APPENDICES

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

LÉGER

[LAY-jhay]

ACADIA

François Léger, born in France in c1631, was recorded at Chignecto in 1686, age 55, as a domestic servant in the household of Beaubassin seigneur, Michel Le Neuf de La Vallière.  There is no evidence that Francois raised a family.

~

Jean de La Grange, son of merchant Élie Léger and Jeanne de Phélis, was born at Abjat, Limoges, France, in June 1663.  He served as a surgeon, a merchant, a corsaire, and as capitaine de flût du roi entretenu at the port of Rochefort and married Louise, daughter of Pierre Fauvel, at Québec in November 1691.  He and Louise had five children, all daughters, born at Québec between February 1694 and April 1702.  At the end of 1703, during Queen Anne's War, Jean de La Grange led an expedition against the English in Newfoundland, a part of greater Acadia.  In February 1708, he remarried to Marie Desreaux, widow of Jean Berthelot, at Québec.  There is no record of his having more children with his second wife.  None of the Légers of Acadia descend from this French aristocrat.

~

The progenitor of the Léger family in Acadia was another soldier, this one of a more humble rank.  Jacques Léger dit La Rosette, a drummer in the sieur de Villeu's company, troupes de la marine, stationed at Fort Nashwaak (now Fredericton, New Brunswick) on lower Rivière St.-Jean, was born probably in France in c1668.  Around 1693, after his discharge from the King's service, Jacques married Madeleine, daughter of Guillaume Trahan and his second wife Madeleine Brun, at Port-Royal and took land on the south side of Rivière-au-Dauphin, today's Annapolis River, above Port-Royal.  Jacques and Madeleine had 11 children, including four sons, all born at Port-Royal, three of whom created families of their own.  Four of their daughters married into the Michel, Robichaud dit Cadet,  Bertrand, and Doucet families.  

Oldest son Jacques, fils, born in c1695, married Anne, daughter of François Amireau and Marie Pitre, at Annapolis Royal in January 1717.  They moved on to Chepoudy and then to nearby Petitcoudiac.  Jacques, fils died probably at Petitcoudiac in the early 1750s.

A son, whose name is lost to history, died at Port-Royal in c1703.  

Jean, born in January 1709, married Marie-Marguerite, daughter of Abraham Comeau and Marguerite Pitre, at Annapolis Royal in May 1730.  They settled at Chepoudy.  After August 1752, they moved to Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island.  Jean's son Michel dit Richelieu married a Pinet. 

Youngest son François, born in October 1714, married Madeleine, another daughter of Abraham Comeau and Marguerite Pitre, at Annapolis Royal in May 1739.  They remained at Annapolis Royal.  

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

In 1755, descendants of Jacques Léger dit La Rosette could be found at Annapolis Royal and at Chepoudy and Petitcoudiac in the trois-rivières area west of Chignecto, as well as on Île St.-Jean.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

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

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Descendants of Jacques Léger dit La Rosette were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana.  Marie-Modeste Savoie, widow of Paul Léger, the Acadian progenitor's grandson, came from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in the spring of 1765 with son Joseph, age unrecorded, and daughter Scholastique, age 18.  They followed Marie-Modeste's brother Pierre Savoie to the Opelousas District and were among the first Acadians to settle there.  But not until two decades later did a Leger family line emerge in the district. 

Scholastique married fellow Acadian Joseph Jeansonne and died at Bois de Mallet, St. Landry Parish, in January 1817, age 60.  

Joseph LEGER (?-?; Jacques dit La Rosette, Jacques, fils)

Joseph, son of Paul Léger and Marie-Modeste Savoie, followed his widowed mother and a sister to Louisiana in 1765 and accompanied them to the Opelousas District.  He may have appeared on an Opelousas militia list as a fusilier in 1789.  After that, he disappears from the records.  He did not create a family of his own. 

~

After he came of age in the late 1770s, a Léger who had come to the colony from St.-Domingue in 1765 left his older sisters at St.-Jacques on the river and joined his kinsmen in the Opelousas District, where he created a western branch of the family:

Descendants of Paul LEGER (c1758-1818; Jacques dit La Rosette)

Paul, son of François Léger and Madeleine Comeau of Port-Royal, was born in New York colony in c1758 during Le Grand Dérangement.  In the early 1760s, after the war with Britain had finally ended, his family likely was among the New York Acadians who emigrated to French St.-Domingue, today's Haiti.  Only seven years old and an orphan, in 1765 he followed his two older sisters to Louisiana, where they settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.  Spanish officials counted him on the left, or east, bank of the river at St.-Jacques in 1777; he was an engagé, or hired worker, with the family of fellow Acadian Paul Martin.  Paul Léger moved to the Opelousas District in the late 1770s or the 1780s and was counted in the Grand Coteau area in 1788.  In his early 30s, he married Marie-Constance, called Constance, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Potier and his first wife Anne-Marie or Marie-Anne Bernard, at nearby Attakapas in July 1789.  Marie-Constance had come to Louisiana from France in 1785.  They settled near Grand Coteau.  Their daughters married into the Akerson, Bordelon, Prejean, Ritter, Steel or Stut, and Wyble families.  Paul died "at his home at Gran[sic] Coteau" in March 1818 "at age 59 years"; his estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, that month, and a succession was filed there in September 1822.  Only the youngest of his three sons married; he, too, settled near Grand Coteau and produced a vigorous line.  

1

Oldest son Paul, fils died probably at Attakapas 7 days after his birth in November 1797.  The infant's body was re-interred at Opelousas in November 1801.  

2

Alexandre, born at Attakapas in January 1799, died "at his home at Gran Coteau" in October 1818.  He was only 18 1/2 years old and probably did not marry.  The priest who recorded his burial noted that Alexandre "was unable to receive the sacraments, not being in a state or condition to receive them because of his serious illness."  Sister Apolline Constance had died in late August, age 17, and the priest had noted that she, too, also could not receive the sacrament "having so little time once she got ill--perdu la parole (she lost her speech)." 

3

Youngest son Hippolyte-Paul, born at Attakapas in January 1803, married Marcellite, 17-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Lebert and Marie Hébert, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1821.  Their son Paulin was born near Grand Coteau in December 1826, Paul le jeune, also called Paul Astran or Astron, in November 1828, Alexandre le jeune in October 1830, Hippolyte, fils in June 1832, Pierre in June 1835, Constant in October 1837, and Napoléon was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 5 months, in April 1843.  Their daughters married into the Roade and Royer families.  Hippolyte died near Grand Coteau in November 1861, age 58.  His was the only line of his family to survive, and it was a vigorous one.

3a

Paul Astran married fellow Acadian Émilie Savoie at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1849.  Their daughters married into the Courvelle or Courville and Duplechin families.  Paul Astran died near Grand Coteau in March 1853, age 24.  Except for its blood, his family line may have died with him. 

3b

Paulin married Adélaïde Eusilda, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Girouard and Marie Adeline Melançon, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1850.  They settled near Youngsville.  Their son Damase was born in September 1855, and Jules in April 1866.  Their daughter married into the Broussard family.  During the War of 1861-65, Paulin served in Company G of the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised on the western prairies, which fought in Louisiana, especially against prairie Jawhawkers. 

3c

Hippolyte, fils married Mary, daughter of George Washington Addison and his Acadian wife his Acadian wife Arthémise Richard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in June 1855.  Their son George Washington was born in Lafayette Parish in January 1856, Albert in July 1859 but died at Bois Mallet, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, age 3, in October 1862, Hippolyte III died at Bois Mallet, age 5 months, in October 1861, and Yves was born in August 1862.  During the War of 1861-65, Hippolyte, fils served as a conscript in Company I of the 1st Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Hippolyte joined the company at Vicksburg in October 1862, when he was 30 years old, and was one of the many cannoneers in his regiment who fell sick in late 1862 and early 1863.  He was confined to the Vicksburg city hospital in late winter and early spring of 1863, but, unlike many of his fellow Cadien conscripts, he recovered from his illness.  After the regiment surrendered at Vicksburg in July 1863, Hippolyte, again unlike many of his fellow Cadiens, accepted parole and remained with his regiment after he was exchanged.  He was absent sick again, this time at Montgomery, Alabama, in early 1864.  Later that year, he was sent on detached service to Ross Hospital, Mobile, Alabama, where he likely served as an orderly or a nurse.  In December 1864, he was issued a surgeon's certificate of disability and exempted from field service, but he remained with his unit and was on the roll of nurses and patients at the Moore Hospital, Meridian, Mississippi, when the war ended in that part of the Confederacy in May 1865.  He received his end-of-war prisoner parole at Meridian and went home. 

3d

Alexandre le jeune married Aurore, daughter of fellow Acadians Arthur Lucien Bourgeois and Marie Zelia Prejean, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1860.  Their son Alexandre, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1861.  During the War of 1861-65, Alexandre le jeune may have served in Company H of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Assumption Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi--the same regiment in which his younger brother Napoléon served.

3e

Constant married Estelle, daughter of fellow Acadians Onésime Babineaux and Julienne Benoit, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1860.  They settled probably near Carencro.  Their son Joseph Alcide, called Alcide, was born in April 1861 but died at age 7 months the following November, and Euclyde was born in September 1862, six months after his father enlisted in the Confederate army.  During the War of 1861-65, Constant, who spelled his surname Legere, served in Company E of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Constant's Confederate service was cut short by illness; he went on extended sick furlough in July 1862, four months after his enlistment, and received a medical discharge later in the year.  Estelle died from giving birth to daughter Estelle Catherine in December 1867.  Constant remarried to Udalie, also called Adalie, daughter of fellow Acadian André Basile Landry and his Creole wife Marie Céline Cailler, at the Vermilionville church in February 1869.  They settled near Carencro.  Their son Hippolyte was born in January 1870.  Constant remarried again--his third marriage--to fellow Acadian Marie Irma Guidry at the Carencro church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1876, and remarried yet again--his fourth marriage!--to Octavie McBride at the Carencro church in February 1889, when he was in his early 50s.  Constant died near Carencro in May 1823, age 85.  He was buried in St. Peter Catholic Cemetery, Carencro; his tombstone, in French, calls him Constant Legere. 

3f

Pierre married Marie Uranie, daughter of fellow Acadians Julien Benoit and Marie Zéolide Babineaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in July 1860.  During the War of 1861-65, Pierre may have served in Company E of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry with younger brother Constant.

3g

During the War of 1861-65, Napoléon served in Company K of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Though he served in a different regiment than his older brothers Pierre and Constant, they were in the same brigade at Vicksburg.  Napoléon married Euphrasie or Euphrosine Coulon, daughter of Louis Coulon Devillier and Adolise Carrière, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1866.  Their son Alexis was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 2 months, in February 1867.  Napoléon's succession, naming his wife, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in December 1870; he would have been age 28 that year.  

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Two Léger brothers--Louis, age 19, and Jean, age 15--came to Louisiana from France with their mother, Angélique Pinet, widow of Michel dit Richelieu Léger, aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships of 1785, which reached New Orleans in late July.  Most of the passengers from Le Bon Papa chose to settle at Manchac, south of Baton Rouge.  Angélique and her sons, however, were among the hand full of Acadians from France who chose to go to the Opelousas District, where a first cousin of her husband had settled a few years before.  Angélique's oldest son Michel Leger, fils, age 23, arrived in November aboard the fifth ship, L'Amitié, probably as a stowaway, and followed his mother and brothers to Opelousas.  Angélique remarried to French Canadian Michel, son of Simon Blanchet of Québec, at Opelousas in April 1787.  Her three Léger sons married fellow Acadians and settled on the western prairies.  Most of the Legers of South Louisiana are descended from Angélique's three sons.  Their descendants were especially plentiful in the Grand Coteau area, at the southeastern edge of the Opelousas District: 

Descendants of Michel LEGER, fils (c1762-c1817; Jacques dit La Rosette, Jean)

Michel, fils, eldest son of Michel dit Richelieu Léger and Angélique Pinet, born at Louisbourg on Île Royale, now Cape Breton Island, in c1762, followed his family to La Rochelle, France, soon after his birth, then to Île Miquelon a few years later, and then back to La Rochelle, where his father died.  Spanish officials counted him with his widowed mother and two younger brothers at Nantes in September 1784.  His mother and younger brothers sailed to Louisiana aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships, in 1785, but Michel, fils was not aboard.  He crossed on L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships, probably as a stowaway, and joined his family in New Orleans after he reached the city in November.  He followed them to the Opelousas District, where he married Marguerite-Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre-Paul Boutin and Usule Guédry, in June 1787.  They settled on upper Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé, west of Grand Coteau, near his family.  In the late 1790s or early 1800s, Michel, fils moved his family south to Anse La Butte on upper Bayou Vermilion before moving to Grand Prairie near what is now downtown Lafayette.  Their daughters married into the Breaux, Eades, LeBlanc, and Miller families.  Michel, fil's estate record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in August 1817.  He would have been age 55 that year.  Most of his many sons married and settled in what became St. Landry, St. Martin, Lafayette, and Calcasieu parishes. 

1

Oldest son Michel III, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in July 1789, died at age 8 1/2 in February 1798.  

2

Alexandre, born at Opelousas in February 1792, married Marie Augustine, daughter of fellow Acadians Augustin Dugas and Marie Duhon of La Butte, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1814, the same day his younger brother Julien married.  Alexandre and Marie settled on the upper Vermilion before moving to the Mermentau River valley.  Their son Alexandre, fils was born on the Vermilion in December 1815, and Charles Édouard, also called Neuville, on the Mermentau in November 1816.  Alexandre, père died probably on the Mermentau in July 1816, age 24.

Alexandre, fils married Marie Adélaïde, called Adélaïde, daughter of François Lormand and Marie Primeaux, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1833.  Their son Alexandre III was born in Lafayette Parish in June 1834, another Alexandre III was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 6 months, in August 1836, Demosthène at age 4 months in June 1838, François Despanet, called Despanet, was born in November 1841, Rodolphe in October 1849, Onille in August 1851, Oleus near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in June 1853, and Louis Fergus in February 1855.  Their daughters married into the Broussard, Guidry, and Meaux families.

Alexandre III may have married Bohemian Creole Adélaïde Touchet in the early 1850s.  Their son Alexandre IV was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in April 1858, and Amonciade in December 1864.  Alexandre III may have remarried to Anglo Creole Belzire Abshire at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in September 1869.  Their son Ademar had been born near Abbeville in March 1869. 

François Despanet married French Creole Uranie Dartes at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in April 1860.  Their son François Despanet, fils was born near Abbeville in November 1862. 

Oleus died in September 1867.  The Abbeville priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names, said that Oleus died "at age 15 yrs."  He was 14. 

3

Julien, born at Opelousas in July 1794, married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Duhon and Scholastique Hébert of the upper Vermilion, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1814, the same day his older brother Alexandre married.  Julien and Marie also settled on the upper Vermilion.  Their son Julien, fils was born in February 1815, Cyprien in April 1819, a son, name unrecorded, died 8 days after his birth in September 1825, and Joseph was born in March 1830.  Their daughters married into the Cormier, LeBlanc, Simon, and Tromp families.  Julien, père's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in June 1845; he would have been age 51 that year. 

3a

Julien, fils married Marie Phelonise, called Phelonise, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Trahan and Susanne dite Suzette Guidry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1833.  Their son Julien III was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 5 days, in September 1834, Théogène at age 2 months in May 1837, Michel le jeune was born in April 1840, Jean Baptiste in September 1841, Onésime le jeune in December 1842, and Hippolyte near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in August 1852.

Julien III may have married Marie Marcellite, called Marcellite, Martin in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1858, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in March 1859.

Théogène married Léonie, daughter of Étienne Veltin and Clotilde Bernod, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1858, and remarried to Melisé, daughter of Victorin Royer and his Acadian wife Marcellite Benoit, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1860.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their son Joseph le jeune was born in September 1866. 

Jean Baptiste may have married Anne Dante and settled in Lafayette Parish by the late 1850s.  Their son John was born in Lafayette Parish in July 1860, Robert in November 1864, and Franck Homere in December 1867.

Onésime le jeune may have marred Émilie Roy, perhaps a fellow Acadian, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1868. 

Hippolyte married cousin Fidelise, daughter of fellow Acadians Treville Duhon and Eulalie Trahan, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1870. 

3b

Cyprien married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Hébert and Anne Geneviève Granger, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in November 1837.  Their son Cyprien, fils was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 25 months, in March 1839, and Pierre was born in March 1843.  Their daughter married a Trahan cousin.  Cyprien, père's succession record was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in November 1845; he would have been age 26 that year. 

Cyprien, fils married Marguerite, natural daughter, perhaps, of Arthémise Martin, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in March 1859.  They settled on the lower Vermilion.  Their son Cyprien III was born in August 1863, and Pierre le jeune in January 1870.

Pierre died in Lafayette Parish in April 1862, age 18, and probably did not marry.  Was his death war-related? 

3c

Joseph may have married French Creole Dulcine, Lucine, or Ursine Laviolette in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in May 1847, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in June.  Did the family line survive? 

4

A second Michel III married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Firmin Duhon and Marie Trahan of the upper Vermilion and widow of Yves Goplet, "at the residence of Olidon Broussard," St. Martin Parish, in October 1818.  Their son Michel IV was born in St. Martin Parish in November 1819, and Onésime in September 1821. 

4a

Michel IV married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Maximilien LeBlanc and Marguerite Guidry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1840.  Their son Élisée, called Lisée, was born in Lafayette Parish in October 1842, Toussaint in September 1844, Michel V in February 1849, and Joachim in December 1851.  Their daughters married into the Broussard, Louvière, and Simon families.   Most, if not all, of Michel IV's sons settled out on the St. Landry prairies along Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé. 

Lisée married cousin Scholastique, called Colastie and Scolatie, daughter of Charles Simon and his Acadian wife Perrosine Leger, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1861. 

Toussaint married Éloise or Louise, daughter of fellow Acadians Julien Louvière, fils and Zephiline Hébert, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in April 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1870.  Their son Duplessis was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1868. 

Michel V married Aurelia, daughter of fellow Acadian Valsin Trahan and his French-Canadian wife Adveline Primeaux, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in August 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1870.  They settled near Youngsville.  Their son Valsain was born in October 1868. 

Joachim married Marie Mathilde, called Mathilde, daughter of Lessin Simon and his Acadian wife St. Clair Landry, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in February 1868, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in March 1870.  Their son Eucharis was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1868, and Joachim, fils near Church Point in April 1870. 

4b

Onésime likely married fellow Acadian Marie Marcellite Trahan at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1846.  Their son Pierre was born near Grand Coteau in March 1850, Joseph near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in October 1854, and Onésime, fils in August 1861.  Their daughters married into the David (probably Creole, not Acadian), Duhon, and Istre families. 

5

Augustin, born at Attakapas in January 1796, married Marie Emeranthe, called Emeranthe, 20-year-old daughter of German Creole Jean Meche and his Acadian wife Rosalie Savoie, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1821.  Their son Augustin, fils was born near Grand Coteau in July 1825, Treville in July 1827, Zéphirin in April 1832, and Placide le jeune in May 1838.  Their daughters married into the Miller, Prejean, and Sonnier families.  Augustin, père died near Grand Coteau in February 1860; the priest who recorded the burial said that Augustin died "at age 67 yrs."  He was 64.  His succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, later in the month. 

5a

Treville married fellow Acadian and cousin Elisa or Eliza Savoy at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1848.  Their son Émile was born near Grand Coteau in January 1854, Auguste le jeune in August 1859, and Jean Treville in December 1864.  Their daughters married into the Guidry and Smith families. 

5b

Augustin, fils married Célestine, daughter of Isaac Kennison and his Acadian wife Marguerite Savoie, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1852.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their child, name and unrecorded, perhaps a son, was born in December 1853 but died the following February, son Stanislas was born in October 1859 but died at age 7 1/2 in August 1867, Telesphore was born in February 1861, Augustin III in September 1862, and Homer in March 1866.  Their daughter married a Leger cousin.  During the War of 1861-65, Augustin, fils may have served in Company A of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry with younger brother Zéphirin. 

5c

Zéphirin married Félicia, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Richard and his Creole wife Marie Andrus, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1856.  Their son Jean Telismar, called Telismar, was born near Grand Coteau in September 1860 but died at age 5 1/2 in July 1866, and Alcide was born in September 1866.  During the War of 1861-65, Zéphirin served in Company A of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Zéphirin enlisted in April 1862, and a daughter was born back at Grand Coteau the following December, the day after Christmas, while he was fighting in the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, north of Vicksburg.  Zéphirin survived the battle, was captured with his unit at Vicksburg in July 1863, accepted a federal parole, and went home to wait for an exchange.  After the war, he and his family settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, where he is buried. 

6

Henry, born at Attakapas in July 1801, probably died young.

7

Youngest son Placide, born at Attakapas in December 1805, married Marie Azélie or Azélie Marie, daughter of Joseph Matte and Esther Bellard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1834.  Their son Numa was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 2 months, in April 1835, Alcide was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1836, Placide, fils near Grand Coteau in October 1840, Louis Prosper in August 1847, twins Edmond and Simon near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in December 1851, and Jean near Grand Coteau in November 1861.  Their daughters married into the Araby, Bergeau, Ledoux, Richard, and Winn families.  Placide, père's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in May 1864; he would have been age 59 that year. 

7a

Numa married Hyacinthe, daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Séverin Richard and Célasie Thibodeaux, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1852.  Their son Joseph Numa was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in October 1853, Pierre Elma near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in January 1859, and Louis Vileor in August 1861.  During the War of 1861-65, Numa served in Company F of Miles' Legion Louisiana Infanty, raised in Orleans Parish.  While serving at Port Hudson, he contracted rubella and was taken to the Confederate hospital in Woodville, Mississippi, where he died on 14 March 1863, age 28.  He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Woodville.  His post-mortem succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in February 1868.  His widow remarried to a fellow Confederate, Joseph Julien Doucet, fils, who, family tradition says, had promised to raise Numa's children. 

7b

Alcide married Célestine Doucet, perhaps a fellow Acadian, , in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1858, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, the following June.  Their son Alcide, fils was born near Grand Coteau in August 1860. 

7c

Placide, fils may have married French Canadian Eugénie Simar in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1864.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  During the War of 1861-65, Placide, fils served in Company B or D of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Reserve Corps, a local-defense unit raised in St. Landry Parish that fought against local Jayhawkers.  He survived the war and returned to his family. 

7d

Louis Prosper married Marie Desi or Dezie, daughter of Jean Baptiste Arnet or Arnest and Madeleine Dufrene, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1867.  Louis Prosper remarried to Virginie, daughter of Eugène LeBoeuf and his Acadian wife Marie Louise Lejeune, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1868, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church the following May. 

7e

Edmond married cousin Maria Azéma, daughter of fellow Acadian Augustin Leger and his Creole wife Célestine Kennison, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1870. 

Descendants of Louis LEGER (c1769-1843; Jacques dit La Rosette, Jean)

Louis, second son of Michel dit Richelieu Léger and Angélique Pinet, was born probably on Île Miquelon in c1769.  Soon after his birth, his parents took him to La Rochelle, France, where his father died.  Spanish officials counted him with his widowed mother and two brothers at Nantes in September 1784.  He followed his widowed mother and a younger brother to Louisiana aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships, in 1785.  After older brother Michel, fils joined them in New Orleans, they crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Opelousas District, where Louis married Anne, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Doucet and Anne Landry of Attakapas, in January 1792.  They settled near his older brother Michel on upper Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé.  Their daughters married into the Daigle (German Canadian, not Acadian), Grabeau or Grabot, Jeany or Janise, LeBoeuf, Matte, and Richard families.  Most of his many sons settled in what became St. Landry Parish.  Louis died in St. Landry Parish in September 1843; the priest who recorded the burial said that Louis died "at age 74 yrs."; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in November. 

1

Their oldest son, name unrecorded, died at Opelousas a few days after his birth in April 1788.  

2

Louis, fils, born at Opelousas in November 1792, died in St. Landry Parish in January 1813, age 20.  He probably did not marry.  

3

Jean-Narcisse, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in November 1794, may have married fellow Acadian Modeste Prejean.  Their son Diogène was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1822.  Jean-Narcisse does not appear with his siblings in his father's succession in September 1843, so he may have died by then. 

4

Michel le jeune, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in August 1798, married Céleste or Célestine, daughter of Joseph Matte and Esther Bellard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1821.  Their son Michel, fils, perhaps also called Louis Michel, was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1826, Jérôme in September 1827, Célestin in June 1829, Joseph in September 1833, Jean Geran near Grand Coteau in January 1840, and Placide le jeune in October 1844.  Their daughters married into the Carriere, Daigle (German Canadian, not Acadian), Fontenot, and Richard families.  Michel le jeune's first succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in May 1850; he would have been age 52 that year; a second succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in February 1854. 

4a

Jérôme married Erma or Irma, daughter of Joseph Étienne Daigle and Marie Amante Fontenot, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1848.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their son Joseph Gusman was born in January 1853, and Gustave in December 1856.  Their daughter married into the Ledoux family. 

4b

Célestin married Eugènie, daughter of fellow Acadian Valcourt Savoie and his Creole wife Eugènie Rattel, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1850.  Their son Michel le jeune was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1851, and Martin near Opelousas in July 1859.  Célestin's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in September 1865; he would have been age 36 that year. 

4c

Joseph married cousin Olive or Oliva, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexandre Richard and Eloise Leger, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1854.  Their son Louis was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in January 1862.  Their daughter married a Leger cousin.  Joseph died near Church Point in August 1865; the priest who recorded his burial said that Joseph died "at age 30 yrs."; he was 31; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in February 1866.  One wonders if his death was war-related. 

4d

Louis Michel married Hyacinthe, another daughter of Joseph Étienne Daigle and Marie Amante Fontenot, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1853, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1855.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their son Stanislas was born in August 1858.  Louis Michel remarried to Anaïse, daughter of German Canadian Étienne Daigle, a first cousin of his first wife, and his Acadian wife Joséphine Leger, at the Grand Coteau church in July 1861.  They settled near Church Point.  Their son Moyle was born in October 1862. 

4e

Jean Geran may have married French Creole Célestine Bellard and settled in St. Landry Parish by the late 1850s.  He did marry--or remarried to--Estelle, daughter of fellow Acadian Sylvère Thibodeaux and his second wife Céleste Doucet and widow of Onésime Olivier, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1866, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in December.  Their son Armine, a twin, was born near Church Point in July 1867. 

5

Joseph, baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in November 1800, died at age 9 in January 1809.

6

Hilaire, born at Opelousas in January 1802, married Émilie, called Melite, daughter of Pierre Pariseau and Pélagie Bellard, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1821.  Their son Louis Hilaire was born in St. Landry Parish in November 1825, and Zéphirin in April 1830.  Their daughters married into the Doucet and McGee families.  Hilaire remarried to cousin Caroline, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Éloi Doucet and Modestine Carriere and widow of Blaise Lejeune le jeune, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1850.  Their son Eugène, a twin, was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in May 1851.  Hilaire's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in October 1868; he would have been age 66 that year.  

6a

Louis Hilaire, by his father's first wife, married Azéma, daughter of Étienne Daigle V and his Acadian wife Joséphine Leger, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1847, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, the following November.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their son Jules was born in June 1856 but died at age 4 1/2 in November 1860, and Julien le jeune was born in February 1863.  Their daughter married into the Richard family. 

6b

Eugène, by his father's second wife, married cousin Letitia, also called Eleticia, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Leger and Olive Richard, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in September 1870. 

7

Youngest son Julien le jeune, born in St. Landry Parish in June 1812, married Aureline, daughter of fellow Acadians François Richard, père and Hélène Brasseur, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1830.  Their son Julien was born near Grand Coteau in October 1838, and François in May 1850.  They also had an older son named Louis.  Their daughter married into the Berwick family. 

Louis married Joséphine, daughter of William Berwick and his Acadian wife Céleste Lejeune, at the Church Point church, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in November 1854; Louis's sister Marie Azéma married Joséphine's brother William, Jr.  Louis and Joséphine settled at Prairie Hays near Church Point.  Their son Louis, fils was born in July 1859. 

Julien married Azéline, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste Lejeune and Adeline Hébert, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1867, and sanctified the marriage at the Church Point church the following March.  They settled near Church Point.  Their son Joseph was born in December 1868. 

Descendants of Jean LEGER le jeune (c1770-1848; Jacques dit La Rosette, Jean)

Jean le jeune, third and youngest son of Michel dit Richelieu Léger and Angélique Pinet of Port-Royal, born probably at La Rochelle, France, in c1770, followed his widowed mother and a younger brother to Louisiana aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships, in 1785.  After older brother Michel, fils joined them in New Orleans, they crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Opelousas District, where Jean le jeune married Marie, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Savoie and Marguerite Boutin, in August 1796.  Their daughters married into the Bourque, Fontenot, Morin, Teller, and Wood families.  Jean le jeune died near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1848, age 78; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in September 1849.  Two of his three sons married, but only one of their lines seems to have survived. 

1

Oldest son Jean-Valéry, called Valéry and also Jean, fils, born at Attakapas in April 1807, married Marie Louise, called Louise, daughter of Étienne Billardin and Eliza Ritter, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in November 1827.  Their son François was born near Grand Coteau in March 1834 but may have died at age 2 1/2 in January 1837, and Jean Émile, called Émile, was born in December 1838 but died at age 3 months the following March.  Their daughters married into the Diriner, Frederick, Kidder, and Miller families.  Jean Valéry died near Grand Coteau in February 1853, age 45; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in January 1854.  His line of the family, except for its blood, may have died with him. 

2

Dosité, born in St. Landry Parish in June 1809, married Marie Marcellite, called Marcellite, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste Semere and Marie Melançon, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in February 1838.  Their son Jean Baptiste was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in January 1844, twins Dosité, fils and Jacques in May 1854 but Jacques died 8 days after his birth and Dosité, fils died at age 6 1/2 in February 1861, and Félix was born in May 1860 but died at age 2 1/2 in November 1862.  Their daughters married into the Doucet, Fall, and Miller families.  Dosité died near Grand Coteau in December 1865, age 56; his succession, naming his wife, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in July 1866. 

During the War of 1861-65, Jean Baptiste, called J. B. in Confederate records, may have served in Company A of the 29th (Thomas's) Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Jean Baptiste married Corinne, daughter of John William Smith and Carmélite Micta, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1865. 

3

Joachim, born in St. Landry Parish in April 1816, married Marie Élisa, called Élisa, 21-year-old daughter of Narcisse Andrus, originally Andrews, and his Acadian wife Marguerite Prejean, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1838.  Their twin sons Jean Gustave, called Gustave, and Joseph Octave were born near Grand Coteau in September 1838 but Joseph Octave died at age 11 in February 1849, Joseph Valsin, called Valsin, was born in September 1841, Adolphe in April 1844, Joseph in March 1846, and Joseph Andéol in October 1857.  Their daughter married a Prejean cousin. 

3a

Gustave married Ophelie or Ophelia, daughter of Raphaël Meche and his Acadian wife Adèle Boudreaux, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1861.  Their son Joseph Gustave was born near Grand Coteau in January 1870. 

3b

During the War of 1861-65, Valsin served probably as a conscript in Company E of the Miles's Legion Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Tammy Parish, which fought in Mississippi and Louisiana.  He was captured near Port Hudson, Louisiana, in May 1863 and promptly took the oath of allegiance to the United States government.  This being the equivalent of desertion, he probably did not return to his unit.  Valsin married Sylvanie, daughter of Joseph Courvelle or Courville and his Acadian wife Marcelline Thibodeaux, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1865.  Their son Joseph Lucien was born near Grand Coteau in October 1866. 

3c

Adolphe married Louisa or Louisette, daughter of French Canadian Louis Quebedeaux or fellow Acadian Louis Thibodeaux (church records conflict), at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1866. 

4

Their youngest son, name unrecorded, died at "la Prairie du Grand Coteau," St. Landry Parish, age unrecorded, in October 1819 and was re-interred at the Grand Coteau church cemetery the following December.  

~

Other LEGERs on the Western Prairies

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link many Legers in the western parishes with known Acadian lines of the family there.  The priests at Grand Coteau and Abbeville were especially sloppy in their record keeping:

François, son of Jean Leger and Julie David, married Acadian Marcellite Broussard, place and date unrecorded, and remarried to Carmélite, daughter of Acadian Louis LeBlanc, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1837.  Were Jean and François kin to the Acadian Legers in the area?

Apolline, or Pauline, Leger married Anglo American James, also called Jean, Prewitt, and remarried to another Anglo American, Isaac Kennison, widower of Marguerite Savoie, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1839.  Which Apolline was she--Paul or Michel's daughter?  

Mrs. Arsène Leger "of St. Charles Parish" (likely the ecclesiastical parish at Grand Coteau rather than the civil parish on the Lower German Coast just above New Orleans) died near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1848, age 38.  The priest who recorded the burial did not say if "Mrs."'s given name was Arsène, which is sometimes feminine, or if her husband was Arsène Leger.  If it was her husband's name, one wonders who he was.  Or perhaps she Arsène, daughter of Jean Leger of St. Landry Parish, who married a Fontenot at Grand Coteau in 1839? 

Joséphine Leger gave birth to daughter Eugénie N. near Grand Coteau in May 1850.  The priest who recorded the girl's baptism did not give the father's name nor Joséphine's parents' names. 

François Leger married French Creole Anne Deshotels, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Ville Platte, then in St. Landry but now in Evangeline Parish.  Daughter Céleste was born near Ville Platte in January 1855.   

Fler Leger married Caroline Louter, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Joséphine was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in August 1855.  

Placide Joseph, called Joseph, son of Placide Leger and Joséphine Doucet, married Madeleine, daughter of Acadian Joseph Lejeune, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1855.  They settled near Church Point.  Their son Joseph, fils was born in September 1856, Honorius in June 1859, and daughter Marie in June 1863.  Placide Joseph's succession, calling him Joseph P. and naming his wife, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in March 1868.  Placide Joseph must have died years before his succession was filed; his wife Madeleine, called the widow of Joseph P. Leger, remarried in St. Landry Parish in December 1866.  In which Leger family line did this Placide and his son Placide Joseph belong?

Alexandre Leger married Acadian Marie Brassilisse Bourc, probably Bourg, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Marie Joséphine was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in January 1856. 

Joseph Leger married French Creole Marie Alice Gaspard, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Joseph Alcide was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in November 1858, and Adam in December 1866. 

Mirza or Myrza Leger married French Canadian Jean Matte in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1858, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1859.  Neither the parish clerk nor the priest who recorded the marriage gave the couple's parents' names. 

Marie Euladie Leger married Acadian Duplessis Trahan at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in April 1859.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not bother to give the couple's parents' names. 

Joséphine Leger married Alexandre Taylor or Teller in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1862, and sanctified the marriage at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in July 1863.  Neither the parish clerk nor the priest who recorded the marriage gave the couple's parents' names. 

A succession for Anastasie Leger, wife of Washington Rowen, was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse, Lafayette Parish, in September 1865.  Who were her parents? 

Azéma Leger married Julien Simon at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in January 1866.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Joseph Leger married Marguerite Leger, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Azeinee was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1867. 

Jean Baptiste Leger married Azéma Lejeune, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Alicia was born near Church Point in February 1868. 

Simon Leger married Valentine Sonnier, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Marie Laperle was born near Grand Coteau in March 1869, and Célestine near Church Point in November 1870. 

Céleste Leger married Hippolyte Richard in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1869.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Melasie Leger gave birth to son Joseph near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in November 1869.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not give the father's names nor the mother's parents' names. 

Jean Baptiste Leger married Marie Émelie or Émelise Chiasson in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in December 1869.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  Which Jean Baptiste was this?  Daughter Léonie was born in Lafayette Parish in November 1870. 

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Other Légers came to Louisiana from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in 1765, but they did not settle on the western prairies, at least not for a while:  

Jean, 43-year-old son of Jacques Léger and Anne Amireau of Chepoudy and Petitcoudiac, and wife Marie-Madeleine Saulnier, age unrecorded, came to the colony without any children.  They settled at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before.  Marie-Madeleine died by April 1774, when Jean remarried to Cécile, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Poirier and widow of Olivier Landry, at St.-Jacques.  Jean and Cécile had no children, so this line of the family did not survive in the Bayou State.  Nevertheless, Jean and his second wife enjoyed a measure of material success after they came to the Spanish colony; in 1779, they owned two slaves on their habitant along the river.  

Isabelle Léger came with husband Joseph Forest, age 19, and no children.  Isabelle died at St.-Jacques by June 1775, when her husband remarried there. 

Three children of François Léger and Madeleine Comeau of Port-Royal--Marie, age 21; Scholastique, age 19; and Paul, only 7--may have come directly from St.-Domingue with Acadians from Halifax who came through Cap-Français on their way to New Orleans.  Marie married Pierre, son of fellow Acadian Jacques Michel and widower of Marguerite Poirier, at New Orleans in March 1766, not long after they reached the colony; Pierre certainly had lived in St.-Domingue before he came to Louisiana, so he and Marie may have known one another in that colony.  Marie died near Convent, St. James Parish, in May 1826, in her early 80s.  Scholastique married Saturnin Bruno, probably an Italian, at Cabanocé in April 1768 and died at nearby Ascension in the late 1780s.  Brother Paul did not remain on the river.  In the late 1770s or early 1780s, he crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled in the Opelousas District, where he created a western branch of the family.  

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Leger, "cabinet-maker," and his wife died in the massacre at Natchez on 28 November 1729. 

A Léger from Germany settled at New Orleans in the late 1720s or early 1730s, decades before the first of his Acadian namesakes reached the colony.  He moved to the Lower German Coast in the late 1730s or early 1740s.  Other Germans, surnamed Lecher, sometimes spelled Leche, Lede, Lege, Leger, and Legere, settled on the Upper German Coast during the late colonial period:

Thomas, son of George-André Leger and Marie-Gertrude ____, native of Heidelberg, Germany, married Marie-Anne Paquinne or Sclauterbeken by September 1731, when a daughter was baptized at New Orleans.  Their son Thomas, fils, born probably at New Orleans in c1739, died at St.-Charles des Allemands on the Lower German Coast, age 5, in July 1746.  Their daughter married into the Hingle and Rastier families.  Thomas remarried to Marguerite, daughter of French Creole Jean-Adam Matherne of New Orleans, at St.-Charles des Allemands in January 1743.  

Antonin, or Antoine, son of Gabriel Lecher and Efa Belspetren, married Marie-Cécile, daughter of Martin Faite, at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands on the Upper German Coast in July 1787.

Another Antoine Lecher married Marguerite Vilique, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Pierre was born at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands in January 1791, Henrique in April 1793, and Jean-Pierre in July 1795. 

Yet another Antoine Lecher died at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands in November 1791, age 80.  How was he kin to the other Lechers of the Upper German Coast?  Their father?  Their grandfather?  An uncle?

Jacques Lecher married Marie Periou and settled at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands by the late 1780s.  Their daughter married into the Folse family.  He probably was the same Jacques, son of Antoine Lecher and Catherine Bonarbre, who married, or remarried to, Marguerite, daughter of Joachim Percle, at St.-Jean-Baptiste in August 1795.  Their son Jacques, fils was born at St.-Jean-Baptiste in April 1799.  Jean-Adam, by Jacques, père's first wife, married Scholastique, daughter of fellow German Pierre Keller, at St.-Jean-Baptiste in May 1803; Scholastique's mother was a Percle. 

Joseph Leger married Marie Buena, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Ambroise-André was born at St.-Jacques on the Lower Acadian Coast in November 1792.  Was he a German-Creole Leger from St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands, just downriver from St.-Jacques?  

Michel Lecher married Charlotte Periou, place and date unrecorded, and settled at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands by the early 1790s.  Their son Nicolas was born at St.-Jean-Baptiste in February 1796.  Their daughters married into the Muntz and Vickner families. 

Marianne Lecher, wife of Henrique Yensen, died at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands in November 1796, age 38. 

~

During the antebellum period, Legers, or people with similar-sounding surnames, emigrated from France and Mexico to New Orleans, where native Louisianians would have called them Foreign French.  Most of them remained in the city, but a few of them settled on the western prairies near their Acadian namesakes.  A Leger probably from the old German Coast settled on the old Acadian Coast during the early postwar years:

André Leger, a native of the Haute Loire region of France, died in Lafayette Parish in November 1831, age 66.  The priest who recorded André's burial did not mention a wife.  André's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following February.  

Jean-Justin Leger, a 30-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Oscar out of Bordeaux, France, in April 1840. 

Auguste Legay, a 30-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Water Witch out of Veracruz, Mexico, in January 1841. 

Alexis, fils, son of Alexis Lague and Marie Gelino, married Anglo American Letitia Raulin at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1841. 

_____ Leger, a 25-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Water Witch out of Veracruz, Mexico, in March 1846.  With him was Mme. Leger, age 50, probably his mother.  They planned to return to Mexico.  One wonders if they were kin to Auguste Legay who traveled on the same vessel five years earlier. 

François Legere, a 25-year-old tailor from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Caspian out of Le Havre, France, in April 1849. 

Pierre Leger, a 43-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Pyramid out of Le Havre in November 1850. 

Seré Lege, an 18-year-old male farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Arendal out of Bordeaux in June 1852. 

Frédéric Leger and his wife Louise Baker, probably from downriver, settled near Vacherie, St. James Parish.  Daughter Matilde was born there in August 1867. 

~

Afro Creoles named Leger, or something similar, lived in St. Landry and Terrebonne parishes during the post-war period: 

Narcisse Michel Leger married Geneviève Valéry or Volery, "fdw.," or freedwoman, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1866.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  Although the parish clerk did not make note of it, Narcisse Michel likely was a freedman.  He and Geneviève settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish.  Their son Michel was born there in June 1870. 

Gilbert Leget married Nelly Robertson, described as "colored," in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in May 1868.  Gilbert probably was "colored," too. 

CONCLUSION

Legers settled early in Acadia, and they were among the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana.  A widow, a childless couple, and a wife, came to the colony from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, in 1765.  The widow followed her in-laws to the Opelousas District, but the others settled at Cabanocé on the river.  The childless couple remained childless.  Also in 1765, perhaps on the same ship as their relatives, three Leger siblings--two sisters and a brother--came to Louisiana directly from St.-Domingue.  The two sisters married and remained on the river.  In the early 1780s, after he came of age, their brother Paul crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Opelousas District and started a western branch of the family.  Later in the decade, more Legers--three brothers following their widowed mother--came to the colony from France.  They followed her to the Opelousas District, married, and started large families of their own.  Before the War of 1861-65, at least, no Leger lines arose on the river or along Bayou Lafourche, only on the western prairies.  They settled at Grand Coteau, at Carencro, along Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé, especially around Church Point, on Bayou Teche, the Vermilion, and along the Mermentau River in present-day St. Landry, St. Martin, Lafayette, Vermilion, Acadia, Evangeline, and Jefferson Davis parishes. 

Germans named Lecher, their surname sometimes spelled Lege, Leger, and Legere by their francophone neighbors, came to the colony as early as the 1720s and settled on the German Coast above New Orleans.  During the antebellum period, Foreign-French Legers emigrated to Louisiana from France and Mexico; one of them settled on the western prairies near his Acadian namesakes, but no new family line came of it. 

The great majority of Legers in South Louisiana, then, are not German Creoles or Foreign French but descendants of Jacques Léger dit La Rosette, the drummer of Port-Royal, and most of them can be found on the prairies west of the Atchafalaya Basin. ...

The family's name also is spelled Legé, Legee, Legere, Legers.  The Acadian family should be confused not only with the German Lechers of the German Coast, but also with the French Laiches who lived farther down on the Acadian Coast.  [For the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats," see Book Ten]

Sources:  Arsenault, Généalogie, 660-62, 1564-65, 2244-45, 2546-47; Brasseaux, Foreign French, 2:206, 3:186; BRDR, vols. 2, 4, 10; De La Roque, "Tour of Inspection," Canadian Archives 1905, 2A:159-60; De Ville, Ste. Catherine Colonists, 1719-20, 49; Hébert, D., Acadians in Exile, 295-96; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vol. 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Historical Atlas of Canada, 1: plate 29; <islandregister.com/1752.html>; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 204, 249; NOAR, vols. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7; White, DGFA-1, 1041-44; White, DGFA-1 English, 221-22.  

Settlement Abbreviations 
(present-day civil parishes that existed in 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, 16, calls her Isabelle LÉGER.

02.  Wall of Names, 22, calls him Jean LÉGER; Arsenault, Généalogie, the LA section, 2546-47, calls him Jean-Baptiste LEGER, says he was born in 1719 at Chepoudy, says his parents were Jacques [LEGER] & Anne AMIRAULT of Port-Royal, that he married Madeleine SAUNIER in c1739 but gives no place of marriage, gives her parents' names, says he remarried to Anne AMIRAULT in c1750 but gives no place of marriage nor her parents' names, that he remarried again--his third marriage--to Cécile POIRIER, widow of Olivier LANDRY, at St.-Jacques on 26 Apr 1774, but does not give her parents' names, & lists his children as, from his first marriage, Isabelle, born in 1739, & Madeleine in 1741 but gives no birthplaces; BRDR, 2:491, 598 (SJA-1, 45a), the record of his second marriage, calls him Jean-Jacques & Jacques LEGER, "name given as Jean in margin, widower of Anne MIREAU," calls his wife Coecille POIREE, "widow of Olivier LANDRY," does not give his or her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Jean POIREE & Joseph LANDRY.  See also De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 19.  

Only Arsenault calls him Jean-Baptiste.  In other records he is usually Jean.  When he says that Anne AMIRAULT was Jean's second wife, Arsenault is following the record of Jean's marriage to Cécile POIRIER, cited above, in which the St.-Jacques priest erroneously calls him by his father's name & the "widower of Anne MIREAU."  Jean's mother was Anne AMIREAU, so the priest must have misunderstood what Jean had told him.  Where Arsenault gets the marriage year of c1750 for Jean and Anne's imaginary marriage is anyone's guess.  The AMIREAUs were an early family in Acadia, but there is no evidence that any of them made it to LA.  None are found in the South LA church records of this period, including Anne.  

Who was the daughter-in-law Widow FAUREST [FOREST], age 56, in his household in 1777?  It cannot be Isabelle LÉGER because her husband, Joseph FOREST, "widower of Isabelle LÉGER," had remarried at St.-Jacques on 6 Jun 1775.  See BRDR, 2:293.  And isn't it unusual for ones daughter-in-law to be a year older than oneself? Was this Cécile's kinswoman?  Cécile was younger than Jean.  

03.  Wall of Names, 28 (pl. 6R), calls him Jean [LÉGER], & lists him with his widowed mother & 1 brother; Arsenault, Généalogie, 662, the Port-Royal section, calls him Jean-Baptiste & says he was born in c1770, no place given; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 9-8, calls him Jean, son [Agélique PINEL veuve LÉGER's] fils, marin, age 15, on the embarkation list, Juan LÉGERE, su [Angela PINEL viuda LÉGERE's] hijo, on the debarkation list, & Jean LÉGER, her [Angélique PINET widow LÉGER's] son, sailor, age 15, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 23rd Family aboard Le Bon Papa with his widowed mother & 1 brother; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:512, 701 (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.123), his marriage record, calls him Jean LÉGER, calls his wife Marie SAVOY, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "of La Rochelle, France," & that the witnesses to his marriage were Silvain SONNIER, Michel LÉGER [his brother[, Cyrille THIBEAUDO, & Michel BLANCHETE [his stepfather]; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 5:358 (GC Ch.: v.1, p.76), his death/burial record, calls him Jean LEGER, says he died "at age 78 yrs.," but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 5:358 (Opel.Ct.Hse.: Succ. #1448), his succession record, calls him Jean LEGER Sr. but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife. 

The baptismal record of a son, dated 21 Jun 1807, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-B:461-62 (SM Ch.: v.6-A, p.24; SM Ch.: Folio E, p.62), says he was born at Cherbourg.  However, the baptismal records of a daughter & a son, dated 17 Apr 1814 & 10 Apr 1816, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:612, 613 (Opel. Ch.: v.2, p.26; Opel. Ch.: v.2, p.80), say he was born at La Rochelle.  

04.  Wall of Names, 22, calls him Joseph LÉGER.  

05.  Wall of Names, 28 (pl. 6R), calls him Louis [LÉGER], & lists him with his widowed mother & 1 brother; ; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 9-8, calls him Louis, son [Agélique PINEL veuve LÉGER's] fils, marin, age 19, on the embarkation list, Luìs LÉGERE, su [Angela PINEL viuda LÉGERE's] hijo, on the debarkation list, & Louis LÉGER, her [Angélique PINET widow LÉGER's] son, sailor, age 19, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 23rd Family aboard Le Bon Papa with his widowed mother & 1 brother; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:257, 513 (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.37), his marriage record, calls him Louis LÉGER "of Isle Royal, Acadia," calls his wife Anne DOUCET, gives his & her parent's names, calls his father Jacques Michel LÉGER, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Jean DOUCET, ____ MONDON, & Michel BLANCHET [his stepfather]; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 4:316 (Opel.Ch.: v.2, p.38), his death/burial record, calls him Louis LEGER, says he died "at age 74 yrs.," but does not give his parent' names or mention a wife; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 4:316 (Opel.Ct.Hse.: Succ. #1082), his succession record, calls him Louis LEGER m. Anne DOUCET, & lists his heirs as "Heloise m. Mamee JEANNY, d.Louise m. Eugène LE BOEUF (their children are: Célestin, Eugène[,fils], Clementine, Séverin, & Alicide), Julien, Michel, Marie m. Jean MATHE, Hilaire, Melanie m. Lange GRABEAU, Josephine m. Étienne D'AIGLE, fils."

The estimated birth year used here is from his burial record, not the passenger list of Le Bon Papa.  The baptismal records of 2 daughters, dated 5 Sep 1816 & 2 Jul 1818, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:614, 615 (Opel. Ch.: v.2, p.87; Opel. Ch.: v.2, p.137), say he was born on either Île Miquelon or Île St.-Pierre, which was not Cape Breton Island.  Were his parents among the Acadians of the Maritimes who returned to greater Acadia after the Seven Years War & settled on the French-controlled islands of St.-Pierre & Miquelon off the southern coast of Newfoundland, only to be sent by the French back to France in the late 1760s?  Or was he actually born on Île Royale, as his marriage record says?  Historically, it would make more sense that he was born on the French-controlled islands, not British-controlled Cape Breton. 

06.  Wall of Names, 22, calls her Marie LÉGER; NOAR, 2:182, 205 (SLC, B[sic?]5, 190), her marriage record, calls her Marie LEGER, "native of Port Royal in Acadia," calls her husband Pierre MICHEL, gives her & his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were ____ JOURDAIN, Amand PREJEAN, & Nicole LEGER; BRDR, 4:368 (SMI-4, 67), her death/burial record, calls her Marie LEGER, "age about 85 yrs., wid. of Pierre MICHEL," but does not give her parents' names.

For her sojourn in French St.-Domingue, see the footnote for her brother's profile, below.

The Nicole LEGER who witnessed her marriage was no doubt Scholastique, sometimes called Collet and Colastie, her younger sister, who married Saturnin BRUNO at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques a couple of years later and also remained at St.-Jacques.    

07.  Wall of Names, 42, calls him Miguel LEGERE, & lists him singly with the ship's immigrés; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:514 (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.4), his marriage record, calls him Michel LEGER, "single, of Louisbourg," calls his wife Marguerite-Louise BOUTIN, "single, from here," gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Pierre TIBODO, Joseph BOUTIN [her older brother], Jean SAVOIS, & John COLEMAN; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:513, 9:536, 546 (LSAR: Opel.: 1787-zeroxed copy only), another marriage record, calls him Michel LEGER "of Louisbourg, Acadie," calls his wife Marguerite-Louise BOUTIN, gives his & her parents' names, but gives no witnesses to his marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:615 (LSAR: Opel.: 1817), his estate record, calls him Michel LEGER, but does not give his parents' names or mention a wife.  

His link to Michel LÉGER & Angélique PINET is provided by his marriage records, cited above, & the baptismal records of some of his children in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:511 (SM Ch.: v.5, #88), 1-B:460 (SM Ch.: v.6, #1163), & 1-B:461 (SM Ch.: v.6, #1161), which consistently give his birthplace as Louisbourg.  But how could a Frenchman have been born at the former French fortress in c1762, 4 years after the British deported the Acadians from the Maritime islands in 1758-59?  The Seven Years War did not end until early 1763, so his birth at Louisbourg before that time makes little historical sense.  Did his parents leave France &, with British permission, return to Louisbourg during the war?  Or, more likely, did the British capture them somewhere in greater Acadia after the 1758 expulsion & hold them prisoner at the French fortress until 1763? 

Arsenault, Généalogie, 662, the Port-Royal section, profile of Michel LÉGER dit Richelieu, calls him Michel-Prospère, born in c1762, but gives no birthplace.  I have seen this middle name in no primary record, so I will ignore it until I do.  The Arsenault profile of his father goes on to say:  "Arrivé à La Rochelle sur un vaisseau anglais, le Windsor, au mois de november 1762, il se transporta à Miquelon où il se trouvait en 1765 et en 1767, alors que son fils Louis et sa fille Jeanne sont nés.  Il se rendit à Saint-Domingue vers 1768 et il se dirigea de nouveau vers La Rochelle, où il arriva le 23 mai 1769 et où il est décédé.  Sa veuve et ses deux fils, Louis et Jean-Baptiste, arrivérent à la Nouvelle-Orléans, sur le Bon Papa, le 29 juillet 1785, et s'établirent en Louisiane.  So the family got around. 

Why did he take a later ship & not Le Bon Papa with his widowed mother & 2 younger brothers?  Was he a sailor & not in France in early May 1785 when Le Bon Papa left Paimboeuf for New Orleans?  Why was he called an immigré on L'Amitié's passenger list?  Can there be any doubt that this was him? 

His wife was called Marguerite-Louise BOUTIN of Manchac, which was St.-Gabriel on the Mississippi, south of Baton Rouge.  

For evidence of their residing in the Plaquemine Brûlé area, see the burial record of one of their children, dated __ 1791, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:512 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.15), which calls him "Michel LÉGER--'de Plecaminos' (from Plaquemine--presumably present-day Church Point)."  

08.  Wall of Names, 22, calls him Paul LÉGER; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2547, says he was born in 1763; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:514, 634 (SM Ch.: v.4, #32), his marriage record, calls him Paul LEGER, calls his wife Marie-Constance POTIER, gives his & her parents' names, says his parents were "native 'de la neuva Lioneque (from New York), and presently inhabitants of the Opelousas parish," that his wife's parents were "of Havre de Grace," & that the witnesses to his marriage were Jean-Baptiste DOIRON, Olivier GUÉDRY, Jean MUTON dit Le Jeune, & Joseph MODENA; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:514, 634 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-v.7, #48), another marriage records, call him Paul LEGER, "native of 'Nouvelle Yoir' (New York), province of New England," calls his wife Marie-Constance POTIÉ, "native of Havre de Grace, Province of Normandie," gives his parents' names, says he was a major son & that his father was deceased at the time of the marriage, give his wife's mother's but not her father's name, says she was a major daughter, that her mother was deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage were Philippe WISSE, Paul ROQUIGNY, Charles POTIER, François BEGNEAU, & Armand DUCREST; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:616 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.167), his death/burial record, calls him Paul LEGER, "spouse of Costance (Constance) POTHIE (POTIER)," says he "died ... at his home at Gran Coteau, at age 59 years," that he was buried next day "in the parish cemetery," but does not give his parents' names; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:616 (LSAR: Opel.: 1818), his estate record, calls him Paul LEGER, widr. Marie Constance POTIER, but does not give his parents' names; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-B:610 (Opel.Ct.Hse.: Succ. #288), his succession record, calls him Paul LEGER m. Marie Constance POTIER, lists his children as Marie m. David ACKSON, Anastasie m. Christopher STUT, Manette m. Orient PREJEAN, dec. Magdeleine m. Antoine RITTER, Eugenie, Hypollite, Julienne, dec. Alexandre, dec. Lucy, Scholstie, but does not give his parents' names.  See also De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 15. 

For confirmation of his NY birth, see his marriage records, cited above, & the baptismal records of 2 of his children, dated 25 Apr 1799 & 29 Jun 1813, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:511 (SM Ch.: v.5, #143), 2-A:616 (Opel.Ch.: v.1-B, p.586).  His first marriage record seems to be saying that his father was native of NY.  

His arrival in LA in 1765 is predicated on his being listed with his 2 sisters in Wall of Names, 22, as though all 3 of them reached LA at the same time.  His sister Marie was married at New Orleans in Mar 1766.  The Acadians who reached LA in 1766 did not arrive from MD until Sep.  So why is he not in the Cabanocé censuses of 1766 & 1769 with his older sisters?  Where was he then?  Since he was so young & an orphan, with whom did he live?  Moreover, how did exiles from NY end up in LA in 1765 with exiles from Halifax?  Brasseaux, Scattered to the Wind, 23, gives a clue when he says that in 1763 most of the NY Acadians migrated to St.-Domingue, present-day Haiti, "where they shared the fate of their ill-starred confreres from Pennsylvania...."  So the LÉGER siblings may have gone to French St.-Domingue with other NY Acadians, become dissatisfied with the conditions in that hard colony, & joined one of the Halifax parties when it came through Cap-Français in late 1764 or 1765 on its way to New Orleans. 

09.  Wall of Names, 22, calls her Scholatique LÉGER.  Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 171, Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 425, her marriage record, calls her Collet LEGER, calls her husband Saturin BRINOIS (BRUNO)/Saturnin BRUNO, & gives no witnesses to her marriage.

For use of her nickname Collet, see her marriage record, cited above.  A clue to her husband's nationality, though not much of one, is the notation in the record of his marriage to his second wife which says that his parents were Saturnino BRUNO & Margarita SUENI of St. Moranbery, wherever that is.  See BRDR, 2:166 (SJA-2, 13).  Is the name Italian--BRUNO--or French--BRUNEAU?  One thing is certain--the name is not Acadian.  In the marriage record of one of his sons, he is called Pierre-Saturin or Saturnin.  See BRDR, 2:166, 3:178.

For her possible sojourn in Haiti, see the footnote for her brother's profile, above.  

10.  Wall of Names, 22, calls her Scholatique LÉGER; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:613 (Opel. Ch.: v.1, p.157), her death/burial record, calls her Escolastique (Scholastique) LEGER, "originally from Acadie, widow of Joseph JANSONE," gives her parents' names, says they were from Acadie, says "she died following illness at the home of Pierre CARRIERE at le Bois de Malet and received all the sacraments," & that she was buried "at age about 60 years in the parish cemetery."

I have found no marriage record for her & Joseph JEANSONNE, only the reference in her burial record.  The Joseph listed here is the only logical choice between 2 candidates, one born in c1748, 9 years older than she was, the other in Jun 1784, 27 years younger than she was.  The older Joseph JEANSONNE was still a 29-year-old bachelor in 1777, but in 1785 there were 7 "free individuals" in his household.  Was Scholastique the unnamed woman with him in the Opelousas census of 1788, Bellevue District, & 1 of the 2 unnamed white females with him in the Opelousas census of 1796, Bellevue District?  See De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 25; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1785, 28; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 323, 355.

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