INTERESTING MOMENT CAPTURED ON PHOTO

EUSEBIO ERNEST "DUTCH" METOYER (L)
LUCILLE MARIE METOYER PHILLIPS (C)
AND THOMAS PHILLIPS (R)

An interesting moment was captures many years ago as the Metoyer and Philips family gathered for what appeared to be an introduction of one another.  I was shown this pictures several years ago while interviewing my mother about various ones in the family.   And at that time, I became curious at how things use to be back when someone was about to become part of the family.  It was a custom that whenever someone was serious about another (courting as they called it back then), they would be introduced to the family elder out of respect.  This was also a way of getting to know one and other.  I assume uncle Donald, my mother’s brother was taking this picture. He had brought his dad over to be introduced to Aunt Lucille's father - Eusebio Metoyer.  Many years late I found out everyone referred to his as "Dutch". I wonder about this nickname and am looking into it's origin.   This was my first time becoming aware of Aunt Lucille's extended family.  I have never seen a picture of her mother whom I was told died in 1976.  I don't remember if my mother knew anything else about Mr. Metoyer or his family,  so this left lots of unanswered questions that I hope to one day discover as  my research journey discovering the family history and various connections through actual documents.  Here are a few that I come across.

Birth Record:

 I have found, Eusebio Ernest Metoyer was according to the Wisconsin Births and Christenings, index 1826-1926, the son of Arnold Metoyer and Virginia Fernandez.  Eusebio was listed as having been born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 22 Oct 1904.

Census Record:

Looking at yet another document (1905 census record in Wisconsin),  I found where his father was listed as Ernest Arnold Metoyer and mother listed as Virginia METOYER.  There were two children listed, Arnold Metoyer age 2 years and Eusebio Ernest Metoyer listed as 8 months old.   Now what puzzled me was why was Eusebio Ernest METOYER born in Wisconsin? When did the family move there?  How long did the family stay in Wisconsin? and when did the family move  back to New Orleans, Louisiana

Marriage Record:

From yet  another documents, one being that of a marriage record, I discovered that Eusebio Ernest Metoyer was married to Doris Elodie DOUBLET on 25 Jun 1927. Their marriage was celebrated in the city of New Orleans, La. by Rev. Father J.J. Callery.  This document also confirmed the fact that Eusebio Ernest METOYER age 22 at this time was indeed a native of Milwaukee, Wis and the son of Arnold METOYER and Virginia Fernandez.  The document showed his wife Doris Elodie Doublet as being 19 years old at the time of their marriage and a native of New Orleans Louisiana.  She was the daugher of Anthony Doublet  and Emily Adams.  It further stated that the celebration of marriage was performed in the presence of the witnesses- Anthony Doublet, Hilda Metoyer, Claude Doublet.  The license was issued on 23rd day of June 1927 by the Hon F. Henry Lawize, Deputy Recorder - Birth, Marriage and Death in the presence of the witnesses Angelo Kingvalsky and Beulah Doublet.

World War I Draft Registration Card:

Searching for other clues as to when the Metoyer family were found in New Orleans, La. I discovered the World War I draft registration card of  Eusebio Arnold Metoyer, the father of Eusebio Ernest Metoyer.  It listed his address as of April 12, 1918 as residing at 2106 St Phillips, New Orleans, La.   His age was 37 and his birth was listed as 26 October 1880.  several other interesting facts also discovered  listed him  as having been born in Mexico.  His occupation was that of a Musician and he was employed at the West End Tavern, in New Orleans, La.  His nearest relative was listed as Virginia METOYER, his mother.  Her address was the same as his above - 2106 St Phillips St, New Orleans.  His physical description listed him as Height- medium, Eyes -Brown and  Hair- Black.

The World War I Draft Registration Card  provided some interesting facts that should help me to trace through yet another generation.  As noted  was the birth information of Eusebio Arnold Metoyer,  26 Mar 1880,  his place of birth, Mexico and  his occupation as of 1918, a Musician.  Lets see what other documents that might be discovered to help confirm these facts.

Finding Documents and Tracing Aunt Lucille Metoyer Roots back to Cane River

Lucille Marie METOYER- PHILLIPS
1934-1995

It will be 16 years since my aunt Lucile Metoyer Phillips passed away on October 1995.   Hardly,  a moment has pass since then that I have not thought why didn't I  ask her about her family's origins and what brought their family out to California.  

As a family  historian, I appreciate capturing the memories of those, especially our elders while they are alive and in full control of their memories.  I believe, she could have provided me  some first hand insight into the Metoyer family's history.  And as I mentioned in a previous blog posting, I first found out that my mother had two other brothers,  that after serving time in the military decided to settle their families out on the west coast in California (Los Angeles and Compton).  Still today many questions remain about their family life outside Louisiana and what they remembered about  growing up back home in Louisiana.

Having traced my mother side of our family back to both the French and Spanish colonial periods in Louisiana  history, I have now a greater sense of belonging to a place, a people and a rich ancestral history which I  embrace fully.   Each surname in our family that is connected via a marriage also offers  some  research possibilities and histories that are as equally interesting as those from my main bloodlines.  One such surname is that of the METOYER family of Cane River,  see their story in a previous blog posting.  The Progenitor of the Metoyer family was Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer.  Again, You can also see in a previous blog his very interesting bio too.  

What I hope now to do is trace my aunt Lucille Marie Metoyer Phillips ancestry through her father Eusebio E. Metoyer which is the next generation that should offer some interesting insights.   I know even less about his life other than what my mother has told me and from a few pictures I have seen of the family while living in New Orleans.  This search will be done through the use of various records that I hope to discover and prove a direct lineal relationship to one of Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer ten children.   I believe as I look back on a few preliminarily documents, I have found  there is a good chance Lucille Marie Metoyer  Phillips could be the 3rd generation great granddaughter of Pierre Metoyer seen in red in his Father Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer Bio.

What is also interesting is the various migration patterns discovered in each family generation that  starts in  Natchitoches, La,  with (Pierre Metoyer), New Orleans, (with his son- Auguste Dorestan Metoyer),  Mexico (with his son-TBD), back to New Orleans (with his son- TBD), then to Wisconsin (with his son-TBD), back  to New Orleans (with his Son -Eusebio E. METOYER ) then  eventually  California  (with his Daughter- Lucille Marie METOYER).   This was all seen in the various documents that I have uncovered so far.   I should know more once,  I obtain  a few other  original documents ordered from the Louisiana State Archives.

Note :TBD (To Be Determined)

PHILLIPS and METOYER Family Link, My Uncle and Aunt

Donald Peter PHILLIPS
and Lucille Marie METOYER
Wedding day - 1956

       While this blog was originally set up to document my direct  ancestral lineage to my 4th Generation Great Grandparents - Agnes Mathieu and Mathieu Devaux dit Platillo of which both ancestors have provided me with an interesting connection to Slavery in Colonial Louisiana and Louisiana's participation in the American Revolution. This story was featured on a PBS program segment of the History Detectives titled:   The Galvez Papers.

      Well, I have once again come across yet another interesting story and family connection to another couple which who had a similar relationship as did my 4th generation Great Grandparents.  Their names were Claude Thomas Pierre METOYER and Marie Therese "CoinCoin" .  Their  story  as told in Claude Thomas Pierre METOYER's bio featured in a previous blog post shows him as a newly discovered Patriot of the American Revolution who served under the command of the Spanish Colonial Governor General Bernardo de Galvez also.  A Patriotic Grave marking sponsored by the Louisiana Society Sons of the American Revolution SAR is schedule to take place Oct, 8 2011.

      I am currently working on tracing a particular (PHILLIPS-METOYER) line which I believe will prove to be linked to one of the sons of  Claude Thomas Pierre METOYER and Marie Therese "CoinCoin"  named Pierre Metoyer in the Bio of his Father, see blog post May 31, 2011.    As I gather the necessary documents that will help prove this discovery, I hope to that you will join me as this entire journey unfolds.

     This ancestral link begins with one of my mother’s younger brothers named Donald  Peter PHILLIPS.   He married Lucille Marie METOYER in New Orleans, Louisiana (1956).  Pictured above.   Lucille Metoyer was the daughter of Eusebio D. Metoyer (1904-2002) and Dorris DUOBLET (1906 - 1976).  Donald being the youngest of my mother’s brothers after graduating high school joined the military, later married Lucille and the family moved  from Louisiana out to California. This too was one of my family members who was discovered migrated out west in the late 50's early 60's.

     It wasn’t until, I was around 11 or 12 years old that I discovered that my mother had other brothers who lived outside Louisiana in California.  This particular brother, my uncle is by marriage our family’s link into the Metoyer Family Tree. My  uncle Donald,  a descendant of Mathieu Devaux dit Platillo, our ancestor who as French National and a Louisiana Patriot of the American Revolution   served under the command of the Spanish Colonial Louisiana Governor General Bernardo de Galvez is eligible for membership in the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.  Soon this family will have another Patriot of the American Revolution named Claude Thomas Pierre METOYER.

Louisiana Patriot of the American Revolution and Progenitor of the Metoyer Family-Claude Thomas Pierre METOYER

As we Honor, So do we Remember

Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer will be honored as an American Revolutionary War Patriot during a Patriotic Grave marking sponsored by the Louisiana Society Sons of the American Revolution (LASAR) on Oct 8, 2011 in NATCHITOCHES, La.

From "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography; Ten-Year Supplement 1988-1998," editors, Carl A. Brasseaux and James D. Wilson, Jr., published by The Louisiana Historical Association; pp. 154-156 (text in parentheses in original; text in brackets supplied):

"METOYER, Claude Thomas Pierre,  colonial merchant and planter. Born, La Rochelle, France, March 12, 1742; son of Nicolas Francois Metoyer and Marianne Drapron. In the mid-1760's Metoyer and a friend from La Rochelle [Etienne Pavie] ventured to the Louisiana outpost of Natchitoches, where they opened a shop in competition with at least fifteen other 'sellers of alcoholic beverages and owners of cabarets.' Both prospered, invested regularly in land and slaves, and within two decades became leading Red River planters. While Metoyer remained a bachelor throughout these years, he ignited a scandal by renting a slave woman (Marie Therese dite Coincoin, q.v.) by whom he fathered ten children. Called to account in 1776 by a new parish priest, who threatened to seize and sell Coincoin for the benefit of the colony's hospital, Metoyer evaded penalty with the assistance of her owner (Marie des Neiges Juchereau de St. Denis de Soto (q.v.), daughter of Natchitoches's revered founder), and the post commandant (Athanase de Mezieres, the owner's brother-in-law (q.v.)). Amid their machinations, Metoyer secretly freed the mother and her nursing infant, but not the children already born to them. 

The liaison formally ended in 1788, when Metoyer married Marie Therese Eugenie Buard, widow of Pierre's friend Pavie, on October 13. In a settlement with Coincoin, Metoyer conveyed to her a slave and a small corner of his land. As their sons matured, each was assisted in some fashion and all took his name, although Pierre never acknowledged his paternity. With his public reputation shielded by denial, Metoyer rose from the rank of a militia private in 1772 to the marechal de logis (quartermaster) in the 1780 company that Governor Bernardo de Galvez (q.v.) dispatched to Mobile amid the American Revolution, to company standard bearer in 1791. By 1791, also, he was church sindic (in which capacity, ironically, he brought charges against religious transgressors), and he held that post for much of the next decade. 

Metoyer died at Natchitoches, September 30, 1815, leaving (to his legitimate offspring) one of Red River's largeest fortunes. By Marie Therese dite Coincoin (who died about 1816), Metoyer was the father of Nicolas Augustin (q.v.) (twin, b. 1768, founder of Church of St. Augustine on Isle Brevelle; q.v.); Marie Suzanne (twin, b. 1768), Louis (q.v.) (b. ca. 1770, founder of famed Melrose Plantation on Isle Brevelle; q.v.); Pierre (b. ca. 1772); Dominique (b. 1774); Eulalie (b. 1776); Antoine Joseph (b. 1778); Marie Francoise Roselie (b. 1780); Pierre Toussaint (b. 1782); and Francois (b. 1784). By Marie Therese Eugenie Buard (who died February 6, 1813), Metoyer was the father of Pierre Victorin (b. 1789); Marie Therese Elisabth (b. 1790, wife of Louis Narcisse Prudhomme); and Francois Benjamin (b. 1794) [who was my 4th great-grandfather]. Both sets of offspring--in disparate ways--would dominate Cane River society, economics, and politics over the two centuries that followed.

Up Through Slavery Marie Therese Coincoin was in bondage for 44 years. Yet she freed her children and became a slave owner herself.

Nicholas Augustine METOYER
Founder of the Saint Augustine Catholic Church,
 Near Melrose

By Ken Ringle

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 12, 2002; Page F01

To study a people's history without understanding the family structure from which it evolved is to confront a robot and pretend one feels a pulse-- Elizabeth Shown Mills

NATCHITOCHES, La.

No one knows where Marie Therese Coincoin lies buried, but it's easy to think of the 250-year-old live oak in front of Melrose Plantation as her family tree. Its kinked and elbowed limbs stretch 100 feet or more in every direction. They're hung with Spanish moss and coated with an opportunistic bit of hitchhiking botany that in dry weather looks like nothing so much as dead and rusty lace. All the plant needs, however, is one opportunity -- a single rainstorm -- to green into leafy lushness and prosperous coexistence with the tree. It's called the resurrection fern.

The story of Marie Therese Coincoin and her descendants is as improbable as the resurrection fern, yet it's all but unknown despite its ample documentation. It flies in the face of almost everything we think we know about slavery: Melrose Plantation was built not only by former slaves but for them. It is also a cautionary tale for those tempted to simplify history or underrate the astonishing capacities of the human spirit, past or present. Read More . 

323-Year-Old Marriage Record found in French Archives in Marseilles, France

Antoine Picon and Magdeleine Jausserand

Marseille, Saint Martin, Acte: Marriage -

31 Oct 1688

 Last month while searching through an online database in the French Archives in Marseille, France, I found this 323 year old marriage record for my 6th generation great grandparents, Antoine Picon and Magdeleine Jausserand. 

     For those of you just joining this blog posting, they are the grandparents of Mathieu Devaux . Devaux referred to as Mathieu Platilla is my 4th generation Great Grandfather who was featured in the PBS program, "the History Detectives" segment titled - the Galvez Papers.  If you having not viewed program just click on above.

     According to this record,  Antoine Picon and Magdeleine Jausserand   marriage took place on 31 Oct 1688 at a church in Saint Martin Parish in Marseille, France.  The hand writing is a little hard to read however, I placed the transcribed text of what's seen above and the english translation below.

"le 31 octobre 1688, avons célébré le mariage de la même manière que dessus, après avoir fait les publications ou de mettre le tout sans dispenses, entre Antoine Picon, fils de feu Anthoine et Anne Roman de cette ville d'une part et de honnète fille Magdeleine Jausseran, de Jean et Clère Alberte de cette ville, d'autres lettres en présence de Messieurs les témoins soussignés aux précédents mariages (suivi des signatures de l'acte)"

English Translation:

"31th October 1688, have celebrated the marriage in the same manner as above, after the publications or to place without any exemptions, between Antoine Picon, son of the late Anthoine and Anne Roman of the city on one hand and honest Magdeleine Jausseran daughter of John and Alberte Clère of this city, other letters in the presence of distinguished witnesses undersigned to previous marriages (tracking signatures of the act)"

       

      Now I can imagine what you are thinking. How in the world did he find this 323 year old record? right.  It's a long story. And all I can say is my ancestors wanted me to find them.  It wasn't easy and believe me, it was from many hours of piecing together information from records found in the New Orleans notarial archives and sacramental records that helped me to first determine a possible starting point.  I of course had to know a few details about certain members of Mathieu's family back in France before I began my research of those records in the French Archives in the city of Marseille, where Mathieu was born.  

      My first challenge was to take Mathieu Devaux who came to Spanish Colonial Louisiana sometime around 1760-65 and who died in New Orleans 1810 back to Marseille, France and locate him in some record.  Then try finding his parents and then his grandparents.  Listed on his burial record was the name of his family's church in Marseille, France where he was baptized.  Once, I located the church records, the task of looking for and finding his baptism record began. When I did come across that record, it confirmed the information, in  particularly, the names of his parents which were found on his burial record in New Orleans.  On his baptism below is listed his father's full name shown as-Noel Guillaume Devaux. 

Mathieu Devaux

Marseille, Notre Dame Des Accoules, Acte: Bapteme -

16 Feb 1737

     So far with the discovering of this 323 year of marriage record above,  I am now  back to 1688 with documented proof of my 6th generation great grandparents.  Also listed in that 323 year old marriage record are the names of what I believe to be my 7th generation great grandparents, they would be Mathieu Devaux's great grandparents.

      If you are wondering how many generation have I traced my french catholic roots too. That would be 10 generations from me and at least four generations from Mathieu Devaux back into France with this recent discovery. As you might imagine, I'm pretty excited about this.

In Honor of Austin Dabney, the only known African American to have fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek

Last year Jan 30, 2010, Members of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution along with a host of other guest gathered in Zebulon Pike County Ga to pay a tribute to the service of the only known African American who fought at the Battle of Kettle Creek which took place Feb 14, 1779 -- in Washington, Georgia.  His Name was Austin Dabney.

Sons of the
American Revolution
 Color Guard

As We honor, So do we Remember
Austin DABNEY

See Video on Dabney's Grave

Dabney is buried in the Harris Cemetery Zebulon (Pike County) Georgia, USA

The Honorable 
Willie Burns
Mayor of Washington, Ga.
Renders a Salute
while Compatriot Bruce Maney
Button Gwinnett Chapter SAR
Presents a Wreath

A common bond shared with
those who served in the Past