Month: April 2024

Grampa Max in Beaumont

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Vincent Maximilian Patureau and Gertrude Brammer Patureau in Beaumont, Texas, circa 1925.

This is the second photo of Grampa Max that I’ve shared from this particular visit to Beaumont.  I shared that photo in a blog post from over eight years ago.  Eight years!  It’s hard to believe that I’ve been writing these weekly posts for that long.  Do you remember that first photo that I shared from that visit?  The name of the blog post was “Patureau Brothers” and it was a photo of Grampa Max with his older brother Leobon.  The woman that you see was also in that first photo.  When I first shared that photo, I thought it might have been taken in Lafayette.  I’m pretty sure now that the photo was taken in Beaumont, Texas.

My great grandfather’s given name was Vincent Maximilian Patureau, but everyone knew him as Max.  He was born in 1865 in Matamoras, Mexico.  His parents were Ferdinand Pierre Patureau and Marie Emma Landry.  Ferdinand was born in France and he came to Louisiana with his parents and siblings in 1840.  Emma was a Cajun from Brusly, Louisiana.  The Landry family had settled in Louisiana in 1767 after being Exiled from Acadie in 1755. 

Max grew up in Plaquemine, Louisiana, and when he was of marrying age, he got married to a Landry of his own.  His wife – my great grandmother – was Marie Therese Landry.  Her father Trasimond Landry was the first cousin of Max’s mom Emma.  Max and Marie Therese had fifteen children together, including my grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau.  She, too, married another Landry.  My grandfather was Robert Joseph Landry.  He was the son of Alcide Landry, the brother of Trasimond.  Erie and Rob had eight children, and one of them was my dad who was known as Bob Landry.  As I often like to say, he married outside of the family.  There’s not a single Cajun to be found in Betty Lou Bucklin’s family tree!

Like I said before, this is a photo of my Grampa Max.  He’s actually my great grandfather and he died long before I was born.  The woman in the photo is Gertrude Brammer Patureau.   She was married to Max’s nephew Arthur Mitchell Patureau.  Arthur was the son of Max’s brother Louis Leobon Patureau and he lived in Beaumont.  When I posted the first photo all those years ago, I didn’t realize the strong connection that the Patureau family had with Beaumont.  Arthur and Gertrude were both from Plaquemine, but they were living in Beaumont by the time of the birth of their first child Albert Leobon in 1912.  They lived there for the rest of their lives.

The Patureau Bed headboard has a mattress roller along the top. It can be removed. In olden times it was used to smooth out the mattresses. The bed was made around 1800 in France. That’s our little girl cat Bella on the pillows.

But they weren’t the only members of the Patureau family living there.  Max and Louis’s youngest sister Marie Victorine “Aunt Bebe” Patureau Cropper moved to Beaumont with her family in 1903 and stayed.  Aunt Bebe was the Patureau family historian of that generation.  She started an amazing collection of photos, letters, and other memorabilia relating to the family.  That collection is now in the Tyrrell Historical Library in Beaumont.  She also had the amazing bed that the Patureau family brought to the US from France.  I now have that bed.  I like to do my French lessons while I lie in that bed.  This often leads to me having a “Pat” nap. 

But back then it was in Beaumont.  I know that Grampa Max visited Beaumont from time to time.  It’s likely that he would have stayed at his sister’s house.  They probably shared meals there as well.  And in my family, there is a tradition after big family meals.  And that tradition is taking naps.  I’m sure Grampa Max knew the history of that old Patureau bed and would have wanted to use that for his own “Pat” naps.  Right?  And I’m sure that Aunt Bebe would have been willing to let that happen.  She got to keep the bed in her house after all.

It’s what I would do.  That’s right!  Any of you Patureau relatives out there that want to come visit are welcome.  Maybe we could share a meal.  And then maybe, just maybe, you too can have a “Pat” nap!

Samuel Charles Phenice Lost a Son

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My great great grandfather Samuel Charles Phenice circa 1910. Probably in Nebraska.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about tonight.  I was busy at work this week, so I didn’t really think about it.  There were a few things that happened outside of work that made me consider a topic.  But I wasn’t sure.  Last week I talked about my dad’s side of the family, so this week it was time for a post on my mom’s side of the family.  Specifically, it was time for a Phenice post.

I looked through the folder of Phenice photos a little, but then thought it might be interesting to find something that happened 100 years ago.  I didn’t know what that might be, so I looked at photos in the 1920s.  Nothing stood out, so I looked at my family tree to see what was happening with the Phenice family 100 years ago.  There wasn’t anything specifically in 1924 that I saw, but I did see an event that happened in 1922.  On 2-22-22 (February 22, of 1922) my great great grandfather Samuel Charles Phenice suffered the loss of his first son Chauncey.

This was actually the theme I had thought of writing about this week, because my godmother lost her son this week.  It’s such a tragedy when a parent loses a child.  When my oldest sister died in 1989, it hit my parents really hard.  My goal for the rest of their lives was to take good care of myself so they wouldn’t have to go through that kind of loss again.  I succeeded.  But things happen sometimes outside of our control.

My great uncle Chauncey Phenice – 1868-1922. This photo was taken around 1900, possibly in Nebraska.

In the case of my great great grandfather Samuel, the death of his first child came just after a year of losing his wife of fifty years – Cathrine Jane “Kate” Foster Phenice.  Most of the time when I think about them, I focus on obvious things.  They had a long marriage of fifty years – a family tradition in this line – six generations with 50 years or more.  Of course, I tell about Samuel being in the Civil War out of Pennsylvania.  Yes, he was a Yankee!  He also was a witness to the Lincoln Assassination.  Kate had a tragic end to her life.  Her clothes caught on fire and she died as a result of her injuries.  As a result, Samuel dealt with the loss of his son without her.  Chauncey was their first – he was the one that made them parents.  

It’s kind of surprising that Samuel didn’t outlive more of his children.  When you live to the age of 95 like he did, it seems to happen.  My great great grandmother Belite Bujol outlived five of her seven children, and she only lived to be 80 years old.  There are sad stories in every family.  Yet it is the family who can help in these times.  Nothing you can say can repair the hole left behind when a loved one dies.  But the love and support from family and friends can make it a bit easier to endure.

This one is dedicated to my godmother and her son.

The Leveque Family in WBR

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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.

Addie and Two Grandsons

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Addie Hine Bucklin in 1937 with grandsons in Hathaway, Louisiana.

Here’s a pleasant photo of my great grandmother Addie from 87 years ago.  She looks like such a doting, loving grandmother.  I wish I had known her.  She seems like such a warm, likable person.  She was alive when I was born, but she died just a month later.

Her name at birth was Addie May Hine.  She was born on September 23, 1876, in Noblesville, Indiana.  She was the firstborn of George Henry Hine and Susan G. Stanbrough.  She had five younger brothers.  The family moved south to Louisiana in 1894 and settled in Jefferson Davis Parish.  Addie lived the rest of her life in Louisiana, except for a short stint in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, around 1911.  She was married to Louis Charles Bucklin at that point.  She gave birth to their son Robert in Arkansas, but all the rest of the twelve children were born in Louisiana.  That would include my grandfather Fred Bucklin.  He would later become the father of my mom, Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.

I wish that I had a photo of my mom with Addie like this one.  I’ve never seen one, so I doubt there is one.  I would be happy to be proven wrong.  But we do have this one, and the back of the photo says that the photo was made in September of 1937.  I’m assuming that the photo was taken shortly before then.  If that is correct, I would think this photo is of Addie and her Bruchhaus grandsons.  Her youngest daughter was Ruth, who married William Charles “Budda” Bruchhaus.  They had two sons – Harley in 1933 and Laurence in 1936.  So that would be Harley standing to the right of Addie, and Laurence would be sitting in her lap. 

My mom was just a few months older than Harley.  Why aren’t there any photos of her or her sisters and brother with Grandma Addie?  To make matters worse, the cat made it into the photo.  And it’s not the only photo of this cat with Addie!  I’ve posted a different photo before that is just the two of them.  Why couldn’t there be any of mom and Addie together?  It’s probably the same reason that there were far more photos of my oldest sister Jodie when she was a child than there were of me and my younger sister Jamie.  Ain’t nobody got time for that!  Who’s going to be able to keep track of every event in a child’s life when there are six of them running around.  For Addie, there were 12 children and even more grandchildren.  It’s just a result of being in a big family.  My mom only had positive things to say about Addie.

Another thing this photo makes me think about is Addie’s hair.  It looks like she had it very long, but always seemed to keep it in a bun.  But not only that, her hair is very dark in this photo and she was 61 years old.  I remember my mom talking about that when I was a kid.  She hoped that her hair would get darker as she aged, just like her grandmother.  Addie lived to the age of 84.  In the photo taken on her last birthday, her hair was still pretty dark.  My mom did have a good bit of gray hair, but she had enough brown left to keep her hair from looking white as some people’s did.  Of course, by the time she was in her eighties she wasn’t too concerned about the color of her hair.

There are a few other things that this photo makes me think about.   Like – with all those Bucklin sons, that Bucklin surname didn’t multiply very well.  It seems like there are more Bruchhaus and Landry descendants than Bucklins.  Maybe it’ll make you think of something else.  If it does, let me know about it.  I like talking about old photos.  Have you noticed?