APPENDICES

Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s

BABINEAUX

[BAH-beh-noh, BAB-eh-noh]

ACADIA

Nicolas Babineau dit Des Lauriers, born in France in c1653, came to Acadia probably as a soldier.  At one time or other he was a fur trader or a fisherman.  He married Marguerite, daughter of Laurent Granger, in c1687 probably at Port-Royal.  Nicolas and Marguerite were counted at Pentagouët, present-day Maine, in 1693, but they returned to Port-Royal by July 1701, when Nicolas purchased from Martin Bourg a homestead on the north side of Rivière-du-Dauphin, now the Annapolis River, not far below the village.  A map of the Annapolis River Basin dated 1707 shows Nicolas's homestead lying at the head of a large marsh at a place called Les Coriers, between the homesteads of Bernard and Abraham Bourg and not far from the homes of his brothers-in-law Claude and René Granger and his mother-in-law, the widow Laurent Granger.  

Meanwhile, Jean Babineau, probably Nicolas's younger brother, born in France in c1660, married Marguerite, daughter of colonial leader Michel Boudrot, at Port-Royal in c1691.  Jean, too, must have been considered a leader of the community.  In December 1705, he was one of the men "who assessed the properties expropriated for the extension of the fort at Port-Royal."  He and Marguerite had two daughters, who married into the Landry and Melanson families, but no sons, so the Babineaus of Acadia are descended from Nicolas dit Des Lauriers and Marguerite Granger, not from Jean and Marguerite Boudrot.   

Nicolas and Marguerite had six children.  Most of their four sons, all born at Port-Royal, remained in the Port-Royal area and raised large families.  Their youngest son settled in the Minas Basin before moving on to Petitcoudiac in present-day southeastern New Brunswick.  Their two daughters married into the Savoie and Forest families.  

Oldest son René dit Renaud dit Des Lauriers married Marie-Madeleine, daughter of Germain Savoie, at Port-Royal in April 1711.  They had 11 children, including three sons who married into the Darois, Comeau, Bourg, and Michel families.  Their daughters married into the Egan, Doucet, Comeau, Lanphere, Dumas, and Chane dit Ladéroute families.  

Clément married Renée dite Renoche, daughter of Bernard Bourg, at Port-Royal in January 1717.  Their two sons married into the Bourg, Doucet, and Guilbeau families.  

Joseph dit Des Lauriers, born in c1700, married Marguerite, daughter of Claude Dugas, at Port-Royal in November 1723.  Their son married into the Darois family.  Two of their daughters married into the Comeau family.  

Youngest son Jean-Pierre dit Des Lauriers, born in February 1709, married Isabelle, daughter of Pierre Breau of Minas, in c1730 and settled at Rivière-aux-Canards in the Minas Basin before moving on to Terre-Rouge on the upper Petitcoudiac River, now Moncton, New Brunswick, in the early 1750s.  Like his older brothers, Jean-Pierre raised a large family, including four sons who married into the Richard, Belliveau, Bastarache, Léger, Girouard, and Gautrot families.  His daughters married into the Maillet, Thibodeau, Richard, and Suret families.  

In 1755, descendants of Nicolas Babineau dit Des Lauriers could be found at Port-Royal, which the British called Annapolis Royal, and at Petitcoudiac. 

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Le Grand Dérangement of the 1850s scattered this large family to the winds:  

At least one family of Babineaus at Port-Royal was rounded up in late autumn of 1755 and deported to New England, but most of them eluded deportation by escaping to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore and moving north into Canada.  The Babineaus at Petitcoudiac escaped deportation  in 1755 by retreating to Cocagne, farther up the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast.  One family continued on to the St. Lawrence valley, where they joined their cousins at Bécancour, Pointe-du-Lac, St.-Grégoire, and Nicolet, near Trois-Rivières, on the river above Québec City.  Another family returned to the Petitcoudiac, where they were rounded up by the British in the early 1760s after the fall of Québec and Montréal.  Some of them were being held prisoner at Fort Cumberland, formerly Fort Beauséjour, at the end of the French and Indian War.  Some were still at Halifax in the late 1760s.  Others returned to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore, where they settled at Bouctouche, Richibouctou, and St.-Louis-de-Kent, and as far north as Carleton, Québec, on the north side of the Baie des Chaleurs.  Typical of most, if not all, Acadian families, these Acadiennes of Canada lost touch with their Cadien cousins hundreds of miles away, and until the Acadian reunions of the mid-twentieth century, they may even have forgotten the others existed. 

The Babineaus sent to New England included two sisters, Marie-Marguerite, called Marguerite, and Madeleine, daughters of Joseph Babineau dit Des Lauriers of Port-Royal.  The sisters used the surname Des Lauriers, not Babineau.  Marguerite married Charles, son of Alexandre Comeau of Port-Royal, probably in Connecticut in c1758.  They were among the refugees from Connecticut who went to St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, in the early 1760s.  Their marriage was blessed at La Mirebalais, Haiti, in September 1764.  Their children Joseph, age 5, and Anne, age 2, were baptized at La Mirebalais that same month.  Joseph died on the day of his baptism.  Their son Pierre, perhaps Joseph's twin, died at age 5 in October.  A year later, Charles and Marguerite had a second Joseph, born at La Mirebalais in November 1766.  

~

The only Babineau nuclear family to emigrate to Louisiana was that of Louis-Charles, called Charles, son of Clément.  Born at Port-Royal in c1723, Charles married Marguerite, daughter of René Doucet and Marie Broussard, at Port-Royal in c1745, and lost her either before or during Le Grand Dérangement.  According to Acadian genealogist Bona Arsenault, Charles and Marguerite had four children, all born at Port-Royal--Jean-Baptiste, born in c1745, Marie-Josèphe in c1746, Charles, fils in c1749, and Marguerite in c1753.  Charles and his family escaped the British roundup at Port-Royal in 1755, spent a terrible winter on the Fundy shore, crossed the bay the following spring, and escaped to the Gulf of St. Lawrence shore.  By the end of the decade, Charles was at Restigouche, at the head of the Baie des Chaleurs, where he remarried to Anne, daughter of Joseph Guilbeau dit L'Officier of Port-Royal, in February 1760.  British forces captured Charles and Anne with dozens of other Acadians at Restigouche in the summer of 1760, and they ended up as prisoners in Nova Scotia during the last years of the French and Indian War.  Their first son, Charles-Dominique, was born at Fort Edward, formerly the Acadian settlement of Pigiguit, in c1761.  British authorities counted Charles and Anne at Halifax in August 1763; only one child was with them, probably Charles-Dominique, so Charles's children by his first wife either had died during Le Grand Dérangement or had gone off on their own.  (In 1763, his children by Marguerite would have been 18, 17, 14, and 10, so the younger ones, at least, likely had perished on the long, hard road from Port-Royal to Halifax.)

Now that the war finally had ended, Charles and Anne had a serious dilemma on their hands.  The Treaty of Paris of February 1763 stipulated in its Article 14 that persons dispersed by the war had 18 months to return to their respective territories.  In the case of the Acadians, however, this meant that they could return only to French soil.  Where the Babineaus and Guilbeaus had lived in Acadia was no longer French territory.  British authorities refused to allow any of the Acadian prisoners in the region to return to their former lands as proprietors.  If Acadians chose to remain in Nova Scotia, they could live only in the interior of the peninsula in small family groups and work for low wages on former Acadian lands now owned by New England "planters."  If they stayed, they must also take the hated oath of allegiance to the new British king, George III, without reservation.  They would also have to take the hated oath if they joined their cousins in the St. Lawrence valley.  After all that they had suffered on the question of the oath, no self-respecting Acadian would consent to take it if it could be avoided.   Some Halifax exiles chose to relocate to Miquelon, a French island off the southern coast of Newfoundland.  Others considered going to French St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, where Acadian exiles in the British colonies already had gone, or to the Illinois country, the west bank of which still belonged to France, or to French Louisiana, which, thanks to British control of Canada, was the only route possible to the Illinois country for Acadian exiles.  Whatever their choice, they would not remain in old Acadia.  

Charles and Anne were members of the large extended family led by Acadian resistance leaders Joseph and Alexandre Broussard dit Beausoleil.  Charles's first wife's mother was a Broussard, and his new father-in-law, Joseph Guilbeau dit L'Officier, was an associate of the Broussard brothers.  With the other members of the Broussard party, Charles and Anne gathered up what money they could and prepared to leave their homeland.   

LOUISIANA:  WESTERN SETTLEMENTS

Babineaus from Port-Royal were among the earliest Acadians to find refuge in Louisiana:

Louis-Charles, called Charles, Babineau, age 42, his wife Anne Guilbeau, age 30, and their two sons, Charles-Dominique, age 4, and Julien-Joseph, age 1, reached New Orleans in early February 1765 with the party from Halifax via Cap-Français, St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, led by Joseph Broussard dit Beausoleil.  Charles was one of the members of the party who exchanged Canadian card money for Louisiana currency at New Orleans in April.  After a short respite in the city, he and his family followed the Broussard party to the Atakapas District, where they helped create La Nouvelle-Acadie on the banks of Bayou Teche.  

Descendants of Louis-Charles BABINEAUX (c1723-1770s; Nicolas, Clement)

Despite the terrible epidemic that struck down many of the Teche Acadians in the autumn of 1765, Charles and his family remained on the western prairies.  Charles, whom his neighbors called "Grand Louis," died at his farm on the upper Teche in the mid-1770s, in his early 50s, but not before fathering two more daughters and two more sons who also created families of their own.  His older sons settled along Bayou Carencro, at the northern edge of the Atakapas District.  Second son Joseph seems to have become the more prosperous of Charles's older sons.  In 1809, his farm at Carencro had a frontage of 11.5 arpents and was valued at $2,000; he owned 2 slaves.  Older son Dominique, on the other hand, held a frontage of only 5 arpents and a farm valued at $1,000, but he owned 5 slaves.  Charles's younger sons remained near their father's farm at La Pointe, also called Grand Pointe, on the upper Teche near present-day Breaux Bridge.  His daughter married into the Poirier family.  Not until the 1810s did a descendant of "Grand Louis" Babineaux--a granddaughter--marry a non-Acadian.  

1

Oldest son Charles-Dominique, called Dominique, born at Fort Edward, formerly Pigiguit, in c1761, while his parents were being held as prisoners of war, married Marguerite-Blandine, -Blondine or -Claudine, daughter of fellow Acadian Amand Thibodeaux, at Attakapas in February 1783.  Their son Charles-Dominique, fils was born at Attakapas in November 1783, Calas in May 1793, and Alexandre was baptized at the Attakapas church, age 5 months, in May 1795.  Their daughters married into the Benoit, Broussard, Cormier, LeBlanc, Mathias, and Richard families.  Charles-Dominique, père died at his home at Carencro in August 1815; he was only 54 years old.  

1a

Charles-Dominique, fils married Marguerite, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Baptiste Melançon of Carencro, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September 1807.  Their twin sons Arsène and Marcellin were born at Carencro in July 1808 but Marcellin died at age 13 in November 1820, Charles III, called Charles, fils and sometimes Treville, was born in April 1810, Achilles in September 1811, a son, name unrecorded, died 8 days after his birth in July 1813, a son, name unrecorded, died at age 6 weeks in October 1814, Antoine Gerasin or Sarasin was born in August 1816, Onésime in November 1818, Jean Euclide in December 1825, and a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died a day after its birth in April 1830.  Their daughters married into the Benoit and Prejean families.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 8 slaves--5 males and 3 females, all black, ranging in age from 30 to 3--on Charles Babineau's farm in the parish's western district; this was probably Charles Dominique, fils.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 6 slaves--5 males and 1 female, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 47 to 12, 1 of them, a 25-year-old male mulatto, a fugitive at the time--on Charles Babineaux's farm; again, this was probably Charles Dominique, fils.  Charles-Dominique, fils died at Carencro in June 1864; the Vermilionville priest who recorded his burial said that Charles was 83 years old when he died, but he was "only" 80. 

Antoine Sarazin died at Carencro in June 1829 "from falling off a horse."  He was only 14 years old.  

Arsène died at Carencro in October 1829.  The priest who recorded his burial said that Arsene was 19 years old when he died, but he was 21.  He did not marry. 

Charles III married cousin Céleste Louise, daughter of fellow Acadian Louis André Richard, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1835; Céleste's mother was a Babineaux.  Their child, name unrecorded, perhaps a son, died probably at Carencro 9 days after its birth in April 1838, Clairville died at age 3 months in November 1839, Honoré was born in January 1844, Horace in May 1848, Alphonse in September 1851, Joseph Dernas in September 1853, and Joseph Alse in January 1856.  Their daughter married into the Cormier family.  

Onésime married cousin Julienne, daughter of fellow Acadian Augustin Benoit, at the Vermilionville church in October 1836; Julienne's mother was a Babineaux.  Their son Séverin or Sévenne was born at Carencro in September 1837, Arvenne was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 5 months, in August 1839, Joseph Bélisaire was born in November 1843, and Jules Alvigue in May 1845.  Their daughters married into the Breaux, Léger, and Prejean families.  Onésime remarried to Émilie Landry in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in September 1850 and sanctified the marriage at the Grand Coteau church in December 1851.  Their son Joseph Neuville was born at Carencro in May 1856, Paul in February 1860, and André in January 1864.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 6 slaves--2 males and 4 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ages 48 to 6, 1 of them, a 12-year-old mulatto, a fugitive--on Onez Babineaux's farm next to Charles Babineaux's; this was probably Onesime.  

Arvenne, by his first wife, married Idalie, daughter of fellow Acadian André Landry, in a civil ceremony in Lafayette Parish in July 1860, and sanctified the marriage at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in July 1865.  

Sévenne, by his first wife, married Onezia, daughter of Alexis Jacqueneau, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in March 1863 while serving in a cavalry regiment; Onezia's mother was a Savoie.  Their son Martial was born at Carencro in February 1863, and Onésiphore in March 1865, a few months before his father returned from the war.  Sévenne served probably as a conscript in Company B of the 2nd Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, a front-line unit raised in Natchitoches Parish that fought in Louisiana.  

Joseph Bélisaire, by his first wife, married Josette, daughter of French Canadian Louis Roger, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1864; Josette's mother was a Prejean.  Joseph Bélisaire may have been in Confederate service at the time of his marriage.  

Jean Euclide married fellow Acadian Marie Philomène, called Philomène, Broussard in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in May 1860.  Their son Jean Anill was born at Carencro in June 1861.  

In 1860, month not stated, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted a single slave--a 30-year-old black male--on Achile Babineau's farm.  This was Achilles, who would have been 49 years old that year and may never have married.  

1b

Alexandre married Marie Cléonise, called Cléonise, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph dit Joson Dugas, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in May 1821. (In 1819, Grand Coteau had become the closest church to Carencro, which lay south of Grand Coteau, across the bayou, in what soon would become Lafayette Parish.  In 1821, a new church at Vermilionville, south of Carencro, would become the closest church to Carencro, which did not get a church of its own until 1874.)  Their son Edmond was born at Carencro in March 1822, Valmont in August 1823 but died at age 7 weeks the following October, and Wilmont was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 6 months, in June 1835.  Their daughters married into the Benoit, Caruthers, Mouton, and Prejean families.  Alexandre died at Carencro in January 1850; he was 57 years old; his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the following month.  

Edmond married fellow Acadian Uranie Guilbeau at the Grand Coteau church in May 1844.  Their child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died at birth in February 1845, and Alexandre Neuville was born in October 1846.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 3 slaves--a 20-year-old black female, a 5-year-old black male, and a 1-year-old black male--on Edouard Babineau's farm in the parish's western district; this was probably Edmond.  Edmond died at Carencro in June 1854; he was only 32 years old; his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse the day before his death. 

During the War Between the States, Wilmont, living in Calcasieu Parish, served in the first Company A of Daly's/Ragdale's Battalion Texas Cavalry.  

2

Julien-Joseph, called Joseph, born at Halifax in c1764,  married Félicité, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Cormier of Opelousas, probably at Attakapas in c1786.  Their son Joseph, fils, called Joson, was born at Attakapas in October 1787, David le jeune in July 1789, Francois in December 1790, Julien in January 1792, and Jean in September 1810.  Their daughters married into the Benoit and Richard families.  Julien Joseph, or Joseph, père, died at his home at Carencro in June 1827; he was 63 years old; his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse later that month.  

2a

Joson married Céleste, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Comeaux of Carencro, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1809.  Their son Gerard was born at Carencro in August 1813, and a son, name unrecorded, died shortly after his birth in September 1823.  Their daughters married into the Benoit, Cormier, and Hébert families.  In September 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 12 slaves--7 males and 5 females, all black, ranging in age from 60 to 3--on Joseph Babineau's farm in the parish's western district; this was probably Joson.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 15 slaves--6 males and 9 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 50 to 2--on Joseph Babineaux's farm.  Joseph dit Joson died at Carencro in April 1865; the Grand Coteau priest who recorded his burial said that Joson was 79 years old when he died, but he was "only" 77.  Only one of his sons survived to create a family of his own, and he had only daughters, so, except for its blood, Joson's line of the family did not continue.  

Gerard married Eugènie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Bourque, at the Grand Coteau church in May 1831.  Their daughters married into the Caruthers, Forestier, and Prejean families.  

2b

Julien married Marie Christine, called Christine, daughter of fellow Acadian Marin Prejean, at the St. Martinville church in April 1813.  Their son Julien, fils was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, several months old, in July 1819.  Their daughters married into the Benoit, Green, Perry, and Vasseur families.  Julien, père died in November 1852; he was 60 years old; the Vermilionville priest who recorded his burial said Julien was "of Marmento," which means he was living in the Mermentau River valley west of Vermilionville at the edge of the Calcasieu prairie.  His son may not have survived childhood, so this line of the family, except for its blood, may have died with him.  

2c

David le jeune married Marie Éloise, Héloise, or Louise, another daughter of fellow Acadian Marin Prejean, at  the St. Martinville church in December 1816.  Their son Joseph le jeune was born at Carencro in December 1817, Ursin in May 1819, Don Louis, a twin, in August 1821, and Onésime in September 1823 but died at age 11 months in June 1824.  Their daughters married into the Boudreaux, Breaux, and Stelly families.  David le jeune died at Carencro in March 1852; the priest who recorded his burial said that David was 65 years old when he died, but he was "only" 62.  

Ursin married Melasie, daughter of fellow Acadian Pierre Cormier, fils, at the Grand Coteau church in November 1841.  Their son Honoré was born at Carencro in November 1844 but died at age 2 1/2 in September 1847, Placide was born in November 1848, Alcide in February 1850 but died at age 1 1/2 in October 1851, Émile Ursin was born in September 1852, Pierre Clémile, called Clémile, in January 1855 but died at age 7 in August 1862, and a child, perhaps a son, name unrecorded, died a day after its birth in February 1862.  

Don Louis married Emeranthe, daughter of Toussaint Quebedeaux or Thibodeaux, at the Vermilionville church in January 1854.  Their son Joseph Emerant was born at Carencro in December 1857.  

Joseph le jeune married cousin Aurelia, daughter of fellow Acadian Lucien Cormier, at the Vermilionville church in August 1865; Aurelia's mother was a Babineaux; Joseph was 47 years old.  One wonders if this was his first marriage.  

2d

François's son Julien le jeune died probably at Carencro at age 5 in August 1823; the priest who recorded the boy's funeral did not bother to give Julien le jeune's mother's name, so François may not have been married to her.  In October 1850, the federal census taker in Lafayette Parish counted 18 slaves--10 males and 8 females, all black except for 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 50 to 1--on François Babineaux's farm along Bayou Queue de Tortue, a tributary of the Mermentau River west of Vermilionville.  A month later, François lost a nephew, name and age unrecorded, who was probably living with him; the Vermilionville priest who recorded the boy's funeral did not give the parents' names.  François died probably at his home on Bayou Queue de Tortue in October 1854; he was 64 years old; the Vermilionville priest who recorded his burial said nothing of a wife. (François may have cohabitated with Anne Ringuet of Vermilion Parish and fathered a son by her named Joseph Amédée.)  François's succession records were filed at the Vermilionville and Opelousas courthouses the following November and December, so he must have owned property in Lafayette as well as St. Landry Parish. 

Joseph Amédée, called Amédée, Babineaux, son of Anne Ringuet, married Felnire or Zelmire, daughter of German Creole Paul Toups, at the Abbeville church, Vermilion Parish, in October 1855.  (The priest who recorded the marriage did not give the groom's father's name, only the surname Babineaux, but one wonders if it was François Babineaux, late of nearby Bayou Queue de Tortue, who may have simply co-habited with Anne Ringuet.  François had died probably at his home on the bayou the previous October; the priest who had recorded François's burial did not mention a wife, but François had buried a 5-year-old son named Julien back in August 1823; on that occasion, also, the recording priest had not recorded a wife for François Babineaux, but some church records link him with Anne Ringuet.)  Amédée's son Joseph Edgard was born near Abbeville in September 1856, Paul Trasimond in July 1858, and Philemon in St. Martin Parish in March 1864.  

2e

Jean married Hortense, daughter of Anglo American William Perry, at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, in May 1825.  Their son Hippolyte was born at Carencro in May 1826 but died at age 7 in October 1833, and Jean Clairville was born in August 1838.  Their daughters married into the Benoit, Breaux, Cormier, and Gary families.  Jean died by July 1841, when his succession record was filed at the Vermilionville courthouse; he would have been only 31 years old that year.  

3

Théodore, born at Attakapas in c1766, married Julie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Dugas, at Attakapas in May 1788.  Their son Jean-Baptiste was born at La Pointe in April 1789, Isidore or Théodore, fils died 8 days after his birth in October 1790, Maximilien, sometimes called Maxilien, was born in November 1797, Louis Valery, sometimes called Valery or Valière, in January 1803, and Joseph Théodore in January 1808.  Their daughters married into the Breaux and Broussard families.  Théodore died at his home at La Pointe in July 1808; the St. Martinville priest who recorded his burial said that Théodore was 35 years old when he died, but he was in his early 40s; strangely, his succession record was not filed at the St. Martinville courthouse until September 1817.  Nicolas Cormier of La Pointe became Théodore's son Joseph Théodore's tutor when the boy got older; Nicolas became the boy's cousin-in-law when he married a daughter of Théodore's brother David.  

3a

Maximilien married Marie Clémence, called Clémence, daughter of fellow Acadian Paul Breaux, probably in St. Martin Parish in the early 1820s.  Their son Dolsin was born probably at La Pointe in c1823 but died at age 3 in September 1826, Maximilien, fils was born in February 1824, Eugène in November 1825 but died at age 1 1/2 in August 1827, Bélisaire was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 1 1/2 months, in August 1830, Hippolyte was baptized at the Vermilionville church, Lafayette Parish, age 5 months, in January 1838, Louis Desincourt, called Desincourt, was born in August 1839, George in August 1841, and Aurelien in December 1843.  Their daughter married into the Melançon family.  Maximilien died near Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, in November 1848; the priest who recorded his burial said that Maximilien was 56 years old when he died, but he was "only" 51; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following month.  

Hippolyte died by October 1854, when his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse.  He would have been only 17 years old that year and did not marry.  

Desincourt married Louise Célestine, called Célestine, daughter of French Creole Émile Latiolais, at the Breaux Bridge church in May 1860; Louise's mother was a Guidry.  Their son Alcide was born near Breaux Bridge in May 1861.  Desincourt enlisted in Confederate service, was mortally wounded in the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, in April 1862 and died perhaps at his home near Breaux Bridge the following July; he was 22 years old.  His second son Alcée was born posthumously the following September.  

George died in March 1863.  The priest who recorded his burial said that George was 18 years old when he died, but he was 21; he never married.  No George Babineaux appears in Confederate service records, so he probably died at home of natural causes.  

3b

Louis Valery married Marguerite Arthémise, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Theriot, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in June 1825.  Their son Louis Bélisaire, called Bélisaire, was born probably at La Pointe in December 1826, Charles le jeune in March 1829, Jean Senville in May 1831, Joseph Théodore le jeune, sometimes called Théodore, in January 1837, Athanase in May 1839, Maxile Marie in November 1841, Pierre in November 1845, and Damas in December 1849.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 4 slaves--3 males and a female, 3 black and 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 34 to 7--on Valiere Babineau's farm; the was probably Louis Valery.  Louis Valery died in St. Martin Parish in August 1852; he was 49 years old; his succession record was not filed at the St. Martinville courthouse until February 1864. 

Bélisaire married Marie Cléonide, daughter of Charles Vallot, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in September 1851.  Their son Joseph was born in St. Martin Parish in August 1851.  Belisaire remarried to Marcellite Céleste, daughter of Jean Trahan and widow of _____ Matthew, at the Opelousas church, St. Landry Parish, in December 1856.  Their son Louis Mirtile was born near Grand Coteau, St. Landry Parish, in September 1858.  

Joseph Théodore le jeune married Josephine, daughter of fellow Acadian Marcellin Dubois, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in May 1858; Josephine's mother was a Mire.  Their son Joseph Omer was born in St. Martin Parish in March 1860.  Joseph Théodore le jeune's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in February 1864.  A Théodore Babineaux serving in Company A of 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry at Vicksburg, Mississippi, had died there in June 1862, probably of disease, so this may have been him; he would have been only 26 years old.  His daughter Marguerite had been born in March, three months before his death.  

Athanase, serving with the 26th Louisiana Infantry, died of disease at Mississippi Springs, Mississippi, in July 1862.  He was 23 years old and had not married.  

Jean married Louise, daughter of Edouard Galtier, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in April 1864; Louise's mother was a Boudreaux. 

3c

Joseph Théodore married Marie Sylvanie, called Sylvanie, daughter of fellow Acadian Anaclet Broussard, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in October 1828.  Their son Joseph Théodore, fils died at age 2 months at his maternal grandfather's home in November 1829.  Joseph Théodore remarried to Marie Uranie, called Uranie, daughter of fellow Acadian Julien Breaux, at the St. Martinville church in February 1833, and remarried again--his third marriage--to Marie Adeline, Azélie, or Zélie, daughter of Pierre Melançon, at the St. Martinville church in November 1836.  Their son Pierre Oscar, called Oscar, was born in St. Martin Parish in April 1839 but died at age 1 in July 1840, Charles was born in February 1847, Joseph Elmar near Breaux Bridge in January 1850, Casimir in March 1852, and Joseph Aladin in March 1854.  Their daughters married into the Doré and Melançon families.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 1 slave--a 35-year-old black male--on J. T. Babineau's farm; this was probably Joseph Théodore.  Joseph Théodore died in St. Martin Parish in March 1854; he was 46 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following month; youngest son Joseph Aladin was born the day before Joseph Théodore died.  

3d

Jean Baptiste died probably at La Pointe in January 1846; he was 57 years old and evidently never married.  

4

Youngest son David, born at Attakapas in April 1772, married Marie Osite, called Osite, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Melançon, at Attakapas in July 1800.  Their son David, fils was born at La Pointe in June 1801 but died at age 2 1/2 in October 1803, Joseph David was born in March 1804, Jean Baptiste in February 1806, and Louis in February 1810.  Their daughters married into the Cormier, Guilbeau, and Theriot families.  David, père died at his home at La Pointe in January 1828; he was 55 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse later that month. 

4a

Joseph David married Rosalie Manuel, daughter of Spanish Creole François Segura of Lake Tasse, now Spanish Lake, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in November 1822.  Their son, name unrecorded, died at his home at La Pointe 4 days after his birth in January 1824, and Joseph, fils was born in January 1844.  Their daughters married into the Bayard, Dautreuil, and Viand families.  In November 1850, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 48 slaves--20 males and 28 females, all black except for 1 mulatto, ranging in age from 60 to 1--on Joseph Babineau's plantation; this was probably Joseph David.  In June 1860, the federal census taker in St. Martin Parish counted 37 slaves--16 males and 21 females, 26 blacks and 11 mulattoes, ranging in age from 69 years to 4 months, living in 9 houses--on J. D. Babineaux's plantation; this was Joseph David.  Joseph David died in St. Martin Parish in December 1865; he was 61 years old.  His surviving son does not seem to have created a family of his own, so this line of the family, except for its blood, died with him.  

4b

Jean Baptiste married Eugènie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean Charles Guilbeau, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in June 1830.  Their son Désiré was born in St. Martin Parish in July 1831, Joseph in March 1833 but died at age 2 1/2 in September 1835, Charles was born in September 1835, and David le jeune posthumously in August 1837 but died at age 5 in July 1842.  Jean Baptiste died in St. Martin Parish in June 1837; he was only 31 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse later that month.  

Désiré married Marguerite Uranie, called Uranie, daughter of fellow Acadian Michel Onésime Cormier, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in January 1850.  Their son Jean Baptiste le jeune was born near Breaux Bridge in November 1850 but died at age 9 months the following August, Césaire was born in October 1854, and Michel in July 1862.  Désiré died in St. Martin Parish in November 1862; he was only 31 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse later that month. 

Charles married cousin Élise, daughter of fellow Acadian Charles Theriot, at the St. Martinville church, St. Martin Parish, in December 1857; Élise's mother was a Babineaux.  Charles's succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse in November 1862, so he, too, may have died by then.  A Charles V. Babineaux serving in Company A of the 26th Louisiana Regiment Infantry at Vicksburg, Mississippi, died there in December 1862, probably of disease, so this may have been him; he would have been only 27 years old.  

4c

Louis, also called Don Louis, married Carmelite Olivier, daughter of Olivier Blanchet, at the New Iberia church, then in St. Martin but now in Iberia Parish, in February 1843; Carmelite's mother was a Boudreaux.  Louis died in St. Martin Parish in August 1844; he was only 34 years old; his succession record was filed at the St. Martinville courthouse the following November.  His line of the family probably died with him.  

Other BABINEAUXs on the Western Prairies

Area church and civil records make it difficult to link some Babineauxs in the western parishes with known lines of the family there:

Severin Babineaux married Marcellite Babineaux.  Their son, unnamed, died at birth probably at Carencro in August 1842.  

Simonet Babineaux died near Charenton, St. Mary Parish, in January 1852.  He was 50 years old.  The priest who recorded his burial did not bother to give his parents' names or mention a wife.  

Edmond Babineaux died in St. Martin Parish at age 3 in May 1852.  The St. Martinville priest who recorded his burial did not bother to give the boy's parents' names.  

Louis Oscar, son of Marie Babineaux, was baptized at the Vermilionville church, age 2, in October 1854.  The priest who recorded the boy's baptism did not bother to give the father's name.  

Charles Babineaux married Marguerite Sonnier.  Their son Émilien was born in Lafayette Parish in September 1855.  

Émilien Babineaux married Élise Landry.  Their unnamed child died in Lafayette Parish during birth in June 1856.  The Vermilionville priest who recorded the newborn's burial did not bother to give the mother's name or the father's parents' names.  Mrs. Émilien Babineaux died in Lafayette Parish, age 20, in January 1861; the Vermilionville priest did not bother to give her name, but it probably was Élise Landry, who would have been only 15 years old in 1856!  

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Two Babineau sisters, Madeleine and Marie-Marguerite, called Marguerite, daughters of Joseph Babineau dit Des Lauriers of Port-Royal, who used the surname Des Lauriers and not Babineau, came to Louisiana directly from Haiti in the late 1760s.  They would have been Louis-Charles Babineaux's first cousins.  Marguerite came to Louisiana with husband Charles, son of Alexandre Comeau of Port-Royal, whom she had married probably in Connecticut a decade before, and their young daughter Anne.  Sister Madeleine probably came with them.  Spanish officials counted Madeleine at New Orleans in July 1767 and noted that she was among those Acadians who had "received their food supplies for the month...."   Madeleine married widower and fellow Acadian Joseph Comeau at Cabanocé/St.-Jacques in January 1768.  Marguerite and her family were living on the left, or east, bank of the river at St.-Jacques in 1777.  

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

The great majority of the Babineauxs in South Louisiana are Acadian, but at least one non-Acadian with a similar surname lived on the river.  Babineaux family slaves also took the surname of their masters before and after the War Between the States:

Anne Élisabeth, daughter of André Babino and Anne-Élisabeth Guenve of Nantes, France, married Jean, son of Georges Ilon of Montmarte, Paris, France, at the Baton Rouge church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in January 1825.  

Betsy Babineaux, slave of "M. Amide" Babineaux, died in St. Martin Parish in August 1847.  The St. Martinville priest who recorded her burial did not give her parents' names or her age at the time of her death.  

Arsène Babineaux, a "freedwoman," married Abraham Isaac Fitz in a civil ceremony in St. Landry Parish in December 1865.  

CONCLUSION

Only one Acadian Babineau family was established in Louisiana.  Charles "Grand Louis" Babineau and his second wife brought two young sons with them and had two more sons in Louisiana not long after they settled on upper Bayou Teche.  From these four sons sprang the Babineaux clan of southwest Louisiana, who, like their kinsmen the Cormiers, remained largely where they first settled in the 1760s.  None of "Grand Louis's" sons, grandsons, or even great-grandsons moved to the river parishes or to the Bayou Lafourche valley before the War Between the States.  Every one of them remained west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  (The only Acadian Babineauxs on the river, in fact, were two sisters who preferred the surname Des Lauriers, not Babineau.  They came to Louisiana in the late 1760s directly from Haiti, and both married Comeaus.)  During the antebellum period, some of "Grand Louis's" descendants fanned out into the nearby prairies, one of them moving to Bayou Plaquemine Brûlé and on to the Mermentau River valley before drifting even farther west into the Calcasieu country.  Another lived along Bayou Queue de Tortue, on the prairie south of Rayne, at the southwestern edge of the old Atakapas District.  Others moved up and down the Teche from their ancestor's homestead at La Pointe as far north as Arnaudville and as far south as New Iberia.  

Judging by the number of slaves held by Babineauxs during the late antebellum period, some of them lived comfortably on their farms and vacheries on the western parishes.  Joseph David, son of David Babineaux, owned 48 slaves on his plantation along the upper Teche in 1850; 10 years later he still held 37 slaves.  His St. Martin Parish cousins, descendants of Théodore Babineaux, owned only a hand full of slaves in 1850 and do not appear on the 1860 federal slaves schedules.  Some of the Babineaux cousins in Lafayette Parish also held slaves, though none of them owned as many as Joseph David.  In 1850, Francois, son of Joseph, père, held 18 slaves on his farm along Bayou Queue de Tortue on the western edge of the parish.  Older brother Joseph, fils at Carencro held 12 slaves in 1850 and 15 in 1860.  Cousin Charles at Carencro owned 8 slaves in 1850, and Charles's nephew Edmond held 3 slaves at Carencro that year.  Charles owned only 6 slaves in 1860.  His son Onésime, whose farm was next to his, also held 6 slaves in 1860, and Charles's older son Achilles owned a single slave on his farm in St. Landry Parish on the eve of the War Between the States.  The majority of the Babineauxs who owned slaves, however, owned fewer than the 20 needed to qualify as planters.  And many members of the family held no slaves at all on their vacharies and farms.

At least 17 Babineauxs served Louisiana and Texas in uniform during the War Between the States.  And the war took the lives of at least four members of the family, three of them in the same company.  In March 1862, cousins Athanase, Belisaire, Charles V., Émilien, and Théodore Babineaux enlisted in Company A of the 26th Louisiana Regiment Infantry--the "Lafayette Prairie Boys''--at Vermilionville.  After the fall of New Orleans in April, Confederate authorities sent the 26th Louisiana to Mississippi.  Théodore was the first of the Babineaux cousins to die.  He fell ill and died at Masonic Hall, Vicksburg, in June.  The next month, cousin Athanase died probably of disease at Mississippi Springs.  Charles V. died at Vicksburg the following December.  Only Bélisaire and Émilien were still alive when the regiment fought at Chickasaw Bluffs in late December and in the Siege of Vicksburg the following spring and summer.  They surrendered at Vicksburg with the remnants of the regiment on 3 July 1863, returned home as parolees, reported to a parole camp at Alexandria, Louisiana, in early summer 1864, were exchanged the following August, and returned home from the war in late spring of 1865.  Another Babineaux cousin died in Confederate service, but not from disease.  In late winter of 1862, Louis Desincourt, called Desincourt, joined the "DeClouet Guards," an elite militia company raised in St. Martin Parish that became Company D of the Orleans Guard Battalion Louisiana Infantry.  The battalion mustered into Confederate service for 90 days in early March 1862.  Confederate authorities sent it to Corinth, Mississippi, to reinforce the command of Louisiana native General P. G. T. Beauregard.  The Orleans Battalion fought in the first truly bloody battle of the war, at Shiloh, Tennessee, in early April 1862.  On the first day of battle, the Orleans Guard lost heavily in the massive Confederate assault against Federal General Ulysses S. Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing.  The Guard's blue militia uniforms proved to be especially troublesome; their fellow Confederates fired on them in the confusion of battle.  When the battalion's loses were tallied after the second day of fighting, it had lost a frightful 17 killed, 55 wounded, and 18 missing.  Among the wounded was Desincourt Babineaux, who may have been sent home to recuperate.  Desincourt's wound proved mortal; he died in late July 1862, only 22 years old.  A dozen other Babineauxs served the Southern Confederacy in uniform, most of them honorably.  One Louisiana Babineaux even served in a Texas cavalry unit.  When the war began, Wilmont, son of Alexandre Babineaux of Carencro, was living in Calcasieu Parish, west of the Mermentau River.  As a War Between the States historian notes:  "On several occasions during 1863 and 1864, Texas Confederate troops moved into southwestern Louisiana. These soldiers entered the state to collect supplies or to assist in protecting the area from Union invasion. While performing these tasks, the Texans took advantage of their situation to recruit local men into their military units. One unit that enlisted a sizeable number of Louisianians was Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Daly’s Texas Cavalry Battalion (later commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Ragsdale). Some of the Louisianians had served previously in units from their own state, while others were enlisting for the first time."  Wilmont Babineaux joined Company A of Daly's Battalion.  

During the war, Federal armies marched three times through the Teche and upper Vermilion valleys, including the Bayou Carencro area, and burned and pillaged many farms and plantations, some of them no doubt owned by Babineauxs.  Thanks to these Federal incursions, emancipation came early to the area, with its resulting economic and social turmoil.  Confederate foraging parties and cutthroat Jayhawkers also plagued the area where Babineauxs lived, adding to the family's misery.  

After the war, seeking new opportunities in a free-labor Southern economy, especially as part of the Louisiana rice and petroleum industries, a few more Babineauxs moved west into the southwestern prairies, especially to the burgeoning city of Lake Charles, and, in the early twentieth century, on into east Texas.  A few moved east to Baton Rouge or southeast to New Orleans, where they helped to add an Acadian flare to that unique urban culture.  After World War II, as a result of military service and job opportunities in a material economy that Cajuns inevitably embraced, Babineauxs became part of a new Acadian Diaspora and moved to every corner of the United States.  According to a recent study of Louisiana families with French and Spanish surnames, however, most of them remained where their immigrant ancestors had settled, in St. Martin, Iberia, and especially Lafayette Parish, the heart of Acadiana.   One of the most prominent Cajuns of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries came from the Teche valley branch of the family.  Former Louisiana governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of New Iberia is a direct descendant of "Grand Louis" of La Pointe (and, thus, one of the author's distant cousins). 

The family's name also is spelled Babinau, Babineau, Babinos, Babinot, Bobino.  

Sources:  1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Martin parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Lafayette Parish; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette, St. Landry, & St. Martin parishes; Arsenault, Généalogie, 395-401, 1654, 2413-14; Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr. to the author, February 1997; BRDR, vols. 2, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 1-B, 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; Historical Atlas of Canada, 1: plate 29; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 23-24, 150; White, CEA; White, DGFA-1, 65-69; White, DGFA-1 English, 14-15. 

Settlement Abbreviations 
(present-day parishes that existed during the War Between the States in parenthesis; hyperlinks on the abbreviations take you to brief histories of each settlement):

For a chronology of Acadian Arrivals in Louisiana, 1764-early 1800s, see Appendix.

The hyperlink attached to an individual's name is connected to a list of Acadian immigrants for a particular settlement and provides a different perspective on the refugee's place in family and community. 

NOTES

01.  Wall of Names, 10, calls him Dominique BABINEAU; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A: 29, 752 (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.3, #71), his marriage contract record, calls him Dominique BABINEAUX, "native of Pissiqui, Territory of Acadie," calls his wife Marguerite-Blandine THIBODEAU, dates their marriage contract 18 Feb 1783, gives his & her parents' names, says his father was deceased at the time of the wedding, & that the witnesses to his marriage contract were Joseph BABINO [his brother], ____ DECLOUET, fils, Philippe WISSE, Joseph BABIN, Antoine PATIN, Joseph BOURQUE, Amant THIBODEAUX [his father-in-law], & Louis Armand DUCREST; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A: 28, 752 (SM Ch.: v.2, #97), his marriage record, calls him Charles-Dominique BABINEAU, calls his wife Marguerite-Claudine THIBAUDAU, calls him a minor son & her a minor daughter, dates their marriage on 24 Feb 1783, gives his & her parents' names, but gives no witnesses to his marriage; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-A:31 (SM Ch.: v.4, #976), his death/burial record, calls him Dominique BABINEAUX, gives his parents' names, says he died "at age 54 years at his home at Carencros," that he was buried "in the parish cemetery," & was signed by Aman DUGAT.  See also De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 14; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 280; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 33; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 23, 150.

"Pissiqui" was Pigiguit, one of the Minas Basin settlements & the site of British Fort Edward, where his family was held as prisoners of war in the early 1760s. 

Carencro did not have a church--St. Peter--until 1874, so Dominique may have been buried at the St. Martin de Tours cemetery at the Attakapas Post, now St. Martinville, unless there was a "parish cemetery" at Carencro.  

02.  Wall of Names, 10, calls him Joseph BABINEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2413, calls him Julien-Joseph & Joseph BABINEAUX, & says he was born c1762, but the Atakapas censuses of 1771 & 1777 indicate that he was born a few years later.  See De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 14; De Ville, Southwest LA Families, 1777, 33.  Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 2-C:25-26, his death/burial record, calls him Joseph BABINEAUX, spouse of "de feu Dame Felix [the dec. Mrs. Félice] CORMIER."  See also Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 280; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 23, 150.

03.  Wall of Names, 10, calls him Charles BABINEAU; Arsenault, Généalogie, 2413, calls him Louis-Charles BABINEAUX, & says he was born in 1723 at Port-Royal; West, Atlas of LA Surnames, 150, says that "widow Grand Louis"  registered a cattle brand in 1772 & that in 1774 she possessed 33 cattle, 10 horses, & 40 hogs.  See also Jehn, Acadian Exiles in the Colonies, 251; See also <thecajuns.com/cardmoney.htm>; De Ville, Attakapas Post Census, 1771, 14; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 280.  

How could Anne GUILBEAU have been a widow in 1772, when she registered a cattle brand, if her daughter Anne by Charles BABINEAUX was born in October 1774?  See Anne's baptismal record, dated Nov 1774, in Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:28 (SM Ch.: v.1, p.42; SM Ch.: Folio B-1).  

04.  Wall of Names, 10, calls her Madeleine BABINEAU dit des Lauriers, & lists her with sister Marie-Marguerite; See also Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 427.  

Did she come to LA directly from St.-Domingue with her sister & her sister's husband?  My guess is ... yes, she did. 

Like her sister, she used the surname DES LAURIERS or DES LAUVIERS, not BABINEAUX.

05.  Wall of Names, 10, calls her Marie-Marguerite BABINEAU dit des Lauriers, & list her with sister Madeleine; White, DGFA-1, 382, profile of first husband Charles COMEAU's family, calls her Marguerite BABINEAU dit Des Lauriers & details their marriage, including their sojourn in Haiti; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians, 424, the record of her second marriage, calls her Marie BABINOS; Bourgeois, Cabanocey, 171, the same record, erroneously calls her Marie BABIN.  See also De Ville, St. James Census, 1777, 15.  

Their being in CN in 1763 hints that they were among the Acadians in that colony who went to Haiti in the early 1760s, so they probably were among those few Acadian families who immigrated to LA directly from Haiti, not from Haiti via Halifax like the 1765 arrivals.  

Did she come to LA with her sister or with her first husband?  Probably the latter.  

Like her sister, she used the surname DES LAURIERS or DES LAUVIERS, not BABINEAUX.

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