henry, at St.-Gabriel in January 1773.  His daughter Marie-Anne-Adélaïde, called Adélaïde, born in October 1777, was baptized at New Orleans in September 1778, so the family returned for a time to the city.  Jean-Baptiste's older son did not marry, and his younger son, as well as daughter Adélaïde, moved to the western prairies in the 1810s, so Acadian Doucets did not permanently settle on the river above New Orleans.  Adélaïde married into the Dupuis and Wells families.  Jean-Baptiste died near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in May 1814, age 70.  His only married son settled on the western prairies. 

1

Older son Pierre-Edmond, born at St.-Gabriel in November 1774, died at St.-Gabriel in April 1803, age 28, and probably did not marry.  

2

Younger son Firmin-Maurice, called Maurice, baptized at St.-Gabriel, age unrecorded, in November 1779, married Marie, daughter of Thomas Reel, Rill, Rille, Rils, Ritter, Vils, or Wiltz and Teresa Hamiliton, at St. Gabriel in January 1804.  After his father died in 1814, Maurice and his family crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled at La Grand Pointe on upper Bayou Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish.  

~

Most of the Acadian Doucets who came to Louisiana arrived aboard two of the Seven Ships from France in 1785, two decades after their cousins had reached the colony from Halifax.  Some of them settled on the river:

Charles Doucet, age 40, a carpenter, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  He crossed alone.  He went to Nueva Gálvez, an Isleño community along the river south of New Orleans in present-day St. Bernard Parish which was also called San Bernardo.  He may not have married. 

.

Joseph Doucet, age 53, a widower, crossed on La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in December.  With him were three children--Marie-Marguerite, age 19, Madeleine, age 17, and son Ange, age 15.  Marie-Marguerite married René, son of Frenchman Pierre Arnaud of Vouneil, France, and widower of Anne-Pérrine Albert, at New Orleans in January 1786 soon after they reached the colony on the same ship.  Marie-Marguerite and René remained at New Orleans, where Marie died in February 1792; she was only 26 years old.  Meanwhile, Spanish officials counted Joseph and his younger children at St.-Jacques on the Acadian Coast in 1788.  One wonders what happened to Madeleine and Ange, who disappear from Louisiana church records.  If Ange died young, this family line would have died with him.  Joseph, who did not remarry, died at New Orleans in April 1797; the priest who recorded the burial said that Joseph was age 75 when he died, but he was 65. 

Michel Doucet, age 45, wife Marie-Blanche Cousin, age 37, and their three children--Eléonore-Honorine, age 15, Jean-Baptiste-Michel, age 12, and Marguerite-Bénoni, age 9--also crossed on La Caroline.  They chose to settle at Nueva Gálvez.  Michel died at Charity Hospital, New Orleans, in September 1792; the priest who recorded the burial said that Michel was age 54 when he died.  

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

Some of the Acadian Doucets who came to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to go to upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a third center of family settlement.  During the antebellum period, some moved down bayou as far as Lockport in Lafourche Interior Parish and into Terrebonne Parish:

Marie-Josèphe Doucet, age 60, widow of Joseph Molaison, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  With her was a grown son, Joseph, fils. 

Marie-Anne Precieux, age 52, widow of Augustin dit Justice Doucet, crossed on L'Amitié with two sons--Jean-Baptiste, age 19, and François, age 14. 

Françoise Doucet, age 46, second husband Louis Haché, age 41, and four of their children, ages 19 to 10, crossed on L'Amitié.  

Descendants of Jean-Baptiste DOUCET (1766-1825; Germain. Germain fils, Bernard, Jean)

Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, elder son of Augustin Doucet dit Justice and his second wife Marie-Anne Précieux, born at St.-Servan, near St.-Malo, France, in September 1766, crossed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, with his widowed mother and younger brother and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche.  He married Anne- or Marianne-Barbe, called Barbe, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Daublin and Catherine, a "free Indian," at Ascension in June 1789.  They settled on Bayou Lafourche.  Their daughters married into the Hébert, Lenée, and Martin (Foreign French, not Acadian) families.  In March 1813, an estimation of Baptiste's property was filed at the Thibodauxville courthouse, Lafourche Interior Parish; according to the record, Baptiste "apparently ... was still alive."  Baptiste died in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1825, age 60.  

François-Nicolas, born at Assumption in April 1793, married Marie Cécile, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Louis Hébert and Marie Doiron, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in June 1816.  Their son Joseph Célestin, called Célestin, was born in Assumption Parish in September 1817.  Their daughter married into the Bossnet or Roussuet family.  François Nicolas died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1833, age 40; his succession inventory was filed at the Thibodauxville courthouse that month.  

Joseph Célestin married Rosalie Catherine, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Olivier Bourg and Rosalie Eléonore Benoit and widow of Drosin Gaspard, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1843.  Their son François Octave was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1846, and Octave Adam near Raceland in June 1854.  Their daughter married into the Guidry family.  Joseph Célestin, at age 50, remarried to Madeleine Fabre or Folse in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in August 1867.   Their son Augustin was born near Lockport in March 1870. 

François Octave married Marguerite Geneviève Mertilia, 17-year-old daughter of Charles Augeron and his Acadian wife Reine Eugènie Benoit, at the Lockport church, Lafourche Parish, in July 1866.  Their son François Lessin was born near Lockport in February 1870.  

Descendants of François DOUCET (1770-1834; Germain. Germain fils, Bernard, Jean)

François, younger son of Augustin Doucet dit Justice and his second wife Marie-Anne Précieux, born at St.-Servan, near St.-Malo, France, in September 1766, crossed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, with his widowed mother and older brother and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Marie-Adélaïde, daughter of Étienne-Joseph Angilbert or Engilbert and his Acadian wife Félicité Hébert, at Assumption in the upper bayou in May 1802.  Marie-Adélaïde was a native of Nantes, France, and as an infant had come to Louisiana aboard La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships.  They settled in what became Lafourche Parish.  Their daughters married into the Barrios, Bernard (French Creole, not Acadian), Lejeune, Molaison, Parks, and Scanlen families.  Franéois died in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1834, age 64.

1

Jean Pierre Vinceslas, sometimes called J. Pierre, born in Assumption Parish in September 1807, married Marie Rosalie, called Rosalie, 21-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Firmin Guidry and Marie Josèphe Carret, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1829.  Their son Jacques Aurelien, called Aurelien, was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1835, Pierre Émile, called Émile, in January 1838, and Édouard Sylvère in November 1839.  Their daughters married into the Estivennes and Legendre (Foreign French, not Acadian) families.  Jean Pierre died in Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1851, age 44.  

1a

Édouard married Augustine or Justine, daughter of Étienne Lusignan and Modeste Clairteau, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in June 1854.  Their son Léon Xavier was born in Lafourche Parish in December 1855 and died at age 25 days.  Édouard died in Lafourche Parish in November 1866; the priest who recorded his burial said that Édouard was age 33 when he died, but he was 27.  His line of the family probably died with him. 

1b

Émile married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Marcellin Breaux and Athanaise Broussard, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in July 1858.  Their son Pierre Aurestile was born in Lafourche Parish in October 1861, Joseph Adreci in February 1864, and Joseph Émile in February 1866.  During the War of 1861-65, Émile served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia.  In late October 1862, he fought in the Battle of Labadieville in nearby Assumption Parish, fell into Federal hands, was paroled, and sent home. 

1c

Aurelien married Rose, daughter of fellow Acadians Maxile LeBlanc and Marie LeBlanc, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1858.  Their son Jacques Philippe was born in Lafourche Parish in August 1868.  During the War of 1861-65, Aurelien also served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia, was captured at Labadieville, paroled, and sent home.  

2

Hippolyte Mederio, born in Assumption Parish in August 1809, married Célestine or Clementine Bourg.  By the early 1840s, they had moved to St. Mary Parish on lower Bayou Teche. 

3

Antoine Léandre, called Léandre, was born in Assumption Parish in March 1812.  His succession inventory was filed at the Thibodaux courthouse in April 1858; he would have been age 46 that year.  Evidently he never married, unless he was the Léandre Doucet who married Mélanie Baudin, was living in St. Landry Parish in the early 1850s, and returned to the Lafourche valley later in the decade.  

Other DOUCETs in the Lafourche Valley

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Doucets in the Bayou Lafourche valley to known Acadian lines of the family there:

Rose Douset's son Marcellin was born in Assumption Parish in February 1817.  The priest who baptized the boy did not record the father's name.  

Pauline Doucet married Anglo American Joseph J. C. Perkins in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in August 1855.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Hyppolyte Doucet married Clémence Fanguy, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Marie Olympe was born in Terrebonne Parish in April 1859. 

Louis Doucet married Mélasie Guidry, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Donatius was born near Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in October 1869.  

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Doucet is a fairly common surname in France and French Canada, so it is not surprising that non-Acadian members of the family came to Louisiana during the colonial period:

Julien-Jérôme Doucet, native of Switzerland, attorney, prominent businessman, and member of the colony's Superior Council, was one of the leaders of the insurrection against Spanish Governor Ulloa in October 1768.  After Ulloa's ouster, Doucet helped finance an independent colonial bank, the Bank of Mount Piety.  Ulloa's successor, Spanish General Alejandro O'Reilly, arrested Doucet and 11 other insurrectionists in August1769, tried them, found them guilty, and sentenced six of them to death.  The other six, including Doucet, received long prison sentences at Moro Castle, Havana, Cuba--10 years in Doucet's case.  He never married. 

.

French-Creole Doucets, called Allibamonts by their fellow colonists, came to Louisiana at the end of the French period.  Pierre and Simon Doucet may have been brothers.  Both had served as French soldiers at either Mobile or along the Alabama River when France controlled the region.  At the end of the Seven Years' War, the Treaty of Paris of February 1763 awarded all of French Louisiana east of the Île of Orleans to the victorious British.  This included some of present-day eastern Louisiana and all of Mississippi and Alabama.  A British occupation force arrived at Mobile in late October 1763.  Most of the French families in the region refused to live under British rule.  They migrated to New Orleans in late 1763 or early 1764 and were among the first permanent settlers of the prairie districts west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  Pierre Doucet and his wife set down deep roots on the Opelousas prairie.  A Simon Doucet died "at Jean Bapt. Hernandes[']" home near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, on the river, in November 1831; the priest who recorded the burial said that Simon was age 95 when he died but did not mention a wife or children.  This may have been Simon Doucet from Alabama, who appears next to Pierre Doucet of Alabama in the Opelousas census of April 1766.  

Descendants of Pierre DOUCET (?-?)

Pierre Doucet, "surnamed Maurice," married Marie-Françoise Pagot probably in Alabama  They came to New Orleans in either late 1763 or early 1764 and were living at New Orleans in February 1764, when their younger son was baptized at the St.-Louis church.  They followed other Allibamonts to the Opelousas District, where Pedro, as he was called, appears with a wife, three[sic] sons, and two daughters in the April 1766 census at "New Opelousas on the Right Bank."  A daughter married into the Fontenot family, who also were Allibamonts.  Pierre's older son perpetuated the family line. 

1

Older son Pierre, fils, born probably in Alabama in the 1750s, married Marie-Thérèse, called Thérèse, daughter of fellow Allibamont Charles Brignac, probably at Opelousas by 1777.  They settled in the Plaisance area of the Opelousas District, near the headwaters of Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé.  Their son Augustin was born probably at Plaisance in the late 1770s, Pierre III dit Morue in November 1783, Hubert, also called Hébert, in January 1793, and François in November 1798.  Their daughters married into the Joubert and Roy families.  Pierre, fils and Thérèse's joint estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in July 1825.  One of their daughters, Susanne, died of "insanity" in St. Landry Parish by July 1826, when her succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse.  ...

1a

Augustin married Marie Louise, called Lise, daughter of French Canadian Charles Vigé, at Opelousas in September 1804.  Their son Augustin, fils was baptized at Opelousas, age 8 months, in March 1806, Hyacinthe was born in November 1811, Henri Léon in February 1816, and Pierre Rosémond, called Rosémond, in September 1826.  Their daughters married into the Hollier and Latour families.  

In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 17 slaves--7 males and 10 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 1--owned jointly by C. Hollier and R. Doucet, near François and Hubert Doucet; this may have been Rosémond.  Rosémond married Evelina, daughter of Benjamin Carantin and widow of Henry Johnson, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1853.  Rosémond's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in December 1853; he would have been age 27 that year.  Did his family line survive? 

1b

Pierre III dit Morue married Eulalie, daughter of fellow Allibamont Pierre Baptiste Fontenot, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1814.  They settled at Grand Prairie, present-day Lafayette Parish, now downtown Lafayette.  Their son Pierre IV was born probably at Grand Prairie in May 1815 but died at age 1 1/2 in September 1816.  This family line may have died with him.  

1c

Hubert married Adrienne, daughter of French Creole Jean LaFleur, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1814.  Their son Hubert, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in January 1822, Lasty in April 1824, Auguste or Augustin le jeune in September 1834, and twins Théodule and Théophile in June 1842.  Their daughters married into the Andrépont, Behlman, Couleau, DeVille, Guillory, Jeansonne, and Vidrine families.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 15 slaves--11 males and 4 females, all black, ranging in age from 75 to 3--on Hubert Doucet's farm next to François Doucet.  Hubert, père's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in January 1859; he would have been age 45 that year.  

Lasty married Amelia, called Melia, daughter of fellow French Creole Alexandre DeVille, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1850.  Their daughter Elvina was born in St. Landry Parish in June 1851, son Jean Baptiste near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in May 1858, François in November 1864, and Théodore in October 1867.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--a 50-year-old black male, a 20-year-old mulatto female, and an 18-year-old mulatto female--on Lastie Doucet's farm.  

Augustin le jeune, called Auguste by the parish clerk, married Anglo American Elizabeth Kimball in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1860.  During the War of 1861-65, Augustin may have served as a conscript in Company B of the Confederate Guards Response Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised in Orleans Parish, which contained many conscripts from other parishes and which fought in Mississippi and Louisiana.  

During the war, Théodule may have served in Company F of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Théodule may have married Pauline Robery, also called Bouberg or Buberg, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1865.  They settled near Washington, north of Opelousas. 

1d

François married Marie, daughter of Acadian Olivier Richard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1822, and remarried to Anglo American Sarah Bundick in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1835.  Their son Pierre was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1836, François, fils in January 1845, William in March 1847, Louis in February 1851, Jean Baptiste in April 1858, and Martin near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish, in August 1864.  Their daughter married into the Garand or Garant and Glaze families.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 11 slaves--5 males and 6 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 36 to 4--on François Doucet's farm next to Hubert Doucet.  In 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 20 slaves--10 males and 10 females, all black, ranging in age from 50 to to 2, living in 3 houses--on François Doucet's plantation.  

During the War of 1861-65, François, fils, by his father's first wife, listed as a resident of Washington, St. Landry Parish, served as a conscript in Company D of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery, which included many conscripts from South Louisiana and which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  According to his Confederate service record, François, fils was absent sick in Vicksburg City Hospital in early 1863 but returned to duty, was captured at Vicksburg in July 1863 with the rest of his unit, but, unlike most of his fellow conscripts in the regiment, who refused parole and went to Federal prisoner-of-war camps, he accepted a parole of honor, was exchanged, returned to his regiment, and surrendered with his unit at Meridian, Mississippi, in May 1865.  However, an Opelousas church record says that François, fils died in June 1863, which would have been during the siege at Vicksburg; if so, he was age 18 at the time of his death.  

William, by his father's first wife, died "at old grande prairie," St. Landry Parish, in November 1865, age 18, and probably did not marry.  One wonders if his death was war-related. 

2

Younger son Joseph Maurice, also called Jean, born probably in Alabama in September 1763 and baptized at New Orleans in February 1764, married Sarah Bourassa of Kentucky at Opelousas in the 1790s.  Their daughter married into the Hook and Miller families.  Joseph died at his home at Prairie Chataignier, St. Landry Parish, in April 1819; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph died "at age 52 years," but he was 55; the priest also noted that Joseph died "without having received the sacrament because of his sudden death."  Joseph's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in August 1820.  He and his wife had no sons, at least none who appear in area church records, so his family line, except for its blood, probably died with him.  

~

Doucets who lived on the western prairies during the late antebellum and immediate post-war periods were neither Acadian nor Alibamon but were the result of the family's participation in the South's peculiar institution:

François P., son of Pierre Doucet and Delphie or Zelphie ____, described in one of his marriage records as a free man of color, married Pauline, daughter of Jean Baptiste Jacques, a free woman of color, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1860, and remarried to Célesie, daughter of Jean Baptiste Malveaux and widow of Louis Tom, at the Opelousas church in February 1870.

Harry Doucet, freedman, married Eliza Fontenot, freedwoman, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1867.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

CONCLUSION

Doucets were one of the first families of Acadia and became one of the largest families there.  Compared to the number of Doucets who remained in Canada, however, relatively few descendants of Germain Doucet, sieur de La Verdure, emigrated to Louisiana.  But those who did were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in the colony.  The first of them--a middle-aged family head and a widow--came to Louisiana in February 1765 with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party from Halifax via St.-Domingue.  They followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche.  Later that year, two more Doucets, one of them a young bachelor, arrived from Halifax; they settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  An Acadian Doucet probably from St.-Domingue settled at St.-Gabriel on the river in the late 1760s, but his only surviving son moved to the western prairies during the 1810s.  Several more Doucet families came to Louisiana from France in 1785; most of them settled on upper Bayou Lafourche.  By the antebellum period, Acadian Doucets had disappeared from the river parishes, but they could still be found on Bayou Lafourche as far down as Lockport, and they were especially numerous out on the prairies.  

Doucets from Alabama--Allibamonts, their fellow colonists called them--left Mobile after the British took over the area and settled in the Opelousas District about the time that the first Acadians arrived there.  By the 1780s, Acadian as well as Allibamont Doucets were living on the Opelousas prairies, somewhat clouding the family's genealogical picture there.  Many of the Acadian Doucets at Opelousas took French-Creole brides, but their French-Creole namesakes tended to marry their own kind, especially fellow Allibamonts.  During the antebellum period, the French-Creole Doucets lived mainly in St. Landry Parish and in the Ville Platte area of what is now Evangeline Parish.  The Acadian Doucets on the prairies, more numerous and more scattered, could be found around Church Point in present-day Acadia Parish, near Grand Coteau in St. Landry and Lafayette parishes, in the Bois Mallet area of St. Landry Parish, along upper Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish, and farther down the Teche in St. Mary Parish. 

Judging from the slave schedules compiled by federal census takers in 1850 and 1860, the great majority of the Doucets of South Louisiana participated only peripherally in the South's antebellum plantation economy.  Two of them, however, one a French Creole, the other an Acadian, owned enough slaves by 1860 to qualify as planters.  French Creole François Doucet of St. Landry Parish owned 11 slaves in 1850 and 20 in 1860.  In 1850, his older brother Hubert, who lived next to François, owned 15 slaves.  Acadian Pierre Zéphirin Doucet of Lafayette Parish owned the most bondsmen.  In 1850, Pierre Z., as he was called, held 19 slaves on his farm in the parish's Western District.  A decade later, he held 36 slaves on his Lafayette Parish plantation.  In contrast, only a few of his cousins in the prairies parishes owned more than one or two slaves, and no Doucet who lived on Bayou Lafourche appeared on either of the federal slave schedules.  As a result of the family's participation in the South's peculiar institution, Afro-Creole Doucets could be found on the western prairies during the late antebellum and immediate post-war periods. 

Dozens of Doucets, both Acadian and French Creole, served Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65.  At least two of them died in Confederate service, one an Acadian, the other a French Creole.  Ursin, son of Acadian Anselme Doucet, was 30 years old and married when he joined a local militia unit, the Prairie Rangers Company, also called Todd's Prairie Rangers, raised in St. Landry Parish early in the war.  With him were two of his brothers, Paulin and Narcisse.  Ursin died probably of disease at Opelousas in December 1862, four months after his unit was transferred to Confederate service.  François, fils, a French Creole, also from St. Landry Parish, was among the dozens of men from South Louisiana who were conscripted into the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery and ended up in the trenches at Vicksburg.  Although his Confederate service record says that he survived the siege as well as the war, an Opelousas church record shows that he died in June 1863 during the siege, only 18 years old.  

During the war, successive Federal offensives devastated the regions where Doucets lived.  The Lafourche valley suffered early in the war and remained under the hard hand of Federal occupation for most of the conflict.  Federal armies marched three times through the Teche and upper Vermilion valleys in 1863 and 1864, burning and pillaging many farms and plantations, some of them no doubt owned by Doucets.  Thanks to these Federal incursions, emancipation came early to the area, with its resulting economic and social turmoil.  Confederate foraging parties and cutthroat Jayhawkers also plagued the area where Doucets lived, adding to the family's misery. ...

The family's name also is spelled Doucé, Douchet, Dousait, Doussé, Dousset, Duchet, Dusé, Dusset.  [See Book Ten for the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]

Sources:  1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 505-24, 953-59, 1153-55, 1560-61, 2230, 2278, 2334, 2473-75; BRDR, vols. 1a(rev.), 2, 3, 5(rev.), 9; Brasseaux, Foucault and the Rebellion of 1768, 5, 90; Bunnell, French & Native North American Marriages, 42; De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905, 2A:90, 94, 96, 158; "Fort Edward, 1761-62"; DLB, 253; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 61, 115-19, 126, 286, 337, 345, 559-60; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; <islandregister.com/1752.html>; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 17, 79, 81, 83-84, 175, 177, 204-06, 217, 233-36, 252, 267-68; NOAR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 57; "Ristigouche, 24 Oct 1760"; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 35-37, 42, 60, 91, 121-22, 127, 158; Robichaux, Acadians at Nantes, 58, 81-82; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 198, 276-79, 437-38; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 60-61, 162-63; White, DGFA-1, 526-51; White, DGFA-1 English, 112-16; Acadian/Cajun History; Keith Doucet, descendant, <familyheritageresearchcommunity.org/doucet_dna.html>. 

Settlement Abbreviations 
(present-day civil parishes that existed in 1861 are in parenthesis; hyperlinks on the abbreviations take you to brief histories of each settlement):

For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early 1800s, see Appendix.

The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective on the refugee's place in family and community. 

NOTES

01.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls him Ange [DOUCET], & lists him with his widowed father & 2 sisters; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Ange, son [Jh DOUCET's] fils, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Ange DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] son, age 15, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed father & 2 sisters.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

What happened to him in LA? 

02.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Nanette DOUCET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:257, 427 (SM Ch.: v.3, #137), the record of her first marriage, calls her Anne DOUSSET "d'Allifax," calls her husband Jean-Baptiste HUVAL "of his parish," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Agnès BRAINT (BRUN), calls her a minor daughter & him a minor son, but gives no witnesses to her marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260, 427 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.4 1/2, #76), also the record of her first marriage, calls her Nanette DOUCET "from Halifax, in Acadie," calls her husband Jean-Baptiste HUVAL "from New Orleans," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Agnès BRUN, says her father & his mother were deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to her marriage were Claude MARTIN, Amant TIBAUDO, Paul TIBAUDO, & Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243, 604 (SM Ch.: Marriage Investigation: Folio D, #32), a record of her second marriage, calls her Anne DOUCET "of Boston, widow of Jean-Baptiste HUVAL," calls her husband Henry RANCONNE "of Liege, Flanders, living in this colony for 10 years and in this parish for 3 years," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anne PELERIN, says her parents were "of Acadia & living in this parish of Attakapas," that his parents were "of Liege," & that the witnesses to her marriage investigation were Amand BRUSARD, Paul BONIN, Édouard BROUSSARD, & François GUIVRAULT, all of whom signed; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243-44, 604 (SM Ch.: v.4, #246), another record of her second marriage, calls her Anne DOUCET "of Boston, wid. of Jean-Baptiste HUVAL," calls her husband Henry RANSONNET "of Liege, France," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anne PELEREIN, says her parents were "of Acadia" & his of Liege, France," & that the witnesses to her marriage were Adam HUVAL, Amand BROUSSARD, Louis BONIN, Paul BONIN, & François GOIVRAULT; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243, 604 (NI Ch.: OA-#11), yet another record of her second marriage, calls her Anna DOUCET, "widow of Jean-Baptiste UVAL, born in Boston," calls her husband Henri RANCONNE, "born at Liege, Flanders," gives her & his parents' names, calls her mother Anna PELLERIN, says her parents were "of Acadie" & his were Flemish," says the marriage was "entered in the SM church register," but gives no witnesses to her marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 9:432, 440 (NI Ch.: OA Folio #11 & SM Ch.: v.4, #246), still another record of her second marriage, calls her Anna DOUCET, "wid. of Jean Baptiste UVAL born in Boston," calls her husband Henri RANCONNÉ "of Liege, Flanders" & "bon in Liege in Flanders," gives her & his parents' names, says her parents were "of Acadia" & that his were "Flemish," but gives no witnesses to her marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243 (SM Ch.: v.4, #269), her death/burial record, calls her Anne DOUCET of Boston m. to Léonard RANCONNET, gives her parents' names but calls her mother Anne PELLERIN, & says she was 38 yrs. old when she died.  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 20. 

Where did the Attakapas priest get the idea that her mother was a PELLERIN, not a BRUN?  What killed her so soon after her second wedding?  Complications of childbirth?  Note her age at the time of her death.  She is mentioned in the succession record of "wid. Olivier THIBODEAU," dated 23 Aug 1808, 6 years after her death, because her mother, Agnès BRUN, not Agnès PELLERIN, was Olivier THIBODEAUX's second wife.  See Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:243 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #28).  

03.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him Charles DOUCET, & lists him singly; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 66-67, calls him Charles DOUCET, garçon, charpentier, age 40, on the embarkation list, Carlos DOUCET, on the debarkation list, & Charles DOUCET, young man, carpenter, age 40, on the complete listing, says he was in the 3rd "Family" aboard L'Amitié with no one else, & lists the implements the Spanish gave him after he reached LA.  

When is a 40-year-old known as a "young man?"  Is the proper translation of garçon here "unmarried man?"

His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship & that some passengers from his ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

04.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls her Eléonnore [DOUCET], & lists her with her parents & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 116, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Honorine-Eléonor DOUCET, gives her parents' names, says her father was a marinier, but does not give her godparents' names; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 37; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Eleonnore, sa [Michel DOUCET's] fille, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Eleonore DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] daughter, age 15, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with her parents & 2 siblings.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  Her going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that she is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from her ship & that some passengers from her ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

05.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him François [DOUCET], & lists him with his widowed mother & a brother; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 276-78, Family No. 340, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Francois DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says his godparents were François JEANBAR & Marie DOUCET, & that his family resided at St.-Servan from 1764-72; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him François, son [Marie-Anne PRÉCIEUX's] fils, journalier, age 14, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him François DOUCET, his[should be her, Marie-Anne PRECIEUX's] son, day laborer, age 14, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 20th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed mother & a brother; BRDR, 2:247, 276 (ASM-2, 67), his marriage record, calls him François DOUCET "of St.-Malo," calls his wife Marie ENGILBERT "of St.-Nicolas of Nantes, France," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Ambrosio HÉBERT & Pierre-Louis CHIASSON; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:183 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, #633), his death/burial record, calls him François [DOUCET], gives his parents' names, says he died "at age 64 yrs.", & that the original record "has March 1833.".  

His residence in Poitou is assumed from the death of a 10-year-old brother there in 1774.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36, Family No. 72.  

His wife's parents sailed to LA in 1785 aboard La Caroline, the last of the 7 ships from France.  Her father was a Frenchman whom her Acadian mother married in France.  

06.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Françoise DOUCET femme Louis HACHÉ; Arsenault, Généalogie, 959, the Chignecto section, gives her parents' nanes, says she was born in c1741, details her first marriage, including her first husband's parents' names, & says she married him in c1760 but gives no place of marriage; Arsenault, 2505, the LA section, calls her veuve Louis HACHÉ; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 1065, the record of her second marriage, calls her Françoise DOUCET, gives her & his parents' names, says both of her parents were deceased at the time of the wedding, calls her "widow of Alexis  RENAULT, native of Isle St. Jean, diocese of Quebec," & lists the witnesses to her marriage as Pierre & Joseph HACHE, "both brothers of the groom; Jan HENRY, uncle of the bride; Gregoire DAIGLE, cousin of the bride and several others who did not sign"; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 81-82, Family No. 153, calls her Françoise DOUCET, says she was born in c1739, gives her parents' names, says her first husband was Alexis RENAUD, details her second marriage, including her second husband's parents' names & his first wife's name, gives profiles of 4 of their children born between May 1776 & Jun 1781, details her family's participation in the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s as well as her voyage to LA in 1785.  See also De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905, 2A:158; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 51, 76, 125, 180.  

Her estimated birth year is based not on the birth year given in Robichaux, Acadian in Nantes, or on the ages given for her in the LA censuses in which she is found, but on her age in the Île St.-Jean census of Aug 1752.  See De La Roque.  Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 437, in detailing her second marriage, also says she was born in c1739. 

If she & her first husband were married in c1760, as Arsenault, 959, suggests, it would have been in France, not on Île St.-Jean.  One wonders why she & her first husband are not detailed in Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo.  Did they land in another coastal city and married there? 

She was the only member of her immediate family who emigrated to LA. 

By calling her veuve Louis HACHÉ, Arsenault implies that her husband was dead when she reached LA.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  He was still very much alive; he just came to LA on a different, as yet unidentified, vessel.

07.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Jean DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2474, the LA section, calls him Jean DOUCET, says he was born in 1780 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, says he married at Opelousas in c1802 to Céleste VOORGIES, daughter of Guillaume & Marie SAMSON, & lists his children as Marguerite, born in 1803, but gives no birthplace.  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 21; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.   

Arsenault probably meant VOORHIES.  The birth/baptismal record of Marguerite DOUCET, baptized 22 Jan 1803, age 2 months, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.300), says the girl's parents were Jean [DOUCET] & Céleste BOREYS, that the paternal grandparents were Michel DOUCET & Marguerite MARTIN, the maternal grandparents were Guillaume BOREYS & Marie SIMON, & the godparents were Joseph MALLET & Jeanne-Rosalie HÉBERT.  This was likely Arsenault's source for Jean's marriage.    

Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.65), the death/burial record of Jean DOUCET, "single person," dated 27 Sep 1803, does not give Jean's parents' names, mention a wife, or give his age at the time of his death.  Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:245 (LSAR: Opel.: 1803; LSAR: Opel.: 1804), dated 27 Oct 1803 & 15 Jul 1804, the successions of Jean DOUCET, do not mention a wife or children.  Was this "single person" Jean, son of Michel? 

08.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, & lists him singly; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, says he was born in 1743 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names & place of residence, details his marriage, & lists his children as Pierre-Edmond, born in 1774, & Firmin-Maurice in 1779, but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 1a(rev.):62-63, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says his godparents were Amans HÉBERT & Claire DOUCET & that his father signed the baptismal register as Jean DOUSAIT; BRDR, 2:196, 247 (SGA-4a, 5), his marriage record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUSSE, calls his wife Anne COMO, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were Acadians, & that the witnesses to his marriage were François HÉBERT & Jean-Charles COMO; BRDR, 3:277 (SGA-8, 66), his death/burial record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, age 72, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife.  

He is not on the list of settlers who went to St.-Gabriel in 1767, so he may not have arrived with those Acadians from MD.  He may have reached LA in 1766 & was still at New Orleans when the second wave of Acadians from MD arrived, hence the ? in his date of arrival.  There is also the possibility that he was one of the relatively few Acadian exiles who came to LA directly from French St.-Domingue.  He was married at St.-Gabriel, but his daughter Marie-Anne, born on 4 Oct 1777, was baptized at New Orleans on 23 Sep 1778.  See NOAR, 3:103 (SLC, B9, 30).  His wife died at St.-Gabriel in Aug 1788.  Did he ever remarry? 

09.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L) calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, & lists him with his widowed mother & a brother; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 276-78, Family No. 340, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, gives his parents' names, says he was godson of Geffray-Jean RUEL & Marie GROSSIN, & that his family resided at St.-Servan from 1764-72; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jean-Bte DOUCET, perseur, age 19, on the embarkation list, Juan Bautista DOUCET, on the debarkation list, & Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, borer, age 19, on the complete listing, says he was in the 20th Family aboard L'Amitié with his widowed mother & a brother, & lists the implements the Spanish gave him after he reached LA; BRDR, 2:223a, 247 (ASC-2, 16), his marriage record, calls him Jean-Baptiste DOUCET, calls his wife Maria Barbara DOUBLIN, does not gives his or her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Manuel ORDONEZ & Pierre LANDRY; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:183 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, p. 20), his death/burial record, calls him Jean Baptiste DOUCET, does not gives his parents' names or mention a wife, & says he was 60 yrs. old when he died; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:183 (Thib.Ct.Hse.: Succ.: year 1813), an "Estimation of his propery," calls him Batiste [DOUCET] & says "Apparently still alive at time of this estimation," lists 2 of his children--François Nicolas & Marie Marguerite, noting that his daughter is a minor & names her curator--& also notes that there is a "signature on document" but does not say it's his.

His residence in Poitou is assumed from the death of a 10-year-old brother there in 1774.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 36, Family No. 72.  

For his wife's parents' names & his mother-in-law's ethnicity, see various baptismal, marriage, & burial records in BRDR, 2:223a-24.  Her mother has no recorded surname.  She is simply called Cathalina, Catharina, Catharine, or Catherine, "an Indian" or a "free Indian."

10.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls him Jean-Baptiste [DOUCET], & lists him with his parents & 2 sisters; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 37; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jean-Bte-Michel, son [Michel DOUCET's] fils, age 12, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls him Jean-Baptiste-Michel DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] son, age 12, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with his parents & 2 sisters.

Was he called Baptiste?  He should not be confused with younger brother Jean-Baptiste, who was baptized on 23 Feb 1777 at St.-Martin-de-Chantenay & was buried there 2 months later.  See Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship & that some passengers from his ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

Did he move from San Bernardo to the Opelousas District in the late 1780s?   See the Jul 1789 militia list for Opelousas in Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 413, which contains a Baptiste DOUCET.  Considering his age, this is probably not him; he would have been only 15 in 1789.

11.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Joseph DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, calls him Joseph DOUCET, says he was born in 1753 but gives no birthplace, gives his parents' names, details his marriage, including his wife's parents' names, lists his children as Anne, born in 1773, Joseph in 1776, Anselme in 1777, Hilaire in 1780, & Valérie in 1783, but gives no birthplaces, & says he died in 1806 but gives no place of death; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:259 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.26; SM Ch.: Folio A-1, p.19), his marriage record, calls him Joseph DOUCET/DOUCETTE, "resides in Attakapas," calls his wife Anne LANDRY, "resides in Attakapas," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were ____ BERARD, Augustin GREVEMBER, François GREVEMBER, ____ DURIEU, & Joseph LANDRY; BRDR, 2:247, 417-18 (PCP-2, part 2, 139a), also his marriage record, calls him Joseph DOUCETTE, gives his & his wife's parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Augustin GREVENBERG & Gerald de VERBOIS; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:246 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.67), probably his death/burial record, calls him Joseph DOUCET, "inhabitant of this parish," but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, & does not give his age at the time of his death.  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 21; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 8. 

His dit can be found in the Attakapas census of 1769, & in daughter Marie's birth/baptismal record, dated 9 Oct 1773, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.41; SM Ch.: Folio B-1), which calls him Hilaire.  

His marriage was recorded at Pointe Coupée because the Attakapas area had no resident priest during the early 1770s, so the Pointe Coupée priest administered the sacraments there. 

The burial record cited above is a cursory thing, but this is probably him.  

12.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls him Joseph DOUCET, & lists him with no wife & 3 children; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36, Family No. 73; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jh DOUCET, laboureur, age 53, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Joseph DOUCET, plowman, age 53, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with no wife & 3 children; NOAR, 6:97 (SLC, F4, 45), his death/burial record, calls him Joseph DOUCET, "native of Port Royal in Acadia, 75 yr., sp. Margarita MOLESON, native of Port Royal," but does not gives his parents' names. 

For his settling at Cap-Sable & his sojourn at Le Havre, see Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 115-18; Book Six. 

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  When did he leave the Acadian Coast for New Orleans?  What happened to younger children Ange & Madeleine?  Did they die at St.-Jacques in the late 1780s or early 1790s?  Did their death & his older daughter Marie-Marguerite's living in the city with her French husband influence his move to New Orleans?  He did not remarry. 

13.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls her Magdalaine [DOUCET], & lists her with her widowed father & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Magdeleine, sa [Jh DOUCET's] fille, age 17, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Magdelaine DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] daughter, age 17, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with her widowed father & 2 siblings; 

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

What happened to her in LA? 

14.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls her Margueritte [DOUCET], & lists her with her parents & 2 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36-37, Family No. 74, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Marguerite-Bénony DOUCET, gives her parents' names, says her godparents were Jacques BUNEL & Marguerite MOULAISON, & details the family's participation in the Poitou settlement of the early 1770s; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Margueritte, sa [Michel DOUCET's] fille, age 9, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marguerite DOUCET, his [Michel DOUCET's] daughter, age 9, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with her parents & 2 siblings.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  Her going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that she is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from her ship & that some passengers from her ship went to "Nueva Galvez."  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  

15.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Marie DOUCET veuve MOULAISON; White, DGFA-1, 1236.

Her parents moved from Annapolis Royal to Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, after their wedding at Annapolis in Nov 1725.  See Arsenault, Généalogie, 510-11; White, DGFA-1, 532. 

16.  Wall of Names, 17, calls her Madeleine DOUCET; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 172, & Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 425, the record of her second marriage, calls her Marie DOUSSET, but gives no witnesses to her marriage; BRDR, 3:277 (SMI-8, 18), her death/burial record, calls her Magdelaine DOUCET, "age 80, wid. Abraham ROY," but does not give her parents' names; Ulysse Roy, source for her parents' names.  

The records of her second marriage & her burial provide her full name, which is found in no single record.

For evidence of her being at Miramichi, see the marriage record of son Charles GAUDET, dated 9 Jun 1792, in BRDR, 2:307 (SJA-2, 16), which describes his parents as "of Macamiri."  

17.  Wall of Names, 47 (pl. 12R), calls her Marie-Margueritte [DOUCET], & lists her with her widowed father & 2 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Marie-Marthe[sic], sa [Jh DOUCET's] fille, age 19, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marie-Marthe[sic] DOUCET, his [Joseph DOUCET's] daughter, age 19, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 27th Family aboard L'Amitié with her widowed father & 2 siblings; NOAR, 4:11, 104 (SLC, M5, 44), her marriage record, calls her Margarita DUCHET, "native of France," calls her husband Renato ARNOUD," native of Bonelle in France," gives her & his parent's names, mentions no previous spouses, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Vicente LLORCA & Josef MARTINEZ; NOAR, 5:135 (SLC, F2, 53), her death/burial record, calls her Maria DOUCET, "native of Havre de Grace in (France), sp. Ren(*) ARNAUD," & gives her mother's but not her father's name.

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, she & her family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  

Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 1, 3, Families nos. 1 & 4, says that René son of Pierre ARNAUD & Marie RAIMON of Vouneuil, France, married Anne-Perrine, daughter of Nicolas-Gabriel ALBERT & Marie-Marthe BENOIT, on 21 Nov 1780 in Cenan, Vienne, France, which was in Poitou.  I am assuming this is the same fellow, called Renato ARNOUD by the New Orleans priest, who married Margarita DUCHET, that is, Marie-Marguerite DOUCET, in Jan 1786.  (Wall of Names, 47, lists René ARNAUD as an immigré on the passenger list of La Caroline; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 110, calls him Renato ARMEAU.)  Back in France, René & Anne-Perrine ALBERT had a son, Pierre, baptized on 25 Jan 1782 in Cenan, but the little fellow died at age 17 days.  Did Anne-Perrine die soon after?  Robichaux's study of the Acadians in Poitou gives no death date for her but says she was born in c1762, though he gives no birthplace.  Since Robichaux lists no more children for this couple, Pierre's birth may have finished her.  René probably met Marie-Marguerite aboard ship, unless he knew her back in France before they set sail on La Caroline.  Did René & Marie-Marguerite follow her widowed father to the Acadian Coast, where he was counted at St.-Jacques with some of his other children in Aug 1788?  Looking at her burial record, & seeing that her father returned to New Orleans in the 1790s, I would guess that Marie-Marguerite & René did not leave the city.  If so, she & her father would have been the rare Acadian immigrants who settled at New Orleans.  What killed her so young?  Complications of child birth? 

18.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Marie-Marthe DOUCET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:26, her death/burial record, calls her Marie-Marthe DOUCET, does not give her parents' names but this is her, & gives her exact age at the time of her burial.

19.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Michel DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 517, the Port-Royal section, calls him Michel DOUCET, says he was born in 1722, that he was son of Laurent DOUCET & Marie-Anne PELLERIN, details his marriage to Marguerite MARTIN, gives her parents' names, says that he & his wife went to LA, & lists his children as Joseph, born in 1749, and Marie-Modeste, born in 1751; Arsenault, 2473, the LA section, calls him Michel dit sons fils DOUCET, says he was born in 1733 but gives no birthplace, says he was son of Michel DOUCET & Agnès PITRE, that he married Marguerite MARTIN in c1752 but gives no place of marriage, says he was at Miramichy, New Brunswick in c1758, & lists his children as Joseph born in c1780, Pierre in c1758, Michel in c1770, & Jean in c1780 but gives no birthplaces; <gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/acadian/archives.asp?ID=915>, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Michel Laurent DOUCET, gives his parents' names, & says his godparents were Michel RICHARD & Marguerite PELLERIN; <gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/acadian/archives.asp?ID=3031>, his marriage record, calls him Michel DOUCET, calls his wife Marguerite MARTIN, gives his & her parents' names, says her mother was deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage were Charles MOUTON, Charles BLANCHARD, Laurent DOUCET, Pierre SAVOYE, François DUGAST, & Mathieu FOREST; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.81), his death/burial record, calls him Michel DOUCET, originally from Acadie, does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, says he was 105 yrs. old when he died, & concludes with the cryptic phrase "God have mercy upon him."  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 7, 21, 37; <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.  

In his LA section, Arsenault seems to be confusing the Michel DOUCET who came to LA from France in 1785 with the Michel DOUCET who settled in the Attakapas District 2 decades earlier.  The Michel DOUCET from France was, as his burial record reveals, son of Michel DOUCET & Angélique PITRE.  Keith DOUCET, a family genealogist and descendant of Michel of Attakapas, agrees with Arsenault's Port-Royal section, which says that Laurent DOUCET, fils & Anne PELLERIN were Michel of Attakapas's parents.  Laurent was son of Laurent DOUCET, père & Jeanne BABIN and grandson of Germain DOUCET, sieur de La Verdure's younger son Germain, fils.  However, Keith recently took a "Y" chromosome test that placed him in haplogroup "C"--the one for Native Americans!  Is it possible, then, that Michel DOUCET of Attakapas is a descendant not of Germain DOUCET, sieur de La Verdure, who, according to every source I have consulted was French and not Indian, but of the Germain DOUCET of Port-Royal who was an American Indian?  

Arsenault's birth dates for this Michel DOUCET's sons are wildly at variance with the ages found in the Attakapas census of 1771.  

Hebert, D. Southwest LA Records, 1-A: 260 (LSAR: Opel.: 1800), the succession record for Marguerite MARTIN, dated 8 Feb 1800, says "Michel's brothers are:  Pierre & Jean," but Arsenault lists them as his, & therefore her, sons.  Strange, unless the record was talking about Michel, fils, Marguerite's son, not Michel, père, her husband.  

20.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Michel DOUCET; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2473, 2474, says he was born in c1770; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:260, 478 (SM Ch.: v.4, #72), his marriage record, calls him Michel DOUCET, calls his wife Margueritte LANDRY, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "naturales de Puerto Real en France (natives from Port Royal in France [Acadia in New France])," says her parents were "de St.-Malo, France," & that the witnesses to his marriage were Jean-Baptiste CASTI, André MARTIN, & Félix LOPEZ; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (SM Ch.: v.4, #385), his death/burial record, calls him Michel DOUCET dit Sonfils of LaPointe, does not give his parents' names or mention a wife, & says he was 45 yrs. old when he died.  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 21; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.  

Why did he wait so long to marry?

21.  Wall of Names, 46 (pl. 12R), calls him Michel DOUCET, & lists him with his wife & 3 children; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 36-37, Family No. 74; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 58, Family No. 108; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Michel DOUCET, charpentier, age 45, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Michel DOUCET, carpenter, age 45, on the complete listing, says he was in the 25th Family aboard L'Amitié with his wife & 3 children, details his marriage, including his wife's but not his parents' names, & says he & his wife were married in 1768 but gives no place of marriage; NOAR, 5:135 (SLC, F2, 53), his death/burial record, calls him Miguel DOUCET, "native of Lacadia [Acadia], resident of this city, 54 yr., sp. Marie Blanche COUSIN," & gives his parents' names, calling his mother Angelica PYE, which probably is PITRE.  

As the debarkation list of L'Amitié & the embarkation/debarkation lists of La Caroline reveal, he & his family sailed to LA on the later ship, not the earlier one.  His going to San Bernardo is only a guess based on the fact that he is not in the census records at Ascension & the Lafourche valley in the 1780s & 1790s with other passengers from his ship, & that some passengers from his ship went to San Bernardo.  See <thecajuns.com/1785acad.pdf>.  He was a sailor, so, if he continued in that profession, it would make sense that he would want to settle near the colony's only port.  Note where he died.  

His wife, from Ministigueshe, Cap-Sable, was the only member of her family to emigrate to LA.  She remarried at New Orleans to a native of St.-Malo, France, in Nov 1793, not long after his death.  The record of her second marriage says she was "native of Louisbourg in Acadia," but she only lived there briefly before she was deported to France. 

22.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Paul DOUCET 2.

What happened to him in LA?

23.  Wall of Names, 15, calls him Pierre DOUCET; Hebert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:200, 261 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.3, #174), his marriage record, calls him Pierre DOUCET, "native of Miramichy in Acadie," calls his wife Marie-Magdeleine COMMONT," native of Opelousas Post," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were François GREVEMBERT, Joseph BABIN, André MONDON, Joseph BOURG, & Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.89), his death/burial record, calls him Pierre DOUCET, does not give his parents' names or mention  a wife, & says he was 55 yrs. old when he died; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:247, his succession, calls him Pierre DOUCET, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife & children.  See also Arceneaux, D. J., Attakapas Post in 1769, 21; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 12.  

So what is to be made of the "petition by Magdeleine COMEAU the wife of Pierre DOUCET, dated 2 Mar. 1807," that goes on to say "She states that Pierre DOUCET d. 5 Feb. 1840," in Hébert D., Southwest LA Records, 3:207 (LSAR: Opel.: 1840)?  If Pierre DOUCET, husband of Marie-Madeleine COMEAUX, died in Feb 1840, he would have been in his early or -mid-80s at the time of his death. 

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