Pierre
Guilbeau,
a farmer, born in France in c1639, reached Acadia by c1668, the year he
married Catherine,
daughter of Jean
Thériot
and Perrine
Rau at Port-Royal during the English occupation of the colony.
Pierre died at Port-Royal in December 1703, in his mid-60s.
He and Catherine had seven children,
including two sons, both born at Port-Royal--Hugues in c1673, who
survived childhood but did not marry; and
Charles in c1678.
Pierre and Catherine's five daughters married into the Blanchard, Dugas, Granger,
and Landry families.
Charles married
Anne, daughter of
Bernard
Bourg
and Françoise
Brun, at Port-Royal in c1701. They had nine children, including
five sons,
all born at Port-Royal, four of whom
created
families of their own. Their three daughters married into the
Forest,
Girouard, and
Michel families.
Charles died at Annapolis Royal in March
1751, in his early 70s.
Anne had died only a few days
before, also in her early 70s.
Oldest son Charles, fils, born in
February 1703, married first to Marie-Anne, daughter of Alexandre Comeau
and Marguerite Doucet, at Annapolis Royal in November 1727. In January 1740, he remarried to
Marie, daughter of Jean Breau and Anne Chiasson, at Annapolis Royal. Charles, fils
died at Annapolis Royal in November 1740, in his late 30s.
Pierre, born in April 1704,
married Madeleine, daughter of René Forest and Françoise
Dugas, at Annapolis Royal in January
1731. Pierre died during Le Grand Dérangement at St.-Charles-de-Bellechasse, present-day Québec
Province, in April 1758, age 54.
Jean-Baptiste, born in July 1706, died a month
after his birth probably at Port-Royal.
Alexandre, born in January 1708,
married first to Marguerite, daughter of Alexandre Girouard and Marie
Le Borgne de Bélisle, at
Annapolis Royal in February 1734. He remarried to Élisabeth, daughter of
Antoine Breau and Marguerite Dugas and widow of
Pierre Aucoin, at St.-Pierre-les-Becquets, present-day
Québec Province, in November 1759. Alexandre died at Sorel, Québec, in May 1776, in his late 60s.
Youngest son
Joseph
dit
L'Officier, born in February 1710, married
Madeleine, daughter
of
Sr. Jacques Michel
dit Saint-Michel and
Catherine
Comeau, at Annapolis Royal
in January 1733. (His
dit may have come from his service as a lieutenant in the Acadian
militia at Restigouche during Le Grand Dérangement.)
[For more of this family in
pre- and post-disperal Acadia and Canada, see
Book Three]
In 1755, the descendants of
Pierre
Guilbeau, in their fourth
and fifth generations, still lived in the Annapolis River valley. Others may have moved to one of the
Maritime islands--Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, or Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island--to escape British authority in Nova
Scotia. And one may have moved to Chignecto.
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails
during the Great Upheaval, see
Book
Six]
LOUISIANA: WESTERN
SETTLEMENTS
Two families, five wives, and a widower--nine
Guilbeaus in all--came to Louisiana with the Broussard dit
Beausoleil party from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in February
1765.
In April 1765, still in New Orleans
recuperating from the voyage,
Joseph
dit
L'Officier
Guilbeau signed the Dauterive agreement
with seven other leaders of the
Broussard
party and attempted to exchange his family's Canadian card money for Louisiana funds. That spring, he and his
extended family followed the
Broussards
to the Attakapas District, where they helped establish
La Nouvelle-Acadie
on the banks of Bayou Teche:
Joseph
dit L'Officier
Guilbeau,
age 55, came with wife Madeleine
Michel, age 53,
and three of their children--Félicité or Félice, age 20, François, age 16,
and Jean, age 8. Félice married into the
Broussard family.
Joseph
dit
L'Officier was one of the first Acadians to die in an epidemic that struck the Teche valley Acadians that summer and fall. His grandson, year-old Michel
Bernard,
fils, also
died that autumn. Dozens of Teche Acadians fled to
Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river to escape the epidemic, but the
Guilbeaus remained on Bayou Teche. Félice died at her home at La Pointe,
St. Martin Parish, in January 1818, a widow, in her early 70s.
Marie
Guilbeau, age 31, one of
Joseph
dit
L'Officier's daughters, came with husband Michel Bernard, age 31, and
two sons, age 3 and 1. A third son was born at Attakapas soon after
they got there. Marie died at Attakapas by October 1774, when her
husband was listed in census there without a wife.
Joseph
dit L'Officier's oldest son Charles, age
29, came with wife Anne Trahan, age 26, and no children. Their
many children were born at Attakapas.
Anne
Guilbeau, age 25, another of Joseph
dit L'Officier's
daughters, came with husband
Louis-Charles
Babineau,
age 42, and two sons, ages 4 and 1.
They had many more children in Louisiana.
Anne died in St. Martin Parish in
May 1813, a widow, in her early 70s.
Rosalie Guilbeau, age 24, another of
Joseph
dit L'Officier's daughters, came with husband Paul
Thibodeau,
age 37, a son whose age was unrecorded, and a female
Thibodeau
cousin. Rosalie died in St. Martin Parish in March 1816, in her
early 70s.
Marguerite
Guilbeau, age 22, yet another
of Joseph
dit L'Officier's daughters, came with husband Jean Boudrot,
age 25, and a 4-year-old son. She remarried to Simon, son of
fellow Acadian René
LeBlanc, at Attakapas in c1768 and died at La
Pointe, St. Martin Parish, in March 1814, in her early 70s.
.
The Acadian Guilbeaus of South Louisiana are
descended from Joseph
dit L'Officier's three sons, Charles, François,
and Jean:
Descendants of Charles dit
Charlitte
GUILBEAU (1736-1809;
Pierre, Charles)
Charles dit Charlitte or
Charliton, second son of Joseph
dit L'Officier
Guilbeau
and Madeleine
Michel, born at Port-Royal in
1736, followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore in
1755-56. He married fellow Acadian Anne Trahan probably at
Restigouche in c1760 during Le Grand Derangement. They followed
his family to a prison camp in Nova Scotia soon after their marriage and to
Louisiana in 1764-65. After a brief respite at New Orleans, they
followed his father and the rest of the Broussard
dit Beausoleil party to the Bayou Teche valley, where Anne died in the
early 1770s. Their daughters married into the Cormier and Mire
families, and perhaps into the Primeaux family as well. Charles remarried to Marguerite, daughter of fellow
Acadians Charles Bourg and Anne Boudrot and widow of Pierre Pitre, at Attakapas in November 1775. They
settled at La Grande Pointe, also called La Pointe, on upper Bayou Teche near
present-day Breaux Bridge. Their daughters married into the Barras,
Cormier, and Girard families. Charles died at his home
at La Pointe, St. Martin
Parish, in August 1809, age 72; his succession was filed
at the St. Martinville courthouse the following August. Both of
his sons created families of their own and settled at La Pointe, but his younger son's
line died out early. The older son married twice, and his line was a vigorous
one; eight of his sons created families of their own. Many of his
descendants served Louisiana and the Southern Confederacy during the War
of 1861-65, some at the cost of their lives.
1
Older son Jean-Charles,
called Charles, fils, from his father's first wife, born at Attakapas in December 1771,
married Félicité or Félice, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Dugas
and Marguerite Dupuis, probably
at Attakapas in the late 1780s or early 1790s. Their son Jean-Charles,
fils was born at Attakapas in September 1796 but died at age 18 months in
February 1798, Alexandre was born in January 1798, and a second Jean-Charles, fils
in February 1800. Their daughter married into the Begnaud family.
Jean Charles remarried to Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Dupuis
and Marie Poirier
of St.-Jacques, at Attakapas in July 1801. Their son Michel was
born at La Pointe in November 1802, Godefroi in September 1806, Édouard
in November 1808, Charles le jeune in October 1812, Edmond in
January 1815, Pierre in December 1816, and Élisée in May
1819. Their daughters
married into the Babineaux, Dupuis, and Theriot families. Jean Charles, père died at his
home at La Pointe in July 1820, age 48; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse later that month. Eight
of his sons created families of their own; seven of the lines survived.
1a
Alexandre, by his father's first
wife, married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Poirier
and Scholastique Babineaux of
La Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in June 1816.
They settled at La Pointe, at L'île des Cypres, today's Lake Martin, and
at Prairie Michaud. Their son Alexandre, fils was born at La
Pointe in April 1819 but died at his parents' home on Prairie Michaud at
age 1 1/2 in August 1820. Their daughter married into the Cormier
family. Alexandre, père died "at his
home on Bayou Teche," St. Martin Parish, in October 1828, age 30; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville
courthouse in July 1829. Evidently he and his wife had no sons who
created families of their own.
1b
Jean Charles, fils, by
his father's first wife, married Céleste, 15-year-old daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre
Cormier, père
and his second wife Rosalie
Dugas,
at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in
February 1821. Their son Charles le jeune, perhaps Jean
Charles III, was baptized at the
Grand Coteau church, age "about 3 mths.," in January 1823.
Jean Charles, fils died from being struck by lightning at L'île
des Cypres in December 1824, age 24; his succession
was
filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in May 1825. A son Pierre
may have been born posthumously and baptized at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, age 3 months, in June 1825.
Jean Charles III may have
married cousin Marie Denise, daughter of fellow Acadians Jérôme Gautreaux
and Marie Sophie Dugas, in a civil ceremony in St.
Landry Parish in August 1842, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1844; the parish clerk
and the priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's
parents' names. Their son Jean Charles, fils, who would have
been Jean Charles IV, was born in St. Landry Parish in
October 1847, and Adam near Grand Coteau in March 1850.
1c
Michel, by his father's second wife,
married Clémence, also called Sylvanie, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Potier
and his Creole wife Marie Madeleine Ducrest of
Bayou Teche, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in November
1825. Their son Valéry Marie was born in St. Martin Parish in
October 1826, Auguste in April 1828, and Charles le jeune in
November 1829. Their daughter married into the Arceneaux and Bulliard
families. Michel's succession was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse in August 1865; he would have been age 63 that year.
Auguste married Marie
Sidalise, daughter of André Lasseigne and Marguerite
Vicknair, at the
St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1851. In
June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 5
slaves--2 males and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 25 to
4, living in 1 house--on August Guilbeau's farm near Widow
Charles Potier, Widow Ed. Bulliard, and Valry
Guilbeau. During the War of 1861-65,
Auguste, despite his advanced age, may have served in Company D of the
Orleans Guard Battalion Louisiana Infantry with younger brother
Charles le jeune. Auguste remarried to Carmélite, daughter of fellow Acadians Treville
Thibodeaux and Aspasie LeBlanc, at the St. Martinville church in May 1864.
In November 1850, the
federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 6 slaves--3 males
and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 4--on Valière
Guilbeau's farm next to Charles Potier. This likely
was Valéry Marie, who married Marie
Anaïs, daughter of fellow Acadians Sylvestre Broussard and
Aspasie Babineaux, at the
St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1854. In
June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 7
slaves--3 males and 4 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ages
35 to 1--on Valry Guilbeau's farm near August Guilbeau
and next to Charles M. Guilbeau.
Charles le jeune
married Marie Noemie, called Noemie, daughter of Onésime Calais
and his Acadian wife Adèle Broussard, at the Breaux Bridge
church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1859. In June 1860, the federal census taker in
St. Martin Parish counted 2 slaves--a 12-year-old black males, and a
10-year-old black male--on Charles M. Guilbeau's farm next to
Valry Guilbeau. During the War of 1861-65,
Charles le jeune served as a sergeant in Company D
of the Orleans Guard Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Martin Parish,
which fought at Shiloh,
Tennessee, in April 1862. After the Orleans Guard Battalion
disbanded in June 1862, Charles le jeune served as a sergeant
and second lieutenant in Company A of the 30th
Regiment/Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought in
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.
1d
Édouard, by his father's second wife,
married Madeleine, minor daughter of Armand Wiltz and his Acadian
wife Angèlle Melançon, at
the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in June 1830. Their son Sylvanie Angèle was
born in St. Martin Parish in February 1832. Their daughter married
into the Begnaud family. Édouard died in St. Martin Parish
in September 1847; the priest who recorded his burial said that Édouard
died "at age 34 yrs.," but he was 38; his succession record
was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in January 1850. In
November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 5
slaves--4 males and 1 female, all black, ranging in age from 24 to 4--on
Madeleine Guilbeau's farm next to Nezaire Wiltz; these may
have been Édouard's widow, Madeleine Wiltz's, slaves.
1e
Godefroi, by his father's second wife,
married Aimée, daughter of fellow Acadians David Babineaux and
Osite Melançon, at the
St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1833. Their son Godefroi,
fils was born in St. Martin Parish in November 1835 but died at age 9
months in August 1836, a second Godefroi, fils died 11 days after
his birth in December 1837, and Joseph was born in December
1840 but may have died at age 13 1/2 in November 1854. Their daughter married into the Ledoux family. Godefroi, père's
last will was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in September 1833,
soon after he married and years before he died. Godefroi died in St. Martin Parish in January 1850; the St. Martinville
priest who recorded his burial said that "Godefroy" died "at age 35 or
38 yrs.," but he was 43; his succession was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse later that month. His line of the family,
except for its blood, probably died with him.
1f
Charles le jeune, by his
father's second wife, married cousin Adélaïde, also called Emélaïde, daughter of
fellow Acadians David Guilbeau and Adélaïde Duhon, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish,
in July 1833. They settled near Breaux Bridge. Their son Jean Charles le jeune was born in October 1835
but died at age 14 in January 1850, Charles Joseph Sosthène, called
Joseph
Sosthène and Sosthène, was born in August
1837, Julien Charles, called Julien C., in July 1839, and David
le jeune in February 1844. Their daughters married into the
Castille,
Hayes, and Patin families. Charles le jeune's succession was
filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in November 1855; he would have
been age 43 that year.
Joseph Sosthène married
Victoire, daughter of fellow Acadians Placide Isaac Thibodeaux
and Arsène Guidry, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1856.
During the War of 1861-65, Joseph Sosthène, called
Sosthène in Confederate records, served in Company D of the
Orleans Guard Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised
in St. Martin Parish, which fought at Shiloh, Tennessee, in
April 1862. Joseph Sosthène died at Jackson, Mississippi,
probably in 1862, so he probably was mortally wounded at Shiloh.
His succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in
August 1862. According to an illustrated history of Louisiana
during the War of 1861-65, "Sosthene Guilbeau disappeared during the war
and was never heard of again by his family." If this was
the case, his succession must have been a pro-forma document.
During the War of 1861-65,
Julien C. served with older brother Sosthène in Company D of the
Orleans Guard Battalion. Julien C. also was wounded at Shiloh,
but not mortally. After the Orleans Guard Battalion was
disbanded in June 1862, Julien C. may have served briefly in Company
A of the 30th Regiment/Battalion Louisiana Infantry before joining
Company K of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry later in the war. Julien C. married fellow
Acadian Azélie or Azélia Guidry in a civil ceremony in St.
Martin Parish in December 1865. Their son was born near Breaux
Bridge in December 1868. Julien farmed in the Cecilia area,
north of Breaux Bridge, died
there in April 1901, age 61, and was buried in St. Joseph Catholic
Cemetery, Cecilia.
1g
Pierre, by his father's second wife,
married cousin Marie Roseline, called Roseline, Roselia, and Azélina, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Dupuis
and Rosalie Thériot, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1835.
Their son Pierre, fils was born in St. Martin Parish in September
1842, Jean Charles le jeune in August 1845, Euphémon
in December 1850, and Olidon in September 1854. By the
mid-1850s, they had moved to near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, but may have returned to St. Martin Parish. In June 1860, the federal
census taker in St. Martin Parish counted a single slave--a 26-year-old
black male--on Pierre Guilbeau's farm. Was this him?
Pierre, fils
married Marie Azéma, daughter of fellow Acadian Édouard LeBlanc,
fils and his Creole wife Séraphine Irénée Roy, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in June 1865;
strangely, the marriage was not recorded civilly in Lafayette Parish
until June 1867. Their son Sylvère Antoine was born
near Youngsville in June 1866, Pierre III in March 1868, and
Clomere in September 1870.
Jean Charles le jeune
may have died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in October
1867. The priest who recorded the burial, and who did not
give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Jhon,
as he called him, died "at age 22 yrs." Did he marry?
1h
Élisée, by his father's second wife,
married Marie Elmire, called Elmire, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph
Deterville Cormier and his Creole wife Aimée Scholastique
Webre,
at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1843.
Their son Émile was born in St. Martin Parish in December 1843,
Édouard Laisere in January 1849, Césaire in May 1853, Joseph in September 1858,
and Joseph Charles Edgard in January 1865.
Their daughter married into the Melançon family. In
November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 5
slaves--2 males and 3 females, 4 blacks and 1 mulatto, ranging in age
from 15 to 1--on Elizé Guilbeau's farm.
During the War of 1861-65,
Émile, with two Guilbeau first cousins, served in Company D of the Orleans Guard Battalion
Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Martin Parish, which fought at Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862.
Émile also may have served in Companies A and C of the Yellow
Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, also raised in St. Martin
Parish, which fought in South Louisiana, and in Company A of the
Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Infantry,
which also fought in Louisiana. Émile married Alida, daughter
of fellow Acadians Théogène Melançon and Arthémise
Babin, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1866. Émile's
succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in
February 1868; he would have been age 25 that year.
If this was a post-mortem succession, one wonders if his
early death was war-related.
2
Younger son Amand, by his
father's second wife,
born at Attakapas in May 1778, married Marguerite, another daughter of Jean Dugas
and Marguerite Dupuis, at Attakapas in February 1804. They settled at La Pointe. Their
son Alexandre le jeune was born posthumously at La Pointe in 1807 but died at
his maternal grandfather's home at Anse La Butte on the upper Vermilion, age
18 months, in January 1809. Their daughter married into the Huval
family. Amand died at his home at La Pointe in
December 1806, age 25; his succession was filed at
the St. Martinville courthouse in April 1812. His line of the family,
except for its blood, did
not survive.
Descendants of François
GUILBEAU (1749-1822;
Pierre, Charles)
François, third son of
Joseph
Guilbeau
dit L'Officier and Madeleine
Michel, born at Port-Royal in
October1749, followed his family into exile on the Gulf of St. Lawrence
shore in 1755-56 and to a prison camp in Nova Scotia in the early 1760s.
He followed his parents to Louisiana in 1764-65 and settled with them on
Bayou Teche. He married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Broussard
and Anne LeBlanc, at Attakapas in July 1772. They settled at La Pointe and then at Carencro, at the northern
edge of the Attakapas District. Their daughters married into the Achée,
Babin,
Bienvenu, Breaux, Broussard, Hébert, Janise,
and Savoie families. François died at his home at La Pointe in
September 1822, age 72; his succession was filed at the
St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, the following November. Three of his five sons
created families of their own, but one of the lines died out.
1
Oldest son François-Louis,
baptized at Attakapas, age unrecorded, in May 1776, died in February
1795, age 19, and did not marry.
2
Joseph le jeune, born at
Attakapas in April 1777, married Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph
Hébert and Françoise Hébert, at Attakapas in August 1798. Joseph le jeune
filed a succession record at the St. Martinville courthouse in February
1810 probably after his wife died. He remarried to Marie Clothilde,
called Clothilde, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Marie Landry and
his Creole wife Marguerite Pivauteau and widow of
Athanase Trahan and Jean Templet, at the Vermilionville
church, Lafayette Parish, in October 1826. Their son François le
jeune was born in St. Martin Parish in November 1828. Their
daughter married into the Talley family. In November 1850, the
federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 3 slaves--all females, all
black, ages 35, 15, and 12--on Joseph Gilbeau's farm. Joseph le jeune
died near New Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in
December 1851; the priest who recorded the burial said that Joseph died "at
age 79 yrs."; he was 74; his succession may
have been filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in February 1858.
3
David, born at Attakapas in
July 1785, married Adélaïde, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste Duhon
and Marie Josèphe of Gautreaux
of Vermilion, at Attakapas in May 1807. They settled at La
Pointe. Their daughters married into the Barras, Breaux,
Guilbeau, and Patin families and perhaps into the Guidry
family as well. David was struck by lightning and killed "on the road to
the village at the bridge at Bayou Tortue near L'île des Chenes" in June
1815, age 30; his succession was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse in June 1820. He and his wife had no sons, at least
none who appear in local church records.
4
Édouard or Éloi,
born at Attakapas in September 1792, died at age 4 1/2 in February
1797.
5
Youngest son Julien, baptized at
Attakapas, age 6 months, in June 1795, married Marie Azélie, called Azélie, daughter of
fellow Acadian Sylvestre LeBlanc, at the St. Martinville church, St.
Martin Parish, in June 1833. They settled near Breaux Bridge. Their son Jules or Julien,
fils was born in October 1841 but died at age 4
months in March 1842. They also had another son named Jules. Their daughters married into the
Hardy and Hébert
families. In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin
Parish counted 2 slaves--a 60-year-old black female, and a 17-year-old black
male--on Julien Gilbeau's farm. Julien, père died near Breaux Bridge in May 1865,
age 70; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse that
month.
During the War of 1861-65,
Jules may have served with three of his Guilbeau
cousins in Company D of the Orleans Guard Battalion
Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Martin Parish, which fought at Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862,
and, in fact, may have been wounded in the battle. Jules married Félicie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Babin and Tarsille
Thibodeaux, at the Breaux Bridge
church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1865. Their son Alexandre
was born near Breaux Bridge in April 1867 but may have died the
following October.
Descendants of Jean GUILBEAU
(c1756-1831; Pierre,
Charles)
Jean, fourth son of
Joseph
Guilbeau
dit L'Officier and Madeleine
Michel,
born probably at Restigouche in c1756 during Le Grand Derangement,
followed his family to a prison camp in Nova Scotia in the early 1760s, on
to Louisiana in 1764-65, and to Bayou Teche in early 1765.
He married Marie-Geneviève, daughter of fellow Acadians Salvator Mouton
and Anne Bastarache, at Attakapas in July 1783. Jean remarried to Marie-Jeanne, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Arceneaux
and Anne Bergeron dit d'Amboise, at Attakapas in May 1788. They settled at Carencro near his older brother
François. Their daughters married into the Guidry, Hébert,
and Smith families. Jean, père died a widower probably
at Carencro, Lafayette Parish, in March 1831; the Vermilionville priest who
recorded the burial said that Jean was age 78 when he died, but he
probably was closer to 75. Six of his 10 sons created families of their own
and settled in several southwestern parishes. Many of his
descendants served Louisiana and the Southern Confederacy during the War
of 1861-65, some at the cost of their lives.
1
A child, by his father's first wife,
perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died at Attakapas 12 days after its birth in
August 1784.
2
Hilaire, by his father's second
wife, born at Attakapas in June 1791, probably died young.
3
Jean, fils, by his father's second
wife, born probably at Attakapas in c1792, married Marie Carmelite, called
Carmelite, Mélite, and Émelie, 16-year-old daughter of Jean Baptiste Castille
and Julie Stelly, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1821; the marriage was
recorded in both Lafayette and St. Landry parishes;
according to one of his marriage records, Jean, fils owned 270
cattle, 42 horses, and 2 slaves on 7 1/2 x 40 arpents "at Bayou des
Cannes at a place called the passage of the Indians." Their son Jean
Onésime, called Onésime, was born near Grand Coteau in April
1822, and Adolphe in April 1824. Their daughter married into
the Petetin family. A succession record for Jean, fils
was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in August 1825; it
was not post-mortem. He died in Lafayette
Parish in July 1827, age 36; a post-mortem succession was filed at
the Vermilionville courthouse in February 1828.
3a
Onésime married cousin
Azélie or Azelia, called Zélie, daughter of Zenon Castille and
his Acadian wife Carmelite Thibodeaux, at the St.
Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in August 1841. Their son
Arthur Onésime was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish,
posthumously in October 1846. Their daughter married into the
Broussard family. Onésime died near Grand Coteau in
September 1846, age 24; his succession was
filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in December 1848.
During the War of 1861-65,
Arthur served in Company K of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Reserve
Corps, a local-defense unit raised in Lafayette Parish that fought
Jayhawkers late in the war. Arthur married Félicianne,
daughter of Lafayette Foreman and his Acadian wife Marie
Duhon, at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, in April 1866.
3b
Adolphe married cousin
Eugénie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Thibodeaux and his
Creole wife Susanne dit Suzette Castille, in a civil
ceremony in St. Martin Parish in April 1844, and sanctified the marriage
at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, the following June. They settled near
Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish. Their son
Antoine or Antonin was born in February 1845 but died at age
1 in May 1846, Joseph was born in July
1846, and Jean Clairmand in November 1851. In November
1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 5 slaves--2
males and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 27 to 2--on Adolphe
Guilbeau's farm. Adolphe died probably near Breaux Bridge
in November 1852; the St. Martinville priest who recorded the burial said that Adolphe
died "at age 29 yrs.," but he was 28; his succession was filed at
the St. Martinville courthouse in September 1853.
4
Alexandre, by his father's second
wife, born probably at Attakapas in c1794, married Marguerite
Azélie, called Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Bernard
and Marguerite Broussard
of Carencro, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, September
1818. Their son Alexandre, fils, also called Alexandre J., was born in St. Martin Parish
in June 1819, Sosthène in August 1824, Adrien in
November 1828, Joseph in March 1831 but died at age 12 in October
1843, and Louis was born posthumously in
March 1838. They also had a son named Jean le jeune. Their daughters married into the Bernard,
Broussard, Guilbeau, and Smith families. Alexandre died in Lafayette Parish in November 1837,
age 43; his succession was filed at the Vermilionville
courthouse in April 1844.
4a
Alexandre, fils married
fellow Acadian Françoise Savoie at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in July 1844. Their son Aurelien was born
near Grand Coteau in August 1845 but died at age 2 1/2 in November 1847,
and Alexandre Ozémé was born in November 1860 but died at age 8
months in July 1861.
Their daughter married into the Cormier family. In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted
3 slaves--a 30-year-old black female and 2 15-year-old black males--on
Alex. Guilbeau's farm in the parish's western district next to
Sosthe Guilbeau.
4b
Sosthène married Marie Onesia,
called Onesia, daughter of fellow Acadian François Bernard and
his Creole wife Zulime Carmouche of
Lafayette Parish, at
the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1849.
Their son Honoré was born near Grand Coteau in October 1852 but
died at age 2 in November 1854, François Omer, called Omer,
was born in December 1854 but died at age 10 in October 1865, Jean Horace
was born in March 1857, and Joseph Lucien in April 1870. In September 1850, the federal census
taker in Lafayette Parish counted 2 slaves--an 18-year-old black female,
and a 12-year-old black male--on Sosthe Guilbeau's farm in the
parish's western district next to Alex. Guilbeau. In June
1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 5 slaves--2
males and 3 females, 3 blacks and 2 mulattoes, ages 24 to 3, living in 1
house--on Sosthène Guilbeaux's farm between Valéry Guilbeau
and Mrs. Ozémé Guilbeau. Was this him?
4c
Jean le jeune married
Evelina, another daughter of François Bernard and Zulime
Carmouche, at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1859. Their son
Jean Édouard was born near Grand Coteau in October 1859 but died the
following January, Louis St. Clair in April 1861 but died at age
1 in May 1862, Joseph Adam was born in January 1863, and
François Armand in January 1869. In
1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 2 slaves--a
23-year-old black male, and a 16-year-old black female--on Jean
Guilbeau's farm between Azélie Bernard and Louis Guilbeau.
During the War of 1861-65, Jean le jeune, called
John
in Confederate records, served in Company D of the 18th Regiment
Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Mary Parish, which fought in
Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana; he probably was a conscript.
He also served in Company D of the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow
Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought in Louisiana.
4d
In 1860, the federal census
taker in St. Landry Parish counted 2 slaves--a 19-year-old black males,
and a 12-year-old black female--on Louis Guilbeau's farm next to
Jean Guilbeau. Louis married cousin Alice, daughter of
fellow Acadians Charles Guidry and Clementine Guilbeau, at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in December 1866.
Their son Louis Alexandre was born near Grand Coteau in January
1868.
5
François-Placide, called Placide,
from his
father's second wife, baptized at Attakapas, age 2 months, in May 1795, served in
Captain Francis Connagh's Company Militia during the War of 1812.
According to his pension record, Placide enlisted on 3 January 1815, when he
was not quite 17, probably in response to General Andrew Jackson's call for
South Louisiana militia units to reinforce the garrison at New Orleans, and
served until the following March, two months after the Battle of New
Orleans, which was fought on January 8, probably before Placide's company had
reached the city. Placide married Julie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Anaclet Cormier and Madeleine
Richard, at the Opelousas church,
St. Landry Parish, in February 1819. Their son Placide Durel or Placide, fils
was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in November 1819, Valéry
in April 1826, Jean le jeune in April 1828, Alphonse in
June 1830, Honoré Placide was baptized at the Vermilionville church,
Lafayette Parish, age 5 months, in October 1832, Edmond was born near
Grand Coteau in April 1834, and Félix in July 1839 but died at age 1
in November 1840. They also had a son named Adolphe. Their daughters married into the Bernard,
Broussard, and
Guidry families. In October 1850, the federal census taker in
Lafayette Parish counted 49 slaves on Placide Guilbeau's plantation
in the parish's Western District. A decade later, in June 1860, he
owned 86 slaves, living in 20 houses, on his Lafayette Parish plantation; he
had become a "great planter"; in fact, only two other planters in the
parish, one of them former governor Alexandre Mouton, held more
slaves than Placide Guilbeau. Placide, père died near Grand Coteau in November
1865; he was 70 years old; his succession record was filed at the
Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in August 1866. Seven of his
eight sons created families of their
own. A younger son, Honoré Placide, became a physician.
5a
Placide, fils married
Clarisse, daughter of fellow Acadians Auguste Guidry and Mélanie
Martin, at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1841. Their son
Joseph Ermar or
Armas, called Armas,
was born near Grand Coteau in July 1843, Jean
Edgar, called Edgar, in September 1845, Placide Cleber or Kleber,
called Cleber, in December 1849 but died at age 11 1/2 in August
1861, Albert
was born in March 1852 but died at age 9 months in January 1853, Joseph Tilus was born in January 1854,
Joseph Martin in February 1855, and Joseph Wilfride or
Willis, called Willis, in September 1858 but died the
following May. In October 1850, the federal census taker in St.
Landry Parish counted 10 slaves--6 males and 4 females, all black,
ranging in age from 35 to 3--on Placide Guilbeau, Jr.'s farm.
In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 17
slaves--8 males and 9 females, 10 blacks and 7 mulattoes, ages 50 years
to 11 months, living in 4 houses--on Placide Guilbeau's farm;
this probably was Placide, fils; his 50-year-old black female
slave was recorded as an "idiot." During the War of 1861-65,
Placide, fils served in Company K of the 2nd Regiment
Louisiana Reserve Corps, a local-defense unit raised in Lafayette Parish
that fought area Jayhawkers late in the war.
During the War of 1861-65, Joseph Armas, called
J. Armas in Confederate records, served as a sergeant in Company
K of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised
in St. Landry Parish, which fought in Tennessee,
Mississippi, and Louisiana. Armas married Louise, daughter of
Henry Rees and Aspasie Castille, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish,
in January 1869.
Edgar married Fanelie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Louis Arvillien Bernard and Elisa
Bernard, at the Grand
Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1869. They
settled probably near Carencro.
5b
Jean le jeune married
Aspasie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Louis Bernard and
Aspasie Dugas, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1848. Their
child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died near Grand Coteau, age 1
month, in August 1849, and Oscalie was born near Arnaudville, St.
Landry Parish, in February 1856. Their daughter married into the
Bulliard family. Jean le jeune died near
Grand Coteau in May 1856; he was only 28 years old; his succession
record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in November 1860.
In June 1860, the census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 8 slaves--on
Mrs. John Guilbeaux's farm between Placide Guilbeau,
père's large plantation and Lucien A. Guilbeau's farm; these
probably were the slaves of Jean, fils's widow, Aspasie
Bernard.
5c
Valéry married Marie Corine,
called Corine, another
daughter of Auguste Guidry and Mélanie Martin, at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in December 1849. Their son Félix was born
near Grand Coteau in October 1850, Adelmar in January 1853, and
Jean Benjamin in September 1860. In November 1850, the
federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 6 slaves--3 males and
3 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 4--on Valière
Guilbeau's farm. Was this him? In June 1860, the federal
census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 12 slaves--7 males and 5
females, 10 blacks and 2 mulattoes, ages 40 to 2, living in 3 houses--on
Valéry Guilbeau's farm next to Sosthène Guilbeau.
Was this him?
5d
Alphonse married Ophelia,
daughter of fellow Acadians Valérien Dugas and Victoire
Guidry, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1855. They lived near Grand
Coteau and then near Breaux Bridge. Their son Joseph Arista
was born in December 1856, Alphonse Chapman in November
1858, Honoré Galbert in March 1860, and Armand died at age
17 months in October 1865. In June 1860, the federal census taker
in St. Martin Parish counted 12 slaves--5 males and 7 female, all black
except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 33 years to 6 months--on
Alphonse Guilbeau's farm. During the War of 1861-65,
Alphonse, with older brother Placide, fils, served in Company K of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Reserve
Corps. Alphonse remarried to Blanche, daughter of fellow Acadian
Dr.
Alexis Onésime Guidry and his Creole wife Célestine Laperle
Dupré, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in
September 1866. Their son Alexis Onésime was born near
Grand Coteau in June 1867, and Octave Placide in October 1868.
5e
Edmond married Emethilde,
daughter of fellow Acadians Ursin Bernard and Éloise
Bernard, at the Grand Coteau
church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1855. They settled near
Carencro. Their son Joseph Alonzo
had been born in June 1854, Joseph Camille was
born in June 1858, Joseph Ernest in June 1859, Joseph
Edmond in December 1861, and Seymour in c1862 but died near
Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, age 4, in October 1866. In June 1860, the federal census
taker in Lafayette Parish counted 4 slaves--3 males and 1 female, all
black, ranging in age from 23 to 2--on Edmond Guilbeau's farm
next to Ursin Bernard. Edmond may have remarried to fellow
Acadian Ernestille Broussard. Their son Joseph Roland
was born near Breaux Bridge in February 1870.
5f
Honoré Placide, a physician, married Anne
Elizabeth, daughter of John Thomas and his Acadian wife Arthémise
Guidry, at the St.
Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1855. They settled near Breaux Bridge. Their son
Arthur John was born in May 1856, Braxton died at age 18
months in April 1864, and Frank Thomas was born in December 1867. In June 1860, the federal census taker in
St. Martin Parish counted 11 slaves--4 males and 7 females, all black,
ranging in age from 28 years to 8 months, living in 2 houses--on Dr. H.
P. Guilbeau's farm.
5g
Adolphe married Alsina, Alzina,
or Azina, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Gerasin Bernard and
Eugènie Mouton, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1861. Their son
Joseph Adalbert was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in
January 1862, three months before his father enlisted, Joseph Édouard
in April 1864, not long after his father returned to his unit after
being exchanged, and Massena Berchmans in May 1868. During
the War of 1861-65,
Adolphe served as a private, fifth sergeant, and second lieutenant in Company E of the 26th Regiment
Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought, and was
captured, at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
6
Cyprien-Onésime, called Onésime,
by his
father's second wife, born probably at Carencro in October 1796, died at his parents'
home at Carencro in September 1814, not quite age 18, and
did not marry.
7
François le jeune, by his
father's second wife, born at Attakapas in September 1798, may have married Louise
Marguerite Mortier in St. Martin Parish in the 1810s. Their daughter
married into the Doremus family. Was he the François
Guilbeau who died in St. Martin Parish in January 1850? The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial said that François died "at age
68 or 70 yrs.," but this François would have been in his early 50s.
8
A son, name unrecorded, by his
father's second wife, died at
Attakapas 8 days after his birth in May 1801.
9
François-Adrien, called Adrien,
by his father's second wife, born at
Attakapas in October 1802, married Catherine Arthémise, called Arthémise,
daughter of André Neraut and Marie Louise Prudhomme, at the Grand Coteau church,
St. Landry Parish, in September 1823. Their son Jean Adrien,
also called Adrien, fils, was
born near Grand Coteau in September 1824, Joseph Osémé, also called
Osémé Alexandre, in September
1826, François Lucien le jeune, called Lucien le jeune and
Lucien A., in October 1828, Alexandre
A. in June 1830, and André Ulger or Ulger Adrien, in May 1838. Their
daughters married into the LeBlanc and Roy (French Canadian,
not Acadian) families. Adrien
died near Grand Coteau in October 1838, age 36; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St.
Martin Parish, in January 1843.
9a
Adrien, fils married
fellow Acadian Clara Potier at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in August 1843. Their son Louis Omir was
born near Grand Coteau in October 1846, and Jean Oscar in
September 1848 but died at age 1 1/2 in August 1850. Their
daughters married into the Durio and Thibodeaux families. In November 1850,
the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 8 slaves--4 males
and 4 females, all black, ranging in age from 35 to 1--on Adrien
Guilbeau's farm. Adrien died near
Grand Coteau in April 1855, age 30; his successions were filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish,
in June 1855, and at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish,
in August 1860.
9b
Osémé Alexandre married first
cousin Clémentine, daughter of his fellow Acadians Alexandre Guilbeau
and Marguerite Azélie Bernard, his uncle and aunt, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May
1844. Their son André Auger was born near Grand Coteau in
February 1851. Their daughters married into the Clark and
Guidroz families. In September 1850, the federal census taker in
Lafayette Parish counted 38 slaves on Ozémé Guilbeau's plantation
in the parish's western district, next to Marcelite Guilbeau's
farm and near Alex. Guilbeau. In November 1850, the federal
census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 7 more slaves--3 males and 4
females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 40 to 4--on
Ozémé Guilbeau's farm. Osémé died near Grand Coteau in February 1858;
the priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any
parents' names or mention a wife, said that Ozémé Alexandre died
"at age 31 yrs."; his succession, calling him Ozémé A. and naming
his wife, was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse,
Lafayette Parish, in March. In June 1860, the federal census taker
in Lafayette Parish counted 3 slaves--2 females and 1 male, 2 blacks and
1 mulatto, ages 19, 16, and 13, living in 2 houses--on Mrs. Ozémé
Guilbeau's farm next to Sosthène Guilbeaux. One wonders
what happened to many of Osémé's slaves.
9c
Lucien le jeune married
cousin Alexandrine, daughter of fellow Acadian Augustin Guidry
and Marie Léontine Guilbeau, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1853. They settled at
Carencro. Their son André
Numa was born in June 1854, François Lucien,
fils in August 1859, and Louis Armand in May 1863.
Their daughter may have married into the Jackson family. In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 3
slaves--2 males and a female, 3 mulattoes and 1 black, ages 37, 31, and
17--on Lucien A. Guilbeau's farm between Mrs. John Guilbeaux
and Augustin Guidry. During the War of 1861-65,
Lucien A. served in Company A of the Yellow
Jackets Battalion Louisiana Infantry, raised in St.
Martin Parish, which fought in Louisiana, and in Company D of
the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Louisiana
Infantry, which also fought in Louisiana. Lucien was mortally wounded
in the Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana, in April 1864, age 35. His family retrieved his remains from the battlefield and
buried them in the Carencro church cemetery. His succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in June 1867.
9d
Alexandre A.
married Marcellite, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Guidry and
Marie Bernard and widow of Hippolyte Cormier, at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in August 1853. They settled near Arnaudville. Their son Jean Amilcar
was born in December 1854, Charles Alfred in March 1857,
Augustin in February 1861, François Adras in May 1864, and
Joseph Arthur in June 1869.
In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 3
slaves--all males, all black, ages 40, 20, and 18, living in 1 house--on Alen Guilbeaux's farm near Mrs. Ozémé Guilbeau. Was
this him?
9e
Ulger Adrien married Coralie,
daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Comeaux and his Creole wife
Lise Durio, at the Opelousas
church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1856. They settled near
Arnaudville. Their son Joseph Gonzalve was born in October
1859, Alexandre Habid was baptized at the Arnaudville church,
St. Landry Parish, age unrecorded, in November 1863, and Joseph
Pabelot or Pableau was born in November 1869 but died the
following February.
10
Youngest son François Lucien,
called Lucien, by his father's second wife, born near
Carencro, then in St. Martin Parish, in May 1810, married Marie Edwige,
called Edwige, daughter of Michel Mayer and Mathilde Neraut, at the Grand Coteau church,
St. Landry Parish, in April 1839. Their child, name
unrecorded, perhaps a son, died near Grand Coteau, age 2, in December 1842, Jean
Jacques Lucien, called J. J. Lucius and Lucius, was born in March 1847, and François Lucien Edgard
in December 1849 but died at age 1 in December 1850. Their daughters
married into the Smith family and perhaps into the Jackson
family as well. Lucien died near
Grand Coteau in June 1850, age 40; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in February 1854.
J. J. Lucius married Mary or
Marie Anne,
daughter of Benjamin A. Smith and Elizabeth Hardy, at the Grand Coteau
church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1869. Their son Joseph
Édouard was born near Grand Coteau in December 1869.
~
By 1791, a young Guilbeau had come to Louisiana probably from France and settled among his relatives
at Attakapas:
Descendants of Joseph
GUILBEAU III (c1765-1822;
Pierre, Charles,
Joseph dit L'Officier)
Joseph III, oldest son of Joseph Guilbeau,
fils
and Anne-Charlotte St.-Étienne de Latour, a descendant
of Acadian Governor Charles Latour and a grandson of
Joseph dit
L'Officier
Guilbeau, was born on Île Miquelon in
c1765. The British deported his family to France in late 1778, during
the American Revolution, when Joseph III was in his early teens. He came of age at La Rochelle,
France, and from there went to Louisiana on his own probably in 1785, though
his name appears on none of the Seven Ships passenger rolls.
From New Orleans, he went to the Attakapas District to be near his kinsmen and married Pélagie, 22-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians
and Anne Blanchard of Annapolis Royal and
Ascension, at Attakapas in July 1791--his first appearance in Louisiana
records. They settled on Bayou Tortue near present-day
Lafayette. After the death of his wife, Joseph III filed a succession record at the St. Martinville
courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in June 1814. At age 52, he remarried to Julie, daughter of French Creole
Étienne Vallot of La Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St.
Martin Parish, in July 1817. They settled at Au Pont la Villeboeuf.
Joseph died "a sudden death" in Lafayette Parish in August 1822; the priest
who recorded the burial said that Joseph was age 54
when he died, but he probably was a few years older; his first post-mortem succession was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse in September 1822, and others at the Vermilionville
courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in October 1822 and October 1825, the last one concerning monies
owed by Joseph's estate to his daughter Julie's tutor, Ozanne Guilbeau.
Sadly, little Julie died the following July, age 8. None of Joseph,
fils's
children by either of his wives seems to have created families of their own.
Joseph III, by his father's first
wife, born at Bayou Tortue in September 1806, may have died
young.
Other GUILBEAUs on the
Western Prairies
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link many Guilbeaus in the western parishes with
known lines of the family there. The priests at Grand Coteau were
especially negligent in their recordkeeping. One suspects that some of
the Guilbeaus who lived on the western prairies during the post-war period
were Afro Creoles once owned by Acadian Guilbeaus:
Célestin Guilbeau married
French Creole Marguerite Guillory probably in St. Landry Parish by
the 1830s. Their daughter Célise was born near Opelousas in
February 1836.
Valéry Guilbeau married
Thelside Guilleau probably in St. Landry Parish by the 1830s.
Their son Valéry, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in December
1837.
Uranie Guilbeau married
fellow Acadian Edmond Babineaux at the Grand Coteau church, St.
Landry Parish, in May 1844. The priest who recorded the marriage did
not give the couple's parents' names.
Marguerite Guilbeau married
fellow Acadian Émilien François Bernard in a civil ceremony in St.
Landry Parish in November 1849, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church,
St. Landry Parish, in December. Neither the parish clerk nor the
priest who recorded the marriage gave the couple's
parents' names.
Pierre, also called Pierre C.,
Guilbeau died near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in May 1849.
The priest who recorded the burial, and who did not
give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Pierre
died "at age 23 yrs." Pierre C.'s
succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse later that month.
In September 1850, the federal
census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 17 slaves--4 males and 13 females,
all black, ranging in age from 40 years to 6 months--on Marcelite
Guilbeau's farm in the parish's Western District, next to Ozémé
Guilbeau. In 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish
counted 25 slaves--12 males and 13 females, 18 blacks and 7 mulattoes, ages
50 to 1, living in 5 houses--on Marcelite Guilbeau's plantation.
Was she the Marcellite, daughter of Adrien Guilbeau, who married
Joseph LeBlanc in April 1847? If so, she became a widow soon
after her marriage, and she was Ozémé's sister.
Elomee Guilbeau
died in St. Martin Parish, age 3, in September 1851. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give the child's
parents' names.
Ozémé Guilbeau died near
Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in August 1853. The priest who
recorded the burial said that Ozémé died "at age 59 yrs." but said nothing
of Ozémé's parents or a wife. So how was Ozémé related to the
other Guilbeaus of the area?
In June 1860, the federal census
taker in St. Martin Parish counted a single slave--an 18-year-old mulatto
male--on ____ Guilbeau's farm.
Joseph Guilbeau died in St.
Martin Parish in August 1861, age 3. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give the
parents' names.
Marie, daughter of Alexandre
Guilbeau, died near Grand Coteau a day after her birth in
September 1862. The priest who recorded the burial did not give the
mother's name, so one wonders which Alexandre Guilbeau
her father may have been.
Numa Guilbeau died near
Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in February 1863. The priest who
recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or
mention a wife, said Numa died "at age 18 yrs." One wonders if Numa's death was war-related.
Éliza Guilbeau
died near Breaux Bridge in April 1863, age 4, in April 1863. The
priest who recorded the burial, true to form, did not give any parents'
names.
A succession for Séraphin,
perhaps Séraphine, Guilbeau, husband or wife of Mamee
Langlois, was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse,
St. Martin Parish, in July 1863.
Venance Guilbeau married
Amelaïde Aloue, place and date unrecorded. Daughter Amélaïde
was born near Grand Coteau in October 1864.
Valière Guilbeau died in
St. Martin Parish in April 1865. The priest who recorded the burial said that
Valière died "at age 64 yrs." but did not mention a wife.
Omer Guilbeau died probably
in St. Martin Parish in October 1867. His succession was filed
at the St. Martinville courthouse in July 1868.
Numa Guilbeau died in
Lafayette Parish in November 1867. The Vermilionville priest who
recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names, said
Numa died "at age 12 yrs."
Amélie, daughter of Silvie
Guilbeau, married William, son of Guilbot Guilbot, probably
Guilbeau, and Peggie ___, both deceased, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1869. Were Silvie and Guilbot
Acadians?
Moyse "of Charleston," son of
Charles Guilbeau and Julie ____, married Emérande, daughter of
Jean Wiltz, deceased, and Mélite ____, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1869. Were Charles and Moyse
Acadians?
Émilien Guilbeau married
Louisa ____, place and date unrecorded. Their son Émilien, fils was born near
Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish, in July 1870. Was Émilien Acadian?
LOUISIANA: RIVER SETTLEMENTS
Another Port-Royal Guilbeau
came to the colony from Halifax in 1765, but he did not settle on the western prairies.
He settled, instead, at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans
where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before. Although he married,
or perhaps remarried, in Louisiana, he did not create another family line there:
Joseph GUILBEAU (1730-1770s;
Pierre, Charles)
Joseph, son of Charles Guilbeau,
fils and Marie-Anne Comeau and nephew of
Joseph
dit
L'Officier, was born at Port-Royal in December 1730. He was a 34-year-old bachelor, or perhaps a widower without
children, when he came
to Louisiana in 1765. One Acadian historian/genealogist
suggests that he was the Joseph Gilboa who was counted at
Eastchester, New York, with a wife and two children in August 1756 and
listed under the heading "... names of the head of the French Neutral
families, number of their Children returned from Georgia and distributed
through the counties of Westchester and Orange." If this was him, then
he and his family evidently moved from New York to Nova Scotia in the early
1760s. After he reached Louisiana, Joseph did not follow
his Guilbeau kinsmen to Bayou Teche but settled on what became the
Acadian Coast. Spanish officials counted him
on the left, or east, bank of the river at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques in April 1766; there was
no one else in his household, so one wonders what happened to his family. He
married, or perhaps remarried
to, fellow Acadian Catherine Comeaux, widow of ____ Lafaye, at
Cabanocé in October 1767. They probably had no children. Joseph
died by March 1779, when his wife was listed in a St.-Jacques census as a
widow
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in
LOUISIANA
A Guilbeau came to
Louisiana from France during the late colonial period and settled on upper
Bayou Lafourche. One wonders if he, like the other Guilbeaus of
Louisiana, was a descendant of Pierre and Charles
of Port-Royal:
Jean-Baptiste, son of François Guilbeau
and Thérèse Boisdeque of
Lorient, Brittany, France, married Marie-Adélaïde, called Adélaïde,
daughter of Louis-François Le Tollierec of Plélo,
France, and his Acadian wife Élisabeth LeBlanc, at Assumption on upper Bayou Lafourche in August 1798.
Adélaïde had come to Louisiana from France in 1785 aboard La Bergère,
the second of the Seven Ships. One wonders if Jean-Baptiste
himself was a descendant of an Acadian who remained in France. Jean-Baptiste and Adélaïde's
daughter married a Foreign-French Dufour and settled in Ascension Parish,
where she died in October 1822, age 22.
Adélaïde died a widow in Ascension Parish in August 1849, age 65.
She and Jean-Baptiste probably had no sons, so this line of the family, except for
its blood, did not survive in the Bayou State.
~
During the antebellum period,
immigrants from France, called Foreign French by native Louisianians, came
to New Orleans. Some of them had surnames similar to the Guilbeaus
of the western prairies:
____ Gilboa, a 53-year-old
merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Louisiana
out of Matamoros, Mexico, in April 1835.
François Guilbeau, a
22-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship
Criterion out of Le Havre, France, in August 1836. He was on his
way to Mexico.
In July 1850, the federal census
taker in Orleans Parish counted a single slave--a 35-year-old black
female--in Lewis Gilbeau's household in the First Ward of the
parish's Third Municipality.
Louis Guillebot, a a
27-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Old
England out of Le Havre in October 1852. Also aboard the vessel
was Marie Guillebot, age 21, probably his wife. They were on
their way to Missouri.
François Guilbeau of France married Nanette Gandras or Gondras, perhaps
Gondron, place and date unrecorded. Their son Charles was born near Raceland, Lafourche Parish, in
November 1853, and daughter Lize there in December 1854. They
evidently were the only Guilbeau family that settled in the Lafourche
valley.
In June 1860, the federal census
taker in Jefferson Parish counted 4 slaves--2 males and 2 females, all
black, ranging in age from 38 to 21--in Michel Guilbau's household in
the parish's Jefferson City.
In June 1860, the federal census
taker in Orleans Parish counted 3 slaves--all males, all black, ages 40, 34,
and 21--in M. Gilbo's household in New Orleans city's Tenth Ward.
.
Guilbeaus who lived on the
western prairies during the immediate post-war period evidently were owned,
and freed, by Acadian members of the family:
Sidonise Guilbeau, free
woman of color, married Louis Clavel, free man of color, in a civil
ceremony in Lafayette Parish in May 1866. The parish clerk who
recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Emma Guilbeau, freedwoman,
married Désiré Henry, freedman, in a civil ceremony in St. Martin
Parish in August 1866. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did
not give the couple's parents' names.
CONCLUSION
Guilbeaus settled early in Acadia, and
they were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.
Almost all of them came to the colony from Halifax via St.-Domingue in 1765,
most of them with the party led by Joseph Broussard dit
Beausoleil. Joseph
Guilbeau
dit L'Officier of
Annapolis Royal, who signed the Dauterive Agreement with Joseph
dit
Beausoleil and six other leaders of the party, came to Louisiana not only
with his wife and three unmarried children but also with a married son and
three married daughters--an extended family of his own. They followed
the Broussards to Bayou Teche, and, even after
Joseph
dit
L'Officier died in the mysterious epidemic that killed dozens of his
fellow Acadians that summer and fall, there they stayed. Joseph dit
L'Officier's three sons
married and created families of their own.
Another member of the family who came to
Louisiana in 1765 did not go to the Attakapas District with the Broussards.
A younger Joseph Guilbeau, nephew of Joseph dit L'Officier,
settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river instead. The younger Joseph was either a widower or a single man in his
mid-30s when he reached the colony. He
married, or perhaps remarried to, a fellow Acadian at Cabanocé, but he and his wife had no
children.
In 1791, yet another Joseph Guilbeau, this
one much younger than the other two, settled on the western prairies. This Joseph, who came to Louisiana on his own
probably from France, was a native of faraway Île
Miquelon and perhaps a grandson of Joseph dit L'Officier. His line
of the family also did not survive.
Non-Acadian Guilbeaus came to Louisiana
from France, but none of them produced large families. Jean-Baptiste Guilbeau of Lorient,
France, came to Louisiana in the late colonial period, married, and settled
on upper Bayou Lafourche. He and his French-Creole wife, who had come to Louisiana from France
and whose mother was an Acadian
LeBlanc, had at least one daughter who married and settled in
Ascension Parish, but Jean-Baptiste does not seem to have fathered any sons.
One wonders if Jean-Baptiste was descended from an
Acadian Guilbeau who had remained in France. Foreign Frenchmen
with similar-sounding surnames came to New Orleans during the antebellum
period, but few of them stayed. One of them, François, married and
settled on upper Bayou Lafourche and fathered at least one son. The
overwhelming majority of the Guilbeaus of South Louisiana, however, spring from Acadian
Joseph
dit L'Officier
of Port-Royal and his three sons.
Judging by the number of slaves they owned
during
the late antebellum period, some Guilbeaus lived comfortably on their farms
and plantations on the western prairies. One of them, in fact, became a "great
planter." In 1850, Placide Guilbeau, père of Lafayette
Parish owned 49 slaves on his western-district plantation. His son Placide, fils held
10 slaves. Cousin Osémé Guilbeau owned 45 slaves on two
holdings in Lafayette and St. Martin parishes. Marcelite Guilbeau
held 17 slaves on her Lafayette Parish farm. But most of the
slave-holding Guilbeaus in the western parishes owned less than 10
slaves apiece that year. A decade later, in 1860, Placide Guilbeau,
père owned 86 slaves, living in 20 houses, on his Lafayette Parish
plantation; only two other planters, one of them a former governor, owned
more slaves in the parish that year. Placide's son Placide, fils
held 17 slaves, son Alphonse 12 slaves, and son Honoré Placide, a physician,
11 slaves. Cousin Marcelite Guilbeau held 25 slaves
on her plantation in 1860.
Nearly three dozen Guilbeaus served
Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65, half a dozen of them
in the Orleans Guard Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought gallantly
and lost heavily at Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862. At least two
members of the family died in Confederate service. Joseph Sosthène,
called
Sosthène, Guilbeau of La Pointe, St. Martin Parish, served in
Company D of the Orleans Guard Battalion Infantry with his younger brother
Julien Charles. Most of the battalion, as its name implies, hailed
from the New Orleans area, but Company D, called the DeClouet Guards, was
raised in St. Martin and St. Mary parishes. Sosthène was 24 and
married when he enlisted; Julien C. was 22 and single. Their company
was attached to the Orleans Guard Battalion at New Orleans in March 1862 for
90 days service and promptly sent to reinforce General Pierre G. T.
Beauregard's command at Corinth, Mississippi. In April 1862, the
battalion was heavily engaged in the Battle of Shiloh in nearby Tennessee.
Both of the Guilbeau brothers were wounded in the fight, Sosthène
mortally. He died at Jackson, Mississippi, a few weeks later and was
probably buried there. Cousin
Lucien A. Guilbeau of Carencro, Lafayette Parish, was in his
early 30s, married, a father, and the owner of three slaves when he enlisted
in Company A of the Yellow Jackets Battalion Infantry, raised in nearby St.
Martin Parish in April 1862. Lucien joined the company at Camp Pratt,
near New Iberia, in September; judging by his marriage status, his age, and
the time of his enlistment, he probably was one of the many area conscripts
compelled into Confederate service by the power of law. He marched and
fought with his unit in South Louisiana for the year that it remained in
existence; Confederate records are silent about Lucien's service during the
rest of 1862 and most of 1863. He was assigned to Company D of the
Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jackets Battalion Infantry when his
depleted battalion was consolidated with another unit full of his fellow
Cadiens in November 1863. Son Louis Armand had been born the
previous May, eight months after his father's enlistment, while Lucien's
unit marched and fought not far from home. In the first weeks of 1864,
Lucien went on 15-day furlough, "no reason given." It would be the
last time he saw his family. During the Red River Campaign, Lucien
fell mortally wounded at the Battle of Mansfield in April 1864; he was 35
years old. His division commander and Carencro neighbor, General
Alfred Mouton, also 35, was killed in the same battle.
During the war, Federal armies marched three times through the Teche and upper Vermilion valleys and burned and pillaged
many farms and plantations, some of them no doubt owned by Guilbeaus. Thanks
to these Federal incursions, emancipation came early to the area, with its
resulting economic and social turmoil. Confederate foraging parties and
cutthroat Jayhawkers also plagued the area where Guilbeaus lived,
adding to the family's misery. ...
The family's name also is spelled Gilbaux,
Gilbeau, Guilbau,
Guilbaud, Guilbaut, Guilbeaud, Guilbeault, Guilbeaux, Guileaut, Guillebau, Guillebaut, Guillebeau,
Guillebeaut, Guillebeaux, Guillerben, Guillerbo. They are one of
the few Louisiana Acadian families with "eau" at the end of their surname
who tend not to use an "x." [See
Book
Ten for the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats"]
Sources: 1850 U.S. Federal Census,
Slave Schedules, Lafayette, Orleans, St. Landry, & St. Martin parishes;
1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Jefferson, Lafayette, Orleans,
St. Landry, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie,
595-99, 1643-46, 2237, 2502-04; Brasseaux, Foreign French, 1:239, 257, 3:137; BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 7; Hébert, D., Acadians
in Exile, 173; Hébert, D., South LA
Records, vol. 3; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B,
2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 26,
231, 252; Menn, Large Slaveholders of LA, 1860, 260-61;
Moneyhon & Roberts, Portraits
of Conflict, 88, 325, source of quotation about Sosthène Guilbeau; "United
States, War of 1812 Index to Pension Application Files, 1812-1910," index
and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8CG-65J
: accessed 06 Oct 2012), Placide Guilbeau;
"Ristigouche, 24 Oct 1760";
White, "Acadians
on the St. John River 1755-1760," in <acadian-home.org>; White,
DGFA-1, 780-82; White, DGFA-1 English,
159; Katy Guilbeau Hohmann, family
historian.