E-mail: edhicks@mobiletel.com
Phone: (504) 532-3586
Membership and/or address changes:
Please send by mail to TGS, Station 2 Box 295, Houma, LA 70360-0295
NEXT MEETING Saturday, June 30, 2001
North Branch Library, Gray,
LA 1:00 p.m.
The May meeting was a big success, especially
if you ask our guests. Several persons attended for the first time and
were pleasantly surprised to meet new cousins and some friends from their
high school days. It could happen to you, too. But you have to be there.
Also, we heard from a news article that there
are now some 60 million computer users worldwide that use the Internet.
I wonder how many of these are genealogists. The writer of the article,
Nick Vine Hall, Genealogist and Maritime Historian, conducted an informal
survey, using the Google search engine and found that a search on the word
Genealogy turned up the most hits: 6,730,000. In a “close” second place
was Fishing with 6,520,000. Can you believe Cricket was third and Cooking
fourth? The word “Beer” brought up 3,240,000 hits and Jokes a measly 2,720,000.
The number 10 on the list was Tango with 697,000. I have to wonder where
he got his list. Another measure was the number of hits claimed by the
genealogical links directory Cyndi’s List (<http://www.cyndislist.com/>)
from its beginning in March 1996 to August 2000 was 16.5 million. In October
of that year, Family Search, the LDS site (<http://www.familysearch.org/>),
reported its three billionth hit. Established in May of 1999, its popularity
has skyrocketed. Above information is from Missing Links: RootsWeb’s Genealogy
Journal, Vol.6, No.19, 9 May 2001 © 1996-2001.
DEATHS
We received the distressing news that one
of our members, Jacqueline J. Davis of Fairfield, CA, lost her husband,
James J. Davis, on 30 April 2001. He was born on 17 October 1929, the son
of Fred Davis, native of Devine, TX, and Emily Malbrough of Thibodaux,
LA. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline and his seven children. He has
been a resident of California for 34 years. Our sympathies go out to his
wife and children.
Member Lionel Bourdier and his wife suffered
the loss of their foster son, Shawn Halford on Thursday, 24 May 2001. He
was only 11 years old. He is survived by his biological parents, Richard
Love and Catherine Halford; his foster parents, Lionel and Catherine Bourdier;
his biological grandmother, Jeanne Picou; one brother, Willie Owens; four
foster brothers, Allen, Benjamin, and Lionel Bourdier, Jr., and Billy Williams;
four sisters, Amanda and April Halford, Susie Gregoire and Cindy Owens;
and three foster sisters,
Clair Akes, Leslie Bourdier and Rose Williams.
He was a student at Mulberry Elementary School in Houma.
Joan Lajaunie Durocher, a members of TGS, notified us of a death in
her family. Her brother, Louis Edgar Lajaunie, Jr., born 20 Jan. 1949,
died 11 June 2001 in his home town of Virginia Beach, VA, at the age of
25. He was the son of Louis E. Lajaunie, Sr. (deceased), and Mary Louise
Hebert Lajaunie. He is survived by his mother; his wife, Barbara Feather
Lajaunie; his twin sons Richard and Stephen Lajaunie; his brother Michael
Lajaunie; and his sisters Joan L. Durocher, Judy E. Landry, Jeannie Lajaunie,
and Marie L. Naquin.
ILLNESS
Member Jeanette Brown, Thibodaux, informed
us that her husband, Michael Brown, had surgery on May 22. Also, Amber
Shannon, daughter of our past-president Cathy Dantin Shannon, is having
surgery in Florida on June 18. We pray for a speedy recovery for both.
SITES OF INTEREST
Remember my asking if anyone could help me
find the location of the index to the “Superior Council Records of the
Government in Louisiana 1717-1763"? Well, we received help from Judy Riffel
of Baton Rouge, who said she found the letters “A” and “B” on the Internet.
However, our inquirer was interested in the “B’s” so we were home safe.
If it can help you, you might want to visit the site. It’s at <ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/la/orleans/court/supcta.txt>
the part that says “supcta” can be changed to “supctb” for the “B” entries.
(Note carefully that “ftp” takes the place of “http” in this address. It
stands for File Transfer Protocol. The other one stands for HyperText Transfer
Protocol.)
Velia “Bert” Bertrand sent me the following
site. It may interest you if you have family from the “German Coast” of
Louisiana. As I understand it, that’s the so-called “River Parishes” of
St. Charles, St. John, and St. James where the German colonists from the
John Law Concessions (or Bubble) settled. <http://www.angelfire.com/la/ancestors/Cajun.html>
Sheila sent this next site to us. It’s the
project of the National Parks Service and is still in progress. Go to <http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/index.html>
if you have a Civil War veteran in your family tree. You may already have
information on them but you might feel, like Audrey did, that it’s nice
to find one of your family somewhere in the millions of names on the Internet.
FAMILY MEETINGS
Well, interest in CMA 2004 is heating up.
Nova Scotia is getting ready, and some of our Cajun families are holding
meetings to begin the planning process. This process can take time, as
we found out in 1999. Can you believe almost two years have gone by since
those wonderful August days?
La Famille Gravois will be holding a general
meeting and lunch at Aubrey Gravois’ camp in Vacherie, LA, on Sunday, 24
June 2001, so make plans to attend. The camp is on Des Allemands Blvd,
which is almost at the end of LA 643. Hwy 643 starts in “Back” Vacherie,
and goes for about 10 miles toward Lac Des Allemands. Aubrey’s camp is
on the lake, and he is fixing some good Cajun food. Be there.
BOOKS
THANK YOU to Essie Joseph Cavalier and his
wife, Marcie Landry Cavalier, who donated a copy of St. Joseph the Worker
Catholic Church History and Cemetery Listing, Assumption Parish, Pierre
Part, Louisiana, with a Table of Contents and a full-name index, for the
Terrebonne Parish Library, North Branch. This was previously published
over three issues of TLL, from the recordings made by Essie and Marie in
1995. It’s nice to have it all in one volume. PS: The Summer 2001 TLL contains
the “History of St. Jules Catholic Church, Assumption Parish, Belle Rose”
courtesy of them, with photos, sketches and maps. Besides doing cemetery
inventories, this couple is also working abstracting the civil marriage
records from the late 1890's into the 1900's. They already have 90-some
-odd typed pages, so this sounds like a book in progress.
What’s next? The next book to be published
on TGS’s agenda is 1900 Census Lafourche Parish LA, 237 pages in double
column format with an every-name index, prepared by Phil Chauvin and proofed
by Phoebe C. Morrison. This book should be ordered by August 1, 2001 to
get the prepublication price. A flyer is enclosed - and remember the sale
is still on for Cemeteries of Houma, Louisiana [Terrebonne Parish], Houma
Newspaper Deaths: Some Missing Years, 1892 through 1951, and Book of Charts
Vol. 2. (While on the subject, statistics are that Phil Chauvin has done
a total of 79 books for TGS, since our formation, containing 16,057 pages
of data. Thanks, Phil, you and Phoebe are appreciated and your work make
our ancestor searching so much easier.)
We also have the Houma Courier 2000 Engagements,
Marriage Licenses, Births, and Divorces, compiled by Phil Chauvin, ready
to be printed. Total of 129 pages, full name indexing. These are done on
pre-paid order only, so if you want one you need to order it now. We hope
to have it ready for the June 30th meeting. Price, $15 soft cover - add
$3 if it is to be mailed to you.
Jess Bergeron, Corresponding Secretary, is
supervising the extracting, and also helping to abstract, records for Volume
9 of South Louisiana Vital Family Records 1930-1932. He has a good group
on this project, which is due for release this winter. Jess is also the
Query Editor so if you have any queries, send them to him at the Society
address or call him by phone. He loves to find the connections in family
lines.
HELP WANTED - VOLUNTEERS
to extract data from the Probate records in
Napoleonville, Assumption Parish. Essie is supervising this project so
get in touch with him at (985) 876-0416 or come to the June meeting and
let him know you are willing to help. Our Treasurer, Nancy L. Wright, is
now a volunteer at the Nicholls State University in the Archives Department,
cataloguing the records from the old jail in Thibodaux. Members Goldie
Legendre and Cecilia Richard are also volunteer workers at NSU Archives
- but they could also use more help.
Due to the recent visit of tropical depression
“Allison,” the Summer TLL will not be ready until July. The pages are numbered
but the index still has to be done (Phil VOLUNTEERED) to do this). This
area got over 35 inches of rain which caused a lot of flooding, and there
were power fluctuations which prevented using the computer.
EVENTS
The Louisiana State Archives, a division of
the Office of the Secretary of State, is celebrating its 45th Anniversary.
They are holding a series of lectures during “Archives Week” July 9-13,
2001 at 3851 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge. The celebration will begin with
an open house and a tour of the facility on Monday, July 9 at 10 a.m. They
have a full schedule each day of that week in July which covers 2 legal
size pages, at least 2 each day! Call (225) 922-1200 for a schedule or
check at the North Branch of the Terrebonne Parish Library for particulars.
Door prizes will be given. The agenda is very impressive, the speakers
read like a list of “Who’s Who” in research. And it’s all FREE.
The Fifth Annual Angelina College Conference
will be held in Lufkin, TX on July 27-28, 2001. This one is also fantastic!
They will have Pre-Conference Events on Thursday, July 26 which include
“Plotting Your Ancestor’s Land” ($50) by Donald R. Raney, P.E. (An all-day
workshop) and from 4 to 9 p.m., a “Get Acquainted Swap Meet” ($10). Cost
of the complete conference is $110 for Friday and Saturday which includes
4 classes each day, 5 catered meals, for one person. Housing is not provided
but you can register separately for a Dormitory Room at $15 per night,
per person. You may call them at (409) 633-5206, Fax (409) 633-5478, or
e-mail <fkanke@angelina.ce.tx.us>
for a brochure or see it at the Terrebonne Parish Library, North Branch.
Don’t forget the 25th Annual Seminar of the
Lafourche Heritage Society in Thibodaux at the Howard Johnson Hotel, 308
North Canal Blvd. On Saturday, August 4, 2001. Pre-registration of $28
is due by July 24, 2001 and includes lunch. Mail registrations to: Lafourche
Heritage Society, P. O. Box 913, Thibodaux, LA 70302. Checking in will
be from 8:30 until 9:15 a.m. Coffee will be served. Door registrations
will be accepted at $28, but does not include lunch. Speakers will be Audrey
Westerman on “Indians of Terrebonne and Lafourche,” Christopher G. Pena
on “The Civil War Battles in Lafourche: Researching the Conflict,” Albert
J. Robichaux, Jr. on “Civil Registrations of New Orleans,” Claire Mire
Bettag, CGRS, on “Genealogical Resources on Lafourche at the National Archives.”
Book vendors are welcome but must pre-register so they know how many tables
to reserve for display. Contact Doris Mae Ledet (985) 447-7595 if you need
more information. Elton Oubre is chairman of this event, but is presently
out of town, having gone to Nova Scotia for a vacation; he will be back
in late July if, as he writes, he can get across the border with a little
bit of his ancestral land in a mayonnaise jar.
NOTE: Ed Hicks, our Vice President
and Newsletter Editor, and his wife, Gloria (Gravois) Hicks, went on vacation
to Texas where Ed hoped to do some research. But, before he left he did
most of this newsletter and e-mailed it to me (Audrey). Then, like the
responsible soul that he is, during his vacation - he took his portable
computer - he was e-mailing more news for this publication. And he even
sent us a “wish you were here” picture postcard. Because so many websites
were included in this issue we did not do right-side justification of the
columns so you can more accurately read the websites. ABW
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