The Leveque Family in WBR
Marie Celeste Leveque Landry in 1905, probably in Lake Charles, Louisiana
You might read the title of this post and ask, “What Leveque family in West Baton Rouge Parish? There aren’t any Leveque families in WBR!” And you might be right. I don’t know of any, and all of the Leveque family that I’m familiar with are not there. The last Leveque post that I wrote (over a year ago!) talked about the family being in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Leveque name is from my dad’s side of the family. And it comes from both sides of his family. My dad was Bob Landry, the famous band director of Jennings, Louisiana. He was born Robert Joseph Landry, Jr. in Lake Charles, Louisiana. His father, of course, was Robert Joseph Landry, Sr. My grandfather is known as Pee Paw by us grandkids. He was born in Westlake, Louisiana, and he died many years ago. He was the son of Simon Alcide Landry and Marie Celeste Leveque. Alcide and Celeste were born in West Baton Rouge Parish. They were the ones that brought our family to southwestern Louisiana. But they weren’t the only ones that left WBR for Calcasieu Parish.
Joseph Auguste Leveque’s grave marker at the Old Catholic Cemetery in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
To get a better picture of what was going on, we have to go back another generation. Celeste was the daughter of Joseph Auguste Leveque and Marguerite “Basilite” Landry Leveque. Joseph Auguste was born in Donaldsonville, but the Leveque family was also connected to New Orleans. It seems like they spent time in both places. His first wife was Basalite’s older sister Clarissa Doralise Landry. The Landry family had been in West Baton Rouge Parish since at least 1820. After Joseph Auguste Leveque married Clarissa Doralise Landry at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in 1831, they made their home in Brusly (in WBR). They had at least six children together before Clarissa died in 1840.
Mrs. J. A. Leveque’s grave marker at the Old Catholic Cemetery in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This Mrs. J. A. Leveque was the second one – Marguerite Basalite Landry Leveque. She was born in 1821 and died in 1902.
Joseph Auguste Leveque then married Marguerite Basalite in 1843. They had eight children together, which included Marie Celeste who was born in 1847. Joseph Auguste and Basalite continued to live in WBR with their family until at least 1880. But not all of the Leveque family stayed in WBR until that date. Two of J. A.’s sons – Louis and Justinian – made it to Lake Charles by 1867. A decade later more siblings followed suit. Lise and Samuel were in Lake Charles by 1880, followed by Aloysia shortly after. Celeste and Alcide also moved west at that time, but a little further to Westlake.
Marie Francoise Leveque’s headstone in St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Brusly, Louisiana.
J. A.’s other children who lived to adulthood also left West Baton Rouge. J. A., Jr. was a doctor in north Louisiana. The other four – Evalina, Louise, Benjamin, and Mai – moved to New Orleans. With these four being in New Orleans, and Joseph Auguste being originally associated with that city, I thought we’d be related to all of the Leveques in New Orleans. But I had a coworker who was a Leveque from New Orleans and I could find no connection to her Leveque line.
Augustin Leveque’s headstone in St. John the Baptist Cemetery in Brusly.
But there are still some Leveque connections to Brusly and West Baton Rouge Parish. Joseph Auguste wasn’t the only Leveque to move there. He had an older sister named Marie Francoise Leveque. I descend from her through my paternal grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry. Francoise was married to Amedee Bujol and they had eleven children, the first ten being girls. Some of these families stayed in WBR, but they don’t have the Leveque last name.
In addition to these two Leveque siblings, they had a first cousin who ended up in Brusly as well. Her name was Marie Augustin Leveque and she was married to Edmond White. She was the daughter of our Joseph Auguste Leveque’s twin brother Jean Baptiste Leveque. I don’t know if they were identical twins or not. It’s a good thing these headstones have better information than Basalite’s has. Hers just says “Mrs. J. A. Leveque.” It has nothing about her name or maiden name. If these other two women’s headstones were done in the same way, they would say “Mrs. Sylvestre Bujol” and “Mrs. Edmond White.” I like seeing the Leveque name in stone commemorating their presence in WBR.
Ok, that’s my story for the day. If you come across the Leveque name anywhere, let me know. I’ll look into it and see if there’s a connection. There are connections everywhere.