Month: September 2024

Another Photo of Alcide

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That title really deserves an exclamation point at the end of it.  It’s not like I have several photos of my great grandfather Alcide Landry.  With some of my other ancestors, I have several photos of them and I don’t get as excited about finding new photos of them.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m always glad to find another photo of my ancestors.  That is especially true when the photo is over 100 years old.  That’s true about this photo, plus there is only one other photo of Alcide that I know of.  So to find a second one after all this time is very exciting.  It is exclamation point worthy!

Alcide Landry with railroad coworkers circa 1900

This is another photo from Box 301.  It was a box in my Aunt Wana’s attic that was recently rediscovered and shared with me.  I wasn’t really that excited when I got this photo, because it wasn’t labeled with any names or dates.  I didn’t look at it closely, because we were rushing through the photos so I could decide which ones I could take home with me to scan.  

I found this photo interesting because one of the reasons my Landry family moved from West Baton Rouge Parish to Calcasieu Parish around 1889 was for the railroad industry.  Those definitely look like railroad wheels in the photo.  My great grandfather Simon Alcide Joseph Landry moved their family to Westlake and began work at the railyards.  Some of his sons also worked in the industry.

Great grandpa Alcide was born in Brusly, Louisiana, on August 16, 1845.  Once he reached the age of 18, he joined the Confederate Army to fight in the Civil War.  A few years after the war ended, he married Marie Celeste Leveque.  I’ve written much more about her because she lived longer, and I have more photos of her.  My dad and his siblings had a few memories of her and spoke fondly of our Grandma Celeste.  Their first eight children were born in Brusly, and the last two were born in Westlake.  My grandfather Robert Joseph Landry was their last child born in 1893.

When I first started examining this photo to see if I recognized anyone, my focus was on the younger men.  I was wondering if my grandfather or one of his brothers was in the photo.  I have several photos of my grandfather and his brothers when they were young men, and they definitely had a look to them.  None of the young men in this photo had that look.  That’s when I looked closer at the older man in the dark overalls and the dark moustache.  There was something about him that looked familiar.

Alcide Landry circa 1890

Alcide went to work in Westlake at the age of 44, so he wasn’t exactly a young man.  When I compared the man in the photo to the only photo that I have of Alcide, I was surprised.  The hat in the group photo threw me off and I didn’t see the resemblance as much.  But it’s got to be him.  I think his nose looks somewhat wider in the individual photo of him, but that could be from the lighting.  The narrower bridge of the nose is a trait that all of his sons had.  The moustache looks the same in both photos.  I estimate the photo to be from around 1900.

You also have to consider where the photo came from.  It was in a box of old photos from my grandmother, but it had more photos of my grandfather’s younger days than any other collection.  So the photo is likely from my grandfather’s family.  Given that it is a photo of people at a railyard, that makes it even more likely that it is from his family.  It looks just like great grandpa Alcide, so who else would it be?

So I say yes, it is another photo of Alcide.  Behold!

Thunderbird Beach in 1961

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The Landry Family arriving at Thunderbird Beach in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on July 22, 1961.

I’ve been thinking about posting about Thunderbird Beach for a while.  I finally got around to cleaning up the photos from the time that our family visited “The Baton Rouge Riviera.”  These are some photos from early in my life.  This was way before our family was the entertainment at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  It was before I got my first pair of contact lenses.  In fact, it was before I even wore glasses.  It was several years before our visits to Six Flags Over Texas and Astroworld.  We hadn’t yet visited NASA after the first moon landing.  It was even before we had our baby sister Jamie.  That’s a long time ago!

I have some vague memories from way back then.  I remember sitting in the back of that Volkswagen van when it was in the driveway of the house we lived in back then at 1317 Clover Drive in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  I don’t remember the curtains that are in the back that you can see in this photo.  My brother Rob said that my mom made them and put them up back there so we could change clothes after swimming and such. 

The Landry family entering Thunderbird Beach. The rides! The train! The slide!

These photos were taken on July 22, 1961.  I don’t know where that date comes from, but I don’t think I made it up.  My mom and dad were pretty good about putting that kind of information on photos from back then, but I can’t find the source of that date right now.  But it looks right from the ages of us kids in the first photo.  I was the little boy in the arms of my mom.  My name is Van, and my mom was Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  I would have been nine months old at the time.  My older siblings from left to right are Karen, Rob, Al, and Jodie.  The family lived in Lake Charles at the time, so it would have been quite a trek to go to Baton Rouge back then.  It was before Interstate 10 was completed.

When we went to Baton Rouge then, we took the ferry across the Mississippi River.  There isn’t a photo of that from this trip, but there are some from other trips.  My dad had gone to LSU and got his Master’s degree from there in 1960, so he was familiar with the area.  If it had been up to my mother to go there, it wouldn’t have happened.  She wasn’t keen on driving in unfamiliar places.  She didn’t even get her driver’s license until around 1969.  But she knew how to accessorize a van to make it multifunctional!

The Landry family on the train at Thunderbird Beach in 1961.

When I asked Rob what he remembered about Thunderbird Beach, he mentioned the carousel.  I didn’t think I had a photo of that, but it’s in the second photo right behind his head.  I always tend to focus on Rob and Jodie with their rafts, Al standing out by the road looking back at the camera, and Karen helping Mama to push me in the stroller.  And then I would look at the sign identifying the place as Thunderbird Beach – Swimming – Dancing – Concessions!  There was something for everyone.

This third photo is my favorite.  It’s such a good photo of everyone and you can see our faces better because we’re not as far away from the camera.  Karen looks like something has caught her attention and she looks very interested in what she sees.  I wonder if it was the large slide at the park.  If it was, it’s because she hadn’t learned yet that she and slides do not get along.  I can still remember seeing her roll out the end of the big slide at Six Flags.  She was not too happy.  

I remember this little train that went around the park.  For some reason it made a lasting pleasant memory for me.  It wasn’t very big and it didn’t go very fast, so it couldn’t have been that exciting.  But for a little boy just learning about the world, I guess it was interesting enough.  Jodie looked pleased to be sitting and holding on to me so I wouldn’t fly out of the train.  She was always helping Mama to watch out for us.  That’s how she ended up being called “Little Mama” by the younger kids.

It wasn’t long after this that we got in a wreck and the Volkswagen was replaced by a Ford van.  I think we returned to Thunderbird Beach a time or two more.  I can’t imagine that I remember that train from just one trip when I was nine months old.  I did find another photo of the carousel from a year later.  But there weren’t all the great family photos like there were for this trip on July 22, 1961.  What treasures.

Almost at Their Best

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Vincent Maximilian Patureau and Marie Therese Patureau circa 1888.

I suppose this is a strange title for this really beautiful photo of my great grandparents.  But there is a reason for it.  Eight years ago I posted their wedding photo from 1888.  In the accompanying newspaper article, it talked about the bride and groom looking at their best.  So that post was titled “At Their Best.”  Since those people knew them personally, I’ll take their word for it that they were at their best.

But this photo shows them off pretty good, too.  Wouldn’t you agree with that?  I was so excited to find this photo in a group of photos that my Duffy cousins were showing to a few of us other cousins after a family funeral.  I’m certain that the photos come from my paternal grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry.  The couple in the photo are her parents Vincent Maximilian “Max” Patureau and Marie Therese Landry.  We knew our grandmother as Mee Maw, and she was the mother of my dad Bob Landry.  Daddy’s sister was Wana Landry Duffy and she was the one who had these photos after Mee Maw died in 1973.  They were sitting up in Box 301 in her attic for many years waiting to be discovered.

So we were exploring the contents of Box 301.  When I first saw the photo, I was thinking it was another copy of their wedding photo.  But then I realized that they were not wearing the same thing as from that other photo.  The photo was taken at the same studio with the same background, so I’m thinking it was taken the same day.  I’ve seen more than one copy of the one of them in their wedding attire, but this is the first time I’ve seen this version.  They were married on October 10, 1888, in Brusly, Louisiana, so I’m thinking this was taken a short time previous to that.

Max was 23 years old at the time.  He had been born in Matamoras, Mexico, but grew up in Plaquemine, Louisiana.  When he was growing up, his French immigrant father Ferdinand had a sawmill.  Max was just 11 years old when Ferdinand died as a result of an accident at that sawmill.  He helped his mother Emma Landry Patureau and older brother Leobon out with the sawmill as he got older.  According to one newspaper article, he cut his leg while shaving barrel hoops in 1885.  He set up a business of selling and delivering groceries in 1887.  So he was known as an enterprising young man in 1888.

Therese, meanwhile, turned 20 years old just a month before their wedding.  She had been born in Brusly, Louisiana, which is where she grew up.  Her father was Trasimond Landry.  He had been a Veteran of the Civil War from the south.  He worked as a farmer and was also a clerk of court.  He died when Therese was only 10 years old.  Her mother, Marie Amelie “Belite” Bujol Landry remarried shortly afterward to Magloire Babin.  Therese went to school at St. Joseph’s Academy, which was in downtown Baton Rouge at the time.  She was a devout Catholic and sang in the church choir.

Custom has it that the wedding takes place in the bride’s hometown.  That’s what happened with Max and Therese.  They were married at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Brusly.  I’m sure there were lots of family members that showed up for the exchange of nuptials.  Since Max’s mom was Landry, he was related to Therese.  They were second cousins, in fact.  So some family members might have had a hard time deciding what side of the church to sit on! 

Even though both of their father’s died when they were young, both of their mothers were probably in attendance at the wedding.  Emma Landry Patureau would likely be there for her son.  Belite Bujol Landry Babin was surely there to see her daughter as the bride and her younger daughter Kate Landry as a bridesmaid. Besides being with her husband Mack Babin, she probably was sitting with her mother who was still alive at the time. Her mother was yet another Landry family member – Anna Adele Landry Bujol.  Adele was living with Belite and her family during the 1880 Census, so she would have been close to her granddaughter Therese.

I’m so glad we have this other image of the young couple from the time of their marriage.  I’d be tempted to say that they look to be at their best.  And I might be right!

Bucklin Family Circa 1975

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Bucklin Family circa 1975

This is not the best quality photo by any means.  I worked on it for a while to get rid of spots and scratches, but some of them were just too big to get rid of.  But the story behind the photo is what I wanted to talk about.  The picture includes my mom and her family.  My mom’s name was Betty Lou Bucklin Landry.  She was born and grew up in Hathaway, Louisiana.  Her parents were Fred D. Bucklin and Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin.  We were their grandkids, and we called them Grandma and Grandpa.

Mama wasn’t the only child of Grandma and Grandpa.  There were five children in total – four girls and their younger brother.  All of them show up in this photo, in addition to some spouses and children.  These are a lot of the Bucklin cousins that I grew up with.  Our family would go there once a month or so because we lived about 12 miles away.  They were in Hathaway, while we were in Jennings.  Jennings is much bigger, of course, and it is the parish seat of Jefferson Davis Parish.

Sometimes when we’d go, some of the other cousins would be there as well.  But for the big holidays of the year – Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas – all of the cousins would be there.  It was always a fun time going out to the country.  They lived on a large property that was actually within other family land that was used for farming.  When it was blackberry season, we’d walk down the side road (Bucklin Rd.) and pick fruit along the dirt road.  We’d usually make it down to the Myrie.  At least that’s what we’d call it.  It’s actually called the Grand Marais and it provides drainage for that area when it rains.  It’s really just a big ditch.  We never knew there was an official name for it but called it Myrie.  It would rhyme with fiery.

Once we got to the small wooden bridge over the Myrie, we’d stop and throw rocks in the water.  It was a great place to pop fireworks, too.  We wouldn’t usually go much further than that.  Why would we?  There wasn’t much of anything past that exciting little drainage ditch.  Ha!  So we’d head back to Grandma and Grandpa’s to play in the bamboo stand or eat some of the satsumas or kumquats.  We’d finally make it back to the house, but I don’t know if we ever had many blackberries to give them.  

In the evenings after dinner we’d find other things to do.  I forgot to say that when I was really young, the first thing that I’d do was go look for the sock monkey in the big toy chest in their house.  I’ve always been a big fan of sock monkeys, in case you don’t know that already.  You know, they really are quite charming.  Sometimes the grandkids would sneak outside and go out on the property and play with fire.  I always enjoyed playing with fire, but for some reason I always missed out on those excursions!  Maybe I was distracted by the charms of the sock monkey!  Not once did I join in the cousin fire fun.

But this picture is one of the last times that the cousins got together at Grandma and Grandpa’s out at Hathaway.  We were getting older and starting to venture off to do our own things.  But Grandma and Grandpa were even older.  They were moving into their 70s and were starting to have health issues.  They couldn’t take care of the big property, and they needed to be closer to medical help.  So they were moving into the city of Jennings.  I know that some of the family went to Hathaway to help them get things packed and moved.  I remember doing that, but I don’t know if that’s what this photo is from.

Let me identify everyone. Grandpa is the older man in the overalls in the middle of the photo.  To the right of him is Grandma.  Their oldest daughter Sylvia is the right of her.  The only other member of her family groups is Kevin Pilcher.  He is the second one from the left in the middle row in a blue shirt.  My mom is the next oldest daughter, and she is in the pink outfit to the right.  Five of her six Landry children are present. To the right of her is Al, and to the right of him is me.  In front of us is my sister Karen.  Rob is the second from the left on the back row in the diamond print shirt.  Jamie is sitting in the front row, and it looks like the sunlight is hitting her white shirt.  Alma is the next oldest daughter, and she is the one in the blue jumpsuit in the middle row.  Her daughters are sitting on either side of Jamie.  Charla Seal is the left with short hair and Rhonda Seal is to the right with longer hair.  Alma’s second husband Ernie (or Hoss) Waldorf is the first one on the left in the back row.  Aunt Loris is in the back row in the horizontal multi-colored striped top. Her son Keith is in front to the right of her in the Budweiser hat and yellow shirt.  Glen is directly behind Rhonda.  Directly behind Glen is Uncle Ernest Woolley, Aunt Loris’s husband.  And that leaves us with the Austin Bucklin family.  Uncle Austin is on the left in the middle row in a red shirt.  His three children (at the time.  Mary would be born later.) are in front of him.  From left to right is John, Dale, and Anita.  

So the picture shows the end of an era.  No more visits to the country to Grandma and Grandpa’s.  We had some of the Christmas get togethers at our house in Jennings at 758 Lucy Street.  Grandma and Grandpa had their 50th wedding celebration at our house, also.  Those were some great times, but they were not the same as the visits to the country.  I guess I’m a bit nostalgic about those visits to the country when I was young.

But if you had visits like that when you were young, you’d be nostalgic too!