 |
Terrebonne
Genealogical Society
TGS Newsletter
Visit our home page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~laterreb/tgs.htm |
|
Terrebonne
Genealogical Society
TGS Newsletter
Visit our home page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~laterreb/tgs.htm |
Membership and/or address changes:
Please send by mail to TGS, Station 2 Box 295, Houma, LA 70360-0295
Before the installation of the officers and
board members, we were treated to an interesting talk by Allen J. Rogers
(also known as “Cousin John”) concerning the writing of his book on the
Caissy-Roger-Rogers family. So many inquired as to the availability of
the book that I promised to get more information about that. First, if
you have an Internet connection, look up the website http://www.caissy.com
for a real treat. It is very tastefully done, with music and flags and
all. I followed the music link to a most wonderful Canadian-Acadian music
site by Barry Taylor. O.K. Back to the book. To order a copy you may write
Carrol & Marie Rogers, P. O. Box 635, Raceland, LA 70394, phone (504)
537-7480 or e-mail them at <cjr@cajunnet.com>
and the price is $12.00 each plus $3.00 shipping. Allen very kindly donated
a copy to the North Branch Library, so ask for it next time you visit.
Gloria Hicks did a fine job of inspiring the
newly elected board members and officers to do their best in the coming
two-year term of office. She had an uplifting quote for each of us that
perfectly suited our jobs and personalities. Good job, Gloria. You may
just have found your new calling.
Nancy Wright, our treasurer proposed an amendment
to the constitution that will be of interest to some. She prefaced her
motion with the statement that the number of lifetime members is increasing
at an alarming rate; so much so that she feared we would soon run into
financial problems. At the same time we are grateful to the many who, by
taking out a lifetime membership, have expressed confidence that our society
would succeed in our mission and prosper, as it has so far. It was especially
helpful at the time of our organizing. That vote of confidence was enough
to inspire all of us to work a little bit harder, knowing that so many
were counting on us. That was then; this is now. We find the U.S. economy
is based on the expectation of inflation, and the whole idea of lifetime
memberships is contrary to that basis. So, even increasing the amount of
the membership would not help in the long run. We need a steady influx
of membership moneys. The wording of Nancy’s motion was as follows: “I
move to amend the By Laws of the Terrebonne Genealogical Society to delete
Article I, Section 1, line d. This would delete the lifetime membership
category of dues. This amendment is to take effect immediately when it
is passed.” We will vote on it at the April meeting after any discussion.
TORNADO
There was some concern expressed by some of
our far-away members that the severe weather may have hurt some of our
members. Let’s just say that we are not aware of any damage done to any
of the person or property of any members. Most of the damage was centered
in the area close to the intersection of Grand Caillou Road and Prospect
Street. The hardest hit was the TG&Y in the shopping center. Several
homes in the same area were affected, but no serious injuries were reported,
thank the Good Lord.
BIRTHS
Robert and Beverly Legendre Alford are happy
to announce the birth of their fourth grandchild (first grand-daughter)
Toni Leigh Lewis on 19 January 2000. She is the daughter of Johnny and
Sheri Lynn Alford Lewis of Brandon MS. Toni weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz and
was 21 inches long. Welcome to our world, Toni, and please accept my apologies
for the delay in your announcement. I’m assuming that you have learned
to read, by now.
Aline Theriot-Meaux sent in the following
“catch-up” announcement about her recently born great-grandchildren:
a)In November, 1999, grandson Shaw Anthony
Duhon and his wife Brandy, and their two children Ryker Joseph and Ashley
Nicole, welcomed into their family a new little girl, Megan Elizabeth.
Shaw is the son of Kerry and Louise Duhon of Delcambre, LA.
b)In January, 2000, granddaughter Katie (Meaux)
and her husband Yury Hernandez and their little girl, Monica LaRue, added
Megen Ryann to their family. Katie is the daughter of David and Brenda
Meaux of LaPlace, LA.
c)Feb. 19th was a great day for Drake and
Chrystal Dawn Desormeaux. Their first child, a son named Anthony Paul Joseph
made his debut in Lafayette, and just three days later, the proud parents
brought him to Abbeville to meet his great-grandma Aline. Chrystal Dawn
is the daughter of Anna Racca, and granddaughter of Aline.
d)Now great-grandma Aline has another christening
blanket to crochet, because Marc and Kristina Touchet are expecting a little
girl at the end of April. Marc is the son of Aline’s daughter, Rosalyce
Bares and her first husband, Valois Touchet. This baby will be #14 of Aline’s
great-grandchildren. And you can tell she is proud of each one of them.
We received the following in February and
just didn’t have room to print it.
“Brian James Westerman was born Thurs. Feb.
17, 2000 at Thibodaux Regional Hospital. Both baby and mom doing fine.
He weighed 5 lbs. 14 oz., 18" long. If you want to see him, he will be
online sometimes Monday night www.thibodaux.com and click on web nursery.
They don’t list the surname, just the given names dates of birth and the
photo. Isn’t this technology amazing?” That was the e-mail message from
Audrey Westerman, publisher of our quarterly, so we immediately pulled
up the site and saw the fine young man-to-be. Truly wonderful that all
the family members can see him. He is the son of Jaime Jarrett Westerman
and Pamela Marie Blanchard, and has 2 sisters, Tiffany Marie and Michelle
Lynn Westerman. The maternal grandparents are Robert Blanchard and Shirley
née Martin. He is the first grandson on the Blanchard side, and
Audrey’s 13th grandchild, 8th grandson.
DEATHS
We wish to express our heartfelt sympathies
to long-time member Alice Charpentier Exnicious who lost her husband on
Monday, March 27, 2000. He was a U.S. Army World War II veteran, a member
of the board of directors of Texaco Credit Union, a parishioner of
St. Bernadette Catholic Church and a supporter of Catholic Schools (evidenced
by the request for memorial donations to St. Bernadette School Library
or to Vandebilt Catholic High School Endowment Fund in lieu of flowers).
Donald Paul Exnicious was also the father of two sons, Philip and John,
and two daughters, Donna E. Evans (Mrs. Mike) and Carla Exnicious. He is
also survived by three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents,
Abel and Alida Giroir Exnicious; two brothers, Evert and Whitney J. Exnicious;
and two sisters, Marjorie Ellender and Dolly E. Porche.
Newly elected board member Daniel Charles
“Chuck” Guidry lost his father on Thursday, March 30, 2000, we are saddened
to report. Hayes Joseph Guidry was a World War II U.S. Army veteran and
a parishioner of St. Bernadette Catholic Church. He had been awarded the
Purple Heart, given for injury in battle. Chuck was his only son and Chuck’s
sister, Mrs. Joseph F. (Hazel Ann Guidry) Haddad his only daughter. He
is also survived by two brothers, Robert J. “Bobby” Guidry and Duane A.
Guidry, one stepbrother, Paul Bourg, two sisters, Mrs. Kenneth (Myrl G.)
James and Mrs. Lionel (Mary Ann G.) Rodrigue, his father’s second wife,
Mrs. Louis J. (Cecilia Bourg) Guidry; one son-in-law, Joseph F. Haddad;
one daughter-in-law, Stephanie Chauvin Guidry; four grandchildren, two
step-grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in
death by his wife, Rita M. Falgout Guidry; his parents, Louis Joseph and
Bernice Evela Matherne Guidry; three brothers, one stepbrother, two sisters,
and one grandson. We feel for you, Chuck.
Member Troy Cenac of Tyler, Texas, lost his
father, too, on Monday, March 27, 2000. We extend our sympathies to you,
Troy. Thomas Albert Cenac, Sr., was an attorney-at-law, member of the Terrebonne
Parish Bar Association and the Louisiana Bar Association, as well as Woodmen
of the World and Knights of Columbus Council No. 5545. He is survived by
another son, Thomas Cenac, Jr., one daughter, Tara Cenac, and one brother,
Alphonse J. Cenac, Jr. He was preceded in death by his parents, Alphonse
J. Cenac, Sr., and Leona Eschete Cenac; his paternal grandparents were
Albert and Adelphine Michel Cenac and his maternal grandparents were Joseph
and Helen Cuneo Eschete.
Our hearts go out to member Nick Porto and
his family in the loss of Nick’s grandson, Beau Michael Porto, who died
March 10, 2000, at the age of 14. His parents are Nicholas J. Porto, Jr.
and Christie Blanchard Porto, of Donaldsonville. Beau was a special child,
born handicapped. He had a genetic disorder, and never learned to speak
or control his bodily functions. His organs were donated to the Tulane
University Medical Center, Hayward Genetics Program for Research. The family
is hoping that through this research some other children may be helped.
The name of the illness is Homocysteinuria Methylmalonic Acidemia. Perhaps
some of our readers have heard of it.
Huey Paul LeBouef, Sr., 62, a native of Terrebonne
Parish and resident of Bayou Blue, died at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April
19, 2000. Visitation will be from 6 to 10 p.m. today and from 8 a.m.
to funeral time Saturday at Falgout Funeral Home. Funeral services
will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic Church, with
interment in St. Francis de Sales Cemetery No. 2. He is survived
by his wife, Nessie Marie Dupre LeBouef; one son, Huey LeBouef, Jr.
of Houma; three daughters, Karen Bergeron , Connie Arceneaux and
Alita Hebert, all of Houma; three brothers, Robert, LeRoy and Emile LeBoeuf,
Jr.; one sister, Hazel Ellender; ten grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Emile Paul and Flavia Marie Trahan
LeBeouf; one brother, Russell LeBouef; and his grandparents, Alice Bergeron,
Levy Trahan, Josephine Daigle and Nolan LeBeouf. He was a member of the
Bayou Blue Lions Club, a member of Liturgical Environmental Ministries
and a parishioner of St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic Church.
Obit, Monday 13 Mar 2000, Daily Comet Joseph
Anthony Scarpulla, Jr., 63, a native of Thibodaux and resident of Schriever,
died at 2:12 p. m. March 10, 2000. He was the husband of Margaret Bourg
Scarpulla, father of Monica R. Scarpilla, and brother of Camille Barriconi,
Alvine Theriot and Rosemary Savoie. He was preceded in death by his parents,
Joseph, Sr. and Fortunate Marisco Scarpulla, sons Keith Anthony and Michael
Joseph Scarpulla, and brothers TONY and JOHN SCARPULLA. He was a Catholic.
Samart Funeral Home in Houma is in charge of arrangements.
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
Ed Quin said to let everyone know that he
and Emelie are thinking of us. Emelie is too sick to travel, right now.
They attended the Christmas Social, but have been kept close to home by
the chemotherapy treatments, followed by possible surgery. They both hope
to be able to attend a meeting in the near future. Ed and Emelie ask for
our prayers.
Dorotha Horvath has been missing from her
usual post at the library. Everyone misses her, I’m sure. She was at Terrebonne
General Hospital for about 10 days with a severe infection, but is home,
now. Get well, soon, Dorotha. You have our prayers, too.
Whitney Armond, husband of member Janice Armond
was at Terrebonne General with complications stemming from stones in a
duct. He would appreciate your prayers.
Donna Blanchard Prince, daughter of members
Pat and Minus Blanchard was at the hospital, too. She had a high fever
and infection from cancer treatments. Please pray for the family.
Godfrey Olivier has missed a bunch of meetings
due to heart surgery and the time it takes to recuperate from the trauma.
We will add all of you to our prayer list, and if you know of someone we
could be praying for, please let us know. We are interested in you and
your family. Births of children and grandchildren (great-grandchildren,
too), deaths in the family and illnesses. Please keep us posted on any
new developments. We try to keep up by reading the paper and asking around,
but we would hate to miss your news. Please write or telephone.
NEW (OLD) LOOK
I bet you thought I was taking a chance on
getting fired by running over the allotted one page, back and front for
the newsletter. Well, finally someone said “We need more space for our
news.” And they were heard by the powers that be. It will make my job easier,
in a way. I won’t have to decide whose feelings I will hurt by leaving
something out. It will be harder, too. I won’t have any excuse for forgetting
something.
That leads to the appeal in the paragraph
where I asked you to let me know your family news. Please write, phone
or e-mail to the address on page one, right below the banner. I will do
my best to get it published. In fact, I’m going to need help filling up
all the space I have. That’s a lot of typing, folks, so help me out. Tell
me everything that’s worth printing.
In our last newsletter, we informed you about
the new TV film about the Acadian heritage: Against the Tide. It is due
to air on the Louisiana Public Broadcasting station, WLAE, New Orleans,
(check your local TV listing for channel number) on Saturday, April 29,
2000, at 7:00 p.m., so set your VCR to record it. The premier showing was
in Baton Rouge on the LPB station there in March. If you are out of the
state, they may offer a videotape for purchase. Let me know if you are
interested.
CENSUS 2000
I don’t have to tell a bunch of genealogists
how important it is to fill out your census to the best of your ability.
So I suppose it is all filled out and sent in by now. But... just in case
you still have a census form hanging around, did you know that for the
first time, respondents can enter more than one “race.” So, if you are
of Acadian descent, check the box “other” and enter FRENCH. We are not
only white, black, yellow or red, we are also French! The census will allow
the government (and us) to have a clear indication of how many Americans
and Louisianians are of French ancestry. Since we are recognized as a minority,
this could also mean “dollars” in the future to help our efforts to preserve
the French language and the French heritage.
For those of you who received the long version
of the census, don’t forget to say that you speak French as well in the
language section, even if you can only understand it and you speak it very
little, or only on rare occasions. Those of us who do not speak French
do not even understand it at all, so be PROUD and mark it down! I’m sorry
this reaches you so late, but I received it after the last issue was put
to bed.
RAISE THE HUNLEY!
We received an unusual letter with the above
phrase on an enclosed card. It seems John T. Hunley, Capt/CSN/Ret’d is
writing a genealogy book about the name “Hunley” and would like some correspondence
on any Hunley connection you might be aware of. Those of you who heard
Wanda Gaidry’s interesting talk at Residence Plantation at our January
meeting may remember her reference to the Confederate submarine of that
name (CSS H. L. Hunley) and Horace Lawson Hunley, the brother of Volumnia
Hunley Barrow, wife of Robert Ruffin Barrow. Horace (Horatius) Lawson Hunley
built three submarines, finally succeeding in using one as a vessel of
war in the War Between the States.
If you are interested, or have any Hunley
genealogy, Captain Hunley would like to correspond with you. It seems he
was born in Houma, but now lives in Madisonville, LA. You may write him
at P. O. Box 613, Madisonville, LA 70447-0613 or send a FAX to (504) 626-9361.
The “Raise the Hunley” organization has a 24-hour Live Anserphone [sic]:
(504) 898-1481. John T. Hunley is the President of the organization.
CANARY ISLANDERS HERITAGE
The Canary Islanders Heritage Society of Louisiana
(formerly Los Isleños de Galvez Heritage and Cultural Society) will
start collecting oral histories this summer, and are in search of elders
who remember stories about the Valenzuela, Galveztown and Barataria settlements.
If you know of anyone who remembers these stories, please notify Joan Aleman,
2230 Allene Street, Brusly, LA 70719-2061, phone (225) 749-3253 or e-mail
<amikajab@aol.com> This is a worthwhile
project. Please give your support in any way you can.
SEMINAR
Get out your calendar and mark August 5, 2000,
all day (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) for the Lafourche Heritage Society’s 24th
Annual Seminar on History and Genealogy. It will be held at the Howard
Johnson Lodge on Highway 308 and N. Canal Blvd., Thibodaux, LA.
An impressive list of speakers includes Ned
Jenkins, Barbara Allen, Judy Riffel and our own Tim Hebert. Pre-registration
includes a buffet lunch. Late registration will be accepted at the door,
but, of course, will not include lunch. Pre-register for $28.00 by July
25. The address for contact is P. O. Box 913, Thibodaux LA 70302-0913.
1999 DEATH BOOKS READY TO PRINT
Each year Phil Chauvin compiles all the newspaper obituaries, engagements
and births for the Houma Courier and Daily Comet newspapers and indexes
them. They are now ready for printing (soft cover only). Anyone interested
in having a copy should order it prepaid through TGS at the Society address.
The prices are: Houma Courier Deaths 1999 = $30 + $1.50 postage; Daily
Comet 1999 Deaths, Engagements, Births = $25 + $1.50 postage. Deadline
for ordering is May 1, 2000. No extra copies of these books are made.
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