Categories: Genealogy, History, Migrations, Slavery

On 5 August 1903, Sylvanie Bosset died intestate in Broussard, Lafayette Parish. Her son, Philippe Bosset, petitioned local courts to open succession of his mother’s estate on 2nd September that same year. In Philippe’s petition, he alleged that his mother had produced 4 natural children named Philippe (himself), Joseph, Oscar, and Ophélia, and only the petitioner and Oscar survived their mother. He further mentioned that Joseph died young, and Ophélia had passed away some years earlier, leaving several children from her marriage with Philibert Rosier. Finally, Philippe wanted to ensure that he and Oscar inherit his mother’s tract of 60 arpents in Broussard along today’s La Neuville Road. In his final declaration, he stated that Ophélia’s children were not “heirs as representation d[id] not take place in [Sylvanie’s] estate.” In other words, only he and Oscar were rightful heirs. A fight for accuracy ensued that demonstrates how slaves in Louisiana often passed between closed and extended family, how those slaveholding families practiced multigenerational endogamy and researchers must make sense of that endogamy to track the slaves. In this case, the slaveholders descend from the Acadian leader Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil’s grandson and great-grandchildren.¹

A month later, on 30 September 1903, Oscar Bosset, Pierre Rosier, Marie – wife of Eugène Dauterive, Augustine Rosier – wife of Ulger Verret in Iberville Parish, Henriette Rosier – wife of Antoine Breaux of Liberty County, Texas, and Bertha Rosier – wife of William/Guillaume Herpin of Lafayette Parish, rejected Philippe’s petition. They swore that the Rosier children were indeed Ophélia’s and this caused the courts to launch an investigation. The ensuing testimonies provided under law are extraordinary because we rarely see references to slavery in 20th-century successions, and even rarer are those that provide the level of detail in the relationships between the slaveholders. Because there exists great variation in name spellings and derivations in this succession, I have standardized all of them in this post to help you to follow along better.

Testimony 1 Baptiste Célestin testified that he was 60 to 70 years old, and had known Sylvanie since they were young adult neighbors “during slavery time.” He stated that at the time, he was a slave of Isidore Broussard, who lived in the Broussard area, and that Sylvanie then belonged to Jean-Tréville Broussard. At the time, she had 4 children named Philippe, Joseph, Oscar, and Ophélia, and that Joseph died young. Later, Sylvanie became a slave of Dr. Francez in Carencro, and during her servitude there, he did not see her for many years.² After the Civil War, she returned to Broussard and her children were adults. Ophélia had “married or taken up” with a man and bore children for him.

Testimony 2 Philippe Bosset testified again, repeating much of the same information that he had provided in his initial petition to open Sylvanie’s succession. Others corroborated his testimony, and he called upon Guillaume Herpin to testify. Eventually, Philippe changed course, now stating that he wished for Ophélia’s children to inherit their mother’s share in Sylvanie’s property. According to his testimony, he always lived with his mother Sylvanie and after Ophélia died, her children went to live with them. Facts forced him to retract his initial petition.

Testimony 3 Marie Eurasie Broussard, widow of Ursin Jean-Olidon “J. O.” Broussard, testified that she knew Sylvanie because she belonged to her uncle Jean Broussard on his plantation near Pinhook. She later belonged to Eurasie’s brother Édouard Broussard, then to Dr. Romain Joseph Francez.³

Diverting from Sylvanie’s succession, other records (including those that forced Philippe to reverse his early declaration) show that Sylvanie did, in fact, have 4 natural children and that Ophélia’s children were hers:

1. Marie Ophélia Bonnet/Bonin, daughter of Octave Bonnet/Bonin, was born about 1842. Her father’s identity shows up in her 8 January 1881 Catholic marriage to France-born Philibert H. Rosier.⁴ Mixed marriages were legal in Louisiana from 1868 to 1909. As her children and other testifiers declared, Ophélia died at age 39 in New Iberia nearly 2 months after she married Philibert.⁵ And the couple did have several children, all born years before their parents’ marriage: Fernand (b 1865), Antoinette Bertha Rosier (2 September 1868), Henriette Rosier (7 November 1870), Charles Félicien Rosier (13 March 1873) who died young in 1881, Pierre Bernard Rosier (18 February 1875), and Augustine Rosier (11 November 1877).⁶ Their birth out of wedlock may have served as cause for Philippe to try disinheriting them from Sylvanie’s estate. However, their parents’ subsequent marriage must have legitimated them, enabling them to inherit their mother’s share in Sylvanie’s estate.
2. Joseph was born about 1845.
3. Valfrond Philippe Bosset, son of Célestin Delzane, a native of France, was born about 1849. His father’s identity appears in Philippe’s 1870 Catholic marriage to Marie Eugénie Granger.⁷
4. Oscar Bosset, son of Pierre J. Sancourt, was born about 1852. His father’s identity likewise appears in his 29 December 1875 Catholic marriage to Euphémie Landry.⁸

So, the paper trail supports the relationships in Sylvanie’s succession. And it turns out that the documentary evidence supports Marie Eurasie Broussard’s testimony regarding Sylvanie’s slaveholders. In 1834, Éloi Jean Broussard died in Lafayette Parish near his plantation east of the Vermilion River.⁹ He had married Aspasie Broussard 8 months earlier in 1833.¹⁰ After his death, when she was preparing to remarry Marie Eurasie’s brother, Édouard Isidore Broussard, she opened succession on the community property between her and Éloi Jean.¹¹ Surveyors initially inventoried Éloi Jean and Aspasie’s property in early 1837, which includes 4 slaves: Jean-Louis (Negro, 19), Ursin (Mulatto, 23), Sylvanie (Mulatto, 15), and Joseph (Mulatto, 6). The plantation was bound on one side by the property of Théon Broussard and on the other by that of Jean-Tréville Broussard, located near today’s Pinhook and Vérot School roads in lower Lafayette proper.

Seventeen years went by before the estate was finally settled in 1854. Another inventory was taken in 1849, and this one included the same 4 above-named slaves, in addition to 3 that Sylvanie had brought into the world since 1837:

	SLAVES’ NAMES	DESCRIPTOR	AGE
1	Jean Louis	negro	32
2	Ursin	mulatto	33
3	Sylvanie (with her 3 children):	mulatto	25
4	• Ophelia	[None given]	7
5	• Joseph	[None given]	4
6	• Vuffreus [Philippe]	[None given]	3 months
7	Joseph	mulatto	18

When the property went to auction in 1854, Édouard Broussard purchased Jean-Louis, and Jean-Tréville purchased the remaining 6 slaves. Eurasie gave readers a blueprint of who enslaved Sylvanie and her children and where, but beyond them, we must peel back the layers of the Broussard relationships further. I will not go into more details on Sylvanie’s family from this point since my goal for this post is merely to show that slaves often belonged to close and extended family, and that descendants of Acadians owned slaves. All of the slaveholders that Eurasie and Baptiste testified as holding Sylvanie in bondage were all very close to slightly distant family, and they were double and triple related to one another.

Éloi Jean Broussard and Jean-Tréville Broussard were brothers born in Lafayette Parish to Jean Broussard and his first wife Gertrude Thibodeaux, and they were paternal grandsons of François Broussard and Pélagie Landry.¹² We already learned from her testimony above that Marie Eurasie Broussard was a sister to Édouard Isidore Broussard. Their parents were Isidore Broussard and Adélaïde Préjean, and the two siblings were paternal grandparents of the same François and Pélagie, who were also Éloi Jean and Jean-Tréville’s paternal grandparents.¹³ In other words, Eurasie and Édouard (two siblings) were paternal first cousins of Éloi Jean and Jean-Tréville (also two siblings).

All of these four grandchildren of François Broussard and Pélagie Landry married their Broussard second cousins, too. Eurasie and her brother Édouard married two Broussard siblings Ursin Jean-Olidon Broussard and Aspasie Broussard, children of Jean-Olidon Broussard and Victoire Babineaux. Ursin and Aspasie’s paternal great-grandparents were François Broussard and Pélagie Landry. And of course, that means that Aspasie twice married two of her second cousins: Éloi Jean, the one whose succession I discuss above, and then Édouard after Éloi Jean died.¹⁴

Then comes the Francez family. The doctor that testifiers Baptiste and Eurasie mentioned was most likely Romain Joseph Francez, a physician from Azereix, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. He moved to Lafayette Parish sometime in the 1840s, where he settled along Bayou Carencro, marrying two Bernard cousins. He married his first wife, Adèle Bernard, at St. Charles Borromeo in Grand Côteau in 1847, but she was dead by 1855.¹⁵ He then remarried Athénaïse Bernard at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Lafayette in July 1855.¹⁶ At first glance, it may not seem obvious if or how these two Bernard women tie to the convoluted endogamous Broussards. But it only takes two generations to scratch the surface, and the Broussards quickly appear. Adèle was a granddaughter of Jean-Baptiste Bernard and Marguerite Broussard, and two of Athénaïse’s great-grandmothers were Thibodeaux.¹⁷ François Broussard (husband of Pélagie Landry), was the son of Agnès “Nanette” Thibodeaux, so his entire large family are closely related to the Thibodeaux in direct and indirect ways.

This all indicates that Sylvanie Bosset belonged to the grandson and great-grandchildren of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil and his wife Agnès “Nanette” Thibodeaux (See image 1 below). Today, Beausoleil, who I descend from as well (and from his brother Alexandre), is remembered for resisting British confiscation of Acadian lands in Nova Scotia and for organizing and leading his community in Nova Scotia, France, and finally on Bayou Têche in Louisiana. By all available research to date, Acadians practiced limited enslavement in Nova Scotia, even though Anglophones around them in the maritime provinces did more frequently. In Louisiana, many White-identified Acadian descendants quickly embraced the practice in Louisiana as they merged with existing Creole and American societies in the state. The Broussards and their intricate and voluminous web of cousins in Louisiana are only one example of this.¹⁸

For previous LHCV articles written about Acadian wealth and slave ownership in Louisiana, see the Broussard slave database I published this month, the Saulnier-Chrétien family in Sts. Landry and Martin parishes, and another on the Broussards who enslaved Beyoncé Knowles’s maternal ancestors. I plan to continue publishing on the topic to give the general public access to historical facts on the Acadian and Creole experience in Louisiana. Subscribe to the blog if this topic interests you.

Special mention to Gary Herpin and Don Bosset who encouraged me to investigate the lineage of Sylvanie Bosset further. I had initially conflated her family with that of a contemporary with the same name from the same parish.

– Christophe Landry

SOURCES

1. Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court (Lafayette, Louisiana), Successions, #2311, succession of Sylvanie Bosset, dated 9 September 1903. ↩︎
2. FRANCIS, Romain Joseph b. 12 March 1867 at Azereix Canton of Ossun, Hautes Pyrenes, France; m. Athenaise BERARD; d. 29 Oct. 1892 (Carencro Ch.: Fun. Reg.: v. 1, p. 55). See also his Catholic marriage: FRANCIS, Romain Joseph of Zeriase (Pierre & Anne BEAUXIS)  m. 10 July 1855 Athenais BERNARD (Pierre Gerasin & Eugenie MOUTON) (Laf. Ch.: v. 4, p. 116). ↩︎
3. BROUSSARD, Marie Eurasie (Isidore & Adelaide PREJEAN)   m. 24  June 1833 Ursin Louisin BROUSSARD of Laf. (Jean Olidon & Victoire BABINEAUX) (Laf. Ch.:  v.2, p.96). BROUSSARD, Ursin Lesin (Jean – of Vermillion & Victoire BABINEAU) b. 12 Feb. 1814 – a twin, bt. 15 May 1814  Pats: Olidon BROUSSARD & Anne BERNARD;  Mats: Charles BIENVENU & Marguerite THIBAUDOT;  Spons: Alexandre BABINEAU & Marie BROUSSARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #1657).
   
   BROUSSARD, Edouard (Isidore – inhabitant at Vermillion & Adelaide PREJEAN) b. 1 Dec. 1819, bt. 4 April 1820  Pats: dec. Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: dec. Joseph PREJEAN & dec. Isabelle DUGAST;  Spons: Arvillien BROUSSARD & Genevieve LANDRY. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #818). ↩︎
4. BONIN, Marie Alphelia (Octave & Sylvanie BOSSET) m. 8 Jan. 1881 Philipert ROZIER (Charles & Perone VOIGNIN) (NI Ch.: v. 3, p. 129). ↩︎
5. BONIN, Marie Ophelia m. Philibert ROZIER d. 24 Feb. 1881 at age 39 yrs. (NI Ch.: v. 2, p. 118). ↩︎
6. DAUTERIVE, Eugene m. 13 April 1889 Marie LANDRY (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #4417). Eugène died 29 December 1917 at Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, age 62, born in New Iberia to Emmanuel DAUTERIVE and Maudeline FREELOWE [Madeleine FRILOT] (Louisiana Death Records, certificate #2157).
   
   ROSIER, Antoinette Bertha (Philibert & Ophelia BOONE) b. 2 Sept. 1868 (Youngsville Ch.: v. 1, p. 85). ROSIER, Antoinette m. 1 July 1886 William HERPIN (Youngsville Ch.: v. 4, p.  2). ROZIER, Antoinette m. 28 June 1886 William HERPIN (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #3958).
   
   ROZIER, Henriette (Philibert & Ophelia BONIN) b. 7 Nov. 1870 (NI Ch.: v. 2, p. 179). ROZIER, Antoinette m. 2 Feb. 1888 Antoine BREAUX (Youngsville Ch.: v. 4, p. 35). ROZIER, Henriette m. 28 Jan. 1888 Antoine BREAUX (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #4226).
   
   ROZIER, Charles Felicien (Philibert & Ophelia BONIN) b. 13 March 1873 (NI Ch.: v. 2, p. 239). ROZIER, Charles d. 29 June 1881 at age 8 yrs. (NI Ch.: v. 2, p. 122).
   
   ROSIER, Pierre Bernard (Philibert & Marie BONNET) b. 18 Feb. 1875 (NI Ch.: v. 3, p. 21). He likely married Eulalie Verret, sister to Ulgère Verret below, natives of Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, children of Ovide Verret and Fanélie Lassus/Judice.
   
   ROZIER, Augustine (Philibert & Ophilia BONIN) b. 11 Nov. 1877 (NI Ch.: v. 3, p. 113). ROZIER, Augustine m. 15 Dec. 1897 Ulgere VERRET (Youngsville Ch.: v.4, p.250). ↩︎
7. DELZENNE, Uljrand (Celestin & Sylvanie BARRNET)  m. 1870 Eugenie GRANGER (Alexandre & Cecile GRANGER) (Youngsville Ch.: v. 1, p. 120). Célestin DELZANE, native of France, died 23 Dec 1861, at age 50 (Lafayette Ch v 4 p 94). ↩︎
8. BOSSET, Oscar (Pierre J. Sancourt & Sylvanie BOSSET) m. 29 Dec. 1875 Euphemie LANDRY (Gilbert & Marie GRANGER) (Youngsville Ch.: v. 2, p. 163). ↩︎
9. BROUSSARD, Eloy m. Aspasie BROUSSARD  He died near his house.  d. 19 April 1834 at age 25 yrs. (Laf. Ch.: v.3, p.52). ↩︎
10. BROUSSARD, Aspasie (Jean Olidon & Victoire BABINEAUX)   m. 19  Aug. 1833 Eloy BROUSSARD (Jean & Gertrude THIBODEAUX) (Laf. Ch.: v.2, p. 102). ↩︎
11. BROUSSARD, Aspasie m. Eloy Jean BROUSSARD  In Succ. of Eloy  Jean BROUSSARD  dated 26 Jan. 1837 (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Succ.  #325). BROUSSARD, Aspasie (Jean Olidon & Victoire BABINEAUX) m. 30  Jan. 1837 Edouard BROUSSARD (Laf. Ch.: v.2, p.246). ↩︎
12. BROUSSARD, Eloy (Jean – of Vermillion & Gertrude THIBAUDEAU) b. 20 Nov. 1808, bt. 21 May 1809  Pats: Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: Amand THIBAUDEAU & Gertrude BOURG;  Spons: Benjamin THIBAUDEAU & Pelagie BROUSSARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #598). BROUSSARD, Jean Treville (Jean – of Vermillion & Gertrude THIBAUDEAU) b. 2 Nov. 1806, bt. 29 March 1807  Pats: Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: Amand THIBAUDEAU & Gertrude BOURG;  Spons: Joseph BROUSSARD & Adelaide BROUSSARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #377). ↩︎
13. BROUSSARD, Marie Urasie (Isidore – inhabitant at Vermillion & Adelaide PREJEAN) b. 22 March 1816, bt. 27 Oct. 1816  Pats: Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: Joseph PREJEAN & Isabelle DUGAS;  Spons: Edouard PREJEAN & Adelaide LEBLANC – spouse of Theophile BROUSSARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #54). BROUSSARD, Edouard (Isidore – inhabitant at Vermillion & Adelaide PREJEAN) b. 1 Dec. 1819, bt. 4 April 1820  Pats: dec. Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: dec. Joseph PREJEAN & dec. Isabelle DUGAST;  Spons: Arvillien BROUSSARD & Genevieve LANDRY. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #818).
    
    BROUSSARD, Isidore – native and inhabitant of this parish (major son of Francois & Pelagie LANDRY)  m. 19 June 1815 Adelaide PREJEAN – native of this parish (major dauther of dec. Joseph – inhabitant at Vermillion & Elixabeth DUGAS) Wits: Jean MONTET, Louis HEBERT, Michel ABEL. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.5, #367). BROUSSARD, Isidore (Francois & Pelagie LANDRY – of America) m. 10 Feb. 1804 Isabelle THIBAUDEAU (Amand & Gertrude BOURG – of Acadie)  Wits: Louis CHEMIN, Nicolas BROUSSARD, Benoni BROUSSARD, David GUILBEAU, Placide THIBAUDEAU, Baptiste THIBAUDEAU, Eloi BROUSSARD.  Fr. Etienne VIEL (SM Ch.: v.5, #7). THIBODEAUX, Isabelle (Amand THIBAUDEAU & Gertrude BOURG – of Acadie) m. 10 Feb. 1804 Isidore BROUSSARD (Francois & Pelagie LANDRY – of Acadie)  Wits: Louis CHEMIN, Nicolas BROUSSARD, Benoni BROUSSARD, David GUILBEAU, Placide THIBAUDEAU, Baptiste THIBAUDEAU, Eloi BROUSSARD.  Fr. Etienne VIEL (SM Ch.: v.5, #7). BROUSSARD, Isidore m. Isabelle THIBODEAU  In Succession of Isabelle THIBODEAUX dated 12 June 1815 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#198).
    
    BROUSSARD, Edouard (Isidore – inhabitant at Vermillion & Adelaide PREJEAN) b. 1 Dec. 1819, bt. 4 April 1820  Pats: dec. Francois BROUSSARD & Pelagie LANDRY;  Mats: dec. Joseph PREJEAN & dec. Isabelle DUGAST;  Spons: Arvillien BROUSSARD & Genevieve LANDRY. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.7, #818). BROUSSARD, Edouard (Isidore & Adelaide PREJEAN) m. 30 Jan. 1837 Aspasie BROUSSARD, wid. of Eloy BROUSSARD (Jean Olidon & Victoire BABINEAUX) (Laf. Ch.: v.2, p.246). ↩︎
14. BROUSSARD, Ursin Lesin (Jean – of Vermillion & Victoire BABINEAU) b. 12 Feb. 1814 – a twin, bt. 15 May 1814  Pats: Olidon BROUSSARD & Anne BERNARD;  Mats: Charles BIENVENU & Marguerite THIBAUDOT;  Spons: Alexandre BABINEAU & Marie BROUSSARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #1657). BROUSSARD, Aspasie (Jean – of Vermillion & Victoire BABINAUD) b. 19 March 1816, bt. 21 April 1816  Pats: Odilon BROUSSARD & Anne BERNARD;  Mats: dec. Charles Dominique BABINAUD & Marguerite THIBAUDOT;  Spons: Joseph Zephirin TRAHAN & Julienne BABINAUD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #2013).
    
    BROUSSARD, Jean (minor son of Olidon – of Vermillion & Anne BERNARD)  m. 23 Aug. 1809 Victoire BABINEAU (minor daughter of Dominique – of Carencros & Marguerite THIBAUDEAU)  Wits: Maurice ABAT, Hyacinthe JACQUET, Francois MARC, Jean BROUSSARD, Joseph BERNARD.  Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.5, #160).
    
    BERNARD, Ana (Michel & Marie GUILBEAU) m. 3 Feb. 1790 Olidon BROUSSARD (Francois & Pelagie LANDRY) Wits: Anaclette BROUSSARD, Francois BROUSSARD, Joseph GUILBEAUD, Michel BERNARD, Francois GUILBEAUD. Fr. de DEVA (SM Ch.: v.4, #39). BROUSSARD, Odilon (Francois & Pelagie LANDRY) b. 2 Jan. 1771, bt.  24 April 1771  Spons: Simon BROUSSARD & Magdeleine  TRAHAN.  Fr. IRENEE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.17). ↩︎
15. FRANCIS, Romain m. 28 Sept. 1847 Adele BERNARD  (GC Ch.:  v. 1, p. 175). BERNARD, Adele (Ursin & Heloise BERNARD) m.  5 Oct. 1847 Joseph Romain FRANCIS  (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #587).
    
    BERNARD, Adele m. Joseph Romain FRANCIS Succ. dated 18 June 1855 (Laf. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #770). FRANCIS, Romain Joseph b. 12 March 1867 at Azereix Canton of Ossun, Hautes Pyrenes, France; m. Athenaise BERARD; d. 29 Oct. 1892 (Carencro Ch.: Fun. Reg.: v. 1, p. 55). BERNARD, Marie Adelle (Ursin & Eloise BERNARD) bt. 3 April 1831  at age 3 mths. (Laf. Ch.: v.3, p. 194). ↩︎
16. FRANCIS, Romain Joseph of Zeriase [France] (Pierre & Anne BEAUXIS)  m. 10 July 1855 Athenais BERNARD (Pierre Gérasin BERNARD & Eugénie MOUTON) (Laf. Ch.: v. 4, p. 116). ↩︎
17. BERNARD, Ursin – native of this parish (major son of Jean – inhabitant at Carencros & Marguerite BROUSSARD)  m. 27 June 1815 Marie Eloise BERNARD – native of this parish (major daughter of Pierre – inhabitant at Carencros & dec. Anastasie BRAUD)  Wits: Jean Baptiste MERCIER, Cyprien ARSONNEAUX, Charles MOUTON, Pierre BERNARD. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.5, #369).
    
    BROUSSARD, Marguerite – native of the Atacapas (Joseph & Marguerite  SAVOYE) m. contract dated: 17 June 1782 Jean Baptiste BERNARD  – from the parish of Acadie (Michel & Marie GUILLEBAU)   Wits: Francois BROUSSARD, Claude BROUSSARD, Silvain  BROUSSARD, Simon LEBLANC; Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET. (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.3, #177).
    
    SAVOIE, Marguerite – wid. of Joseph BROUSSARD; died 19 Oct. 1816 suddenly at age about 77 years at the home of Michel BROUSSARD her son-in-law at La Cote Gelee; buried 20 Oct. 1816 in the parish cemetery.  Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.4, #1084). SAVOIE, Marguerite  m. Joseph BROUSSARD dit Petit Joe   Succ. dated 16 Feb. 1817  (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#256). BROUSSARD, Joseph m. Marguerite SAVOIE, bur. 20 Dec. 1788 at age 62 yrs. “de fluxion de Peche” [chest flu {cold} or pneumonia]. Fr. Bernardo de DEVA (SM Ch.: v.4, #37).
    
    BERNARD, Pierre Gerasin (Jean Louis & Aspasie DUGAS) m. 25 April 1831 Eugenie MOUTON of Lafayette (Francois & Clemence DUGAS) (Laf. Ch.: v.2, p.36).
    
    BERNARD, Pierre Gerasin (Jean Louis – of Carencros & Aspasie DUGAS) b. 24 July 1811, bt. 3 Sept. 1811  Pats: Pierre BERNARD & Anastasie BRAU;  Mats: Pierre DUGAS & Annette THIBAUDEAU;  Spons: Pierre DUGAS, fils & Eloyse BERNARD – all of this parish. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #1220). MOUTON, Eugenie (Francois – of Carencros & Clemence DUGAS) b. 28 April 1815, bt. 13 Aug. 1815  Pats: Jean MOUTON & Marthe BORDA;  Mats: Pierre DUGAS & Anne THIBAUDOT;  Spons: Alexandre MOUTON & Louise DUGAS. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #1885).
    
    BERNARD, Jean Louis (minor son of Pierre – of Carencros & Anastasie BRAU) m. 6 Feb. 1810 Aspasie DUGAS (minor daughter of Pierre – of La Bute & Anne THIBAUDEAU)  Wits: Pierre DUGAS, Louis & Cyprien ARCENEAUX, Joseph BRAU, Pierre BOISSIER, Joseph Eloi BRAU, Marin MARTIN. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.5, #171). ↩︎
18. Colby Gaudet, “Investigating Jerome: Personal Reflections on Acadian Slave-Owning,” Acadiensis: Journal of the History of the Atlantic Region (October 2023). William Renwick Riddell, “Slavery in the Maritime Provinces,” Journal of Negro History 5, #3 (July 1920): pp. 359-375. Clint Bruce, “Africains et Acadiens en Louisiane Créole,” Migrations francophones (undated). See also Zachary Richard’s vlog “Slavery Divides Acadian Society in Louisiana,” Facebook (September 2015). ↩︎