Marie Celeste Circa 1926

I figure it’s time to write about my Landry paternal line of the family.  I can’t go back as many generations with this line because the generations are spread out further than my other family lines.  In all of the other lines I have photos of my great great grandparents.  But in this line, I don’t have photos of Narcisse Landry and Marie Carmelite Hebert Landry.  Carmelite died in 1856 at the age of 54, and Narcisse died in 1876 at the age of 80.  I haven’t given up hope that there is a photo of Narcisse, but I haven’t been able to locate one.  Photos were being taken by 1876.

Narcisse and Carmelite were married in St. Gabriel in 1819, but soon after moved to Brusly to live.  I descend from two of their sons.  They had eight children in total.  Let me go ahead and name them for you.  Their oldest child was Marie Irma Landry who was born in 1821.  She married Francois Joseph Bujol in 1845.  His mother was Marie Francoise Leveque. The second child of Narcisse and Carmelite was Pierre Belisaire Landry, born in 1824.  In 1851 he married Marie Marguerite “Lise” Leveque, daughter of Joseph August Leveque.  Joseph August and Marie Francoise were Leveque siblings.

The third child of Narcisse and Carmelite was born in 1826 and her name was Victorine.  She married Jacques Molaison in 1843.  He had mostly French ancestry with some Acadian ancestry as well. Joseph Amedee Landry was the fourth child of Narcisse and Carmelite.  He was born in 1828, and in 1850 he married Desire Landry.  I’m not sure if her maiden name was Landry or not.  After Amedee came Elizabeth Adele Landry born in 1831.  She married Sylvanie Bourg in 1851.  Their descendants show up as strong DNA matches to me.  Following Elizabeth Adele is Marguerite Josephine who was born in 1834.  She married Simon Octave Rivet in 1860.  For some reason, I have no DNA matches from their descendants.

The last two children of Narcisse and Carmelite are the ones that I descend from.  Jean Trasimond Landry was born in 1839, and he married Marie Amelie “Belite” Bujol in 1867.  She was the niece of Francois Joseph Bujol, the husband of Trasimond’s sister.  But more importantly, she was the daughter of Anna Adele Landry, who was a half first cousin of Trasimond.  Adele and Trasimond had a common grandfather – Joseph Ignace Landry.  And lastly, Simon Joseph Alcide Landry was born in 1845.  Carmelite was twice as old as she was when she had her first child.  She became a grandmother that same year when daughter Victorine gave birth that December.  Alcide married Marie Celeste Leveque in 1868.  Marie Celeste was the half-sister of Lise Leveque through their father.  Their mothers – Clarissa and Marguerite Basilite Landry were sisters of Anna Adele Landry.

I wasn’t planning on writing all of this information when I picked out this photo of Marie Celeste tonight.  I ended up talking about Alcide’s family.  Like I said, I don’t have photos of his parents.  On top of that, I only have two photos of Alcide.  He must have avoided the camera.  But Celeste was not as put off by it.  I’m glad of that.  I have many photos of her.  As a matter of fact, I have three photos of her with the other person in this photo.  Her name was Amanda Leveque, and she was the daughter of Celeste’s sister Evaline. 

Evaline was married to Jean Baptiste Andre Leveque.  According to notes given by Mee Maw (Germaine Erie Patureau Landry), Evaline and J.B.A Leveque were cousins.  My ancestors may have married their cousins, but at least they never married one with the same last name.  The relationship I have for Evaline and J.B.A Leveque is questionable.  If they were first cousins, their fathers would be brothers that were born the same year.  That seems unlikely.  Plus I haven’t found official records proving the relationship.  But that’s okay.  We’re just looking at Celeste with one of her favorite nieces.  Why else would she have three photos showing them together?   I’m calling it.  This is Celeste Leveque Landry with her favorite niece Amanda Leveque.  And I’m sure that Celeste was Amanda’s favorite aunt.  What’s not to love about Grandma Celeste?