Discovering the identities of Dr. A. O. GUIDRY’s enslaved people of color

 

Estate Sale of Julie POTIER (wife of Onezime GUIDRY)

Source: POTIER, Julie  m. Onezime GUIDRY   Succ. dated 21 April 1858 (Opel. Ct. Hse. Succ. #2148)

Plantation Location: Grand Coteau, Louisiana

Esclaves:

SANDY (Negro) 48 (1810) at $700.

Notes: It is a possibility that Sandy is Sandy REUBEN. I say this because Becca’s children, a slave that’s listed on this plantation intermarried into the RUBIT family. I found a death certificate of a man named Sandy REUBEN who died in Carencro, the same area that Onesime GUIDRY’s plantation was located. Sandy died on 1868 according to his succession: REUBIN, Sandy  fd m.  Succ. dated 9 Nov. 1868 (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #3219). Based around the time of his passing, he may was killed during the Opelousas Massacre, a tragic event that killed many newly freed slaves who attempted to vote for the first time as U.S. citizens.

DICK (Negro) 42 (1816) at $1200.

GABRIEL (Griffe) 32 (1826) at $1400.

BILL or WILLIAM (Negro) 35 (1823) at $1200.

ALBERT (Negro) 17 (1841) at $1000.

FRANK (Negro) 13 (1845) at $750.

Notes: I have identified Frank as Frank REUBIN. I was able to identify him from his Catholic marriage to Louise GUIDRY: REUBIN, FRANK (Sam REUBIN & Henriette) m. 17 Feb. 1870 Louse GUIDRY (Virginie) (GC Ch.:v.4,p.88)

BECKY (Negro) 32 (1826) with her 5 (1853) children SAM 9 (1847) ALCIDE 7(1851) ARTHUR 5 (1853) and ALFRED 3 (1855) and EDGAR at 1 (1857) appraised at $3500.

Notes: I have identified this family as Becca GRANDBERRY and her children she had for Jean FOCRET of France who lived next door to Dr. O.A. GUIDRY. In May of 2015, my wife and I met with Kerri JEAN and her family, descendants of Alfred JEAN, who lived in the old Pair Orchid community of Beaumont, Texas, a place where many fleeing Louisiana Creoles migrated during the early 1920s. Kerri and I had been Facebook friends for a while before we would actually run into each other in person and decided to set up a family meeting to share and exchange information.

Me meeting with the JEAN’s

Through her maternal side, we discovered that we were related through the STEVENS, JOUBERTS, LAVIGNES and FONTENOTs. On her paternal side, I traced their ancestry back to Alfred JEAN, a relative their family didn’t know much about. That would change after a courthouse trip to Opelousas on 7 Jul 2016. There I was searching for slaves who belonged to Dr. O.A. GUIDRY and wives and located Becca and her children. Based on the names and ages, I knew they were the ones who I located in the 1880 census living in the same households or as neighbors not far from Dr. GUIDRY’s estate.  I later discovered the death certificate of Alfred JEAN that listed his parents as Contha JEAN and Rebecka JEAN which further confirmed my claim.  I then began to locate the Catholic Church and courthouse marriages of Alfred JEAN’s siblings to see who they listed as their parents or to see who were witnesses. When his sister Modeste was married to Hypolite ROBIT at the Opelousas courthouse, Arthur JEAN, her brother, was one of the witnesses: ROBIT, Polite m. 9 Feb. 1886 Modeste JEANS (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. # 13926). Modeste’s Catholic marriage entry to Hypolite listed her parents as Bertrand JEAN and Rebecca GRANDBURRY: Modeste (Bertrand & Rebecca GRANDBURY) m. 17 May 1898 Hypolite  ROUBIT (GC Ch.: Blk. Reg.: v.4, p.364). Here is BECKY’s daughter Clementine Church and courthouse marriage entry: GUILBEAUX, Auguste  m. 13 Jan. 1876 Clementine JONES (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #8521) JEAN, Clementine (Jean & Rebecca) m. 27. Jan 1876 Auguste GUILBEAUX (GC Ch.:v.4,p.2940) This time the father was listed as JEAN. Was the father of her children JEAN JEAN? A slave? But if so why they were listed as Mulattoes in a few census records? From Modeste’s Catholic marriage, I now have gained a surname for BECKY. Since I never ran across the surname GRANDBURRY, I searched the census and Catholic records and found a John GRANBERRY who was a Doctor from Pennsylvania. It is a possibility that BECKY was somehow connected to this gentleman, perhaps being formerly enslaved on his plantation. A.O. GUIDRY was also a medical doctor so it would make since if they’ve done business as well.

Since records confirmed BECKY as the mother of JEAN’s, I still had to figure out the father of her children. I once suspected that they were connected to the JEAN family who lived in Lawtell, Louisiana, an area where many of the GUIDRY’s lived, however in the 1900 census, a few of BECKY’s children indicated that their father was born in France. I then ruled this theory our because the JEAN’s were descendants of freed West Africans.

1900 census households of Alcide, Alfred and Edgar JEAN

I then began to search the census and located Dr. Guidry in the 1870 census living in the Grand Coteau, Louisiana. His estate was valued at $3000 and his personal assets was valued at $1000, a large sum of money during this time. Statistics of my research shows that people who had this much value during the 1870 census most likely owned slaves during the antebellum period. There was a man named Jean FOCARE of France aged about 63 (1807) who was living in Dr. GUIDRY’s household. Without doubt I knew this had to be the father of BECKY’s children. This would ultimately explain why BECKY’s sons Alcide JEAN, Alfred JEAN and Edgar JEAN all listed their father being born in France in the 1900 census. Instead of taking their father’s legitimate surname, they took his forename but of course I didn’t have full proof so I continued searching for answers, or at least validation.

1870 census household of Dr. A.O. GUIDRY

It was sheer luck that I would locate the Catholic marriage entry of BECKY’s son Alcide in the supplemental volume of Father HEBERT’s Catholic records that listed him as a FORCRET: FOCRET, Alcide J. (Rebecca) m. 20 Feb. 1871 Divine MAFFY (GC Ch.:v.4,p.97). I’m not sure when Jean FOCRET came over to Louisiana but based on the age of BECKY’s oldest child, meant he had to have been in Louisiana before the 1850s. As I searched the census, in the 1850 census he was living next door to Dr. GUIDRY’s plantation. This now explains how he was able to have relations with Dr. GUIDRY’s slave BECKY. Considering he was the only FOCRET of France in the area who lived next door to Dr. GUIDRY in the 1860 census, in Maury’s voice “Mr. FOCRET, you are the Father”.

1860 Census household of Dr. A.O GUIDRY and Jean FOCRET

With the records confirming Jean FOCRET as the father of BECKY’s sons shows how some families are going by surnames that aren’t very telling of their ancestral ties. All of Jean FOCRET’s children went by JEAN’s. Had it not been for his son Alcide to be listed as a FOCRET in his Catholic marriage the I probably would have only been drifting off a theory. This only expresses the difficulty in connecting people of color to their ancestors. I’m not sure when Jean arrived in Louisiana but according to a land purchase dated 11 Jul 1839, between him and others buying land in Grand Coteau meant he was here prior. His name surname spelled FOCRET on that land sale is spelled same way the priest listed his natural son Alcide as.

Raphael J. SMITH to Jean FOCRET and others

11 Jul 1839

Clementine JEAN

JEAN’s photo collection