Family Histories

Family Histories are in surname order. To access the entire history click the name. Some are voluminous, 300-1400 pages, and may take some time to load, but the result is worth the wait.

These histories each have individual surname indexes. A comprehensive Surname Index of all names on this site is available from the Surnames Index link shown on the left.

Joseph Noel Beausoleil Broussard, the famous leader of the Acadian Resistance, had many descendants, most of whom located near the town of Broussard in Southwest Louisiana, named for Beausoleil. However, there was a branch of his family which went back to live on the Mississippi River. Here is a sketch of them.

Pierre Aman Cire, Sr was an Acadian and a merchant who plied the Mississippi River from New Orleans to Arkansas. His son, Pierre Aman Cire, Jr., always known as Pierre, was born in Arkansas, but brought back to the Donaldsonville-St. James area to be christened. His father died when he was an infant. His mother, Marie Rose Bourg, married again and had other children, but Pierre was her only child with Aman Cire. Pierre and his family are one of the founding families of Donaldsonville. Many of their descendants still live in and around Donaldsonville, Ascension, and Iberville parishes. Pierre prospered, and indeed became very well-to-do. His original plantation house, greatly altered, still stands on the river road below Donaldsonville amidst many other houses. It is possibly still occupied by one of his descendants as it was in the 1970's. Pierre owned a sizable plantation and a large brick factory in Donaldsonville. These businesses remained in the family for several generations and employed his children and grandchildren. Pierre lived a very long life which is why there are a number of photographs extant of him and his family.

Johann Jacob Folse, seduced by John Law and his "Mississippi Bubble", was an early settler of the German Coast. He arrived about 1720 and learned to farm and prosper. His descendants are legion. The Folses became plantation and slave owners. His gr-gr-gr grandson was L. N. Folse. Lusignan N. Folse was born on his mother's "Berthe" plantation in Assumption Parish just downstream from the Church of the Assumption in Plattenville. The Civil War took a great toll on the family--they lost much property and virtually all of their fortune. They were reduced to working the fields themselves. Then the yellow fever swept many of the family members away, including their father. After a few years of struggling, his mother gave up and sold out to meet her debts. Well connected, L. N. was industrious and focused. He married Léa Bourgeois, the daughter of prosperous planter, Émile Bourgeois. His godfather, Mr. Pugh, played some financial role in educating him and getting him started in a "traveling store" business and then in a partnership on Bon Sécour plantation in St. James parish. In 1898 he purchased the Texas plantation for $60,000, consisting of 1100 acres of land, a store, labor houses, a sugar house, the "big" house and all the other buildings that made up such a complex. He was a community leader and board member for an early bank that failed. His family still lives in the River parish area and they still own the Texas plantation.

Pierre Philippe Lambremont, his family, and 99 other families left the Duchy of Hainault, now part of Belgium, in 1720. After spending a year in Biloxi, MS, the government assigned him lands in the Pt. Coupée area. He helped found the St. François Church on the Mississippi River now in Pt. Coupée parish, but was unfortunate enough to be living at Ft. Rosalie, now Natchez, in 1729 when the Indians raided and massacred almost everyone. His infant son was hidden and survived. From this child descend all the Lambremonts in the United States.

Daniel LeBlanc ( 1495 pages)

Daniel LeBlanc, laborer, and probably a French serf, arrived in Acadie to colonize. He married a widow and begat the Acadian 'famille LeBlanc'. This is an attempt to show some of his descendants.

Desiré LeBlanc was a child of the famous René LeBlanc, the Notary of Grand Pré, immortalized in Longfellow's poem, "Evangeline". Cast out of Acadie by the British in 1755, Desiré and his family were set down in Maryland where they remained ten years. In 1765, answering the Spanish government's call for settlers, and knowing many of their Acadian relatives and friends were joining others who had arrived earlier, Desiré made his way to the fork of the Chetimatches or Bayou Lafourche. His land grant was on the upper part of what is now Evan Hall plantation. He and his children faced incredible hardships. The law required they build a levee and a road in front of their property. They had to clear out the original growth of trees using axes and saws, perhaps "passe-partout" saws if they'd been invented. On these lands they grew indigo and whatever was needed for their sustenance. Within a few years, these determined refugees had improved their land and were able to purchase slaves. Their children and grandchildren were educated. One of Desiré's great-grandsons, Trasimond Landry, was Lieut. Governor of Louisiana. Desiré's family participated in the founding of Ascension Catholic Church and fought in the Battle of Baton Rouge against the British. Many, many descendants live in and around the Ascension parish area, born within a few miles of Desiré's original landgrant.

Andrés Templet was born in France, emigrated to Acadie where he married and had several children. He was sent back to France aboard "La Reine d'Espagne" in about 1758. His wife having died, he remarried another Acadian exile. They embarked for New Orleans with a number of relatives and friends, settling in the Bayou Lafourche area below Donaldsonville. He is the progenitor of all the Templets in Louisiana.

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