Crawdads In My Past

As I have mentioned before, some of my ancestors hailed from a little town in Louisiana called Pointe Coupee.

Austerlitz Plantation was owned by a very distant uncle, a brother to my line of DeCuir's. For some reason, when I look at this photograph, I am fascinated by the person walking on the upper story porch. I have made up several possible storylines for who this mystery person is, even to the extent of giving them a ghostly existence. Ever have a feeling of déjà vu in relation to an old house? For some reason, I get a strange feeling when I look at this picture. I've had it saved on my hard drive for some time, and whenever I open the file, some old foggy memory stirs. But, I could not have ever been at this house, could not have any real memory of it (although. I believe it is restored and standing. Have plans to tour it if ever possible). Funny thing about this very distant uncle - he married a "quadroon", thus his sons were "free men of color". When I first began researching this surname branch, I got excited thinking it was my direct line. Turned out just to be the uncle, but I was hoping it WAS my direct line (although the news did not meet with the same enthusiam within my own family members - oh well.)

My French bloodline has been so interesting to dig into. Family lore has it that a Montpelier grandfather fought a duel and lost over his wife and another man. The widowed wife went on to marry the suspect gentleman and in the listings of her household effects during an auction for debts after Anthony Montpelier's (my great great great grandfather) death, there is mention of a pair of dueling pistols.
Here is an article about a historical duel. Not my aforementioned duel, but good reading.


Some of my ancestors were part of the original "French Mayflower" settlers who came to Louisiana in the 1700's. One such relative, Pierre Mayeaux, was with a band of settlers when they were attacked and massacred by the Natchez Indians. Pierre and one other man were left alive to help the Indians collect and cart the spoils back to the Indian camp. For their service, the Indians set the two men free. This is a good link for a brief history of the massacre.


There are many origins of the French people of Louisiana. The term creole has several meanings:

Many came directly from France before and after the French Revolution. These are referred to as Creoles. (Creole - not to be confused with the popular use of the term today to denote African Americans in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana). French Canadians can be creole, or from other parts of the original French colony of Louisiana, from Haiti, and from other French colonies. Apart from the Creoles, there are the Acadians, who arrived in Louisiana during the years 1765-1785. These and only these are referred to as "Acadians" (Nova Scotia ca 1755-1765-1785.)