Now Which DUPRE is the Daddy?

When I began my research, I was optimistic about finding my family’s ancestry. But I soon learned that finding the paternity of some of my late relatives would be very difficult. I was fortunate to have a few relatives who researched our family ancestry. My grandfather’s second cousin, Eula Jack-Dell, was one them. In the 1980s she put out a family book that has been a great guide for me and other relatives. With inspiration from Alex Haley’s books, Cousin Eula spent years going back and forth to different Courthouses, Churches and the Louisiana State Archive to obtain documentation for our family book. She did all of this during a time when you had to view the census on microfilm and long before you could access the census and other records on sites such as Ancestry.com © . Her book had lots of sourced information to connect me with the right family.

FINDING THE MOTHER OF THE ACHER SISTERS

It was in Cousin Eula’s book that I discovered that my ancestor Olympe DONATO had a twin sister named Meurice DONATO. Prior to that discovery I always thought Olympe was the mother of Anais, Marie and Valentine ACHER as was shown in the Catholic marriages of Valentine and Marie: ACHER, Valentine (Frederie & Olymphe DONATO) m. 21 Nov. 1867 Louis GUIDRY (Opel. Ch.: v. 2, p. 367); ACHER, Marie (Frederic & Olymphe DONATO) m. 9 Jan. 1873 Alexis ARCENEAUX (Opel. Ch.: v. 2, p. 428). However, Meurice DONATO was identified as the mother of the three ACHER sisters in the succession of Sabin DONATO (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #2316) dated 15 Mar 1860. Sabin was the brother of Olympe and Meurice DONATO. Through these records, I was able to trace the descendants of Meurice’s daughters Marie and Valentine. Meurice’s daughter Anais didn’t marry so finding the paternity of her children was more difficult.

CHALLENGES FINDING THE FATHER OF ANAIS’S CHILDREN

My search for the father of Anais’s children began by using Father Hebert’s Southwest Louisiana Records (considered the gold mine for any SW Louisiana researcher with family who were Catholic). I was able to discover the baptismal entries of two of Anais’s daughters, Marie Betina and Laurence: ACHER, Marie Betino (Anais) b. 7 June 1884 (Opel. Ch.: v. 7, p. 9); ACHER, Laurence (Anais) b. 27 May 1886 (Opel. Ch.: v. 7, p. 57).

Catholic Baptismal of Betina

Catholic Baptismal of Laurance

Neither record included a father’s name, which made it difficult to find who they married since they didn’t use ACHER when they married. In my research I learned that it was common for the father’s name to be omitted in the Catholic records if the father were White and still alive, or married. As the years went by, one day as I was looking for information on the MARTEL family I located a Willie MARTEL marrying a Betina DUPRE, who was the daughter of Annoise ACHER: MARTEL, Willie (Theophile EDSTORAGE) m. 22 Dec 1902 Betine DUPRE (Annoise ACHER) (Opel.Ch.:v.3,p.295). From that Catholic marriage record, I learned that she was a DUPRE, however her father’s name was omitted again. After finding that Betina was a DUPRE, I searched the Catholic records to see if I could find Laurence being listed as a DUPRE and sure enough I was able to locate her marriage to Lester DESMARAIS: DESMARAIS, Lester (Idolia SKINNER) m. 8 Sep 1903 m. Lawrence DUPRE (Annaise ACHER) Opel.Ch.:v.3,p.314). The father was also omitted on Laurance’s marriage record. After seeing how the father wasn’t listed on their baptismal and Catholic marriage records, I then suspected that their father was White and living at the time. But who was he?

LIVING DESCENDANTS HELP BREAK THROUGH A BRICK WALL

Using the research database on Ancestry.com © , I was able to find death certificates for both Laurence and Marie Betina. Guess what? None of the informants, who were their children, knew the names of their grandparents!!?!?!?!? Just when I thought I was going to find out who was their father, I hit yet another brick wall. However, I didn’t give up. I then started to find their living descendants, one being Shane MARTELL. Shane was Betina DUPRE’s great grandson. It was my family connection to Shane that led me to getting in touch with his grandfather, Pat MARTEL.

Shane’s grandfather Pat told me that his mother’s father was a wealthy White lawyer, however he didn’t reveal his name. I then looked back at the census to see if any DUPRE’s lived near Anais’s daughters and found Laurent DUPRE who was a White lawyer living only two households down from where Laurance and Betina lived in the 1900 census.

1900 Census of Lawyer Laurent DUPRE, Betina and Laurance

Without doubt I knew this had to be the girls’ father since “Laurance” is a feminine version of the masculine name “Laurent” just as in English with the names Laura and Lawrence. Perhaps she was named after her father? Esquire Laurent DUPRE didn’t die until 1905 which corresponds with the priest omitting the father’s name in the records for illegitimate children if the father were White or living. In the case of Laurence and Betina, their father was still alive at the time of their marriages.

The fact that none of Betina or Laurance DUPRE’s descendants knew anything about their parents shows how important it is for me to connect and share this information with the families. Since I first discovered Betina’s and Laurance’s families I have been in touch with them. I was even invited to the double wedding of Cassandra and Cretelia, first cousins and descendants of the DUPRE family.

Double Wedding Party of Cassandra and Cretelia

After finding the marriages of Anais’s daughters, I traced their families in the census. By the 1920 census both of their families had moved to Houston’s Third Ward community. Instead of Laurance and her family listed as DESMARAIS they then went by DEMARIS.