APPENDICES

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

ROY

[ROY]

ACADIA

Roy is a common surname in France, so it is no wonder that a number of them came to greater Acadia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  But a descendant of only one of them emigrated to Louisiana:  

Jean Roy, born at Aleurat, France, in c1647, came to Plaisance, Newfoundland, part of greater Acadia, in the early 1670s to work for Thomas Tompique.  Nothing more is known of Jean.  

~

According to Bona Arsenault, Sébastien, son of Jacques Roy and Barbe Raymond of St.-Joseph de Montmédy, Meuse, Lorraine, born in c1690, married Marie, daughter of coastal pilot Nicolas Coste and Madeleine Martin dit Barnabé, at Annapolis Royal in February 1714.  Arsenault says Sébastien died in c1722, no place given, and that his widow remarried to Pierre Boy in c1724.  Acadian genealogist Stephen White calls Sébastien Le Roy dit L'Espérance, calls Marie's second husband Pierre Bois, and says they married at Port-Toulouse, Île Royale, in c1718, so Sébastien must have died soon after he married Marie Coste.  Evidently no children came of the union. 

~

A much younger Jean, son of merchant Edmé-Michel Roy of St.-Nicolas-de-la-Grave, Lectoure, France, born in c1702, also came to greater Acadia and married Marie, daughter of Jacques Blemé and Élisabeth Collin of Plémont, France, at Port-La-Joye, Île St.-Jean, today's Prince Edward Island, in July 1721.  If they had any children, it was not recorded.  

~

Gabriel-Baptiste Roy, born at St.-Roch, Québec, in c1725, died at Port-La-Joye in November 1750.  He probably died before he could marry and start a family of his own.

~

In April 1752, Charles Le Roy, ploughman, native of Paris, age 52, was living at Baie-des-Espagnols on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, with his wife Marie Chauvet, "native of La Cadie," also age 52, and seven children:  Marguerite, age 24; Alexandre, age 22; Charles, age 18; Anne, age 16; Martine, age 14; Alexis, age 10; and Osite, age 7.  Also living with them was Charles's son-in-law, Jean Fournier, age 33, a fisherman and native of Québec, and his wife Geneviève Le Roy, age 26, "a native of La Cadie."  Nearby were son Pierre Le Roy, age 28; and his wife Marie Lejeune, age 24; as well as son-in-law Charles Lejeune, age 2; and his wife Marie Le Roy, age 20.  No member of this family emigrated to Louisiana. 

~

The progenitor of the Acadian Roys who ended up in Louisiana was Jean Le Roy or Roy dit La Liberté, born at St.-Malo, France, in c1651, probably no kin to the other Roys and Le Roys of Acadia.  Jean dit La Liberté, also called Jean dit Le Naigre, married Marie-Christine called Christine, Aubois, also called Hautbois and Dubois, a 21-year-old mixed-blood Mi'kmaq, or Métis, in c1686 likely at Cap-Sable.  Between 1686 and 1708, they had nine children, five daughters and four sons.  Four of their daughters married into the Clémenceau, Comeau dit Grandjean, Girouard, Fontaine dit Beaulieu, and Trahan families.  La Liberté and Christine's four sons also created families of their own:

Oldest son Jean, fils, born in c1691, married first to Jeanne, daughter of Pierre Lejeune and Marie Thibodeau, at Grand-Pré in October 1712.  They had five children, including a son who married a Lejeune cousin at Port-Orléans on Île Royale.  Jean, fils remarried to Françoise, daughter of Martin Corporon and Marie-Josèphe Viger, in c1743, in his early 50s.  Francoise gave him nine more children, including a son who married into the Minet family in Canada long after Le Grand Dérangement.  Jean, fils died at Champlain on the upper St. Lawrence between Québec City and Trois-Rivières in April 1770, age 79.

François, born in c1692, married Marie, daughter of Barthélémy Bergeron dit d'Amboise and Geneviève Serreau de Saint-Aubin, at Annapolis Royal in January 1717.  Their son Abraham, born at Annapolis Royal in c1731, married cousin Anne Aubois at Annapolis Royal probably on the eve of Le Grand Dérangement and emigrated to Louisiana from Halifax in 1765. 

Philippe, born in c1696, married Cécile, daughter of Louis Mazerolle dit Saint-Louis and Geneviève Forest, at Grand-Pré in August 1718.  Philippe may have participated in the Acadian resistance against British rule during King George's War.  He died in 1763 while in exile.  

Youngest son René dit Renaud dit Potvin, born in August 1708, married Marie-Josèphe, daughter of Joseph Daigre and Madeleine Gautrot, probably at Annapolis Royal in c1743.  He moved to Île St.-Jean by the early 1750s, where one of his daughters was born.  He died at St.-François-du-Sud below Québec City in January 1758, perhaps of smallpox, during exile. 

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

In 1755, descendants of Jean Roy dit La Liberté could be found at Annapolis Royal, Grand-Pré and Pigiguit in the Minas Basin, and on Île St.-Jean. 

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

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

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Three descendants of Jean Roy dit La Liberté of St.-Malo and Port-Royal were among the earliest Acadians who found refuge in Louisiana:

Abraham Roy of Annapolis Royal, age 34, a widower, and two of his children--daughter Marie, age 10; and son Sauveur, sometimes called Salvador, age 6--came to Louisiana from Halifax via French St.-Domingue, in February 1765 with the Broussard party: 

Descendants of Abraham ROY (1731-?; Jean dit La Liberté)

Abraham, son of François Roy and Marie Bergeron, born at Annapolis Royal in c1731, married Anne Aubois probably on the eve of Le Grand Dérangement.  With an infant daughter, they escaped the British roundup in Nova Scotia in 1755 and fled to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore, where a son was born in c1759.  They ended up as prisoners at Halifax in the early 1760s.  Anne had died by then, so Abraham was a widower when he came to Louisiana.  He was one of the Halifax Acadians who exchanged Canadian card money for Louisiana funds at New Orleans in late April 1765.  He and his children followed the Broussards to the Attakapas District, where they helped create La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche, but the place did not suit them.  That summer and fall, a mysterious epidemic struck down dozens of their fellow Teche valley Acadians.  Abraham and his children were among the Acadians who fled to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river to escape the epidemic.  They remained at St.-Jacques for two generations.  Daughter Marie married a Sonnier at St.-Jacques in May 1773.  Meanwhile, Abraham, in his late 30s, remarried to Marie-Madeleine, called Madeleine, daughter of fellow Acadians Germain Doucet and his first wife Françoise Comeau and widow of Pierre Gaudet, at Cabanocé in June 1768.  Madeleine gave him another son.  Abraham's sons settled at St.-Jacques, but their descendants did not remain there.  Three of Abraham's grandsons and two of his great-grandsons left the river during the early antebellum period and settled in the old Attakapas District, west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  By the 1830s, no Acadian Roys remained on the river.  

1

Older son Sauveur, sometimes called Salvador, from first wife Anne Aubois, born in c1759 during exile, followed his widowered father into a prison compound at Halifax and to Louisiana.  He married Marie, daughter of André Bourgeois, a Créole, not an Acadian, and Marie Jacobine of St.-Charles des Allemands on the Lower German Coast, at St.-Jacques in May 1780.  Their son Joseph le jeune was born at St.-Jacques in September 1786, Charles in March 1788, François in February 1792, Jean-Abraham in October 1796, and Pierre-Zéphirin in February 1803.  Their daughters married into the Lavigne and Rousseau families.  Sauveur died at St.-Jacques in November 1803, age 45.  Two of his sons and two of his grandsons settled on Bayou Teche. 

1a

Joseph le jeune married Marie Ursule, also called Françoise Ursule and Ursule Paula, daughter of fellow Acadian Paul David and his first wife Creole Marie Pélagie Oubre at St. James on the river in June 1806.  Their son Joseph Sylvère was born in St. James Parish in January 1815, and Pierre Valéry, called Valéry, in June 1820.  Joseph Sylvère and Pierre Valéry followed their uncle François to the western prairies.  

1b

François, probably after he came of age, moved to the Bayou Teche valley, where he married Françoise dite Séraphine, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Richard and Pélagie Babin of L'Anse, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1813.  They settled at La Pointe on upper Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish, creating a western branch of the family.    

1c

Pierre Zéphirin followed his older brother to Bayou Teche and married fellow Acadian Marie Eurasie Richard, place unrecorded, probably in the late 1820s.  They settled at Île-aux-Cypres, St. Martin Parish, near present-day Breaux Bridge.  

2

Younger son Joseph, by his second wife, born at St.-Jacques in c1770, married Marguerite, daughter of André-Antoine Bernard of Nantes, a French immigrant, not an Acadian, and Anne-Françoise Sigur of France, at St.-Jean-Baptiste on the Upper German Coast in January 1794.  Their son Charles-Abraham was born at St.-Jacques in April 1795, and Charles-Alexandre in January 1797 but died the following December.  Joseph died at St.-Jacques in May 1799, age 30.  

Charles Abraham married Marie, 16-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Theriot and Anastasie Michel, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in January 1820.  They, too, crossed the Atchafalaya Basin and settled on the western prairies.  

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Beginning in the 1810s, three grandsons and two great-grandsons of Abraham Roy "returned" to the western prairies.  By the 1830s, all of Abraham's descendants lived west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  "Today," according to a recent student of French and Spanish families in Louisiana, this St. Martin-Lafayette Acadian branch of the Roys is "one of the main centers of the clan."  

Descendants of François ROY (1792-?; Jean dit La Liberté, François, Abraham)

François, third son of Sauveur Roy and Marie Bourgeois, born at St.-Jacques on the river in February 1792, married Françoise dite Séraphine, daughter of fellow Acadians Joseph Richard and Pélagie Babin of L'Anse, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1813.  They settled at L'Anse, perhaps L'Anse la Butte on the upper Vermilion between present-day Breaux Bridge and Lafayette, and at nearby La Pointe on upper Bayou Teche.  Some of their descendants drifted west into Lafayette Parish by the 1830s.  Their daughters married into the Menard and Pavie families. 

1

Oldest son François Achilles, called Achille, born in January 1817, married Marie Marcellite, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Trahan and his Creole wife Ursule Boulet, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in July 1838.  Their son François, fils, perhaps also called Lasty, was born in Lafayette Parish in June 1843.  Their daughter married a Trahan cousin.  François Achilles's succession was filed in the Vermilionville courthouse in August 1846; he would have been age 29 that year.  

François, fils/Lasty married Elmire, daughter of fellow Acadians Ursin J. Broussard and Euphémie Comeaux, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in October 1865.  Their son Léon was born in Lafayette Parish in October 1867, and Dema, perhaps a son, in April 1870. 

2

Antoine Zéphirin, born at La Pointe in March 1819, married Marie Delphine, daughter of Éloi Picard and Céleste Doré, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1839.  Their son Antoine Jules was born in St. Martin Parish in September 1842. 

3

Youngest son Pierre Zéphirin le jeune, also called Pierre William, Pierre Aurelien, Arvillien, and Charles, born in June 1825, married Arthémise Michelle, 17-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Michel Richard and Arthémise Granger, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in January 1846.  Their son Charles was born in Lafayette Parish in January 1849.  Pierre Aurelien's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in March 1856; he would have been age 31 that year.  

Descendants of Pierre-Zéphirin ROY (1803-1853; Jean dit La Liberté, François, Abraham)

Pierre-Zéphirin, fifth and youngest son of Sauveur Roy and Marie Bourgeois, born at St.-Jacques on the river in February 1803, followed his older brother to St. Martin Parish, where he married fellow Acadian Marie Eurasie, called Eurasie, Richard, probably in the late 1820s.  They settled at Île-aux-Cypres or Cypress Island, now Lake Martin, St. Martin Parish, south of present-day Breaux Bridge.  Pierre, père died in St. Martin Parish in September 1853, age 50.  

1

Oldest son Aurelien, born probably at Île-aux-Cypres in March 1829, died at his parents' home at age 17 months in August 1830.  

2

Amand Lasty was born probably at Île-aux-Cypres, St. Martin Parish, in January 1833.  He may have been the Lastie Roy who married Marie Aspasie, called Aspasie, daughter of fellow Acadians Marin Blanchard and his second wife Annette dite Nanon Broussard and widow of Jean Baptiste LeGrand, in St. Martin Parish in c1870.  If so, he died by 1880. 

3

Youngest son Pierre, fils, born probably at Île-aux-Cypres in the mid-1830s, married Uranie, daughter of Joseph Hanes and Carmézile Bertrand, at the St. Martinville church in January 1855.  Their son Louis Charles was born in St. Martin Parish in January 1859. 

Descendants of Charles-Abraham ROY (1795-c1847; Jean dit La Liberté, François, Abraham)

Charles-Abraham, older son of Joseph Roy and Marguerite Bernard and first cousin of François and Pierre-Zéphirin Roy, was born at St.-Jacques on the river in April 1795.  He married Marie, 16-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Pierre Theriot and Anastasie Michel, at the Convent church, St. James Parish, in January 1820 and followed his cousins across the Atchafalaya to the old Attakapas country, where he settled in present-day Lafayette Parish.  Their daughters married into the Langlinais and Lasalle families.  Charles's succession was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in November 1847; he would have been age 52 that year.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 24 slaves--13 males and 9 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 years to 6 months--on Widow Charles Roy's plantation next to Olivier Blanchet in the parish's western district; these were Marie Theriot's slaves, and Olivier was her oldest son's father-in-law.

1

Oldest son Désiré, born probably in Lafayette Parish in c1826, married Ursule, 18-year-old daughter of Olivier Firmin Blanchet and his Acadian wife Carmélite Boudreaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in April 1846.  Their son Gérard was born near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in October 1853 but died at age 7 months in July 1854, Désiré Honoré was born in May 1856, and Charles Kossuth near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish, in November 1859.  Their daughters married into the Theriot and Young (probably Anglo American, not Acadian) families.  In August 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 3 slaves--a 20-year-old female, a 15-year-old male, and a 5-year-old male, all black--on Désiré Roy's farm next to Olivier Blanchet, fils, near Olivier Blanchet, père, and near his widowed mother in the parish's western district.  In July 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 36 slaves--20 males and 16 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ages 50 years to 7 months, living in 3 houses--on Désiré Roy's plantation.  During the War of 1861-65, Désiré, with his younger brother Pierre Bienvenu, served as a sergeant in Company A of the 8th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, raised in Rapides Parish, which fought in Louisiana.  Désiré's succession, calling his wife Ursule Blanchard[sic], was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse in December 1869; he would have been in his early 40s that year. 

2

Joseph was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1836. 

3

Youngest son Pierre Bienvenu, called Bienvenu, P. Bienvenu, and P. B., born probably in Lafayette Parish in the late 1830s, married Louise, daughter of Aurelien St. Julien and his Acadian wife Marie Joséphine Broussard, at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in November 1860.  They settled near Youngsville.  Their son Arthur was born in October 1862.  During the War of 1861-65, Pierre Bienvenu, with his older brother Désiré, served as a sergeant in Company A of the 8th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry.  After the war, Pierre Bienvenu "became one of the richest and most prominent planters and merchants of the area, with a total land holding of 3,825 acres in Lafayette, St. Martin, and Vermilion parishes." 

Descendants of Joseph Sylvère ROY (1815-; Jean dit La Liberté, François, Abraham, Sauveur)

Joseph Sylvère, elder son of Joseph Roy le jeune and Marie Ursule David, grandson of Sauveur, and older brother of Pierre Valéry, was born in St. James Parish in January 1815.  When Joseph Sylvère came of age, he followed his kinsmen to the western prairies, where he married Marie Rose, 20-year-old daughter of fellow Acadians Olivier Trahan and Rosalie Vincent, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in September 1843.  They settled in Lafayette Parish.  Their daughter may have married into the Lormand family. 

1

Oldest son Joseph, fils, was born in Lafayette Parish April 1842.  

2

Sevènne was born in Lafayette Parish in July 1843.  During the War of 1861-65, Sevenne served in Company E of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in Lafayette Parish, which fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  He married Oliva Lormand in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in May 1864, while he was waiting for his regiment to be exchanged, and sanctified the marriage at the Youngsville church, Lafayette Parish, in August 1865, soon after he signed his end-of-war-prisoner parole papers at New Iberia.  They settled probably at Youngsville.  Their son Sevenne, fils was born in January 1865.  Sevenne, called Cevenne by the recording priest, remarried to fellow Acadian Donatille Trahan in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in December 1868.  They remained near Youngsville.  Their son Séverin was born in January 1870. 

3

Olivier was born in Lafayette Parish in October 1847.

4

Youngest son Lasty Treville was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in August 1851.  

Descendants of Pierre Valéry ROY (1820-; Jean dit La Liberté, François, Abraham, Sauveur)

Pierre Valéry, called Valéry, younger son of Joseph Roy le jeune and Marie Ursule David, grandson of Sauveur, and younger brother of Joseph Sylvère, was born in St. James Parish in June 1820.  He followed his older brother to the western prairies, where he married Clémentine, daughter of Isleño Creole Balthazar Plaisance and his Acadian wife Henriette Breaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in July 1841.  Did the family line survive? 

Other ROYs on the Western Prairies

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

Marie, also called Joséphine, Roy married Edmond or Édouard Picard in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in September 1851.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the parents' names.  Josephine died in St. Martin Parish in May 1863, age 40. 

Charles Euclide, called Euclide, Roy married Acadian Belzire Boudreaux and settled near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, by the early 1850s.  Their daughters married into the Broussard family.  Euclide remarried to Athanaise, daughter of French Canadian Olivier Blanchet and his Acadian wife Carmélite Boudreaux, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1856.  In July 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 21 slaves--8 males and 13 females, 12 blacks and 9 mulattoes, ranging in age from 40 years to 6 months, living in 3 houses--on Euclide Roy's plantation.  Euclide died by April 1868, when he and his wife were listed as deceased in a daughter's marriage record. 

Marie Zulma Roy married Acadian Eugène Bourque at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in July 1861.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not bother to give the couple's parents' names. 

According to church records, Marie Madeleine Roy, wife or widow of Baptiste Breaux, died in Lafayette Parish in October 1864.  The Vermilionville priest who recorded her burial said that she died at age 88.  Was she a kinswoman of the Acadian Roys of Lafayette and St. Martin parishes?  Was she even a Roy?  Baptiste Breaux of Grand Prairie, Lafayette Parish, who was born in July 1779 and who died in March 1837, had a wife named Anne-Marie-Madeleine Girouard.  Was this her? 

Alcide Roy died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in May 1866.  The priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Alcide died "at age 30 yrs." 

Émilie Roy married Onésime, son of perhaps Acadian Julien Leger, fils, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in January 1868.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Despite its meaning, the surname Roy is a common one in France, Switzerland, Germany, even England, and in French Canada and other places where the French have settled.  It should be no surprise, then, that many of the Roys of South Louisiana are not Acadians but French Creoles, French Canadians, Foreign French, Swiss, Germans, and even Anglo Americans.  Non-Acadian Roys were living in French Louisiana from the beginning of  the colony.  During the colonial period, they could be found not only at New Orleans, but also at Natchitoches, on the German Coast, at Pointe Coupée, and out on the western prairies:

Jean-Baptiste, called Jean, Roy of La Rochelle, France, a gunner, "joined the Iberville group in 1704. ... In that year he married Renée Gilbert of Tours at Ft. Louis[-de-la-Louisiane, or Old Mobile, then a part of French Louisiana]; in 1705 she produced one of the first offspring of French parents to be born in Lower Louisiana"; they named their son Jacques.  In the spring of 1708, their son Jean-Philippe was the first European child baptized on Massacre, now Dauphin, Island, at the mouth of Mobile Bay, where Jean and Renée had recently settled.  In c1719, Jean returned to France to testify before the Conseil de la Marine about the ill treatment of colonial employees, but the Conseil was unsympathetic.  Jean likely returned to his family on Île Dauphine. 

Étienne LeRoy dit Frambroise of Paris "was in Natchitoches Post as early as 1722."  He married French Creole Marie-Louise-Françoise Guillot and settled in the Rivière-aux-Cannes, or Cane River, area south of Natchitoches.  They had daughters but no sons.   

Madeleine, daughter of François Roy and Marie Vinette of Rochefort, France, and widow of Jaques Delery, écuyer, "officer in the royal troops," remarried to François, Sieur Gillaul, écuyer, son of Charles Descoublant, écuyer, Sieur de la Rousseliere, at New Orleans in May 1722. 

In May 1724, M. Roy, among "the principal inhabitants of the colony," was allotted 48 feet of lumber for the construction of a church at New Orleans. 

Éstienne Roy, "resident of the outlying area of the Parish of New Orleans along the Mississippi River," died at New Orleans in December 1727, age 31.  The priest who recorded the burial did not give Éstienne's parents' names or mention a wife.  He may have been the Étienne Roy, who, a census taker in November 1724 noted, was a "nephew of Chauvin, from Montréal, who lives on Mr. Bienville's land [at Cannes Brûlé].  His wife and an Indian woman are with him.  He had lost about 20 arpents of sugar cane in a fire." 

Louis, son of Pierre Roy and Marie-Catherine Ducharme of Montréal and widower of Marguerite Dumay, remarried to Marie-Jeanne, daughter of Charles Magnus of Chaumont, Chambrai, France, and widow of ____ Rienne of Natchez, at New Orleans in April 1730. 

Marie-Marguerite, Louis's sister, also a native of Montréal, married Nicolas, son of Michel Adam of New Orleans, at New Orleans in September 1731. 

Antoine Roy, native of Montréal, Canada, died at New Orleans in November 1731.  The priest who recorded the burial did not give Antoine's parents' names, mention a wife, or give his age at the time of his death. 

Jean Roy married Anne Catherine Munich, place and date unrecorded, and settled at St.-Charles des Allemands on the Lower German Coast by the mid-1740s. 

Jacques Roy, a cooper, married Marguerite Le Hous, Le Hout, or Le Houx, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Jacques, fils was born at New Orleans October 1746.  The boy's godfather was Jacques Cantrelle, the future founder of Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above the German Coast. 

Dorothée, daughter of Gabriel Roy and Christine Eigenbergerinne of Feltelinger, Basel, Switzerland, married Morant, son of Jacque Willig of Walheim, Basel, Switzerland, at St. Charles des Allemands in December 1753. 

Pierre Roy, native of Reims, France, an invalid soldier, and widower of Françoise Labrot, married Marie-Renée Caynette of Lorient, France, widow of Honoré Gorderin, at New Orleans in March 1764. 

Jean, son of Pierre Roy and Marie Segrestan of Monsegure, Guyenne, France, married Hippolite, daughter of Gilbert Cianigu of Villefranche, Rousillon, France, at New Orleans in April 1764. 

Denis Roy of Bire, Normandy, France, died at Pointe Coupée in February 1771.  The priest who recorded the burial did not give Denis's parents' names, mention a wife, or give his age at the time of his death. 

Marie Roy, native of Mobile, Widow Poupart, died at New Orleans in March 1772, age 60.

Joseph Roy married Marie-Francoise Lejeune probably at Pointe Coupée, date unrecorded.  Their son Joseph, fils was baptized at Pointe Coupée, age unrecorded, in August 1775. 

Auguste or Augustin, son of Nicolas Roy and Jeanne Delarie of New Orleans, married Marie, daughter of French Creole Francois Maron, at Pointe Coupée in April 1779.  Their son Auguste Marionau was born at Pointe Coupée in 1783.  Auguste, père may have died at Opelousas in September 1800; if so, his succession was filed at what became the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, that month.  Auguste Marioau's succession may have been filed at what became the Opelousas courthouse in August 1804. 

Basile, son of Francois Roy and Marie La Lievre of Normandy, France, married Marguerite, daughter of Frenchman Jacques Bourgeois, at Attakapas in February 1793. 

Pierre, son of Léonard Roy and Thérèse Janeau of Dro, Agen, France, married Marie-Thérèse, daughter of Jean Souquet of New Orleans, at New Orleans in May 1802. 

.

A Roy from Canada via Detroit and Illinois settled at Pointe Coupée during the 1740s.  Two of his sons moved to the Opelousas prairies in the 1780s, the first of the name to go there and remain.  During the early antebellum period, some of his grandsons settled at Attakapas, but most of his descendants remained in St. Landry Parish.  No other Roy family in Louisiana, Acadian or non-Acadian, equaled this one in numbers.  Some of his descendants married Acadians: 

Descendants of Joseph ROY dit Châtellerault (c1709-1761)

Joseph dit Châtellerault, son of Emond Roy and Marie-Anne Janvier, born at Ste.-Anne near Québec, Canada, in c1709, got his family dit from his paternal grandfather, Michel Roy dit Châtellerault, who came from the interior of Poitou to Canada in the late 1670s.  Joseph "first worked out of Detroit, then settled for a time in Kaskaskia, Illinois," where he married Marie-Madeleine Perthuis.  After his wife's death, Joseph drifted down to Pointe Coupée, where he remarried to Perrine, daughter of Nicolas Lacour of Natchez, in January 1744.  Their daughters married into the Goudeau, Guilcrest or Gilchrist, Hébert (French Creole, not Acadian), and Léonard families.  Joseph dit Châtellerault died at Pointe Coupée in October 1761; the priest who recorded the burial did not give Joseph's age at the time of his death, but he probably was in his early 50s.  One of his daughters settled at Ascension.  His two remaining sons moved to the Opelousas prairies by the 1780s, where they created vigorous lines of the family. 

1

Oldest son Pierre died at Pointe Coupée in October 1748.  The priest who recorded the burial said that Pierre was age 10 when he died, but, judging from his parents' marriage date, he probably was younger.   

2

Joseph-Noël, called Noël, born at Pointe Coupée in May 1745, married Marie-Louise, daughter of Gaspard Bélonie of New Orleans, at Pointe Coupée in July 1769, and remarried to Anne, called Manette and Nanette, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Bordelon, at Pointe Coupée in May 1770.  They moved to Grand Prairie, north of present-day Opelousas, in the 1780s.  Their son Joseph-Noël, fils was born at Pointe Coupée in May 1771, Jean-Baptiste was baptized at Pointe Coupée, age unrecorded, in November 1775, Valérien, also called Valéry, at age 6 months in March 1781, Leufroi was born probably at Opelousas in c1782, and another Joseph was born in February 1784 but died at age 9 in August 1793.  They also had a son named Solastie or Lastie.  Their daughters married into the Bordelon, Dupré, Nezat, Wyble, and Moreau families.  Joseph, fils served as major domo, or trustee, of the Opelousas church.  His first succession, which called him a widower, was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in October 1807.  Joseph, fils, described as a "native of Pointe Coupee and inhabitant of this parish of St. Landry for about 40 years," died "at his home at a place called 'Le vieux vilage (the Old Town) and received all the sacraments with sentiments of a very strong faith and great piety" in January 1817; he age 71; his final succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in February 1818   Two of his sons settled in St. Martin Parish, but his other sons and most of his grandsons remained in or returned to St. Landry Parish.  A few of his descendants married Acadians, but most of them married Creoles and fellow French Canadians.  They were especially fond of spouses from the Nezat and Fontenot families. 

2a

Joseph-Noël, fils, by his father's second wife, married Euphrosine, called Frosine, daughter of French Creole Joseph Carrière, at Opelousas in 1794 and settled on Prairie Carrière in what became St. Landry Parish.  Their son Valérien le jeune, called Valière, was baptized at Opelousas, age unrecorded, in March 1798, a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died at age 6 weeks in January 1810, Joseph-Noël III was born October 1811, and Pierre in November 1814.  Their daughters married into the Arnaud, DeVillier, Nezat, and Wyble families.  Joseph III's succession and estate record were filed at the Opelousas courthouse in December 1824 and January 1825; he would have been in his early 50s. 

Valière married Sophie Coulon, daughter of French Creole François Coulon DeVillier of Petit Bois, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in January 1818.  Their son Valière, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in February 1818, Valéry le jeune in November 1824, Joseph le jeune in August 1829, Lasty le jeune in March 1831, and Louis, a twin, in May 1836.  Their daughters married into the Dejean, DeVillier, Healy or Healey, Hollier, Nezat, Ney, and Wyble families.  Valière, père, while in his 40s, remarried to first cousin Marie Euphonie or Fannie, called Fannie, 30s-something daughter of his uncle Solastie Roy and widow of Sosthène Arceneaux, in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in June 1843.  She gave him no more children.  Wife Fannie died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in February 1849, age 39; her succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in April.  Valière, père, at age 52, remarried again--his third marriage--to Marie Divine, called Divine, daughter of French Creole Clément Hollier, at the Opelousas church in July 1850.  Their son Armogaste or Armogatine was born in St. Landry Parish in May 1851 but died at age 5 1/2 (the recording priest said 4) in September 1856, and Victor Henry Landry was born in February 1859 when his father was in his early 60s.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 50-year-old mulatto female--on Valière's Roy's farm.  Valière died in St. Landry Parish in September 1860; the Opelousas priest who recorded the burial said that Valière was age 64 when he died; his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse two days after his death. 

Valéry le jeune, by his father's first wife, married cousin Théotiste, 15-year-old daughter of Valéry Roy l'aîné at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1842.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 2 slaves--a 23-year-old female and a 1-year-old female, both black--on Valéry Roy's farm next to Widow N. Roy's plantation.  Valéry le jeune may have remarried to French Canadian Carmélite, Ermeline, or Ermelina Istre probably at Grand Coteau, date unrecorded.  Their son Valéry, fils was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 4 months, in June 1861, Cyprien le jeune was born near Grand Coteau in December 1862, Joseph le jeune in Lafayette Parish in May 1865, and Placide near Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, in November 1868. 

Joseph le jeune, by his father's first wife, married Catherine Séraphine, called Séraphine, daughter of Thomas Wadswatts Farrar, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1851.  Their son Henri was born in St. Landry Parish in February 1854, and Charles Jefferson in October 1856. 

Joseph Noël III married Uranie, daughter of French Creole ____ Bordelon, at the Opelousas church in August 1835.  Joseph Noël III's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in January 1838; he would have been age 27 that year.  Their daughter married into the Carrière and Langlois families.  Joseph and Uranie evidently had no sons, so this family line, except for its blood, may not have survived.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 2 slaves--a 22-year-old black male, and a 10-year-old black males--on Widow Joseph Roy's farm; these may have been Uranie Bordelon's slaves. 

Pierre, soon after his mother died, petitioned the parish court for emancipation in November 1834.  At age 39, he married Marie Octavie, called Octavie, daughter of French Creole Damonville Dejean, at the Opelousas church in December 1853.  Their son Joseph Lucien was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1854, and Jean Paul in November 1860.  Pierre died in St. Landry Parish in November 1870; the Opelousas priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Pierre died "at age 55 yrs. in Opel[ousas]"; he was 56.   

2b

Solastie, by his father's second wife, married Marie, daughter of Pierre Nezat of Layrac, France, probably at Attakapas in c1803.  They settled at L'Anse des Charpentiers in the Attakapas District.  Their child, name unrecorded, died at birth in August 1807, a son, name unrecorded, died at age 9 days September 1811, twins Alexandre and Pierre were born in October 1812, Solastie Cyprien, called Cyprien, in November 1814, a son, name unrecorded, died at age 5 months in October 1820, Solastie Linville, called Solastie and Lastie, fils, was born in April 1823, and Pierre Linville in c1826 but died at age 6 1/2 in November 1833.  Their daughters married into the Arceneaux, Caillier, Domengeaux, Guidry, and Roy families.  Solastie, "born in Opel." the recording priest noted, died in St. Martin Parish in March 1836; the priest said that Solastie was age 61 when he died; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the day before he died. 

Cyprien married first cousin Marie Célina, called Célina, daughter of his uncle Leufroi Roy, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1838.  Their son Cyprien Solastie, fils, called Lasty, was born in St. Martin Parish in October 1840 but died at age 8 in November 1848, and Vincent Leufroi, called Leufroi le jeune, was born in October 1844.  Their daughter married into the Chiasson family.  Cyprien, in his early 40s, remarried to French Creole Séraphine Sezan, widow of Leufroi Mora, in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in August 1857.  In his mid-40s, he remarried again--his third marriage--to Acadian Adolphine Guilbeau in a civil ceremony in St. Martin Parish in September 1859.  They settled near Arnaudville.  Their son François Adrien was born in June 1860, Pierre Cyprien in August 1861 but, called Cyprien, died at age 6 months in January 1862, Joseph Osémé born in October 1862, Joseph Lucien in February 1865, and François or Joseph Euphémon died "at age 1 mth." in August 1867.  In 1860, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 7 slaves--5 males and 2 females, all black except for 2 mulattoies--ranging in age from 22 to 1--on Cyprien Roy's farm. 

Leufroi le jeune, by his father's first wife, married Ursule, daughter of François Mathieu, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1865; Ursule's mother was a Trahan.  Their son Alexandre Leufroi was born near Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish, in October 1866, and Joseph Despany in Lafayette Parish in January 1870. 

In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 8 slaves--5 males, 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 35 to 2--on Alexr Roy's farm.  Alexandre, at age 45, married Palmire, daughter of Acadian Placide Thibodeaux and widow of Antoine Arnaud, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1858.  They settled near Breaux Bridge. Their son Louis died at age 1 in January 1860.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 13 slaves--7 males and 6 females, all black, ages 75 to 7, living in 4 houses--on Alexandre Roy's farm.  Alexandre, in his late 40s, remarried to Marie Aspasie, called Aspasie, daughter of Acadian Jean Louis Bernard and widow of J. Guilbeau, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1861.  They remained near Breaux Bridge.  Their son Alexandre Demeval was born in July 1862.  Alexandre, at age 56, remarried again--his third marriage--to Anaïse, daughter of Spanish Creole Joseph B. Castille, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1869; Anaïse's mother was a Breaux.  Their son Alexandre, fils was born near Breaux Bridge in November 1869. 

In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 11 slaves--6 males and 5 females, 5 blacks and 6 mulattoes, ranging in age from 46 to 1--on Solasty's Roy's farm; this may have been Solastie, fils, who may have been the Lastie Roy who married Marie Aspasie, called Aspasie, daughter of Acadians Marin Blanchard and his second wife Annette dite Nanon Broussard and widow of Jean Baptiste LeGrand, in St. Martin Parish in c1870.  If so, he died by 1880. 

2c

Valéry, by his second wife, married Brigitte, another daughter of Pierre Nezat, at Attakapas in October 1804.  They settled on Bayou Teche.  Their son Jean Valéry was born at Attakapas in September 1805, Pierre Ulgère, called Ulgère, in May 1807, Sosthène in December 1821, and Nicolas Alcide in June 1827.  Their daughters married into the Landry, Nezat, Ozere, Rider, Roy, and Valin families.  Valéry's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in April 1836; he would have been age 56 that year.  His sons returned to St. Landry Parish. 

Pierre Ulgère, called Ulgère, married double cousin Annette or Nanette Zelia or Zéline, 17-year-old daughter of French Creole Alexandre Nezat, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1831; Nanette's mother was a Roy.  Their son Pierre Ulgère, fils was born in St. Landry Parish in November 1832, Paul Émile in March 1840, Joseph le jeune in June 1841, Paul Alexandre, called Alexandre, in September 1845, Jean Baptiste Ernest, called Ernest, in February 1849, and Henri Omer in February 1852.  Their daughters married into the Bernard and Nezat families.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 14 slaves--7 males and 7 females, all black, ranging in age from 60 to 2--on Pre. Ulgèr Roy's farm next to Widow N. Roy's plantation. 

Joseph le jeune married Félicienne, daughter of French Creole Honoré Dejean, at the Opelousas church in June 1859.  During the War of 1861-65, Joseph le jeune may have served first as a private and then as a sergeant in Company B of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, raised in St. Landry Parish, which fought in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana, and in Company F of the Consolidated 18th Regiment and Yellow Jacket Battalion Louisiana Infantry, which fought in Louisiana.  If this was him, he survived the war and returned to his family. 

Pierre Ulgère, fils married Azema, daughter of Jules Mestric, Mistric, or Mystik, at the Opelousas church in June 1865.  Their son Henri Ulger was born in St. Landry Parish in June 1866, and Pierre Jules in February 1870. 

During the War of 1861-65, Alexandre likely served in Company B of the 18th Regiment Louisiana Infantry with older brother Joseph le jeune.  Alexandre married cousin Philomène, daughter of French Creole Alexandre Nezat, at the Opelousas church in December 1865.  Their son Joseph Aristide was born in St. Landry Parish in November 1866.    

Ernest married Eudalie, daughter of Leufroi Moreau, at the Opelousas church in January 1870. 

Sosthène died in St. Landry Parish in January 1845, age 23.  He does not seem to have married. 

Nicolas Alcide's succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in May 1866.  He would have been age 39 that year.  Did he marry? 

2d

Leufroi, by his second wife, married Delphine, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Guénard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Landry Parish, in June 1811.  They also settled at L'Anse des Charpentiers.  Their son Leufroi, fils was born in February 1814, a son, name unrecorded, died at birth in June 1821, another son, name unrecorded, died at age 5 months in August 1830, and yet another son, name unrecorded, died at age 1 in October 1832.  Their daughters married into the Dutel or Duteil and Roy families.  Leufroi died in St. Martin Parish in October 1842, age 61, a widower; his succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following December. 

Leufroi, fils married Adeline, daughter of French Creole Jean Caillier, at the St. Martinville church in June 1838.  Leufroi, fils died the following August.  His family line died with him. 

2e

Jean Baptiste died in St. Landry Parish in October 1842, age 67.  He may not have married. 

3

Noël-Jacques, born at Pointe Coupée in December 1749, married French Creole Perrine Bordelon probably at Pointe Coupée.  Their son Noël-Jacques, fils, was baptized at Pointe Coupée, age unrecorded, in December 1775, Jean-Baptiste-Noël was baptized at Opelousas, age 4 months, in June 1780, and Joseph was born in November 1791.  Their daughters married into the Bogard, Fontenot, and Moreau families.  Noël died at Opelousas in January 1792, age 43; his succession was filed at what became the Opelousas courthouse in March.  His descendants remained in what became St. Landry Parish. 

3a

Noël Jacques, fils married Céleste or Célestine, daughter of Michel Wyble, at Opelousas in November 1802.  Their son Noël III had been born at Opelousas in July 1802, Cyprien in November 1808, Michel was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 2, in September 1812, Euphrosin, called Frosin, was born in February 1813 and baptized at the Opelousas church at age 32 in April 1845, Louis, called Don Louis Noël, was born in November 1824, François in February 1828, and Syphroi in October 1829.  Their daughters married into the Bergeau, Frugé, Lasage, Miller, and Teller families.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 30 slaves--14 males and 16 females, all black, ranging in age from 100 to 2--on Widow N. Roy's plantation between the farms of Pre. Ulgèr and Valéry Roy; these may have been Céleste Wyble's slaves.   

Noël III married Eugénie, daughter of French Creole Louis Menard of New Orleans, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1826.  Their son David was born in St. Landry Parish in February 1831, Joseph near Grand Coteau in October 1840, François near Opelousas in November 1844, and Sylvanie near Grand Coteau in August 1853.  Their daughters married into the Comeaux, Fontenot, Maillard or Mayer, and Trahan families.  Noël's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in August 1861; he would have been age 59 that year. 

David married fellow French Canadian Adeline Istre in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1854.  Their son Eugène Dorsin was born near Grand Coteau in January 1857, David Donce in November 1858, and Joseph Dorsele in April 1860. 

Michel married Désirée, daughter of French Creole François Marcantel, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in February 1831, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1843.  Their son Désiré was born in St. Landry Parish in December 1831, Michel, fils in January 1834, Édouard in August 1841, Duprélong in August 1846, Théodule near Grand Coteau in May 1849, and Arthur near Opelousas in December 1859.  Their daughters married into the Courville and Thibodeaux families. 

Édouard married Lezida Pascalie, daughter of French Canadian Pierre Bertrand, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1861. 

Euphrosin married Marie Carmélite, called Carmélite, Angélique, and Julie, daughter of German Creole Jean Miller, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1845; Carmélite's mother was a Boutin.  Their son Euphrosin, fils had been born in St. Landry Parish in October 1833, André in May 1835, and Firmin in September 1850. 

Don Louis married Céleste or Célestine Belaire, daughter of French Creole Augustin Charles Fontenot dit Belair, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1845, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, the following November.  Their son Don Louis, fils was born near Grand Coteau in October 1845, and Félicien in July 1862.  They were living near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in the early 1850s and near Eunice, St. Landry Parish, in the late 1860s. 

Don Louis, fils may have married Aimée Clay at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1860.  Their son Louis Oscar was baptized at the Opelousas church, age unrecorded, in June 1869. 

Syphroi married Agnès Aureline, called Aureline, daughter of French Canadian Pierre Bertrand, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1848.  Their son Pierre Syphroi was born near Grand Coteau in February 1850, Noël Arcade in August 1852, François Philomène near Opelousas in February 1859, and Pierre Frosin Jean Baptiste in June 1861.  Their daughter married into the Bergeron (French Creole, not Acadian) family.  Syphroi may have remarried to Éloise Taylor, place and date unrecorded, and settled in St. Landry Parish by the mid-1860s. 

Pierre Syphroi, by his father's first wife, married Fanalie or Fanelie, daughter of Jean Baptiste Taylor, at the Eunice church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1870. 

3b

Jean Baptiste Noël married Françoise, daughter of French Creole Pierre Doucet, fils, at Opelousas in February 1806.  Their son Jean Baptiste, fils was baptized at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, age 3 months, in December 1811, and Pierre was born in February 1814.  Their daughters married into the Bello and Lambert (Slavic, not Acadian) families.  Jean Baptiste Noël died in St. Landry Parish in November 1829, age 50. 

Jean Baptiste, fils, called Baptiste, married Élise or Lise, daughter of Acadian Charles Pitre, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1834.  Their son Jean Baptiste Armas was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1837, Iras Jean Baptiste in November 1840, and Arthur Jean Baptiste in March 1847.  They also had a son named Octave.  Their daughters married into the Comeaux and Stagg families.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 14 slaves--7 males and 7 females, all black, ranging in age from 40 to 1--on Jn. Bte. Roy's farm. 

Octave married Clara, daughter of French Creole Clément Hollier, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in February 1867.  Clara died the following October, age 25.  Octave remarried to Marie Ophelia, daughter of Alexis Latour, at the Opelousas church in July 1870. 

Pierre may have married French Creole Hortense Cléophine or Théophile Dupré in a civil ceremony in St. Landry parish in May 1839 or 1840.  Their son Pierre Aurelien or Aurelien Pierre was born in St. Landry Parish in March 1841, Joseph in October 1842, Charles Arthur in November 1846, and Achille Ovide in May 1850.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 3 slaves--all female, all mulattoes, ages 24, 12, and 5--on Pierre Roy's farm. 

Aurelien Pierre married Irène, daughter of French Creole Gérard Carrière, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1866.  They settled near Washington.  Their son Gérard Fernan was born in November 1867. 

Charles Arthur may have married Ordalie, also called Nathalie, Caruthers in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1869.  They settled near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish. 

.

A French Canadian family that had settled at Pointe Coupée in the 1770s moved to the Avoyelles prairie in the 1790s and created a new center of Roy family settlement: 

Descendants of Joseph-Marie ROY (?-?)

Joseph-Marie, son of Jean Roy and Angélique LaCase of St.-Vallier, Canada, married Catherine, daughter of French Creole Pierre Gueho, at Pointe Coupée in January 1771.  Their daughter married into the Bourgeois (French Creole, not Acadian) family and settled at Ascension.  Joseph remarried to Julie, daughter of French Creole François Bizette, at Pointe Coupée in June 1776.  They moved westward to the Avoyelles prairie in the 1790s.  Their descendants settled around Marksville, Mansura, Hessmer, and Bunkie.  Some may have moved on to the Alexandria area of Rapides Parish after the War of 1861-65. 

1

Oldest son Joseph, fils, by his father's second wife, baptized at Pointe Coupée, age 22 days, in July 1781, married French Creole Marie Bordelon probably at Avoyelles in c1800.  One of their descendants was "the well-known early twentieth-century educator, Victor-Léandre Roy of Marksville."

2

Simon, by his father's second wife, was baptized at Pointe Coupée, age 1 month, in March 1783. 

3

Godefroi, by his father's second wife, was born at Pointe Coupée in April 1790.   

Some of Joseph-Marie Roy's descendants held slaves in Avoyelles Parish during the late antebellum period:  In September 1850, François Roy held 14 slaves--5 males and 9 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 60 to 2; Joseph Roy, Jr. held 7 slaves--3 males and 4 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ages 28 to 3; Valérien Roy held 6 slaves--4 males and 2 females, all black, ages 25 years to 1 month, next to Joseph Roy, Jr.; Villeneuve Roy held 6 slaves--3 males and 3 females, all black, ages 40 to 3; Léandre Roy held 2 slaves--both males, both black, ages 33 and 27; and Alice Roy held a single slave--a 47-year-old black male.   In July and October 1860, François Roy held 19 slaves--12 males and 7 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 50 to 2, living in 4 houses; Villeneuve Roy held 15 slaves--10 males and 5 females, 11 blacks and 4 "yellows," ages 50 to 1, living in 4 houses; Joseph Roy held 8 slaves--6 males and 2 females, all black, ages 35 to 8, living in 2 houses; Valérien Roy held 6 slaves--3 males and 3 females, all black except for 1 "yellow" girl, ages 24 to 8, living in 2 houses; Mrs. or Widow L. Roy held 4 slaves--all male, all black, ages 42 to 12, living in a single house; Alice Roy held 3 slaves--all males, all black, ages 50, 12, and 10, living in a single house; Léandre F. Roy held 2 slaves--a 50-year-old male and a 12-year-old female, both black, living in a single house; and William Roy held 2 slaves--a 25-year-old female and a 2-year-old male, both black, living in 1 house.   

~

During the antebellum period, Roys, called Foreign French by native Louisianians, emigrated to New Orleans from France and the Caribbean Basin.  Most of the ones who stayed in the Bayou State probably remained in the city: 

Mrs. Roy, a 45-year-old native of France, occupation unrecorded, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Warrington out of Bordeaux, France, in December 1821.  Also aboard that ship were Julie Roy, age 16; Étienne Roy, age 14; and Claude Roy, age 12, probably her children. 

Another Mrs. Roy, a 45-year-old shopkeeper from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Jerome out of Bordeaux in February 1822.  Also aboard that ship were Miss Roy, age 20; P. Roy, a male, age 13; A. Roy, another male, age 11; and Élize Roy, age 10, probably her children. 

Charles Roy, a 23-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Isabella out of Havana, Cuba, in September 1827. 

E. Roy, a 30-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Petronida out of Havana in April 1835. 

Jas. Roy, a 30-year-old native of France, occupation unrecorded, reached New Orleans aboard the ship New York out of Havana in January 1839. 

Ferdinand Roy, a 48-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Vesta out of Le Havre, France, in June 1846.  Also aboard the ship was Baptiste Roy, age 18; and Félix Roy, age 8, also described as farmers and probably Ferdinand's sons. 

____ Roy, a 35-year-old male merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Vesta out of Le Havre in May 1847. 

Baptiste Roy, a 24-year-old merchant from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Cabot out of Bordeaux in December 1848.  He was heading to Texas. 

Mme. Roy, a 30-year-old actress from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Vesta out of Le Havre in November 1849.  With her was an infant, whose gender was not recorded. 

August Roy, a 45-year-old native of France, occupation unrecorded, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Manchester out of Le Havre in December 1849. 

Nicolas Roy, a 38-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Statesman out of Le Havre in January 1850. 

J. B. Roy, a 31-year-old baker from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship Adler out of Bordeaux in April 1851.  Also aboard the ship was Marie Roy, age 20, his sister or his wife. 

Maximilien Roy, a 9-year-old farmer from France, reached New Orleans aboard the ship New England out of Le Havre in December 1851.  One wonders who accompanied the boy to America. 

.

Throughout the antebellum and into the post-war period, more non-Acadian Roys, including Anglo Americans, settled in South Louisiana, especially on the western prairies and in Pointe Coupee Parish.  Many of the Roys who lived on the prairies, especially in St. Landry Parish, may have been descendants of French Canadian Joseph dit Châtellerault, but area church and civil records make it difficult to establish the connection.  One also suspects that some of the Royss who lived in the region during the post-war period were Afro Creoles once owned by members of the family or whose progenitor bore the given name "Roy."  Area church and civil records do not always reveal their ethnicity, but the record keepers sometimes provided tantalizing clues:

François, son of Louis Roy and Marie Denou of Canada, married Anna, daughter of Anglo-American Samuel Walker, at the St. James church, St. James Parish, in July 1811. 

Marie, daughter of Jacques Roy and Marie M'Cany, married Thomas, son of Spanish Creole Joseph Gonzales, at the St. Gabriel church, Iberville Parish, in July 1812. 

Jesse, son of Anglo-Americans James Roy and Amilia Yocum, married Nancy Peace in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in August 1813. 

Thérèse Roy, called the widow Derbonne, married French Creole Louis Bello in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1813.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give her parents' names or the given name of her first husband. 

Joseph R. Roy "drowned in Bayou Teche."  His succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in August 1815.  The parish clerk who recorded the succession did not give Joseph R.'s parents' names or mention a wife. 

Reuben Roy paid "$100.00 for a license to keep a Ferry across the Bayou Boeuf on the main road leading from Opelousas to Avoyelles."  His license was filed at the Opelousas courthouse, St. Landry Parish, in September 1816. 

Jefferson Roy, probably an Anglo American, age 13, signed a contract binding "himself to learn the trade, mystery and occupation of Blacksmith for 8 years from James Armstrong."  Young Jefferson's indenture of apprenticeship was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in September 1817.  The clerk who recorded the indenture did not give Jefferson's parents' names. 

Proudhomme, son of Jean Baptiste Roy and Josephine Tessie of Canada, married Marie Céleste, daughter of French Creole Antoine Rémi Boisseau of Natchitoches, at the Opelousas church in September 1818. 

Marie Roy, native of New Orleans, wife of ____ Falgout, died in St. James Parish in August 1822, age 71. 

James, Jr., son of James Roy and Elizabeth Talbot of Mercer County, Kentucky, married Amelia Humphrey of New Orleans in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in October 1822.  James's succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in March 1836. 

Marie Aurore, daughter of Alexandre Rois or Roy and Marie Seguin of New Orleans, married Lasty, son of French Creole Joseph Bergeron, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in August 1823. 

Noël, fils, son of Noël Roy and Susette Bello, married French Creole Carmélite Lacase at the Opelousas church in August 1824. 

Nicolas Roy was baptized at the Opelousas church in March 1832.  The church record was so damaged that it obscures the boy's parents' names. 

Joseph Roy married Célina Racca, widow of ____ Baker, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in May 1832.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  Their son, name unrecorded, died in St. Martin Parish at age 6 days in February 1833. 

Aimée Roy married Jean Lejeune, probably an Acadian, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1833, and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church the following October.  The parish clerk and the priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Julie Roy married John G. McCutchen in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in March 1834.  Her will was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in February 1835.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage and the will did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Marius Roy's succession was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse, St. Martin Parish, in September 1840.  The parish clerk who recorded the succession did not give Marius's parents' names, mention a wife, or give Marius's age at the time of the filing. 

Jean Baptiste Roy married French Creole Adèle Joubert, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Elisa was baptized at the Opelousas church, age 5  months, in June 1843. 

Antoine Roy married Adelia Roy, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Pierre Alexis was born in St. Landry Parish in October 1843. 

In July 1850, the federal census taker in Orleans Parish counted 2 slaves--both female, both black, ages 55 and 22--in Auguste Roy's household in the First Ward of the Third Municipality of the city of New Orleans. 

In August 1850, the federal census taker in Orleans Parish counted a single slave--a 19-year-old black female--in Pierre Roy's household in Fourth Ward of the First Municipality; a single slave--a 36-year-old black female--in Justin Roy's household in the Fifth Ward of the First Municipality; and 2 slaves--both females, both black, ages 60 and 50--in another Pierre Roy's household in the First Ward of the Third Municipality of the city of New Orleans.

In August 1850, the federal census taker in St. Bernard Parish counted 44 slaves--35 males and 9 females, all black except for 6 mulattoes, ranging in age from 55 years to 5 months--on Frédéric Roy's plantation.  In June 1860, Frederick, as the census taker called him, held 50 slaves--31 males and 19 females, all black, ages 70 to 1, living in 8 houses--on his plantation in St. Bernard. 

In September 1850, the federal census taker in Orleans Parish counted a single slaves--a 30-year-old black male--in John Roy's household in the parish's Third Representative District. 

In October 1850, the federal census taker in Terrebonne Parish counted 2 slaves--a 35-year-old female and a 4-year-old male, both black--on C. L. du Roy's farm. 

Pierre Rouy of Villeneuve Lecusson, Haute Garonne, France, died "at Vacherie at Bertrand Reulet," St. James Parish, in October 1852, age 26.  The priest who recorded Pierre's burial said nothing of a wife. 

James Roy married Margaret M. Hill in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in January 1853.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Nathalie Roy married Acadian Pierre Osémé Trahan in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in April 1854.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  Was Nathalie Acadian or French Canadian? 

Lucius Roy died in St. Landry Parish in June 1855, age 6 months.  The priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give the parents' names. 

Marie Uranie Roy married French Canadian Célestin Istre in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1858.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

Clément Roy died in St. Landry Parish in June 1859, age 4 months.  The priest who recorded the boy's burial did not give the parents' names. 

Céleste Roy, wife or widow of Clément Derbonne, died in St. Landry Parish in September 1859, age 60, and probably was a descendant of French Canadian Joseph Roy, fils of St. Landry Parish.

Virginia Roy married Alexandre Fontenot at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1860.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 3 slaves--a 21-year-old female, a 5-year-old male, and a 3-year-old female, all black--in Célina Roy's household near Alexandre Roy. 

Marie Zulma Roy married Acadian Eugène Bourque in the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in July 1861.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give any parents' names. 

Valéry Roy married Sophie DeVillier, place and date unrecorded, and settled in St. Landry Parish by the early 1860s.  Their son Valière le jeune was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1864, and Valéry, fils in April 1869.  Amazingly, a Valière Roy, great-grandson of Joseph dit Châtellerault of Canada, had married a Sophie Coulon DeVillier at Opelousas in January 1818! 

Eugénie Roy married Marcellin Fontenot at the Opelousas church in April 1864.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

James Roy married Mary Anne Lawes at the Opelousas church in October 1864.  They probably were Anglo Americans. 

Joseph Roy married Acadian Brigitte Aucoin, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Joseph, fils was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in October 1864. 

Alces Roy died in St. Landry Parish in November 1864.  The priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Alces died "at age 35 yrs."  One wonders if he married and if his death was war-related. 

Joseph P. Roy married Marie Louisa Coreil in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in June 1865.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names. 

R. Roy, born at Opelousas in August 1844, "entered Society" at Grand Coteau in September 1865. 

John Roy married Annette Owe, place and date unrecorded, and settled in St. Landry Parish by the late 1860s. 

Ben Roy married Julie Roy, place and date unrecorded, and settled at Washington, St. Landry Parish, by the late 1860s. 

John Roy married Rosine Wable, perhaps Wyble, place and date unrecorded, and settled in St. Landry Parish by the late 1860s. 

Élodie Roy married Rosémond, son of perhaps Acadia Baptiste Lejeune, in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in July 1867.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  

Jean Baptiste Roy married Baptistine Lyssorode, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Victor was born near Lockport, Lafourche Parish, in December 1867. 

Eugène Roy married Marie Moillet, perhaps Mouille, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Froisin was born near Church Point, then in St. Landry but now in Acadia Parish, in June 1868. 

Pierre Antoine Roy married Augustine Porch, probably Poche, place and date unrecorded.  Daughter Marie Augustine Angélique was born in Pointe Coupee Parish in August 1868.  Pierre Antoine Roy, "born 15 Sept. 1820 at Corcouna, (illegible) County of Remousky, Canada," died in Pointe Coupee Parish in September 1869.  The Pointe Coupee priest who recorded the burial did not give any parents' names or mention a wife. 

Edmond Roy died in St. Landry Parish in March 1869.  The Opelousas priest who recorded the burial, and who did not give any parents' names or mention a wife, said that Edmond died "at age 21 yrs." 

Antoine, son of Claris Roy, married Julia, daughter of Émile Seden, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1869.  The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's fathers' names.  Their son Noë was born near Breaux Bridge in February 1870. 

Bill Roye married Virginie ____, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Abraham was born near Lakeland, Pointe Coupee Parish, in September 1869. 

Eugine or Virginia Roy married John Myers in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in September 1869.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  

Théodule Roy married Melisa Strader or Strieter in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in November 1869, and sanctified the marriage at the Eunice church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1870.  Neither the parish clerk nor the priest who recorded the marriage gave the couple's parents' names. 

Lee Roy married Clara Winie in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in February 1870.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  

Dupré Roy married Poline Vidrine in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1870.  The parish clerk who recorded the marriage did not give the couple's parents' names.  

Alexandre Roy married Zilia Landry, place and date unrecorded.  Their son Arthur was born near Arnaudville, Lafayette Parish, in June 1871. 

.

A Roy family, probably not Acadian, settled in St. Landry Parish by the 1820s.  They do not seem to be descendants of French Canadian Joseph dit Châtellerault Roy: 

Descendants of Jean ROY (1782?-1860?)

Jean Roy married Séraphine or Joséphine Chautin and settled near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in the early 1820s.  Their daughters married into the Bello, Danel or Donnel, Eddy, and Fisette families.  This Jean may have been the Jean Roy who died "at Courtableau," St. Landry Parish, in March 1860; if so, he died at age 78, and his succession was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in May.   

1

Older son Jean, fils, also called John, married Marie Sidonise, called Sidonise, daughter of Acadian François Rivet, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in October 1842.  They settled in the Grand Coteau/Arnaudville area of St. Landry Parish.  Their son Jean Baptiste was born in August 1843, Louis near Grand Coteau in April 1852 but died at age 1 1/2 in September 1853, Gustave was born in August 1854, Octave near Arnaudville in September 1856, Félix Coussain in November 1858, and Jean Louis in January 1863.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 4 slaves--2 males and 2 females, all black, ranging in age from 60 to 13--on Jean Roy, fils's farm.  Jean, fils remarried to Amynthe, daughter of German Creole André Wyble, at the Opelousas church in April 1866; Amynthe's mother was a Roy. 

1a

Jean Baptiste married Eugénie, daughter of French Creole Antoine Robin, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1863; Eugénie's mother was a Mouton.  Their son Joseph le jeune died in St. Landry Parish, age 2, in August 1865. 

1b

Gustave died near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in July 1870, a month shy of age 16. 

2

Younger son Joseph married Marie Zéolide, daughter of French Creole Pierre Carrière, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in September 1845; Marie's mother was a Richard.  Their son Romulus Adam Jesse was born in St. Landry Parish in April 1850, Pierre Joseph Willington in December 1853 but died at age 4 1/2 in August 1858, and Joseph Panington was born in February 1857. 

.

During the late antebellum period, another Roy family appeared in Pointe Coupee Parish: 

Descendants of Antoine ROY (?-?)

Antoine Roy married Angélique Pelletier, place and date unrecorded, and settled in Pointe Coupee Parish. 

1

Older son Pierre Antoine married Augustine, daughter of French Creole Augustin Porche, at the Pointe Coupee church, Pointe Coupee Parish, in July 1856.  Their son Pierre Antoine, fils was born in Pointe Coupée Parish in January 1860, Pierre Jefferson Davis in March 1861, Clément Fenelon in February 1864, and Pierre Augustin Franklin in August 1866.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in Pointe Coupee Parish counted 8 slaves--3 males and 5 females, 4 blacks and 4 mulattoes, ranging in age from 40 to 3--on Pierre A. Roy's farm. 

2

Younger son Clément E. married Marie Rosaline or Rosalie, daughter of French Creole Louis Dorsin Pourciau, at the Pointe Coupee church in July 1866.  Their son Clément Joseph Elzear was born in Pointe Coupee Parish in July 1866, and Clément Joseph Antoine in February 1870. 

CONCLUSION

Roys settled early in French Acadia, and a descendant of Jean Roy dit La Liberté of St.-Malo was among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana.  Widower Abraham Roy and two of his children came to Louisiana in February 1765 with the Broussard party from Halifax via Cap-Français, French St.-Domingue.  They followed the Broussards to the Bayou Teche valley, but they did not remain there.  By early 1766, they had moved to Cabanocé/St.-Jacques on the river above New Orleans probably to escape an epidemic along the Teche that killed dozens of their fellow Acadians the previous summer and fall.  Abraham remarried to a fellow Acadian, a widow, at Cabanocé soon after he got there, and his new wife gave him another son.  His two sons settled at St.-Jacques and had sons of their own.  Beginning in the 1810s, Abraham Roy's three grandsons and two of his great-grandsons abandoned the river and "returned" to the western prairies, where they settled in St. Martin and Lafayette parishes.  By the 1840s, no Acadian Roys remained on the river.

Roys from France and Canada lived in Louisiana from the earliest days of the colony.  A French Canadian widower who had lived at Detroit and Kaskaskia, Illinois, settled at Pointe Coupée in the 1740s, but his sons by his second wife did not remain there.  In the 1780s, they crossed the Atchafalaya Basin to the Opelousas prairies, where their lines proliferated.  Most of them remained in what became St. Landry Parish, but some of them moved down into the old Attakapas District, complicating the family's genealogical picture there.  By the late antebellum period, these French-Canadian Roys greatly outnumbered their Acadian namesakes on the western prairies.  Other, smaller Roy families settled in the western parishes.  Meanwhile, another French-Canadian family, no relation to the Roys of St. Landry and St. Martin, moved from Pointe Coupée to the Avoyelles prairie in the 1790s and created a new center of family settlement there.  During the antebellum period, dozens of Roys, called Foreign French in Louisiana, came to New Orleans from France and the Caribbean Basin; most of them probably remained in the city.  No Roy family appeared in the Bayou Lafourche valley until late in the antebellum period; they probably were not Acadian.

Judging by the number of slaves they owned during the late antebellum period, some Roys, both Acadians and non-Acadians, lived well on their plantations and farms on the western prairies.  By the time of his death in late 1847, Acadian Charles Roy amassed a holding of two dozen slaves on his Lafayette Parish plantation.  His eldest son Désiré must have inherited most of his people; Désiré held only three slaves on his Lafayette Parish farm in 1850, but a decade later he owned 36.  Some of their French-Canadian namesakes in nearby St. Landry and St. Martin parishes did almost as well.  Noël Roy's widow held 30 slaves on her plantation in St. Landry Parish in 1860.  Her husband's cousin Pierre Ulgère Roy, who was her neighbor, owned 14 slaves.  Cousin Alexandre Roy held 13 slaves on his farm in St. Martin Parish.  In Avoyelles Parish, French Canadian François Roy owned 14 slaves in 1850 and 19 a decade later.  His cousin Villeneuve Roy, also of Avoyelles, held 15 slaves in 1860.  The largest slaveholder with the name, however, lived nowhere near his prairie namesakes.  Frédéric Roy, a native of France, held 44 slaves on his St. Bernard Parish plantation in 1850; a decade later, he owned 50 slaves--enough to qualify him as a "large planter."  But most Roys, like most Southerners, did not own slaves, at least none who appeared on the federal slaves schedules of 1850 and 1860, and thus participated only peripherally in the South's antebellum plantation economy. 

Dozens of Roys, both Acadian and non-Acadian, served Louisiana in uniform during the War of 1861-65. ...

The family's name also is spelled Leroy, Le Roy, Roi, Roye.  [For the Acadian family's Louisiana "begats," see Book Ten]

Sources:  1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Avoyelles, Lafayette, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Landry, St. Martin, & Terrebonne parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Avoyelles, Lafayette, Pointe Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Landry, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 785-89, 1432-34, 2138-39, 2253, 2584-85; Baudier, The Catholic Church in LA, 80-81; Brasseaux, Foreign French, 1:474-75, 2:291-92, 3:258; BRDR, vols. 1a(rev.), 1b, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Fortier, Louisiana, 1:52; Giraud, Years of Transition, 24-25; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vol. 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Higginbotham, Old Mobile, 151, 179, 184, 222-23, 365, 444; Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 154-55, 252; Menn, Large Slaveholders of LA, 1860, 342; NOAR, vols. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7; Oubre, Vacherie, 41, source of quotation; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 132-33, 189n; White, DGFA-1, 418, 1425-28; White, DGFA-1 English, 298; Wood, Acadians in Maryland, 165; Ulysse Roy, descendant.

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, 25, calls him Abraham ROY; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 172, & Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 425, the record of his second marriage, calls him Abraham ROY, calls his wife Marie DOUSSET, & gives no witnesses to his marriage.  See also <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; Bourgeois, 177; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 16; Ulysse Roy, collateral descendant.  

A chronology based on primary sources in Brasseaux, ed., Quest for the Promised Land (see Appendix), allows me to assume that the card money exchange list of 30 Apr 1765 includes only the heads of household in the BROUSSARD dit Beausoleil party, which arrived in Feb.  The next party of Acadians who reached New Orleans, in Mar or Apr, went to the Opelousas District, not to Cabanocé.  The first party of Halifax refugees that went to Cabanocé did not reach the city until early May, so no one in that expedition would have been on the late Apr card money exchange list.  Most likely the entire BROUSSARD party, except perhaps for Jean-Baptiste CORMIER, fils, whose parents had settled at Cabanocé in Feb 1764, followed the BROUSSARDs to the Teche valley in Apr.  This includes Abraham ROY, who had no reason to stay at Cabanocé like the young CORMIER did.  

Arsenault, Généalogie, 2584, 2585, says that son Joseph was born in 1760, but his baptismal record & the St.-Jacques census of 1777 say otherwise.  See BRDR, 2:655, which says Joseph ROY was the son of Abraham ROY & Madeleine DOUCET, not Anne AUBOIS, & that he was baptized on 14 Apr 1771 at St.-Jacques, which conforms to the 1777 census.  

The Joseph ROY born in 1760 that Arsenault marries to Anne BORDELON on 2585 was a French Canadian from Pointe Coupée, not a son of Acadian Abraham ROY.  

Why are Abraham's sons Pierre (born in c1760, Arsenault says 1752) & Charles (born in c1763, Arsenault says 1756) not listed in Wall of Names?  Were they his sons, or were they sons of his second wife Madeleine DOUCET from a previous marriage & therefore Abraham's stepsons?  Arsenault, 2584, gives these sons to Abraham's first wife Anne AUBOIS.  

Arsenault does not say that Madeleine DOUCET was a widow when she married Abraham in c1766, but she might have been.  Is she the Madeleine DOUCET, wife of Pierre GAUDET, listed in Wall of Names, 17, with a daughter named Marguerite?  The only other Madeleine DOUCET who came to LA arrived on one of the 7 ships in 1785.  For the actual date of Abraham & Madeleine's marriage, see Bourgeois & Voorhies, J., cited above, which call her Marie DOUSSET.  

Why is Abraham listed singly in the Cabanocé census of 1769?  See Bourgeois, 177.  Note that in the St.-Jacques census of 1777, Abraham & Madeleine have a daughter named Marguerite, age 12, who would have been born in c1764/65, a year before Arsenault said they married & 3 or 4 years before they were actually married.  A Marguerite GAUDET, born on 1 Aug 1764, daughter of Pierre GAUDET & Madeleine DOUCET, was baptized at the New Orleans church on 1 Dec 1765.  See NOAR, 2:134 (SLC, B5, 108).  However, Wall of Names lists no Pierre or Charles GAUDET who fit the birth years of the Pierre & Charles "ROYs" at St.-Jacques in 1777.  Most confusing.  Who was Pierre, Charles, & Marguerite's real father?  I suspect it was Pierre GAUDET.  If so, why are Pierre & Charles not listed in Wall of Names?

02.  Wall of Names, 25, calls her Marie ROY.  

03.  Wall of Names, 25, calls him Sauveur ROY.  Arsenault, Généalogie, 2584, the LA section, says he was born in 1753; BRDR, 2:136, 656 (SJA-1, 50), his marriage record, calls him Sauveur of Acadia, says his wife was from "des Allemands), gives his & her parents' names, & says the witnessed to his marriage were François TERQUY & Paul DUSSIE; BRDR, 2:656 (SJA-4, 23), his death/burial record, calls him Sauveur [ROY], "age 45 years, husband of Marie BOURGOIS.  See also Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 169; De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 16.  

The Cabanocé census of 1766 & the St.-Jacques census of 1777, along with his burial record, do not agree with Arsenault's birth date.  The estimated birth year from the censuses & his burial is followed here. 

Arsenault, 2585, says he & Marie were married in Baton Rouge, but the marriage record cited above says St.-Jacques.  André BOURGEOIS lived at St.-Jacques in 1777 along the east bank next to Abraham ROY, so Sauveur married the daughter of a neighbor.  The marriage record of Sauveur & Marie says that her parents were from des Allemands, which is present-day St. Charles Parish, then called the German Coast.  Her family was not Acadian but French Creole.

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