APPENDICES

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

GIROUARD/GIROIR

[jihr-WAH]

ACADIA

 François Girouard dit La Varanne, born in c1621 at Martaizé or nearby La Chaussée south of the Loire in the region of Loudun, was a young laborer and farmer when he came to Acadia in c1640.  He married Jeanne Aucoin, sister of Michelle and wife of Michel Boudrot in c1647.  Between 1648 and 1660, at Port-Royal, Jeanne gave François five children, two sons and three daughters, all of whom created families of their own.  Their daughters married into the Blou, Cormier, and Lord dit Lamontagne families.  (A personal note:  the Cormiers of Acadia and Louisiana are descended from Thomas Cormier, who married Marie-Madeleine, third child and second daughter of François Girouard dit La Varanne, at Port-Royal in c1668.  Genealogically, then, all Acadian Cormiers are Girouards, too.)  François dit La Varanne died at Port-Royal in the early 1690s, in his early 70s.  His wife did not remarry and died at Port-Royal in April 1718, in her late 80s. 

Older son Jacques dit Jacob, born in c1648, married Marguerite, daughter of François Gautrot and Edmée Lejeune, at Port-Royal in c1670.  They had 14 children, including nine sons who married into the Le Borgne de Bélisle, Comeau, Doiron, Petitpas, Amireau dit Tourangeau, Bourgeois, Guilbeau, Blanchard, Bernard dit Renochet, Barrieau, Bastarache, Pitre, and Doucet families.  Three of their daughters married into the Granger, Doucet, and Richard dit Beaupré families.  Jacques dit Jacob and his family lived for a time at Cobeguit, but he returned to Port-Royal, where he died in October 1703, in his mid-50s.  Some of his descendants moved to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, probably to escape British authority in Nova Scotia.  

Younger son Germain, born in c1656, moved to Chignecto in the late 1670s to join the pioneers of that settlement, which included his older sister Marie-Madeleine, wife of Thomas Cormier.  Germain married Marie, daughter of Jacques Bourgeois and Jeanne Thériot and widow of Pierre Cyr, at Chignecto in June 1680; Jacques Bourgeois was founder of the Chignecto settlement.  Germain and Marie had three children, including a son, Germain, fils, who married into the Barrieau family.  One of their daughters married into the Gaudet family.  Germain, père died at Chignecto in the early 1690s, only in his 30s.  

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

In 1755, descendants of François Girouard dit La Varanne could be found at Annapolis Royal; Chignecto; Minas, including Grand-Pré and Pigiguit; and on Île St.-Jean and Íle Royale.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

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

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Girouards were among  the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana.  The first of them--a middle-aged bachelor and a young wife--reached New Orleans from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, with the Broussard dit Beausoleil party in February 1765:

Joseph Girouard of haute rivière, Annapolis Royal, age 35, came alone but married Ursule, daughter of fellow Acadians René Trahan and Élisabeth Darois and widow of Joseph-Grégoire Broussard, at New Orleans in early April 1765 soon after they reached the colony (theirs was one of the earliest Acadian marriages in Louisiana).  Joseph, his new wife, and two stepchildren followed the Broussards to the Bayou Teche valley, and then tragedy struck.  Joseph, along with wife Ursule, died in October during the epidemic that killed dozens of Teche Acadians that summer and fall.  

Marie Girouard, age 27, came with husband Joseph Bourgeois, a 2-year-old daughter, and two Bourgeois in-laws, ages 24 and 19.  That autumn, they fled the epidemic that killed so many of their fellow Acadians and settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river, where other Acadians from Halifax were settling.  Decades later, after her husband died in St. James Parish, Marie returned to the prairies and died at the home of Joseph Breaux at Carencro, then in St. Martin but now in Lafayette Parish, in August 1815, age 78.  

.

A third Girouard from Halifax via St.-Domingue came to the colony in 1765 and went to the Opelousas District, north of Attakapas:

Marie-Madeleine Girouard, age 28, came with husband Michel Comeau, age 31, and two children, including an infant who had been born aboard ship or in New Orleans soon after the family reached the colony.  By the late 1780s, they were living on upper Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé out on the Opelousas prairie.  Marie died on the prairie in January 1802; the Opelousas priest who recorded her burial said that she was age 56 when she died, but she may have been in her 60s.

~

Another male Girouard did not appear on the western prairies until the early 1780s.  He created a vigorous family line in what became St. Martin and Lafayette parishes:  

Descendants of Firmin dit La Prade GIROUARD (c1749-1820; François, Jacques, Pierre)

Firmin dit La Prade, son of Louis dit Paul Girouard and Marie Thibodeau, born probably at Minas in c1749, followed his family to Malpèque, Île St.-Jean, soon after his birth.  In 1758, they escaped the British roundup on the island, found refuge on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore, fell into British hands, and were held on Georges Island, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the early 1760s.  In 1765, at age 16, Firmin came to Louisiana via Cap-François, French St.-Dominigue, the only member of his immediate family to go there.  He settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river, where he married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste Cormier, père and Madeleine Richard of Chignecto and Georgia, in January 1771.  Marguerite had come to the colony with her family in February 1764--among the first Acadians to settle in Louisiana.  In the early 1780s, Firmin took his family to the Attakapas District and settled at Côte Gelée near the Vermilion River.  Their daughters married into the Bernard, Breaux, Granger, Landry, and Thibodeaux families.  Firmin died "at his home at La Côte Gelée," then in St. Martin but now in Lafayette Parish, in July 1820, age 72; his first succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, the following September, and his second succession at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in March 1827.  All five of his sons married, and most of them settled at Côte Gelée, but only two of their lines survived beyond the 1830s.

1

Oldest son Simon-Joseph, also called Simon dit La Prade and Simonet, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in December 1771, married Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadians Sylvain Broussard and Félicité Guilbeau, at Attakapas in February 1796.  Their son Simon-Onésime, called Onésime, was born at Côte Gelée in May 1799, Sylvestre-Valmond in March 1803, Zenon in January 1808 but died "at his mother's home," age 17, in November 1825, and Sylvain was born in June 1810 but died at age 2 1/2 in February 1813.  Their daughters married into the Bernard, Broussard, La Fosse de St. Julien, Landry, and Thibodeaux families.  Simon died "at his home" at Côte Gelée in February 1819; the priest who recorded his burial said that Simon was "about 45 yrs." when he died, but he was closer to 47; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in October 1820.   His line probably did not survive beyond the 1830s. 

1a

Simon Onésime married Adeline, daughter of Joseph Derouen and his Acadian wife Marie Solange Prejean, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in March 1826.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 7 slaves--5 males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 33 to 1--on Onézime Giroire's farm next to Aurelien Derouen.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 10 slaves--6 males and 4 females, 7 blacks and 3 mulattoes, ages 49 to 2--on I. O. Girroir's farm; this was probably Onésime.  Simon Onésime's succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in January 1866; he would have been age 67 that year.  He and his wife may have been that rare Cajun couple who had no children. 

1b

Sylvestre Valmond married Joséphine, daughter of fellow Acadians Fabien Landry and Beatrice Granger, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1828.  Their son Sylvestre Théodule was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 4 months, in October 1831.  Their daughters married into the Boulet, Teller, and Vasseur families.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 5 slaves--2 males and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 30 to 7--on Sylvestre Girouard's farm in the parish's western district.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 11 slaves--5 males and 6 females, all black, ages 65 years to 2 months, living in 3 houses--on Lilvestre Giroid's farm; this was probably Sylvestre.  Did his only son ever marry? 

2

Jacques, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in October 1773, married Angélique Julie, daughter of fellow Acadians Simon Broussard and Marguerite Blanchard, at Attakapas in January 1798.  Their daughters married Broussard cousins.  Jacques died probably at Côte Gelée in September 1801, age 28.  He and his wife probably had no sons, so, except for its blood, this line of the family would have died with him.  

3

Pierre dit Peleau, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in July 1776, married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Olivier Thibodeaux and Anne Brun and widow of Simon Broussard, fils, at Attakapas in August 1803.  Their son Simon le jeune was born at Côte Gelée in August 1804, Jean Valmont, called Valmont, in April 1806, Pierre, fils in April 1808, Joseph le jeune in 1809 or 1810, Maximilien in November 1811, and Hilaire in September 1813 but died at age 16 in July 1830.  Their daughters married into the Broussard and Mire families.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 21 slaves--11 males and 10 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 40 years to 3 months--on Pierre Girouard Sr.'s plantation in the parish's western district, next to J. D. Girouard, who held a single slave--a 20-year-old black male--and near Maxn Girouard and Pierre Girouard Jr.  Pierre dit Peleau died in Lafayette Parish in September 1869; the Vermilionville priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Pierre died "at age 92 yrs."; his succession, calling him Pierre Sr., was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in December. 

3a

Simon le jeune died "at his father's home at La Côte Gelée" in March 1824, age 20, and probably did not marry.  

3b

Pierre, fils married Marie Adeline, called Adeline, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Melançon and Suzette Landry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1830.  Their son Dupré was born in Lafayette Parish in August 1834, Joseph was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 2 months, in March 1839, Adolphe was born in January 1841, Norbert in August 1843, Léonce in March 1850, and Léonard in July 1852.  Their daughters married into the Boulet, Leger, and Meaux families.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 4 slaves--2 males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 4--on Pierre Girouard Jr.'s farm in the parish's western district between Maxn Girouard and Jean Melançon and near Pierre Girouard Sr. and J. D. Girouard.  Pierre's succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in January 1868; he would have been age 60 that year.  All of his older sons fought for Louisiana and the Southern Confederacy and survived the war. 

Dupré married Anastasie, daughter of fellow Acadians Émilien Prejean and Mélasie Landry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in October 1859.  They settled near Youngsville.  During the War of 1861-65, Dupré served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  He also served in Company G of the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought in Louisiana.  Like his younger brothers, he survived the war. 

Joseph married first cousin Anaïs, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Valmont Girouard and his Creole wife Caroline Teller or Taylor, his uncle and aunt, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1861.  Their son Napoléon le jeune was born near Youngsville in February 1865.  During the War of 1861-65, Joseph served in Company G of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in the prairie parishes, which fought in Louisiana later in the war, especially against Jayhawkers. 

During the War of 1861-65, Adolphe served in Company F of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  He was wounded in action at Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862 but did not fall into the hands of the enemy.  He was still on sick furlough in August, when his regiment was stationed in southern Alabama.  He followed them back to Louisiana that fall and was captured at the Battle of Labadieville in Assumption Parish in October 1862.  Although the Federals released most of the Confederates they captured in the Lafourche campaign, they held on to Adolphe.  He was not paroled and exchanged until the spring of 1863, after his regiment had spent the winter on the lower Teche and then retreated before an overwhelming Federal force to Opelousas.  In June, after his regiment had returned to the lower Teche, Adolphe was reported sick at the hospital in New Iberia.  He probably was discharged from the company soon afterwards and headed home, but his Confederate service was not yet over.  Adolphe enlisted in Company G of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry with older brother Joseph.  The regiment was especially successful in fighting local Jayhawkers during the last year of the war.  Adolphe married Clementine, daughter of fellow Acadian Clément Broussard and his Creole wife Elizabeth Rowan, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1870. 

During the War of 1861-65, Norbert served in Company E of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Norbert married fellow Acadian Azélima Boudreaux and settled near Youngsville. 

3c

Maximilien married Carmezille, Carmegille, Carmesile, Carmelite, or Melite, daughter of fellow Acadians Nicolas Amand Broussard and Adélaïde Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1833.  Their son Caliste was born in Lafayette Parish in August 1833 but died at age 2 in June 1835, Jean le jeune was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 3 months, in September 1835, Joseph Martial, called Martial, was born in July 1844, Jules in July 1846, Louis in July 1851, Martin in November 1854, Nicolas in April 1857, and Théodore in November 1859.  They also had a son named Terence, unless he was Jean le jeune.  Their daughters married into the Broussard, Fercy, and Landry families.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 4 slaves--2 males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 30 to 4--on Maxn Girouard's farm in the parish's western district next to Pierre Girouard Jr. and near Pierre Girouard Sr. and J. D. Girouard.  Maximilien's succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in April 1870, age 59. 

Terence married Adonatille, daughter of fellow Acadians Clet Landry and Adélaïde Landry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1854.  Their son Joseph was born in Lafayette Parish in July 1856, Ambroise in December 1858, Hilaire near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in January 1861, Jean in January 1863, Nicholas in February 1867, and Auzaire in St. Martin Parish in January 1869. 

During the War of 1861-65, Martial served in Company F of the Yellow Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Martin Parish, which fought in Louisiana.  He was captured on Bayou Teche in April 1863 during the first federal invasion of southwest Louisiana.  After the Yellow Jackets Battalion was consolidated with another Louisiana unit in late 1863, Martial served in the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised on the western prairies, which fought in Louisiana, especially against local Jayhawkers.  Martial married Céleste, daughter of Martin Aubry and Joséphine Dumartrait, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1870. 

During the War of 1861-65, Jules served in Company G of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafourche Parish, which fought in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  Though a resident of Lafayette Parish, he enlisted in the Lafourche company in October 1861 and followed it to Tennessee that winter.  His enlistment in a company that was raised a distance from his home probably had something to do with his age; he was only 15 years old at the time of his enlistment!  Still not yet 16, he was wounded and captured in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.  The Federals sent him to a hospital at St. Louis, Missouri, and then on to the prison hospital at Camp Douglas, Illinois.  The Federals discharged him from the hospital in June and held him in confinement until his release late that summer.  He returned to his company, stationed in southern Alabama, and followed it to Louisiana later that fall.  After November 1863, he served in Company F of the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought in Louisiana.  Jules married Louise or Louisa, also called Odile, another daughter of Clet Landry and Adélaïde Landry, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in November 1866.  Their son Horace was born in St. Martin Parish in January 1869. 

A succession record for Louis Girouard was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in October 1870.  If this was Louis, son of Maximilien, he would have been age 19 that year.  Did he marry? 

3d

Jean Valmont married Caroline, daughter of Jean Teller or Taylor and his Acadian wife Marguerite Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1833.  Their son Paul Napoléon, called Napoléon, was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1840.  Their daughters married into the Broussard, Clément (Foreign French, not Acadian), and Girouard families.  Jean's succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in October 1846; he would have been age 40 that year.  

Napoléon married cousin Susanne, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Osémé Melançon and Mélite Broussard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1859.  Their son Jean Villemont, called Villemont, was born near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in July 1860 but died at age 5 in October 1865.  

3e

Joseph le jeune may have married French Creole Lize Begnaud, widow of Henry Landry, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1837.  Joseph le jeune's first succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in December 1865; he would have been 55 years old that year.  A second succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in February 1866, so he must have owned property in that parish as well.  Did he and his wife have children?

4

Joseph, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in December 1778, married Marie-Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste Landry and Élisabeth Dugas, at Attakapas in May 1801.  Marie-Anne had come to Louisiana from France in 1785.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 11 slaves--4 males and 7 females, all black, ranging in age from 45 to 3--on Joseph Girouard's farm in the parish's Western District.  Joseph died in Lafayette Parish in September 1863, 84.  He and his wife may have been that rare Acadian couple who had no children. 

5

Youngest son Jean-Baptiste, called Baptiste, born at Côte Gelée in August 1792, married Josephine, daughter of French Creole Joseph Derouen of La Petit Anse, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1817; Joséphine's mother was a Prejean.  They settled near her family at La Petite Anse, near today's Avery Island, south of Côte Gelée.  Their son Jean Baptiste Treville was born at La Petite Anse in July 1818 but died in Lafayette Parish at age 4 1/2 in October 1822.  Baptiste remarried to Julie, daughter of French Creole Étienne Valleau, Valot, or Vallot, in the early 1820s.  Their son Joseph Amédée, called Amédée, was born in St. Martin Parish in December 1827, a child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died in Lafayette Parish 9 days after its birth in June 1830, Dominique was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 8 months, in August 1835, and Paul Numa was born in October 1840.  Their daughter married into the Hust family.   Jean Baptiste died in Lafayette Parish in January 1855; he priest who recorded the burial said that Jean Baptiste was age 60 when he died, but he was 62; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following April.  

5a

Amédée, by his second wife, married Élodie, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Isidore Broussard and Marcellite Broussard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1849.  Their son Étienne was born in Lafayette Parish in August 1850, Jean Baptiste Alexandre in August 1852, and Joseph Amédée, fils posthumously in February 1854.  Amédée, père died in Lafayette Parish in September 1853; the priest who recorded his burial said that Amédée was age 28 when he died, but he was 25; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in March 1854.

5b

Dominique, by his second wife, married cousin Eusèide, daughter of Nicolas Vallot and Marguerite Domingues, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in November 1851.  Their daughters married into the Bourque and Miguez families.  Dominique died in Lafayette Parish in July 1854, age 19; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in May 1856.  Did he father any sons? 

~

Other GIROUARDs on the Western Prairies

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Girouard/Giroirs in the western parishes with known lines of the family there:

According to the succession of Louis Thieri, a free person of color, filed at the St. Landry Parish courthouse in May 1839, his wife was Julie Giroir.  Was Julie also a free person of color?

Marie Céleste Giroir marred Pierre Comeaux in civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1851.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Marie Thelesia, called Thelesia, Giroir married Hilaire, son of probably Hippolyte Savoie, fils of Lafayette Parish, at the Raceland church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1861.  They did not remain on Bayou Lafourche, however, but settled near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish. 

Jean Baptiste Girouard died in St. Martin Parish in October 1864.  The St. Martinville priest who recorded the burial, and who did not bother to give any parents' names or even mention a wife, said that Jean Baptiste died "at age 48 yrs."

Ebrard Girouard married Hélène Wiltz, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Anna was born near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in June 1866. 

A succession for Marie Valérie Catherine Gilbertine Girouard, wife of Pierre André Destrac Cazenave, was filed at the Lafayette Parish courthouse in February 1868.  The parish clerk who filed the document did not give her parents' names. 

Emma Girouard married Donat Dupuy in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1869.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Ovid Girouard married Adeline Jasmin at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1869.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  Their son Jean Baptiste had been born near Youngsville in January 1869. 

Eugénie Girouard married Louis Ancele or Ancelet at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1870.  Neither the parish clerk nor the priest who recorded the marriage gave the couple's parents' names. 

Julie Girouard married Jean Baptiste Square at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1870.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

In 1765, two more Girouards--another wife and a teenage orphan--came to Louisiana from Halifax, but they did not go to Bayou Teche.  They settled, instead, at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before:

Anastasie, or Anatalia, Girouard, age 20, came with husband Amable Blanchard, age 23, and an infant son.  They remained on the river and had more children.  

Firmin dit La Prade Girouard of Pigiguit, age 16, came to the colony alone.  Spanish authorities counted him on the left, or east, bank of the river at Cabanocé in 1766 and 1769.  He married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Cormier, père and Madeleine Richard of Chignecto, at St.-Jacques in January 1771.  Marguerite had come to Louisiana with her family in February 1764, among the first Acadians to settle in the colony.   A decade after their marriage, Firmin and Marguerite joined her brother, Jean-Baptiste Cormier, fils, in the Attakapas District, creating a western branch of the family.

~

Girouard/Giroirs came to Louisiana aboard three of the Seven Ships from France in 1785.  Perhaps because of their time in the mother country, they preferred to spell their family name Giroir or Giroire.  A few of them chose to settle on the river, but no new family line appeared there: 

Charles Giroir, age 56, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  With him was wife Michelle Patru, age 58, a Frenchwoman from St.-Servan.   Needless to say, they had no children in Louisiana.  They went not to a river community above the city but to Nueva Gálvez, an Isleño settlement below the city along Bayou Terre-aux-Boeufs in present-day St. Bernard Parish.  

.

Geneviève-Charlotte-Marguerite Giroir, age 16, crossed on La Ville d'Archangel, the sixth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in December.  She came with stepfather Louis Clossinet of Île St.-Jean and her mother, Marie-Marguerite Daigle, whose first husband was Geneviève's father, Amand Giroir.  They followed  the majority of their fellow passengers to the new Acadian community of Bayou des Écores, north of Baton Rouge.  When a series of hurricanes devastated the community in 1794, the Acadians to abandon the settlement en masse.  Geneviève followed her family to upper Bayou Lafourche, where she married into the Gautreaux family.  Geneviève died a widow in Assumption Parish in June 1833, age 65.  

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

Most of the Girouards who came to Louisiana from France in 1785 chose to go to upper Bayou Lafourche:

Prosper-Honoré Giroir, age 41, crossed on La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in August.  With him was wife Marie Dugas, age 39, and six children--Marie-Paule, age 20, Anne-Josèphe, age 18, Jean-Baptiste, age 15, Jeanne-Eléonore, age 13, François, age 11, and Pierre, age 7.  Prosper and Marie had no more children in Louisiana.  Their daughters married into the Blanchard, Guillot, and Landry families and settled on the upper bayou.  All of the Giroir family lines east of the Atchafalaya Basin spring from two of Prosper's sons, Jean-Baptiste and François, who settled on the upper bayou and raised large families.  Daughter Jeanne-Eléonore died at Assumption in June 1800; she was only 28 years old.  Marie Paule died in Assumption Parish in August 1810, age 45.  Anne Josèphe died in Assumption Parish in March 1831; the Plattenville priest who recorded her burial said that she was age 60 when she died, but she was 64.

.

Marie-Josèphe Thériot, age 65, widow of Honoré Giroir, crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, which reached New Orleans in November.  With her were daughters Eudoxile, age 38, and Marie-Rose, age 23.  Eudoxile married into the Hébert family and Marie-Rose into the Landry family.  Eudoxile and her family settled on the river, but Marie-Rose and her family remained on the upper bayou; she died a widow in Assumption Parish in September 1835, in her mid-70s.

Hélène-Judith Giroir of Pigiguit, age 43, Prosper-Honoré's sister, crossed on L'Amitié with husband François Blanchard, age 54, and four children, ages 20 to 5.  Hélène Judith died a widow in Assumption Parish in February 1834, in her early 90s.  

.

The Lafourche valley had become the largest center of Girouard family settlement.  The family members there preferred to spell their surname Giroir, reflecting their time in France.  Most of them remained in Assumption Parish, but some moved down into Terrebonne Parish and others to the Brashear, now Morgan, City, area on the lower Atchafalaya: 

Descendants of Jean-Baptiste GIROIR (1769-1818; François, Jacques, Pierre, Honoré)

Jean-Baptiste, eldest son of Prosper-Honoré Giroir and Marie Dugas, born at St.-Coulomb, France, near St.-Malo, in December 1769, followed his family to Louisiana aboard La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships, in 1785.  They settled on upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Isabelle, or Élisabeth, daughter of fellow Acadians François-Sébastien Landry and Margerite LeBlanc of St.-Gabriel, in February 1790.  Isabelle was born in either Maryland or St.-Gabriel; she did not come to Louisiana from France.  They settled near the boundary between what became Ascension and Assumption parishes.  Their daughters married into the Daigle, Dupuis, Landry, Montet, and Simoneaux families.  Jean Baptiste died in Assumption Parish in September 1818, age 49.  Four of his six sons created families of their own and settled in Assumption Parish.  Two of his grandsons moved to the Brashear City, later the Morgan City, area on the lower Atchafalaya in the 1860s.  

1

Their oldest son, name unrecorded, died an infant at Assumption in June 1793.

2

Jean-Baptiste, fils, born at Assumption in March 1799, married Rosalie Victoire, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Olivier Bourg and Marie Rose Livois, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1821.  Their daughter married into the Boudreaux family.  Jean Baptiste, fils remarried to Azélie Eulalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Joseph Boudreaux and his Creole wife Marie Venerent Montet, at the Plattenville church in June 1836.  Their son Joseph Alexandre was born in Assumption Parish in March 1841, Joseph Eugène in December 1842, and Eulice, perhaps Ulysse, Edmond in November 1843.  Jean Baptiste, fils died in Assumption Parish in December 1865, age 66.  

Eulice Edmond may have married fellow Acadian Anaïse or Athanaise Templet.  Their son Joseph Augustin was born near Brashear, now Morgan City, in February 1868. 

3

François-Apollinaire, called Apollinaire, born at Assumption in November 1800, married Marie Théotiste, called Théotiste, daughter of fellow Acadians Fabien Aucoin and Susanne Darois, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in September 1820.  Their son Apollinaire Zéphirin, called Zéphirin, was born in Assumption Parish in June 1825, Joseph Jean Baptiste in March 1832, and Julien in June 1842.  Their daughters married into the Comeaux, Giroir, and Joret families.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 10 slaves--6 males and 6 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 years to 2 months--on Appolinaire Giroir;s farm in the parish's Second Congressional District.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 29 slaves--20 males and 9 females, all black except for 3 mulattoes, ages 60 years to 6 months, living in 4 houses--on Appolinaire Giroir's plantation in the parish's 14th Ward, along Bayou Boeuf, next to Zéphirin Giroir.  

Zéphirin married Armelise, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Landry dit Petit René and his second wife, German Creole Euphrosine Malbrough, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1850.  Their son Justinien Elphége was born in Assumption Parish in January 1851, Étienne near Brashear, now Morgan, City, in August 1864, and Elphége Aristide in August 1869.  Their daughter married a Landry cousin.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 1 slave--a 30-year-old black female--on Zéphirin Giroir's farm in the parish's 14th Ward, along Bayou Boeuf, next to Appolinaire Giroir.  

4

Fabien-Lucas, called Lucas, born at Assumption in February 1802, died at age 3 in October 1805.

5

Joseph Damas or Damas Joseph, called Damas, born at Assumption in December 1804, married Carmelite, daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Barrilleaux and Élisabeth Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1834.  Their son Apollinaire Xavier, called Xavier, was born in Assumption Parish in March 1836, Alcibiades Leufroi, called Alcide, in September 1838, and Antoine Achille, called Achille, in June 1842.  Their daughters married into the Dupuis, Guillot, and Leze families.  Damas died in Assumption Parish in July 1845, age 40.  

5a

Alcide married Camilla, daughter of fellow Acadians Narcisse Templet and Irénée Melançon, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1861.  Their son Camille was born in Assumption Parish in June 1862 but died at age 5 1/2 in November 1867.  

5b

Xavier married first cousin Marie Aurelie, called Aurelie, daughter of fellow Acadians François Apollinaire Giroir and Théotiste Aucoin, his uncle and aunt, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in December 1863.  Their son Joseph Henri Ernest was born near Brashear, now Morgan, City, St. Mary Parish, in March 1865. 

5c

Antoine Achille married cousin Clementine, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste Blanchard and Clarisse Guillot, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1869; they had to secure a dispensation for third and fourth degrees of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Jean Baptiste Albert, called Albert, was born near Plattenville, Assumption Parish, in April 1870 but died the following June. 

6

Youngest son Étienne, born in Assumption Parish in August 1807, married Adèle or Adeline, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Hébert and Élisabeth Mazerolle, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1830.  Their son Apollinaire Séraphin was born in Assumption Parish in April 1832 but died at age 1 1/2 in September 1834, Adolphe Lazare was born in January 1841, Émile Justin in August 1846, and Étienne Adélard, called Adélard, in December 1851 but died at age 11 months in November 1852.  Their daughters married into the Blanchard, Daigle, and Guillot families.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 5 slaves--2 males and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 60 to 1--on Étienne Giroir's farm in the parish's Second Congressional District.  In August 1860, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 8 slaves--3 males and 5 females, all black, ages 20 to 2, living in 1 house--on Étienne Giroir's farm in the parish's 9th Ward, along Bayou Lafourche.  

Descendants of François GIROIR (c1772 or 1773-1836; François, Jacques, Pierre, Honoré)

François, second son of Prosper-Honoré Giroir and Marie Dugas, born probably near St.-Malo, France, in c1772 or 1773, followed his family to Louisiana aboard La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships, in 1785.  He settled with them on upper Bayou Lafourche, where he married Madeleine-Françoise, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean-Baptiste LeBlanc, fils and Andrée Bourgeois, at Assumption in January 1794.  Madeleine also had come to Louisiana aboard La Bergère.  They settled near the boundary between what became Ascension and Assumption parishes.  Their daughters married into the Guillot and Hébert families.  François died in Assumption Parish in February 1836; the priest who recorded his burial said that François was age 64 when he died.  Six of his seven sons created families of their own.  Most of them remained in Assumption Parish, but one of them moved down to the Bayou Black area of Terrebonne Parish, and a grandson seems to have settled near present-day Morgan City, St. Mary Parish, in the 1860s.  

1

Oldest son Jean-Laurent, called Laurent, baptized at Assumption, age unrecorded, in September 1796, married Anne dite Annette, another daughter of Pierre Hébert and Élisabeth Mazerolle and widow of Joseph Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1818.  Their son Jean Adolphe, called Adolphe, was born in Assumption Parish in December 1818, Trasimond Alexandre in September 1828, Ursin Eusèbe in August 1836, and Amédée Léon in April 1839.  Their daughters married into the Aucoin, Campo, and Giroir families.  Laurent died in Assumption Parish in August 1854, age 58.  

1a

Adolphe married cousin Angeline, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Hébert and Marie Scholastique Giroir, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1842; they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Olésiphore Octave, called Octave, was born in Assumption Parish in October 1842, Ignace in October 1847, and Joseph in June 1856.  Adolphe died near Plattenville in April 1870; the priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Adolphe died at "age 52 years"; he was 51. 

Octave married Virginie, daughter of fellow Acadians Henri Braud and Joséphine Duhon, at the Pierre Part church, Assumption Parish, in September 1862.  Their son Henri Clet was born near Pierre Part in October 1869. 

1b

Trasimond married Célestine, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Godefroi Templet and Carmelite Bourg, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1852.  Their son Aloysius Evello was born in Assumption Parish in January 1856, and Alcée Edmée in May 1860.  

1c

Ursin married double cousin Aimée, daughter of fellow Acadians Édouard Hébert and Eléonore Giroir, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in September 1857; they had to secure a dispensation for second and third degrees of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Sabin René was born in Assumption Parish in December 1858, Evariste Ludgère in October 1860, Edgar Robert in April 1862, and Laurent Édouard in April 1866.  

1d

Amédée Léon married first cousin Émelie, daughter of fellow Acadians Isidore Guillot and Eulalie Giroir, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1859; they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Joseph died in Assumption Parish a few hours after his birth in August 1859, a son, name unrecorded, died at birth in November 1860, Ernest Avi was born in November 1861, Jean Baptiste Franklin in June 1866, and Joseph Cleborne in September 1868.  

2

Pierre-Alexandre-Maximilien, called Alexandre, baptized at Assumption, age unrecorded, in September 1802, married Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Pierre Moïse and Anne Blanchard, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1825.  Their son Honoré Alexandre was born in Assumption Parish in May 1826, Théodule Marcel in January 1830, Alexandre Désiré, called Désiré, in February 1833, Martin Louis in March 1837, and Jean Baptiste Jules in July 1839.  Their daughter married into the Arceneaux family.  Alexandre died in Assumption Parish in September 1851, age 51.  

Désiré married Florestine, daughter of Edoire Tonnellier and his Acadian wife Arthémise Savoie, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1858, and remarried to first cousin Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Laurent Giroir and Anne dite Annette Hébert, his aunt and uncle, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1860; they had to secure a dispensation for second degree of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Ernest was born in Assumption Parish in c1864 but died at age 2 in May 1866, Arthur Alexandre was baptized at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, age unrecorded, in August 1867, and Numa Thomas was born near Plattenville in December 1869.  

3

Jean Baptiste Terence, called Baptiste, born at Assumption in June 1804, married Doralise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Comeaux and Marie Madeleine Blanchard, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1825.  Their son Terence Hubert was born in Assumption Parish in November 1828, Telesphore in September 1830, and Aristide Hilaire in September 1846.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Assumption Parish counted 9 slaves--4 males and 5 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 40 years to 6 months, living in 1 house--on Jn Bte T. Giroir's farm in the parish's 14th Ward, along Bayou Louis.  

3a

Terence married Arthémise, daughter of Joseph Marie Rousseau and his Acadian wife Eulalie LeBlanc, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in February 1852.  Their son Alcibiades Lusignan was born in Assumption Parish in June 1852, and Joseph Alcide in May 1854.  Terence may have remarried to cousin Séverine Giroir.  Their son Joseph Arthur was born near Brashear, now Morgan, City, in August 1864, and Joseph Théogène in August 1869. 

3b

Telesphore married Clarisse, daughter of Hermogène Friou or Frilot and Bertile Evelina Verret, at the Labadieville church, Assumption Parish, in September 1867.  Their son Alexandre Henri was born near New Iberia on lower Bayou Teche in March 1870. 

3c

Aristide Hilaire may have married cousin Élisabeth Giroir and settled near Brashear, now Morgan, City by the late 1860s. 

4

Auguste or Augustin Joseph, born at Ascension in January 1806, married Rosalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Comeaux and his Creole wife Clémence Simoneaux, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in March 1832.  Their son Auguste or Augustin Lucien, also called Justin, was born in Assumption Parish in February 1834, Rosémond in August 1835, and Jean Baptiste in December 1837.  They also had a son named Firmin, unless he was Rosémond.  Auguste moved his family down bayou to Lafourche Interior and then to Bayou Black, Terrebonne Parish.  His daughters married into the Arceneaux, Doiron, Forestier, Pitre, and Trahan families. 

4a

Augustin Lucien married Clémence Hasson or Hatton.  Their son Firmin le jeune was born near Theriot, Terrebonne Parish, far down in the marshes, in June 1858. 

4b

Firmin married Uralise, daughter of fellow Acadian Alexandre Hébert and his Creole wife Urseline Lancon, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in June 1858.  Their son Louis Banon was born in Terrebonne Parish in August 1860, and Théodore Edgard in December 1864.  

4c

Jean Baptiste married Adele, another daughter of Alexandre Hébert and Urseline Lancon, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in February 1859.  Their son Maxile Cyprien was born in Terrebonne Parish in November 1859, and Firmin Arthur in October 1864.  Jean Baptiste remarried to Uranie, daughter of Marcellin Bonvillain, and his Acadian wife Émilie Thibodeaux, at the Houma church in February 1870.  

5

Hermogène, born in Assumption Parish in April 1813, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Étienne Dupuis and Constance Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1838.  Their son Joseph Alexandre was born in Assumption Parish in December 1842, Joseph Lusignan, called Lusignan, in October 1844, Foride Telesphore in April 1849, William Cleopha, called Cleopha, in October 1851 but died "at Bruslé," age 9 1/2, in April 1862, and Hippolyte Octave Joseph was born in March 1854.  Their daughters married into the Dugas and LeBlanc families.  

5a

Joseph Alexandre married cousin Hélène, also called Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Aventin Dugas and Seraphine Babin, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1864; they had to secure a dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry.  Their son Joseph Léonie, a twin, was born near Paincourtville in November 1868. 

5b

Lusignan married cousin Adea, daughter of fellow Acadians Désiré A. LeBlanc and Dometille Dugas, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1867; they had to secure a dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to marry.  They settled near Plattenville. 

6

Leufroi, born in Assumption Parish in October 1816, died 3 days after his birth.  

7

Youngest son Florentin Martin, born in Assumption Parish in November 1817, married Marie Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Dupuis and Rosalie Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in August 1837.  Their son Florentin Désiré was born in Assumption Parish in June 1838.  Florentin Martin died in Assumption Parish in November 1867, age 50.  

Pierre GIROIR (1778-?; François, Jacques, Pierre, Honoré)

Pierre, third and youngest son of Prosper-Honoré Giroir and Marie Dugas, born at Nantes, France, in October 1778, followed his family to Louisiana aboard La Bergère, the second of the Seven Ships, in 1785.  He settled with them on upper Bayou Lafourche, where Spanish officials counted him with his family, still a bachelor, in 1798.  He may not have married.  

Other GIROIRs in the Lafourche/Terrebonne Valley

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Giroirs in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou Terrebonne valley with known lines of the family there:

Pierre Giroir died in Assumption Parish in July 1844, age 16.  The priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give his parents' names.  

Florentine, daughter of Alexandre Giroir, died in Assumption Parish, age 40, in June 1849.  The Plattenville priest who recorded the burial did not give Florentine's mother's name or mention a husband. 

Joseph Pierre, son of Jean Giroir and Jeanne Scotland, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1851, age 27.  The Thibodaux priest who recorded the burial said nothing about a wife for Joseph Pierre.  One wonders who was his paternal grandfather. 

Thelesia Giroir married Hilaire Savoie at the Raceland church, Lafourche Parish, in February 1861.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not list the couple's parents' names.  

Jean Baptiste Giroir, fils married Amelia Molaison in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in May 1865.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.

Joseph Giroir married Ulisse Bergeron in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in March 1867.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

At least one non-Acadian Giroir lived in South Louisiana:

Claude François, son of François-Sylvestre Giroir and Françoise Duboir, died in Assumption Parish in November 1813, age 59.  The priest who recorded his burial did not mention a wife or say where Claude François had been born.  

CONCLUSION

Girouards settled early in Acadia and some of them were among earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.  Two of them came to the colony in February 1765 with the party from Halifax via St.-Domingue led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil.  Joseph Girouard married in New Orleans before following the Broussards to Bayou Teche that spring, but he fell victim to an epidemic that killed dozens of his fellow Acadians that summer and fall.  His cousin Marie Girouard, wife of Joseph Bourgeois, survived the epidemic and fled to the river.  The only member of the family who remained on the western prairies was Marie-Madeleine, wife of Michel Comeau, who had come to Louisiana also in 1765 and had gone to the Opelousas District.  Meanwhile, two more Girouards came to the colony from Halifax via St.-Domingue in 1765 and settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  One of them, Firmin dit La Prade, who had come to Louisiana as a teenaged orphan, married at St.-Jacques but did not remain there.  In the early 1780s, he took his wife and children to the Attakapas District and started a western branch of the family.  

If the Spanish government had not coaxed 1,500 Acadians in France to emigrate to Louisiana, the Girouard/Giroir family would be a small one in the Bayou State today.  In 1785, three families came to the colony, but only one of them had sons.  Prosper-Honoré, who spelled his surname Giroir, took his six children to upper Bayou Lafourche.  Two of his three sons, Jean-Baptiste and François, created vigorous lines there.  During the early antebellum period, the Bayou Lafourche valley, including the Terrebonne country, became the largest center of Girouard/Giroir family settlement.  During and after the War of 1861-65, some of the Lafourche valley Giroirs moved to present-day Morgan City, Berwick, or lower Bayou Teche, but most of them remained in Assumption Parish on upper Bayou Lafourche.  No Girouard/Giroir lines arose on the river during the antebellum period.  

Judging by the number of slaves they owned during the late antebellum period, some of the Girouard/Giroirs lived comfortably on their farms and plantations on the prairies and in the Bayou Lafourche valley.  In 1850, Apollinaire Giroir of Assumption Parish owned 10 slaves; a decade later, he held 29 slaves on his plantation along Bayou Boeuf.  His youngest brother Étienne owned five slaves in 1850 and eight a decade later.  Their cousins on the western prairies fared just as well.  In 1850, Pierre Girouard held 21 slaves on his plantation in the Western District of Lafayette Parish.  His son Pierre, fils held four more slaves, as did son Maximilien.  In the same year, Pierre, père's younger brother Joseph owned 11 slaves, his nephew Sylvestre owned five slaves in Lafayette's western district, and nephew Onésime held seven slaves in St. Martin Parish.  A decade later, a federal census taker counted 10 slaves on Onésime's farm.  The number of bondsmen held by cousin Sylvestre in Lafayette Parish had increased to 11.  

Dozens of Girouard/Giroirs served Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65, and at least three of them died in Confederate service. ...

In Louisiana, east of the Atchafalaya Basin, the surname is usually spelled Giroir, which was closer to Giroire, the spelling favored in France.  West of the Basin, the family tends to use the original Acadian spelling, Girouard.  That they are the same family, all descendants of François Girouard dit La Varanne of La Chaussée and Port-Royal, is clearly seen in the church and civil records of Acadia, France, and Louisiana.  The family's name also is spelled Geraunard, Geronnard, Gerouard, Geruar, Giraurd, Giroard, Giroird, Giroiard, Giroüar, Girouerd, Girroir, Giruard.  A Giraud family lived at Plaisance, Newfoundland, and a Girard family lived on Île St.-Jean before Le Grand Dérangement.  Some of the Girards of Île St.-Jean ended up in France, but, unlike the Girouards/Giroirs, none of them emigrated to Louisiana.  Nor should the Girouard/Giroirs be confused with the Gerard, Geraud, Geron, Girard, Girau, Giraud, Girault, Giraut, Gireau, Giro, Girod, Giron, Girot, Giroud, Girout, and Giroux families of South Louisiana--French Creoles, Swiss Protestants, and Foreign French who settled at New Orleans, Pointe Coupée, Avoyelles, and in predominantly Acadian communities, including Attakapas and Assumption.  [See Book Ten for the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]

Sources:  1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Assumption, Lafayette, & St. Martin parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Assumption, Lafayette, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 567-79, 976-82, 1389-92, 1659, 2236, 2492-94; 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:25-26, 31,158-59; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 156-57; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; <islandregister.com/1752.html>; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 25, 178, 193, 205-06, 217, 231, 233-36, 251, 263, 308; NOAR, vol. 2; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>, Family Nos. 8, 15, 32, 37; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Supply.htm>, Family No. 5; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 44-45; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 70-71; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 359-62; White, DGFA-1, 718-39; White, DGFA-1 English, 150-53.  

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

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

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

NOTES

01.  Wall of Names, 11, calls her Anatalia GIROUARD; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2424, calls her Nathalie GIROUARD, gives her parents' names, & says that she & Amable BLANCHARD were married c1762 but gives no location.

02.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Anne [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Anne, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 18, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Anne GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 18, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings; BRDR, 2:323, 348 (ASM-2, 27), her marriage record, calls her Ana GIROIR, calls her husband Fabien GUILLOT, does not give any parents' names, gives the date 3 Sep 1797, says that she & her husband shared a 3rd degree of consanguinity, that the witnesses to her marriage were Ambroise HÉBERT & Joseph HÉBERT, & that the marriage record was "a re-validation"; BRDR, 2:8a-8b (ASC-1, 166), a correction of her marriage record, calls her Ana GIROIR, her husband Fabian GUILLOT, provides her mother-in-law's name, gives the date 14 Feb 1786, the actual wedding date, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Étienne DUPUIS & Simon DUGAS; BRDR, 5(rev.):263 (ASM-3, 217), her death/burial record, calls her Anne GIROIR, "age 60 yrs., wife of Fabien GUILLOT," & gives her parents' names.    

St.-Coulomb is a village in the countryside northeast of St.-Malo. 

The Ascension census of 1788, taken in Jan, shows that this couple was married long before 1797, the year their marriage was "re-validated."  See the correction, above; Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 41; & her husband's profile.  Why did her marriage need to be re-validated?

03.  Wall of Names, 40, calls him Charles GIROIR, & calls his wife Michele PETRY; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 980, his marriage record, calls him Charle GIROUAR, calls her Michelle PATRU, gives the name of her first husband as well as Charles' parents' names, & says the witnesses to their marriage were Alexandre DOUERON (first cousin of the groom), Germain VINCENT (second cousin of the groom), Jacque JOURDAN (uncle of the bride), Jan FORTIN, & Jean TOTIN & Guillaume DREOUAUX, who signed; <acadian-cajun.com>, calls him Charles GIROIR, calker, & calls her Michele PETRY, wife.  See also <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/Duc_Guillaume.htm>, Family No. 15; Robichaux, 360, Family No. 439, which says he was "born in Acadie" but gives no birth year, gives his parents' names, & details his marriage; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 503.

His parents married at Grand-Pré in Jul 1730, so Charles likely would have been no older than age 54 when he made the crossing to LA. 

04.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Eudore GIROIR; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows the fate of her family in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, detailed in the footnote for her brother Prosper's profile, below; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 360-61, Family No. 440, calls her Eudoxile GIROIRE, says she was born in c1747, gives her parents' names, says her family "disembarked at St.-Malo on January 23, 1759, from one of the 'Five ship,'" & resided at Pleslin from 1759-64, & at St.-Suliac from 1764-72; BRDR, 2:324, 362 (ASC-2, 10), her marriage record, calls her Eudoxie GIROIR, calls her husband Jean-Pierre HÉBERT, gives no parents' names but says they "were Acadians," & that the witnesses to her marriage were Isaac HÉBERT & Prosper GIRROIR [her brother].

Why did she wait so long to marry?  Jean-Pierre also was 40 years old when they married & had not been married before.  They were that rare Acadian couple who had no children.  Age probably had something to do with it. 

05.  Wall of Names, 17, calls him Firmin GIROUARD; BRDR, 2:204, 324 (SJA-1, 12a), his marriage record, calls him Firmain GIROIRE, calls his wife Marguerrite CORMIER, says they were "both Acadians by nationality," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Michel POIRIÉ & Pierre BLANCHARD; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-B:419 (SM Ch.: v.4, #1367), his burial record, calls him Firmin GIROUARD, "native of Acadia," says he died "at age about 72 years at his home at La Côte Gelée," & that he was buried next day "in the parish cemetery," but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-B:419 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#373), his succession record, calls him Firmin GIROUARD m. Marguerite CORMIER.  See also De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905, 2A:158-59; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 251; White, DGFA-1, 725. 

De La Roque, 2A:158, notes that his family moved to Malpèque in c1750, the year after Firmin's birth.  His coming to LA from Halifax, not France, indicates that his family, living in a remote community on the northwest coast of Île St.-Jean, escaped the British roundup of 1758, took refuge with other Acadians on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore, fell into British hands in the late 1750s or early 1760s, & were held by the British in NS as prisoners of war.  In the case of Firmin's family, they were held on Georges Island, Halifax, where the British counted them in Aug 1763.  See Jehn; White.  One wonders why Firmin was the only member of his immediate family who chose to go to LA. 

His dit can be found in his son Simon's marriage record, dated 2 Feb 1796, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:351-52 (SM Ch.: v.4, #124).  The son used the same dit.  Where does the dit come from?

His & his family moved to the Attakapas District between the baptism of daughter Madeleine at St.-Jacques in Apr 1781 & the baptism of daughter Scholastique at Attakapas in Jul 1783.  See BRDR, 2:325 (SJA-1, 66a), & Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:351 (SM Ch.: v.2, #120).  His older cousin Joseph died in the Teche valley epidemic of 1765, so it was Firmin who created the western branch of the GIROUARD family in LA.  Why did he & Marguerite move to Côte Gélee?  Perhaps they followed her older brother Jean-Baptiste CORMIER, fils there, although he settled north of Côte Gélee on Grand Prairie, now downtown Lafayette.

06.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him François [GIROIR], & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him François, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, age 11, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him François GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], age 11, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings; BRDR, 2:324, 472 (ASM-2, 6), his marriage record, calls him Francisco GIROUERD, calls his wife Magdalena Francisca LE BLANC, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "of Acadia" & hers were "of St. Servan, Diocese of St. Malo in Britany, France," that his & her father were deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage were Pedro DASPIT & Ambrosio HÉBERT [frequent witness]; BRDR, 5(rev.):264 (ASM-7, 285), his death/burial record, calls him François GIROIR, "age 64 yrs., husband of Madeleine LEBLANC," but does not give his parents' names.

07.  Not in Wall of Names.  Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 359-60, Family No. 438, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Geneviève-Charlotte-Marguerite GIROIRE, gives her parents' names, says her godparents were Charles GIROIRE & Geneviève AUCOIN, & that her family resided at Pleudihen from 1765-72; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 88-89, calls her Geneviève GIROUERE, du 1er mariage de Marie D'AIGLE, age 16, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Geneviève GIROIR, from the first marriage of Marie DAIGLE, age 16, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 9th Family aboard La Ville d'Archangel with her mother & her stepfather Louis CLAUSINET/CLOSSINET; BRDR, 2:320, 324 (ASM-2, 18), her marriage record, calls her Genoveva GIROIR, calls her husband Pedro GAUTREAU, gives her & his parents' names, says her parents were "of Parish of Pleslien, Diocese of St.-Malo, Britany, France" & his "same place as bride's parents," & that the witnesses to her marriage were Pedro BOURG & Marino GAUTREAU; BRDR, 5(rev.):264 (ASM-3, 234), her death/burial record, calls her Geneviève GIROIR, "age 65 yrs., widow of Pierre GAUTRAU," but does not give her parents' names.  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 87, 139.

Pleudihen-sur-Rance is a town on the east back of the Rance south of St.-Malo & is pronounced ploo-deh-YONH-soor-RONSE.  Down the road a few miles to the west is the river harbor of Mordreuc, pronounced mar-DROOK. 

Actually, her husband was born & baptized at Pleslin on the west side of the river south of St.-Malo. 

Why is this thoroughly documented Acadian immigrant not on the Acadian Memorial's Wall of Names?

08.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Elenne GIROIR; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows the fate of her family in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, detailed in the footnote for her brother Prosper's profile, below; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 360-61, Family No. 440; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 827, her marriage record, calls her Hélène-Judith GIROUARD; Robichaux, Acadians in Châtellerault, 12, calls her Helen-Judith GIROIRE & Helen GIROIRE; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 15, calls her Hélène-Judith GIROIRE & Hélène GIROIRE; BRDR, 5(rev.):264 (ASM-3, 244), her death/burial record, calls her Helaine GIROIR, "age ca. 94 yrs., widow of Francois BLANCHARD," but does not give her parents' names. 

09.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Jean-Baptiste [GIROIR], & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Jean-Baptiste, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, journalier, age 15, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Jean-Baptiste GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], day laborer, age 15, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings; BRDR, 2:324, 428 (ASC-2, 30), his marriage record, calls him Juan Baptiste GIROIARD, calls his wife Isabel (Lisabeth) LANDRY, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "of St. Coulon of Dola, France," & that the witnesses to his marriage were Prosper GIRROIS [his father] & Luc LANDRY; BRDR, 3:365 (ASM-3, 132), his death/burial record, calls him Jean Baptiste GIROIR, age 48 yrs., gives his father's name but not his mother's name, says his father was deceased, but does not mention a wife.

10.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Jeanne [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Jeanne, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 13, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Jeanne GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 13, on the complete listing, says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings, & that she was born in 1771 but gives no birthplace; BRDR, 2:92, 324 (ASC-2, 44), her marriage record, calls her Juana GIROIRD, calls her husband Carlos (Charles) BLANCHARD, gives her & her his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Joachin BLANCHARD & Fabian GUILLOT [her brother-in-law]; BRDR, 325 (ASM-3, 25), her death/burial record, calls her Juana GIROIR, "age 28 years & Wife of Carlos BLANCHARD," & gives her parents' names.

St.-Joun-des-Guérets is a village on the east side of the Rance south of St.-Malo. 

11.  Wall of Names, 17, calls him Joseph GIROUARD; White, DGFA-1, 730; NOAR, 2:136, 267 (SLC, B5, 185 & M2, 16), his marriage record, calls him Joseph GERONNARD (GERAUNARD), gives his & his wife's parents' names, calls his mother Anne TOURANGEAU, says all parents were deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage were ____ DE LOUVIGNIE (LOUVIGNY), "verger of the parish," & Henry ROCHE; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:351 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.15; SM Ch.: Slave Funeral Register v.1, #33), his death/burial record, calls him Joseph GIROUARD, says he was buried 22 Oct 1765 but his death was recorded 3 Nov 1765, & does not give his age at the time of his death, his parents' names, or mention a wife.

Why did he wait so long to marry?  His was one of the earliest Acadian marriages recorded in LA. 

He died during the Bayou Teche epidemic of 1765.  Why did the Attakapas priest record his & other Acadian deaths during the epidemic recorded in a slave funeral register, or were their deaths re-recorded there later?  These BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil Acadians were certainly nobody's slaves! 

12.  Wall of Names, 12, calls her Marie GIROUARD; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:429 (SM Ch.: v.4, #973), her death/burial register, calls her Marie GIROUARD, "widow of Joseph BOURGEOIS, died at age 78 years at Joseph BRAUD at Carencros," does not give her parents' names, & says Charle[s] MELANÇON signed the burial record.

Her husband had died in St. James Parish in Dec 1812.  How was she related to Joseph BREAUX of Carencro?  One of her granddaughters, Scholastique Marie PICOU, married Agricole BREAUX of Grand Pointe on upper Bayou Teche, & founded the town of Breaux Bridge in the 1830s.  

13.  Wall of Names, 15, calls her Marie GIROUARD; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2460-61, calls her Marie-Madeleine; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:321 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.54), her death/burial record, calls her Marie GIROUARD, "native of Acadia, spouse of Michel COMAUX," says she died "at age about 56 yrs.," but gives no parents' names.  

14.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls her Marie-Paul [GIROIR], & lists her with her parents & 5 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls her Marie-Paul, sa [Prosper GIROIR's] fille, age 20, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marie-Paul GIROIRE, his [Prosper GIROIRE's] daughter, age 20, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with her parents & 5 siblings; BRDR, 2:325, 430 (ASC-2, 15), her marriage record, calls her Maria GIROIR, calls her husband Joseph LANDRY, says the marriage date was listed incorrectly as 1789, gives her & her his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Pedro LANDRI [probably his father] & Prosper GIRROIR [her father]; BRDR, 3:365 (ASM-3, 61), her death/burial record, calls her Mariana GIROIR, "age 46 yrs. of Parish of St. Coulon, San Malo, France, married to Josef LANDRY," & gives her parents' names..

15.  Wall of Names, 41, calls her Marie-Rose GIROIR; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 360-61, Family No. 440; BRDR, 2:325, 425 (ASC-2, 56), her marriage record, calls her Maria Rosa GIROIRD, calls her husband Francisco LANDRY, gives her parents' names & the name of her husband's first wife but not his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Pierre LANDRY & Juan Pedro HEVER; BRDR, 5(rev.):264 (ASM-3, 253), her death/burial record, calls her Marie Rose GIROIR, "age 76 yrs., widow of Francois LANDRY," but does not give her parents' names.

16.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Pierre [GIROIR]; & lists him with his parents & 5 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 71, Family No. 133; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Pierre, son [Prosper GIROIR's] fils, age 7, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Pierre GIRIOIRE, son [of Prosper GIRORE], age 7, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his parents & 5 siblings. 

What happened to him in LA?

17.  Wall of Names, 31 (pl. 7R), calls him Prosper GIROIR, & lists him with his wife & 6 children; <perso.orange.fr/froux/St_malo_arrivees/5bateaux.htm>, Family No. 96, shows that in the crossing to St.-Malo in 1758-59, his father, called Honoré GIROIRE, age 45, his mother, called Marie-Josèphe TERRIOT, age 39, & sisters Hélène-Judith, age 17, & Eudoxile, age 12, also survived the crossing, but that 3 of his siblings--brothers David, age 5, & Joseph, age 2 mos., & sister Marie, age 7--died at sea; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 360-61, Family No. 440; Robichaux, Acadians in Nantes, 70-71, Family No. 133; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 26-27, calls him Prosper GIROIR, journalier, age 41, on the embarkation list, Prosper CHERVER, on the debarkation list, & Prosper GIROIRE, day laborer, age 41, on the complete listing, says he was in the 64th Family aboard La Bergère with his wife & 6 children, details his marriage, including his & his wife's parents'  names but gives no place of marriage, says that daughter Jeanne was born in 1771 but gives on birthplace, lists the implements the Spanish gave to him & his family after they reached LA, & says he owned 6 arpents of land but doesn't say where or when.

[top of page GIROUARD/GIROIR]

Copyright (c) 2007-24  Steven A. Cormier