APPENDICES

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

CROCHET

[CROW-shay]

ACADIA

Yves, son of Guillaume Crochet and Julienne Durand, was born at Megrit in today's Côtes-du-Nord area of Brittany, France, in September 1732.  Either a soldier or a sailor, he settled at Louisbourg, the great French fortress on Île Royale, today's Cape Breton Island, in the 1750s.  In February 1758, he married Pélagie, daughter of Acadians Claude Benoit and Élisabeth Thériot, at Louisbourg.  

LE GRAND DÉRANGEMENT

Later in the year of their marriage, after the fall of Louisbourg in July 1758, the victorious British rounded up most of the Acadians on Île Royale and deported them to France.  Yves Crochet and his new wife, Pélagie Benoit, survived the terrible crossing to France.  They landed at Rochefort in early 1759 then sailed around to St.-Malo, which they reached at the beginning of October.  From St.-Malo, they made the short trip to Yves's hometown area in northern Brittany, where eight children were born to them:  Jean-Guillaume at Quesny in September 1760, Francois-Louis in December 1761, Jean-Joseph or Yves-Joseph at St.-Servan in March 1763 but died at age 11 days, Francoise-Pélagie was born at St.-Servan in May 1764, Marguerite-Périnne at Quesny in May 1766, Yves-Jean in December 1767, Julien in March 1770, and Pélagie in February 1772.  Yves died at Quesny in November 1773 and was buried at nearby Megrit, where he was born; he was only 41 years old. 

Soon after Yves died, Pélagie and their children were among the Acadians who attempted to settle on noble lands in the Poitou region at what the Acadians called La Leigne-les-bois.  Pélagie was pregnant when she left Quesny for Poitou.  Her ninth and final child, son Jean-Marin Crochet, was born posthumously in early May 1774, six months after her husband died, and was baptized at Châtellerault, near Leigne-les-bois.  Youngest daughter Pélagie, only two years old, died a few weeks after her brother was born.  When the Poitou venture failed in late 1775, Pélagie and most of her children, along with her recently married sister, Marguerite Benoit, retreated with dozens of other Acadians to the port city of Nantes, where they subsisted on government hand outs as best they could.  

Pélagie's oldest son,  Jean-Guillaume Crochet, who would have been 15 in 1775, was not on the convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes with the rest of the family.  He had become a sailor and probably was at sea.  Daughter Marguerite, who would have been only 9 in 1775, also was not on the convoy list, for what reason is anyone's guess.  

In the early 1780s, the Spanish government offered the Acadians in France the chance for a new life in faraway Louisiana.  Pélagie and her children agreed to take it.  Youngest son Jean-Marin, born in Poitou in May 1774, evidently died at Nantes sometime between September 1784, when he was counted with his family at Nantes, and August 1785, age 10 or 11, for he did not accompany his widowed mother to Louisiana.  

LOUISIANA:  RIVER SETTLEMENTS

Pélagie Benoit and her five Crochet children--Jean-Guillaume, now age 25, Francoise-Pélagie, age 21, Marguerite-Périnne, age 19, Yves-Jean, age 18, and Julien, age 15--sailed to Louisiana aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, which reached New Orleans in early November 1785.  Two weeks after they reached the city, in late November 1785, Francoise-Pélagie and Marguerite-Périnne married fellow passengers Tourchet dit Leonard De La Garde of Surget, France, and Joseph Adam of La Rochelle, France.  In mid-December, Jean-Guillaume married fellow passenger Marie-Marthe, daughter of Joseph Boudrot, in New Orleans.  After a period of recuperation from the long voyage, Pélagie and her expanded family chose to settle with the majority of the passengers from L'Amitié in the Acadian community of Ascension, on the river above New Orleans.  She and her children lived on the left, or east, bank of the river.  

Francoise-Pélagie Crochet and Leonard De La Garde lived for a time in New Orleans.  By January 1788, however, they had moved to the left bank of the river at Ascension.  By January 1791, while she was still living on the left bank at Ascension, Francoise-Pélagie had become a widow with three young sons.  She remarried to Philippe Bruze of Genoa, Italy, at Ascension in June 1792 and had more children by him.  

Yves-Jean married fellow French native Anne, daughter of Acadian Jean-Baptiste Dugas, at Ascension, date unrecorded, but it was sometime between January 1788, when he was counted with his widowed mother and a brother on the left bank at Ascension, and January 1791, when he was counted with his wife on the right, or west, bank.    

After living with his widowed mother at Ascension and then in the upper Bayou Lafourche valley, Julien Crochet, Pélagie Benoit's youngest son, returned to the river and married Marguerite, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Belanger of False River, Pointe-Coupée, at Baton Rouge in May 1798; Marguerite's mother was a Lejeune who, according to the Baton Rouge priest who recorded the marriage, was Acadian (most of the Lejeunes of Pointe-Coupée were French Creoles).  Julien and Marguerite lived for a time in the upper Lafourche valley near his widowed mother and most of his siblings, returned to river, living for a time near Baton Rouge, and then moved back to the upper valley of  Bayou Lafourche.

~

One of the Lafourche valley Crochets "returned" to the river in the 1830s, but the line did not survive:

Descendants of Francois Hermogene CROCHET (1816-?)

Francois Hermogene, called Hermogene, Crochet, born in Assumption Parish in April 1816, was the eldest son of Amand Bernard, son of Yves-Jean Crochet.  In June 1836, when he was 20 years old, Hermogene married Marie Carmelite Daigle, widow of Hippolyte Le Tullier, in West Baton Rouge Parish.  He and Marie Carmelite remained in West Baton Rouge Parish, where they established a small branch of the family along the river.  

Older son Prudent, born in West Baton Rouge Parish, March 1839, married Adolphine, daughter of Adolphe Dupuy, at the Brusly church, West Baton Rouge Parish, in January 1861.  Soon after the War Between the States broke out, Prudent enlisted in the West Baton Rouge Tirailleurs at Camp Moore in Tangipahoa Parish.  The Tirailleurs became Company H of the 4th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit that fought gallantly in Tennessee and Georgia.  Prudent must have secured leave from his unit at least twice--two daughters were born to him during the War, Olymph in c1862, and Ouida in 1864.  He never saw his second daughter.  In the summer of 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign, Prudent fell mortally wounded at Ezra Church on July 28.  His comrades were forced to leave him on the field.  He either died on the field or in a Federal hospital and was buried by the enemy; he was only 25 years old.  His branch of the family, except for its blood, died with him on that distant battlefield.  

Younger son Félix Cleopha Isidore, born near Brusly Landing, West Baton Rouge Parish, in September 1841, may not have survived childhood.  

LOUISIANA:  LAFOURCHE VALLEY SETTLEMENTS

By the mid-1790s, Spanish officials were counting Acadian Crochets in the upper valley of Bayou Lafourche.  Pélagie Benoit, widow of Yves Crochet, never remarried.  All three of her Crochet sons settled in the Bayou Lafourche valley, and all of them had sons of their own.  Pélagie's younger daughter Marguerite-Périnne, wife of Joseph Adam, also settled in the Lafourche valley and had many children with her husband.  Marguerite-Périnne died in Lafourche Interior Parish in November 1830, she was 64 years old.  Pélagie's older daughter Francoise-Pélagie eventually left Ascension Parish with her second husband, Italian Creole Philippe Bruze, and settled in Lafourche Interior Parish, where she died in February 1836; she was 72 years old.  Meanwhile, Pélagie lived long enough to witness the birth of grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.  She died in Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1824; she was 83 years old.  

Descendants of Jean-Guillaume CROCHET (1760-c1820)

Jean-Guillaume, eldest son of Yves Crochet and Pélagie Benoit, born at Quesny, France, in September 1760, came to Louisiana with his widowed mother and siblings aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785.  He married Marie-Marthe, daughter of Joseph Boudrot, at New Orleans in December 1785, soon after reaching the colony, and, after living at Ascension on the river for a few years, settled at Assumption, on upper Bayou Lafourche.  Marie-Marthe also had come to Louisiana from France aboard L'Amitié. Compared to his younger brothers, Jean-Guillaume's family was a small one--he had only one son, and only one of his two grandsons survived childhood, but that grandson married and had several sons of his own, perpetuating this line of the family.  Jean-Guillaume died before July 1821 probably in Assumption Parish, when he would have been in his early 60s.  His son and grandson remained in Assumption Parish until after the War Between the States, when the grandson moved to the Bayou Teche valley around New Iberia.  By the early 1890s, two of Jean-Guillaume's great-grandsons had moved out into the open prairies of eastern Calcasieu, now Jefferson Davis, Parish.  

Son Joseph-Emerant, called Emerant, born probably at Assumption in c1800, married Eugenie Scholastique, daughter of fellow Acadian Joseph Gautreaux, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1821; the priest who recorded the marriage noted that the groom's father was deceased at the time of the marriage. Their daughter married into the Mire family.  Emerant remarried to Adelle Arthemise, daughter of fellow Acadian Martin Thibodeaux, at the Plattenville church in May 1827; the priest who recorded this second marriage wrote that both of the groom's parents were dead.  Their son Magloire Sivilien was born in Assumption Parish in October 1827, and Désire Treville, called Treville, in May 1838 but died at age 6 in September 1843.  Their daughters married into the Cedotal, Dupas, Gautreaux, and Mazerolle families.  Emerant died in Assumption Parish in April 1845; he was only 45 years old.  Magloire, married Honorine, daughter of Valery Cedotal, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in July 1851; Honorine's mother was a Dugas; her brother was Magloire's sister's husband.  Their son Emerant was born in Assumption Parish in April 1852, Émile Homer in May 1854, Joseph Camille in March 1856, Joachim near Pierre Part, north of Lake Verret, Assumption Parish, in January 1861, and Augustin Joseph near New Iberia, on Bayou Teche, in March 1868.  After the War Between the States, Magloire moved his family from Assumption Parish to the Bayou Teche valley, where some of his cousins had settled.  Émile married Dometile Broussard, place and date unrecorded, but it probably was at Lydia, Iberia Parish, in the mid-1870s.  Emerant or Augustin, called Adrecy by the priest who recorded his wedding, married Merilia, daughter of Camille Landry, at the Jennings church, then in Calcasieu but now in Jefferson Davis Parish, in September 1892.  By the early 1900s, he and brother Émile had established a branch of the family along Bayou Nezpique north of the town of Jennings.  

Descendants of Yves-Jean CROCHET (1767-c1812)

Yves-Jean, second son of Yves Crochet and Pélagie Benoit, born at Quesny, France, in December 1767, came to Louisiana with his widowed mother and siblings aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them to Ascension, on the river.  Yves-Jean married Anne, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Dugas, at Ascension in the early 1790s and settled at Assumption, on Bayou Lafourche.  Anne had come to Louisiana from France aboard Le Bon Papa, the first of the Seven Ships.  Yves-Jean died in Assumption Parish in the early 1810s, in his mid-40s.  His daughter married into the Templet family.  His two married sons remained in Assumption Parish.  One grandson moved to West Baton Rouge Parish in 1830s, where he started a small branch of the family on the river.  Another grandson moved down the bayou to Terrebonne Parish in the 1840s.  After the War Between the States, at least two of his grandsons and two great-grandsons moved to the Bayou Teche valley, west of the Atchafalaya Basin.  But most of his descendants remained in Assumption Parish.

Oldest son Francois-Marie, born at Assumption in January 1796, married Eulalie, daughter of fellow Acadian Jean-Baptiste Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in November 1817.  Their son Severin Francois was born in Assumption Parish in June 1821, Francois Arsene, called Arsene, in August 1823, Louis in January 1828 but died less than a day old, Joseph was born in February 1829, Vileor Lucien, sometimes called William, in January 1834, and Docilis Sylvain, called Sylvain, in June 1842.  Their daughters married into the Arceneaux, Hébert, Landry, and Trahan families.  Severin married cousin Euphrosine, daughter of Romain Freoux, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in January 1842; Euphrosine's mother, like Francois's mother, was a Dugas.  Their son Seraphin Arsene was born in Assumption Parish in December 1842, Joseph Romain in March 1847, Joseph in October 1849, Pierre Aurelien in July 1851, Paul Oleus near Pierre Part, north of Lake Verret, in February 1859, and Justilien Severin in September 1862.  Their daughter married into the Hopwood and Ducasse families.  Meanwhile, Francois died in Assumption Parish in July 1844; the Paincourtville priest who recorded his burial said that Francois was 59 years old when he died, but he was only 48.  Arsene married Justine, daughter of Charles Dupuis, at the Paincourtville church in February 1849, and remarried to Eurasie, daughter of Francois Aucoin, at the Paincourtville church in April 1853.  Their son Joseph Francois, a twin, was born in Assumption Parish in January 1855, Pierre Jean Baptiste in September 1856, Francois Pierre near Pierre Part in December 1858, and Paul in March 1864 but died at age 4 months the following June.  Joseph married Aureline, daughter of Simon Aucoin, at the Paincourtville church in April 1850.  Their son Francois Justinien or Justilien, called Justilien, was born in Assumption Parish in November 1852, Joseph Enoch, called Enoch and Eno, in May 1856, and Joseph Sarazin or Victorin, called Victorin and sometimes Gustave, near Pierre Part in March 1859.  Vileor married Clarisse, another daughter of Romain Freoux, at the Paincourtville church in August 1854.  Their son Nicolas Severin was born near Pierre Part in November 1859, and Pierre in January 1862.  In late July 1860, the federal census taker in the 14th Ward (Bayou Louis) of Assumption Parish counted a single slave--a 55-year-old black male--on Severin Crochet's farm near Pierre Part.  Severin's son Seraphin married cousin Zelanie, daughter of Leufroie Guidry, at the Paincourtville church in November 1863; Zelamie's mother was a Landry, hence their fourth degree of consanguinity.  Severin died in Assumption Parish in November 1863; he was only 42 years old.  Youngest brother Sylvain died near Pierre Part in January 1865; he was only 23 years old and had never married.  Brother Arsene died near Pierre Part in March 1865; he was only 41 years old.  After the War Between the States, Arsene's brother Joseph moved his family to the Bayou Teche valley, west of the Atchafalaya Basin; by the 1870s, they were living near Loreauville, Iberia Parish, where son Justilien married Marie, daughter of Hilairon Landry, in January 1876, Victorin married Odeide Broussard the following December, and Enoch married Émelie or Camille Landry later in the decade.  Like his older brother Joseph, Vileor also moved his family to St. Martin Parish after the War Between the States.  Nephew Seraphin moved to St. Martin Parish after the War as well and remarried to Émilie, daughter of Edouard Hébert, at the New Iberia church in December 1869.  Their son Octave was born near New Iberia in March 1872.  They also settled near Loreauville.

Amand-Bernard, sometimes called Emerant, baptized at the Assumption church in September 1796, married Marie Hortense, called Hortense, daughter of French Creole Francois Freoux, at the Plattenville church in February 1813; Marie Hortense's mother was a Gautreaux.  Their son Francois Eugene or Hermogene, called Hermogene, was born in Assumption Parish in April 1816, Symphorien Tresime or Trasimond, called Trasimond, in October 1817, Romain Arsene, called Arsene, in January 1819, Narcisse Evremont in October 1820 but died a few days later, Telesphore Valery was born in January 1823, Onesime Denis, sometimes called Denis and Adonis, in November 1824, Joseph Carville in March 1826 but died at age 2 years, 2 months in May 1828, Clermont Marcillien, called Marcillien, was born in February 1828, and Francois Florentin, called Florentin, in March 1830.   Their daughters married into the Blanchard and Simoneaux families.  Hermogene married Marie Carmelite Daigle, widow of Hippolyte Le Tullier of West Baton Rouge Parish, at the Baton Rouge church, East Baton Rouge Parish, in June 1836 and settled near Brusly Landing, West Baton Rouge Parish.  Marcillien died in Assumption Parish in November 1842; he was only 14 1/2 years old.  Telesphore married Céleste Boudreaux at the Thibodeaux church, Lafourche Interior Parish, in January 1843.  Their son Louis Daunis, called Daunis, was born in either Terrebonne or Lafourche Interior Parish in February 1848.  Their daughter married into the Baudoin family.  Arsene married Batilde, daughter of Baptiste Landry, at the Paincourtville church, Assumption Parish, in May 1845.  Their son Jean Baptiste Jérôme was born in Assumption Parish in January 1848, Joseph Oseme Blanchard in March 1850, and Romain Arsene, fils near Pierre Part, north of Lake Verret, in January 1859.  Their daughter married a Landry cousin.  Onesime Denis married Clementine or Clémence, daughter of Alexis Aucoin, at the Paincourtville church in January 1846.  Their son Joseph Valri was born in Assumption Parish in February 1847, Nicephore in April 1849, Jean Baptiste Alexi, called Alexi, in Jan 1852 but died at age 3 months the following April, Leonard was born in October 1853, and Drosin Jean Baptiste in January 1857 but died at age 7 in February 1864.  Trasimond married first to Eleonore Dupuis, date and place unrecorded, then to Rose Aimée, daughter of Zephirin Melançon, at the Paincourtville church in March 1848.  Florentin married Amaselie, daughter of Simon Comeaux, at the Paincourtville church in August 1853.  Their son Joseph Meridier was born in Assumption Parish in January 1858.  Arsene's son Jean Baptiste married Camilla, daughter of Désire A. LeBlanc, at the Paincourtville church in July 1867.  Telesphore's son Daunis married Eveline, daughter of Cyrus Hébert, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in January 1868.  Their son Joseph W. was born near Chacahoula, Terrebonne Parish, in June 1870.  After the War Between the States, Arsene's son Romain followed his father and some of his kinsmen to the Bayou Teche valley, where he married cousin Zelanie, daughter of Joseph Crochet, at the Loreauville church, Iberia Parish, in January 1881.  

Magloire, baptized at Assumption in December 1797, died in Assumption Parish in August 1834.  The priest who recorded his burial said that Magloire was 31 years old when he died, but he was at least 36 and had never married.  

Youngest son Jean-Baptiste, born at Assumption in October 1799, married Marine, daughter of Pierre Landry, at the Plattenville church, Assumption Parish, in April 1817; the priest who recorded the marriage noted that the groom's father was deceased.  Jean Baptiste died in Assumption Parish in November 1822; he was only 23 years old.  He fathered no sons.  His daughter married into the Simoneaux family.  

Descendants of Julien CROCHET (1770-c1820)

Julien, youngest son of Yves Crochet and Pélagie Benoit, born at Quesny, France, in March 1770, came to Louisiana with his widowed mother and siblings aboard L'Amitié, the fifth of the Seven Ships from France, in 1785, and followed them to Ascension, on the river.  Julien married Marguerite, daughter of French Creole Nicolas Belanger of False River, Pointe-Coupée, at Baton Rouge in 1798 but settled in the Lafourche valley with his older brothers.  Julien died in either Lafourche Interior or Terrebonne Parish in c1820, in his late 40s or early 50s.  His daughters married into the Bonvillain, Comeaux, and Gauthier families.  His sons and grandsons moved down into Lafourche Interior and Terrebonne parishes in the decades before the War Between the States.  After the War, one grandson moved to the Brashear City/Berwick area, along the lower Atchafalaya River, but most of Julien's descendants remained in Terrebonne Parish.  

Oldest son Nicolas Leandre, called Leandre, born at Baton Rouge in December 1800, married Madeleine, daughter of Charles Bergeron, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in October 1822; the parish clerk who recorded Leandre's marriage noted that the groom's father was deceased.  Their son Julien Romain le jeune was born in either Terrebonne or Lafourche Interior Parish in June 1823, Jules Leandre in August 1826, Hippolyte Nicolas in January 1835, Jean Charles in May 1837, and Thomas Robert or Albert, called Albert, in Terrebonne Parish in October 1849.  They also had sons named Henri and Théophile, born probably in Terrebonne Parish in the 1840s.  Their daughters married into the Bergeron, Chiasson, Mazeirac, Neal, and Robichaux families.  Jules married Louisiane Elisa, sometimes called Elisa, daughter of Anglo-American Aaron King, at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in March 1856; Louisiane Elisa's mother was a Bergeron.  Their son Jean Baptiste had been born in Terrebonne Parish in January 1854.  Julien le jeune married a young widow, Rebecca, daughter of Anglo-American Abel Cooper, also called Burket, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in August 1856.  Their son Auguste was born near Montegut, Terrebonne Parish, the following October, and Désire Leandre in August 1862.  Henri married Augustine or Justine, daughter of Auguste Robichaux, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in January 1859 and sanctified the marriage at the Houma church in March 1865.  Their son Adam Justillien was born in Terrebonne Parish in June 1859, Alexandre Alfred in April 1861, and Omer Franklin Clémile in November 1870.  In 1860, the federal census taker in Ward 8, Terrebonne Parish, counted a single slave--a 12-year-old female mulatto--on Leandre Crochet's farm.  Jules remarried to Clémence, daughter of Francois Lecompte and widow of E. Belanger, at the Montegut church in May 1867.  Albert married Marie, another daughter of Auguste Robichaux, at the Montegut church in June 1867.  Their son Joseph Adam was born near Montegut in October 1868.  Théophile married Rosina, daughter of Anaclet Labit, at the Houma church in December 1869.  Their son Joseph Numa was born near Montegut in October 1870. 

Eleonore or Leonore, whose birth was unrecorded but it probably was in the late 1800s or early 1810s, married Élise, daughter of Laurent Pichoff, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in July 1828; Élise's mother was a Trahan.  Their son Jule was born in either Terrebonne or Lafourche Interior Parish in December 1829, Amédée Franklin, called Franklin, in March 1834, Edouard Joseph in February 1838, and Clet Émile in Terrebonne Parish in March 1852.  Their daughters married into the Arcement, Babin, Bergeron, and Boudreaux families.  Franklin married Madeleine Lorenza, daughter of Francois Babin, probably in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in the 1850s.  Their son Franklin Edouard was born in Terrebonne Parish in May 1858, and Jules Amedeo in June 1861.  Franklin and Madeleine sanctified their marriage at the Houma church, Terrebonne Parish, in April 1862.  Edouard, or Edward, married Eveline, daughter of Adelin Bergeron, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in June 1854.  After Edward served in Company H of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Terrebonne Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1862-63, he and Eveline sanctified their marriage at the Houma church in November 1866.  Their son Joseph Aristide was born in Terrebonne Parish in September 1866. 

Julien Romain, born in Assumption Parish in August 1815, died in September 1829, age 14.

Paulin, also called Magloire, born probably in Assumption Parish in the late 1810s, married French Creole Clementine, also called Thérèse, Bonvillain probably in Terrebonne Parish in the mid- or late 1830s.  Their son Hubert Prosper, called Prosper, was born in either Terrebonne or Lafourche Interior Parish in August 1842, and Joseph Henry in August 1844.  Their daughters married into the Labit and Legrand families.  Paulin died in Terrebonne Parish in May 1847, probably in his late 30s.  According to his succession record, filed at the Houma courthouse in October 1849, Paulin also had a son named Paulin, fils.  During the War Between the States, Paulin, père's older son Prosper served in Company K of the 26th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Terrebonne Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1862-63.  After he returned from the War, Prosper married Susanne, daughter of Jacques Labit, at the Houma church in May 1865; Susanne's mother was a Roger.  Joseph married Marie, daughter of Narcisse Marcel, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in June 1867 and sanctified the marriage at the Houma church in March 1869.  Their son Joseph Norbert was born in Terrebonne Parish in April 1868.  

Youngest son Henri or Henry, birth date unrecorded, but it probably was in the late 1810s, married Marie Thérèse, also called Myrthe, daughter of Anglo-American William C. Watkins, in a civil ceremony in Terrebonne Parish in December 1839.  Their son Henry Désire was born in either Terrebonne or Lafourche Interior Parish in October 1840, and Pierre Adam, called Adam, in Terrebonne Parish in August 1848.  Henry died in Terrebonne Parish in December 1850, probably in his early 30s.  Adam married Josephine, daughter of Jean Guidry, at the Brashear City church, now Morgan City, St. Mary Parish, in June 1870.  By the early 1870s, Adam and his  family had crossed the Atchafalaya River to Berwick, across from Brashear City, in St. Mary Parish.  Adam remarried to Gracieuse Pennison at the Brashear City church in May 1880, and to Mary, daughter of Jean La Cossette, at the Morgan City church in December 1888; Mary's mother was a Gautreaux.   

NON-ACADIAN FAMILIES in LOUISIANA

Two, maybe three, perhaps four, brothers from Toulouse, France, were the progenitors of a western branch of the family that, except through marriage, had no ties to Acadia.  They were what antebellum Louisianans called Foreign French:  

Jean Crouchet or Crouchette, married Marie Walker probably in Lafayette Parish by September 1853, when their daughter Émilia was baptized at the Vermilionville church.  Their son Jean Bertrand was born in Lafayette Parish in January 1863, William near New Iberia, then in St. Martin, now in Iberia Parish, in September 1865, and Michel in Lafayette Parish in November 1867.  Jean married Bertha, daughter of Taylor Lagarde, at the New Iberia church in December 1892; Bertha's mother was a Naquin.  

Michel Crouchette, born in the Haute-Garonne Department, France, in c1827, son of Jean-Bertrand Crouchette and Marie Dessins of Toulouse, and perhaps Jean's brother, married Augustine, daughter of Anglo-American George William Addison, at the Vermilionville church in April 1856; Augustine's mother was a Richard.  Their son Jean Bertrand was born in Lafayette Parish in June 1858 but died at age 5 in September 1862, Ernest was born in November 1860, Philibert in June 1863, and Paul in October 1865.  Michel died in Lafayette Parish in October 1874; he was 47 years old.  Ernest married Philomene, daughter of Jacques Coussan or Comeaux, at the Carencro church, Lafayette Parish, in December 1881.  Philibert married Stella, daughter of Cyprien Guidry, at the Breaux Bridge church, St. Martin Parish, in March 1886.  By the late 1880s, Philibert and Stella were living near Youngsville, Lafayette Parish.  

Jacques Crouchette, Michel's, and perhaps Jean's, brother, married Euphrasie, daughter of Acadian Eugene Breaux, at the Vermilionville church in July 1858.  Their son Henri was born in Lafayette Parish in May 1862, and Francois in July 1864 but died at age 18 months in January 1866.  Henri married Marie Cécile, called Cécile, daughter of Joseph Micaud, at the Carencro church, Lafayette Parish, in February 1881.  

Francois Crochet married Marie Louise, called Louise, Argelies, in the late 1860s or early 1870s.  Francois died near Rayne, Acadia Parish, in September 1889; the priest who recorded his burial did not name Francois's parents, but he did say that Francois was born in France, so perhaps he was a brother of the other French-born Crochette/Crochets.  Francois's son Auguste married Lucille Marie, daughter of Armas Gillard, at the Rayne church in April 1890.  

Jean Prosper Crouchette, probably an African Creole and no kin to the brothers from France or the Acadian Crochets from east of the Atchafalaya, married Émilie Senegal probably in Lafayette Parish before August 1884, when their son Rosemond was born near Carencro.  They had other sons:  Peter Trasimond was born near Carencro in November 1887, Pierre Toussaint was baptized at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish, in April 1890, and Joseph Willie was born near Carencro in October 1892.  

CONCLUSION

Yves Crochet of Megrit, France, lived briefly in greater Acadia, at Louisbourg, on today's Cape Breton Island, where he married an Acadian girl, Pélagie Benoit.  In the year of their marriage--1758--the couple were deported to France.  There, Yves fathered at least nine children before dying in his early 40s in 1773.  He was buried in the town of his birth.  A dozen years later, his widow, who never remarried, took five of their children, including three sons, to Louisiana aboard one of the Seven Ships of 1785 and settled on the river above New Orleans.  In the first half of the nineteenth century, Yves Crochet's sons and their descendants spread up and down the Lafourche and Terrebonne valleys, from Pierre Part in northern Assumption Parish to Montegut in lower Terrebonne Parish.  A small branch of the family also settled in West Baton Rouge Parish, on the river, but soon died out.  In 1860, only two Crochets--one in Assumption, the other in Terrebonne--owned a single slave apiece, so the Crochets were not direct participants in the South's plantation economy.  

Meanwhile, an extended family of non-Acadians with a similar name established a western branch of the family.  By the 1850s, the Crouchette brothers of Toulouse, France, settled in Lafayette Parish, at the northern edge of the old Atakapas District, and married local girls, including some Acadians.  They owned no slaves.  

Crochets lived in a part of Louisiana hit hard by the War Between the States.  Successive Federal incursions devastated the Lafourche and Terrebonne valleys.  At least one member of the family, Prudent Crochet of West Baton Rouge Parish, died in Confederate service--mortally wounded in action during the Atlanta, Georgia, campaign in the summer of 1864; he had only daughters, and his younger brother did not survive childhood, so Prudent's line of the family died with him on that distant battlefield.  A handful of his Terrebonne Parish cousins also served the Southern Confederacy in uniform, and all of them survived the conflict.  None of the Crouchettes of Lafayette Parish served in uniform.  Perhaps their status as recent French immigrants exempted them from Confederate service.  They were not exempt from the ravages of the Northern war machine, however.  Federal armies invaded the Teche-Vermilion valleys three times during 1863-64 and devastated that part of the Bayou State where the French-born brothers lived.  

After the War, most Crochets, both Acadian and Foreign French, remained on their simple homesteads along the bayous and marshes of southeastern Louisiana or on their farms in the Vermilion valley at the edge of the southwest prairies.  But at least five families of Acadian Crochets moved from the Lafourche valley to Bayou Teche, adding substantially to the western branch of the family.  

Today, dozens of Crochet families, most of them descendants of Yves Crochet, can still be found in the towns and cities of southeast Louisiana.  Despite its late start, members of the western branch of the family became as numerous as their eastern namesakes.  In the late 1800s, the western Crouchettes were spelling their surname Crochet, leading to some genealogical confusion.  Western Crochets, most of them Acadians, can be found today across the southwest prairies as far as east Texas.  They are especially numerous around the city of Jennings, in Jefferson Davis Parish.  

The family's name also is spelled Croche, Croge, Crouchet.  

Sources:  1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Assumption & Terrebonne parishes; BRDR, vols. 2, 3, 4, 5(rev.), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 62-65; Hébert, D., South LA Records, vols. 1, 2, 3, 4; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, vols. 1-A, 5, 6, 7, CD; NOAR, vol. 4; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, 824.

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, 39 (pl. 10L), calls her Francoise [CROCHET], & lists her with her widowed mother & 4 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, Family No. 276, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Francoise-Pélagie CROCHET, gives her parents' names, says she was goddaughter of Grégoire BENOIST (her maternal uncle) & Francoise MICHEL, & that her family resided at Megrit from 1759-61, St.-Servan from 1762-64, Megrit from 1765-67, St.-Servan from 1767-68, & Megrit from 1769-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28, Family No. 57, calls her Francoise CROCHET, gives her parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Francoise, sa [Pélagie BENOIT, veuve d'Yves CROCHET's] fille, age 22, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Francoise CROCHET, his [Yves CROCHET's] daughter, age 22, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 19th Family aboard L'Amitié with her mother & 4 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 62-63, under Lista parcial de vientitres casamientos acadianos arregalados par Navarro, 20 novembre 1785 [Partial List of 23 marriages Navarro arranged on 20 November 1785], A. Marriages celebrated on 20 November 1785, calls her Francisca CROCHET, sister of Agustin DOUAN/Francoise CROCHET, sister of Augustin DUHON[sic], calls her husband Tourchet DE LA GARDE alias Leonar/Leonard [Tourchet] DE LA GARDE, &, calling her Francisca CROCHET of St.-Malo, details her marriage, calls her husband Leonardo DE LA GARDE of Surget, France, & gives her & his parents' names; NOAR, 4:69, 81 (SLC, M5, 43), the record of her first marriage, calls her Francisca CROCHET, native of St.-Malo, calls her husband Leonardo DE LA GARDE, says he was native of Surget in the Kingdom of France, gives her & his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Vicente LLORCA & Josef MARTINEZ; BRDR, 2:166, 207 (ASC-2, 48), the record of her second marriage, calls her Francesca CROCHET, gives her parents' names, calls her father Juan & her husband Philippe BRUZE of Genova[sic] but does not give his parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were Ambroise DUGAS, Joseph NAQUIN, & Louis OCOIN; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:162 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, #725), her death/burial record, calls her Francoise CROCHET m. Philippe BRUGE, does not gives her parents' names, & says she was 73 years old when she died.  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 46, 179.

Note that she married on the same day as her younger sister Marguerite.  How was she the sister of Augustin DUHON?  They did not share a parent, either by birth or by marriage, nor was he her brother-in-law.  

Two of her children by her first husband, twin sons, were baptized in New Orleans.  See their birth/baptismal records, dated 2 Aug 1788, in NOAR, 4:81 (SLC, B11, 50).  Does this mean that, despite the Ascension censuses of 1788 & 1791, the family also resided in New Orleans?  Was her first husband a businessman?  

Her second husband's parents' names are from 2 of her children's birth/baptismal records, dated 24 Jun 1793 & 11 Apr 1795, in NOAR, 5:50-51 (SLC, B11, 267; SLC, B11, 361).  One of the baptismal records states that Philippe & Francoise were living in Lafourche in Mar 1793.  Philippe's surname also is spelled BRUSE, BRUSARD.  

02.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him Jean-Guillaume [CROCHET], & lists him with his widowed mother & 4 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, Family No. 276, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Jean-Guillaume CROCHET, gives his parents' names, says he was the godson of Jean-Noël VERGURET & Jeanne, daughter of Francois CROCHET, & that his family resided at Megrit from 1759-61, St.-Servan from 1762-64, Megrit from 1765-67, St.-Servan from 1767-68, & Megrit from 1769-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28, Family No. 57, gives his parents' names, details his family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s, but does not include him in the convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes with the rest of his family in Dec 1775; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Jean, son [Pélagie BENOIT, veuve d'Yves CROCHET's] fils, marin, age 24, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Jean CROCHET, his [Yves CROCHET's] son, sailor, age 24, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 19th Family aboard L'Amitié with his mother & 4 siblings; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 64-65, under Lista parcial de vientitres casamientos acadianos arregalados par Navarro, 20 novembre 1785 [Partial List of 23 marriages Navarro arranged on 20 November 1785], F. Marriages celebrated 14 December1785, calls him Juan CROCHET/Jean CROCHET, says he was in the 19th Family aboard Le St.-Rémi[sic], calls his wife Maria Martha BOUDREAU/Marie-Marthe BOUDREAUX (daughter of Joseph [BOUDREAUX & Marguerite RICHARD), & says she was in the 19th Family aboard Le St.-Rémi[sic].  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 47, 179.

He may not have been a part of the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s because he was a young sailor by then.  

His wife also crossed to LA aboard L'Amitié, not Le St.-Rémi.  

03.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him Yves [CROCHET], & lists him with his widowed mother & 4 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, Family No. 276, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Yves-Jean CROCHET, gives his parents' names, says he was godson of Jean CROCHET & Jeanne DAULY, & that his family resided at Megrit from 1759-61, St.-Servan from 1762-64, Megrit from 1765-67, St.-Servan from 1767-68, & Megrit from 1769-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28, Family No. 57, calls him Yves [CROCHET], gives his parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Yves, son [Pélagie BENOIT, veuve d'Yves CROCHET's] fils, marin, age 16, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Yves CROCHET, his [Yves CROCHET's] son, sailor, age 16, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 19th Family aboard L'Amitié with his mother & 4 siblings.  

04.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls him Julien [CROCHET], & lists him with his widowed mother & 4 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, Family No. 276, his birth/baptismal record, calls him Julien CROCHET, gives his parents' names, says he was godson of Julien CROCHET & Marguerite RAUX, & that his family resided at Megrit from 1759-61, St.-Servan from 1762-64, Megrit from 1765-67, St.-Servan from 1767-68, & Megrit from 1769-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28, Family No. 57, calls him Julien [CROCHET], gives his parents' names, & details the family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls him Julien, son [Pélagie BENOIT, veuve d'Yves CROCHET's] fils, age 12, on the embarkation list, does not include him on the debarkation list, calls him Julien CROCHET, his [Yves CROCHET's] son, age 12, on the complete listing, & says he was in the 19th Family aboard L'Amitié with his mother & 4 siblings; BRDR, 2:69, 208 (SJO-3, 20), his marriage record, calls him Jualiano CROCHE, gives his & his wife's parents' names, says his parents were from St.-Malo & his wife's parents were from False River, & that the witnesses to his marriage were Daniel BENOIT (his maternal uncle) & Francisco LEGENDRE (his uncle's brother-in-law).  See also Robichaux, Bayou Lafourche, 1770-98, 46, 53, 179.

His estimated birth year is taken not from the age given on the passenger list of L'Amitié but from the ages found in the Ascension censuses of 1788 & 1791 & the Lafourche valley census of 1795. 

How did a boy from the upper Lafourche valley hook up with a girl from the Baton Rouge area?  The witnesses to his marriage give a clue.  Daniel BENOIT was his mother's younger brother who had settled at the southern edge of the Baton Rouge District.  Julien may have met Marguerite of Pointe-Coupée on an extended visit to his uncle's home along the river.  Julien may even have lived with his uncle for a time, as an engagé, though he was with his widowed mother on Bayou Lafourche the Jan before his wedding.  Their first child, daughter Marie-Marguerite, was born in May 1799 & baptized at the Assumption church.  See BRDR, 2:208 (ASM-1, 151), dated 15 Jan 1800.  However, their son Nicolas-Leandre, called Leandre, born in Dec 1800, was baptized at Baton Rouge.  See BRDR, 2:208 (SJO-1, 147 & 148), dated 18 Jul 1801.  But the birth/baptismal & marriage records of subsequent children are all found in the Lafourche valley.  See BRDR, 3:229; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:162-63.

The death/burial record for Julien CROCHET, dated 24 Sep 1829, cannot be that of Julien, son of Yves.  See Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:162 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, p. 49), which does not gives this Julien's parents' names or mention a wife.  The marriage records of Nicholas Leandre, Marie Marguerite, & Leonor, children of Julien CROCHET, son of Yves, dated 7 Oct 1822, 14 Jan 1823, & 5 Jul 1828, respectively, are clear that their father was deceased at the time of their marriages.  See Hébert, D., South LA Records, 162-63 (Houma Ct.Hse.: Mar. Bk.1, #40; Houma Ct.Hse.: Mar. Bk.1, #54; Houma Ct.Hse.: Mar. Bk.1, #144).  So Julien, son of Yves, probably died c1820, in his late 40s or early 50s.  The Julien CROCHET who died in Sep 1829 was likely his 14-year-old son Julien Romain, born at Assumption in Aug 1815.  See BRDR, 3:229 (ASM-8, 32), dated 17 Jun 1816.  

05.  Wall of Names, 39 (pl. 10L), calls her Margueritte [CROCHET], & lists her with her widowed mother & 4 siblings; Robichaux, Acadians in St.-Malo, 222-23, Family No. 276, her birth/baptismal record, calls her Marguerite-Périnne CROCHET, gives her parents' names, says she was goddaughter of Pierre CERTAIN & Marguerite BENOIST (her maternal aunt), & that her family resided at Megrit from 1759-61, St.-Servan from 1762-64, Megrit from 1765-67, St.-Servan from 1767-68, & Megrit from 1769-72; Robichaux, Acadians in Chatellerault, 27-28, Family No. 57, gives her parents' names, details her family's participation in the Leigne-les-bois settlement in Poitou in the early 1770s, but does not include her in the convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes with the rest of her family in Dec 1775; Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 70-71, calls her Margueritte, sa [Pélagie BENOIT, veuve d'Yves CROCHET's] fille, age 19, on the embarkation list, does not include her on the debarkation list, calls her Marguerite CROCHET, his [Yves CROCHET's] daughter, age 19, on the complete listing, & says she was in the 19th Family aboard L'Amitié with her mother & 4 siblingsHébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 62-63, under Lista parcial de vientitres casamientos acadianos arregalados par Navarro, 20 novembre 1785 [Partial List of 23 marriages Navarro arranged on 20 November 1785], A. Marriages celebrated on 20 November 1785, calls her Marguerite ____ & Marguerite [CROCHET], says she was in the 19th Family aboard Le St.-Rémi[sic], calls her husband Joseph ADAMS, immigrant, &, calling her Margarita CROCHET of St.-Malo, details her marriage, calls her husband Josef ADANA of La Rochelle, & gives her & his parents' names; Hébert, D., South LA Records, 1:163 (Thib.Ch.: v. 1, p. 60), her death/burial record, calls her Marguerite CROCHET, does not gives her parents' names or mention a husband, & says she was 64 years old when she died.  

Why was she not listed in the convoy from Châtellerault to Nantes in Dec 1775?  Where was she?  She would have been only 9 years old then.  

Her husband also crossed from France to LA aboard L'Amitié.  Hébert, D., Acadian Families in Exile 1785, 84-85, calls him Josef ADAM/Joseph ADAM, says he was among the "Names with no reference on the Embarkation list [of L'Amitié]," & that the Spanish gave him 1 each axe, shovel, & hatchet, & 2 hoes after he reached LA.  

Note that she married on the same day as her older sister Francoise.  

[top of page CROCHET]

Copyright (c) 2007-08  Steven A. Cormier