Boudreaux Genealogy

François Boudreaux was born July 18, 1854 in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana(1) to French-speaking Acadian parents.

Beloni Boudreaux and Eugenie Trahan were third-generation Louisianians, descendants of Acadian refugees who had come to Louisiana in 1785 from France.(2) Their grandparents and great grandparents had been part of the diaspora of refugees displaced from their Acadian homeland in Nova Scotia in 1755, casualties of the wars between France and England.(3) After thirty years of exile and hardship, the Acadians came to French-speaking Louisiana to begin a new life along the bayous and prairies.(4)

Beloni and Eugenie were “petit habitants,” small farmers who farmed their narrow strips of land along the Vermillion River in Lafayette Parish.(5) They lived a simple, close-knit, traditional existence shaped by hard work and the joyous events of family life: weddings, christenings, Catholic holidays, and Saturday night “bals de maison” celebrations of music and dance.(6)

François was the fourth of seven children: Nicholas (1847)(7), Marie Armenie (1849)(8), Marie Azemie (1851)(9), Francois (1854), Albert (1856)(10), Jules (1859)(11), and Jean-Baptiste (1863)(12). He was baptized in the Cathedral of St. John in Vermillionville (later Lafayette) on May 5, 1855.(13) François grew up helping on the farm and, as was common among rural Louisiana Acadians in the 19th century, he did not receive a formal education.(14)

During the Civil War, Beloni served as a private in Company G of the 18th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry. He was captured and appears on the Roll of Prisoners of War paroled at Washington, Louisiana on 21 June 1865. (55) The circumstances of his imprisonment are unknown, but he did not live long after the war ended. He was buried in Youngsville Cemetery in Lafayette Parish. By 1868 his property was divided up and sold at auction.(15) The Reconstruction period was a very difficult one for Louisiana (16). It was a time of great instability and violence, with few opportunities available for an ambitious young man. A few years after his father’s death (between 1870-1874; the exact date is unclear), François packed up and headed for Texas to find his fortune.

In Texas, François joined relatives and friends of French descent, including the Bonins, Sellers, Leleux, Melançons, and Pillots, who had settled in north Harris County in the 1830s, ‘40s and ‘50s.(17) Family legend would have it that François came to Texas to find his childhood sweetheart, Aspasie Arceneaux, who had moved away with her family many years before.(18) Aspasie’s father also had died and her mother, Oliva Sellers Arceneaux, had moved with a group of relatives to Texas, where she is listed in the Harris County Census of 1860.(19) They were part of the Willow Creek community, which was originally settled primarily by German farmers, but became known as the “French Settlement.” (23) In 1868, Oliva married Pierre Melanson, a prosperous sawmill owner and farmer.(20)

Whether truth or legend, François found his sweetheart and on the 25th of November in 1874(21) they married and settled down to farm. By 1881, he had purchased 35 acres on Willow Creek, in the Levi Gosling survey.(22) Over the years, François continued to acquire more land along Willow Creek. He built a two story home that his granddaughter, Nadine, recalled as large and comfortable.(24) By 1898 he was paying taxes on more than 428 acres in the Elizabeth Smith, J.M. McGee, and Levi Gosling surveys.(25) Boudreaux Road today marks the southern boundary of his land.

François and Aspasie had nine children together, and both the family and the farm prospered. Nicholas was born in 1875(26), followed by Oliva in 1878(27), then John in 1880(28), Marceneaux in 1882(29), Edmond in 1885(30), Eugenie “Jennie” in 1887(31), Azemie in 1889(32), Celestine in 1892(33), and Oline(34) in 1895. The children were raised in the Catholic faith of their ancestors and, because the closest Catholic church in Houston was many miles away via poor or non-existent roads, church services were held in the Boudreaux home.(35) Priests from Houston and Galveston would visit the rural “mission” church periodically to bless any marriages that had occurred and baptize any babies that had been born since the last visit.(36) Eventually, a Catholic church was built that was later converted into a school called “the French school.”(37) Willow Creek was strictly a rural community, with such row crops as corn, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and cotton. Gardens, wild game, cattle and hogs furnished both sustenance and cash products.(38) As the end of the 19th century approached, life was good for the Boudreaux family. François had indeed found his fortune in Texas.

But in 1899, at the age of 45, Aspasie died and was buried in the Bonin Cemetery on Gosling Road.(39) François continued to farm on Willow Creek with his sons and to raise his younger children alone. One son, Marceneaux, died only two years after his mother and was buried beside her.(40) As the remaining children matured and married, François built each a house on the family property.(41) In 1917, he formally divided the land among the eight surviving children, deeding an equal share to each.(42)

The Boudreaux children married the children of other early settlers of north Harris County. Nicholas married Bertha Ischy (1904)(43); John married Eva Dillon (1903)(44); Oleva (1896)(45) and Celestine (1914)(46) married two Cochran brothers, Ernest and Alva Lawrence, respectively. Jennie married Thomas Rowan McDougle (1912).(47) Azemie married Kelly Dowdell (1914)(48), Oline married Raymond Mahaffey (1920)(49), and Edmond married Lena Walters Woodson (1926).(50) After their mother’s death, most of them drifted away from their Catholic faith and became active members of area Protestant churches.(51) After only one generation, these French-speaking descendants of Acadians had become fully Americanized Texans, and their children were indistinguishable from the children of the German, Scotch-Irish, and English settlers who were their neighbors.

As the years passed, many of François’ children sold their land and moved away from the area, pursuing careers in the city as teachers, firemen, or grocers. After the Boudreaux home was destroyed by fire in 1929(52), François moved in with his daughter Azemie Dowdell’s family in nearby Hufsmith, where he lived, doted on by his children and grandchildren, until his death on January 23, 1939 at the age of 84.(53, 54) He is buried in the Willow Creek cemetery on FM 2920 not far from Boudreaux Road.

Endnotes

1. Baptismal Record for François Boudreaux (born July 18, 1854, baptized May 5th, 1855), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette, Louisiana, Vol. 6, No. 55.

2. Jacqueline K. Voorhies, “The Acadians: The Search for the Promised Land,” in The Cajuns: Essays on Their History and Culture, ed. by Glenn R. Conrad, (Lafayette, Louisiana: Center for Lousiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1984), p. 88.

3. Albert J. Robichaux, The Acadian Exiles in St. Malo 1758-1785 (Eunice, LA: Hebert Publications, 1981), p. 95.
Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records (Eunice, LA: Hebert Publications, 1974) 1: 67.
Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records (Eunice: Hebert Publications, 1974-1985) 2: 102.

4. Voorhies, “The Acadians: The Search for the Promised Land,” p. 88.

5. Succession papers of Beloni Boudreaux, File No. 1187, December 19, 1868, Lafayette, Louisiana Parish Courthouse.

6. Carl A. Brasseux, Acadian to Cajun: Transformation of a People, (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1992), p. 28.

7. Baptismal Record of Nicholas Boudreaux (born April 18, 1847), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette Louisiana, Vol. 1., p. 7.

8. Baptismal Record of Marie Armenie Boudreaux (born July 15, 1849), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette Louisiana, Vol. 6, p. 47.

9. Baptismal Record of Marie Azemie Boudreaux (born September 23, 1851), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette Louisiana, Vol. 6, p. 75.

10. Baptismal Record of Jules Boudreaux (born 10 September 10, 1856), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette Louisiana, Vol. 6, p. 80.

11. Baptismal Record of Albert Boudreaux (born March 20, 1859), Youngsville Church, Youngsville, Louisiana, Vol. 1, p. 2.

12. Baptismal Record of Jean-Baptiste Boudreaux (born January 4, 1863), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette, Louisiana, Vol. 6, #52.

13. Baptismal Record for François Boudreaux (born July 18, 1854, baptized May 5th, 1855), St. John’s Cathedral, Lafayette Louisiana, Vol. 6, No. 55.

14. Brasseux, Acadian to Cajun: Transformation of a People, p. 37.

15. Succession papers of Beloni Boudreaux, File No. 1187, December 19, 1868, Lafayette, Louisiana Parish Courthouse.

16. Brasseaux, Acadian to Cajun: Transformation of a People, pp. 112-153.

17. 1860 U.S. Census (population), Texas, Harris Co., National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, roll 1296, p. 154.
Harris County, Texas Indirect Index to Deeds (Grantee), Harris County Clerk’s Office Archives, Houston, Texas.
Chaparral Genealogical Society, The Heritage of North Harris County, (Tomball, Texas: North Harris Branch American Society of University Women, 1977), p. 40.

18. Personal Communication to Compiler from John Edward Hebert, Abbeville, Louisiana, great grandnephew of Francois Boudreaux.

19. 1860 U.S. Census (population), Texas, Harris Co., Lynchburg, Precinct No. 15, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, roll 1296, dwelling 579, family no. 576, p. 283.

20. Marriage License and Return for Pierre B. Melanson and Mrs. Oliva Arceneaux, July 7, 1868, Book F, #760, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

21. Marriage License and Return for François Boudreaux and Aspasie Arceneaux, November 25, 1874, #4680, Book G, p. 216, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

Marriage Entry for François Boudreaux and Aspasie Arceneaux, February 1, 1875, Marriage Register, St. Vincent de Paul and Annunciation Churches, Houston, Texas, Vol. 2, p. 84.

22. Warranty Deed from Z. Boney and A.J. Boney wife to François Boudreaux, Deed Book 23, p. 260, Harris County Clerk’s Office Archives, Houston, Texas.

23. Chaparral Genealogical Society, The Heritage of North Harris County, p. 40.

24. Personal Communication from Nadine Cochran, Freeport Texas, granddaughter of Francois Boudreaux to compiler, May, 1989.

25. Harris County, Texas Tax Rolls, 1897-1900, Office of the Tax Assessor-Collector, Microfilm Publication 110106.

26. Baptismal Record for Nicholas Joseph Boudreaux (born October 14, 1875, baptized April 25, 1876), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 1, #1867.

27. Baptismal Record for Oliva Boudreaux (born January 19, 1878, baptized June [3], 1878), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 2, # 195.

28. Baptismal Record for John Boudreaux (born March 26, 1880, baptized March 28, 1880), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 1, #2148.

29. Headstone of Marceneaux Boudreaux, Bonin Cemetery, Harris County, Texas.

30. Baptismal Record for Edmond Boudreaux (born June 26, 1885, baptized October 4, 1885), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 2, p. 52.

31. Headstone of Mary Eugenie “Jennie” Boudreaux McDougle, Willow Creek Cemetery, Harris County, Texas.

32. Headstone of Azemie Boudreaux Dowdell, Old Crowley Cemetery, Crowley, Louisiana.

33. Baptismal Record for Celestine Boudreaux (born February 7, 1892, baptized June 5, 1892), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 3, p. 148.

34. Baptismal Record for Mary E. “Oline” Boudreaux (born September 23, 1895, baptized October 7, 1895), St. Vincent Church and Annunciation Church Registers, Houston, Texas, Register 39, p. 3.

35. Chaparral Genealogical Society, The Heritage of North Harris County, (Tomball, Texas: North Harris Branch American Society of University Women, 1977), p. 40.

36. Robert C. Giles, Changing Times: The Story of the Diocese of Galveston Houston in Commemoration of its Founding, (Houston: John L. Morkovsky, 1972), p. 196.

37. Chaparral Genealogical Society, The Heritage of North Harris County, p. 40.

38. Charles B. Mahaffey, “Willow Creek Community 1850-1900,” Roadrunner 7 (May 1981): 23.

39. Headstone of Aspasie Boudreaux, Bonin Cemetery, Harris County, Texas.

40. Headstone of Marceneaux Boudreaux, Bonin Cemetery, Harris County, Texas.

41. Personal Communication from Nadine Cochran, Freeport Texas, granddaughter of Francois Boudreaux to compiler, May, 1989.

42. Harris County, Texas Direct Index to Deeds (Grantor), Harris County Clerk’s Office Archives, Houston, Texas.

43. Marriage Record of Nicholas Boudreaux and Bertha Ischy, April 21, 1904, St. Vincent DePaul and Annunciation Parish Church Registers 1841-1914, p. 181.

44. Marriage License and Return for John Boudreaux and Addie Eva Dillon, November 15, 1903, No. 9981, Vol. T, p. 191, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

45. Marriage License and Return for Oliva Boudreaux and Ernest W. Cochrane, September 8, 1996, No. 3582, Vol. N, p. 340, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

46. Marriage License and Return for Celestine Boudreaux and Alva Lawrence Cochrane, October 1, 1916, No. 33295, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

47. Marriage License and Return for Eugenie “Jennie” Boudreaux and Thomas R. McDougle, November 19, 1912, No. 24379, Vol. 6, p. 269, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

48. Marriage License and Return for Azemie Boudreaux and Kelly F. Dowdell, December 8, 1914, No. 29329, Vol. 10, p. 99, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

49. Marriage License and Return for Oline Boudreaux and Raymond Mahaffey, February 14, 1920, No. 45786, Vol. 22, p. 163, Harris County, Texas, County Clerk’s Office Archives.

50. Marriage License for Edmond Boudreaux and Mrs. Lena May (Walters) Woodson, July 29, 1926, Vol. 13, p. 288, Montgomery County, Texas, Court House Archives.

51. J.E. Boulet, “The Old Willow Creek Baptist Church,” Roadrunner 7 (May 1981):26-37.

52. Affadavit of F. Boudreaux, No. 529941, Harris County, Texas Clerk’s Office Archives, Book 887, p. 680.

53. Obituary of François Boudreaux, unknown newspaper, n.d., in possession of compiler.

54. Chaparral Genealogical Society, Biographical Memories of Tomball & Harris County (Records of Klein Funeral Home) (Tomball, Texas: By the Society, P.O. Box 606, Tomball, Texas 77375, n.d.) p. 36.

55. Confederate Pension Application of Eugenie Boudreaux, widow of Belonie Boudreaux, Vermilion Parish, No. 9134, Louisiana Div. of Archives, Baton Rouge.