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Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 IMBEAU - A FIRST FAMILY CF ARKANSAS Page 5 IF there was an hereditary society "First Families of Arkansas", and IF criteria for membership required proven descent from a docu-mented resident prior to 1750, the rolls would not swell rapidly. The reason is twofold. First, even if the standards were "broadened to include all whose ancestors merely traveled through the Arkansas since DeSoto's trek in 1541, the applicants would still be small in number. There simply were numerically few explorers, adventurers, hunters, settlers or troops on the scene before 1750. Second, the paucity of extant records of colonial Arkansas and the widespread distribution of even these would serve as deterrents to all except the most dedicated and persevering of researchers. Reader response to, "But everybody knows the Imbeaus were descen-dants of the Quapaw Indian tribe, undisputed residents of Arkansas during this time," is anticipated. The rebuttal is also twofold. First, the Quapaws had not developed a written language so there are no records to prove eligibility on this descent. The Europeans, as they arrived on the scene, generated documents about the tribe in general, but information about individual Indians and/or family units is limited to non-existent. Second, not all Arkansas Imbeaus are Quapaw descendants. However, all are Louisiana Creole descendants whose immigrant ancestors came to the colony from France as early as 1720. After nearly a decade of wandering up and down the Mississippi Valley in person and by correspondence, spreading the word of interest in any and all references to colonial Arkansas, the Imbeau break-through came in a letter from Alice Daly Forsyth, Archivist, at that time, of the church registers of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, (l) Previously, Mrs, Forsyth had assisted in locating Imbeau baptismal records of known Arkansas connection and was aware of my interest in the surname. It was during the manuscript preparation of the volume of Louisiana marriage contracts co-authored with Ghislaine Fleasonton, that she wrote, "Here's one (record) may be of some help: (2) "30 January 1758 Sieur JEAN BAPTISTE IMBEAUD, a resident of the Illinois, and a native of this Parish of this City, Bishopric of Quebec, minor son of deceased Aubert Imbaud and of deceased Louise Marchand, stipulating for the minor, Anselme Billot called la Jeunesse, entered into a marriage contract with CATHERINE MEUNIER, minor daughter of Martin Meunier, a res-ident of this City, and of Louise T&lebaud, her father and mother, a native of this Church Parish and City. Signing on the part of Sieur JEAN BAPTISTE IMBAUD, the named Anselme Billot, his brother, Joseph Bailly, a resi-dent of this City, his friend. Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 6 And for the above named CATHERINE MEUNIER, Mr. Martin Meunier, her father, Pierre Hardy and Francois Sanson, her friend and a friend of her deceased parent. This marriage to be solemnized in the Holy Roman Gatholic Church. Hie future groom and Sieur Bailly declare they cannot write and have made an ordinary mark. Signing - CATHERINE MENYER, SOGNY, LAJUENESSE, THOMASSIN. PIERRE HARDY, CHANTALON, Notary" All doubts were erased with her added notes "You no doubt know how many times the girls were called by their father* s first name ... " This was one of the many name variants to watch for in researching French colonial records of which I had not, heretofore, been aware. Without Mrs. Forsyth's gracious sharing of her exper-tise gained through the years in working with these records, the Ark-ansas Imbeau story might well still be concealed...at least from this researcher, "Uiat explains the two La Jeunesse households enumerated by Commandant deCLouet at Post of Arkansas in December of 1?68I" I mut-tered to myself. (3) The pieces and bits begin to fall into place. The common denominator, MARIE LOUISE MARCHAND, mother of both Jean Baptiste Imbeau and Anselme Billette, directs the search. (4) In 1758 males in the French colony attained majority at age 25. Based on the preceding marriage contract, Jean Baptiste Imbeau would have been born in New Orleans after 1733« The indices to the extant marriage records 1720 - 1733 held by the archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and published in the NEW ORLEANS GENESIS (5) yielded possibilities: L 0 U I S E HARCHAND with LAMBERT REIBAUT MARTIN MUNIER with LOUISE TANTIBOTTE Odds were promising that the Munier-T&ntibotte would be perti-nent. If Louise Marchand was a "Widow Billette" at the time of the above marriage, the corruption of the groom's name could be accepted as Mrs. Forsyth had advised in our first letter exchange in 1973 that some of the earliest registers in the archives had been re-copied due to deterioration of the originals and allowances had to be made for possible calligraphic misinterpretation by the copier in the spelling of the names. It was jubilee day down on the farm when Mrs. Forsyth's reply arrived with translations of the records of these unions: "MARRIAGE ENTRY in BAPTISMAL BOOK I (1731-1733) page 55 - Act 9 LAMBERT REIBAUT called LaJEUNESSE, Corporal in the Company of Mr. de Pradel, native of La Coll e, St. Paul, in Provence, Diocese of Vannes, son of Etienne Reibaut and of Francoise Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 7 Reigaut •"» Married 9 February 1732 LOUISE MARCHAND, native of Derdon, Bishopric of Vannes, widow of Pierre Billiet called LaJeunesse, who died at Natchez, daughter of Guillaume Marchand and Nicolle Desroche." "MARRIAGE BOOK A - Page 200 - Act 355 MARTIN MUNIER, native of Cobre (?) of Chainau, Bishopric of Cambray, son of Hugues Munier and of Marie Jeanne Houdau Married 19 April 1730 LOUISE TANTIBOTE, Native of Lorient, Bishopric of Vannes, daughter of Jean Tibotte (sic) and of Marie Frualle. widow of Jean Louis Longueville who died at Natchez." Here revealed are the paternal and maternal immigrant ances-tors of the Arkansas Imbeaus. Supplementing these cited records is the documented presence in Arkansas of "Pierre Imbeau dit LaJeunesse" on 23 Oct 1743 and of "Louise Marchand dit LaJeunesse" on 10 July 1744 as previously noted in Grand Prairie Historical Society publi-cations. (6) The clincher is a French colonial document dated 1 January 1756 found in the Kaskaskia Manuscript collection archiv-ed in the old court house of Randolph county at Chester, Illinois. English summary from microfilm held by Stuttgart Public Library: "28 Jan 1756 - Sale of land at Sainte Genevieve by Lambert Imbeau dit La Jeunesse, of Ste. Genevieve, and Anselme Billet dit La Juenesse, of New Chartres, joint heirs with Imbeau's son Jean Baptiste, of the late Marie Louise Marchand, to Antoine Hanau of Ste Genevieve far 250 livres, the land is part of the community property of Lambert Imbeau and the late Marchand according to the note of Commandant McCarty and Buchet on a petition of 5 Apr 1752. Executed at New Chartres." (7) It was during the era of the Company of the West (1717-1732) that the immigrant ancestors of the Arkansas Imbeaus arrived in North America. The "Mississippi Bubble" may have burst and John Law may have been the greatest "con-man" of all times> nevertheless, this was the most creative and prosperous period of the French domination of the lower Mississippi Valley. Before the 1720-21 collapse of Law' paper financial empire, many recruits for the colonization of Louisi-ana had been lured by the glowing accounts of the awaiting opportu-nities. Shipload after shipload of Europeans left French ports bound for Louisiana 1718-1721. These immigrants were predominately French and German, but some were English, Irish, Swiss and Bohemian. Some came by choice, Some were forced to come. A few were prisoners, exiles and adventurers—some even minor noblemen—but most were til- Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 8 lers of the soil, tradesmen and soldiers. The wilderness facing those who survived the hazardous journey across the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico soon amalgamated these disparate groups into one with a common problem—survival as they faced the everyday perils of colonial life. Death and disappoint-ment were constant companions as they struggled against the primitive-ness of the envoirnment and fought to protect families and homes from the native Indians. The hardy among these pioneers began the trans-formation of the vast wilderness here in the heartland of this conti-nent and left a legacy of a new beginning for their descendants. These were the times and conditions here when the French forbears of the Arkansas Imbeaus quit their native land in search of a better life. It could be that "REMBAULT" on the list of the "Troops" who left la Rochelle, France on 26 January 1719, on the Marechal de Villars commanded by M. Meschin, bound for the Louisiana colony, is the immi-grant Imbeau. (8) Almost certainly he is the corporal "LA JEUNESSE" in Pradel's Company on the 2 December 1731 "List of those Persons com-prising Companies Stationed at New Orleans". (9) Lambert Imbeau's French area of origin, La Colle, St. Paul, is still identifiable in the Alpes Maritimes Department of present day France. Situated only a short distance inland from one of the most famous coastlines in the world, it is north of the French Riviera city of Nice. Protected by the Alpes Maritimes, the countryside in this portion of old Provence breaks out in a riot of exotic vegetation; orange, eucalyptus, lemon, olive and pink laurel fill the air with their perfume, while palm and cactus lend a tropical atmosphere to the scenry. Only a short distance to the west is Grasse, the cradle of France's perfume industry today. Immigrant Imbeau could scarcely have been native of a region of France of greater renown today than the sun-kissed Cote D'Azur. When Marie Louise Marchand arrived in Louisiana has not been established. (lO) Neither is it presently known whether she married Billette before or after coming to the colony, Pierre was in the Natchez area where he met his death as early as 7 April 1722 when he attested the copy of a marriage record made by the keeper of the In-dies company's storehouse on the concession of Mr, le Blanc at the Yazoo, (ll) In the fall of 1721 the Inspector General of the Troops of the Province of Louisiana wrote back to France: (l2) " ... Ihe principal establishment of the concession of Mr. le HLanc is among the Yazous. ,,. There are about 140 persons in this concession—clerks, working men, women and children, including also officers and soldiers. ..." It could be that Billette and Marie Louise were among those 140 -persons. More than likely, she and their son,Anselme, were not in Poitou THE PROVINCES OF FRANCE UNDER THE OLD REGIME Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 9 Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 10 the area when "Pierre Billy, called La Jeunesse, a Gascon," was killed in the Massacre on 28 November 1729 near the Natchez Post by neigh-boring Indians. (13) Documentation of Marie Louise's presence in the colony has not surfaced prior to the cited 1732 marriage to Imbeau. (14) The location of her native "Derdon, Bishopric of Vannes", in France has also remained an enigma. One speculation is that, in the recopying of the marriage record, "Redon", a town in the old province of Brittany (some 30 miles east of Vannes on the Atlantic Ocean) be-came "Derdon". Pre-nuptial information about the maternal immigrant ancestors of the Arkansas Imbeaus is more precise than that for the paternal. Martin Meunier left the port of Lorient, Prance, on the Seine bound for Louisiana on 11 August 1720. He was recruited as a "worker, an edge-tool maker, for the concession of Mr. le Blanc and the Marquis Dasfeld". (l5) In December of 1721 he appears on a "List of Com-pany Workers Who are Actually in Louisiana" as "Martin Meunier, saw-year, performance rated passable". (l6) In 1722 he was employed at New Orleans as a "sawyer" for an annual salary of 150 livres. (l?) On a 15 January 1723 "List of Workers Retained in Louisiana" he is re-ported to be one of the men "who was hired to saw lumber because the work of their trade was no longer required". (18) Place names "Cobre (?) and Chainau", given in the Meunier-Tfeinti-bote marriage record, have not been located. However, there was at that time an Archdiocese of Cambray in Prance (19), and there still can be found on modern maps towns "Corbie" and Cambrai". Corbie is a short distance from Amiens, the location of France's largest Gothic cathedral with a spire soaring 370 feet in the air. Cambrai is some 35 miles northeast of Amiens, near the Belgium border. Martin may have been a native of one of the North of France provinces—Flanders, Artois or Picardie, Louise Tantibote came to Louisiana as a young girl with her par-ents. She is the only one of the parents of the Louisiana Creoles from whom the Arkansas Imbeaus descend whose parents are now known to have immigrated to North America. Among the workers for the Ste, Catherine concession (located in the Natchez area) who embarked on the Company of the Indies ship Loire at the port of Lorient in August of 1720 bound for the colony weret (20) On the same ship was the engage "Jean Louis Longueville, nail-maker" (21) destined far the Ste. Reine concession located on the Mississippi River about "7 lieues" upriver from New Orleans. (22) Possibly it was during the long and tedious voyage to Louisiana that Louise Tantibote and Longueville first became acquainted. Sometime Jean Tatibot Marie Freval Louise Tatibot Jullienne Tatibot Shoemaker Washerwoman A young girl An infant Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 11 between the 1720 departure from the city of her birth and the death of "Louis Longueville - worked on the Kolly concession", during the Natchez Massacre (23), they were married. No issue of this union has been determined. Admittedly, this little more than brings to center stage the stars of this scene, "Imbeaus on the Way", in the drama that was co-lonial Arkansas, It does give direction to hoped for additional re-search efforts by others. Dorothy Jones Gore NOTES and REFERENCES; (1) Mrs. Forsyth is now retired and currently serves as the Eiitor of THE NEW ORLEANS GENESIS. (2) Forsyth and Pleasonton, Louisiana Marriage Contracts (1725-1758). Polyanthos, New Orleans (1980), p 215 (3) "Census of the Inhabitants at Arkansas Post, 2 Dec 1768", AGI, PC, Legajo 107:58 (4) Core, Dorothy J., Abstract of the Catholic Register of Arkansas, (1764-1858), Grand Prairie Historical Society, DeWitt (1976), p 83, Burial record of Anselme Billette. (5) THE NEW ORLEANS GENESIS, Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, Vol. V, Nos, 19 and 20 (6) Core, Dorothy J, "Arkansas Through the Looking Glass of 1743 Documents", Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN, Oct 1979, p 16-24, and Core, op. clt., Abstract. Appendix A, p 74 ?) Kaskaskia Document 56:1:28si 8) Conrad, Glenn R., The First Families of Louisiana. Claitor's Pub-lishing Division, Eaton Rouge (1970), Vol. 1:31 (9) Ibid., 211 (id) There was a "Guillaume Marchand from Gennes" bound for the la Houssaye Concession who sailed from La Rochelle in May of 1718 on the Duchess de Noailles for Louisiana. He is not shown as accompanied by a family. No connection as yet has been made with Marie Louise. (11) Kaskaskia Manuscript Collection, Randolph County, Chester, 111., Document 27:10:23:1 (12) "Early Census Tables of Louisiana", LaHSQ, Vol. 13j222 (13) Conrad, op, cit,, First Families, Vol, 11:133, l4l (14)Marie Louise Marchand's presence in Louisiana at an earlier date is suggested in baptismal records in the St. Louis Cathedral Archives, New Orleans, wherein her son, Anselme Billette, named as the maternal grandfather of two children of Charles Refeld and Marie Magdalene Billette, is said to be "a native of this City" (New Orleans), (15) Conrad, op. cit., First Families, Vol. 1:107 (16) Ibid., 214 (17) Ibid., 217 (18) Ibid., 220 Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 12 (19) Olivier, Reginald L., Your Ancient Canadian Family lies, Everton Publishers, Inc., Logan, Utah (1972), p IX 20) Conrad, op, cit., First Families. Vol. I:ll6, 117 21) Ibid., 109 22) Ibid., Vol. IIi8 23) Ibid., 133, 142 The Grand Prairie Historical Society will honor the trlcenten-nial of Arkansas Post and the sesqulcen-tennial of Arkansas's statehood with the publication of another volume of records of the people of colonial Arkansas. Included will be all located French and Spanish cen-sus enumerations and militia rolls. Co-com-pilers are members Dorothy J. Core and Morris S. Arnold, Work has been underway for two years and availability is projected for January 1986. Pre-publication information will appear in the October 1985 issue, New publications now available from Grand Prairie Historical Society member R, W. Ehonau are: Marriages of Jefferson County, Arkansas (l872-l8?8) - contains 108 pages and continues the marriages to 1871 in Mr. Ehonau's 1980 publi-cation i860 Census & Marriage Records of Jefferson County; and Drew County, Arkansas, i860 Census Report - contains 117 pages printed in the order of the original to show housing arrangement and neighbors. Both volumes have surname index, size 8| x 11 with soft cover, priced $15.00 postpaid. Order froms R. W. Dhonau, 4410 Lee Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72205. NEW MEMBERS Louise Baltimore, Los Banos, CA James E. Clark, Mantee, MS M/M Nelson Eidlemon, Memphis, TN M/M Harold Heflin, Bimond, OK M/M Ralph Haller, Gillett, AR John Laurens III, Charleston, SC M/M Velibor Perlich, MI Robert E. Sampson, San Diego, CA DIED at age 85 on 25 October 1984 ROY PHILIP BOGY, son of Joe Pete and Nancy Kirby Bogy, and father of Grand Prairie Historical Society member, Dorothy Bogy Hillhouse, of Pine Bluff,
Object Description
Description
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Translation/Transcript | Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 IMBEAU - A FIRST FAMILY CF ARKANSAS Page 5 IF there was an hereditary society "First Families of Arkansas", and IF criteria for membership required proven descent from a docu-mented resident prior to 1750, the rolls would not swell rapidly. The reason is twofold. First, even if the standards were "broadened to include all whose ancestors merely traveled through the Arkansas since DeSoto's trek in 1541, the applicants would still be small in number. There simply were numerically few explorers, adventurers, hunters, settlers or troops on the scene before 1750. Second, the paucity of extant records of colonial Arkansas and the widespread distribution of even these would serve as deterrents to all except the most dedicated and persevering of researchers. Reader response to, "But everybody knows the Imbeaus were descen-dants of the Quapaw Indian tribe, undisputed residents of Arkansas during this time," is anticipated. The rebuttal is also twofold. First, the Quapaws had not developed a written language so there are no records to prove eligibility on this descent. The Europeans, as they arrived on the scene, generated documents about the tribe in general, but information about individual Indians and/or family units is limited to non-existent. Second, not all Arkansas Imbeaus are Quapaw descendants. However, all are Louisiana Creole descendants whose immigrant ancestors came to the colony from France as early as 1720. After nearly a decade of wandering up and down the Mississippi Valley in person and by correspondence, spreading the word of interest in any and all references to colonial Arkansas, the Imbeau break-through came in a letter from Alice Daly Forsyth, Archivist, at that time, of the church registers of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, (l) Previously, Mrs, Forsyth had assisted in locating Imbeau baptismal records of known Arkansas connection and was aware of my interest in the surname. It was during the manuscript preparation of the volume of Louisiana marriage contracts co-authored with Ghislaine Fleasonton, that she wrote, "Here's one (record) may be of some help: (2) "30 January 1758 Sieur JEAN BAPTISTE IMBEAUD, a resident of the Illinois, and a native of this Parish of this City, Bishopric of Quebec, minor son of deceased Aubert Imbaud and of deceased Louise Marchand, stipulating for the minor, Anselme Billot called la Jeunesse, entered into a marriage contract with CATHERINE MEUNIER, minor daughter of Martin Meunier, a res-ident of this City, and of Louise T&lebaud, her father and mother, a native of this Church Parish and City. Signing on the part of Sieur JEAN BAPTISTE IMBAUD, the named Anselme Billot, his brother, Joseph Bailly, a resi-dent of this City, his friend. Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 6 And for the above named CATHERINE MEUNIER, Mr. Martin Meunier, her father, Pierre Hardy and Francois Sanson, her friend and a friend of her deceased parent. This marriage to be solemnized in the Holy Roman Gatholic Church. Hie future groom and Sieur Bailly declare they cannot write and have made an ordinary mark. Signing - CATHERINE MENYER, SOGNY, LAJUENESSE, THOMASSIN. PIERRE HARDY, CHANTALON, Notary" All doubts were erased with her added notes "You no doubt know how many times the girls were called by their father* s first name ... " This was one of the many name variants to watch for in researching French colonial records of which I had not, heretofore, been aware. Without Mrs. Forsyth's gracious sharing of her exper-tise gained through the years in working with these records, the Ark-ansas Imbeau story might well still be concealed...at least from this researcher, "Uiat explains the two La Jeunesse households enumerated by Commandant deCLouet at Post of Arkansas in December of 1?68I" I mut-tered to myself. (3) The pieces and bits begin to fall into place. The common denominator, MARIE LOUISE MARCHAND, mother of both Jean Baptiste Imbeau and Anselme Billette, directs the search. (4) In 1758 males in the French colony attained majority at age 25. Based on the preceding marriage contract, Jean Baptiste Imbeau would have been born in New Orleans after 1733« The indices to the extant marriage records 1720 - 1733 held by the archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and published in the NEW ORLEANS GENESIS (5) yielded possibilities: L 0 U I S E HARCHAND with LAMBERT REIBAUT MARTIN MUNIER with LOUISE TANTIBOTTE Odds were promising that the Munier-T&ntibotte would be perti-nent. If Louise Marchand was a "Widow Billette" at the time of the above marriage, the corruption of the groom's name could be accepted as Mrs. Forsyth had advised in our first letter exchange in 1973 that some of the earliest registers in the archives had been re-copied due to deterioration of the originals and allowances had to be made for possible calligraphic misinterpretation by the copier in the spelling of the names. It was jubilee day down on the farm when Mrs. Forsyth's reply arrived with translations of the records of these unions: "MARRIAGE ENTRY in BAPTISMAL BOOK I (1731-1733) page 55 - Act 9 LAMBERT REIBAUT called LaJEUNESSE, Corporal in the Company of Mr. de Pradel, native of La Coll e, St. Paul, in Provence, Diocese of Vannes, son of Etienne Reibaut and of Francoise Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 7 Reigaut •"» Married 9 February 1732 LOUISE MARCHAND, native of Derdon, Bishopric of Vannes, widow of Pierre Billiet called LaJeunesse, who died at Natchez, daughter of Guillaume Marchand and Nicolle Desroche." "MARRIAGE BOOK A - Page 200 - Act 355 MARTIN MUNIER, native of Cobre (?) of Chainau, Bishopric of Cambray, son of Hugues Munier and of Marie Jeanne Houdau Married 19 April 1730 LOUISE TANTIBOTE, Native of Lorient, Bishopric of Vannes, daughter of Jean Tibotte (sic) and of Marie Frualle. widow of Jean Louis Longueville who died at Natchez." Here revealed are the paternal and maternal immigrant ances-tors of the Arkansas Imbeaus. Supplementing these cited records is the documented presence in Arkansas of "Pierre Imbeau dit LaJeunesse" on 23 Oct 1743 and of "Louise Marchand dit LaJeunesse" on 10 July 1744 as previously noted in Grand Prairie Historical Society publi-cations. (6) The clincher is a French colonial document dated 1 January 1756 found in the Kaskaskia Manuscript collection archiv-ed in the old court house of Randolph county at Chester, Illinois. English summary from microfilm held by Stuttgart Public Library: "28 Jan 1756 - Sale of land at Sainte Genevieve by Lambert Imbeau dit La Jeunesse, of Ste. Genevieve, and Anselme Billet dit La Juenesse, of New Chartres, joint heirs with Imbeau's son Jean Baptiste, of the late Marie Louise Marchand, to Antoine Hanau of Ste Genevieve far 250 livres, the land is part of the community property of Lambert Imbeau and the late Marchand according to the note of Commandant McCarty and Buchet on a petition of 5 Apr 1752. Executed at New Chartres." (7) It was during the era of the Company of the West (1717-1732) that the immigrant ancestors of the Arkansas Imbeaus arrived in North America. The "Mississippi Bubble" may have burst and John Law may have been the greatest "con-man" of all times> nevertheless, this was the most creative and prosperous period of the French domination of the lower Mississippi Valley. Before the 1720-21 collapse of Law' paper financial empire, many recruits for the colonization of Louisi-ana had been lured by the glowing accounts of the awaiting opportu-nities. Shipload after shipload of Europeans left French ports bound for Louisiana 1718-1721. These immigrants were predominately French and German, but some were English, Irish, Swiss and Bohemian. Some came by choice, Some were forced to come. A few were prisoners, exiles and adventurers—some even minor noblemen—but most were til- Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 8 lers of the soil, tradesmen and soldiers. The wilderness facing those who survived the hazardous journey across the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico soon amalgamated these disparate groups into one with a common problem—survival as they faced the everyday perils of colonial life. Death and disappoint-ment were constant companions as they struggled against the primitive-ness of the envoirnment and fought to protect families and homes from the native Indians. The hardy among these pioneers began the trans-formation of the vast wilderness here in the heartland of this conti-nent and left a legacy of a new beginning for their descendants. These were the times and conditions here when the French forbears of the Arkansas Imbeaus quit their native land in search of a better life. It could be that "REMBAULT" on the list of the "Troops" who left la Rochelle, France on 26 January 1719, on the Marechal de Villars commanded by M. Meschin, bound for the Louisiana colony, is the immi-grant Imbeau. (8) Almost certainly he is the corporal "LA JEUNESSE" in Pradel's Company on the 2 December 1731 "List of those Persons com-prising Companies Stationed at New Orleans". (9) Lambert Imbeau's French area of origin, La Colle, St. Paul, is still identifiable in the Alpes Maritimes Department of present day France. Situated only a short distance inland from one of the most famous coastlines in the world, it is north of the French Riviera city of Nice. Protected by the Alpes Maritimes, the countryside in this portion of old Provence breaks out in a riot of exotic vegetation; orange, eucalyptus, lemon, olive and pink laurel fill the air with their perfume, while palm and cactus lend a tropical atmosphere to the scenry. Only a short distance to the west is Grasse, the cradle of France's perfume industry today. Immigrant Imbeau could scarcely have been native of a region of France of greater renown today than the sun-kissed Cote D'Azur. When Marie Louise Marchand arrived in Louisiana has not been established. (lO) Neither is it presently known whether she married Billette before or after coming to the colony, Pierre was in the Natchez area where he met his death as early as 7 April 1722 when he attested the copy of a marriage record made by the keeper of the In-dies company's storehouse on the concession of Mr, le Blanc at the Yazoo, (ll) In the fall of 1721 the Inspector General of the Troops of the Province of Louisiana wrote back to France: (l2) " ... Ihe principal establishment of the concession of Mr. le HLanc is among the Yazous. ,,. There are about 140 persons in this concession—clerks, working men, women and children, including also officers and soldiers. ..." It could be that Billette and Marie Louise were among those 140 -persons. More than likely, she and their son,Anselme, were not in Poitou THE PROVINCES OF FRANCE UNDER THE OLD REGIME Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 9 Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 10 the area when "Pierre Billy, called La Jeunesse, a Gascon," was killed in the Massacre on 28 November 1729 near the Natchez Post by neigh-boring Indians. (13) Documentation of Marie Louise's presence in the colony has not surfaced prior to the cited 1732 marriage to Imbeau. (14) The location of her native "Derdon, Bishopric of Vannes", in France has also remained an enigma. One speculation is that, in the recopying of the marriage record, "Redon", a town in the old province of Brittany (some 30 miles east of Vannes on the Atlantic Ocean) be-came "Derdon". Pre-nuptial information about the maternal immigrant ancestors of the Arkansas Imbeaus is more precise than that for the paternal. Martin Meunier left the port of Lorient, Prance, on the Seine bound for Louisiana on 11 August 1720. He was recruited as a "worker, an edge-tool maker, for the concession of Mr. le Blanc and the Marquis Dasfeld". (l5) In December of 1721 he appears on a "List of Com-pany Workers Who are Actually in Louisiana" as "Martin Meunier, saw-year, performance rated passable". (l6) In 1722 he was employed at New Orleans as a "sawyer" for an annual salary of 150 livres. (l?) On a 15 January 1723 "List of Workers Retained in Louisiana" he is re-ported to be one of the men "who was hired to saw lumber because the work of their trade was no longer required". (18) Place names "Cobre (?) and Chainau", given in the Meunier-Tfeinti-bote marriage record, have not been located. However, there was at that time an Archdiocese of Cambray in Prance (19), and there still can be found on modern maps towns "Corbie" and Cambrai". Corbie is a short distance from Amiens, the location of France's largest Gothic cathedral with a spire soaring 370 feet in the air. Cambrai is some 35 miles northeast of Amiens, near the Belgium border. Martin may have been a native of one of the North of France provinces—Flanders, Artois or Picardie, Louise Tantibote came to Louisiana as a young girl with her par-ents. She is the only one of the parents of the Louisiana Creoles from whom the Arkansas Imbeaus descend whose parents are now known to have immigrated to North America. Among the workers for the Ste, Catherine concession (located in the Natchez area) who embarked on the Company of the Indies ship Loire at the port of Lorient in August of 1720 bound for the colony weret (20) On the same ship was the engage "Jean Louis Longueville, nail-maker" (21) destined far the Ste. Reine concession located on the Mississippi River about "7 lieues" upriver from New Orleans. (22) Possibly it was during the long and tedious voyage to Louisiana that Louise Tantibote and Longueville first became acquainted. Sometime Jean Tatibot Marie Freval Louise Tatibot Jullienne Tatibot Shoemaker Washerwoman A young girl An infant Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 11 between the 1720 departure from the city of her birth and the death of "Louis Longueville - worked on the Kolly concession", during the Natchez Massacre (23), they were married. No issue of this union has been determined. Admittedly, this little more than brings to center stage the stars of this scene, "Imbeaus on the Way", in the drama that was co-lonial Arkansas, It does give direction to hoped for additional re-search efforts by others. Dorothy Jones Gore NOTES and REFERENCES; (1) Mrs. Forsyth is now retired and currently serves as the Eiitor of THE NEW ORLEANS GENESIS. (2) Forsyth and Pleasonton, Louisiana Marriage Contracts (1725-1758). Polyanthos, New Orleans (1980), p 215 (3) "Census of the Inhabitants at Arkansas Post, 2 Dec 1768", AGI, PC, Legajo 107:58 (4) Core, Dorothy J., Abstract of the Catholic Register of Arkansas, (1764-1858), Grand Prairie Historical Society, DeWitt (1976), p 83, Burial record of Anselme Billette. (5) THE NEW ORLEANS GENESIS, Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, Vol. V, Nos, 19 and 20 (6) Core, Dorothy J, "Arkansas Through the Looking Glass of 1743 Documents", Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN, Oct 1979, p 16-24, and Core, op. clt., Abstract. Appendix A, p 74 ?) Kaskaskia Document 56:1:28si 8) Conrad, Glenn R., The First Families of Louisiana. Claitor's Pub-lishing Division, Eaton Rouge (1970), Vol. 1:31 (9) Ibid., 211 (id) There was a "Guillaume Marchand from Gennes" bound for the la Houssaye Concession who sailed from La Rochelle in May of 1718 on the Duchess de Noailles for Louisiana. He is not shown as accompanied by a family. No connection as yet has been made with Marie Louise. (11) Kaskaskia Manuscript Collection, Randolph County, Chester, 111., Document 27:10:23:1 (12) "Early Census Tables of Louisiana", LaHSQ, Vol. 13j222 (13) Conrad, op, cit,, First Families, Vol, 11:133, l4l (14)Marie Louise Marchand's presence in Louisiana at an earlier date is suggested in baptismal records in the St. Louis Cathedral Archives, New Orleans, wherein her son, Anselme Billette, named as the maternal grandfather of two children of Charles Refeld and Marie Magdalene Billette, is said to be "a native of this City" (New Orleans), (15) Conrad, op. cit., First Families, Vol. 1:107 (16) Ibid., 214 (17) Ibid., 217 (18) Ibid., 220 Grand Prairie Historical Society BULLETIN Oct 1984 Page 12 (19) Olivier, Reginald L., Your Ancient Canadian Family lies, Everton Publishers, Inc., Logan, Utah (1972), p IX 20) Conrad, op, cit., First Families. Vol. I:ll6, 117 21) Ibid., 109 22) Ibid., Vol. IIi8 23) Ibid., 133, 142 The Grand Prairie Historical Society will honor the trlcenten-nial of Arkansas Post and the sesqulcen-tennial of Arkansas's statehood with the publication of another volume of records of the people of colonial Arkansas. Included will be all located French and Spanish cen-sus enumerations and militia rolls. Co-com-pilers are members Dorothy J. Core and Morris S. Arnold, Work has been underway for two years and availability is projected for January 1986. Pre-publication information will appear in the October 1985 issue, New publications now available from Grand Prairie Historical Society member R, W. Ehonau are: Marriages of Jefferson County, Arkansas (l872-l8?8) - contains 108 pages and continues the marriages to 1871 in Mr. Ehonau's 1980 publi-cation i860 Census & Marriage Records of Jefferson County; and Drew County, Arkansas, i860 Census Report - contains 117 pages printed in the order of the original to show housing arrangement and neighbors. Both volumes have surname index, size 8| x 11 with soft cover, priced $15.00 postpaid. Order froms R. W. Dhonau, 4410 Lee Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72205. NEW MEMBERS Louise Baltimore, Los Banos, CA James E. Clark, Mantee, MS M/M Nelson Eidlemon, Memphis, TN M/M Harold Heflin, Bimond, OK M/M Ralph Haller, Gillett, AR John Laurens III, Charleston, SC M/M Velibor Perlich, MI Robert E. Sampson, San Diego, CA DIED at age 85 on 25 October 1984 ROY PHILIP BOGY, son of Joe Pete and Nancy Kirby Bogy, and father of Grand Prairie Historical Society member, Dorothy Bogy Hillhouse, of Pine Bluff, |
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