CAJUNS, CREOLES, PIRATES AND PLANTERS

Your New Louisiana Ancestors Format

Volume 2, Number 35

By Damon Veach

IRISH PEDIGREES: The Visitation of Ireland is a collection of Irish pedigrees containing such information as was included in the Herald's Visitations of the 16th and 17th centuries. The pedigrees begin, as was customary in the older Visitations, with the grandparents of the representative of the family and certain notices of all descendants, giving thus, in many cases, a complete record of five or more generations. Each pedigree is worked out with meticulous detail and each is authoritative.

Several thousand connections and collateral descendants are cited in the 150 pedigrees contained in this one volume, which must be reckoned the only collection of Irish pedigrees now in print. The high standard of accuracy reflected in the pedigrees is handsomely complemented by profuse illustrations which include portraits, coats of arms, autographs, seals, and book-plates. The researcher is thus afforded the satisfaction of comprehensive materials from which to work.

The original six-volume work was privately issued in an edition limited to only 250 copies.  Complete sets are now extremely rare and extremely expensive. This reprint combines the six volumes in one for purposes of economy and convenience.  Even though I have reviewed this before, I feel this book is extremely important for anyone researching Irish heritages.  In some instances, you will note previous reviews because of revisions or going from hard cover to soft cover books, but this one just stands out in importance because of its extensive content.  It was out of print for a while, but it is now available again.

The price is $90.00, postage and handling included, but it is one that should be in all major genealogical library collections.  Available again in limited quantities, it can be ordered from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211. 

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EXCELLENT QUARTERLY: Gene Thibodeaux always provides outstanding content for A la Pointe, the quarterly newsletter of the Pointe de l’Eglise: Acadia Genealogical and Historical Society of Acadia Parish.  His recent visit to Montreal gave him the opportunity to walk in the footprints left by his ancestors.  He tells about the trip in this issue, and it is just simply good and interesting reading.

This publication is always filled with important information.  Especially nice is the biographical sketches that are included of prominent men from the 1890s and early 1900s.  These are taken from the Crowley Signal newspaper and reprinted here.  This final issue of 2010 also contains an index of all the names that have appeared, and it offers readers a way to peruse and then isolate what issues are most important for their own personal use.

Their next meeting will be held on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the Tractor Museum of Kelly Hundley home near Robert’s Cove.  If you want to learn more about the society, go to www.rootsweb.com/~lapehgs.  Membership is $20 per year, and their address is P.O. Box 497, Crowley, LA 70527.  Be sure to check out all their publications they have for sale.  They are one of the most active groups in the state.

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OBERLIN HISTORY: The latest issue of Crossroads has an interesting article on the history of Oberlin in Allen Parish.  Crossroads is the quarterly publication of the Allen Genealogical and Historical Society, P.O. Box 789, Kinder, LA 70648.  Oberlin, like many other towns on the Louisiana side of the Sabine River, was a part of No Man’s Land, a neutral strip between Spanish Mexico and French Louisiana.  Other information in this quarterly includes a museum section with old pictures from the past.  Overall, this society does a good job covering Oakdale, Oberlin, Kinder, Elizabeth, Reeves, LeBlanc, Mittie, and the surrounding communities.  If your lineage has a connection to this part of the state, you may want to check out all of the publications available from this group.

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HARRINGTON INFORMATION NEEDED: Dennis Harrington (Harrington@heritagebancorp.com) of Friendswood, Texas is seeking information on the Harrington family of Abbeville, Louisiana.  He recalls his grandfather saying that he was a Frenchman from around New Iberia.  Since Harrington is not a French name, a search through Google turned up a section of information on a prominent Acadian Harrington in King County, Nova Scotia prior to the time the Acadians were driven from the area by the British.  More research finds this direct lineage in Kentucky with Stephen Harrington Jr. in 1764.  A lot of other research has turned up Harrington information but none to connect it to Abbeville.  Any help would be appreciated.

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SAUNIER DATA NEEDED: Neva D. Wiseman, 4330 92^nd Ave. SE, Mercer Island, WA 98040-4215 seeks information on the parents of Annette Saunier, who died ca1772 in Opelousas, Louisiana.  She was married to Joseph Chiasson.  One known source reveals that her parents were Etienne Saunier and Marie Anne Darois.  Also needed by this researcher are the parents of Jean LeBlanc and Marie Hayes.  A daughter Marie, born ca1765 married Jean Baptiste Chiasson Sr., born 1762 in Halifax while his parents were prisoners.

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LANDRY FAMILY: Lindy Allen (mallen5641@aol.com) seeks proof that Hilaire Landry is the father of her lineage through Mary Landry.  Mary was born in New York, ca1852/1853, a daughter of Hilaire Landry and his second wife, Marie Louise Patenaude.  It is thought that after his first wife, Susanne Ethier, died, he went to the United States and then back to Canada to marry Patenaude in 1852 at St. Valentin.  They were in Illinois at the time of the 1870 census and died there in 1893.  Mary Landry married in Iroquois County, Illinois in 1871.  It is here that the Landry research becomes complicated.  Any help to clear up this lineage would be appreciated.

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SURNAME RESEARCH: Gene Uzzle, 4407 S. Panther Creek Dr., #123, Spring, TX 77381-2347 or gguzzle@att.net, needs information on Elige Wright who married Charlotte Fredonia Coon and moved from Jena in LaSalle Parish, Louisiana.  Data is sought on births, marriage, parents, and siblings.  Also needed are the places of birth, marriage, and deaths of William Lee Fairchild, born November 16, 1826, died February 24, 1907, and Octavia Mason, born December 17, 1845, died September 9, 1907.

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FREE SERVICE:  Correspondence to this column should be directed to Damon Veach, Cajuns, Creoles, Pirates and Planters, 709 Bungalow Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70802-5337.  The e-mail address is ancestorslaveach@cox.net.  Queries and book reviews are printed as space permits, and you are encouraged to take advantage of this free service.  Claitor’s Publishing can serve as a distributor for self-published genealogy titles.  Go to their homepage for details on how you can obtain this excellent service.