François
Gautrot, whose surname
also was spelled Gautreau,
Gauthreau,
Gotro, and
Gottreau,
born perhaps at Martaizé, near Loudun, south of the Loire valley in France, in c1613, and his
first wife, Marie, whose family name has been lost to history, were among the
first French settlers in Acadia, reaching the colony aboard
St.-Jehan in
1636 (though they not appear on the
ship's passenger list). They had two children, a daughter, Marie, born probably in France in
c1636, and a
son, Charles, later called l'âiné, born at Port-Royal in c1639, one of the
first French children born in Acadia. Daughter Marie married into the
Potet
and Dupuis families.
François remarried to Edmée
or
Aimée
Lejeune,
sister of Catherine, wife of
François
Savoie,
at Port-Royal in c1644. Edmée gave him nine more children, including three sons, all born at
Port-Royal, who created
families of their own. Their four daughters married into the
Thériot,
Labat dit Le Marquis, Girouard, and Lanoue
families. François died at Port-Royal
in c1693; he
was 80 years old. In December 1705, French authorities expropriated a lot
"adjoining the side of the old fort" at Port-Royal "for the
extension of the fort." The lot belonged to François's
heirs.
Oldest son Charles l'âiné,
by his first wife, who used the surname Gottreau, born at Port-Royal in
c1639, one of the first French children born in the colony, did not
settle in his native Acadia. In
October 1665, he married Françoise, daughter of
Martin Cousin and Marie Hubert, at Québec. They settled at Charlesbourg
in the St. Lawrence River valley, where he died in December 1714, in his 70s.
François, fils, by his second
wife, born in c1657, married Marie, also called Sébastienne, daughter of
Vincent
Brun and
Renée Breau, at Port-Royal in c1677.
They had
one child, a son, François III, who married into the Aucoin family and
moved to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, by the early 1750s.
François, fils died at Port-Royal before 1683, in his 20s.
Claude, by his second wife, born in c1659, married Marie, daughter of
Bonaventure Thériot and Jeanne Boudrot, at Port-Royal in c1684. They had 13 children, including two sons who
married into the LeBlanc family. They settled at Minas on
Rivière-des-Gaspereaux, at nearby Grand-Pré, and at Village-des-Claude.
Nine of their daughters married into the LeBlanc, Hébert, Brun,
Landry, Babin, Daigre, Benoit, Breau, and Richard
families. Claude died at Minas
in March 1733, in his 70s. One of his daughters settled at Pigiguit, and a
number of his children moved to Île St.-Jean and Rivière-des-Habitants, Île
Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, by the early 1750s.
Youngest son
Charles
le jeune,
by his second wife, born in c1661, married Françoise,
daughter of René Rimbault
and Anne-Marie
____, at Port-Royal in c1684. They
also settled at Minas and had 11 children, including
five sons who married into the Vincent, Blanchard,
Landry, Bugeaud,
Lejeune, and Hébert families. Four of their daughters
married into the Célestin, Breau, Daigre, and Hébert families.
Charles,
le jeune died probably at Minas in the early
1720s, in his 40s. Some of his children moved to Île St.-Jean by the
early 1750s, and one daughter lived at Louisbourg on Île Royale.
[For more of this family in
pre- and post-disperal Acadia and Canada, see
Book Three]
In 1755, descendants of
François
Gautrot
of Martaizé and his two wives Marie _____ and Edmée
Lejeune could be found at Annapolis
Royal; Grand-Pré, Rivière Gaspereau, Rivière-aux-Canards, Pigiguit, and Cobeguit in the Minas Basin;
and on Île St.-Jean in the French Maritimes.
~
Anne Gautrot, evidently not a
descendant of François
Gautrot of Acadia, married
Joseph Prétieux, later Précieux, probably at La Rochelle, France,
in c1688. A son was born to them at La Rochelle the year after their
marriage, and a daughter two years later. The family first appears in an
Acadian census at Minas in 1693. Joseph died after the census.
Daughter Anne gave birth to a natural son, the boy's father's name unrecorded,
two years before she married Pierre Lalande, alias Blaise des Brousses
dit Bonappétit, at Annapolis Royal in November 1710. Anne Gautrot's
death date and place is unrecorded.
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails
during the Great Upheaval, see
Book Six]
LOUISIANA: WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
A Gautrot was among the earliest Acadians
to seek refuge in Louisiana. Pierre
Gautrot and wife Louise Thibodeau, ages unrecorded, reached New Orleans from Halifax via
Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, with the Broussard
dit Beausoleil party in February 1765. In the record of the February 22 baptism of their 10-month-old daughter Marie-Josèphe, the
New Orleans priest noted that
Pierre was deceased--perhaps the first Acadian exile to die in Louisiana. In April, when the Broussard party exchanged their
Canadian card money for Louisiana currency, it was Louise,
not Pierre, who appeared on the list of Acadian family heads. That spring, Louise and Marie-Josèphe followed the Broussards to Bayou Teche, where they helped
create La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche. Louise did
not remarry. Marie-Josèphe married into the Duhon family at Attakapas
and remained on the western prairies. She died in Lafayette Parish in January 1833, in her late
60s.
~
In November 1785,
Madeleine Gautrot, second wife of Joseph Aucoin,
reached Louisiana from France aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the
Seven Ships, and evidently settled in the Attakapas District with her
husband. They had no children. Madeleine, a widow again, died
at La Pointe in St. Martin Parish in February 1809, age 86.
~
Beginning in the late 1780s, two daughters
of Amand-Paul Gautreaux of St.-Jacques on the river married on Bayou
Teche. Marguerite married Charles, son of fellow Acadians François Hébert
and Marie-Marguerite LeBlanc
of St.-Gabriel on the river, at Attakapas in December 1787, but they returned to
St.-Gabriel. Younger sister Sophie married Pierre-Olivier dit
Pierrot, son of fellow Acadians Charles Dugas and his first wife
Marguerite Granger, at Attakapas in February
1795. They remained on the western prairies.
~
Pélagie-Marie,
daughter of
Jean-Baptiste Gautrot
and
Anne
Lejeune, born at St.-Servan,
France, near St.-Malo, in April 1770, came to Louisiana in 1785 aboard
Le Bon
Papa, the first of the Seven Ships from France,
which reached New Orleans in July.
She traveled with the family of her
maternal uncle
Eustache Lejeune and
followed them to Manchac south of Baton Rouge, but
she did not remain there. She married
Pierre, son of fellow Acadian
Honoré
Trahan
and
Marie
Corporon and widower of Anne
Brasseaux,
at Opelousas in May 1789.
Madeleine Gautrot, age 63, crossed with her second
husband Joseph Aucoin, age 60, on L'Amitié, the
fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November 1785.
Most of their fellow passengers settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, but the
childless couple went, instead, to Attakapas.
~
Not until about the time of the
Louisiana Purchase did a Gautreaux family line appear on the western
prairies. The only son of one of the first members of the
family to reach the colony in 1765 left his home at St.-Jacques and followed
his older, married sisters to the Attakapas District, where he settled on land
his father had acquired along Bayou Vermilion. During the antebellum period,
his descendants fanned out from the Vermilion to other Acadian communities from
upper Bayou Teche to the St. Landry prairies:
Descendants of Jérôme GAUTREAUX
(1778-; François,
Claude, Charles)
Jérôme, son of Amand-Paul Gautreaux
and Marie Landry, born at Ascension on the river in September 1778,
married Marie Sophie, called Sophie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Dugas
and Marguerite Dupuis of Cabanocé/St.-Jacques and Attakapas,
probably at Attakapas in the late 1790s. They settled on the lower Vermilion River before moving
upstream to La Butte, east of present-day Lafayette. Their daughters
married into the Dugas, Guilbeau, Knott, and Lagrange
families. Their sons settled in St. Martin, St. Landry, and Lafayette
parishes.
1
Oldest son Jérôme, fils, also
called Prom and Valière, born
on the lower Vermilion in August 1803, married Arsènne, daughter of fellow
Acadian Pierre
Cormier,
père and his second wife
Rosalie
Dugas of Carencro, at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, in October 1831. They settled near Grand Coteau before
moving to St. Martin Parish. Their son Arsène was born in c1836 but
died in Lafayette Parish, age 7, in July 1843, and Charles, called Charly,
was born in St.
Martin Parish in November 1844. They also had a son named Lessin,
also called Jérôme.
Their daughter married into the Chalonde family.
1a
Lessin Jérôme married Louise, daughter of
Louis Bellard and Céline Carrière, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry
Parish, in September 1861. Their son Louis was born near Church
Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1866, and
Jérôme, fils near Grand Coteau in July 1869.
1b
Charles married Marie, daughter of
Michel Courville and Françoise Teller or
Taylor, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry
Parish in November 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point
church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1868.
The parish clerk who recorded the civil ceremony noted that Marie's "Nearest
relative is an uncle--Hillarte Courville." Their son Arnest
was born near Church Point in August 1868. They were living near
Eunice, St. Landry Parish, by the end of the decade.
2
Pierre, born at La Butte in
October 1809, married Louise or Éloise, daughter of Joseph Angèle and
Adélaïde Quebedeaux, St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1836. They settled
near Breaux Bridge on upper Bayou Teche. Their son Aurelien was
born in April 1841, Pierre Destival in December 1842, Pierre, fils
in c1859 but died at age 3 in May 1862, and Simon was born in March 1860.
They also had a son named Lasty, unless he was Aurelien Their daughters married into the
Quebedeaux and Taylor families. Pierre, père died
near Breaux Bridge in May 1868; the priest who recorded his burial said that
Pierre died "at age 60 yrs.," but he was 58.
Lasty married Olymphe, also called
Mathilde, daughter of
William Badon and his Acadian wife Azélie Prejean, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Landry Parish, in
December 1866. Their son
Joseph was born near Breaux Bridge in March 1869.
3
Jean, born at La Butte in
November 1811, may have married fellow Acadian Carmelite LeBlanc. If
so, they
had sons named Azalin or Azolin and Joseph.
3a
Azolin married Mathilde or
Mathilda, daughter of fellow Acadian Onésime Trahan and his Creole
wife Émelite Primeaux, at the Church
Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in June 1858.
Their son Jean le jeune was born near Church Point in December 1870.
3b
Joseph married Aspasie, daughter
of Nathaniel Hanks and his Acadian wife Marie Nathalie Trahan,
at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in
December 1870.
4
Symphorien Roseaimé, born at
La Butte in November 1813, married Marie Iréné, called Iréné, daughter of fellow
Acadian Raphael Landry and his Creole wife Adèle Begnaud, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish,
in August 1835. They settled on upper Bayou Teche near Breaux
Bridge. Their son Ozémé was born in March 1841. Their
daughters married into the Begnaud and Bouillon families. Symphorien
died in September 1846 and was "buried in Breaux Bridge," age 32.
5
Joseph Armélien, born at La Butte in June 1818,
married Azéline,
daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Placide Richard and Anastasie
Hébert, in a civil ceremony in St.
Landry Parish in November or December 1838, and sanctified the marriage at the
Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1858. They settled near Church
Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish. Their son Joseph,
fils was born in February 1840, Jérôme le jeune in June 1843, and
Pierre le jeune in August 1845. In 1860, the federal census taker in
St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--a 32-year-old black female, a 12-year-old
black male, and a 5-year-old black male--on J. A. Gautreaux's farm; this
probably was Joseph. He remarried to Aveline,
daughter of Joseph Lavergne and his Acadian wife Augustine dite
Gustine Richard and widow of Paulin dit
Olin Jeansonne, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in February
1864; Aveline's mother a Richard, and she became the
mother-in-law of Joseph's son Jérôme le jeune.
5a
Jérôme le jeune, by his
father's first wife, married
Elisida, daughter of fellow Acadian Paulin dit Olin Jeansonne
and his French-Canadian wife Aveline Lavergne, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1864; Elisida's mother
was Jérôme le jeune's stepmother. Jérôme and Elsida's son
Joseph le jeune was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry
but now in Acadia Parish, in December 1869.
5b
Joseph, fils, by his
father's first
wife, may have married fellow Acadian Mélaïde LeBlanc. If so,
their son Élisée was born in Lafayette Parish in December 1869.
5c
Pierre le jeune, by his
father's first wife, may have been the Peter Gotreaux who married
Anglo-American Sarah Kimball, widow of John Cox, in a civil
ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1869; the parish clerk who recorded
the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
6
Youngest son Onésime, born in Lafayette
Parish in February 1821, married Anastasie, also called Clarice, another daughter of Pierre
Placide Richard and Anastasie Hébert, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1840. They settled
probably near Carencro. Their son
Onésime, fils was born in June 1843, and Jule or Jules in September 1845.
Their daughter married into the Thibodeaux family. Onésime,
père remarried to Azenaise, 18-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians
Marcellin Dugas and Mélanie Boudreaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in
September 1853. Onésime, père died in Lafayette Parish in January
1859; the Vermilionville priest who recorded the burial said that Onésime died
"at age 40 yrs.," but he was 37; his succession was filed at the
Opelousas courthouse in March.
6a
Jules, by his father's first wife, may have married
fellow Acadian Angèle Melançon in a civil ceremony in St. Landry
Parish in May 1867, and may have remarried to Fanelie Guilbert and
settled in Lafayette Parish later in the decade.
6b
Onésime, fils, by his
father's first
wife, married Émelie, daughter of fellow Acadians Lessin Dugas and
Marguerite Dugas, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1866, and remarried to
Félicia, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Dugas and Marguerite
Hébert, at the
Vermilionville church in June 1867. Their son Onésime III was
born in Lafayette Parish in February 1868, and Apollinaire in August
1870.
~
During the late antebellum period,
another Gautreaux from Ascension Parish moved to the western prairies and
settled in St. Landry Parish:
Descendants of Simon Alexandre
GAUTREAUX (1806-?;
François, Claude, Charles, Simon)
Simon Alexandre, called Alexandre,
a twin, second son of Simon Gautreaux, fils and his first wife Marie
Duhon, born at Ascension in September 1806, married
cousin Euphémie, daughter of fellow Acadians Donat LeBlanc and Marie
Josèphe Melançon, at the St.
James church, St. James Parish, in January 1829; they had to receive a
dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry. They
lived near the boundary between St. James and Ascension parishes before moving
to the western prairies. Wife Euphémie died in Lafayette Parish in March 1850,
several months before a federal census taker counted 5 slaves on his farm in the
Eastern District of St. James Parish, so he may have returned to the river soon
after her death. His two older sons married
sisters and settled in St. Landry Parish. His youngest son
and at least of his daughters returned with him to the river.
1
Oldest son Joseph Adolphe,
called Adolphe, born in Ascension Parish in January 1832, married Laure,
also called Marie and Cora, daughter of Étienne LaMorandiere and Elisa
Robin, at the Opelousas church,
St. Landry Parish, in December 1853. Their son Edgar Dozelia was
born in St. Landry Parish in August 1860.
2
Alexandre Dorilio, Dosilia,
Dosilien, or Dozilin, born in St.
James Parish in November 1833, married Clara, another daughter of Étienne
LaMorandiere and Elisa Robin, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1856.
Their son Albert was born in St. Landry Parish in April 1857.
Dosilia, as he was called by the recording priest, died in St. Landry Parish in
June 1857; he was only 33 years old; his succession record was filed at the
Opelousas courthouse in September 1858, three months after his wife remarried.
3
Youngest son Valmont, born in Ascension Parish in
January 1836, returned to the
river, married, and settled in Iberville Parish.
~
Other GAUTREAUXs on the Western
Prairies
Local church and civil records make it
difficult to link some Gautreauxs in the western parishes with known
Acadian lines of the family there:
Séraphin Gautreaux married
Marie Louise Azélie, called Azélie, Landry, place and date unrecorded.
Daughter Marie Léontine was born in St. Martin Parish in May 1852, Geneviève
near New Iberia, then in St. Landry but now in Iberia Parish, in February 1854,
and Josette in January 1856. Was
Séraphin a younger son of Jérôme Gautreaux, whose baptismal and marriage records have been
lost? Or was he Séraphin Aurelien, son of Rosémond Gautreaux and
Françoise Percle of Assumption Parish? Séraphin Aurelien would have been in
his mid-20s in the early 1850s. When, and where, did he marry Marie Louise
Azélie?
Joseph Gaudreau, as his name
was recorded, married Anglo-American Diane Jackson in a civil ceremony in
St. Landry Parish in August 1855. The parish clerk who recorded the
marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. One wonders if Joseph
was a French-Creole Goudreau, not an Acadian Gautreaux.
Dosilia Gautreaux
died in St. Landry Parish in June 1857, age 23. The Opelousas priest
who recorded the burial did not give her parents' names.
In June 1860, the federal census taker
in St. Mary Parish counted 2 slaves--a 40-year-old male, and a 38-year-old
female, living in 1 house--on Ellis Gautreaux's farm next to Jos.
Gautreaux, who owned 5 slaves--4 males and 1 female, ranging in age from 35
to 14, living in 1 house--in the parish's western district? Were they
brothers? How were they kin to the other Acadian Gautreauxs?
Lea Gautreaux married Émile
Boudreaux in civil ceremony in St. Mary Parish in 1867 or 1868. The
parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Harriet Gotreau married Jean
Liverse in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1869. The
parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Eugène Gotreaux married Sarah
Shuff in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1870. The
parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS
In 1765, another Gautrot
reached Louisiana from Halifax via Cap-Français, but not with the Broussard party:
Simon Gautrot of Grand-Pré,
age 29, came with wife Marie-Madeleine Breau, age 22. They settled
at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from
Georgia had settled the year before, and there they remained. No
other South Louisiana line of the Gautreaux family matched this one in size
and affluence:
Descendants of Simon GAUTREAUX
(c1736-1814; François,
Claude)
Simon, younger son of Charles Gautrot
and Marie-Josèphe LeBlanc, born at Grand-Pré in
March 1736, escaped the British roundup at Minas in 1755 that sent his
family to Maryland. Simon sought refuge from the British probably on the
Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and married
Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of Ambroise Breau and
Marie-Madeleine Michel of Chepoudy, during Le
Grand Dérangement. They ended up as prisoners at Fort
Edward, formerly Pigiguit, in 1762 and were
among the hundreds of Acadian refugees in Nova Scotia who came to Louisiana via
Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in 1765. They were childless when they reached New Orleans
in 1765, so all of their children were born in the colony. Their daughters
married Breaux and Gautreaux cousins. "Through grant and
purchase Simon acquired a plantation of some 500 acres on the west bank of the
Mississippi above the present community of Welcome. Called St. Joseph, the
property remained in the family for more than a century as a producer of
sugar-cane, and before the Civil War it was worked with 64 slaves."
(Welcome is a few miles below the Ascension Parish line.) Simon died in St.
James Parish in November 1814; the priest who recorded his burial said that
Simon died at "age about 80 yrs." All eight of
his sons created families of their own. All but one of them remained on the
river in either St. James, Ascension, or Iberville Parish, especially in
Ascension. His youngest son
moved to the Bayou Lafourche valley and settled in what became Terrebonne
Parish.
1
Oldest son Jean-Louis, called Louis,
born at Cabanocé in c1766, married Marie-Rose, daughter
of fellow Acadians Paul LeBlanc and Anne Babin, at St.-Jacques in January 1786.
Their son Louis-Urbin, called Urbin, was born at St.-Jacques in April 1792, Pierre-Paul
in December 1793 but died at age 7 in December 1800, Urbin-Anatole,
called Anatole, was born in March 1803, and Simon Vital, called Vital,
in April 1809 but died at age 3 1/2 in September 1812. Their daughters married into the Bernais,
Boudreaux, Bourgeois,
and Lanoux families. Louis died near Convent, St. James Parish, in
January 1832, age 66. Two of his sons settled in St.
James Parish.
1a
Urbin married Marcelline,
daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Gaudin, fils and Marie
Madeleine Foret, at the Convent church,
St. James Parish, in June 1814. Their son Zenon was born near
Convent in June 1817, and Justilien was baptized at the Convent church,
age 6 weeks, in July 1821 but died the following October. Their daughter
married into the Breaux family. Urbin died "at New River," St.
James Parish, in April 1853, age 61.
Zenon married Carmelite or
Carmelita, daughter
of fellow Acadians Marcellin LeBlanc and Marcellin LeBlanc and
Arthémise Landry of Ascension, at the St. Gabriel church,
Iberville Parish, in July 1842. Their son Louis Adam was born
in Ascension Parish in June 1850, and Joseph Andrieux near Convent,
St. James Parish, in February 1853.
1b
Anatole married cousin Eugènie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Gravois and Bibienne Bourg, at the Donaldsonville church,
Ascension Parish, in October 1828; they had to secure a dispensation for third
degree of consanguinity in order to marry. Their daughter married a
LeBlanc cousin. Anatole died near Convent, St. James Parish, in
January 1845; the priest who recorded his burial said that Anatole died at "age
39 yrs.," but he was 41.
2
Jean-Baptiste, born at
Cabanocé in the late 1760s, married distant
cousin Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Charles Braud
and Marie Benoit of Manchac, at St.-Jacques
in January 1788. Their son Jean-Baptiste, fils was born at
Ascension in February 1792, and Simon le jeune in July 1794. Their
daughter married into the Thibodeaux family. Jean-Baptiste, père died at Ascension in February
1797, in his early 30s. His two sons settled in St. James Parish.
2a
Jean Baptiste, fils married
Marie
Adélaïde, called Adélaïde, daughter of Acadians Joseph Landry and
Madeleine Michel, in the
early or mid-1810s. Their son Jean Baptiste
Norbert was born in Assumption Parish in February 1816 but died near
Convent, St. James Parish, age 15, in December 1830, Charles
Arsène, called Arsène, was born near Convent in January 1818, and Joseph
in March 1828.
Arsène married German Creole
Marie Arthémise, called Arthémise, Frederic. Their son Charles Numa
died near Convent, St. James Parish, age 17 months, in September 1846.
A daughter married into the Aucoin family at the Brashear City,
now Morgan City, on the lower Atchafalaya.
2b
Simon le jeune married
Madeleine Pétronille, called Pétronille, daughter of Benjamin Stout and
Charlotte Bonvillain, at the Convent church, St. James
Parish, in February 1816. Their son Simon Florien was born near
Convent in February 1821 but died at age 2 1/2 in October 1823, Simon Jules
was born in December 1827, Louis Justinien in March 1829, Louis
Benjamin, called Benjamin, in January 1831 but died at age 1 1/2 in August
1832, and Paul Marcellin was born in April 1833 but died at age 14 months
in July 1834. Their daughter married into the Gaudet family on
upper Bayou Lafourche.
3
Charles, baptized at
St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in June 1770, married Marie-Marthe, called Marthe, daughter of
fellow Acadians Amand Richard and Marie Braud of St.-Gabriel d'Iberville, at St.-Jacques in February 1790. Their son Simon
Allain, called Allain, was born
at Ascension in April 1792, Jean-Louis le jeune in April 1795, Charles-Julien
in January 1797 but died at age 10 in July 1807, twins Charles, fils and Joseph-Perfect
were born in
October 1802 but Charles, fils died at birth, and Valentin
or Valentine Rosémond
was born in March 1806. Their daughters
married into the Graneau or Granois, Guidry, Lambert,
LeBlanc, Lucenty, McCann, and Melançon families. Charles remarried to Constance, daughter of fellow
Acadians Jacques Melançon and Élisabeth Landry, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in January 1818. Their son Guillaume
Séraphin was born in Ascension Parish in September 1818 but died at age
6 in October 1824. Three of his sons settled in Ascension Parish, but one
of the lines died out early.
3a
Allain, by his father's first wife,
married Marie Eugènie, called Eugènie, daughter of fellow Acadians Firmin Landry
and Victoire Babin and widow of
Emmanuel Villeneuve, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in
October 1821. They lived near the boundary between Ascension and
Assumption parishes. Their son Simon Charles was born in August 1822,
Gervais Spire in c1827, and Faustin in December 1829.
Gervais le jeune married Madeleine,
daughter of fellow Acadian Ursin Babin and his Creole wife Odile
Bertaud, at the Donaldsonville church,
Ascension Parish, in January 1852. Gervais le jeune died in Ascension Parish
the following month, age 25. His line of the family
probably died with him.
Faustin died in Ascension Parish
in May 1853, age 23, and probably did not marry.
3b
Jean Louis le jeune, by his
father's first wife, married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Sylvain LeBlanc
and Rosalie LeBlanc, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in October 1829. Their son
Augustin Vincent, also called Octave, was born in Ascension Parish in July
1830 but died at age 1 in September 1831. Their daughter married into the
Gomez family. Jean
Louis le jeune died in Ascension Parish in July 1836, age 41. His line of the family, except for its blood, may have died with him. His widow married his first cousin, Simon Gautreaux
III.
3c
Valentin, by his father's first wife, married
Héloise, Éloise, or Loise, daughter of Jean Baptiste Marchand and Eugènie
Vicknair, at the
Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in May 1840. Their son Joseph
le jeune was born in Ascension Parish in March 1841, Charles
le jeune in December 1846 but died at age 9 months the following September,
Louis was born in July 1848, Vincent Didier in May 1853, and
Valentin Rosémond in September 1855. Their daughters married Gaudin
and Marchand cousins.
Louis married Colina, daughter of
Théodule Hamilton and Elina Grabert, at the Gonzales church, Ascension
Parish, in May 1869.
4
Simon, fils, born at Ascension
in August 1772, married Marie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Duhon and Anne LeBlanc, at St.-Jacques in December 1793.
Their son Simon Rosémond was born at Ascension in February 1805 but died
the following July, and Simon Alexandre, called Alexandre, a twin,
was born in September 1806. Their daughters married into the Boudreaux,
Frederick,
LeBlanc, Melançon, Michel, and Usé families, and
some of them settled on Bayou Lafourche. Simon, fils remarried to Henriette
Élisabeth, called Élise,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Melançon and Élisabeth Landry, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in February 1811. Their son Jean Vasseur,
called Vasseur, was born in Ascension Parish in December 1811, and Simon III in February
1817. Their daughter married into the Hernandez family. Simon, fils
died in Ascension Parish in September 1815, age 43. One
of his sons moved to St. Landry Parish and another to upper Bayou Lafourche. His
youngest son remained in Ascension Parish. A grandson settled in Iberville
Parish.
4a
Alexandre, by his father's first wife, married
cousin Euphémie, daughter of fellow Acadian Donat LeBlanc, at the St.
James church, St. James Parish, in January 1829; they had to receive a
dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry. They
lived near the boundary between St. James and Ascension parishes before moving
to the western prairies. His wife died in Lafayette Parish in March 1850.
Several month later, in August 1850, the federal census taker in St. James
Parish counted 5 slaves--3 males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from
36 to 2--on Alexandre Gauthreaux's farm in the parish's Eastern District,
so he probably had returned to the river soon after his wife's death. His older sons remained
on the prairies, however, and settled in St. Landry Parish, but his youngest son
and at least two of his daughters returned with him to the river. His
daughters married into the Babin and Maire families in St. James and
Ascension parishes.
Valmont, third and youngest son, born in Ascension Parish in January 1836, married Marie Azema,
called Azema,
daughter of fellow Acadian Édouard Landry and his Creole wife
Emeranth Lambremont, at the St. Gabriel church,
Iberville Parish, in June 1856. Their son Joseph Alexandre was
born near St. Gabriel in July 1864.
4b
Jean Vasseur, by his father's second wife, married
Élisabeth, daughter of Hippolyte Carmouche and his Acadian wife Madeleine
LeBlanc, at the
Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1837. They remained on upper Bayou Lafourche.
4c
Simon III, by his father's second wife, married
Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Sylvain LeBlanc and Rosalie LeBlanc
and widow of his
first cousin Jean Louis Gautreaux le jeune, at the Donaldsonville
church, Ascension Parish, in February 1839. Their son Simon Omere
was born in Ascension Parish in September 1839, and Jean Baptiste le
jeune in June 1844. Simon III died "at his mother's at 11:00 at night ..."
near St. James, St. James Parish, in August 1845, age 25. The priest who
recorded the burial went on to say that Simon "left his wife with
four children" and that "Rev. [August] Martin [of the St. James church] was ill,
so Simon was inhumed by Mr. Lefranc," probably a parish official.
5
Amand le jeune, baptized at St.-Jacques,
age unrecorded, in February 1778, married Françoise-Arthémise, daughter of
fellow Acadians Marin Landry and Pélagie Landry, at St.-Jacques in November
1798. Their son Charles-Valéry was born in Ascension Parish in
April 1803 but died at age 8 in August 1811, Simon Ursin was born in May
1807 but died at age 1 1/2 in February 1809, and Michel Narcisse, called Narcisse,
was born
in March 1809. Their daughters married into the Bourg, Gaudin, Melançon,
and Theriot families. Amand le jeune remarried to Marie, another daughter of Jacques Melançon
and Élisabeth Landry, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in July 1811. Their son Pierre Élien,
called Élien,
was born in Ascension Parish in August 1812, Simon Théodore or
Théodule, called Théodule, in March
1818, Joseph Hercules, called Hercule, in February 1826, and Antoine Auguste,
called Auguste,
posthumously in August 1828. Their daughters married into the Gaudin, Landry, and Villeneuve families.
Amand died in Ascension Parish in May 1828, age 50. Five of his sons created families of their own in Ascension and
St. James parishes. Three of them married twice.
5a
Narcisse, by his father's first wife, married
Marie Mathilde or Bathilde, daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques LeBlanc
and Rosalie Bourgeois, at the
Convent church, St. James Parish, in February 1830. Evidently they lived
near the boundary of St. James and Ascension parishes. Their son
Adam Félix or
Félix Adam,
was born in September 1837, Jean Léon, called Léon, in September 1843, Joseph Théodule in February 1846,
Frédéric Ernest, called Ernest, in April 1850 but died
the following December, Joseph Narcisse was born in December 1851,
and Amand Prudent in February 1855. Their
daughters married into the Bourg and Dugas families.
Félix Adam married Célanie,
daughter of Édouard Parent and Marie R. Cambre, at the Donaldsonville
church, Ascension Parish, in July 1858. Their son Jean Adam
was born in Ascension Parish in October 1858, Colum Narcisse
in December 1861, and Adam Maurice near Gonzales in September
1870.
Joseph Léon may have married
Adveline or Adeline Bergeron, perhaps a fellow Acadian, in Ascension Parish
by the early 1860s. Their son Jean Surville was born near
Gonzales, Ascension Parish, in April 1866, and Louis in August
1867.
Joseph Théodule married Émelia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Émile Braud and Virginie
Hébert, at the Gonzales church,
Ascension Parish, in April 1870.
5b
Élien, by his father's second wife, married
Rosalie Ursule, called Ursule, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Simon Landry, at the
Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in January 1835. Evidently they,
too, lived near the boundary of Ascension and St. James parishes. Their son Prudent
Amand or Amand Prudent was born in April 1838 but
died at age 2 in June 1840, and Pierre Amédée was born in March 1848.
Élien, at age 48, remarried to Marie Séraphine, called Séraphine, daughter of fellow Acadian Narcisse
André
Guillot and his Creole wife Rosalie Rousseau, at the Donaldsonville church in November 1860.
5c
Hercule, by his fatrher's second wife,
married Marie Augustine, called Augustine, daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Lanoux
and Marguerite Savoie, at
the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in December 1848. Their son
Edmond Arthur was born in Ascension Parish in November 1850, and
Joseph Vincent in January 1853.
Hercule remarried to cousin Louisa, also called Elisa, daughter of Foreign Frenchman Martin Jean,
also called Isaac, Bernier, and his Acadian wife Domitille
Gautreaux, at the Donaldsonville church in January 1858. Their son Joseph Armand,
called Armand, was born in Ascension Parish in November 1858 but died at
age 3 1/2 in July 1862. Did Hercule remarry again--this would have been
his third marriage--to cousin Marcelline Gautreaux in Ascension Parish in
the early 1860s?
5d
Théodule, by his father's second wife,
married Marie Victorine, called Victorine, daughter of French Creole Jacques Martin Chauvin
and his Acadian wife Marie Caroline LeBlanc, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in February 1849. Their son Macaire Noland was born in Ascension
Parish in January 1851, and Jean Laurent in March 1857.
5e
Auguste, by his father's second wife, married
Felonise, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste LeBlanc and Cléonise
Gaudet, at the
Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in April 1850, and remarried to
Victorine, daughter of German Creole Zenon, also called Charles, Himel or Hymel
and his Acadian wife Scholastique Lanoux, at the Convent church,
St. James Parish, in June 1860.
They settled near the boundary of St. James and Ascension parishes. Their
son Valentine was born in March 1863, Joseph Allen in March
1866, and Antoine Alexandre in April 1868.
6
Raphaël, born at St.-Jacques
in c1782, married cousin
Marie
Constance, called Constance, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Breaux
and Marie Aucoin, at Ascension in
February 1804. Their son Simon Eugène, called Eugène, was born in St. James
Parish in July 1807, Joseph Siméon or Siméon Joseph, also called
Méon, in March 1809, Olesin
Valentin near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in January 1813, a son, name
unrecorded, died at age 1 1/2 in March 1824, Simon le jeune was born in February
1822, Joseph Jules, called Jules, in December 1824 but died near St. Gabriel, age 2 1/2, in June 1827,
and Joseph Ovide was born in October 1827 but died at age 7 in October
1834. Their
daughters married into the Bourg, Elisher, Gonzales, Hébert,
and Roth families. Raphaël died in Ascension Parish in February
1835; the Donaldsonville priest who recorded the burial said that Raphaël died
at "age 52 1/2 yrs." Two of his sons created families of
their own in Ascension Parish.
6a
Eugène married cousin Marie Delphine,
called Delphine, daughter of fellow Acadians Urbin Braud and Marie Rose
Dupuy, at the Donaldsonville church,
Ascension Parish, in May 1835; they had to secure as dispensation for fourth
degree of consanguinity in order to marry. They lived near the boundary of
Ascension and Iberville parishes. Their son Simon Eugène, called
Eugène, fils,
was born in April 1836, Jean in September 1839, Raphaël Théophile,
called Théophile,
in November 1841, Richard in January 1844, Pierre Brise in
November 1846, Alcide in February 1849, and Lucien in March 1851.
They also had a son named Gille. Their daughter married into the Bernard
family. Eugène died near Gonzales, Ascension Parish, in June 1865, age 57.
Eugène, fils died perhaps
in a yellow fever epidemic in Ascension Parish in September 1853, age 17
1/2.
Théophile married cousin Armentine
or Hermentine,
daughter of fellow Acadians Marcellin Breaux and Belazire
Bourque, at the Gonzales church,
Ascension Parish, in February 1867.
Richard married cousin Lylia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Adolphe Braud and Elvina Babin, at the Gonzales church,
Ascension Parish, in January 1868.
Gille married first cousin Amilia,
daughter of Simon Pierre Elisher and his Acadian wife Éloise
Gautreaux, Gille's paternal aunt and uncle, at the Gonzales church, Ascension
Parish, in December 1868; Amilia's mother was Gille's paternal aunt Eloise
Gautreaux, so they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of
consanguinity in order to marry.
6b
Siméon Joseph married Marie, daughter
of fellow Acadians Amédée dit Madé Bourg and Rosalie Mire, at the Convent church,
St. James Parish, in January 1836. Their son Joseph Jules le jeune,
called Jules, was born in Ascension Parish in November 1836 but
died at age 11 in November 1847, Vincent Adélard or Adélard Vincent, was born in July
1838, Pierre Ulger in December 1839 but died at age 6 1/2 in September
1847, Lucien Sylvanie, called Sylvanie, was born in September 1841, and Jean Baptiste Adolphe
in November 1842. Their daughters married into the Batts, Bourque,
and Breaux families. Siméon, at age 60, remarried to Élizabeth, daughter of Joseph Gonzales
and Andrea Marbias, at the Gonzales church, Ascension Parish,
in April 1869.
Local lore claims that "A
small school was established by Ad[é]lard Gautreaux in 1855 to educate
the children" at Gonzales, Ascension Parish. If this was Siméon's
second son Adélard, by first wife Marie Bourg, he must have
been a sharp young fellow--Adélard à Siméon would have been only 17
years old in 1855! Adélard Vincent married Judith Olivia,
called Olivia, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Landry and
Judith Melançon, at the Donaldsonville
church, Ascension Parish, in July 1858. Their son Vincent Omer
was born near Gonzales in September 1863, and Juste Oculi in March
1868.
Sylvanie, by his father's first wife, married Mirza, daughter
of fellow Acadians Ursin Hébert and Adelite Babin, at the Gonzales church, Ascension
Parish, in October 1865. Their son Joseph Ulysse was born near
Gonzales in February 1869.
7
Joseph, born at St.-Jacques in
c1783, married Henriette-Adélaïde,
called Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Abraham dit Pitre Landry
and Marguerite Allain, at Ascension in August 1805.
They lived near the boundary of Ascension and St. James parishes. Their son Joseph Gervais, called Gervais,
was born in August 1808,
Simon
Joseph or Joseph Simon in October 1816, Joseph Richard,
called Richard, in April
1819, Joseph Justin in November 1824, Joseph Léon, called Léon, in April 1827, and Joseph Cyprien in October 1829 but died at age
5 in October 1834. Their daughter married into the Babin and LeBlanc
families. Joseph died in St. James Parish in March 1841, in his late 50s; the St. James
priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph died at "age 58 ... at his
home." Three of his sons left the river and settled on upper
Bayou Lafourche. Two of them remained in Ascension and St. James parishes. In August 1850,
the federal census taker in St. James Parish counted 42 slaves--37 males and 5
females, all black, ranging in age from 60 years to 4 months--on Widow Jh.
Gauthreaux's plantation next to Gervais Gauthreaux's farm in the
parish's eastern district; these probably were the slaves of Joseph's widow,
Adélaïde Landry, on St. Joseph Plantation. In July 1860, the
federal census taker in St. James Parish counted 64 slaves, ages 65 years to 2
months, living in 28 houses, on Widow Jh. Gauthreaux's plantation next to
Gervais Gauthreaux in the parish's right bank 5th District.
7a
Gervais married Marie Louise, called
Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Donat LeBlanc and Marie Josèphe
Melançon of St. James Parish, at the Donaldsonville church,
Ascension Parish, in January 1828; Gervais's sister Appolonie married Louise's
brother Joseph. They, too, lived near the boundary
between Ascension and St. James parishes. Their son Gervais Valcourt was
born in May 1829, Jules Richard in April 1832, Georges Félix or
Félix Georges in April 1839, Joseph
Alfred in January 1841, Joseph Léonce in December 1845 but died at
age 7 1/2 in September 1853, Joseph
Gervais was born in September 1848, and Joseph Damas in December
1851. In August 1850, the federal census taker in St. James Parish counted
11 slaves--6 males and 5 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age
from 28 years to 2 months--on Gervais Gauthreaux's farm next to Widow Jh.
Gauthreaux's plantation in the parish's Eastern District. In July
1860, the federal census taker in St. James Parish counted 22 slaves--9 males
and 13 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ages 38 years to 2 months,
living in 15 houses--on Gervais Gauthreaux's plantation next to Widow Jh.
Gauthreaux in the parish's right-bank 5th District.
Jules Richard married Marie Rose
or Rosa,
daughter of Louis Albert Lanoix and his Acadian wife Roseline
Melançon, at the Donaldsonville
church, Ascension Parish, in January 1853.
Their son Jules Théophile was born in Ascension Parish in November
1857, Jules Joseph Aristide Valcour in March 1859, Joseph
Albert in May 1864, Joseph Victor in June 1868, and Joseph
Louis Gervais in May 1870 but died 18 days after his birth.
Félix Georges married Marie Noemie
or Noemie Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Valentin Landry and
Élisabeth Landry, at the Donaldsonville
church, Ascension Parish, in January 1859. Their son Joseph Félix
was born in Ascension Parish in January 1860, and Joseph Philippe
in March 1863.
7b
Joseph Simon married cousin
Marie Célestine, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste Landry and
Marguerite Trahan, at the Plattenville church, Assumption
Parish, in January 1837. One wonders if they remained there.
7c
Joseph Richard married fellow Acadian
Angeline or Angelina Landry probably in Assumption Parish and settled
there by the mid-1840s.
7d
Joseph Léon married Emma Hélène,
another daughter of Jean Baptiste Landry and Marguerite Trahan, at the Paincourtville church,
Assumption Parish, in February 1848; they had to secure a dispensation for
fourth degree of consanguinity in order to marry. They remained on upper
Bayou Lafourche.
7e
Joseph Justin married Victoire
Mathilda or Mathilda Victoire, daughter of fellow Acadians Ursin Gaudet
and Lise Adèle Dugas of
St. James Parish, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in January 1854.
8
Youngest son Michel, born at St.-Jacques in
July 1787, married Marie-Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Babin
and Marie Landry and widow of Joseph Roger, in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Interior
Parish in July 1816; they also registered the marriage in Terrebonne Parish,
where they probably settled. Did they have any children there?
~
Three, perhaps four, more Gautrots--a young
head of family, his infant daughter, and two widows--came to Louisiana with
the first contingent of exiles from Maryland in September 1766:
Euphrosine Gautrot of
Grand-Pré, age 42,
widow of Pierre Granger, came with three children, ages 23, 21, and
14. They settled at Cabanocé, where Euphrosine remarried to fellow
Acadian Pierre dit Pierrot à Jaque Landry in the late 1760s, and
then moved to nearby Ascension. Euphrosine died perhaps at Ascension by
February 1778, when her husband remarried there.
Amand-Paul Gautrot, age 35, came with wife Marie Landry, age 28, and their year-old daughter
Anne. Amand-Paul was the older brother of Simon Gautrot, who had
come to the colony from Halifax the year before. Amand also settled at St.-Jacques, near
his younger brother.
Rose-Osite, called Osite, Gautrot,
widow of Olivier Forest, came with a daughter. After Osite remarried to fellow Acadian Michel Bourgeois,
a widower, at New Orleans in May 1767, they settled at St.-Jacques.
Spanish officials counted them on the left, or east, bank of the river there in
1777. Osite died in St. James Parish in August 1824; the priest who
recorded her burial said that she was 93 years old when she died.
Descendants of Amand-Paul
GAUTREAUX (1732-?;
François, Claude)
Amand-Paul, elder son of
Charles Gautrot and Marie-Josèphe LeBlanc, and Simon's older
brother, was born at Grand-Pré in January 1732. Unlike his younger
brother, he did not escape the British roundup at Minas in 1755. He ended
up in Maryland, where he married fellow Acadian Marie Landry in c1758.
They came to Louisiana with the first contingent of Maryland exiles in 1766 and
settled at St.-Jacques, where younger brother Simon had settled the year before.
Amand and Marie had more children in Louisiana. By the early 1770s, they
had moved upriver
to Ascension, where they still were being counted in the late
1770s. In the 1790s, Amand "was dealing in land on the upper Bayou
Vermilion in the Attakapas...." His daughters married into the Allain, Brasseaux, Dugas,
and Hébert families. One of his daughters settled upriver near St.
Gabriel, Iberville Parish. Several of his daughters and his only son
settled on the western prairies.
Jérôme, born at Ascension
in September 1778, married Marie Sophie, called Sophie, daughter of fellow
Acadians Jean Dugas and Marguerite Dupuis of
Cabahannocer and Attakapas, probably at Attakapas in the late 1790s.
Jérôme moved to the Attakapas
District in c1802 and created a
western branch of the family.
~
A Gautrot widow came to
Louisiana in 1768 from Port Tobacco, Maryland, with the large extended family
led by brother Alexis and Honoré Breau of Pigiguit. Spanish
governor Ulloa forced them to settle at Fort San Luìs de Natchez, far up the
river, across from present-day Natchez, Mississippi, but they did not remain
there:
Marguerite Gautrot, age 63,
widow of Pierre Breau, came with two grown daughters, ages 22 and
20. When Ulloa's successor allowed them to leave the isolated post, they
moved downriver to Ascension on the Acadian Coast. Marguerite never
remarried at died at Ascension in August 1773, in her late 60s.
~
Three Gautrot orphans, all
females, came to Louisiana from France in 1785 aboard the first and last of the
Seven Ships and settled on the river:
Marie-Geneviève Gautrot, age
19, crossed with the family of uncle Grégoire Lejeune on Le
Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in July.
She followed them and the majority of their fellow passengers to Manchac, south of
Baton Rouge. She
remained on the river and may have married Nicolas Goloa of the German
Coast in March 1786.
Pélagie-Marie
Gautrot, age 15,
Marie-Geneviève's sister, crossed
on Le
Bon Papa with the family of uncle Eustache
Lejeune
and followed them to Manchac.
She moved to the Opelousas District later in the decade, where she married
Pierre, son of fellow Acadians
Honoré
Trahan
and Marie Corporon and widower of Anne
Brasseaux, in May 1789.
.
Anne-Angélique Gautrot, age 20, twin sister of Marie-Geneviève of Le Bon Papa, crossed
with the family of uncle Ambroise Hébert on
La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in
December. She followed
her relatives to San Bernardo, an Isleño settlement south of New
Orleans.
~
Other GAUTREAUXs on the River
Area church and civil records make it
difficult to link some Gautreauxs on the river to known lines of the
family there:
Leufroi Gautreaux, described by
the recording priest as "married," died at Ascension in December 1777. The
priest who recorded the burial did not record Leufroi's parents' names or
mention a wife. Leufroi may not even have been a Gautreaux.
Joseph Gautreaux died near St.
Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in July 1816. The priest who recorded the
burial said that Joseph was age 85 when he died. The priest did not
record Joseph's parents' names or mention a wife. One wonders if the dead
Joseph was Jean-Charles-Joseph, son of Charles Gautreaux, and if the
priest recorded the wrong age for him at his death.
Raphaël Gautreaux died near
St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in August 1826, age 16. The priest who recorded
the burial did not give any
parents' names.
Eugène Gautreaux married
Henriette Elisher, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Élizabeth
was born in Ascension Parish in December 1834.
Nicolas Gautreaux married
Marguerite Matherne, place and date unrecorded, and settled in Ascension Parish by the late 1830s.
Gervais Spire Gautreaux
died in Ascension Parish, age 25, in February 1852. The
Donaldsonville priest who recorded the burial did not give any parents'
names or mention a wife.
Louisa Gautreaux gave birth to
son Joseph Sylvanie in Ascension Parish in May 1854. The
Donaldsonville priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's
name or the mother's parents' names.
A child of A. D.
Gauthreaux, name and age unrecorded, "died without baptism" in
St. James Parish in June 1854.
Léopold, son of Paul Gautreaux
and Caroline Bisette, married Liza, daughter of John Colombo, at
the Plaquemine church, Iberville Parish, in January 1857. One suspects
that Paul and Léopold were French Creole Godreaus from Pointe Coupee, not
Acadian Gautreauxs.
In July 1860, the federal census taker
in St. James Parish counted 17 slaves--10 males and 7 females, 11 blacks and 6
mulattoes, ranging in age from 35 years to 3 months, living in 10 houses--on Dr.
Gauthreaux's farm in the parish's right bank 5th District. Who was
this?
Élise Gauthreaux married
Camille LeBlanc at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in July
1861. The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the
couple's parents' names.
Robert L. Gautreaux married
Melina Sophia LeBlanc, at the the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish,
in September 1865. The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the
couple's parents' names.
Cecilia Gautreaux married
Alexandre Francis at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in
January 1866. The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the
couple's parents' names.
Adam Gautreaux died near
Gonzales, Ascension Parish, in July 1866. The priest who recorded the
burial, and who did not give Adam's parents' names, said that he died
at "age ca. 20 years" and was buried "in cemetery at 'La Prairie.'"
According to a church record, Jean
Gothereau married Julie LeBlanc, and their daughter Azélie married
Zéphirin Breaux. Azélie died near St. Gabriel, Iberville Parish, in
December 1867. The priest who recorded her burial did not give her age at
the time of her death. Was Jean an Acadian Gautreaux? Where
is the marriage record for Zéphirin Breaux and Azélie Gothereau?
Ben Gothraux married Félicie
____, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Marie Noémi was baptized at
the St. James church, St. James Parish, age unrecorded, in March 1869.
LOUISIANA: LAFOURCHE VALLEY
SETTLEMENTS
The great majority of the Gautrots
who came to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to go to upper Bayou
Lafourche:
Pierre Gautrot of Grand-Pré
age 55, crossed with wife Marie-Louse Duplessis, age 46, and daughter
Marguerite-Adélaïde, age 11, on La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships,
which reached New Orleans in August. They had no
more children in Louisiana. Pierre died at Assumption in March 1804; the priest who recorded his
burial said that Pierre was age 75 when he died, but he was
73. Marguerite Adélaïde married François Friou
of Paimboeuf, France, and died in Assumption Parish
in September 1810, age 35.
Marin Gautrot, age 40, crossed
on La Bergère with wife Gertrude Bourg, age 38, and two children--Jean-Louis, age 11,
and Marie, age 9. They had more children in Louisiana. After Gertrude died at
Lafourche, Marin remarried and remained on the bayou. Daughter Marie, widow of
François Barrilleaux, died near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in
January 1849; the priest who recorded her burial said that Marie died at
"age 75 years," but she probably was in her early 70s.
Pierre-Joseph Gautrot, age 22,
Marin's half-brother, crossed on La Bergère with half-sister Agnès, age 29. Agnès married an Hébert.
Joseph-Benoît Gautrot, age 17,
crossed on La Bergère alone. He married twice, at New Orleans and Lafourche.
.
Marie-Madeleine Gautrot, age
66, crossed with second husband Charles LeBlanc, age 68, and a
20-year-old daughter on Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships, which
reached New Orleans in September.
Joseph Gautrot of Cobeguit, age
63, crossed on Le St.-Rémi with second wife Anne Pitre, age 45, and six children from
his two marriages--Rose-Sébastienne,
age 22, Joseph-Marin, age 15, Pierre-Olivier, age 13, Charles, age 10, and twins
François and Jean-Guillaume. They had no more children in Louisiana.
Joseph died by January 1788, when Anne was called a widow in the Valenzuéla
census. She did not remarry. Joseph's daughter
Rose-Sébastienne by his first marriage does not appear in any Louisiana records,
so she may have died on the voyage over or soon after the family reached
Louisiana. His sons remained on the Lafourche.
Marguerite Gautrot, age 59,
crossed on Le St.-Rémi with third husband Simon Landry, age 50,
and no children.
Marguerite Hébert, age 59,
widow of Alexandre Gautrot, crossed on Le St.-Rémi with two children and a
grandson--Jean-Alain, age 21, Victoire-Andrée, age 16, and grandson Charles Gautrot,
age 18. Victoire Andrée, wife
of Étienne Boudreaux, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1850,
age 81.
Pierre-Grégoire Gautrot, age
25, Marguerite Hébert's oldest son, crossed on Le St.-Rémi with wife Marie-Madeline Michel,
age 21, and daughter Martine, who was born aboard ship. They had more
children in Louisiana, including sons.
Charles Gautrot, age 44,
crossed on Le St.-Rémi with wife Anne-Pélagie, called Pélagie, Trahan, age 39, and six
children--Jean-Charles-Joseph, age 19, Marie-Madeleine-Pélagie, age 18,
Jean-Marie, age 7, Pierre-Isidore, age 4, Anastasie-Marguerite-Marie, age 2, and
infant Jean-Baptiste-Simon, who may not have survived the crossing.
Charles and Pélagie had no
more children in Louisiana. Their daughters married into the LeBlanc
and Havard or Navarre families. Marie Madeleine Pélagie,
widow of Joseph LeBlanc, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1842;
the Thibodaux priest who recorded her burial said that Marie died "at age 71
yrs. 4 mths.," but she was 75; her succession inventory was filed
at the Thibodaux courthouse in May.
Rose-Marie Gautrot, age 22,
crossed on Le St.-Rémi with her mother Anne Naquin and stepfather Charles Dugas.
Rose-Marie married into the Daunis family at St.-Jacques and died by
January 1791, when her husband was listed in the Valenzuéla census without a
wife.
.
Jean-Charles Gautrot, age 22,
crossed with the family of Alexis Breau on L'Amitié, the fifth of
the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November. Jean-Charles married at Lafourche in
February 1786 but died by February 1793, when his wife
remarried there.
Marie-Marguerite-Pélagie Gautrot,
age 21, crossed on L'Amitié with sister Madeleine-Rosalie, age 20.
Marie-Marguerite-Pélagie married into the Molaison family and died in
Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1835; the Thibodaux priest who recorded her
burial said that Marie died at age 77, but she was 71.
Marie-Anne Gautrot, age 19,
crossed on L'Amitié with husband Charles Boudrot, age 21, and an
infant son. Marie Anne died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1831, in her
mid-60s.
.
Charles Gautrot of
Rivière-aux-Canards, age 49,
crossed on
La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in
December. With him were second wife Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, Melanson, age 49, and two
children--François-Marie, age 14, and Rosalie-Charlotte, age 5. Madeleine
does not appear in the 1788 census at Valenzuéla with the rest of her family, so
one wonders if she survived the crossing from France. Charles remarried to
Luce-Perpétué, daughter of fellow Acadian Francois Bourg and widow of
Pierre Hébert and Félix Boudreaux, at Lafourche in November 1789. He had no more children in
Louisiana. Charles died at Assumption in February 1796; the
priest who recorded his burial said that Charles was 54 years old when he died,
but he was 60. Rosalie Charlotte,
wife of Pierre Paul Aucoin, died near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in
February 1844; the priest who recorded her burial said that Rosalie died
at "age ca. 65 yrs.," but she was 62.
.
Despite the early demise of several lines, especially those descended from
Honoré Gautreaux, a large center of family settlement arose in the Bayou
Lafourche valley
that stretched all the way down into the Terrebonne country.
Most of the surviving lines descended from Joseph
Gautreaux, who died soon after reaching the colony and
whose sons followed their widowed mother to the upper bayou:
Descendants of Marin GAUTREAUX
(c1747-1808; François,
François, fils, François III)
Marin, oldest son of Honoré Gautrot
and his first wife Marguerite Robichaud, born probably at Cobeguit in
c1747, followed his family to one of the Maritime islands and survived the
deportation to St.-Malo, France, in 1758-59. He became a carpenter in
France and married Gertrude, daughter
of fellow Acadians Jean Bourg and Françoise Benoit, at St.-Suliac, near St.-Malo, France, in
May 1768. They were at Nantes in September 1784. He took his wife, a
son, and a daughter to Louisiana aboard La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships,
in 1785. They settled on upper Bayou Lafourche and had more children in Louisiana. Their
daughter married into the Barrilleaux family. Marin remarried to Marguerite-Ange, daughter of fellow
Acadians Joseph-Ange Dubois and Anne Michel
and widow of Jean Daigle and
Charles-Benoît Granger, at Lafourche in January 1792. Their daughter married into the Granger
family. Marin died in Assumption Parish in May
1808; the priest who recorded the burial said that Marin was age 65 when
he died, but he was closer to 61. Amazingly, none of his six sons
seems to have married, so this line of the family, except for its blood, may have
died with him.
1
Oldest son Jean-François, by
his father's first wife, born at St.-Suliac, France, in March 1771, probably died young.
2
Joseph-Marin, by his father's first
wife, born at St.-Suliac, France, in August 1773, also probably died
young.
3
Jean-Louis, by his father's first wife,
born in France in c1774, may have died young.
4
Élias, a twin, by his father's first
wife, baptized at Ascension, age unrecorded, in February 1786, may have died
young.
5
Joseph, Élias's twin, by his
father's first wife, baptized at Ascension, age unrecorded, in February 1786, may have
died young.
6
Youngest son Marin-Louis, by his
father's second
wife, born at Assumption in February 1796, died in Assumption Parish in November
1815, age 19, and did not marry.
Descendants of Jean-Charles
GAUTREAUX (1761-1790s;
François, François, fils, François III)
Jean-Charles, third son of Honoré Gautrot,
by
second wife Jeanne Lebert, half-brother of Marin and full brother of
Pierre-Joseph, was born at Pleslin, France, near
St.-Malo, in November 1761. He became a sailor in France. He sailed to
Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, in
1785 with the family of kinsman Alexis Breau and followed them to
upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Françoise-Hélène, daughter of fellow Acadians
François Blanchard and Hélène-Judith Giroir, in February 1786. Françoise-Hélène also was a
native of the St.-Malo area and had come to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, so
they probably had met in France. Jean-Charles died probably at Lafourche by February 1793, when his wife remarried there. Neither of Jean-Charles's sons seems
to have married, so this line of the family may have died with them.
1
Older son Jean-François,
baptized at Ascension, age unrecorded, in February 1788, may have died young.
2
Younger son Joseph-Nicolas, born at
Ascension in November 1789, died in Assumption Parish in May 1833, age 43, and does not seem to have married.
Descendants of Pierre-Joseph
GAUTREAUX (1763-1816;
François, François, fils François III)
Pierre-Joseph, fourth son of Honoré Gautrot,
by second wife Jeanne Lebert, half-brother of Marin and full brother of
Jean-Charles, was born at
Pleslin, France, near St.-Malo, in March 1763. He sailed to Louisiana
aboard La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785,
with an older half-sister and followed her to upper Bayou Lafourche. Pierre-Joseph married Geneviève,
daughter of fellow Acadians Amand Giroir and Marie-Marguerite Daigle, at Assumption in March
1796. Their daughters married into the Aucoin and LaFontaine
families. Pierre Joseph died in Assumption Parish in August 1816, age 53. Only one of his four sons seems to have married, but he
does not seem to have fathered any sons, so this line of the family may not have
survived.
1
Oldest son Louis-Pierre, born
at Assumption in February 1797, died at age 2 in June 1799.
2
Another Louis, baptized at
Assumption, age unrecorded, in February 1800, died in Assumption Parish in
December 1836, age 36, and evidently did not
marry.
3
Jean-Baptiste-Baradato, called Baptiste,
born at
Assumption in February 1802, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre
Marie Theriot and Anne Hébert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in August
1834. Baptiste died in Assumption Parish in February 1835; the priest who
recorded his burial said that Baptiste dit Marquis, as he called him, was
age 35
when he died, but he was 32. Did Baptiste father any
children?
4
Youngest son Hubert Charles,
born at Assumption in January 1806, may have died young.
Descendants of Pierre-Grégoire
GAUTREAUX (1760-;
François, François, fils François III)
Pierre-Grégoire, fifth son of Alexandre Gautrot
and Marguerite Hébert, born at Trigavou, France, near St.-Malo, in March
1760, married Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of probably fellow
Acadians Pierre Michel and Marguerite Pitre, probably at Nantes, France, in late 1784 or early
1785. They came to Louisiana aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the
Seven Ships from France, in 1785. Their daughter Martine, named after
Louisiana's intendant Martin Navarre, her honorary godfather, was born aboard ship,
baptized at New Orleans, and probably died young. Pierre-Grégoire and Madeleine had more children in
Louisiana, including sons. They went to upper Bayou Lafourche. Their daughter married into the Waguespack
family. Pierre Grégoire remarried to
Sophie Marie or Marie Sophie, also called Geneviève, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Hébert and
his second wife Marie Benoit and widow of
Mathurin Comeaux, at Assumption in May 1805. Sophie Marie also was
a native of St.-Malo and had come to Louisiana aboard Le St.-Rémi.
Their daughter married into the Chataignier family. Only one of his
sons created a family of his own and settled in Terrebonne Parish.
1
Oldest son Étienne, by his
father's first wife,
baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in September 1788, may have died young.
2
Pierre-Simon, by his father's first
wife, born at Ascension in February 1790, may have died young.
3
Alexis Leufroi, called Leufroi,
from his father's second
wife, born at Ascension in May 1806, died in Assumption Parish in July
1833. The priest who recorded his burial said that Leufroi was age 22 when he died, but he was closer to 27. He evidently did not marry.
4
Youngest son Pierre Michel,
called Michel, from his father's second wife,
born in Assumption Parish in June 1814, married Marie Pauline, called Pauline,
daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Joseph Guidry and Lucille Carmelite
Chiasson, in a civil ceremony in
Terrebonne Parish in July 1843, and sanctified the marriage at the Houma church,
Terrebonne Parish, in September 1849. Their son Félix was born in
Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1844, Robert Frédéric in
Terrebonne Parish in June 1849, and Bernard Beauregard in June 1862. Their daughter married into the
Malbrough family.
Jean-Alain
GAUTREAUX (1764-?;
François, François, fils François III)
Jean-Alain, sixth son of Alexandre Gautrot
and Marguerite Hébert, born at Pleslin, France, near St.-Malo, in
September 1764, sailed to Louisiana aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of
the Seven Ships from France, in 1785 with his widowed mother, an aunt, and a
nephew. He married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadian Benjamin Pitre,
at New Orleans in January 1786. Madeleine had come to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié,
the fifth of the Seven Ships from France. They followed their families to
upper Bayou Lafourche and may have been that rare Acadian couple who had no
children.
Jean-Charles-Joseph GAUTREAUX
(1765-?; François,
François, fils François III, Charles dit Maringouin)
Jean-Charles-Joseph, eldest son of
Charles Gautrot and Anne-Pélagie Trahan, born at
St.-Martin-des-Champs, Morlaix, France, in June 1765, became a block
maker in France. He followed his family to Louisiana aboard Le St.-Rémi,
the fifth of the Seven Ships, in 1785 and was still a bachelor living with them
on upper Bayou Lafourche in 1788.
Evidently he did not marry.
Jean-Marie GAUTREAUX (1777-1836;
François,
François, fils François III, Charles dit Maringouin)
Jean-Marie, second son of Charles Gautrot
and Anne-Pélagie Trahan, born at St.-Martin-des-Champs, Morlaix, France,
in May 1777, crossed with his family aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of
the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them to upper Bayou
Lafourche. He died in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1836, age 59. He evidently did not marry.
Descendants of Pierre-Isidore
GAUTREAUX (1780-1830s;
François, François, fils François III, Charles dit
Maringouin)
Pierre-Isidore, called Isidore, third son of Charles Gautrot
and Anne-Pélagie Trahan, born at St.-Martin-des-Champs, Morlaix, France, in September
1780, crossed with his family aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven
Ships from France, in 1785, followed them to upper Bayou
Lafourche. He married Marie Rosalie, daughter of René Seville
or Silvy and Anne Tassin, at the Donaldson church, Ascension Parish, in February
1809. They settled in Laforuche Interior and Terrebonne parishes. Their daughters married into the Boudreaux,
Brunet, Kehoe, Lambert, Thibodeaux,
and Whitney families.
In April 1835, a petition
for a family assembly was filed at the Houma courthouse in Pierre Isidore's name; he would have been
age 55
that year. His sons remained in Terrebonne Parish.
1
Oldest son Pierre Furcy, called
Furcy,
born in Assumption Parish in January 1818, married Marguerite Sérasine or
Sarazine, daughter
of fellow Acadians Joseph Clouâtre and Henriette Molaison, at the Houma church, Terrebonne
Parish, in June 1849, the same day and in the same church as his younger brother
Jean's wedding. Their son Pierre François was born in Terrebonne Parish in
July 1853, Justilien Fidor in August 1854, Joseph Gimmy in March
1862, and Henri Albert near Montegut in December 1867.
2
Jean Pierre, born in Lafourche
Interior Parish in June 1824, married Jeanne Victoire, called Victoire,
16-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Thibodeaux and his Creole
wife Agathe Biron, in a civil
ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in September 1847, and sanctified the marriage at
the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in June 1849, the same day and in the same
church as his older brother Furcy's wedding. Did Jean Pierre father any sons?
3
Youngest son Isidore Neuville
or Neuville Isidore, called Neuville, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1831,
married Marie Eveline or Elvine, daughter of fellow Acadian Firmin Blanchard
and his Creole wife Ellen LeBoeuf, in a
civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in November 1859. Their son Pierre
Meril Alcée was born near Montegut, Terrebonne Parish, in December 1860, and
Treville Alcée near Houma in July 1862.
Charles GAUTREAUX (1766-1836;
François,
François, fils François III, Alexandre)
Charles, son of François-Hilaire Gautrot
and Hélène-Catherine Daigle, and nephew of Jean-Alain Gautrot,
born at Trigavou, France, near St.-Malo, in January 1766, crossed to Louisiana
with
his widowed grandmother, uncle Jean-Alain, and an aunt aboard Le
St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them
to upper Bayou Lafourche. He married Marie-Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadians Anselme Pitre
and his first wife Isabelle Dugas, at New Orleans in June 1789 and returned to the upper bayou. He and his
wife also may have had no children. Charles
died in Ascension Parish in June 1836, age 70 His line of
the family died with him.
Descendants of Joseph-Benoît
GAUTREAUX (c1768-1832;
François, François, fils François III, Pierre)
Joseph-Benoît, called Benoît, third son of Charles Gautrot
and his second wife Marie-Madeleine Melanson, born at Locmaria, Belle-Île-en-Mer, France, in
October 1768,
where he worked as a plowman, sailed to Louisiana alone aboard La
Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and went to
upper Bayou Lafourche. His parents and two
younger siblings
crossed on La Caroline, the last of the Seven Ships, and also went to
Lafourche.
Benoît married Marie-Françoise, orphaned daughter of Frenchman Guillaume Montet and his Acadian
wife Marie-Josèphe Vincent of
Belle-Île-en-Mer, at New Orleans in May 1789. They may
have known one another on the Breton isle.
Marie-Françoise died soon after they married. Benoît remarried to Élisabeth, or Isabelle, also called
Hélène, daughter of fellow
Acadians Germain Bergeron and Marie LeBlanc, at Lafourche in November 1790. They
settled on the upper bayou. Their daughters married into the Cedotal,
Daigle, Mazerolle, Templet, Theriot, and Trahan
families. Benoît died in Assumption Parish in November 1832, age 65. His two sons created families of their own in Assumption
Parish. One of his grandsons moved to lower Bayou Teche after the War
of 1861-65.
1
Older son Jean-Charles-Viltique,
called Viltique, by his father's second wife, born at Assumption in March 1795, married Constance,
daughter of fellow Acadians Eusèbe Arceneaux and Rosalie Bergeron, at the Plattenville church,
Assumption Parish, in November 1818. Their son Augustin Philogène
was born in Assumption Parish in December 1819, and Grégoire Théodule,
called Théodule,
in September 1821. Viltique died in Assumption Parish in January 1834; the
priest who recorded his burial said that Viltique was age 40 when he died.
He was 38. One of his sons created a family of his own and
settled near Pierre Part north of Lake Verret before moving to lower Bayou
Teche soon after the war.
1a
Théodule married Séraphine,
daughter of Valéry Cedotal and his Acadian wife Henriette
Dugas, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption
Parish, in May 1845. Théodule
remarried to Zépheline, daughter of fellow Acadians Emerant Crochet
and Athémise Thibodeaux, at
the Paincourtville church in June 1850. Their son Joseph Camille
was born near Paincourtville in February 1855, Joseph Hilaire, a
twin, in February 1857, Xavier Cyprien near Pierre Part in
October 1860, Lusignon Martin in February 1863, and Jean Baptiste Optime
near New Iberia, Iberia Parish, in May 1869.
1b
Philosin Gothreau, perhaps
Augustin Philogène, died near Paincourtville, Assumption Parish, in June
1848, age 28. He probably did not marry.
2
Younger son Auguste-Arsène, by his
father's second
wife, born at
Assumption in July 1801, married Marie Madeleine, daughter of Antoine Coupelle
and Marie Desert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1825. Their son Augustin
Honoré, called Honoré, was born in Assumption Parish in June 1826, Zéphirin Marcellin
or Marcillien, called Marcillien, in
June 1827, Adrien Désiré
in August 182[8?] but died at age 1 in August 1829, Pierre Anselme
was born in April 1832 but died at age 2 in August 1834, and a child, name unrecorded,
perhaps a son, died at birth in October 1833. Their daughter married into
the Acosta family. Auguste died near Plattenville in January 1849;
the priest who recorded his burial said that Auguste died at "age 45 years."
He was 47. One of his sons created a family of his own and settled near
Attakapas Canal east of Lake Verret.
2a
Honoré, also called Noré, likely married Thérèse Houston, Ourso,
Ousse, or Uso in Assumption Parish in the
late 1840s. Their son Auguste Théodore, also called Augustin
Carville, was born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in September
1850 but died the following month, Merville Terstan was born in
January 1852, Vileor Augustin in November 1853, Charles Ovile in May 1857,
and Auguste Onésime near Atakapas Canal in February 1859.
2b
Marcillien died near Plattenville,
Assumption Parish, in January 1849, a day after his father died. The
priest who recorded Marcillien's burial said that he died at "age 17 years,"
but he was 21. One wonders what befell him and his father.
Descendants of François-Marie
GAUTREAUX (1771-1824;
François, François, fils François III, Pierre)
François-Marie, fourth and youngest son of Charles Gautrot
and his second wife Marie-Madeleine Melanson, born at Locmaria, Belle-Île-en-Mer, France, in
February 1771,
followed his family to Louisiana aboard La Caroline, the last of the
Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and went with them to upper Bayou Lafourche, where he
married Félicité-Jeanne, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste Hébert
and Laure Bourg, in March 1792. Félicité-Jeanne had come to Louisiana aboard La
Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships. Their daughters married into
the Arceneaux, Aucoin, Daigle, Delaune, and
Hébert families.
François Marie died in Assumption Parish in December 1824; the priest who
recorded his burial said that François died at age 50. He was 53. Two
of his four sons created families of their own in Assumption Parish. One
of his grandsons settled near Pierre Part north of Lake Verret.
1
Oldest son Jean-Charles, called
J. Charles and
Charles, born at
Assumption in June 1799, married Élise or Élisabeth Mélanie, another daughter of Antoine Coupelle
and Marie Desert, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1828. Their son Jean
Baptiste was born in Assumption Parish in August 1831, Désiré Jean in
October 1837, and Joseph died, age unrecorded, in March 1841. They
also had a son named Clet, also called Pierre. Their
daughters married into the Daigle, Escubas, and Vane,
originally Vaughn, families.
1a
Désiré married Hélène, daughter of
fellow Acadian Édouard Babin and his Creole wife Marie Gros, at the Paincourtville church,
Assumption Parish, in May 1858. Their son Joseph Cordilier was
born near Pierre Part in October 1859, and Joseph Aladin in October
1862.
1b
Clet Pierre married cousin Celima,
daughter of fellow Acadian Marcellin Landry and Felide Landry
and widow of Carville
Breaux, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1862;
according to the marriage record, they had to secure a dispensation for
second degree of consanguinity in order to marry, which means they were
first cousins.
1c
Jean Baptiste Gothrou,
perhaps son of Jean Charles, died near Pierre Part, Assumption Parish, in March 1864.
The priest who recorded his burial, and who did not give his
parents' names or mention a wife, said that Jean Baptiste died at "age ca.
32 years." One wonders if his death was war-related.
2
François, fils, born at
Assumption in January 1804, married Felonise or Felonie Henriette, daughter of fellow
Acadians Grégoire Aucoin and Marguerite Aucoin, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish,
in June 1832. Their son Rosémond François was born in Assumption
Parish in March 1835, Joseph Léon in January 1842, Joseph Vileor
in December 1844, and Honoré Désiré in December 1847.
3
Philemon, born at Ascension in
May 1806, may have died young.
4
Youngest son Angèl died in Assumption
Parish, age unrecorded, in January 1814.
Descendants of Joseph-Marin
GAUTREAUX (1769-1847;
François, François, fils, François III)
Joseph-Marin, eldest son of Joseph Gautrot
and his second wife Anne Pitre, born at St.-Suliac, France, near
St.-Malo, in November 1769, crossed with his family aboard Le
St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them
to upper Bayou Lafourche, where his father died. Joseph-Marin married Marie-Madeleine,
called Madeleine, daughter of fellow
Acadian Charles Theriot and Marie Boudrot and widow of Firmin-Charles Thibodeaux, at
Lafourche in
February 1793. Madeleine had come to Louisiana with her first
husband and two young children also aboard Le St.-Rémi; she was several
years older than Joseph-Marin. Their daughters married into the Aycock, Boudreaux, and Crochet
families. Joseph Marin died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1847, age
77. Four of his five sons created families of their own in
Assumption and Lafourche Interior parishes, but one of the lines may not have
survived. Two grandsons settled in Terrebonne Parish.
1
Oldest son Joseph-Olivier, born
at Assumption in October 1795, married Rosalie Scholastique, called Scholastique
or Colastie, daughter of Frenchman Étienne Pelletier or Peltier
and his Acadian wife Jeanne-Marguerite Clossinet, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish,
in September 1816. Their son Iréné, also called Eusilien and
Aurelien, was born in Assumption Parish
in June 1817, Trasimond Olivier in
October 1822, Cleophas Alexis in August
1826, Joseph Drosin in December 1828 but died 6 days after his birth, and
Nicaise Olivier was born in December 1829. Their daughters married
into the Bergeron, Boudreaux, Coulon, Landry, and
Terrebonne families. In September 1850, the federal census taker in
Assumption Parish counted 13 slaves--9 males and 4 females, all black, ranging
in age from 50 to 19--on Joseph O. Gautreaux's farm in the parish's
Second Congressional District. Joseph Olivier died in Lafourche Parish in
October 1852; the Thibodaux priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph
died "at age 59 yrs.," but he was 57. Two of his sons married sisters settled in Terrebonne Parish.
Another son settled in Lafourche Parish.
1a
Eusilien married Marie Céleste,
called Céleste, daughter
of Désiré Boyer and Céleste Barras of Assumption Parish, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in September 1839. Their son Désiré Oscar was
born in Terrebonne Parish in November 1848, Joseph Émile in
Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1846, and Henry Aurelien in
Terrebonne Parish in December 1852. Their daughters married
into the LeBlanc and Menuet families. In August 1850,
the federal census taker in Terrebonne Parish counted 7 slaves--4 males and
3 females, all blacks, ranging in age from 35 to 2--on Euzilien Gautraux's
farm.
1b
Cleophas married Elmire or Edmire,
19-year-old daughter of French Creole Paul D. Terrebonne and his
Acadian wife Constance LeBlanc, at the Thibodaux church,
Lafourche Interior Parish, in May 1846; Cleophas's sister Amelie married Elmire's brother Oleus
D. Terrbonne. Cleophas and Elmire's son Clay René was born in Lafourche
Interior Parish in May 1847, and Louis Rodolphe, called Rodolphe,
in July 1851 but died in a yellow fever epidemic, age 2, in August 1853.
Cleophas's wife Elmire also died in the same epidemic, in September, and he remarried to Ophelia, also called Greba, daughter of fellow
Acadians Hubert Aucoin and Delphine Mire, at the Thibodaux church in November 1854.
In 1859, he opened a grocery store at Thibodaux with Joseph Kleber
Gourdain. During the War of 1861-65,
Cleophas
served as junior second lieutenant and then as second lieutenant in Company
G of 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish, which
served in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana; his business partner, J.
Kleber Gourdain, was the company's first commander.
Seriously wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, on 6 April 1862,
Cleophas was transported home, where he died of his wounds on May 16, age 34. A
"petition for presenting will" in his name was filed at the Thibodaux
courthouse in January 1866.
1c
Trasimond Olivier married Julie, another
daughter of Désiré Boyer and Céleste Barras, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in February 1847; the marriage also was recorded in
Terrebonne Parish. They lived near the boundary of Lafourche Interior
and Terrebonne parishes, though one of their sons was baptized at
Labadieville, Assumption Parish, in July 1863, during the War of 1861-65. Their son Arthur was born in July
1852, Joseph Désiré in September 1855, Valmont in August
1856, Joseph Aubert Adolphe in May 1858, Alcide Voltaire in June 1860, Franklin Léonie in October
1862, and Joseph Alphonse in March 1869.
2
Charles-Rosémond, called Rosémond,
born at
Assumption in September 1798, married Françoise, daughter of François Percle
and Marie Louise Triche of St. John the Baptist Parish, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May
1819. Their son Jean Théophile was born Assumption Parish in
August 1822, Ulysse Victor in Lafourche Interior Parish in November
1824, Rosémond died in Assumption Parish at age 2 months in May 1826, Séraphin
Aurelien was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in November 1827, Belanor
Joseph in February 1830, a twin
child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died 3 hours after its birth in October
1832, and a second Rosémond was born in April 1834. Their
daughter married into the Lirette family. Charles Rosémond died in
Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1835, age 36.
Ulysse married Euphrasie or
Euphroisine Éloise, 19-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Michel
Daigle and his Creole wife Marie Carmelite Lirette, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in May 1848, and
sanctified the marriage at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish,
in January 1850. Ulysse died in January 1850, age 25. A petition for a family meeting in his name was filed at the
Houma courthouse, Terrebonne Parish, in August, so he probably had lived in
that parish despite his burial having been recorded at the Thibodaux church
(the Houma church records begin in 1848, so that parish had been established
before his death).
3
François-Zénon, born at
Assumption in October 1800, married Joséphine, daughter of Hyacinthe Rousseau
and and his Acadian wife Rosalie Delaune, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in September 1831. Their son Joseph Séraphin or Séraphin
Joseph was born in
Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1832 but died at age 1 in October 1833,
Olésime Théodule was born in February 1841, and
François, fils died 15 days after his birth in March 1843. Their
daughters married into the Desbous and Gebelin families. François
Zénon died in Lafourche Interior Parish in March 1846; the Thibodaux priest who
recorded his burial said that François died "at age 41 yrs.," but he was 45.
Did his family line die with him?
4
Jean Valéry, called Valéry,
born at
Assumption in October 1805, married Théotiste, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Louviere
and Marie Madeleine Melançon, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in January 1829.
They settled in Terrebonne Parish. Their daughter married into the Daigle
family. Did Valéry father any sons?
5
Youngest son Joseph Séraphin,
born at Ascension in July 1807, may have died young.
Descendants of Pierre-Olivier
GAUTREAUX (1771-1851;
François, François, fils, François III)
Pierre-Olivier, called Olivier, second son of Joseph Gautrot
and his second wife Anne Pitre, born at St.-Suliac, France, near
St.-Malo, in November 1769, crossed with his family aboard Le
St.-Rémi, the fourth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them
to upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married
Julie-Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Arcement and Marie
Hébert, in June 1794. Julie-Céleste had come to Louisiana aboard La Ville
d'Archangel, the sixth of the Seven Ships from France. Their daughters
married into the Boudreaux, Felteman, Juneau, and Mire
families. Pierre Olivier, père died in Lafourche Parish in October
1851; the Thibodaux priest who recorded his burial said that Pierre Olivier
died "at age 78 yrs.," but he was a month shy of 80. His four sons settled in Assumption and Lafourche parishes.
A grandson moved to the Chacahoula area of Terrebonne Parish soon after the War
of 1861-65.
1
Oldest son Pierre-Olivier, fils,
baptized at Assumption, age unrecorded, in October 1796, married Marie, daughter
of Pierre Berthelot and Anne Kerne of Lafourche, at the Plattenville church, Assumption
Parish, in August 1817. Their son Pierre Marcellus or Marcellin was born in
Assumption Parish in May 1818, Valéry Adrien, called Adrien, in Lafourche Interior
Parish in December 1820, and François Sylvain or Sylvère, called
Sylvère, in March 1828. Their
daughters married into the Barrilleaux and Boudreaux families.
Pierre Olivier, fils died probably in Assumption Parish in July 1849; the
Thibodaux priest who recorded his burial said that Pierre died "at age 54 mths.[years]."
Pierre Olivier's sons settled in Lafourche Interior Parish. In August 1850, the federal census taker in Assumption
Parish counted 6 slaves--1 male and 5 females, all black, ranging in age from 25
to 2--on Widow P. O. Gautreaux's farm in the parish's Second
Congressional District; these probably were the slaves of Pierre Olivier,
fils's widow, Marie Berthelot. In July 1860, the federal census
taker in Assumption Parish counted 8 slaves--5 males and 3 females, all black,
ages 30 years to 6 months, living in 1 house--on Widow Pierre O. Gauthreaux's
farm in the parish's 9th Ward at Bruly St. Vincent.
1a
Pierre Marcellin married Pauline Marie,
daughter of fellow Acadians François Aucoin and Marie Boudreaux, at the Thibodaux church,
Lafourche Interior Parish, in July 1839. Their son Joseph Zéphirin
was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1842. Their daughters
married into the Arcement and Barrilleaux families.
1b
Sylvère married Eulalie, daughter of
fellow Acadians Louis Richard and Marie Thibodeaux, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in February 1851. Their son Bernard Clotus was
born near Labadieville, Assumption Parish, in April 1852, and Louis died
at age 15 days in January 1858.
1c
Adrien married Eulalie, daughter of
Jean Gagnoux and his Acadian wife Léocadie Boudreaux, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish,
in May 1854. Their son Joseph
Adrien was born near Labadieville, Assumption Parish, in March 1855,
Sosthène Joseph in November 1856, Louis in August 1860, and Aubert
Sylvère in December 1862.
2
Élie-Léonard, born at
Assumption in May 1800, married Agathe or Agatha, another daughter of François Aucoin
and Marie Boudreaux, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1828.
Their son Trasimond Olivier Thomasin was born in Lafourche Interior
Parish in December 1828, Jean Baptiste in May 1832, and Théophile
Amédée
in April 1836 but died at age 7 1/2 in October 1844. Their daughters
married into the Barrilleaux, Kerne, Labiche, Lagrange,
and Naquin families. Élie, at age 56, remarried to
Virginie, daughter of fellow Acadians Euchariste Barrilleaux and
Marguerite Mélanie Hébert, at the
Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1857. Their son Ozémé Dorvillien was born
near Labadieville in May 1860, the month his father turned 60 years old.
In August 1860, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 23
slaves--13 males and 10 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ranging in
age from 48 years to 2 months, living in 3 houses--on E. Gauthreaux and
Bros. plantation in the parish's 6th Ward along Bayou Lafourche; this may have
been Élie and his brother Jean David. Élie died near Labadieville in May 1865,
age 65.
2a
Trasimond, by his father's first wife,
married Eulalie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Boudreaux and
Eliza Dugas, at the
Thibodaux church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1853. Their son J.
Baptiste was born near Labadieville, Assumption Parish, in June 1854, Joseph Franklin Vinotte in April 1856,
Zéphirin Elphége in February 1858, and Léonce Cyprien in July
1859. In July 1860, the federal census taker in Terrebonne Parish
counted 4 slaves--a male and 3 females, 2 black and 2 mulatto, ranging in
age from 40 to 7, living in 1 house--on Trasimond Gautrau's farm in
the parish's 3rd Ward. Trasimond and his family were living near Chacahoula, Terrebonne Parish, in the late
1760s.
2b
Jean Baptiste, by his father's first wife,
married Joséphine, daughter of Valsin Vayse and Caroline
Juneau, at the
Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in October 1856. Their son
Léon Oleus was born near Labadieville in July 1857. He may have
been the Jean Baptiste Gothrau who died near Pierre Part, Assumption
Parish, in March 1864; the priest who recorded his burial, and who did
not give his parents' names or mention a wife, said that Jean
Baptiste died at "age ca. 32 years." One wonders if his death
was war-related.
3
Jean David, born at Assumption
in November 1805, married Adèle Rosalie or Rosalie Adèle, daughter of Nicolas Metra
and his Acadian wife Susanne Bergeron, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in May 1830. Their son Jean, fils was born in
Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1832, Drosin Omer in April 1836,
and Auguste Jean Baptiste Valentin in Assumption Parish in February 1838
but died at age 2 1/2 in October 1840. They also had a son named Movile. Their daughter married into the
Almindinger or
Hermindiger family. Jean David died near Attakapas Canal, Assumption
Parish, in March 1870, age 64.
Movile married cousin Octavie,
daughter of Ursin Falteman and Céleste Bergeron, at the Attakapas Canal church, Assumption Parish,
in April 1870.
4
Youngest son Joseph Célestin,
called Célestin, born in
Assumption Parish in September 1809, married Marie Delphine, daughter of fellow
Acadians Pierre Mire and Henriette Bernard, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in October 1831. Célestin died in Lafourche Interior Parish in
October 1833, age 24.
Descendants of Charles GAUTREAUX
(1774-1851; François,
François, fils, François III)
Charles, third son of Joseph Gautrot
and his second wife Anne Pitre, born at Archigny, Poitou, France, in June
1774, crossed with his family aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of
the Seven Ships from France, in 1785 and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche.
Charles married cousin
Marie-Madeleine-Louise, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Simon Gautreaux
and Marie-Madeleine Breau, at
St.-Jacques on the river in April 1801. Madeleine was a native of St.-Jacques;
her parents had come to Louisiana from Halifax in 1765. Charles and
Madeleine lived on the river before moving to upper Bayou Lafourche. Their daughter married into the Roger
family. Charles, at age 65, remarried to Marie Madeleine, daughter of Jean Borne
and Marie Madeleine Vicknair
of St. John the Baptist Parish and widow of André Kerne, at the
Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in October 1839; his new wife was the mother-in-law of two of his sons.
Charles died near Plattenville in April 1851, age 76. Three of his five sons created families of their own in Assumption and Lafourche
Interior parishes. One of his grandsons settled in Terrebonne Parish.
1
Oldest son Raphaël Aserin, by
his father's first wife, born at Ascension in February 1802, died in Lafourche
Interior Parish in December 1829. The priest who recorded the burial said that Raphaël was
age 20 when he died,
but he was 27. He probably did not marry.
2
Charles Placide, called Placide,
from his father's first
wife, born at
Ascension in March 1804, married Virginie, also called Eugènie, daughter of André Kerne
and Marie Madeleine Borne of
St. John the Baptist Parish, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior
Parish, in June 1831. Their son Charles Placide, called Placide, fils was born in
Lafourche Interior Parish in April 1832, Drosin, also called Dorcini, in Assumption
Parish in October 1834, and Joseph Leufroi, called Leufroi, in December 1837.
Their daughter married into the Bourg family. Placide died in Assumption Parish in January 1839,
age 34. His sons settled in Assumption Parish.
2a
Placide, fils married
Marie Séraphine, called Séraphine, daughter of Auguste Maitrejean and
Céline Eléonore Léonard, at the
Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1854. Their son
Elphége was born probably in Assumption Parish in c1854 but died at age
15 in September 1859, Joseph Placide was born near Paincourtville in March 1855, Jean
Baptiste Armas in March 1858, Joseph Elphége near Pierre Part
in January 1865 but died at age 2 1/2 near Plattenville in October 1867, and
Joseph Oleus was born in September 1867. Placide, fils remarried to
Lesida, daughter of fellow Acadian Alexandre Hébert and Arthémise
Exnicios, at the
Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1868.
2b
Drosin married Marie Élisabeth,
called Élisabeth, daughter of fellow Acadians Ursin LeBlanc and
Zolide Braud, at the Paincourtville
church, Assumption Parish, in February 1856. Their son Joseph
Achille was born near Paincourtville in April 1857, and Gervet in
November 1859.
2c
Leufroi married cousin Valida,
daughter of fellow Acadians Victor Roger and Judith Bourg, at the Pierre Part church,
Assumption Parish, in August 1861; they had to secure a dispensation for
second third degree of consanguinity in order to marry. Leufroi remarried to
Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Landry and his Creole
wife Élise Friou, at the
Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in June 1866. They were
living near Brashear City, now Morgan City, on the lower Atchafalaya, when a daughter was baptized in July 1867, but
they soon returned to Assumption
Parish. Their son Drosin Joseph was born near Paincourtville,
Assumption Parish, in November 1868, and Joseph Alphonse near Pierre
Part in October 1870.
3
Charles Sylvestre, called Sylvestre,
by his father's first wife,
born at
Ascension in June 1807, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Louis Louviere
and Marie Madeleine Melançon, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in November 1835.
They had a son name Pierre Telesphore, called Telesphore.
Telesphore married Adeline
Augustine, daughter of Foreign Frenchman Auguste Legendre and his
Acadian wife Adeline Baselice Dantin, at the
Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in May 1860. Their son Joseph Adrion or Odreci was born
in Lafourche Parish in March 1861 but died in June.
4
Simon Joseph, by his father's first
wife, born in Ascension
Parish in March 1810, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1829, age 19, and did not marry.
5
Youngest son Charles Valéry,
by his father's first wife, born in Ascension
Parish in July 1813, married Félicité, another daughter of André Kerne
and Marie Madeleine Borne, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in October 1834.
Did they have any children?
François GAUTREAUX
(c1777-1823; François,
François, fils, François III)
François, fourth son of Joseph Gautrot
and his second wife Anne Pitre, born at Nantes, France,
in c1777, Jean-Guillaume's twin, crossed with his family aboard Le St.-Rémi, the fourth of the
Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them to upper Bayou Lafourche, where
he married Marie-Charlotte,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste Ozelet and Marguerite
Landry, at Assumption in
February 1803. Marie-Charlotte was a native of the Poitou region of
France and had come to Louisiana aboard La Bergère, the second of the
Seven Ships. François died in Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1823,
age 46. He and his wife may have been that rare Acadian
couple who had no children.
Descendants of Jean-Guillaume GAUTREAUX
(c1777-1850; François,
François, fils, François III)
Jean Guillaume, fifth
son of Joseph Gautrot and
his second wife Anne Pitre, born at Nantes, France,
in c1777, François's twin, crossed with his family aboard Le St.-Rémi, the
fourth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them to upper Bayou
Lafourche,
where he married Françoise-Victoire,
daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Aucoin and his second wife Anne
Hébert, at Assumption in February
1800. Françoise-Victoire had come to Louisiana aboard La Ville
d'Archangel, the sixth of the Seven Ships. Their daughter
married into the Boudreaux family. Jean G., as the recording priest
called him, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1850, age 74.
Three of his four sons created families in Lafourche Interior and Assumption
parishes.
1
Oldest son Florentin-François, born at
Assumption in January 1802, married Thérèse, daughter of Joseph Roussel
and Marie Milan, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1830. They settled
in Lafourche Interior Parish. Their son Victor
was born in July 1833, Augustin
or Auguste Léonard in November 1839, and Anatole Oleus near Labadieville,
Assumption Parish, in February 1848 but died at age 1 in January 1849.
They also had sons named Fortunatis and Hermonegile or
Hermenigilde. Their daughters married into the Gros and Himel
families.
1a
Auguste may have married fellow
Acadian Celina Daigle in Assumption Parish by the mid-1860s. Their son Rosémond Albert
was born near Labadieville in October 1866, Julien Edgard in
November 1867, and Camille Augustin in July 1870.
1b
Fortunatis married Elisa or Eliza, daughter
of fellow Acadians Célestin Bourg and Hélène Boudreaux, at the Labadieville church,
Assumption Parish, in April 1866. They settled near Labadieville.
1c
Hermonegile married Angeline or Angelina,
daughter of Hermogène Gros and his Acadian wife Joséphine
Boudreaux, at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in
December 1866.
2
David, born at Assumption in
May 1804, married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadians Paul Dominique Boudreaux
and Marie Olive Landry, at the Thibodauxville church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in November 1828.
Their son Trasimond was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in March
1831. Their daughter married into the Gros family. David remarried to Marie Gertrude, daughter of Auguste Honoré
and his Acadian wife Marie Arcement, at the Thibodauxville church in January 1836.
They lived near the boundary between Assumption and Lafourche Interior parishes. Their son Narcisse Maurice,
called Maurice, was born in October 1836, Lubin in March 1842,
Auguste Adam, also called Auguste David, in October 1844, Davy Ignace in July 1846, Thomas Désiré
in February 1848, Jean Oleus in December 1852, and Paul Émile in
August 1854. Their daughters
married into the Hidalgo and Usé families.
2a
Trasimond, by his father's first wife,
married Marie, daughter of Joseph Sarde or Sardes and Marie
Pares, at the
Attakapas Canal church,
Assumption Parish, in April 1858. Their son Joseph Camille was
born near Attakapas Canal in May 1859.
2b
Maurice, by his father's second wife,
married Azema or Rozema, daughter of Charles Roussel and ____
Friou, at the
Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1865. Their son Neil
Edgard was born near Labadieville in December 1867.
2c
Auguste Adam, by his father's second wife,
married Léonise, also called Louise, daughter of Joseph Idale and
Marie Rodrigues, at the Labadieville
church, Assumption Parish, in January 1866. Their son Adam Joseph
was born near Labadieville in October 1866.
3
Jean Pierre, born at Ascension
in December 1806, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1831, age 25, and probably did not marry.
4
Youngest son Alexandre Jean
Baptiste, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in January 1821, married Eulalie
Scholastique, daughter of Édouard Peltier or Pelletier and
Marcellite Berthelot, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1843.
Their child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died in Lafourche Interior Parish
the day after its birth in August 1845, Alix Adam was born near Labadieville,
Assumption Parish, in May 1851, Émile Toussaint in November 1853,
Henry Siméon in January 1856, and Clebert Augustin in December 1861.
Their daughter married into the Fremin family.
~
During the antebellum period, Gautreauxs
from Ascension Parish, three of them brothers, another a cousin, moved to upper Bayou Lafourche.
Two of them had many sons. One of them became a planter:
Descendants of Jean Vasseur
GAUTREAUX (1811-; François,
Claude, Charles, Simon)
Jean Vasseur, called Vasseur, older son of Simon Gautreaux,
fils and his second wife Henriette Élisabeth Melançon, born in
Ascension Parish in December 1811, married
Élisabeth, daughter of Hippolyte Carmouche and his Acadian wife Madeleine
LeBlanc, at the
Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1837. They remained on upper Bayou Lafourche. Their
daughters married into the Barbier family. Their older sons settled
near Lockport, Lafourche Parish.
1
Oldest son Joseph, also called
Vasseur, so his full name probably was Joseph Vasseur, born
probably in Assumption Parish in the late 1830s, married Anaïs, daughter
of fellow Acadians Adélard Boudreaux and Joséphine LeBlanc, at the Lockport church, Lafourche
Parish, in March 1864. Their son Joseph Numa was born near Lockport
in January 1865, and Joseph Clément in October 1870.
2
Jean Émile, called Émile,
born
near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in January 1840, married Ursule, daughter
of Francis Hernandez and Adèle Medina, at the Lockport church, Lafourche
Parish, in February 1865, and did not register the marriage civilly until
January 1866.
3
Hippolyte Rose Aimé, perhaps
also called Simon, born near
Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in July 1841, may have married Joséphine,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Babin and Séraphine Boudreaux, at the Lockport church,
Lafourche Parish, in May 1866.
4
Félicien Lucion was born near
Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in June 1845.
5
Youngest son Joseph Aurilia was
born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in June 1855.
Joseph Simon or
Simon Joseph GAUTREAUX (1816-; François,
Claude, Charles, Simon)
Joseph Simon or Simon Joseph, second
son of Joseph Gautreaux and Henriette-Adélaïde Landry, born in
Ascension Parish in October 1816, married cousin Marie Célestine, daughter of
fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Landry, at the Plattenville church,
Assumption Parish, in January 1837. Did they remain on upper Bayou
Lafourche? Were they that rare Acadian couple who had no children?
Descendants of Joseph Richard
GAUTREAUX (1819-; François,
Claude, Charles, Simon)
Joseph Richard, called Richard, third
son of Joseph Gautreaux and Henriette-Adélaïde Landry, born in
Ascension Parish in April 1819, married cousin Angeline or Angelina Landry
probably in Assumption Parish and settled there by the mid-1840s. In
September 1850, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 20
slaves--16 males and 4 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ranging in age
from 36 to 1--on Richard Gautreaux's plantation in the parish's Second
Congressional District. Richard's father, and then his mother, owned St.
Joseph Plantation in St. James Parish, and some of Richard's slaves may have
come from that holding. In July 1860, the federal census taker in
Assumption Parish counted 64 slaves, ages 47 years to 6 months, living in 10
houses, on Richard Gauthreaux's plantation in the parish's 6th Ward; his
number of his slaves now equaled that of his widowed mother in St. James Parish.
Like his parents, Richard was a sugar planter.
1
Oldest son Joseph
Richard Alcée, called Alcée, born near Paincourtville, Assumption Parish, in
October 1847, married cousin Claire, daughter of fellow Acadians Duffossard
Landry and Amelia LeBlanc, at the Paincourtville church in October 1867; they had to secure a
dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry.
They settled near Paincourtville.
2
Joseph
Geslain Richard was born near Paincourtville, Assumption Parish, in
August 1852.
3
Joseph Urbain Richard was born
near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in May 1854.
4
Joseph Richard Justin, born
near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in December 1856, may have been the Justin
Gauthrau who died near Plattenville in December 1867. The priest
who recorded the burial, and who did not give his parents' names, says
Justin died at "age 14 years," but Joseph Richard Justin would have been 11.
5
Youngest son Joseph Séverin Samuel
was born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in January 1860.
Descendants of Joseph Léon
GAUTREAUX (1827-1863; François,
Claude, Charles, Simon)
Joseph Léon, called Léon, fifth son of
Joseph Gautreaux and Henriette-Adélaïde Landry, born in Ascension
Parish in April 1827, married cousin Emma Hélène, another daughter of Jean Baptiste
Landry, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in in February
1848; they had to secure a dispensation for fourth degree of consanguinity in
order to marry. They remained on upper Bayou Lafourche. In August
1850, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 6 slaves--2 males
and 4 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 34 to 1--on
Léon Gautreaux's farm in the parish's Second Congressional District. Léon died in
Lafourche Parish in May 1863; the Thibodeaux priest who recorded his burial said
that Léon died "at age 25 years," but he was 36. One wonders if Léon's
death was war-related. His older son settled in Assumption Parish.
1
Older son Simon Joseph le jeune,
called Joseph, born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in September 1849,
married Odalie, daughter of fellow Acadians Armand Blanchard and Clarisse
Braud, at the
Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1868.
2
Younger son Jean Baptiste Henry, called
Henry or Henri, born near Paincourtville, Assumption Parish, in April
1852, died at age 9 in June 1861.
~
Other GAUTREAUXs in the Lafourche/Terrebonne
Valley
Local church and civil records make it
difficult to link some Gautreauxs in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou Terrebonne valley with
known lines of the family there:
Constance Gautreaux
gave birth to daughter Marie Camilla Virginie in Assumption Parish in
February 1841. The Plattenville priest who recorded the baptism did
not give the father's name or the mother's parents' names.
François Gautreaux died near
Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in August 1844. The priest who recorded
the burial said that François died at "age 60 yrs." but did not give his
parents' names or mention a wife. So which François Gautreaux was
he?
Rosémond Gautreaux married
Marie Barions or Bara, place and date unrecorded. Their son Joseph was born, baptized, and died
on the same day near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in September 1848, and
Émile Duradou was born in January 1854.
Delphine, daughter of Jean
Gautreaux, died in Assumption Parish in June 1849, age
40. The Plattenville priest who recorded the burial did not give
Delphine's mother's name or mentioned a husband. One wonders which
Jean Gautreaux her father may have been.
In July 1850, the federal census taker
in Assumption Parish counted 3 slaves--a 26-year-old black female and 2 mulatto
females, ages 8 and 6--on Pierre Gautreaux's farm in the parish's Second
Congressional District. Which Pierre Gautreaux was this?
In August 1850, the federal census
taker in Assumption Parish counted a single slave--a 50-year-old black
female--on Widow Jean G. Gautreaux's farm in the parish's Second
Congressional District. Who was this?
Leufroi Gautreaux married Adèle
Thibodeaux, place and date unrecorded. Their son Pierre Ozémée was born near
Labadieville, Assumption Parish, in May 1851.
Jean Gautreaux married Clémence
Modeste Thibodeaux, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Marie
Adelina was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in July 1851.
Joseph Gautreaux
married Charlotte Lenormand, place and date unrecorded.
Daughter Céleste Ida was born in Lafourche Parish in September 1855, and
Marie Doriska in Terrebonne Parish in July 1857.
Marie Gautreaux gave birth to
son Joseph in Lafourche Parish in February 1856. The Thibodaux
priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's name or the
mother's parents' names.
Marie Madeleine
Gautreaux died near Chacahoula, Terrebonne Parish, "age 104
yrs.," in May 1859. The priest who recorded the burial gave no
parents' names nor mentioned a husband. One wonders what was her
true age when she passed. Was she an Acadian immigrant?
In July 1860, the federal census taker
in Terrebonne Parish states that F. Gautrau was an "employer," perhaps an
overseer, on A. A. Williams's large plantation of 124 slaves in the parish's 3rd
Ward. (Williams resided in the Baton Rouge area, not in Terrebonne
Parish.)
Constance Gauthreaux,
"wife of omitted Laconta," died in Assmption Parish in
May 1863. The Plattenville priest who recorded the burial did not
give any parents' names, nor did he give the good woman's age at the time
of her passing.
Elmira M. Gautreaux married
Adolphe Menuet in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in June 1863.
The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents'
names.
Eulalie Gautreaux married
Acadian Eugène Naquin in a civil ceremony in Lafourche Parish in October 1865.
The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents'
names.
Louis, son of Meli Gautreaux,
was born in Terrebonne Parish in November 1865. The Houma priest who
recorded the baptism did not give the father's name or the mother's parents'
names.
Jean Gautreaux married French
Creole Félicie
Picou, place and date unrecorded. Their daughter Félicie married into the LaRose family at
Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in April 1866.
Ozémé Gautreaux married
Carmélite D'Alfarez, place and date unrecorded. Their son Joseph was born near
Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in August 1866.
Marie Sylvie, daughter of
Evelline Gauthraud, was born in Assumption Parish in
August 1867. The Plattenville priest who recorded the girl's baptism
did not give the father's name or the mother's parents' names.
Pélagie Gautreaux
died in Terrebonne Parish, age 60, in December 1867. The Houma
priest who recorded the burial did not give any parents' names or mention
a husband. Was she the oldest child and daughter of Pierre Isidore
Gautreaux and Marie Rosalie Seville of
Terrebonne Parish?
Joseph Edmond Gautreaux was
baptized at the Lockport church, Lafourche Parish, age unrecorded, in February
1868. The priest who recorded the baptism did not give Joseph
Edmond's parents' names.
Marie Elizabeth, daughter of
Mary Gautreaux, was born in Terrebonne Parish in November
1868. The Houma priest who recorded the girl's baptism did not give
her father's name.
Félix Gautreaux married Acadian Élodie
Clouâtre in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish, in July 1869.
The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents'
names.
Pauline Gautreaux married
Auguste Darden in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish, in February
1870. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's
parents' names.
Simon Gautreaux married
Joséphine LeBlanc, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Joséphine
Delia was born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in March 1870.
Azélie Gautreaux
died near Montegut, Terrebonne Parish, in August 1870. The priest
who recorded the burial gave no parents' names nor mentioned a husband.
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA
Frenchmen with similar-sounding
surnames settled in
Louisiana decades before the first of their Acadian namesakes
reached the colony:
Jean-François, called François, Gautreau
witnessed a wedding in New Orleans in February 1729. According to a recent study,
Jean-François "had the post of 'royal store-keeper' at New
Orleans probably from 1732 to 1744, when he returned to France. In March
1740, serving as royal storekeeper in New Orleans, he "agreed to buy all the raw
deer-skins the [Opelousas] partners [Blainpain and Le Kintrek] could furnish,
export them to France, and pay a specified net margin to the two traders."
In 1743, Gautreau
sold his plantation on the Mississippi south of Lake Pontchartrain, together
with 28 Negro slaves," so he was a well-to-do colonist as well as a French
official.
Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, Gautherot
dit Tarascon, "surnamed La Musique," a voyageur, married Marie-Élisabeth Laurens,
place and date unrecorded, but it
perhaps in New Orleans. Baptiste served as master cantor of the city's St.-Louis
Parish. Their son Jean-Baptiste, fils was born at New
Orleans in March 1744, Pierre-Alexandre in February 1749, Simon-Jacques
was baptized at New Orleans, age unrecorded, in November 1751, Claude was
born in March 1754, a second Jean-Baptiste, fils was baptized at New
Orleans, age unrecorded, in October 1756, Laurent was born in June 1759,
and Honoré in February 1762.
In 1763, a Gautreau, called a
"singer," lived at New Orleans.
~
During the antebellum period, a Gautraud
emigrated to New Orleans from France; native Louisianians would have called him
a Foreign Frenchman. A fellow with a similar sounding surname, perhaps
also a Foreign Frenchman, settled on the old Acadian Coast a few years later:
Frederick Gautraud, a
22-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship St.
Paul out of Le Havre, France, in May 1835.
Jule Désiré Idé Gauntrand
married Solidel Aimée Pierre Sabole, place and date unrecorded.
Daughter Juliette was born in Ascension Parish in May 1842.
~
Gautreauxs who lived
in South Louisiana during the antebellum and immediate postwar periods were Afro-Creoles whom Acadian Gautreauxs
had owned, and in some cases freed, and who who took the family's surname:
Célesie Gautreaux, free woman
of color, married John Parker, free man of color, at the Thibodaux
church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1865. The priest who recorded the
marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
CONCLUSION
Gautrots were among the first
families of Acadia, and one of them was among the earliest Acadians to seek
refuge in Louisiana. Pierre Gautrot, his wife, and infant daughter
came to Louisiana in February 1765 with the party from Halifax via St.-Domingue
led by Joseph
Broussard dit Beausoleil. Pierre died either on
the voyage to Louisiana or in New Orleans soon after the party reached the colony. His wife and 10-month-old daughter followed the Broussards
to upper Bayou Teche, where the daughter grew up and married into the Duhon
family. A Gautrot family line did not appear on the western
prairies for three more decades.
Meanwhile, two Gautrot
brothers from Minas came to Louisiana in 1765 and 1766 from Halifax and Maryland
and settled on the river at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques. The younger brother,
Simon, who had come to the colony from Halifax, remained at St.-Jacques and created a substantial, well-to-do, line of the family
in what became St. James, Ascension, and Iberville parishes. They were
especially numerous in Ascension Parish. Older brother Amand, who
had come to Louisiana from Maryland, had only one son, and it was this son,
Jérôme, who went to the Attakapas District during the late colonial period and created a western branch of the
family. During the late antebellum period, one of Simon Gautreaux's
grandsons, Alexandre, moved his family from Ascension Parish to the St. Landry
prairies and settled near his cousins, but the western branch of the family
remained small compared to the ones east of the Atchafalaya Basin.
If the Spanish government had not
coaxed over 1,500 Acadians in France to emigrate to Louisiana, the Gautrot
family would have remained a fairly small one in the Bayou State. That
changed in 1785, when 40 Gautrots in over half a dozen families reached
New Orleans aboard five of the Seven Ships from France. The great majority of
them settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, creating a
large center of family settlement. One is struck, however, by the number of
family lines on the upper bayou that died out early. During the
antebellum period, Gautreauxs from Ascension Parish, including three
brothers, moved to upper Bayou Lafourche and joined their cousins there.
By the late antebellum period, Gautreauxs could be found in the
Lafourche valley from Assumption all the way down into the Terrebonne country.
During or soon after the War of 1861065, a few of them moved to the
Brashear City, now Morgan City, area on the lower Atchafalaya and to the New
Iberia area on lower Bayou Teche.
Non-Acadian Gautreaus lived
in the colony decades before the first of their Acadian namesakes arrived, and at least one
Foreign-French Gautraud came to Louisiana during the early antebellum
period.
Church records reveal that none of them established
a large family line in predominantly-Acadian communities. Nearly all of the Gautreauxs of South
Louisiana, then, are Acadians, descendants of François Gautrot of Martaizé and
Port-Royal.
Judging by the number of slaves they
owned during the late antebellum period, some Gautreauxs lived
comfortably on their farms and plantations along the river and in the
Lafourche/Terrebonne valley. By far the largest slave holders in the
family were descendants of Simon Gautreaux--his son Joseph, who owned St.
Joseph Plantation in St. James Parish, and Joseph's son Richard, who lived in
Assumption Parish. In 1850, Joseph Gautreaux's widow, Henriette
Adélaïde Landry, held 42 slaves on St. Joseph Plantation, and son Richard
held 20 slaves on his plantation along upper Bayou Lafourche. A decade
later, the widow held 64 slaves on St. Joseph Plantation, and son Richard also
owned that number on his Bayou Lafourche holding. Both plantations raised
and processed sugar. In 1850, É. Gautreaux of Assumption Parish,
probably Élie, owned 23 slaves on a plantation he shared with his brothers.
That same year, cousin Joseph Olivier Gautreaux owned 13 slaves on his
Assumption Parish farm. His son Eusilien held seven more slaves in
Terrebonne Parish. In 1860, Dr. Gautreaux of St. James Parish owned
17 slaves. That same year, Pierre Olivier Gautreaux's widow owned
eight slaves at Bruslé St. Vincent in Assumption Parish. The other family
slave owners held only a few bondsmen, and most members of the family owned no
slaves at all, at least none who appeared in the federal slave schedules of 1850
and 1860.
Dozens of Gautreauxs served
Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65, and at least five of
them died in Confederate service. One of them,
Cleophas Gautreaux of Thibodaux, was serving as a second
lieutenant in the 18th Louisiana Infantry when he was mortally wounded at
Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862. ...
In Louisiana, the family's name evolved from Gautrot to Gautreaux.
It also is spelled Gaudrau, Gaudreau, Gaudreault, Gauntrand, Gautereau, Gauteros, Gauterot,
Gautherot, Gauthraux, Gauthreaux, Gautraux, Gautreaut, Geauthreaux, Geautreau, Goderot, Godreau,
Goltreaux, Gotereau,
Gothrau, Gothraux, Gothreau, Gotrau, Gotraud, Gotreau, Gotreaux, Gotro, Gottereau,
Gottreau, Goutreaux, Guatraux, Portreau. This Acadian family should not be
confused with the Godreaus or Goudreaus, French Canadians who
settled at Pointe Coupée, where few Acadians settled, and in St. Landry Parish,
where Acadians, including Gautreauxs, did settle. [See
Book
Ten for the
Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]
Sources: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave
Schedules, Assumption, St. James, & Terrebonne parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal
Census, Slave Schedules, Ascension, Assumption, St. James, St. Landry, St. Mary,
& Terrebonne parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie,
566-67, 1170-74, 1388-89, 1488-90, 1658, 2235, 2339-40, 2490-92; Brasseaux, Foreign
French, 1:233; BRDR,
vols. 1a(rev.), 2, 3, 4, 5(rev.), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11;
De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905,
2A:99, 107, 112, 125;
De Ville, Opelousas
History, 9, source of quotation; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 150-52; 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; NOAR, vols. 1, 2, 4, 7;
<islandregister.com/1752.html>;
Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 150-51, 153, 205; Menn, Large Slaveholders of LA, 1860,
125, 127-28, 355-56, 413, 418-19;
<perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>,
Family Nos. 43, 91, 97, 99, 100, 101, 102, 191; Robichaux, Acadians in
Châtellerault, 41-44; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 69-70;
Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 338-53; West, Atlas of LA Surnames,
77-78, 168-69; White, DGFA-1, 691-705;
White, DGFA-1 English, 145-48.