Author: Van

A Letter from Aunt Sue

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This is from a letter written by Susan G. Hine to Miss Nola Stanbro, Lovington, N. Mexico about the death of James Stanbrough. (Nola was the granddaughter of Sue and Jim’s brother Joseph B. Stanbrough.  Nola was the daughter of Orville Carlton Stanbro.)

Elton, La. Oct 29, 1923

My dear niece and all

It has been so long since I wrote to you I expect you have forgotten us. but it sure has been a busy summer and fall. the boys are threshing their Rice now but think they will just about finish up this week. Ollie is not going to have as good a crop this year as he did last but the prices are better so I guess we will come out alright. I told you in one of my letters that Uncle Jim was failing so fast. Well there was an epodemic of colds going round. I was quite sick but did not give up and have the Dr. but was miserable. so about the time I got better Bro took a hard cold. I Dr. him just as I did myself. and we all thought he was getting better he did not cough hardley any. so one morning he had a hemorage. and we sent for the Dr. he said he had taken fresh cold and it was almost pneumonia, but not bad. gave him medicine and told me what to rub on his chest but he did not get much better. he would seem better every other day. he said there was not anything that hurt him. he just seemed wore out so he just got weaker and weaker. the Dr. came again and said we might just as well make up our minds to give him up for there was no hope. one day I asked him if he wanted to get well and he said O I don’t know but he did not say anything about dying. but he told the minister he was living for Christ he was all to him. the day the Dr. Said there was no hope. but he might live till morning. but the Death angle came for him that evening at 6:30, Sept 10. he just passed a way without a strugle. I was glad he did not have to suffer. and of course we all have that debt to pay sooner or later. I am ashamed to ask forgiveness for not writing sooner. for I feel like I should not but I was just about wore out. for Bro just wanted me to wait on him all the time. and they were cutting Rice and I had to cook for the hands. and just kept puting it off from day to day. but will try to do better next time. so will close hoping to hear from you soon. I am as ever. Aunt Sue

The Ancient Family Plot

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Van Landry taking selfie with great great great grandfather Amedee Bujol at St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery in Brusly, Louisiana.

Most of my posts are about photos of my ancestors, which is somewhat limiting because photography hasn’t been around very long, genealogically speaking.  I don’t have any photos of my great great great grandparents.  I have photos of most of my great great grandparents.  The only set of great great grandparents that I don’t have photos of happen to also be my great great great grandparents.

The couple in question are Narcisse Landry and his wife Marie Carmelite Hebert Landry.  They were Pee Paw’s (my paternal grandfather) grandparents and Mee Maw’s (my paternal grandmother) great grandparents.  There, that makes everything clear.

Since I don’t have photos of the individual, sometimes I’ll take selfies with their headstone.  Isn’t that sweet?  Or is it morbid?  Either way, I do it.  I have one of myself with Martha Ann Cook Keys and now I have one with Amedee Bujol.

I took this photo almost two weeks ago.  It was a Sunday afternoon and I was thinking to myself, “I want to take a picture of myself with dead people!”  No, not really.  I had a few spare hours and thought I’d take a quick hop across the Mighty Mississip to check out the Brusly cemetery.  I knew that we had some ancestors buried out there and it was a nice overcast day.  Cemeteries are downright miserable in the summer.  Out in the burning heat and there are usually no trees for shade.

Graves of several family members are located in this small area of the cemetery.

But on a day like that, it is perfect for ‘digging up bones’ as my mom liked to call it.  It took me maybe 15 minutes to get from my house to the spot that I parked in that you see in this photo.  I just pulled in a little ways into the graveyard and got out of my car to start looking.

It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for.  I actually couldn’t have parked any closer.  The main person I was looking for was 1) Marie Francoise Leveque Bujol, my 4th great grandmother.  Francoise was the mother of 2)Amedee from the selfie and he was the father of Amelie ‘Belite’ Bujol who married Trasimond Landry.  They were the parents of Marie Therese Landry Patureau, who was Mee Maw’s mother that died in 1909.

I had seen photos of Francoise’s headstone, so I knew what to look for.  The marker has the writing “Veuve Sylvester Bujol” which means the widow of Sylvester Bujol.  I didn’t see his headstone, but I know that he died in 1824.  With her death given as 1875, that means she had been a widow for over 50 years when she died.

Her son Amedee’s wife Anna Adele Landry also outlived her husband.  She was known as the Veuve Bujol as well and is referred as such in the book about Trasimond Landry called “The Tirailleurs.”  Her grave is not at this cemetery.  (2020 Update – I found the death notice for Anna Adele Bujol, so now I know that she outlived her husband by almost 42 years.  It states that she was buried in this cemetery, yet I haven’t been able to find it.)

It is rumored that Trasimond is buried at this cemetery.  There is a headstone for his mother 3) Marie Carmelite Hebert Landry.  She was the wife of Narcisse Landry.  The rumor also states that Narcisse could be buried here as well.  The rumor comes from family members who have been searching for those graves.  When you look at Marie Carmelite’s grave, you can see plenty of real estate around it.  It is thought that Narcisse and Trasimond are buried on either side of her.

Marie Carmelite and Narcisse are my great great grandparents because they are the father of Simon Alcide Landry.  He moved to the western part of the state in the mid to late 1880s with his family and he was buried in Lake Charles.

And though Narcisse may not have been buried in the St. John the Baptist Catholic Cemetery, we know for sure that some of his brothers were.  I found two of their graves.

The most important brother that I found was Narcisse’s half brother 5) Emmanuel Landry.  The reason I claim his importance is because I also descend from Emmanuel.  He was the father of the Anna Adele that I mentioned earlier.  Not only that, he was the father of Clarissa Doralise and Marguerite ‘Baselite’ Landry, the two wives of my great great grandfather Joseph August Leveque (also buried in Lake Charles).

His wife 4) Celeste Bruneteau Landry’s headstone is at this cemetery as well.  As you can see from the photos, they are large concrete graves that are above the ground.  Sitting on top of Celeste’s grave was a broken marker for Valerien Landry.  His grave must be nearby.  He was another brother of Narcisse Landry.  I don’t descend from him.  Imagine that.

So I descend from Narcisse through two of his sons.  Then I descend from his half brother Emmanuel through two daughters.  Through these connections, I am my own double half 5th cousin once removed.  And that’s not all.  I descend through Narcisse’s brother Onezime through his daughter Marie Emma Landry, the wife of the Patureau immigrant Pierre Ferdinand.  They are the progenitors for all of the Patureaus in southern Louisiana that I know of.

J. H. Amedee Bujol died June 28, 1857, in his 42nd year. He was full of honor, esteemed, loyal, always sincere. He was always a good son, a good husband, and a good father. (roughly translated)

So the people in these graves are part of the great entanglements in my family tree.  I can’t really complain about any of that, because if any of that would have been different, I wouldn’t be here.  And neither would a lot of you reading this.

It’s always interesting to me to see the final resting place of some of my people.  Even though it is a place for the dead, I know that many of my family lived and breathed at this same location.  Mourning their loved ones who came before them.  The cycle continues.

I thought I’d put the family tree for my paternal grandmother on here since all of the graves I found are in her tree.  I also thought I’d add the numbers that are associated with the graves pictured in the second photo on this post.

Family tree showing my grandmother’s ancestors. One correction – I have since found that her maternal great grandmother Anna Adele Landry died on Mar. 13, 1899.

Follow-up Friday: From Betty to Bob – I’m Yours

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“Follow-up Friday?” you ask, “What’s that?”  Well I’ll tell you what it is.  It’s when you obtain some added information that you want to add to your latest post, but you’re too eager to wait for Surplus Sunday.  I know that I made it very clear in my most recent post that you would not be reading any long lost love letters, but I can now happily report that I was wrong.  This is the best thing that I’ve ever been wrong about!

My sister Jamie and I had discussed those long lost letters during the Thanksgiving holiday and neither of us had any idea where those letters had gone to.  We assumed that either our mom or dad had destroyed the letters after we found them and read them.  So I wrote my post on Wednesday and shared it with y’all.

Then this morning I woke up and found a text from Jamie.  She had found a few letters!  I was so excited and when I read them I have to admit that I got a bit choked up.  I also laughed a bit because the letters my mom wrote have quite a bit of humorous points to them.  I was relieved that at least a few letters survived.  From the letters that did survive, it’s clear that they were writing to each other daily.  It is also clear that they were in love.

His letter was written on July 5, 1952, (which is exactly 10 years before our Jamie was born) and he starts out with a “Hi, Baby.”  Not long after that he says, “I sure miss you, cutey.”  He talks about how busy he is with training and not sure he will be able to write every day, but don’t be surprised if some day there isn’t a letter.  (This sets up for a funny exchange in the next letter.)  He then signs off, “All my love.”

I’m not sure of the date of the letter mom wrote, but it starts with “Hi Honey.”  This is a term of endearment that they both called each other for the rest of their lives.  I had been wondering if it had been used that far back, and now I know.  The letter continues as a response to his letter about not writing daily.

She was not expecting a letter and her sister Alma must have known this.  So when Alma went to check on the mail and saw a letter from Bob, she didn’t let Betty Lou know right away.  She then asked mom if she’d rather look through the new catalog or read the new letter from her beau.  Mom says in the letter, “I could have choked her.”  But she doesn’t, because she is “so nice.”  Now that got me giggling again.

But the rest of the letter is full of the same funny and sweet content.  She uses terms that she did for the rest of her life.  She said that she was gaining a “teeniny” bit of weight.  She was glad of that because she had lost weight because she was so lonesome.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed seeing these old letters that I had thought destroyed.  They do give a bit of a window back to the time when they were young, in love, and separated by some distance.  I’ll let you read them now, if you have a mind to.

 

Letter written on July 5, 1952, by Bob Landry who was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training. He was writing back home to his fiancee Betty Lou Bucklin.

Saturday July 5, 1952

 

Hi Baby,

Watcha know?  We are now having/ our first free time from 7 to 9 P.M. I/ sure miss you, cutey.  Our basic is/ only 8 weeks. So maybe around Sept./ Huh, Hon?

If I miss a day or two writing/ don’t be surprised.  You can’t tell/ how long it’ll be until there’s time/ to write another letter.  These ser-/geants are very unpredictable.

Our T. I. (Technical Instructor) is/ O.K.  I will probably get transfered/Into a Band Squadron next/ week.

I’ll hafta close now.  I have/ lots to do.

Be Good

All my love,

Bob

 

Page 1 of 2

Wed. nite 9:30

Hi Honey,

Hows my man tonight./ Thought you said I wouldn’t get/ a letter this morn.  I didn’t/ expect one.  Alma got the mail/ + she just fooled around and/ pretty soon she asked if I’d/ rather look at the new catalog/ or read your letter.  I could/ had choked her.  But I didn’t/ cause I’m so nice, you know.

I sure do like that picture./  Every time I look at it it/ looks more fanciful.  Yummy!

Just got back from an/ ice cream social.  Had a bunch of fun.  Got to see all my old/ gal friends.  Got to tell them/ all about my darling + showed/ them some pictures of you.  We/ really gabbed.  One of the other/ girls has her a Bob too but I/ bet he ain’t as sweet as mine.  (End of page one)

 

page 2 of 2

(page 2) Didn’t do much today.  Just/ worked.  Hoed this morn + worked/ in the house the rest of the day.

I believe I’m gaining a teeniny/ bit of weight.  It’s about time./  I weighed less that I have in 3 or 4 years.  Everybody thought I looked skinny.  I’ll probably get it back.  I feel better.  I/ believe I was just too lonesome -/ being with the family makes/ it much easier.  anyhow I be/ doing good for myself now.

I reckon that’s all the/ news I can think up.  Guess/ I’ll go to bed.  Sleep tight honey.

Be real good.

I love you, Bob

I’m yours

Betty Lou

(end of letters)

So there you go.  That’s what remains of the long lost love letters.  I can picture my mom being “beside herself” because of what her sister Alma pulled on her.  I’m sure she cursed her out!  Not really, that wasn’t her style.  She probably said something like, “You stinker, you!” and went to her room to read her latest letter.  I’m sure Alma got a good chuckle out of it.  I know I did.  I hope you did too.

 

Love Letters Lost

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Before you get too excited that you are going to be reading some long lost letters that have been found, I want to tell you that you won’t.  The letters are still lost.  At least to me.  Some of the contents of the letters are still available, but the letters themselves have been lost or maybe just destroyed.  Yes, they could have been intentionally destroyed!

The letters I’m talking about were letters written by my parents in 1952.  Daddy went off to basic training for the Air Force in San Antonio after he and my mom were engaged to be married.  I’m sure they missed each other when they were miles apart and my mom was not someone who liked to talk on the phone much.  Besides, it was expensive to make long distance calls in those days.  There weren’t many plans to choose from!  So they sent letters to each other and included photos of some of the things they were doing.

Of course the main thing that was included were pictures of themselves for their enfianced.  This is my mom Betty Lou Bucklin looking sweet for her beau Bob Landry.  I used to always think of my mom as a naive young girl who got lost easily and wasn’t very assertive.

But in retrospect, I think I was wrong.  My mom got exactly what she wanted out of life.  Her dream was to find a nice young man that she would want to marry, have lots of children, and have a family band together.  She didn’t hang around her quaint little country home town of Hathaway to see what would happen.  She went to the big city of Lake Charles and gave herself an option of an education to fall back on as a standby.  The standby was never needed.

This second shot is a photo Betty Lou with her sisters Loris and Alma.  This must have been in the summer of 1952, which was a few months before my parents’ marriage in early November.  On the back of this photo my mom wrote “anything to make you happy.”  I suppose my dad must have appreciated these photos, because he saved them and we’re looking at them today.

Here is one of the photos that he sent to her.  This was taken at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in August of 1952.  His photos were a little more serious than my mom’s.  After all, he was a young man in training for the military.  That’s pretty serious business.

I’m not really sure how frequently they wrote to each other, but it was nowhere near what would be exchanged between people nowadays.  They’d be sending texts and photos every day.  Times were a bit different then.

One of the other differences is that they didn’t have the cloud to save all of their information for them.  They had to put the photos in boxes or albums and the letters in a file or drawer somewhere.  They did do that, because me and my sister Jamie came across those letters years ago.  And being the nosy children that we were back then, we opened up those letters and read them.  I don’t really remember much about the contents of the letters, but I do remember giggling a lot.

We got into trouble for that, which was another thing we giggled about.  But we never saw those letters ever again.  When we cleared out my parents house, we kept an eye out for them, but we could not find them.  I’m afraid that I will never see them again.  I’m not giggling about that.

Lagniappe – Thought I would add these two other photos to this post.  One of them is my mom with her younger brother Austin.  The other one is my mom’s Pin Up photo.  A photo of her in a two piece swimsuit.

Update!  Don’t want to give a spoiler, but that lack of a giggle was wiped off my face.

 

Too Young to be Grampa

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“Who is that dashing young man?” you may be asking yourself.  That’s what I would be asking if I didn’t have the information available to me.  I’ve posted several photos of him in the past, but none of them were this far into the past.

This photo was taken around 1888.  I estimate it to be from that year because that was the year he got married.  He looks about the same age as he does in his wedding photo, maybe even a little younger.  He was 23 when he got married.  Does he look that age to you, too?

But men don’t necessarily take photos of themselves when they became engaged.  Could it be a high school graduation photo?  That would make it closer to 1883, assuming he graduated when he was 18.  Assuming he actually did graduate from high school.  I don’t have all the details of his life.

Have you figured out who he was?  I posted a photo of his wife Marie Therese Landry two months ago.  He’s the only ancestor that I call “Grampa.”  Not Grandpa or Pee Paw.  He was born in Mexico, though he is not of Mexican descent.  His ancestry is not from Spain, but from France.  He lived in Plaquemine and he was the only grandfather my dad knew.

Yes, it is our very own Vincent Maximilian Patureau, later to be known as Grampa Max.  But he was just a young man in this photo.  This is one of the great photos that come from the collection of my dad’s cousin Sis. (She is one of the Marie Therese womenfolk in the family – Marie Therese Schafer Vicknair to be exact!) So great when family members are willing to share their treasures with us.  Though some people in the Patureau family have been known to be a bit stingy with their photos.  I won’t name names, but I’m sure that none of you reading this are like that!

But this photo is before Sis was in anyone’s imagination.  It was also before the birth of her mother, who was also named Marie Therese.  This was when young Max’s only thought of a Marie Therese was the young woman he was planning on marrying.  So when he popped the question to her all those years ago, how could she say no to this dashing young man?

George and Susan’s Eighteen in ’19

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George and Susan with their 18 in ’19. A nice old family photo from almost a hundred years ago.

George Henry Hine and his wife Susan G. Stanbrough Hine had eighteen living grandchildren in 1919. Their daughter Addie’s fifth child did not make it past infancy or there would be one more in this photo.  There are actually more people in the photo.  It includes their six children and a few unidentified people who are most likely family.

Before I get too far, let me remind you who George and Susan are to me.  I am Van Landry and my mother was Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  Her father was Fred Bucklin who is one of the twin boys standing directly behind George (the seated man).  The twins’ mother Addie Hine Bucklin (my great grandmother) is standing directly behind them.  Addie’s parents are George and Susan, who are my great great grandparents.  I’ve actually posted two other photos previously that were taken at the same occasion, though they were of smaller groups than this.

What’s that you ask?  ‘Who are all of those people?’ Well I already told you who the important ones are, so I suppose you want me to name everyone.  So that is what I will attempt to do.  I think we’ve settled it now that George and Susan are the older couple sitting in the front of all of their progeny.  They were from Indiana and while there, they had their six children.  They then moved to Louisiana in 1894 where the children grew up and started families of their own.

Hine family group in 1919 with name designations.

Addie was the first one born and she was the first one to provide them with a grandchild.  She is the one with the big A on her head in the second photo.  She was married to Louis Charles Bucklin, but he rarely showed up in photos.  Their first child was Leo (A1) who was born in 1898.  According to a letter written by Susan in 1916, Leo had an accident with a saw blade that left him “a cripple.”  Leo did walk with a limp for the rest of his life.  Next was Mary (A2) who was born in 1900.  Ralph (A3) was born in 1902 and he later had a daughter named Helen.  In 1903 Addie and Lou had a son named Paul, but he was the one that did not live past infancy, so he is not in the photo.

In 1904 a son named Carl (A5) was born.  The photos from this date are the only ones of him that I know of.  When he was very young, he lost his hearing and never learned to speak.  I don’t know if there were any other learning deficiencies or just that there was no Anne Sullivan out in the country in 1919, but I don’t think he had an education.  When my mom was a kid, she was kind of scared of him.  He stayed up in his room a lot, but sometimes he came down to sit on “his nail keg in the kitchen.”

On to number A6.  That would be Herbert born in 1906, who was the grandfather of Joseph.  Too bad Herbert is mostly hidden behind an unidentified boy in the photo.  Clarence (A7) and Fred (A8) came along in 1907.  Clarence is the father of Carla, and Fred is the grandfather of me and all my maternal cousins.  In 1909 Edna (A9) was born.  One of her sons was Mel Keys (my mom’s first cousin through the Bucklins and 2nd cousin through the Keys) who helped to build the working model of the Starship Enterprise for the original Star Trek series.  And he is the father of Steven and Teresa.

The tenth child of Addie and Louis was Robert (A0) who was born in 1911.  He’s sitting in the front looking a little sad.  We have seen that same look time and again from his mother.  I’ve given her a hard time about it on these blog posts, but look at her mother Susan.  She has a big frown on her face as well.  I guess Addie came by that scowl honestly.  Yet there is a photo of Susan with a smile on it from this same day.  I’ll save that for a special occasion!

Back to the list of people – particularly the children of Addie.  We’ve already named ten!  But there are two more to go.  In 1915 she had another set of twins.  Not identical ones this time.  A girl by the name of Ruth (AA) was born with a boy named Roy (AB).  Ruth is the matriarch of the Bruchhaus branch of our family and Roy was the father of Jeannette and Doris.

On now to the second child of George and Susan.  Take heart, some of them did not have any children at all.  After Addie was born in 1876, along came Bert in 1878.  He was married to Anna Jones (BW) and they had three children.  Leta (B1) was born in 1912, Wanda (B2) was born in 1917, and Harold was born in 1921.  Being that the photo was taken in 1919, Harold can not be seen in the photo.

Harrison Rowe is the next child of George and Susan.  Rowe was born in 1880 and he was married to a woman named Electra (or May).  She may be the dark haired woman standing in front of Rowe, but I don’t have any identified photos of her.  They did not have any children that I know of.

Lonnie was born in 1882 and he was married to Millie (LW).  They had two children and they both show up in this photo.  Arthur Henry (L1) was born in 1905 and Alta Zay (L2) was born in 1912.  Jim was born in 1884 and he was married to Dorinda Thomas (JW) who had been a teacher at Nubbin Ridge in the Hathaway area.  They had four children together.  Aulden (J1) was born in 1908.  He graduated from Jennings High School in 1926 (the year after my grandmother Myrtle Phenice Bucklin) and lived the rest of his life in Jennings, Louisiana.  Audrey (J2) was born in 1910.  The baby at the time was Kenneth (J3) who is in his daddy’s arms.  Later on another daughter was born. Her name was Darlene and she was born in 1923.  She was married to Dalton Landry in Jennings.  I remember being confused about this when I was a kid.  They were Landrys but they were related to us from Mama’s side of the family?  What?  It doesn’t seem confusing at all now.

The last child of George and Susan was Ollie who was born in 1886.  He was a mama’s boy.  When he was younger he dated a girl, but he was too connected to his mom to allow the relationship to become more serious.  I’m not sure if he lived with both parents at this time, but after his father died later this year, the 1920 census shows him living with his mom and her 70 year old brother James Stanbrough.  Ollie lived with his mother until she died in 1933 and only married after that time.  He was a mama’s boy.

But Susan must have been a loving person.  She seemed fond of her children and grandchildren.  She also had her brother living with her family for many years.  He came down from Indiana with her family and he never married as well.  I don’t know his story.  He may be one of the identified men in this photo – possibly the bearded man in the back left.  There is also another adult man, an adult women, and some children who are unaccounted for.  I wish I knew who they were.

Well, that’s it. Thanks for traveling back to 1919 with me.  I hope you enjoyed it.  But most of all I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

A Home for the Keys

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I’ve spoken a few times about my Keys family when they first moved to the United States from England in the spring of 1887.  The main thing that people in the family talk about is how the family of Thomas Lord MacVey let the family stay in their chicken house because the Keys didn’t have a home when they first moved to southern Louisiana.

The original Keys house that was built in 1887. Mabel Keys is on a horse in front of the house.

And since the Keys arrived in the spring, it was a good time for building a house.  The matron of the family – Martha Ann Cook Keys – decided to stay in the China, Louisiana, area, so she purchased forty two acres of land.  Soon after that there was a building bee by the local townsfolk to build the family a house.  And this photo shows that house.

The lumber was hauled to the site by oxen and wagon.  The house had wooden floors with a kitchen, bedroom and living room with bookshelves downstairs.  The half story upstairs was one big room.  The house was heated with a fireplace.  A chimney can be seen on the right side of the house in the photo.

I’m sure they were grateful to have their own home to live in, especially since it had all the conveniences of a modern home.  A man named Monroe brought mail from Jennings to Art Anderson’s store where Martha would go to pick it up.  She would go to Welsh or Jennings by horse or wagon for the few needs required by the family.  Eventually there was a nice trail beaten down by the horse’s hooves.  The prairie grass was as tall as or taller than the wagon.  The different houses in the area had driveways in a sense – they each had their own beaten down path to the main trail that led to Jennings or Elton.  That main trail was on the high ground, of course.

And while we are getting closer to cars that drive themselves, our ancestors had something similar.  Since taking a trip to Jennings or Welsh could take all day, sometimes they would fall asleep on their way home.  It was no problem, though, because the horses knew the way home.  What more could you ask for?

There was one problem they had to look out for while living out on the primitive prairie during the fall, and that was grass fires.  My mom used to talk about this from time to time.  I think she was proud of her great grandmother’s resourcefulness.  Martha learned how to “back fire” a prairie fire.  This is done by starting a controlled burn of the grass near your house in the direction of the wind.  That way the grass will slowly burn toward the prairie fire and there is no fuel for the fire around your house.

When I look at this photo, I imagine that Martha is standing in the doorway looking out at her youngest daughter Mabel sitting on their horse.  It has only been a couple of years since the move, but she is satisfied with the changes that she has made for her family.  They have a home in a quiet, safe place with horses, cows, pigs and chickens aplenty.  She admires the trees that she’s planted, knowing that they will grow and produce food for her family.  She and her children are adjusting well to this new, strange land.  Yet it is already feeling like home.

Pappy Landry on the Streetcar

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This is a photo of my paternal grandfather Robert Joseph Landry, Sr.  He was known by friends and family as Rob or Uncle Rob.  His children called him Papa or Pappy.  But us grandchildren all knew him as Pee Paw.  (Though some of us spell it wrong – PePaw or some such thing.)  It was taken around 1924 in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Rob was born on Jan. 9, 1893, in Westlake, Louisiana, to Civil War veteran Simon Alcide Joseph Landry and Marie Celeste Leveque.  Alcide and Celeste were half 1st cousins once removed with a common ancestor of Joseph Ignatius Landry.  Both were born on plantations in slave-era southern Louisiana just before the Civil War.  They were married in 1868 in West Baton Rouge Parish, which is where they had grown up.  Their first child Marie Marguerite Carmelite (named after both grandmothers) Landry arrived in 1870.  They then had seven sons in a row.  The next daughter arrived around 1889, probably just before the family moved to the Westlake area.

I’m not really sure why the family moved to that area.  Probably for employment opportunities.  They weren’t the only ones in the family that moved there.  A few other families from the extended Landry, Leveque, and Bird families moved there.  I’m sure they moved there hoping for the best of everything, but sadly that was not to be.  Their oldest daughter Marguerite Carmelite died shortly after moving there.  She is buried in the Old Catholic Cemetery in Lake Charles.

It wasn’t long before our very own little Rob showed up and hopefully brought some joy to their lives.  He was the last child to be born to the couple.  His father Alcide was 47 at the time of his birth.  He was the baby of the family and the one closest in age to him was the only surviving sister Marie Therese (there’s that name again!) who was four years older than him.  When he was six years old, she died as well.  So after that he grew up as the youngest son of six or seven boys.  (I am not entirely sure of the number of sons in the family or if any died early.)

As you know from previous posts, he was fond of baseball and fishing and he was in World War I.  He also worked for Gulf States Utilities and one of the positions he held was that of streetcar conductor.  And that is who you see in this photo.  Rob as a young man starting out with a company that he would stay with for several years.  He had married his sweetheart Erie Patureau and they were starting a family of their own in Lake Charles.  He looks like a friendly and happy fellow.  I like that.

A Keepsake Letter – A Message From Susan

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When you first read this title, you may have thought that I was referring to my great great grandmother Susan Stanbrough Hine on my mother’s father’s side of the family.  Although I do in fact have a letter (two letters now) from her that I intend to share later on, I am writing about a different ancestor named Susan.  This one is Susan Jackson Phenice, my great great great grandmother on my mother’s mother’s side of the family.  Her son was Samuel Phenice who fought in the Civil War.  Her grandson was H. C. Phenice, who was the Phenice that brought the Phenice name to Louisiana.

And H. C didn’t just have one grandmother with the name of Susan – both of his grandmothers were named Susan.  I’m pretty sure his other grandmother’s name was Susan Penrod Foster.  ( Correction – now I am absolutely sure that his other grandmother was not another Susan.  Her name was Anne Magdaleen Milliron Foster.)  I’m not certain about that other Susan, so in the meantime we will look at Susan Jackson Phenice and the letter that she wrote to us.

Well, it wasn’t actually written to us, but we can take some of her sentiments to heart.  It was written on April 16, 1877, to her daughter-in-law Ida Fitzgerald Phenice, who was married to son Abraham Phenice.  They had a small daughter named Emma Maud (maud in the letter) who was about three years old at the time.  Susan talks about some of her children, though she doesn’t mention Samuel by name.

Let’s take a look at that letter now.  I have spent some time cleaning up the scan of the letter so it would be more legible.  But I will go ahead and transcribe it for you.

First page –

April the 16, 1877

Well Dear Ida I suppose you think/ by this I dont intend to write to/ [indecipherable words] I should/ and would have writen before but/ when I heard from when ever you/ wrote to Abram (her son Abraham) in particular after/ I was informed of your condition/ I sympathize with you very much/ for I have experienced such times/ but be of good cheer and in good heart/ keep up your courage and dont/ dispare for he that puts on the/ burden – can take it of again all/ that we must do is to look to Jesus/ and he will help in times of need/ how soon do you expect to be/ back to work  you could be here/ before that time  we would all/  (continued on page 2)

Page 2 –

feel better satisfied to be/ together there  none of us can count/ on many years at the longest/ and why not be with each/ other while we are here  it is the Joy of my heart when the children / comes home  you wanted to know/ if Abe was as good a son as he was a husband/ he is  I am/ very proud of him and/ all the rest but better boys than/him and harper is cant be/ found every day.  I expect we will/ move to petrolia this week or the/ first of next  if you come out here you/ will be handy the catholic church/ Just quit(e) a short distance from where/ our house is and the methodist/ church is handy too  I think Willams (another son)/ family will be here soon.  Just as/ soon as we leave the house Daughter/ Kate will be quite handy and [blob]  (continued on page 3)

Page 3 –

That Dear little boy of/ yours (Abe) went to petrolia (in Butler County, Pennsylvania) to work/ this morning as lively as a cricket/  he is in good heart   work is/ plenty  they can get all they do/ can do  all they have to do is to work/ and they will money no doubt/

well Ida I have nothing of/ importance to write to you/ as Abe writes so often he tells you/ all the news  the family is/ all well  I dont feel very rugged to day  my head aches/ considerable but it will soon/ be better  I am going to make/ myself some coffee and that/ will straiten me out   I suppose/ I trouble myself to much about/ moving  the boys scolds me/ for it  that Abe and Harper they think I have no need to worrie  (continued on page 4)

Page 4 –

Ida Dear remember me in/ your prayers that I may obtain/ a home in heaven  Oh that/ we all will meet at the right of god/ and walk hand in hand in/ the new Jerusalem where there/ is no sickness nor sorrow  all is/ peace and happiness  let us try to/ meet the Dear ones gone before us/

I will stop by bidding/ you good by for a while/ kiss maud for me  this is her/

from your mother

Susan Phenice

the family all sends their love/ to you and maud

(end of letter)

Isn’t that a sweet keepsake to have?  I remember Mama having a copy of it in her collection of family information.  I don’t know how she got it.  Maybe her cousins provided her with the copy.  I’m grateful to whoever did.

My favorite part of the letter is from page 2 when she says “it is the Joy of my heart when the children comes home.”  I’ve even used it as cousin bait.  That is a term I’ve read in genealogy circles (trust me, they’re out there) that doesn’t sound very sweet.  It just means a little enticing tidbit that you share with a cousin to tempt them into responding to you.  I did that with cousin Mona and it worked!  I edited it to fit my message by altering her quote to “It is the Joy of my heart when the children come together.”  I think it has the same meaning and I’m sure Grandma Susan would approve of my intent.

And if I was actually having a conversation with ol’ Susan, I’d also like to ask her about “the Dear ones gone before us.”  Because I don’t know the names of her parents or grandparents.  I do know that she was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and then she died in Petrolia two years after she wrote this letter.  And it’s obvious from her writing that she has strong beliefs and that she really cherished her family.  Good things to know.

My mom’s family tree. Her mom was the Phenice, so you can follow her line (the yellow trail) up to Susan Jackson (Phenice).

A Patureau Wedding From 1933

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As you can tell by now, I really like old photos.  Especially those of my own family.  I also like photos with large groups of people in them.  Wedding photos are nice, too.  So this old photo is particularly nice because it has all of those elements in it.  Of course, it’s really not that old.  It’s only from eighty-four years ago.  It was taken a month after my mom was born.  But it’s from my dad’s side of the family.

This photo is from the wedding of Marie Therese “Bee” Patureau and Clarence Schafer on June 19, 1933.  It looks like a very nice affair.  The wedding took place at St. John’s Cathedral in Lafayette, Louisiana.  Bee was the younger sister to my Mee Maw (Germaine Erie Patureau was the mother of Bob Landry, my father), who I can’t find in this photo.  I know that she was there, because there is another photo of the event that supposedly shows her. (It doesn’t look like her to me.)  Erie and Bee’s father was Grampa Max (Vincent Maximilian Patureau) who is standing proudly in the middle of his large family.

The wedding couple are seated in chairs with the bride surrounded by many bouquets of flowers.  Sylvia (another Patureau sister) and her husband Son Marionneaux are directly behind the bride.  On each side of Sylvia are two more Patureau sisters.  (Neither of which is wearing a hat.)  On the left is Lidwyn and on the right is Emma.  Emma is the mother of Tez.  Tez was just a 12-year-old girl at the time with no signs of bumps to be seen.  She can be seen sitting on the ground directly in front of her mother.  Her father is the tall man in the back at the center of the photo.  His name was Toby Mouton.  The other Patureau sibling in the photo is Mee Maw’s brother Rome (rhymes with homey) on the far right.

Sadly, the marriage was not very long lasting.  The shortness of duration was not due to a lack of affection nor infidelity nor infelicity.  The end of the marriage was due to the death of Bee only a short four years later.  But not before the births of her two daughters Syl in 1934 and Sis in 1937.

We can thank Sis for sharing this photo with us.  It really is a beautiful photo.  Full of familiar and familial faces at a happy moment in their lives.

Invitation to the festive occasion.

July 5, 2019 – I found this newspaper article about the wedding.  It ran in Lafayette’s “The Daily Advertiser” on the day of the wedding.

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