Mathieu, son of Louis d'Amours, a conseiller
du Roy, and Élisabeth Tessier of St.-Paul de Paris, was born in
the French capital in c1618. His family, a noble one, was well connected. In October 1651,
at age 33, Mathieu, still single, arrived at Québec with the new Canadian
governor, Lauzon. Less than a year later, in April 1752 at
Québec,
Mathieu married Marie,
daughter of Nicolas Marsolet de Saint-Aignan, a prominent Canadian,
and Marie La Bardide.
In September 1663, at age 45, Mathieu became one of the seven founding members of
the Conseil sourverain de Québec. In November 1672, he obtained
the seigneurie of Matane. He lived to a ripe old age, dying at Québec
in October 1695, age 77. Four of his daughters married into the Charron,
Céloron de Blainville, de Villedonne, and
Testard de Montigny families. Six of the sieur's
sons married, most into prominent Canadian families, and five of them received seigneuries
like their father, not in Canada but on Rivière St.-Jean in greater Acadia.
Mathieu and Marie had 15 children, including nine sons, all born at Québec, seven of whom
created families of their own. At least five of Mathieu's sons
also married into prominent Canadian families and received seigneuries like their father:
Oldest son Nicolas, born in April 1653, lived
for only 10 days.
Louis, born in May 1655, received the seigneurie of Jemseg on
Rivière St.-Jean, present-day New Brunswick, in 1683. In September 1684, he received another
grant of land from two prominent Canadians, this time on the Rivière Richibouctou
in what is now eastern New Brunswick. His name and titles were now Louis
d'Amours,
sieur de Chaffours et de Jemseg. In October 1686, he married Marguerite, daughter of Simon Guyon, at Québec. She bore him three children, including a son, Louis,
fils, born probably on Rivière St.-Jean in c1698. Meanwhile, in
the winter of 1696-97, during the final months of King William's War, Louis
and his younger brother, Bernard, served as officers in Pierre Lemoyne,
sieur d'Iberville's successful expedition against English settlements in
Newfoundland. Louis and Marguerite's
second daughter, Charlotte,
married Bernard-Anselme d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, the half-breed son of
Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, the seigneur of Pentagöuet,
in October 1707. Older daughter Marie-Josèphe married privateer
Louis-Pierre Morpain in August 1709. Louis, père remarried to Anne,
daughter of Acadian Jean Comeau l'ainé, at Port-Royal in January
1708, but she gave him no more children. Louis d'Amours
de Chaffours
et de Jemseg died at Port-Royal in May 1708, in his early 50s, only a few
months into his second marriage.
Mathieu, fils, born in March 1657, received a grant of land on
Rivière St.-Jean between Jemseg and Nashouat in September 1684. He
thus became Mathieu d'Amours, sieur de Freneuse. In October 1786 at
Québec he
married Louise Guyon, sister of brother Louis's wife Marguerite and
widow of Charles Thibault. Mathieu, fils and Louise had five children, all
of them sons, three of whom married into the Léger de La Grange,
d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, and Coutard families.
Mathieu, fils died at the end of October 1696, probably from the
effects of exposure during the defense of Fort St.-Joseph at Nashouat, age
39. According to Mathieu, fils's biographer, the dead
hero's widow "moved to Port-Royal ... when the governor, Monbeton[sic]
de Brouillan, established his headquarters there. There seems little
doubt that during the years she was at Port-Royal she was on intimate terms
both with the governor and with Sieur [Simon-Pierre] Denys de Bonaventure, a
prominent naval captain [and Brouillan's second in command]. This
caused her to be one of the most talked about persons in New France."
Evidently her notoriety did not hurt her standing among the New-French
elite. "In 1708 she was sent to Quebec and there received in high
social circles. Three years later, she reappeared at Port-Royal, now
in English control, having crossed the Bay of Fundy in a birch-bark canoe in
mid-winter with only an Indian and her youngest son to help. She was
given permission to settle there. Soon afterwards a force of English
soldiers was ambushed and that same evening Mme Damours was taken to
safety by a French force, adding weight to the suspicion that she had only
returned to Port-Royal to serve the French cause."
René, born in August 1660, received a grant on
Rivière St.-Jean on the same day his older brother Mathieu received a
similar concession. The younger brother then became René d'Amours,
sieur de Clignancour.
In October 1689, at Québec, he married Charlotte-Françoise, daughter of
Charles Le Gardeur. René and Charlotte-Françoise had seven children, including three
sons, one of whom married into the Guyon dit Despres family.
The date of René d'Amours de Chignancour's death is unknown.
Charles, born in March 1662, married Marie-Anne,
daughter of François Genaple, at
Québec in January 1688. By the late 1690s he was
living on a seigneurie on Rivière St.-Jean, where his three older brothers had concessions.
This gave him the title of sieur de Louvières. Marie-Anne gave
him four children, including two sons who married into the Rouer de Villeray, Morel de La Durantaye, and Renoyer families, all
prominent in Canada. His two sons also called themselves de Louvières.
In 1697, Charles remarried to Anne-Marie, daughter of Acadian Pierre Thibodeau,
pioneer of the settlement at Chepoudy. Anne-Marie gave him 10 more
children, including four sons who married into the Catalogne, Tonty,
Couillard dit Despres, Pelletier, Boulogne, and Richaume
families; two of Charles's sons by this second marriage also called themselves
de Louvières. One of them, Pierre de Louvières,
born at Ste.-Foy, near Québec, in February 1712, became a cadet in the
troupes de la marine and was stationed at Illinois, part of upper
Louisiana, in c1736, where he married the daughter of a senior officer in
c1743. He settled at Prairie-du-Rocher, Illinois, died there in May
1768, age 56, and was buried in the church there. Charles, meanwhile,
drowned in 1716 at age 54, probably at Québec. Most of Charles's
children from both marriages were born at Québec and Ste.-Foy, so he probably did not reside for very long on his
seigneurie at Rivière St.-Jean.
Joseph-Nicolas, born in May 1664,
never married and died at Quebec in November 1690, only 27 years old.
Claude-Louis, born in January 1666,
died at three months old.
Bernard, born in December 1667,
also received a seigneurie and
became Bernard D'Amours, sieur de Plaine or Des Plaines. He married first to Jeanne, daughter of former Acadian
governor Alexandre Le Borgne de Belisle, at Port-Royal in September
1697, after he had served as an officer with his older brother, Louis, in
Iberville's successful expedition against
English settlements in Newfoundland. Jeanne gave Bernard five children, including four sons, but only one of them married, twice,
into the Boucher de Montbrun and Coulon de Villiers
families. In November 1716 at St.-Thomas de Montmagny, Bernard
remarried to Élisabeth, daughter of Jacques Couillard dit
Despres. She gave Bernard 10 more children, including two sons who
married into the Vallerand, Joncas, and Belanger families.
Youngest son Philippe, born in
February 1680, married first to Marie-Madeleine, daughter of Pierre Mesnage,
at Québec in February 1722. In March 1728, at Beauport, he remarried
to Marie-Anne-Louise, daughter of Ignace Juchereau. He died in
February 1747, age 67.
According to Acadian genealogist Bona
Arsenault, the Louvières of Louisiana are descended from
Mathieu d'Amours, sieur de Matane's third son, Mathieu, fils, sieur
de Freneuse, whose second son, Louis de Chauffours,
born either in Québec or on Rivière St.-Jean in c1689, married Ursuline,
daughter of Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin and his first wife
Mathilde, in c1715, probably
at Port-Royal. Ursuline's father was the famous capitaine de
sauvages and Abenaki chief who terrorized New
England during the late 1600s. Ursuline's mother was daughter of an Abenaki chief, so Ursuline was what the French called a métis.
Ursuline's brother, Bernard-Anselme, also was a hero of the struggle against
the English, leading Abenaki warriors against the hated enemy in two
colonial wars. One of Louis and Ursuline's sons, Jean-Baptiste,
evidently used the honorific de Louvière like his cousins. Jean-Baptiste
d'Amours dit de
Louvière married
Geneviève, daughter of Acadians Michel Bergeron dit de Nantes of
Port-Royal and his second wife Marie Dugas, sometime in the late
1740s. Jean-Baptiste and Geneviève settled at Ste.-Anne-du-Pays-Bas on Rivière St.-Jean, present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick. All of the Acadian Louvières
of Louisiana descend from three of their sons.
[For more of this family in
pre- and post-dispersal Acadia and Canada, see
Book Three]
LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT
[For the family's travails
during the Great Upheaval, see
Book Six]
LOUISIANA: RIVER
SETTLEMENTS
In late 1764 and early 1765, dozens of
Acadians from Halifax migrated to Louisiana, arriving in several expeditions in 1765. Jean-Baptiste
d'Amour
dit
de Louvière of Rivière St.-Jean was not among them. He died
either before his family could get away from Halifax or on the long voyage
through St.-Domingue to the lower Mississippi
Valley. His widow, Geneviève Bergeron, age 35, continued on to
Louisiana with six of their children--Charles, age 15; Jean-Baptiste, age
10; Anastasie, age 8; François, age 6; Isidore, age 2; and infant Susanne.
Geneviève took her children to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New
Orleans where 20 Acadians from Georgia had settled the year before.
Charles and Jean-Baptiste remained on the river, but François, Isidore, and Anastasie
moved elsewhere.
Descendants of Charles
LOUVIÈRE (c1750-?; Mathieu, père, Mathieu, fils,
Louis)
Charles, oldest son of Jean-Baptiste d'Amour dit
de Louvière and Geneviève Bergeron, born probably on Rivière St.-Jean in c1750,
followed his family into exile in Massachusetts in the late 1750s and on to
the prison camp at Halifax in the early 1760s. He came to Louisiana
via St.-Domingue in 1765 with his widowed mother and siblings and followed
them to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques, where he married
Anne-Élisabeth or
Anne-Isabelle, daughter of fellow Acadians Jacques Melançon and
Marguerite Broussard of Annapolis Royal,
in the early 1770s. Their daughters married into the Clouâtre,
Godin, and Rouillier families. One of his sons settled
on upper Bayou Lafourche, but his other married son remained in what became
St. James Parish.
1
Oldest son Jean Louis, called Louis,
baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in July 1776, married cousin
Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Melançon and Félicité
Landry of Lafourche,
at St. Jacques in September 1804. They moved to upper Bayou
Lafourche by the early 1810s and created another center of family
settlement.
2
David, baptized at
St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in November 1781, probably died young.
3
Jean-Baptiste le jeune,
called Baptiste, born probably at St.-Jacques in c1782,
married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Marcel LeBlanc and
Marie Madeleine Bourgeois, at St.
Jacques in June 1804. Their son Désiré was born in Ascension
Parish in January 1809 but died near Convent, St. James Parish, at age 3 1/2
in September 1811, Jean Baptiste Vasseur, called Vasseur, was born in St. James Parish in September 1814, Evariste near
Convent in August 1816, Jean Marcellin, called Marcellin or
Marcellus in August 1820 but died at age 11 in August 1831, and Louis
Victorin was born in July 1824. Their daughters married into the
Bourgeois,
Champic, Dugas, Melançon, and Ramirez families. Jean Baptiste died near
Convent, St. James Parish, in October 1824, age 42.
In September 1850, the federal census taker in St. James Parish counted 3
slaves--a male and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 20 to 14--on
Widow J. Bte Louvières's farm next to Vasseur Louvières in the
parish's eastern district; these probably were the slaves of Baptiste's
widow, Marguerite LeBlanc. In June 1860, the federal census
taker in St. James Parish counted 3 slaves--all females, all black, ages 30,
4 and 2--on Widow J. B. Louvière's farm next to Vavasseur Louvière
in the parish's East Bank 4th District.
3a
Evariste married cousin Mathilde,
daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Baptiste
LeBlanc and Marie Cléonise Gaudin, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in October 1837.
Their son Jean Baptiste Aristide, called Aristide, was born near Convent in
November 1839, Evariste, fils in Ascension Parish in January
1845, Joseph Ernest, called Ernest, in January 1846 but
died near Convent at age 9 in September 1855, Laurent died in
Ascension Parish at
age 18 months in April 1852, and François Thibeaux was born in
May 1855. Their daughters married into the Bergeron, Brooks, and
Guidry families. Evariste remarried to cousin Carmélite, daughter of
fellow Acadian Marcellin LeBlanc and Arthémise Landry, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension
Parish, in October 1856, and, at age 49, remarried again--his third marriage--to
Amelie, daughter of fellow Acadian Séverin Duhon and Rosalie
Part and widow of
Bertrand Lanigrasses, at the Convent church in October 1865. Their son Joseph
Villère was born near Convent in July 1866, and Joseph Sidney
in November 1868 but died at age 9 months in September 1869.
Aristide, by his father's first
wife, married cousin Olive, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel
Gaudin and Scholastique Hébert, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in February
1860; they had to secure a dispensation for second and third degrees
of consanguinity in order to marry. During the War of 1861-65,
Aristide served in Company E of the St. James Regiment Militia
and may have served in the Pelican Artillery, also called the 5th
Battery Louisiana Light Artillery, raised in St.
James Parish, which fought in Louisiana. If he was the
A.
Louviers who served in the battery, he was captured during
operations along lower Bayou Teche in April 1863. Soon after
his capture, the Federals sent him to New Orleans to be exchanged,
and there his Confederate service record ends.
3b
Jean Baptiste Vasseur
married Eméranthe dite Mirande, daughter of George Laudenbach
and his Acadian wife Euphrosine Lanoux, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in December 1838. Their son Victor was born near
Convent in October 1839, Donat Marcellus, called Marcellus, in July 1841, Joseph
Amédée
in July 1843, Désiré Joseph or Joseph Désiré in
January 1846 but died at age 18 months in October 1847, and Auguste
was born in November 1852. They also had a son named
Douradon or Douradou. In September 1850, the federal
census taker in St. James Parish counted 3 slaves--2 males and a female,
all black, ranging in age from 22 to 4--on Vasseur Louvières's
farm next to Widow J. Bte. Louvières in the parish's eastern
district. In June 1860, the federal census taker counted 8
slaves--1 males and 7 females, all black, ages 31 to 2, living in 4
houses--on Vavasseur Louvière's farm next to Widow J. B.
Louvière in the parish's East Bank Fourth District.
Joseph Amédée married Adélaïde Olivia,
called Olivia, daughter of fellow Acadians Adolphe
Poirier and Rosalie Bourgeois, at the Donaldsonville church, Ascension Parish, in
January 1862. They settled near Gonzales. Their son Joseph Justilien had been born
in December 1861, Amédée Joseph was born
in March
1863 but died at age 2 in August 1865, and Joseph Thuriaf was
born in
January 1867. During the War of 1861-65, beginning in
the summer of 1863,
Amédée served in Company D of the 14th Regiment Confederate
States Cavalry and in Company A of Ogden's Regiment Louisiana
Cavalry, units raised in Ascension Parish that fought in
Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. As the birth of his
younger son revails, he survived the war and returned to his family.
Victor married Oliva,
daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Gaudin and Scholastique
Hébert, at the Convent
church, St. James Parish, in June 1862. Their son Joseph
Victorin was born near Convent in September 1866, a child, name
unrecorded, perhaps a son, died "a few days old" in December 1868,
and François Ulrie was born in January 1870.
During the War of 1861-65,
Douradon served in the Pelican Artillery, also called the 5th
Battery Louisiana Light Artillery, raised in St. James Parish, which
fought in Louisiana. He survived the war, returned to his
family, and married cousin
Claire, daughter of fellow Acadians Édouard Donat Gravois and
Marthe Eurasie dite Razie Landry, at the
Convent church, St. James Parish, in January 1867; they had to
secure a dispensation for third degree of consanguinity in order to
marry. Their son Joseph Arthur was born near Convent in
October 1867, and Joseph Dumas in April 1870.
Marcellus married Marie
Ophelia, daughter of fellow Acadians Trasimond Lanoux and
Anaïse Gaudin, at the
Convent church, St. James Parish, in February 1870.
4
Youngest son Daniel died at St.-Jacques,
age unrecorded, in June 1795.
Jean-Baptiste LOUVIÈRE,
fils (c1754-?; Mathieu, père, Mathieu, fils,
Louis)
Jean-Baptiste, fils, second son of Jean-Baptiste
d'Amour dit
de Louvière and Geneviève Bergeron, born probably on Rivière St.-Jean in c1754,
followed his family into exile in Massachusetts in the late 1750s and on to
the prison camp at Halifax in the early 1760s. He came to Louisiana
via St.-Domingue in 1765 with his widowed mother and siblings and followed
them to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques. In August 1777, Spanish officials
counted him at nearby Ascension, where he was working as an engagé,
or hired hand, in a French surgeon's household on the right, or west, bank
of the river. Jean-Baptiste, fils may not have married.
~
Other LOUVIÈREs on the River
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link at least some Louvières on the river with known Acadian lines of
the family there:
A child, name and age unrecorded,
died near Convent, St. James Parish, in September 1868. The priest who
recorded the burial did not give the child's parents' names.
Magloire Louvière died in
Ascension Parish in October 1870. The Donaldsonville priest who
recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names, said
that Magloire died at "age 8 years."
LOUISIANA: WESTERN
SETTLEMENTS
In the late 1770s, the two younger sons
and the older daughter of Geneviève Bergeron, widow of Jean-Baptiste D'Amour
dit
de Louvière,
crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Attakapas
District and established a western branch of the
family:
Anastasie Louvière, wife of
French Canadian Pierre LeBlanc, died at her home at Fausse Pointe,
then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in October 1815. The
priest who recorded her burial said that Anastasie was age 68 when she died, but she
was closer to 58.
Descendants of François
LOUVIÈRE (c1759-1808; Mathieu, père, Mathieu, fils,
Louis)
François, third son of Jean-Baptiste
D'Amour dit
de Louvière and Geneviève Bergeron, born at Boston,
Massachusetts, in c1759 during Le Grand Dérangement, followed his
family to the prison camp at Halifax in the early 1760s. He came to
Louisiana via St.-Domingue in 1765 with his widowed mother and siblings and
followed them to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.
In the late 1770s, he and younger brother Isidore moved to the Attakapas District,
where François married Marie-Louise,
daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Thibodeaux and Brigitte Breaux
of Peticoudiac, in c1780. They
settled at Fausse Pointe on Bayou Teche. Their daughters married into
the Benoit, Bonin, Broussard, Comeaux, and
Prince families. François remarried to Angélique,
daughter of fellow Acadians Michel
Bourgeois and Anne-Osite Landry and widow of Pierre Arceneaux, at Attakapas in November
1799. She, too, had been born in Boston during Le Grand Dérangement.
Their daughter married into the Robichaux family and settled on upper
Bayou Lafourche. François died suddenly at his home at Fausse Pointe,
St. Martin Parish,
in August 1808, age 48; his succession was filed at
the St. Martinville courthouse the following month. His sons and
grandsons settled in St. Martin, St. Mary, and Iberia parishes.
1
Oldest son Jean-Baptiste le jeune, by his
father's first wife, born probably at Attakapas in c1777 and baptized there, age
unrecorded, in June 1784, died at age 7 in December 1784.
2
Benjamin, by his father's first wife, born at
Attakapas in June 1781, married Louise, called Lise, daughter of French Creole Paul
Bonin of Mobile and Marie Fostin of Illinois, at Attakapas in July 1804. They settled at Fausse
Pointe. Their son Benjamin, fils was born probably at Fausse
Pointe in September 1806 but died at age 9 in July 1815, a son, name
unrecorded, died 7 days after his birth in September 1808, François le jeune was
born in February 1810, Joseph Benjamin in February 1812, Louis Béloni
in May 1816 but died "at his father's house" at age 5 in June 1821,
Paulin was born in September 1818, another son, name unrecorded, died at age 6
months in June 1821, another son, name unrecorded, died at birth in March 1822,
Jean-Baptiste le jeune, also called Vileor, was baptized at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish,
age unrecorded, in September 1823, Germain, also called Delaunay
or Delauney, was born in September 1824, and yet
another son,
name unrecorded, died "at his parents' home" shortly after his birth in
December 1826. Their daughter married into the Dugas family.
In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted a
single slave--a 40-year-old black female--on Benjamin Louviere's farm
at Fausse Pointe. Benjamin died in St. Martin Parish in October 1859; the priest who recorded
his burial said that Benjamin died "at age 84 yrs."; he was 78;
his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in
November. Despite the untimely death of six of his sons, five of Benjamin's sons
created families of their own and settled in St. Martin Parish.
2a
Joseph, at age 33, married first cousin
Louise Emitilia, perhaps also called Marguerite, daughter of fellow
Acadians François Xavier Louvière and Arthémise Hébert,
his uncle and aunt, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish,
in August 1845. Their son Hippolyte was born in August
1851, François le jeune, perhaps their son, in November 1853, and Édouard,
perhaps also their son, in
March 1862.
2b
François le jeune died
in St. Martin Parish in January 1846, age 35. He does not seem to have married. His succession was filed at
the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in April 1847.
2c
Jean Baptiste le jeune
married Marie Carmélite, called Carmélite, daughter of fellow Acadians Paul David
and Renée Marcellite Vincent, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish,
in December 1846. They settled near New Iberia. Their son Jean Baptiste, fils was born
in July 1847, St. Cyr in November 1850, Ulgère in November
1853, Anatole in February 1859, Charles Aubeal in
December 1864, and Léonce in September 1866. In June 1860, the federal census taker in St.
Martin Parish counted a single slave--a 16-year-old black male--on J. B.
Louvièr's farm; one wonders if this was him or a cousin.
2d
Germain/Delauney married Marie Laure or Louise, daughter of
fellow Acadians François Trahan and Anne Reine Labauve, at the New Iberia church in July 1847. Their daughter
married into the Broussard family. Did they have
any sons? Germain, called Delauney by the recording clerk,
at age 44, remarried to Ordalie David, perhaps a fellow Acadian, in a civil
ceremony in St. Martin Parish in March 1868. Their son Joseph Terreole
was born near New Iberia in February 1870.
2e
Paulin, at age 42, married Marie Aurelia,
daughter of Pierre Auguste Molbert and Marie Antoinette
Soine, perhaps an Acadian Sonnier, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1860; one wonders if this was his first marriage.
Paulin died in St. Martin Parish in July 1867, age 48. His line of
the family evidently died with him.
3
Frédéric, by his father's first wife, baptized at
Attakapas, age 7 months, in May 1783, married Pélagie, daughter of French
Creole Jean-Louis Bonin of Mobile and his Acadian wife Marguerite
Prince, at Attakapas in April 1802.
They settled at Fausse Pointe. Their son Frédéric, fils was
born probably at Fausse Pointe in January 1806,
Sylvère, perhaps also called Sylvain,
in June 1807, Donat Evan, called Evan, in
March 1812 but died at age 4 1/2 in October 1816, Moïse was born in
April 1815, a son, name and age unrecorded, died in August 1817, and
Dolze, born in c1817, died at age 3 in December 1820. Their
daughters married into the Bonin, Broussard, Derouen,
Larrive or Larive, and Louvière families. Frédéric, père died in St. Martin
Parish in January 1831, age 48.
3a
Frédéric, fils married Doralise
Marie or Marie Doralise, daughter of Eugène Borel and Manette
Prevost of St. Mary
Parish, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in July 1826.
Their son Frédéric III was born in St. Martin Parish in August
1829, Séverin in February 1834, Adrien in March 1837, and
Jean Melicourt in June 1840. Their daughters married into
the Doty, Landry, and Moore families. In December 1850, the
federal census taker in St. Mary Parish counted 6 slaves--4 males and 2
females, 3 blacks & 3 mulattoes, ranging in age from 50 to 6--on
Frédérick Louvier's farm.
Adrien married cousin Caroline or Coralie, daughter
of Norbert Bonin and Zulma Bonin, at the New Iberia church in May 1854.
Their son Joseph Celicourt was born in July 1856, and Adam
Félix in December 1857. Adrien remarried to Rosalie,
daughter of fellow Acadians Émilien Landry and Rosalie
Dalisene LeBlanc and widow of Pierre
Dugas, at the New Iberia church in February 1866. They
settled near New Iberia.
Jean Melicourt married Marie Alice,
daughter of fellow Acadians Frédéric dit Onésime LeBlanc
and Cécile Landry, at the New Iberia
church in January
1861.
Frédéric III died near New Iberia in
June 1861, age 31. He does not seem to have
married.
3b
Sylvère married Marcellienne
or Marcellite,
daughter of Joseph Derouen and his Acadian wife Marie Solange
Prejean, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1828. They settled near New Iberia. Their son Joseph Alcide,
called Alcide,
was born in November 1838, Jean Baptiste Ferjus, called Ferjus,
in February 1843 but died at age 2 1/2 in October 1845, Joseph died 15 days after his birth in
June 1849, and Sylvestre was born in July 1850. They also
had a son named Octave. Their
daughters married into the Bonin, Broussard, and Rachan
or Rachon families. In October 1850, the federal
census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 7 slaves--2 males and 5
females, all black, ranging in age from 25 years to 4 months--on Silvere
Louvière's farm next to Xavier Louvière at Fausse Pointe. Sylvère remarried to cousin
Marie Virginie, called Virginie, daughter of Barthélemy Bélisaire Bonin
and his Acadian wife Eugènie Bourgeois, at the
New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in
December 1852. Their son
Bélisaire was born in December 1853, Sylvestre Dupré in
February 1855, Homere in August 1858, Filias Léonce in
January 1860, Moïse le jeune in June 1863, Alexandre
Brunair in September 1865, and Jean Vores near Patoutville,
now Lydia, in September 1868. In June 1860, the federal census
taker in St. Mary Parish counted 6 slaves--2 males and 4 females,
perhaps all black, ages 38 to 5--on Sylvestre Louviere's farm in
the parish's western district; this probably was Sylvère.
Alcide, by his father's first wife,
married Julie, daughter of fellow Acadians Alexis LeBlanc and
Marie Sidonie Landry, at
the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish,
in February 1860. Their son Despon Beauregard was born
in January 1862, Philemon in May 1863, and Anatole in
July 1864. During the War of 1861-65,
Alcide, a resident of St. Mary Parish, served in Company C of
the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in
Natchitoches Parish, which fought in Louisiana. His first cousin
Moïse Louvière, fils, also served in that company. Alcide died near New Iberia in December 1865; the
priest who recorded the burial said that Alcide died "at age 25
yrs."; he was 27; his succession was filed at the
Franklin courthouse, St. Mary Parish, in April 1866. One wonders if his death was
war-related.
Octave, by his father's first wife,
married Marie Alzire, daughter of fellow Acadian Marcellin
Broussard and his second wife Ste. Claire LeBlanc, at the New Iberia church in December 1866; the marriage was recorded also
in St. Mary Parish. They settled near Patoutville, now Lydia,
Iberia Parish. Their son Joseph Alcide, who received
his emancipation in January 1888, was born in January 1868.
3c
Moïse married Gertrude
Adeline, called Adeline, daughter of fellow Acadians Jean Lacroix Hébert
and his Creole wife Geneviève Bonvillain, in a
civil ceremony in St. Mary Parish in August 1839. They settled
near New Iberia. Their son
Stanislas was born in August 1840 but died at age 3 in September
1843, Moïse, fils was born in February 1845, twins
Frédéric le jeune and Jean in January 1851, Denis
in October 1857, and Aristide Clovis in January 1867. They also had an
older son named Ducléon.
Their daughters married into the Bonin and Larive families. In December 1850,
the federal census taker in St. Mary Parish counted a single slave--a
17-year-old black female--on Moïse Louvièr's farm.
During the War of 1861-65,
Moïse, fils, a resident of St. Mary Parish, served in
Company C of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Cavalry with his first
cousin Alcide Louvière.
Ducléon married Philomène,
daughter of fellow Acadians Frédéric dit Onésime LeBlanc
and Cécile Landry, at the New Iberia
church in September
1865. They settled near Patoutville.
Their son Stanislas was born in August 1866, and Frédéric
Prevot in September 1869.
4
François-Xavier, called Xavier,
from his father's first wife, born at Attakapas in February 1788,
married Arthémise, also called Susanne, daughter of fellow Acadian
Nicolas Hébert and his Creole wife Louise Bonin of Fausse Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St.
Martin Parish, in April 1814. They settled at Fausse Pointe.
Their son François Hermogène was born in
February 1817, Jean Baptiste Théogène, called Théogène, in December 1820, Louis
Tertule in June
1825, Pierre Galispi or Olypsi in October 1833, and
Joseph Aladin in February 1838. Their daughters married into the
Bonin, Hébert,
Louvière, Mallet, and Oubre families. In October
1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 6 slaves--4
males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 25 to 1--on Xavier
Louvière's farm next to Silvere Louvière at Fausse Point. François
Xavier died in St. Martin Parish in February 1863; the St. Martinville
priest who recorded the burial said that François Xavier died "at age 82
yrs."; he was 75; his record was filed at the St.
Martinville courthouse in October 1865.
4a
François Hermogène married Marie Célestine,
daughter of Côme DeBlanc and his Acadian wife Marie
Landry, at the New Iberia church,
then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in July 1844. Their son Joseph des Paliere
died in St. Martin Parish, age unrecorded, in February 1847. Did
the family line survive?
4b
Jean Baptiste Théogène
married first cousin Marguerite Anaïse, daughter of Frédéric
Louvière, père and Pélagie Bonin, his uncle
and aunt, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in March
1845. They settled near New Iberia. Their son Joseph
was born in June 1851, and Alexandre Adam in May 1864.
Their daughter married into the LeBlanc family. In
June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted a
single slave--a 16-year-old black male--on J. B. Louvier's farm;
one wonders if this was him or a cousin. Marguerite Anaïs, called
Mrs. Théogène Louviere, died near New Iberia in July 1865; the
priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any
parents' names, said that she died "at age 40 yrs."; her succession, calling her husband Théogène, was filed at the Franklin
courthouse, St. Mary Parish, in October 1866. Jean Baptiste
Théogène, at age 45, remarried to Marie Olive, called Olive, daughter of fellow
Acadians Alexis LeBlanc and Marie Sidonie Landry, at the New Iberia church in November
1866. Their son Magloire was born near Patoutville, now
Lydia, Iberia Parish, in October 1869.
4c
Louis Tertule died in St. Martin
Parish in March 1848, age 22. He probably did not marry.
His succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the
following November.
4d
Pierre Olypsi married Carmélite,
daughter of fellow Acadians Frédéric LeBlanc and Cécile
Landry, at the New Iberia
church in April 1854.
They settled near New Iberia. Their son Alex, perhaps also
called Alexis, was born in April 1855 but may have died at
age 11 in July 1866, and Louis Zerthur was born in January 1859.
During the War of 1861-65,
Olypsi, as he was called in Confederate records, served in Company E
of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in
Lafayette Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi. He
survived the war and returned to his family.
4e
Joseph Aladin married
Henriette Eléonore, daughter of Henry Ransonnet and Marie Estelle
Bonin, at the New
Iberia church in July
1865.
5
A son, by his father's first wife, name and age
unrecorded, died at Attakapas in November 1796.
6
Youngest son Émilien, by
his father's second wife, born at Attakapas on Good Friday, 1801, died young.
Descendants of Isidore
LOUVIÈRE (c1763-?; Mathieu, père, Mathieu, fils,
Louis)
Isidore, fourth and youngest son of
Jean-Baptiste D'Amour dit de Louvière and Geneviève Bergeron,
born at Boston in c1763 during Le Grand Dérangement, was taken to the
prison camp at Halifax soon after his birth. He came to Louisiana via
St.-Domingue in 1765 with his widowed mother and siblings and followed them
to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans. In the late
1770s, he and older brother François moved to the Attakapas District,
where Isidore married Françoise,
daughter of fellow Acadians Firmin Landry and Théotiste Thibodeaux, in November 1787.
They also settled at Fausse Pointe on Bayou Teche. Their daughters
married into the Granger and Steven families. Isidore,
at age 49,
remarried to Marie, daughter of Simon Picard and Marie Doré of
St.-Charles des Allemands and widow
of Jacques Touchet, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish,
in August 1812.
They settled on the lower Vermilion River. Their daughter married into
the Abshire family. Isidore's sons and grandsons settled in St.
Martin, St. Mary, St. Landry, Lafayette, and Iberia parishes.
1
Oldest son Julien, by his
father's first wife, born at Attakapas in c1788, married Éloise or Héloise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Granger
and Marguerite Landry
of Prairie Sorel, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in
October 1816. They settled at Côte Gelée in what became Lafayette
Parish. Their son Julien,
fils was born in March 1820, Joseph le
jeune in July 1821 but died "at this father's house" at age 4 in July 1825,
and David Clairville, called Clairville, was born in August 1829. Their daughters married
into the Lalande, Leger, Lormand, Mire, and
Trahan families. Julien, père died probably at his home at Côte Gelée
in January 1848, age 60.
1a
Julien, fils married
cousin Marie Zépheline, Zéphiline, or Joséphine, daughter of fellow Acadians François Hébert
and Domicile Granger, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1839. Their son Joseph
le jeune was born near New Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in
Iberia Parish, in October 1841. Their daughter married into the
Leger family.
Joseph le jeune
married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Leger
and Marguerite LeBlanc and widow of Gerasin Broussard, at the Youngsville church,
Lafayette Parish, in December 1866.
1b
Clairville, age 19, was
assigned "a tutor," as per his father's post-mortem succession,
in May 1848. He married fellow Acadian Marguerite Zoë Mire
in c1849 and settled near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish. Their
son Damase was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1855,
Jules near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in November 1858, and
Placide in July 1861. Their daughter married into the
Lormand family.
2
Louis, by his father's first wife, baptized at Attakapas,
age 2, in April 1795, married Marie Azélie, daughter of fellow Acadians Vital
Landry and Pélagie Mire of Côte Gelée, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin
Parish, in October 1818. Did they have any children? In December
1850, the federal census taker in St. Mary Parish counted 5 slaves--all
females, all black, ranging in age from 30 to 6--on Louis Louviere's
farm. In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish
counted 7 slaves--1 males and 6 females, all mulattoes except for 1 black,
ages 22 years to 6 months--on Louis Louvièr's farm.
3
Joseph, by his father's first wife, born at Attakapas in August 1798,
married Delphine Séraphine, also called Adèle, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph
Broussard and Constance LeBlanc of Fausse Pointe, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin
Parish, in April 1821. They settled at Côte Gelée and at Île aux
Cannes. Their son Joseph, fils was born probably at Côte Gelée
in April 1822, Édouard in November 1824, a son, name unrecorded, died
"at his parents' home" at La Petite Ance, age 2 months, in November 1829,
Théodule was born in November 1832, Paulin in June 1835 but died
at age 10 months in April 1836, Jean Osémé, called Osémé,
was born near New Iberia in May 1839, and Clet or Clayton in September
1843. Their daughters married
into the Borel, Delhomme, Hébert, Landry, Maillard or Mayer,
Savoie, and Sonnier
families. Joseph's succession was filed at the Franklin
courthouse, St. Mary Parish, in August 1852; he would have been age 54 that year; it evidently was not a post-mortem succession. Joseph may
have died near New Iberia, Iberia Parish, in July 1870; the priest who
recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or
mention a wife, said that Joseph died "at age 76 yrs."; this Joseph
would have been a month shy of 72, but who else could it have been?
3a
Édouard married cousin Marie Élina, Helena, or
Héloise, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Granger and Julienne
Louvière, at the
Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1844. Their son Joseph le jeune was born in
Lafayette Parish in April 1845, Éloi in August 1851, and Félix
in August 1858.
Joseph le jeune married
Alexandrine, daughter of fellow Acadian Eusèbe Hébert and
his Creole wife Eléonore Robin, in a
civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in September 1867. Their
son Édouard was born in Lafayette Parish in October 1868, and
Eusèbe in August 1870.
3b
Joseph, fils married
Victoire Sidalise, daughter of fellow Acadians François Prince
and Rosalie Savoie, in
a civil ceremony in St. Mary Parish in July 1847 or 1848.
3c
Jean Osémé, called Osémé, married Marie Azélie, Zélie, or Azélina Lantier, also called
Duhon, probably in Lafayette
Parish in the late 1850s. Their son Jean, fils was born in
Lafayette Parish in June 1866, and Joseph Olepse in December
1868. During the War of 1861-65,
Osémé, along with a younger brother, served in Company E of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish,
which fought at Vicksburg,
Mississippi. As the birth of his sons show, he survived the war
and returned to his family.
3d
During the War of 1861-65,
Clayton served with older brother Osémé in Company E of the 26th
Regiment Louisiana Infantry. After the war, Clayton settled at
Rayne in present-day Acadia Parish.
4
Rosémond, by his father's first wife, born at St.-Jacques on the
river in December 1801, married Marie Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph
Breaux and Marie Madeleine Melançon and widow of Joseph Lalande, at the St. Martinville
church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1825. Their son Osémé was
baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 5 months, in
August 1826 but died a few weeks later, and Théodule was born in St.
Martin Parish in July 1827. They also had a son named Joseph
Théodule, unless he was Théodule. Rosémond remarried to Charlotte
Lormand or Normand, place and date unrecorded, and settled in Lafayette Parish. Their
daughter married into the Leleux family. At age 65, Rosémond
"of Manchac," as the recording priest called him, remarried
again--his third marriage--to Amelina, daughter of French Creole Balthasar
Delahoussaye and Modeste Champagne and widow of Jean Louis Picard, at the St.
Martinville church in February 1866.
Théodule, by his father's first wife, married fellow Acadian Julie
Landry probably in St. Martin Parish in the early 1850s. Their
son Édouard Zartur was born near New Iberia in May 1855,
Joseph le jeune in Lafayette Parish in February 1857, and Paulin
in May 1864. A daughter was born to them in April 1866 and
died a week after her birth. Théodule died in Lafayette Parish in
January 1867; the Vermilionville priest who recorded the burial, and who
did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said
that Théodule died "at age 31 yrs.," but he would have been
age 40; his
succession, calling his wife Julie Landry, was filed at
the Vermilionville courthouse two weeks after his death, so he likely
married only once.
Joseph Théodule, by his father's first
wife, called a widower by the
recording priest (but he may have been referring to the groom's father),
married Célestine, daughter of Gilbert Amy and his Acadian wife
Élise Landry, at the St.
Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1864.
5
Youngest son Joachim, by
his father's second wife, born in St. Martin Parish in October 1815, may have died
young.
Other LOUVIÈREs on the
Western Prairies
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link some Louvières in the western parishes with
known Acadian lines of the family there:
Octave Joseph Louvière died
near New Iberia, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, five days
after his birth in August 1841. The priest who recorded the boy's
burial did not give the parents' names.
Joseph Louvière died near
New Iberia in October 1844,
age 12.
The priest who recorded the boy's burial did
not give the parents' names.
Arthémise Damoine Louvière
married Henri Hargroder at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish,
in July 1847. Neither the priest nor the parish clerk who recorded the
marriage gave the couple's parents' names.
In 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 4 slaves--2
males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 35 to 6--on Arthémise
Louvière's farm; she probably was a widow by then. Arthémise, called Phémise, remarried to Aurere Badeau in a civil
ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1862. Again, the parish clerk
who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.
Euphémie Louvière
died in St. Martin Parish, age 5, in September 1852. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give the parents'
names.
Vileor Louvière married
Vores Cory in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in January 1860.
The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's
parents' names.
In June 1860, the federal census
taker in St. Martin Parish counted a single slave--a year-old black
female--on Dumastrait Louvièr's farm.
"Mme. Denyse
Louvière" died "at Gros Chevreuil," east of present-day Breaux
Bridge in November 1860, age 74. One wonders who she was.
Gustave Louvière died near
New Iberia in March or April 1861, age 8 months. The
priest who recorded the burial did not give the boy's parents'
names.
Ellen Louvière married
Anglo American William F. Leming in a civil ceremony in St. Martin
Parish in October 1861. The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did
not give the couple's parents' names. Elina Louvière,
wife of ____ LeMann, died in St. Martin Parish in November
1862, age 32. The St. Martinville priest who recorded the burial did
not give her parents' names. Ellen and Elina likely were the
same person, and the question still remains--who were her parents?
"Anonymous" Louvière
died at age 2 months in St. Martin Parish in March 1863. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give the child's
parents' names.
Fedora Louvière
died in St. Martin Parish, age 3, in July 1864. The St. Martinville
priest who recorded the burial, true to form, did not give her parents'
names.
Adelia Louvière
died in St. Martin Parish, age 16, in November 1865. The St.
Martinville priest who recorded the burial did not give her parents'
names.
Marie Louvière
married Camille LeBlanc, probably a fellow Acadian, in a
civil ceremony in St. Mary Parish in November 1865, and sanctified the
marriage at the New Iberia church in December. The parish clerk at
Franklin called her father Louis but did not give her mother's name.
The New Iberia priest called her parents Joseph Louvière
and Lodoiska Louvière, whoever they may have been.
Was Marie a Larive or Larrive and not a
Louvière?
Volrien, perhaps Valérien,
Louvière married Rosalie Landry, place and date unrecorded, and settled near Patoutville, now
Lydia, Iberia Parish, by the late 1860s.
Célestine Louvière married
Michel Leleu at the New Iberia church, Iberia Parish, in May 1869.
The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's
parents' names.
Joseph, son of Julien Louvière
and Marie Louise Shichneider, probably Schexneider, married
Cora, daughter of Louis Boutté, at the Patoutville, now Lydia,
church, Iberia Parish, in July 1869. Who was Joseph's father Julien's
father? Was he a Louvière? Daughter Anne was
born near Lydia in April 1870.
LOUISIANA: LAFOURCHE
VALLEY SETTLEMENTS
Twenty years after the first of the family came
to Louisiana, a cousin of the D'Amour
dit
de Louvières came to the colony from France in 1785:
Marie-Rose D'Amour, age 24,
crossed aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France,
which reached New Orleans in November. With her were second husband Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Thibodeau,
age 20, and their infant son. They followed most of their fellow passengers to upper Bayou Lafourche. Marie Rose died by November 1804,
when her husband remarried at Assumption.
~
A Louvière from St. James
Parish moved to upper Bayou Lafourche during the early antebellum period and
created a third center of family settlement there. His descendants settled
as far down the valley as the coastal marshes of Terrebonne Parish:
Descendants of Jean-Louis
LOUVIÈRE (c1776-1847; Mathieu, père, Mathieu, fils,
Louis, Jean-Baptiste)
Jean-Louis, called Louis,
eldest son of Charles Louvière and Anne-Isabelle Melançon, baptized at St.-Jacques, age unrecorded, in July 1776, married cousin
Marie Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Charles Melançon
and Félicité Landry of Lafourche,
at St. Jacques in September 1804. They moved to upper Bayou Lafourche
in the late 1800s or early 1810s. Their daughters married into the
Auger, Gautreaux, Labiche, and Pontiff families.
Jean Louis died in Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1847; the priest
who recorded the burial said that Jean Louis was age 66 when he died,
but he was closer to 70. His sons and grandsons settled in Lafourche Interior
and Terrebonne parishes.
1
Oldest son Onésime, born at
St. James in June 1805, married ____ Allain, perhaps a fellow
Acadian, place and date unrecorded. Onésime
died in Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1849, age 45.
He and his wife may have been that rare Acadian couple who had no children.
2
Pierre Evariste, called
Evariste and Varice, born in Assumption Parish in December 1811, married Nicolette
dite Colette,
daughter of fellow Acadians Simon LeBlanc and Julienne Hébert, at the Thibodauxville
church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in February 1837. Their son
Pierre, fils died in Lafourche Interior Parish at age 1 month in January
1838, Henri Valéry was born in January 1846, Evariste Léon in March
1848, and Ludger Armogène in January 1852. Their daughters
married into the Benoit, Domingue, and LeBlanc
families.
Henri married America,
daughter of William Whitney and his Acadian wife Azélie
Gautreaux, at the Montegut
church, Terrebonne Parish, in February 1870.
3
Benjamin, born in
Assumption Parish in May 1817, may have died young.
4
Jean Baptiste Désiré, also
called Pierre Hermogène and Aimé Hermogène, born in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1822,
married Eméranthe dite Méranthe, daughter of fellow Acadian Mathurin
Daigle and his Creole wife Élise Lirette of Terrebonne Parish, at the Thibodaux church, Lafourche
Interior Parish, in February 1846; the marriage also was recorded in
Terrebonne Parish. Their son Henry
Dubrick was born in Lafourche Interior Parish in November 1846, and
Osémé Alphonse in January 1851.
Their daughters married into the Bergeron and Lirette
families. Hermogène died in February or March 1853, age 30; a petition for his succession inventory was filed at the Houma
courthouse, Terrebonne Parish, in April.
Henry married Euphrasie,
daughter of Émile Fanguy and Uranie Chauvin, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish,
in October 1869. Their son James Frederick was born in
Terrebonne Parish in September 1870.
5
Jean Louis, fils died in
Lafourche Interior Parish 10 days after his birth in September 1824.
6
Achille, perhaps his
youngest son, born probably in Lafourche Interior Parish in c1828, married
fellow Acadian Angeline Aureliènne, called Aureliènne, Richard at the Chacahoula church,
Terrebonne Parish, in February 1859. Their son Jean Baptiste Félicien
was born in Lafourche Parish in February 1860. During the War of 1861-65,
Achille served in the Lafourche Parish Regiment of Militia. He was
captured at the Battle of Labadieville in October 1862 and paroled at
Thibodaux soon afterwards. Achille died in Lafourche Parish in August
1865; the Thibodaux priest who recorded the burial said that Achille died
"at age 37 yrs." One wonders if his death was war-related.
Other LOUVIÈREs in the
Lafourche/Terrebonne Valley
Area church and civil records make
it difficult to link some Louvières in the Bayou Lafourche/Bayou Terrebonne valley
with known Acadian lines of the family there:
Norbert Louvière married
Hispanic Creole Uranie Barrios, place and date unrecorded. Their son Alphonse was born in Lafourche
Interior Parish in December 1842.
Marie Louvière's son
Joseph Théophile died in Lafourche Interior Parish at age 9 months in
February 1850. The priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give
the father's name or the mother's parents' names.
Madeleine Louvière, wife of
Paul Galabert, died in Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1850, age
48.
.
A Louvière family that
moved from the river to Bayou Lafourche cannot be linked to other
members of the family in those areas:
Descendants of Pierre
LOUVIÈRE (?; Mathieu, père?)
Pierre Louvière married
Thérèse Grégoire, place and date unrecorded. On 22 August 1814, the notorious smuggler,
Jean Laffite, issued a passport to "Pierre Louvier" at
Barataria. Was this the Pierre married to Thérèse Grégoire?
Was Pierre Acadian?
Horter or Orthaire, born at St.-Jacques in February 1807, married Delphine
Theriot, place and date unrecorded.
Their son Jean Altenor Alcide was born in
Lafourche Interior Parish in September 1835.
NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in
LOUISIANA
Non-Acadians with a
similar-sounding surname lived in colonial Louisiana as early as the 1740s:
Pierre Loubière of St.-Germain-en-Laye,
France, was serving as a soldier at Natchez Post when he died in September 1749.
He probably had no family.
Thérèse Loubière of
Fort Chartres, Illinois, was the widow of Louis-Joseph-Auguste Deverger
when she died at New Orleans, age 38, in February 1792.
Charles Louvièr, husband of
Jeanne Bosonier, died at St.-Jean-Baptiste des Allemands on the Upper German Coast
in February 1800, age 45. The priest who recorded
Charles's burial did not give his parents' names or mention where he came
from.
Jean Loubière,
"age 24 yrs. ... a peddler native of the parish of Estancarbon, District
of St. Gaudin, Dept. of Haute-Garonne, France, died on the habitation of
Leon Gaudet." The St. James priest who recorded the
peddler's burial did not give the date of his funeral, his parents' names,
or mention a wife.
Jean Jacques Loubier
married Philippe Chanfron, place and date unrecorded.
Son Gabriel was supposed to have married Émilie, daughter of Husy
Bracken and his Acadian wife Françoise Hébert, at
the Brusly church, West Baton Rouge Parish, in September 1852. The
recording priest notes, sadly: "this marriage was not celebrated
because of the death of the young woman, 3 days before [the] scheduled
wedding."
~
Louvières who cannot be linked to
Jean-Baptiste
D'Amours dit
de Louvière and his sons, and an Italian
who used the dit d'Amour, settled in South Louisiana
during the antebellum period:
Denis, son of Michel Louvière and Marie Joséphine Louvière,
born in c1776, married Marie
Anne, daughter of German Creole Paul Toups and widow of Antoine
Frederick, at the St. Gabriel church, Iberville Parish, in May 1817, and
remarried to Acadian Marie Henriette Landry, place and date
unrecorded. Denis moved to the western
prairies and died near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in December 1846;
the priest who recorded the burial said that Denis died "at age 70 yrs.."
His wife, called Mme. Denyse Louvière, died "at Gros Chevreuil,"
perhaps Prairie Grand Chevrueil, east of present-day Breaux Bridge, St.
Martin Parish, "at age 74 yrs." in November 1860. Was Denis a French Canadian
who was a cousin of the Louisiana Louvières?
Laurent Noveri dit
Charles d'Amour married Anne Nicolas Longrin, place and date
unrecorded. Their son
Laurent was born in Assumption Parish in May 1819.
François Louvière "of
Montreal, Canada," married Julie Ellender in a civil ceremony in
Lafayette Parish in February 1824. Was François a kinsman of Denis?
Angelie, daughter of a Francois Louvière (the priest who
recorded the girl's baptism gave only the father's name) was born in St.
Martin Parish in May 1845. Was this François and Julie's daughter?
CONCLUSION
The D'Amours, a family of French nobles
from Canada, settled early in Acadia, but not in any of the Acadian communities along the Bay of
Fundy. They settled, instead, on seigneuries granted to them
during the early 1680s along lower Rivière
St.-Jean in present-day New Brunswick. In the 1740s, a grandson of one
of the Rivière St.-Jean seigneurs, Jean-Baptiste D'Amour
dit de Louvière, married into the Bergeron dit
Nantes family on the river.
During Le Grand
Dérangement, Jean-Baptiste and his growing family were held at Boston
and Halifax, and they were among
the earliest Acadians to seek refuge in Louisiana. Sadly,
Jean-Baptiste D'Amour dit de Louvière did not accompany his
family to the Mississippi colony; he died either in Nova Scotia or on the long voyage
from Halifax to
New Orleans in 1764 or 1765.
His widow took their children to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river.
Her two older sons remained there, but in the late 1770s her two younger
sons and a daughter settled on the western prairies, creating a second
center of family settlement. Meanwhile, a female cousin who called herself Damour came to
Louisiana from France in 1785 and settled on upper Bayou Lafourche.
A Louvière from St. James Parish created a third center of family
settlement on upper Bayou Lafourche during the early antebellum period.
By the end of the period, his descendants had settled as far down the valley
as Terrebonne Parish. Throughout the antebellum period, however, the
western branch of the family, concentrated in St. Martin, Lafayette, and St.
Mary parishes, equaled in numbers
the two eastern branches combined.
A few non-Acadian Louvières settled in
South Louisiana during the late colonial and early antebellum periods, but
none of them created large families.
Judging by the number of slaves they owned
during the late antebellum period, members of the family in all three
centers of settlement participated only peripherally in the South's
antebellum plantation economy--a decided contrast to their socioeconomic
status back in greater Acadia. Vasseur Louvière held eight slaves on his east
bank St. James Parish farm in 1860. A hand full of his cousins in St.
Martin and St. Mary parishes owned no more than seven slaves in 1850 and 1860.
Most, including all of the Louvières in Lafourche and Terrebonne
parishes, owned no slaves at all, at least none who appear on the federal
slaves schedules of 1850 and 1860.
Nearly two dozen Louvières served
Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65. Confederate
records reveal no deaths in service among them, though one of them--Alcide
Louvière of St. Mary Parish, a young husband and father who served in
Company C of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Cavalry--died in December 1865, age
27. One wonders if his death was war-related. ...
Interestingly, when Louisiana priests recorded
their baptisms, marriages, and burials, the descendants of
Jean-Baptiste D'Amours dit de Louvière used the
surname Louvière
and sometimes De Louvière but not D'Amours. The family's name
in Louisiana also is spelled Leviere, Loievier, Loubiere, Louvier,
Louvieres, Louvierre, Lubiere, Luvier, Luviere. The members of the
family who did use the original surname preferred the spelling Damour, not
D'Amours. This fairly large Acadian family should not be confused with
the much smaller Larrive or Larive family, created by a
Foreign Frenchman on lower Bayou Teche during the antebellum period;
interestingly, the progenitor of the Larive family in South Louisiana,
Joseph "de Savoie en Pedmont," France, married a Louvière.
[For the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats," see
Book
Ten]
Sources: 1850
U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, St. James, & St. Martin, & St.
Mary
parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, St. James, St. Landry,
St. Mary, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie,
1626-32, 2469-70; BRDR, vols.
1b, 2, 3, 4, 5(rev.), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Crouse, Lemoyne d'Iberville, chap. 6; Dartez, Genealogy, <wdartez.com>;
Davis, W. C., The Pirates Lafitte, 548n9; Faragher, A Great & Noble Scheme, 113;
F. Grenier, "DAMOUR (D'AMOURS) de Chauffours,
Mathieu," in DCB, 1:245,
&
online, source
of quotation; Griffiths, From Migrant to Acadian, 220; Hébert, D., South LA Records,
vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B,
2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies,
251; George MacBeath, "DAMOURS (D'AMOURS) de Freneuse,
Mathieu," in DCB, 1:245-46,
&
online; NOAR, vols. 5, 7; White, DFGA-1, 453-66; White,
DGFA-1 English,
100-01.