TGS Newsletter
Vol. 21 No. 12 March 2003

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      We had a good turn out for the February meeting. Member Rodney HARTMAN announced the date of the 2003 Lafourche Heritage Society’s annual History and Genealogy Seminar. It is scheduled for Saturday, 2 August 2003, at the Howard Johnson in Thibodaux. Rodney is the new president of the society. Audrey WESTERMAN revealed that she had accepted an invitation to speak at the seminar on “starting off right” for beginners in genealogy. Diana COUPEL, our Library liaison let us know that the policy on renewal of library material has changed. If there are no requests for the book, it may be renewed as many as two times. This is for the genealogy books that are duplicates and are marked as able to be checked out, of course. 
      Audrey said that Goldie B. LEGENDRE has submitted a “carload” of material for the quarterly. Well, OK, she just said a couple of boxes, but it is a lot, anyway. Audrey said it would take us a couple of years to publish all the material. She asked for help in getting it typed to get it in shape for publishing. Do you like to type? Have a little free time? Can you work at home? Contact Audrey through the channels listed above. All of the material comes from the Nicholls State University Archives. You may remember our previous mention of the documents from Lafourche, Terrebonne and Assumption parishes that were being cataloged by volunteers under the direction of the NSU library staff. We are beginning to see some more of the material, now. Be on the lookout for the articles in the Terrebonne Life Lines. Audrey informed us that any of our members who are looking to sell or buy books for their personal collection could advertise free of charge in the Terrebonne Life Lines. Just send the information to the society at the above address. And we love queries.
      When Patty WHITNEY-GRAVOIS gave us her news, we were all interested in her projects. I can’t describe them all here, but at least one of them concerns the archives mentioned above and the slaves of Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. She asked for help in finding information on Absalom KEES (KEYS) and his wife Elizabeth SHAW. Elizabeth was the sister of Berry SHAW, who had been convicted of harboring runaway slaves.
   
DOCUMENT DISCUSSION GROUP: After the February meeting the group used a Power of Attorney (also known as Procuration) to read and analyze. Nancy WRIGHT provided the document and transcription. Patty WHITNEY-GRAVOIS explained legal terms used in the document and Nancy outlined the subsequent research from clues in the Procuration which led her to more heirs in Tennessee. After the March meeting, the topic of the discussion group will be reading, transcribing and analyzing War of 1812 Widow’s Pension Applications. Anyone is welcome to stay after the meeting to participate in this group and invited to submit records for review. The record should be no longer than one or two pages and have a beginning and end. You’d be surprised how much information can be gleaned from records when a group of genealogists pick them apart!
     
MEMBERSHIP DUES: At the risk of boring you before you have read a whole page, we feel it is our duty to warn you of oncoming danger. You are in danger of missing some newsletters and quarterlies if you haven’t sent in your dues, yet. Take out your checkbook, now. First, make sure you haven’t already sent them in. That has happened, you know. Some people are so afraid after reading my warnings about the dire results of forgetting their dues that they send in double dues. That makes more work for both of us, you know, so don’t do it. If you look at the mailing label on this newsletter and it says “EX 02/04" then you are paid up through February of 2004. Do not, repeat, do not send your dues again. If, somewhere on the label, you see, besides your name and address, the notation “EX 02/03" then you have not paid your dues for this year and your membership expired last month (February, 2003). Now, write that check for $25.00 (individual) or $30.00 (family or contributing member), and make it out to T.G.S. Thanks. Please send your address (including the nine-digit Zip code), phone number (including area code), and email address with your dues. We have some old information in our files that we need to clear out. There have been some changes in telephone area codes, and with the mergers and failures of some dot-com companies, some email addresses have changed. We often need to contact our members about their memberships, book orders or articles for the quarterly and it is time-consuming and frustrating to keep getting those “no contact” recordings or “Mail delivery subsystem” messages. We promise not to give or sell your address to any marketing service or advertiser. Honest.
     
DEATHS: News of the death of Deacon Kurt J. DOMANGUE was relayed to us by member Carletta DUNNE. He passed away on 12 February 2003 at the age of 61 years. He was deacon at Holy Family Catholic Church in Dulac, LA for 25 years. Besides being active in the church and community of Dulac, he served with many charitable organizations to bring food, clothing and medication to those who were in need. He was Carletta’s maternal uncle (husband of her mother’s sister, Eveline DEHART), but he was also her paternal first cousin (her father’s nephew). He was the son of Clopha J. (CJ) DOMANGUE, former Constable of Ward 4, Terrebonne Parish (Grand Caillou) for many years. His mother was Gladys AUTHEMENT DOMANGUE.
      We sympathize with the family of Odette DUET who was the aunt of member Ruth STEVENS’ husband, Richard.  Odette died 23 January 2003, and was a native of Thibodaux. She is survived by her daughter, Patricia D. MONCADA; brother Preston BARRIOS; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Godfrey P. DUET; parents, Joseph V. and Zeolide LEGENDRE BARRIOS; daughter, Kathleen D. CLAUSE; brothers, Gillis, Harry, Louis, Willie and Raoul BARRIOS; and sisters, Justilia GROS, Bertha ALBERT and Henrietta GAUTHREAUX.
      Gladys STEVENS LEBLANC died 30 January 2003. She is survived by her sons, Gilly J. Jr. and Wayne A. LEBLANC; daughter, Dolores L. MATHERNE; brother Austin STEVENS; sisters Cecile S. CONSTANT and Greta S. BOUDREAUX; 10 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gillis J. LEBLANC Sr.; parents, Horace and Victoria BOURGEOIS STEVENS; son Arthur LEBLANC; brothers, Edwin, Edward, Douglas, Richard, Elson, Nolan and Dudley STEVENS; sister, Vivian S. MALONE. She was a member of the Holy Savior Altar Society.
  
U.S. MARINE HERO Charter member Wilma BOUDREAUX BOUDREAUX called to let us know that her great grandson was in the news last week. The headlines read “Marine from Lockport helps rescue comrades,” and it went on to describe the fire that started in a PX tent on the morning of February 21, 2003, at a military base in Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Jai LE (Wilma’s g-grandson) was en route to a base gymnasium with two other service members who were not named. They saw smoke rising from the rear of the PX, where personal supplies for soldiers, airmen and Marines are stored and sold. According to the letter recommending special recognition for LE and two other service members, they manned the hose for over three hours, “assisting an under-manned Air Force fire crew combat what can only be described as a raging inferno.” This was after he ran into the tent to warn the personnel to evacuate, and assisted in that evacuation. If you had read the article in the Daily Comet of Monday, March 10, 2003 (Vol.114, no.244), you can understand why he is a hero in the strictest sense of the word. Jai is the son of Nga Quang and Johnna DETILLIER LE. Johnna’s mother is Evelyn BOUDREAUX DETILLIER, Wilma’s daughter.

MIRE FAMILY: We received a notice of a desire to correspond with anyone who is interested in the family of Alcide Toussaint MIRE, Sr. (a.k.a. Toussaint Alcide MIRE), who was b. 01 November 1870, d. 16 November 1909, m. to Mary (Marie) MIRE, b. 02 April 1873, d. 01 April 1935. They had eight children, including George Andrew (Georges Andre) MIRE, Sr. Alcide was the son of Pierre Dorville MIRE, b. 08 November 1841, m. Lesida BERNARD. And this family can be found in the MIRE book in the North Branch Library. You may remember that the book was donated by Earline BERNARD, Marilyn BERGER, Sylvia RICHARD and Gloria HICKS in the summer of 2000. It was an unpublished book of family group sheets, copies of land records, marriage certificates and the like, and is quite extensive. The official title is Pierre (dit Mire) LeMire and his descendants, and each generation is color coded — as many as eight generations in some lines. The person who wrote expressing an interest to correspond was Mrs. Louis N. MIRE, P. O. Box 182, Madisonville, LA 70447 if you prefer email — lmire@bellsouth.net — or phone (985) 845-3353.

TRAVELING GENEALOGISTS will be glad to know that there is a directory of Genealogists B&B’s in the good old USA. If you have done any genealogy in the UK or continental Europe you may have encountered these Bed and Breakfast places where the host is an experienced genealogist and can help you locate sources and libraries. Maybe even do a few introductions if you are lucky. You may sign up to be listed, or you may make reservations through Peggy WILKEY, 13421 Flagstone Lane, Dallas, TX 75240, phone (972) 490-5515, or email pswilkey@yahoo.com. The organization is called Genealogists B&B of U.S.A. The listing is a nominal $5, and there are some requirements. Ask Peggy, she’ll be glad to help.
  
THE NEW MAIN LIBRARY serving Terrebonne Parish is almost ready to be moved into. In fact, the move may have already started by the time you read this. Anyway, it is close, very close. Be sure to check our masthead for our meeting times. As far as we know, right now, the opening day of the new Main Library Branch will be April 26th. As you can probably figure out, that is the date of our April meeting. I am writing this in March, and the March meeting will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2003. We will let you know about the April meeting before the date.      However, if you have made plans to come to Houma for the April meeting, we will look for you at the Opening Ceremonies. I hear there will be a parade, and at least one of the Board Members of T.G.S. will be there to represent the society. As you may remember, the opening day has been postponed at least twice since last fall’s two hurricanes, so, barring any other unfortunate events, we’ll be looking for you at the library on April 26, 2003. By the way, have we mentioned that the Genealogy Department is moving to the new Main Library Branch? So those books will have to be unshelved from where they are now, transported to the new branch and reshelved. Got that? That doesn’t happen overnight, folks. Be warned.
      If you would like to ride around just to find out where it is, take the State Highway 311 exit South from U.S. 90 if you are  coming from New Orleans or Lafayette. If coming from the west (Lafayette) the 311 exit is the first of the two Houma exits. If you are coming from the east, the Hwy. 311 exit is the last of the two Houma exits. Travel south on Hwy. 311 for 10 miles and you will see the library on the right just before you see the Houma Civic Center. Both are pretty big and impressive, so there will be no mistaking them. When you come to the intersection of LA Hwy 182, turn right and you will see the Houma Civic Center on your right. Take the street before the Civic Center into the parking area and keep the Civic Center on your left. Then,  going north on that street you will see the library building on your right.
      Do you have access to the Internet? Then try this site: http://www.houmaciviccenter.com/html/directions.html There you will find a map and directions to the Houma Civic Center. It has been there since 1999 so it even has an address. We don’t know the address of the new Main Library.
 
REUNION: Are you a descendant of Joseph Taylor and Adalize LOUP BERNARD? Or maybe a “few allied BERNARD lines?” You are invited to a BERNARD family reunion to be held on Saturday, June 7, 2003, from 9:00 a.m. until... It will be held at the North Park Recreation Center, 30372 Eden Church Road, Denham Springs, LA 70726. If you would like to attend, please let Mary Agnes COKES HAMMETT know. Her address is 16548 Vermillion Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70819, phone (225) 273-0320, email mach10@bellsouth.net. Sounds like fun. There are tennis and basketball courts, playground equipment for the kids and baseball diamond for those interested. Please come and share in the event with lots of love, family pictures and family stories. (But don’t bring alcohol or drugs!) Paper plates, paper towels, eating utensils, paper cups and aluminum foil will be provided. If you plan to attend, please ask Mary Agnes for the information. It is too detailed to go into here.

ASSUMPTION PARISH is the subject of a new publication of the society. Essie and Marcie CAVALIER have been working hard to bring you the marriages from the courthouse records in the period 1918 - 1926, so if you have kinfolk in that time and place, you may want to watch further issues of this newsletter. 
BAYOU GOURMET COOK-OFF was held Mar 12, 2003, at the Houma Civic Center. Member Dorothy M. BERGERON took 1st. place in the Dessert Category with her “Sweet Potato Roll;” Jess & Dorothy BERGERON’s granddaughters did well in their division as well: Bethany Ber, 1st. place in Young Cooks, “Bethany's Maple Bread;” Catherine Ber, 2nd. place in Kids Snacks, “Catherine's Candy Cups.” The cook book comes out on Easter Sunday, in the Houma Daily Courier.
 
RESEARCHING FRENCH ANCESTORS giving you fits? The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama 35229, is giving a six-day course with that name from June 8 through June 13, 2003. This special course helps genealogists trace French ancestors who came to the New World from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. The course offering coincides with the 2003 bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase. If you are interested, see www.samford.edu/schools/lghr/lghr.html for up-to-date information. No more contact information was given. You might try writing to the Intstitute at the address above.
 
NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH IN THE early 21ST CENTURY is a Boston Summer Conference to be held on Friday and Saturday, July 11 and 12, 2003, sponsored by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston Massachusetts 02116-3007, with some wonderful featured speakers. Scott Andrew Bartley, Ralph J. Crandall, Dick Eastman, Walter V. Hickey, Henry B. Hoff, CG, FASG, Ann S. Lainhart and Gary Boyd Roberts are among the eighteen listed in the brochure. If you are interested in learning more about this conference, write the society at the address given above. Also available is a research trip to the Massachusetts Archives on Thursday, July 10, from 12:00 to 5:30 p.m. An informational web site is given: www.NewEnglandAncestors.org where you will find more information and even register online. You may call (888) 296-3447 or fax (508) 788-9500.