Erie Alone

I noticed that many of the past few posts have been large groups.  I like those old photos with lots of people in them, but they are more work to identify them all.  Not that I can I identify them all, but I try to.  So I thought I’d post a photo with fewer people in it.

It’s also time to post something for my dad’s side of the family.  I thought I’d post something about my Mee Maw.  I had some group photos from when she was in school, but I don’t want to post a group shot.  You see the dilemma I have when trying to find the perfect post every week?

But lucky for me, there is a photo of Mee Maw by herself that I’ve been wanting to post for a while.  I posted another photo of her that was taken on the same day, but that was over two years ago, so I should be good to post it now.

Here it is.  This was taken in July 1921 somewhere in southern Louisiana.  Germaine Erie Patureau was born in Crescent, Louisiana, (near Plaquemine) on August 6, 1895.  Her parents were Max and Therese Landry Patureau.  Her mother died in 1909 when Erie was just 14 years old.

In 1912 she went off to college in Lafayette at SLI.  She may have stayed with Grandma Babin at that time.  Grandma Babin was her mother’s mother.  I always refer to her as Belite.  Her full name was Marie Amelie “Belite” Bujol Landry Babin.  She was one of the beautiful daughters of the Widow Bujol who made a flag before the Civil War to see off the soldiers in the Brusly area.  But in 1912, she was just Erie’s grandmother.  Belite and her second husband Magloire Babin had moved to Lafayette a few years earlier.

In 1915 Erie graduated from college and began her teaching profession in Lafayette.  I’ve shared a photo of her with her classroom once before.  She was living in Lafayette in 1920 according to the Census.  She was living with her mom’s half sister and her family.  Her mom was the daughter of Belite and Trasimond Landry, and her mom’s half-sister Clemence was the daughter of Belite and Magloire Babin.  Also in the household was Clemence’s husband and their six children, as well as Belite.

As it turns out, Clemence’s husband was her own second cousin Louis Peter Landry.  Louis had a younger brother by the name of Robert Joseph Landry.  We all know what happens next.  In 1900 Rob’s brother Sebastian had married their first cousin Manette.  Then in 1905 Louis married their second cousin Clemence.  So really, a cousin marriage was long overdue!

Because that’s what Erie did in November of 1921.  She married her mom’s first cousin Rob and moved with him to Lake Charles to start a family of her own.  So much for Erie being all alone as the title suggests.  But as we all know, she lived happily ever after.