[With the collaboration of Sherry Northington]
July 2, 2024
Over the years, I have been blessed by contributions and communications from a number of Acadian descendants. It is such a pleasure to “talk shop” and share experiences with individuals in Louisiana, Texas, and here in the Chesapeake region. Family and regional research has no particular ending point, since new details, letters, diaries, and newspaper items are being uncovered all the time.
I am most appreciative of many past contributors and collaborators, such as Marty Guidry, Sean Carney, Scott Regner, Marie Rundquist, and Stan Piet. Recent correspondence with Sherry Northington, a Deschamps descendant, has been particularly fruitful. Mrs. Northington re-introduced me to her fifth great-grandmother, née Françoise Deschamps. I fondly remember how much I learned about her family from Henryetta (Dee) de Shields Callahan over three decades ago. Both of these contemporaries descend from children of Louis Deschamps and Marie Tibodot, who spent their earliest years in Baltimore before moving in separate directions to Louisiana and Virginia. In 1989, Mrs. Callahan shared letters which she graciously allowed to be published in my Guide to the Acadians in Maryland in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1995, and still readily available from Amazon Books). She was directly related to Joseph (through descendants of his son Henry Clay Deshields); Mrs. Northington is connected to Joseph’s sister Françoise (through descendants of Matilda Lefort Hunter).
To quickly review the Deschamps history in Maryland, parents Louis Deschamps and Marie Tibodot (Tibodeau) appeared on the Snow Hill enumeration of Acadians (1763). At that time, there was only one child, daughter Marie. Looking ahead to Louis’s death date, he would have been born most likely ca. 1734, while Marie was definitely born in Acadia on 6 April 1737 (DBR 1a:191/SGA-2, 160). That makes the Deschamps in their mid- to late twenties in Snow Hill. Among 68 Neutrals in that Eastern Shore community were Marie’s father, Charles Tibodot (b. 1711), a widower with six other children from his marriage to Anne Marie Melançon (the widow of Charles Babin) in 1735. The children remaining with him were all born since 1741. The penultimates, Osite and Magdelaine, were fifteen-year-old twins born in 1748; the youngest, Jean Baptiste, arrived after many records “disappeared” in the last years in Acadia before the deportation. It is significant to note that their sibling Anne (b. 1743) married Joseph Goudreau (Guthrow) in Newtown, Maryland, on 9 February 1766, and resided in Baltimore with husband Joseph until her death in 1822. Father Charles had other plans: he left Snow Hill for Philadelphia, where he wed Madeleine Doiron on 19 July 1764, just months before his daughter Marie Cécile united with Paul Blanchard there on 19 October 1764.
Before continuing our story of Louis and Marie Deschamps, I want to remind readers that the aforementioned sister Anne (Guthrow) was the subject of an earlier blog.1 Anne’s first-born – also named Ann(e)- married Peter A. Renaudet in Baltimore (1793) and gave birth to one daughter, Mary C. Victor (b. 1794). This grandchild married Jacob Hertzog in 1818, with the two Hertzog children – John Renaudet (b. 1819) and Juliana (b. 1820) – venturing to Louisiana later in life to join their Deschamps relatives in St. James Parish.
To no one’s surprise, the Acadian surnames most remembered in the early annals of Baltimore were the Gottro (Guthrow), LeBlanc (White), Gould (Gold), and Deschamps (Deshields) families.
Father Louis Deschamps first purchased property in Baltimore on 10 June 1773. This land was located on the east side of Hanover Street, one block to the west of South Charles Street, in what was known as “French Town.” The elder Deschamps couple remained in Baltimore until their deaths: Louis, 23 November 1802, age 68; Marie Magdalen, buried 9 November 1808, age 70, due to debility. They had six issue over the years.
Their eldest child, Marie (Polly), had been the first to marry, back on 21 July 1782, to John Latreite (Latruite/Latreyte). This took place before St. Peter’s Catholic Church had a regular pastor and parish registry. Whatever the case, John and Polly did not have their vows recertified in the Church until 15 March 1794! By 1796, however, Polly was a widow residing at 32 S. Charles Street. The Latruites had a son, John Baptist (b. 7 January 1784; baptized 20 February 1784). Apparently, John and Polly had no other family Catholic baptisms recorded in Baltimore, but the Latruite surname does appear in city directories in the first decade of the 19th century: Anthony (1802, 34 S. Charles Street, mariner), John (1810, 30 S. Charles, silversmith), and the widow (again in 1802, 34 S. Charles; and in 1804, as a “gentlewoman”).
The only two Deschamps sons, Joseph and Samuel, were born in 1770 and 1771, respectively, and both found career employment on the water. Capt. Joseph (Deshields) spent his earliest years of marriage to Mary Martin in the city and eventually moved to Virginia, where he twice remarried and died in Heathsville, Northumberland County, in 1854. Brother Samuel (Deshields), a brig pilot, passed away on 5 July 1797.2 In spite of this significant Deschamps footprint in Maryland, only a Carré wedding in 1812 would have a noticeable family impact on Baltimore throughout the nineteenth century. On 16 July of that year, Mary Magdalen Carré wed Stephen Honeywell at St. Peter’s. In nearly thirteen years of marriage, the Honeywells had seven children before spouse Mary Magdalen died in April 1825, at the age of 30.
Three of the Maryland Deshields (Deschamps) sisters would enjoy their last years together in nineteenth-century Louisiana. Elizabeth Glavéry (spelled Glavary/Glavarry), Magdalen Carré, and Françoise (Fanny) Isoard/Lefort all had led interesting lives up north beforehand.
Let’s first consider Fanny. Her first spouse, Joseph Isoard, is somewhat of a mystery, even though she and her sister Mary Magdalen were both wed in Baltimore by Rev. Francis Beeston on the same October day in 1793. In fact, it was a banner year for the Catholic Francophone community in town – 7 marriages involving persons of West Indian origins; 10 uniting an Acadian descendant with a non-Acadian! Both sisters’ marriages in the church registry were followed by three signatures (Carré, Isoard, and A. Renaudet), which were exactly the same for the 17 November 1793 ceremony for Peter Abrahan Renaudet and Ann Guttrow. Of course, Ann Guttrow was their first cousin. A family affair, for sure! Looking ahead in time, Fanny would serve as a sponsor for three baptisms at St. Peter’s Catholic Church – her niece Elizabeth Glavary (1 January 1795), Francis C. Cicéron (6 November 1797), and Julia Adoue (2 July 1798); Magdalen fulfilled the same duty for her nieces and nephews John Baptist LaTreite (1784), Mary M. A. Glavary (1797), Joseph A. Deshields (1799), and Mary Matilda Isoard (1800).
Fanny Deschamps Isoard remarried on 12 July 1799 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore. There is no mention of the fate of her first spouse Joseph. The next day’s edition of the Federal Gazette and Daily Advertiser states that Rev. Mr. [John] Ireland performed the evening nuptials uniting Fanny with Louis François Isidore Lefort, also a resident of the city.
The following event is, however, where genealogists pull out their hair. A year after this reported marriage, a child, Mary Mat(h)ilda Isoard was born on 17 July 1800. Her baptismal record from St. Peter’s Catholic Church on 24 July only mentions Frances (Fanny) Isoard as the parent, with godparents Francis Glavar(r)y and Magdalen Carré. Moreover, an enslaved person by the name of John was baptized the same day, with his parents Saul and Nelly named as slaves of Mrs. Isoard. Where was Louis Lefort at that moment and why wasn’t his name used with the newly baptized?
It has now been proven that Lefort was not in Baltimore but in New Orleans in the summer of 1800. The answer is found in a century-old article authored by Henry P. Dart, who wrote about a “wandering French scholar” who presented himself before Don Nicolás María Vidal, interim governor of Louisiana, seeking authorization to open a school in the city.3 From a translation from Spanish provided for the journal, Luis Francisco Lefort expressed a desire to “establish a house of education in this city to teach there the First Letters, Grammar, universal and particular, The Languages, Latin, French and English, Arithmetic, Elemental [sic?] Astronomy, Geography, and History.”4 Lefort’s petition and its acceptance are recorded for the dates of 9 June, 23 July and 24 July 1800.
In his presentation to the authorities that summer, Lefort promoted his many years of experience as an educator, relating that he had been first certified by Governor Chacón on the Spanish island of Trinidad on 20 December 1786. The process of naturalization in 1786 had taken eleven days from the first application, but since Lefort was then married and said to have 20,000 pesos to his name, he was easily considered to be an honorable candidate to take an oath of “fealty and vassalage.” He was also a Catholic who could easily pay 150 reales in fees to government representatives and the local priest.
Although Spanish Louisiana still required Lefort to jump through a few bureaucratic hoops, he was accepted once again as a “vassal” because of his experience and religion. There is, of course, a certain irony in the affair, with Françoise Deschamps in the last days of pregnancy back in Baltimore resulting from a union performed by an Episcopalian priest a year before. While Louis François was away dealing with Louisiana authorities, his daughter Mary Mat(h)ilda was born and baptized the very week that Governor Vidal approved of his next venture!
Louis himself had his own personal baggage to contend with. He had been married prior to meeting Fanny and seems to have abandoned his family along the way. A look at “Caribbean, English Settlers in Barbados, 1637-1800” (St. Michael’s Anglican Parish, RL 1/5, p. 546 [image 216], noted on ancestry.com/ discoveryui-content/view/16047:61463) reveals that a Margaret Rosalinda, daughter of Louis Francis Isidore Lefort and his wife Anne Catherine Buhot, was born on 29 August 1791 and baptized on 28 November 1791. Further research shows that Louis was born in Rouen, France, on 2 February 1765. At the age of 20, in 1785, he married Mlle Buhot there and had at least two prior children with her in Martinique: Jean Marie Isidore (b. 11 February 1787; bapt. 21 February 1787, at St-Pierre-Le-Mouillage) and Marie Auguste François (b. 2 December 1788; bapt. 18 December 1788, at St-Pierre-Le-Fort).5 Later in life, Margaret Rosalinda would catch up to her father’s second family in Louisiana as she neared the age of 40!
In any case, here was Louis Lefort teaching in the West Indies, Baltimore, and New Orleans. Whatever his time in Maryland, he claimed that he had been employed there in “an Academy or College accredited to Baltimore whose Director or Principal is a clergyman much esteemed by the Bishop Senor O. Carol.” This comment would obviously draw a historian to the Rev. William DuBourg, who, after a difficult presidency at Georgetown College from 1796 to 1799, was then in the earliest days of establishing St. Mary’s Academy in Baltimore with three pupils from Havana and a few Francophones. According to Alison Foley, longtime assistant in the Sulpician Archives, there is no existing evidence at the present St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park to confirm his employment.
How long after the appointment in New Orleans did it take for Françoise Isoard and daughter to join her new spouse? And what was going on with Louis’s first spouse in France? Anne Catherine still must have felt that he would eventually return to her, for, in 1808, in search of an errant brother, she continued to claim her marriage as binding, being described as the “épouse de Louis-Isidor Lefort, domiciliés à Rouen, rue de la Chaîne, no. 12. . .” (Note the use of the plural and the presumption that he was back in Normandy!)
Adequate documentation is available to create a timeline for Lefort’s continued presence in Louisiana. A son, Louis Theodore (Luis Theodosio) was born on 22 December 1802, though a baptism did not take place until several months after, on 12 June 1803. One can safely assume that Françoise had now joined him down south.
Lefort’s reputation did not take long to be established. In fact, there was enough respect and support for Lefort’s methodology that he had his previously published language manual, The first step to the French tongue (1795), reprinted for him in Baltimore by Warner & Hanna in 1809.6 Researchers can also find some contemporary observations by Charles Gayarré of the polished but stern teacher living in a house on the Foucher plantation ca. 1811-1814. Gayarré remembered him as not being averse to administering corporal punishment to undisciplined students!7 A few years later, Charles M. Conrad wrote his brother Alfred about his studies at a Lefort Academy from 29 July 1817 to 18 June 1819.8 Nearly a decade later, Louis (then listed as Lewis Francis Isidore Le Fort in his will written on 27 May 1828), described himself as a “master of a Classical academy . . . residing in the parish of Orleans. . . in a state of good health and sound mind and memory.”9
Lefort does seem to be listed on the 1810 and 1820 U. S. Census for New Orleans. The 1830 U. S. census (obviously readied well before his death in Louisiana) shows him in a large household, with one White male (45 and over), two White females (26-44 years old), eight enslaved persons, and six others.
According to the digitized probate originals (Louisiana, U. S., Wills and Probate Records, 1756-1984, images 279-332, ancestry.com)10, Louis passed away on 7 July 1829. His son-in-law, George Heriot Hunter, provided supporting data for the estate inventory in late July and August that summer. The frais d’enterrement totaled 164.50 piastres, as payment for a tomb and to compensate the New Orleans St. Louis church fabrique, three clergymen, three acolytes, four cantors, a verger, and a sacristan (image 312). In addition, the day required the hire of eight carriages.
So, here a mystery is partially unlocked. I quote the third and fourth paragraphs of his 1828 will:
I declare that owing to my fatal passion for gaining, unsuccessful speculations and untowards [?] events connected with the transaction of my life, my property has been considerably diminished and is now of inconsiderable value, being limited at this moment to my personal apparel and to two slaves named John about eighteen years of age, and Harriet about twenty five, my furniture having been relinquished to Mrs Françoise Deschamps in consideration of various sums of money she supplies me with to send to France.
I give all the disposable portion of my property to the children of my affectionate daughter, Mary Matilda, wife of George H. Hunter, she being my natural daughter had with Françoise Deschamps and whom I have acknowledged before Carlile Pollock, one of the notaries public in the city of New Orleans, on the ninth of April A.D. 1828. This donation I make, being the only one I could devise upon the best to shew [show] her my gratitude for the uncommon trouble she has been at in helping me in my school at different times and particularly of late.
Clearly, he refers to Mary Matilda as being born out of wedlock (une fille naturelle, as the French would say) in spite of dates from Baltimore to the contrary. Perhaps, it had been due to questions about Louis then being bound by previous vows!
From Lefort’s own hand, we must conclude that bad decisions, obligations to others across the Atlantic, and gambling had caused him to stumble many times and to finally admit his precarious situation and dependence on Fanny’s resources. After his passing the next year, she is referred to as “Mistress Françoise Deschamps at whose house the said deceased made his residence, and where we take the present Inventory.” At this point, all his school materials are mentioned (benches, globes, desks, dictionaries, grammars, books, tables, and a dozen chairs worth $119), with less than $300 more in valuables and his greatest assets – the two enslaved individuals – worth $1100. It is not unusual in Louisiana, however, that women are referenced by maiden names, but Louis appears to be regarded as less than her equal. From other documents not mentioned here, we also get the impression that Françoise had invested more wisely and held other properties in her own name. As for Louis, everything points to an irresponsible man married to a woman covering his indebtedness and giving him a place to teach and to sleep!
In public, however, Lefort’s passing was viewed in a much more dignified manner:
Après des souffrances longues et aigües, que n’ont pu abréger ni adoucir les soins tendres et assidus de sa famille, de ses amis réunis autour de son lit de mort, Mr. Louis François Isidore Le Fort vient de terminer une vie qu’il a toujours consacrée à l’instruction publique : il a rendu le dernier soupir hier, (le 27) à 9 heures du matin. Il était âgé de 66 ans.
(After long and acute sufferings that the tender and diligent care of family and friends gathered around his deathbed could not shorten nor soothe, Mr. Louis François Isidore LeFort has just ended a life that he always devoted to public education. He breathed his last yesterday the 27th at 9 in the morning. He was 66 years old.)11
As previously stated, Margaret Rosalinda (Rosalie), Louis Lefort’s youngest child from his first marriage, contested her father’s succession soon after his passing. Then living in Cloutierville, Natchitoches, Louisiana, she hired a notaire to write to her “half-sister” Mary Matilda Hunter on 2 September 1830 to ask for a payment of 300 piastres (dollars) from the estate!
Rosalinda (Rosalie) was herself in a second marriage. She had wed Jean Jacques Neveu in Rouen, France, on 22 April 1811,12 and then became the wife of Benoît Guillaume Aimable Laurent(s) on 3 April 1828.13 Benoît was a native of Basse-Normandie, France, and, like Louis LeFort, he was a teacher in Louisiana.14
Research shows that there were perhaps four children from the Neveu-Lefort marriage: Valérie Zoë (b. in Rouen), Christophe (b. 4 July 1820; bapt. 17 July 1821; SLR 2, 686/SM Ch.: vol. 7, #1062), Alfred (b. 1823 – d. 4 March 1899), and Alphonse (b. 6 November 1824; bapt. 31 July 1844; SLR 2, 714/Laf. Ch.: vol, 5, p. 303, #81).
Again, there are issues with the paper trail for the Laurent(s)-Lefort/Neveu marriage. The succession record for Jean Jacques Neveu, 15 May 1837 (Laf. Ct. Hse., Successions, #377) mentions two minors (Christophe and Alphonse). Nevertheless, the second union took place in Opelousas in 1828, but, clearly, two children were conceived prior to that date: Gustave (b. 5 February 1826, Opel. Ch.: vol. 3, p. 34 – d. 25 March 1887; bur. In Gueydan, Louisiana) and Larissa (b. 15 May 1828, Opel. Ch.: vol. 3, p. 34). There would be many more children to come, but it is interesting to note that Larissa, even though a minor, was not living with her father in Vermilion, Louisiana in 1846, having opted to reside abroad with an uncle on the rue Vilaine, in Évreux (départment of Eure), France. At that time, she was contemplating marriage with Désiré Florent Augustin Gillot (b. 26 November 1819), a pharmacist and native of nearby Verneuil. In seeking family consent because of her age, correspondence with America took several months. Documentation shows that the process began with a first publication of the marriage banns (promises) in France on 25 October 1846 after consent from her father Benoît in Louisiana (Pierre Labiche, notaire public in St. Landry Parish) had been received. It was also revealed that Larissa’s mother Rosalie had passed away in Natchitoches on 31 July 1835. After all the waiting, Larissa and Désiré were officially united at the hôtel de ville (city hall) in Évreux, at 11 a.m., 18 May 1847.15 Unfortunately, it was another marriage of short duration, with Larissa dying on 7 August 1851 in Évreux.
Censuses show that Benoît Laurent(s) had indeed resided in Natchitoches in 1830 (with his wife and seven children 15 years of age and under) and in 1840 (with five children under the age of 20). By 1850, those numbers had greatly diminished in his new home in the Western District, Ward 6, Vermilionville, as he was without a spouse and with two daughters – Eveline (20) and Octavine (18).16 His son Gustave was listed as a 26-year-old teacher in a separate household in the same Western District. When Benoît died on 31 July 1852, his funeral was at St. John’s Catholic Church, Lafayette, with interment by request at Copal Plantation, on the Vermilion River.
Getting back to the Deschamps, we see that Mary Matilda Lefort, daughter of Louis and Fanny, married George H. Hunter (b. 26 August 1789, Philadelphia; son of George Heriot Hunter and Phoebe Bryant; noted as non-baptized at the wedding) in New Orleans, on 2 June 1821 (SLC, M6, 257; witnesses: Mr. Lefort, Mr. Townes, Mr. Bonnet, Mr. Glavarry). This was a second marriage for Hunter! Previously, he had wed Ann Mary Girault, on 14 August 1816, in Natchez, Mississippi. A daughter, Mary Phoebe, was born in 1818, but, sadly, Ann Mary had passed away in 1819.
Now however, it was a day of rejoicing – and doubly so. Not only was June 2nd a special day for Mary Matilda, but also for her cousin Elizabeth Bienaimée Glavarry and London-born groom Thomas Stovin Saul, who shared the same witnesses!17
The Hunter-Lefort union produced four children in eight years of marriage – Françoise Matilda Georgiana (b. 1825), Phoebe (b. 1827), Matilda Georgina (b. 1829), and William (b. 1830). Tragically, both parents died in 1831: Marie Matilda, on 7 January; George, on 13 August. With four orphans now under her care, grandmother Françoise (Fanny) Deschamps was appointed tutrix for the minors on 24 October 1831, with La Cestière Volant Labarre serving as under tutor.18
Françoise’s last fifteen years of life would involve lots of special care for those grandchildren and deaths of several other loved ones.
By 1837, however, the burden of being a grandmother and tutrix was putting financial strains on her. Astute as she appeared to be, she was in need of greater assistance and ever worried about the rights of the young Hunters. It was time to petition the court for intervention. First, a new under tutor, Benoît Oscar Vignaud, was appointed on 27 March, and an inventory was also ordered. The care of the children was causing an annual deficit that did not bode well for the family as she aged. Since taking charge of the orphaned children over six years and four months earlier, she had spent $600 per annum ($3800 in total through May 1837) addressing their needs. The three enslaved women belonging to the Hunter estate – Betsey, Alley, and Matilda – had been hired out over that time for $2280. Fanny bore the difference of more than $1500 to provide adequate support and education. Carrying growing deficits seemed unsustainable and also put the children’s financial future at risk, so the Probate Court judge in New Orleans called for a “family assembly” of the minor heirs of Mary M. Lefort to be held in his office on 8 April. The assembly would consist of five “family friends” and the present under tutor. One of the first tasks of these appointed males – John Nicholson, Greer B. Duncan, Pierre Lemoine, Jean Menard, Achille Ciapella, and Benoît Vignaud – was to advise, deliberate, and determine the expediency of selling the slaves to reimburse the grandmother and put more funds at her disposal. Besides, keeping slaves for life “would be imprudent in as much expence will be incurred thereby, and that loss may arise by the death or disability of the same.”
Therefore, an auction was deemed acceptable to the court, but only Alley, Matilda, and enslaved children were able to be sold. Betsey’s value was determined to be $600, but that figure could not be met at the time of sale, and she was spared from the auction block. The auction raised $2675, with $1525 paid for Alley and her children and $1150 gained from the purchase of Matilda and her child. When all accounts were settled, Françoise’s share grew by another $569.75, and the children now received the remaining $600 and the assurance that Betsy’s ‘appraised value’ was $600. In addition, the court awarded the minors another $186.38 and ruled that Françoise could not legally collect a commission as a tutrix (9 December 1837). In the meantime, she was seeking liquidation of her own account with the minors and a special mortgage on her home and lot on Rampart Street in New Orleans. By annulling the original general mortgage on the 26’ x 109’ property located between Conti and Bienville Streets, the court gave her the means to add value to her succession, with a new appraisal of $12,000 (9 December 1837/9 and 12 January 1838, Office Book 38, Folio 304).
Fortunately, Françoise also had her sisters and even a nephew from Virginia nearby. Louis Deshields, son of Capt. Joseph, was listed as a sponsor (along with Aglaé Glavarry) for the baptism of first cousin Matilda Georgina Lefort on 13 February 1830. Three years later, on 26 February 1833, he married Marie Aubert, age 18, in Thibodaux (SLR, vol. 1/Thib. Ct. Hse, Mar., vol, 2, #1), and the two welcomed their first-born, Marie Zelima, later that year. Louis became a physician. While maintaining connections with the Bayou Lafourche over the years, he managed to live in the Midwest and in California. On the 1850 U. S. Census, he and Mary were living in Millcreek, Hamilton County, Ohio, with seven children, aged from 2 to 16, and four Irish laborers. The first six were all born in Louisiana; the last, daughter Ada, was a two-year-old Ohioan. On 22 October 1851, the eldest, Mary Zulema (Zelima) married Fisher W. Amos, in the First Presbyterian Church in Hamilton County. By 1860, census records show the father’s presence as a physician in Shasta, California. There, he had no listed spouse, but four children were still living with him. Louis would die in Red Bluff, California, in January 1869.
As stated previously, Elizabeth Glavarry joined Fanny in Louisiana sometime after the conclusion of the War of 1812. Thanks to Sherry Northington and other online resources, we can at least trace the Glavarrys back to 1820, when François, captain of the schooner Charles of Baltimore, was cleared twice by authorities in Savannah, acknowledging on shipping manifests that single slaves on board were in service to the 93-ton vessel, not illegal imports to the States (Simon, age 20, 5’2 ½”, 8 April 1820; Sam, 23, 5’9”, 21 July 1820). A year later, on 2 June 1821, François was a witness for marriages of his daughter Elizabeth Bienaimée and niece Mary Matilda Lefort, and on 20 June 1821, there is mention of him in a ratification of an unspecified sale for $900 in New Orleans.19 In addition, the name “F. Glavara” appeared on a New Orleans passenger list in February 1823 and on another in 1824 describing him as a fifty-five-year-old mariner on the schooner General Jackson, sailing from Cuba to New Orleans.20
François is listed in the city as a measurer and marker for the customhouse from 1825 to 1831.21 A daughter, Frances Eliza, married Angelus Degeyter in Baton Rouge in late November 1828, but she was already ill and dictating her own will less than a year later (Louisiana, U. S., Wills and Probate Records, 1756-1984, 8 September 1829). Her father was named testamentary executor by the court. Other than his presence with family and two enslaved individuals on the 1830 U. S. Census, Lower Suburbs of New Orleans, there exists a curious notation from early 1831 which places a female slave, Betsy, in the local jail (geôle de Police).22
François himself lived just a short while longer. He had written his own will on 26 September 1832, a full year and a half before his death in New Orleans on 29 April 1834. A look at the will shows several legatees: his widow, Elizabeth née Deschamps, daughter Marie Magdeleine Aglaé, his granddaughter Elizabeth Saul (child of his deceased daughter Bienaimée, d. 1827), his own sisters (if alive), and nephew Francis Glavarry. According to probate records, Elizabeth immediately renounced her position as co-executrix and, in an apparent bind, expressed her unwillingness to act as tutrix to her own granddaughter: she was “unable to furnish the security required for the tutorship of the said minor, and that as no other person is willing to accept said tutorship and grant the requisite security.” Elizabeth’s wish was that “two responsible and discreet persons” be named by a committee. That requested, arrangements were set with the appointment of another in her stead and Oscar Vignaud named as under tutor (3 July 1834). By 24 December 1834, a petition was filed to sell and divide the estate. Daughter Aglaé served as testamentary executrix. In April 1835, two transactions were concluded: Walker, a Black ‘laborer’ (approximately 20 years old), was sold for $500 in cash; and a house on a 40’ x 75’ lot in the Marigny district of New Orleans brought in $5500. Both were purchased by Achille Chiapella, who put down one-third cash on the latter, with the balance due in two years. The Glavarry estate also claimed $178 in furniture and a bank account of $1498 (6 April 1835). In the end, the estate was further reduced by a little more than $700 to cover funeral, medical, insurance, and legal fees. Widow Elizabeth received 5264 piastres (dollars) to carry on; daughter Aglaé, 1638 piastres.
Elizabeth Glavarry died in New Orleans on 22 December 1841. Juliana Hertzog, mentioned earlier as a young relative from the Thibodaux (Tibodot) side of the family then living with Françoise Deschamps, was next to pass away in Louisiana in late 1843. Her demise was noted in the Baltimore Sun on 4 December: “On the 12th ult., in her 23d year, of yellow fever, at the residence of Mrs. F. D. Lefort, in the parish of St. James, La . . . of Baltimore.”
Just a little over two and a half years later, Françoise’s time had also come. Because of the Baltimore Honeywells and remaining Acadian descendants of the family in the city, the Sun edition of 28 July 1846 again brought news from down south: “At Louisiana. 4th instant. Mrs. Frances D. LeFort, at an advanced age, formerly a resident of Baltimore.”
In the days prior to Juliana’s death at her home in 1843, Françoise most probably sensed that it was well past time to express her own last wishes, which would allow $1000 annually to her surviving sister, Mary Maglen Carra [sic] “as long as she shall live”; and then to her grandchildren Frances, Phoebe, Matilda, and William. Probate was considered between two jurisdictions, St. James Parish (Fourth Judicial District Court) and Terrebonne Parish (Fifth Judicial District Court). From the proceedings of 11 September and 23 December 1846, it is learned that an inventory was undertaken by Mrs. Boucry (Frances Georgina Matilda, presumably) and that Hunter minors Matilda Georgia[na] and William were assigned a dative tutor and an under tutor. Auguste Adolphe Boucry was designated executor.
Only one Deschamps sister, Magdelaine, was left in Louisiana. In the 1850 U. S. Census, she resided with the Adolphe Boucry household in the Eastern District, St. James Parish (left side of the Mississippi River), and was listed as deaf and 89 years old. It is there as well that the unmarried John Hertzog (31, overseer), brother of the deceased Juliana, continued to live with his Deschamps “cousins.” According to Sherry Northington, the journal of Helen Boucry, St. James Parish, records that Magdelaine Carré died on 22 July 1851.
The last Deshields sibling, Capt. Joseph, died in Heathsville, Northumberland County, Virginia, on 17 July 1854.
Deschamps descendants in Louisiana:
Françoise (Fanny):
Married (1) Joseph Isoard (son of Mark Isoard and Rosalia De Fougerez), a native of Orgon, France, on 27 October 1793, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Baltimore, with Rev. Francis Beeston officiating. While listed as Frances Deschamps on the parish registry that day, Frances (Françoise) signed as “Fanny Deshield.”
CHILDREN OF LOUIS FRANÇOIS ISIDORE LEFORT AND FRANÇOISE DESCHAMPS ISOARD
- Marie Matilda (“natural” child): d. 7 January 1831 (SLC, F15, 198).23
- Louis Theodore (b. 22 December 1802; bapt. 12 June 1803, New Orleans). In the Archdiocese of New Orleans Sacramental Records, 7:198, he is listed in Spanish as Luis Theodosio, son of Luis Francisco Ysidoro, native of Rouen, and Francisca Dejan, native of Baltimore, but now both residents of New Orleans. Baptismal sponsors: Christoval de Armas y Arzila, militia lieutenant, and Victorina de Armas y Arzila, his daughter (SLC, B17, 27).
CHILD OF GEORGE HERIOT HUNTER AND ANN MARY GIRAULT
- Mary Phoebe: b. 1818; m. Frederick Stringer (1814-1894), New Orleans, on 13 November 1851; d. 9 June 1872.
CHILDREN OF GEORGE HERIOT HUNTER AND MARY MATILDA LEFORT
- Françoise Georgiana (noted on baptismal record as daughter of George H. of Pennsylvania and Marie Matilde LeFort of Maryland) b. 3 October 1825; bapt. 5 November 1826; spo: Louis Landry and Françoise Lefort (DBR 4:291/ASC 6, 36); d. 27 October 1902.
Frances (Francisca) Georgiana Heriot, minor daughter of George Heriot Hunter and Marie Mathilde Lefort, both deceased, m. Adolphe August(e) Boucry, son of Jean Baptiste Boucry (1778-1833) and Elizabeth Blouin (b. 1783), on 19 February 1844, at St. Michael’s Church, Convent, St. James Parish, LA (DBR 6:334/SMI-7, 163). The bride was assisted by her grandmother and guardian, Mrs. Françoise Deschamps Lefort. One of the eleven witnesses was John Hertzog.
Adolphe August (b. 3 December 1823; bapt. 5 May 1824 – DBR 6:71/SMI-3, 117) died just shy of 30 years old and was buried on 28 September 1853 (DBR 8:85/SMI-4, 229, which listed him as 35 years old). On the 1850 U.S. Census, Boucry was given the age of 26!
Frances G. m (2) Augustin Malarcher, widower of Marcelline Richard, on 20 August 1855 (DBR 8:428/SMI 11, 87), but Augustin lived only long enough to impregnate Frances. He died two months later, at the age of 41, and was buried on 22 October 1855 (DBR 8:428/SMI-4, 246).
Frances G. m (3) Jonas Walpole Bailey (b. 23 November 1838, England – 1924) in 1862.
1870 U. S. Census, Donaldsonville, Ward 4, Ascension Parish, LA: Jonas (30, farm manager), Frances (44).
1880 U. S. Census, Assumption Parish, LA: J. W. (42, overseer), Frances (54), J. W. (10, son).
1900 U. S. Census, Police Jury, Ward 4, St. Landry Parish, LA.: Jonas W. (62, farmer), Frances G. (74).
- Fibia Isidora (Phoebe): b. 24 March 1827; bap. 28 May 1827; spo: Trasimond Landry and Delphine Landry (DBR 4:291/ASC 6-42).
Married (1) Leufroi Émile Barras (son of Leufroy Barras, Terrebonne Parish, and Émilie Thibodaux) on 1 September 1842. Listed as Widow P. Barras (22) on 1850 U. S. Census and living with in-laws Leufroy and Émilie Barras and their daughter Malvina.
Married (2) Francis Otway Tompkins (b. 27 July 1817, Lynchburg, VA – d. 3 October 1872, Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish, LA/bur. St. John’s Episcopal Cemetery, Thibodaux).
1860 U. S. Census: living in Amherst, VA, age 32, with husband F. O. (43) and three children.
1870 U. S. Census: living in Ward 4, St. James Parish, age 42, with husband F. O. and three children.
1880 U. S. Census: widow, living on Jackson Street, Thibodaux, LA, 53 years old.
Died in New Orleans, 20 January 1900 (probate date: 17 February 1913, Orleans Parish, LA, Civil District Court Case Papers 103537-103749).
- Matilda Georgeana/Georgiana: b. 17 October 1829; bapt. 13 February 1830; spo: Louis Deschields [sic] and Aglaé Glavery (SLC, B40, 125).
1850 U. S. Census: living with uncle Peter Laidlaw and aunt Phoebe Laidlaw, Ward 1, New Orleans.
1880 U. S. Census: living with sister Phoebe and her children on Jackson Street, Thibodaux, LA. Known to family as “Tilly.”
- William (Wallace, middle name on some documents): b. 20 Dec 1830; bapt. 25 Jul 1831; spo: Valsin Vignaud and Josephine Menard (SLC, B40, 280).
Married Octavie Elizabeth Rouanet (b. 6 September 1831; daughter of Jean Pierre Rouanet, MD, and Aline Alexia Pellegrin) in Mississippi City, Mississippi, on Wednesday evening, 29 May 1850, by Rev. Mr. Serano Taylor, a Baptist minister.
1850 U. S. Census: William (19, dry goods merchant) and Octavie (18); listed next to Boucrys.
1852 [29 April]: received 8660 piastres as part of succession (mortgage) set up through grandmother Françoise Deschamps Lefort (VEE, p. 615)
1854 [18 April]: purchased full interest in Waterproof Plantation for $5000 (right bank, Bayou Lafourche, about 18 miles south of Thibodaux).
1860 U. S. Census: parents and four children (see listing for children below).
1870 U. S. Census: listed with eight children.
1880 U. S. Census: listed with six children.
Death of Octavie on 12 April 1889, with burial in St. Sauveur Cemetery, Lockport, Lafourche Parish, as reported in The Weekly Thibodaux Sentinel and Journal of the 8th Senatorial District on 20 April.
Death of William on 30 August 1894, with burial at Lockport (SLR 9:283, Lockport Ch.: vol, 1, #22).
CHILDREN OF ADOLPHE AUGUST BOUCRY AND FRANCES GEORGINA MATILDA HUNTER
- Fanny Elizabeth Mathilde: b. 14 July 1845, bapt. 11 September 1845; spo: Jean Philippe Boucry and Françoise Deschamps Lefort (DBR 6:87/SMI-6, 160). She was buried, age 9, on 16 September 1853 (DBR 8:85/SMI-4, 227).
- Marie Phibi Augusta: b. 1 Feb 1847; bapt. 24 April 1847; spo: Arnaud Le Bourgeois and Magdeleine Adelaide Boucry (DBR 6, 88/SMI 6, 178). Not on 1850 U. S. Census.
- Augustin Adolphe: b. 10 July 1849, bapt. 22 September 1849; spo: Mathurin Boucry and Phebe Barras (DBR 7:69/SMI-6, 207). The child died young and was buried on 5 October 1853 (DBR 8:85/SMI-4, 230).
- Adolphe: listed as 1 year old on 1850 U.S. Census.
- Helena Carolina: b. 10 February 1852, bapt. 24 July 1852; spo: Antoine Webre and Helen Nicolle; (DBR 7:69/SMI-6, 239).
- Phania Adolphina/Adolphine Fanny (Fani) Augustine: b. 10 November 1853; bapt. 5 January 1854; spo: John R. Hertzog and Phoebe Isidora Barras Hunter (DBR 8:85/SMI-6 256); d./bur. 30 May 1854 (7 months old) after father’s death (DBR 8:85/SMI-4, 236).
CHILD OF AUGUSTIN MALARCHER AND FRANÇOISE HUNTER BOUCRY
- Augustin Barthélemy: “a few days of age,” bur. 12 June 1856 (DBR 8:428/SMI-4, 249).
CHILDREN OF FRANCIS OTWAY TOMPKINS AND FIBIA ISIDORA (PHOEBE) HUNTER
- Fannie: born in Louisiana; living in Amherst, VA (1860 U. S. Census, 4 years old); living with mother, 5 siblings, and Aunt Matilda Hunter in Thibodaux, LA (1880 U. S. Census, 23 years old, teacher); wife of W. F. Denny in 1913 (received ¼ of mother Phoebe’s estate).
- Leila L.: born in Louisiana; living in Amherst, VA (1860 U. S. Census, 2 years old); living with mother, aunt, and five other siblings (1880 U. S. Census); unmarried in 1913.
- Anna: born in Virginia; living in Amherst, VA (1860 U. S. Census, 5 months old).
- Belle: born in Virginia; living with mother, aunt, and five siblings (1880 U. S. Census, 18 years old); 1900 U. S. Census, widow; still a widow in 1913 (received ¼ of mother’s estate).
- Dora (Isidora): born in Virginia; living with mother, aunt, and five siblings (1880 U. S. Census, 16 years old); died on 6 July 1896.
- Frank: born in Virginia; living with mother, aunt, and five other siblings (1880 U. S. Census, 15 years old); died on 2 August 1894, without issue.
- John L.: born in Virginia; living with mother, aunt, and five other siblings (1880 U. S. Census, 13 years old); died on 28 October 1898, without issue.
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM HUNTER AND OCTAVIE ROUANET
- George J. H.: b. 4 February 1853 (SLR 3:282/Raceland Ch.: vol. 1, #79) – d. 26 October 1853, at Waterproof Plantation, 18 miles south of Thibodaux, Terrebonne Parish, age 8 months, 22 days.
- M. E. (Mary Eugénie): bapt. 4 June 1853 (SLR 3:282/Raceland Ch.: vol. 1, #78); 1860 U. S. Census (9); 1870 (19).
- W. W. (William Wales, sic Wallace): bapt. 11 January 1855 (Thib. Ch.: vol. 5, p. 396); 1860 U. S. Census (5); 1870 (15); 1880 (26).
- M. G. (Matilda Georgina): b. 28 May 1857 (SLR 3:282/Thib. Ch.: vol. 5, p. 396); 1860 U. S. Census (3); 1870 (13); 1880 (22, listed as Malinda).
- Louisa: 1870 U. S. Census (7).
- P. R. (Peter Rouanet): b. 3 February 1860 (SLR 3:282/Thib. Ch.: vol. 5, p. 441) – d. 21 February 1938, Marrero, Jefferson Parish, LA. 1870 U. S. Census (11); 1880 (19).
- Robert: b. 7 October 1862; bapt. 17 September 1863 (SLR 4:432/Lockport Ch.: vol. 1, #80) – d. 15 October 1938, Golden Meadow. LA; 1870 U. S. Census (9); 1880 (17).
- Mary May (Marie Aimée): b. 25 September 1865 (SLR 4:342/Lockport Ch.: vol. 1, #85) – d. 4 October 1865, 9 days old (SLR 4:341/Thib. Ch.: vol. 2, p. 160, #39).
- Édouard (Edward Lee): b. 2 November 1866 (SLR 4:341/Raceland Ch. Orig. Bk., p. 90); 1870 (4); 1880 (listed as Lee, 14).
- John Octave: b. 28 June 1869; bapt. 11 October 1869 (SLR 4:342/Raceland Ch. Orig. Bk., p. 100, #51); 1870 U. S. Census (1); 1880 (10, incorrectly listed as Octavia, female); d. 29 May 1923, Lockport, LA.
- Joseph Alfred: b. 27 July 1873 (SLR 5:206/Lockport Ch.: vol. 1, #30); U. S. Census 1880 (5); d. 9 July 1938, Gretna, Jefferson Parish, LA.
CHILDREN OF NATHANIEL WHITEHEAD AND ISIDORA TOMPKINS
- Annie Byrd: wife of Andre S. Chenet; received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913.
- Phebe I.: received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913 (described as feme sole).
- Melissa C.: received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913 (described as feme sole).
- Belle E.: received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913 (minor over age of 18).
- Cecil L.: received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913.
- Francis J.: received 1/24 of estate of grandmother Phoebe Tompkins in 1913.
Elizabeth:
1830 U. S. Census, Lower Suburbs of Orleans Parish: 1 free White male, 60-69 years old; 1 free White female, 60-69 years old; 1 free White female, 5-9 years old; 2 enslaved persons (1 male, 10-23 years old; 1 female, 24-35 years old).
Husband François R. Glavary died on 29 April 1834, in New Orleans, at the approximate age of 72.
Elizabeth died on 22 December 1841 (death certificate, St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans).
CHILDREN OF FRANÇOIS R. GLAVARRY AND ELIZABETH DESHIELDS
- Frances Eliza: b. 21 December 1794, Baltimore; m. Angelus Degeyter (1785-1849, son of Joseph Martin Degeyter and Isabela Van Wooven), on 29 November 1828, at Baton Rouge, LA; wit: Mr. and Mrs. Olivier Daigle, John Davenport, and Aglae Glavary (DBR 4:157/SJO-10, 336 and SJO-5, 4); d. 23 June 1829, New Orleans (SLC, F15, 30). Suffering from a severe illness, Frances Eliza (Fanny) dictated her will to Carlile Pollock, a notary, at the New Orleans home of her father François. She also declared that “my said husband has rendered unto me a full and due account of, and refunded unto me the sum of Sixteen hundred Dollars for the amount of paraphernal property brought by me in marriage according to act passed before Charles Tessier Judge of the Parish of East Baton Rouge. . .” (Orleans Parish Estate Files, 1804-1846, Estates, 1829, and Will Book, Vol. 4, 1824-1833).
Angelus Degeyter m (2) Marguerite Elina Dutel on 16 August 1830 (SM Ch.: vol.7, #157). They had 10 children – eight males and two females – between 1831 and 1846.
- Marie Magdeleine Aglaé: b. 22 April 1797, Baltimore – d. 2 January 1851, Orleans Parish, LA, at 4 pm; 53 years old; unmarried. Listed on 1850 U. S. Census, New Orleans (Municipality 3, Ward 1), age 50, with Théodore (Théodule) Veau family: Theodore (30), collector of levee dues; wife Eliza (25); son Thomas (1 4/12); and J. Whaler (20, from Ireland).
- Elizabeth Bienaimée: b. 17 February 1800, Baltimore – d. 13 May 1827, New Orleans; m. Thomas Stovin Saul, 2 June 1821 (SLC, M6, 257). Her death (SLC, F14, 188) is also noted in Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans 17 [1826-27]:174.
- Marie Anne Honorine: b. 30 November 1802, Baltimore.
- Josephine Ruth: b. 13 September 1804, Baltimore.
- Joseph Jean Baptiste: b. 25 March 1807, Baltimore; bur. 23 September 1822, 17 years old (SLC, F13, 57).24
CHILDREN OF THOMAS STOVIN SAUL AND ELIZABETH BIENAIMÉE GLAVARRY
- Marianne: b. 1822; bur. 6 June 1822, 6 weeks old (SLC, F13, 57).25
- Elizabeth Glavary: b. 1824; m. Théodule Laurent Veau (b. 8 October 1819 to Pierre Veau and Delphine Guenard – d. 29 Dec 1877, at 9 am) on 13 August 1846, Orleans Parish, LA).
CHILDREN OF THÉODULE VEAU AND ELIZABETH GLAVARY VEAU
- George Thomas James (1849-1905): clerk on 1870 U. S. Census.
- Francis Peter Stoverr: b. 1851 – d. 13 August 1853.
- Antonia Ogdonia Adelia: b. 22 March 1854, Orleans Parish); not listed as one of children on 1870 U.S. Census.
- Warren Francis: b. 1861; listed on 1870 U. S. Census.
Magdelaine:
Married Joseph Mary (Marie) Carré, son of Peter (Pierre) Carré and Louisa (Gilette Louise) Haudbois (Haubois, Hautbois), born in St. Malo, France. Pierre, age 52, m (2) Anne Letellier, age 21, on 23 August 1763. At that time, the father was a capitaine de navire (ship captain). Joseph Marie would follow in his footsteps.
Widow of Joseph Carré, a native of St-Malo, France; died on 22 July 1851.
CHILD OF JOSEPH CARRÉ AND MAGDELAINE (MAGDALEN) DESCHAMPS
- Mary Magdalen: b. 4 August 1794, Baltimore; bapt. 7 August 1794; m. Stephen Honeywell, St. Peter’s, Baltimore, 16 July 1812; bur. 30 April 1825, Baltimore.
CHILDREN OF STEPHEN HONEYWELL AND MARY MAGDALEN CARRÉ
- Matilda: b. 11 June 1813, Baltimore; m. William Wilson, 12 April 1831, Baltimore (Cathedral).
- Emily: b. 17 February 1815, Baltimore – d. 20 April 1849.
- John: b. 16 April 1816, Baltimore.
- Unnamed child: bur. 17 July 1823, Baltimore.
- Charles Burrie: b. 15 October 1822; m. Malvina Coole, 23 October 1845.
Joseph (of Virginia):
As the only surviving male sibling of the Deschamps family after his brother Anselme/Samuel’s death on 5 July 1797, Joseph chose to spend his life in the Chesapeake region and died in Virginia in 1854. A list of his children appears in Becoming the Frenchified State of Maryland 2:59. Since his son Louis, the physician, lived a number of years near relatives in Louisiana, only his family members will be listed below.
CHILDREN OF LOUIS DESHIELDS AND MARIE AUBERT
- Mary Zulema: 1850 U. S. Census, Millcreek, Ohio (16 years old; b. in LA)
- Alfred: 1850 (12; b. in LA)
- Louita (?): 1850 (10; b. in LA); 1860, Shasta, CA (21; listed as Louis)
- Thomas: 1850 (8; b. in LA)
- Britton: 1850 (7; b. in LA); 1860, Shasta, CA (17; law student)
- Laura: 1850 (4; b. in LA); 1860, Shasta, CA (14)
- Ada: 1850 (2; b. in OH); 1860, Shasta, CA (11; listed as b. in LA)
- Edward: 1860 (10; listed as b. in OH)
Key to church abbreviations:
ASC = Ascension, Donaldsonville
DBR = Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records
Laf. Ch. = Lafayette Church Records
SGA = St. Gabriel (Acadia)
SJO = St. Joseph, Baton Rouge
SLC = St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans
SLR = Southwest Louisiana Records (Rev. Donald Hebert)
SM Ch. = St. Martin Parish Church Records
SMI = Convent, LA
Thib. Ch. = Thibodaux Church Records
Appreciation:
To Sherry Northington for her review of several drafts of this blog and for all the genealogical notes that she shared with me.
Francophones in Maryland 