Patureau Brothers: When They Were Doctors

Last year, my favorite acquired photo was an old tintype of these Patureau siblings.  That old photo was taken in 1881 and it’s the earliest photo of my great grandfather Vincent Maximilian Patureau that I know of.  It was from the Box 301 Collection that was discovered in my Aunt Wana’s attic.  She is my dad’s sister, and they both were grandchildren of Grampa Max through their mother Germaine Erie Patureau Landry.  That old 1881 photo of Max and his brother (Pierre) Oscar wasn’t the only photo of them in that collection.  There was this other one from about forty years later.

So I’m estimating that this photo was taken around 1920.  I came up with that date because of another photo that was taken on the same day.  That photo includes one of Max’s sons, and I used his apparent age to estimate the date.  But looking at these two old geezers makes me question that.  They look to be in their sixties, but that wouldn’t be correct for 1920.  Max was only 55 in 1920, while Oscar was only 54.  I think people looked older sooner than we do now.  Or maybe I’m just kidding myself.  

I still think the date is pretty accurate.  The latest the photo could be is 1926.  That was the year that Oscar died.  He never did make it to the age of 60, so there never was a photo of those Patureau brothers in their sixties.  The earliest photo I have of them was when they were teenagers.  I had trouble identifying Grampa Max at first because it was from before he grew out his ever-present mustache.   Late last year I posted that photo in a post titled Patureau Brothers: Before They Were Doctors.

It was always my intention to use this later photo for a follow-up to that post.  The two Doctors Patureau look like they were well-dressed and respectable.  I think Grampa Max started his veterinary business in Plaquemine, Louisiana, sometime after 1900.  Before then, he made barrels, provided a service for delivering groceries, and ran a grocery store.  In 1889 there was an ad for installing lightning rods, and the provider of these services was V. M. Patureau and Bro.  I’m thinking Max was probably working with Oscar, because his other two younger brothers – Alcide and Omer – were working as barbers.

The first piece of information about Max’s veterinary practice was in the form of newspaper recommendations in the 1908 Plaquemine newspaper.  He may have asked people to write to the paper to help him get his business started.  People had good things to say about his skills and kindly manner.  Max’s wife – Marie Therese Landry Patureau – died in 1909, and then a few years later he moved his family and his practice to Lafayette, Louisiana.

Oscar Patureau went to dental school in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1895.  I don’t know how he managed that, because he had married in 1888, and by 1895 they had three young children.  He must have been determined to accomplish that and worked hard.  By the time of the 1900 Census, the family was living in New Orleans and he was working as a dentist.  In 1920 he was still working in the medical field.  I assume he continued working until his death in 1926.  Grampa Max continued to work as a veterinarian until 1933, when he retired due to declining health.

So there you have it – Doctor Patureau and his brother Doctor Patureau.  Otherwise known as Max and Oscar.  Taking some time out of their busy schedules 100 years ago to visit their brother and probably sharing a funny story or two.  Grampa Max strikes me as someone who would have had some interesting stories to tell.