Patureau | Family History

The Uninvited Guest

July 20, 2016 Van 26 comments

Nothing could strike fear into my childhood heart like the unexpected and undesired visit from The Uninvited Guest – or as we liked to call it – The UG. We all acquired a sixth sense that alerted us to the approach of the UG. As we played our fun little innocent childhood games without a care in the world, something unseen would hit us. We would all stop at once as if in a trance and chant together in a whispered voice, “Hell – fire! will kill a bug, but nothing stops the bumply UG.” We all knew what that warning meant. My younger sister would start crying, so my oldest sister would swoop her up and run as we all scrambled to our favorite hiding places.

But it wasn’t just our family who responded in this way. The neighborhood kids would scatter in all directions as they ran home to their parents. Their moms would look out the window, spit out a silent curse in our direction, and withdraw while pulling the shades tight. It’s like there was a small dark cloud that settled down over our little section of the street.

Yet for some strange reason, the adults in our family were in thrall to this creature. They went so far as to even allow it to rub its slimy bumply lips on their vulnerable necks. It still makes me shudder when I picture it. Once this bizarre ritual had been completed, they would go inside and things would settle down a bit. Then one by one each of us kids would sneak back into the house to see what manner of evil was taking place. Many times the UG would be ordering my parents around and demanding what kind of feast they were to prepare for its dinnertime. Thankfully, none of us kids were on the menu for the whims of the vile creature.

Later on in the night as we tried to sleep, I would be overcome by a feeling of dread. I just knew that something was prowling around our bedroom, hoping to fulfill its desire for an innocent’s blood. As I lay in bed with my skin crawling with goose bumps – goose bumps, mind you, not bumply bumps – I felt a need to see what was going on. When I forced myself to pry open one eye, I would see this huge dark hand on the ceiling coming down to get me. I realized it was the shadow cast by the nightlight of a hand coming toward me. And not just any hand – it had the bumply bumps of the bumply arms of that bumpfully bumpedy bumply UG. As I stared in terror I heard it rasp in a gravelly whisper, “Hell – fire! will kill a bug, but nothing stops the bumply UG.” At that, it turned around and headed out the door snickering its evil little bumply UG snicker. The end.

I admit. This is quite a bit different than my usual Throwback Thursday, but I was inspired! When I say that all of my cousins on the Landry side will know what this story is about, I mean every single one of them! And probably most of the other relatives on that side of the family. This story was inspired by and dedicated to Therese Wynhoven Mouton, my dad’s first cousin on the Patureau side of the family. But everyone knew her by her nickname “Tez.”

She was quite the character, though she was not the detestable creature that I write about in my story. Like I said, she was just the inspiration. She did show up at our house unannounced and uninvited, we did run away from her when she showed up trying to kiss everyone, she did like to tell people what to prepare for dinner or what to watch on TV, and she told us scary stories at night. Oh, yeah, and she did have bumps all over her body.

1970 - Tez Mouton and Erie Patureau Landry travelling

Tez and Mee Maw traveling circa 1970

The poor creature! She didn’t ask for those bumps and she probably didn’t have slimy lips. She was just a lonely single woman who was trying to connect with family. She was very independent too. She was a school teacher, she enjoyed writing stories and poems, and she liked to travel. But she also liked to scare little boys who probably gave her bumpy profile a hard stare. As she brought that shadowy hand down on me from the ceiling, she didn’t say anything about a bumply UG, she was reading a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, “…and the goblins gonna get you if you don’t watch out.” And that’s why I’ve been such a good boy ever since!

Patureau

Girls and Their Dolls

June 29, 2016 Van 2 comments

1938-Betty Lou Bucklin and Kara Lee Sowder

Betty Lou Bucklin and Kara Lee Sowder at Christmastime 1938 in Fayetteville, Arkansas

This is one of my mom’s favorite photos of herself. It was taken in 1938, which was during the Great Depression. The thing that made it special according to my mom was that it was a photo of her holding a “real doll.” The thing that makes it special to me is that she was always satisfied with what she had.

Because she didn’t have a “real doll,” but her cousin had two and let her take a photo with one of them. And that was pretty special for little Betty Lou Bucklin! As you can see, she was quite happy taking her photo with that little doll. And with her cousin, of course!

But she’s not really a cousin. My mom’s mom’s sister was Grace Phenice and she was married to Ray Sowder who was from Arkansas. The girl’s name is Kara Lee and she is the daughter of Ray’s brother Hugh who was a professional photographer. Kara Lee and Betty Lou created a lasting memory on that long ago visit in 1938. (At least for my mom. She could remember Kara Lee’s name even when she had memory troubles. I found Kara Lee on Facebook and she had the same photo, but she stated, “I don’t remember who the little girl is.”)

Isabel Crixell Champion on the right in about 1904

Elvira Crixell and her cousin Isabel Crixell circa 1904

I can’t remember when I first saw that photo of my mom with the doll, but I can remember when I first saw the next photo of Girls With Dolls. It was a couple of weeks ago when I was researching the Patureau side of the family. Some distant cousins on that line have been living deep in southern Texas for several generations. The French Patureaus there have mixed more with the Mexican population as compared to our family which has more Cajun heritage. And the photo of the the two girls with their dolls from circa 1904 definitely caught my eye. The girl on the right was Isabel Crixell, my third cousin once removed. She was born in 1900 and lived to be over 100 years old. The girl on the left is only identified as “a Kowalski little girl.” I’m positive that she is Isabel’s first cousin Elvira Crixell who was born in 1901. She later married a Kowalski.

But in this photo, they are just little girls posing with their dolls. They don’t look quite as happy as my mom was with her real doll, but they do look happier than one particular little girl in the next photo. This time, instead of going thirty years in the more distant past, we’re coming forward thirty years from that first photo.

1966-12-24 Landry Family Christmas gathering

Landry cousins at Christmas time in 1966

No posting of Girls With Their Dolls in my family could be complete without this next photo. This is from Christmas of 1966 at my Mee Maw’s house. Tim was showing off a car, I was showing off my new sniper rifle, and the girls were showing off their new dolls. Karen looked very satisfied with the doll she was holding. Lauren and her doll both seem to have gotten something in their eyes. Jeanne is happy that she and her doll made it into the photo. Tricia (with the glasses) and Shirley (with the hair) have graduated to holding real children. Tricia has Colleen, while Shirley has Mona. Rob is happy to be the center of attention.

And then there’s poor little Jamie. She wanted a doll of her own to hold. She had her own doll, but she didn’t get to hold it for the photo. Maybe she wanted Karen to have a special moment with a borrowed ‘real doll’ like our mom had? Maybe she didn’t realize that she’d feel lonely without holding her doll when everyone else was holding theirs? Or maybe something else happened. Either way – that was long ago and all is forgiven.

Patureau: Patter-O, Patcher-O, Pat-trow, or Patch-Your-O

June 22, 2016 Van 2 comments

Ferdinand Pierre Patureau 1827-1877

This post is about the first Patureaus in our family that lived in Louisiana – and in the United States for that matter. Since I don’t have photos of his parents Pierre Patureau (Hold on! I believe this photo is a photo of Pierre.) and his wife Anne Rose Machet Patureau, the focus will be on their son Ferdinand. Ferdinand is my generation’s great great grandfather. He was born in France in October of 1826, one of four children. The family decided to move to the United States in 1840 (passport is dated Sept. 10, 1840, so it would be after that date) when Ferdinand was close to fourteen years old. After six months he returned to France by himself without letting anyone know where he was for at least half of a year. He worked his passage across the ocean.

1840 passport for Pierre Patureau, his wife and their four children. Pierre is identified as a boulanger, or baker.

If that’s not a Go Go Patureau, I don’t know what is! I’ve seen and heard different versions of this story, but they usually agree with what I wrote down. After he had been in France for a year and a half, he returned to his family in Louisiana. But when exactly did he return? Did he make it back before his mother died in 1842 from yellow fever? Or before the death of his sister during the same year? And where did the family live? I’ve read that they settled in New Orleans, yet Anne died in Opelousas. Then I read that they moved to the Plaquemine area and settled in Turnerville, which in the northeast area of Plaquemine.

The next big important event in Ferdinand’s life was his marriage to Marie Emma Landry in 1847. She was from West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. They settled in Brusly Landing and started having children soon after. Before the arrival of their eleventh child (my great grandfather Vincent Maximilian) who would be born in 1865, the family moved to Bagdad, Mexico, to get away from the Civil War raging in southern Louisiana. Ferdinand Patureau’s sister Victorine was living there with a large, growing family of her own. I’ve actually been exploring that big TexMex family that descend from the Patureau line. It’s a large family that is more likely to identify themselves as Mexican in much the same way that we are more likely to identify ourselves as Cajun. (I know I do!) I’ve found some interesting stories and photos, but that is for another time.

After the war the family returned to Louisiana and settled in Plaquemine. A few more children were born and then tragedy struck. On Feb. 24 1877, Ferdinand had an accident in the sawmill that he owned which resulted in his death the following day at the age of 50. His wife and two of his children witnessed the accident. He is buried at the large Patureau tomb at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery in Plaquemine, which is where his father Pierre and many other family members are buried.

1877-FerdinandPierrePatureauDeath The Iberville South Newspaper, Plaquemine, LA., Saturday Morning , March 3, 1877, Vol. 1, No. 17 reads: Mr. F. P. Patureau, while working in his saw mill in this town, was caught by the band and thrown with such force against another portion of the machinery that he died from the injuries received on Saturday morning last. One of his legs was badly crushed, and was amputated by Dr. Postell, all efforts however were unavailing and a hard working, good citizen has been taken from our midst. A large concourse of friends and relatives followed his remains to their resting place on Sunday evening last. (end of transcription)

It doesn’t mention his wife and children being witnesses, but I’ve seen an account of the incident that does mention that fact. It doesn’t say which children were the witnesses. I’d be curious to know who it was.

Aug. 10, 2017 – UPDATE – Replaced the photo with the new and improved version that I got from my dad’s cousin Marie Therese “Sis” Schafer Vicknair. Thanks Sis. Much better than the photo that I started out with.

Poor version of photo that I had for a few years.

July 21, 2022 – Another update! – Now I have found an actual photo of Ferdinand. It could be the basis used for what I now think was a drawing of him. I call it “The Real Photo of Ferdinand Patureau.”

“Mind if I stay for a little while?

May 25, 2016 Van 2 comments

1969 - Germaine Erie Patureau Landry going on a trip

Germaine Erie Patureau Landry was better known to us as Mee Maw. She has packed her grip and is ready to go. Circa 1969.

This is my grandmother. She was such a sweet woman. All of us grandkids called her Mee Maw and she fit the name perfectly. She became a widow in 1957 at the age of 62. She had been a teacher before she got married. She gave that up when she got married in 1921 because at that time it wasn’t appropriate for a teacher to be married. But she was busy anyway. She had eight children to bear and rear!

But that’s just the prequel to this story. This story is about her being a grandmother. As my wonderful godmother Shirley likes to point out, she was the first grandchild born. But she wasn’t by herself for very long. By the time Mee Maw became a widow, she had fourteen grandchildren. Eventually there were twenty-nine grandchildren (though one of them only lived a few short years).

Yet she made us all feel like we were her favorite. She liked to travel whenever she could. She was known as a go-go Patureau. (I think Jacko would have liked her. He likes to be on the move, too.) Then she would come to visit her grandchildren and bring them gifts. I still have a monkey bank that she got for me when she went to the Grand Canyon. And as you can tell, she must have paid attention to what kind of things I like.

But we didn’t need presents. Her being there would have been good enough. I remember her as being soft and warm and comforting. She did snore a bit loudly when you slept with her, but that can be forgiven. And she lied to me! I remember asking her something about her skin (which was a result of aging skin – something a little boy like me didn’t know better than to ask) and she made something up that I believed for the longest time! I love that.

She was a good grandmother. I have many fond memories of her. I wish I had a few more.

Veterinarian at your Service

May 11, 2016 Van 2 comments

Vincent Maximilian Patureau was a veterinarian in Lafayette, Louisiana, circa 1914.

My great grandfather Vincent Maximilian Patureau (father of our beloved Mee Maw) had an interesting life. He is usually referred to as “Grampa Max” so I’m going to call him Max.

Max was born in Bagdad, Mexico during the Civil War in 1865 to Ferdinand Pierre and Marie Emma Landry Patureau. The family was in Mexico to get away from the turmoil of the Civil War. There were also some Patureau relatives who lived in the Metamoras, Mexico/Brownsville, Texas area. They were the family of Ferdinand’s sister Victorine Patureau Laulom. Bagdad was a small town that grew suddenly during the Civil War due to its port that helped with cotton trade.

Ferdinand’s family returned to Louisiana and made their home in Plaquemine, Louisiana, shortly after Max was born and the Civil War was over. Bagdad declined after that and was then destroyed by a hurricane in 1889. It was never rebuilt and the port was abandoned.

Max grew up in Iberville Parish where his father worked in the sawmill/lumber industry. Ferdinand eventually had his own sawmill and Max began to work in that industry as well. When Max was 11, his father died as a result of an accident at the sawmill. He might have been one of the children to witness the accident that led to his father’s death.

In 1888 at age of 23 he married Marie Therese Landry, who was his 2nd cousin through the Landry line (His father married a Landry and his daughter did, too. Three generations of Patureau/Landry marriage). Their first child was born 10 months later. Several others followed, though some did not make it past infancy. In 1904 he became co-owner of a store, in 1906 he was a witness to a lynching, and in 1909 his wife died. The store closed in 1913 and the family moved to Lafayette.

When in Lafayette Max began practicing the art of veterinary science. From what I’ve heard, he was self-taught. From the photo I posted of the shingle he hung when setting up practice, being self taught did not stop him from putting Dr. in front of his name. From what I’ve noticed lately, everything is a lot more regulated now than it was back then.

The picture is of Max drinking a beverage from a nice cup while standing next to an old car. It was with a group of photos from his veterinary practice. Maybe it was part of an advertising campaign. I think it was meant to be humorous. An old horse doctor who goes out to farms to fix up the animals dressed up all fancy and drinking properly from a nice cup. I like it. What do you think?

Circa 1915 – The shingle that my great grandfather Vincent Maximilian Patureau hung in front of his practice in Lafayette.

Erie Patureau

March 9, 2016 Van 3 comments

Previously I have posted about my paternal grandmother, who we all called Mee Maw. Everybody still fights over who was her favorite and it’s a good kind of fight. And even though I posted a photo of her as a young girl a while back, I still think of her a matronly woman who loved to travel and visit with her children and grandchildren. But lately I’ve been getting to know her as just Erie Patureau. A girl who grew up in Plaquemine with six sisters and two brothers. The family ran a shop and there was lots of family around.

Things changed when her mother died in 1909 when Erie was just a teenager. The shop was closed, she graduated from Crescent Graded School around 1911, and the family moved to Lafayette in 1912. I’m not sure of all of the dates of those events, but I found a little clue in an article about her graduating class from SLI from March of 1915. It states that “The following January (1912) after all danger of finals was over Erie showed up. Modest and retiring, she was hard to make friends with, but we were determined and now she’s ours.”

So now I too feel like I have gotten to know her a bit and she is mine. But I’m willing to share her with the rest of the family.

Patureau Brothers

February 10, 2016 Van 2 comments

This is a photo of my great grandfather Vincent Maximilian Patureau. (He is one on the left in the photo.) It was probably taken around 1925 in Lafayette, LA where he had a veterinarian practice. The other man in the photo was his older brother Louis Leobon Patureau. (Great grandfather of Elmo Leobon Patureau, Jr. Great great grandfather of Byron J. Patureau and his sister Dana.) The woman is Gertrude Brammer Patureau who was married to Louis Leobon’s son Arthur. Vincent Maximilian was the father of my grandmother Germaine Erie Landry, aka Mee Maw.

It is the clearest photo that I have of my great grandfather. Here is a crop of the photo that just shows him. I know that some cousins on the Patureau side of the family have a wedding photo of him. I need to get together with them and get a good scan of that one too.

________________________________________________________

July 2, 2016 Update

I now have reason to believe that the photo was taken in Beaumont, Texas, at the home of Gertrude Brammer Patureau. And I also found that wedding photo of Vincent Maximilian Patureau and his wife Marie Therese Landry. Actually my cousin Tricia found it at her house when she was cleaning up early last month. What an exciting find! She also found another old Patureau family photo that I had been hoping to find.

Patureau

Lieutenant Landry

January 28, 2016 Van One comment

Rob Landry circa 1919 during World War I

I’ve posted two photos of my dad’s mom, so it’s time to post one of her husband Robert Joseph Landry, Sr. This is a photo from around 1919 when he was 26 and involved with World War I. He was a 1st lieutenant in the US Army. He later married his first cousin’s daughter Germaine Erie Patureau and they had eight children together.

Even though my dad was the third son, he was named Robert Joseph Landry, Jr. My dad and his siblings called their dad Pappy. He was known by his grandchildren as Pee Paw. Sadly I never really knew him because he died in 1957 (three years before I was born). I’ve heard many good things about him and he was a handsome young man.

It’s a Little Erie in the Church

January 14, 2016 Van One comment

Erie Patureau circa 1906

I retrieved several photos from my dad a couple of weeks ago that I didn’t know he had. I don’t know how I missed them all these years. This one is really interesting. It is from around 1906 and I think it must be the First Communion photo for my grandmother Germaine Erie Patureau (Mee Maw to us grandkids). The family was French/Acadian Catholic and they lived in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The photo had some age spots and was a bit dim, so I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get a good scan.

I scanned it and worked on it a while and I am really excited about the final result. I hope you enjoy it. If you know more about this photo than what I’ve said, please share it with us.

2018 Update – I always wondered how this could be a First Communion photo when Mee Maw was about 11 years old in the photo. I was pretty sure I got the age correct because of other photos of her when she was younger or older. I always thought First Communion happened when children were younger.

Then I posted the photo of my dad’s First Communion and I got some interesting feedback from a 3rd cousin. Dolores White Hebert informed me that when they were young, they had a Private First communion when they were around the first grade. Then they had a Solemn First Communion when they were around 11 years old. So this photo is more likely from Mee Maw’s Solemn First Communion, which fits with her age in 1906. No more wondering about the discrepancy that I noticed.

Patureau

Patricia Ann “Pie” Marionneaux (Stassi) Nelson

August 19, 2015 Van Leave a comment

Had a nice visit with some extended family yesterday, even though it was for the funeral of my cousin/FB friend Pat Nelson. She was my dad’s first cousin and I hadn’t met many of that part of the family before. But we’re in southern Louisiana and we’re Cajun, so I decided to got to the funeral and I hoped I’d feel welcome and I did.

Enjoyed seeing a photo of my grandmother and her sisters that I hadn’t seen before. Here are the Patureau sisters from June of 1953. Sister Emma was being recognized for writing a book on the history of Duson. Starting with oldest on the left – Emma, Lydwin, Erie (my Mee Maw), Lorena, Zita, and Sylvie.

Patureau

« 1 … 11 12 13 14 »