Terrebonne Genealogical Society

TGS Newsletter
Vol. 24 No. 8 October 2005

Visit our home page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~laterreb/tgs.htm

Membership, book orders and/or 
     address changes, contact: 
      Corresponding Secretary: Jess Bergeron 
      Email:  jessndot at juno.com
      Phone (985) 876–2348 
      TGS, Station 2 Box 295, Houma, LA 70360-0295 
News items or events, contact: 
     Newsletter Editor  Ed Hicks
      5306 Hwy 1, Raceland, LA 70394-2033 
      E-mail: edhicks at mobiletel.com
      Phone: (985) 532–3586 
NEXT MEETING:  
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Main Branch Library, Houma, LA 1:00 p.m.
  
    We’ve heard it said “It’s not over until it’s over.” And “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” Well, the hurricane season is not over, either. Not until the end of November. So far, the last two monthly meetings have been disrupted (the last one completely eliminated) by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and at the present writing, tropical storm Wilma is in the Caribbean. So keep one ear on the weather report, folks, the next meeting may be postponed, too. Is there anybody here who is sick of hurricanes? Help us pray for a cold front.
    Many of our members who resided in South Louisiana have been displaced by one hurricane or another. Please, if you have friends who have re-located, give us their new address; we need to update our address labels. I get the distinct feeling that I’m writing this and nobody is reading it. If you are in contact with members who are not receiving our mail, let them know that they can access our web site at almost any public library. Our address (URL) is posted, above, so type that into the address bar on your browser and press ENTER, then click on News. Also, you can start discussing our effort to convince our members to tell their stories. We need more material for our quarterly, and you DO have a story to tell. How did Katrina and/or Rita affect you or your family? This is history, folks. Nothing quite like this has ever happened before, and it is happening to us, so we are the ones to document it. Now, before the memory fades with the everydayness of life. You don’t have to be an author, just write what you know. We’ll clean up the bad language and spelling mistakes (anybody can spell, but only you know what you went through). Now is your chance to tell the REAL story.
    If you don’t have a hurricane story, perhaps you have an interesting story about the “old days” that others would be interested in. Perhaps it happened to you or your parents. We would love to hear about it. For us in the beginning stages of seniority, we need to write about it before we forget it. They say that our long-term memory is better than our short-term memory at this stage in our lives. So sit right down and start writing. Spell it like it sounds. Works for me.
    OK, so you don’t have a hurricane story or interesting anecdote, what can you do? It has been a while since we have published a nice long family history. I can remember back when I first heard of the Terrebonne Genealogical Society. I was a real “newbie” at this undertaking, and I was helping someone else find out about her ancestry. (Can you imagine?) I was looking through this magazine called Terrebonne Life Lines checking out the index, issue by issue. Sure enough, I found the person I was looking for. Not only that person, but his parents, grandparents and so on for five generations. I could have done a backflip! Numerous times I have seen these family histories, and marveled at the work that it took to research the information. I know some of you are doing that kind of work. That’s the sort of thing we need to publish in our magazine. That’s the sort of thing that makes us one of the leading quarterlies in the nation. And I bet that some of you are just waiting, holding on to that material, waiting to “finish” and publish your book. Tell you what, you can publish it a little at a time, and then, when you “finish” you can publish your book. But don’t wait too long, because you know what can happen. I don’t have to tell you.
    If you want, you can send us your ancestry chart(s) or descendancy chart(s) for publication, just make sure that you have at least one inch (1") margins at the top, bottom, and both sides so we will have room to put our page numbers and header and footer. The room on the sides is needed for binding. And don’t forget to put your name on it. You may be surprised to hear from a long-lost cousin or two.

DEATH: Our sympathies go out to the family of Jane CHAUVIN HITT, lifetime member of the society, who died Thursday, 6 October 2005. She is survived by her mother, Estelle LAPEYROUSE CHAUVIN of Houma, one son, Phil HITT and wife, Sherry; three daughters, Ginger H. DOUCET and husband, Ray, of New Orleans, B.J. BOUDREAUX of Houma and Bobbie CHAUVIN and husband, Dickie, of Houma; one sister, Claire BRIEN of Houma; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband, Billy Wilson HITT; her father, Clarence “Peco” CHAUVIN and one son-in-law, Mike BOUDREAUX. She was a homemaker.
  
ELECTIONS: It’s that time again, so now is your chance to run things like they really should be run. Take the reins for a couple of years and see how it feels to be in charge. Or at least run for board member. That way you can be in on the decisions and get a feel for the job of president or vice-president. Please consider it.
  
MEMBERSHIP DUES: To be eligible to hold office, you have to be a member in good standing. And dues time is coming around again, too. Best to get it out of the way so you won’t have to worry about it. The amount is unchanged: $25 for an individual, $30 for a family membership. $22 for libraries and $30 for a contributing member.
  
QUERIES: You don’t have to be a member to submit a query to be published in our quarterly, Terrebonne Life Lines. Queries are free to members and non-members alike. One restriction that was in force previously has been lifted. It was our policy to publish only the queries that pertained to the locality that we serve (the area formerly known as Lafourche Interior: the present-day parishes of Assumption, Lafourche and Terrebonne). However, the board has decided to open the offer to researchers with queries from all over.
 We ask that you please make your queries specific, including enough information so that someone can help you. As many dates as you can determine (estimated dates are OK), locations when known, spouse’s information and marriage information. Children and, if possible, parents’ information would be helpful to place the person at a particular time and place.
 Please spare us the requests for “all LANDRY information” (read “BREAUX” or “BOUDREAUX” or any other well-established surname in South Louisiana). The fun part of genealogy is doing your own legwork ; but when you hit a “brick wall,” it is typical of genealogists that they love to help other genealogists. I think they just love a “mystery.” So send your queries.
  
THE CIVIL WAR ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB: Got an ancestor in the Confederate or Union army? You have to visit this site. This guy is a Civil War buff from ‘way back. http://www.pddoc.com/skedaddle/ is the address. I noticed a few advertisements, which, I suppose, is how he pays to stay in business. Subscriptions are free, so I guess he has to pay bills just like everyone else. But be warned!
 The Hotchkiss Map Collection is available on another site you must try. These are maps made by an engineer in the Confederate Army. Some of these were used by the Generals Robert E. LEE and Thomas J. “Stonewall” JACKSON. Go to http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/maps/hotchkiss/ and encounter 341 sketchbooks, manuscripts, and annotated printed maps, the originals of which reside in the Library of Congress. Wonderful stuff. Aren’t you glad you read this?

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