The Earliest Cousin

The following is a letter from my Great Uncle Bernard received by my father. My family history has always been fascinating to me, but i have never known as much about my paternal heritage as I do now. I feel that this newfound lineage is something to be quite proud of, and really kind of want to explore the family buildings that are still standing today.

This is from Uncle Bernard:

I started researching our family history about 15 years ago - and it took several years to put the biggest pieces of the puzzle together. Our earliest "Cousin" ancestor came from France. His name was Pierre (1710-1745). Pierre was the son of Antoine Cousin and Marie Dufret. Antoine was born in 1686; Marie was born in 1688. They were married at St. Catherine's church in Lille, Flanders (at the time part of France but now part of Belgium). St. Catherine's church is still standing and is very active. Antoine was a "barister" (lawyer). He apparently died before his son Pierre was born - according to records that I asked someone to dig up for me. That someone, by the way, was Michel Cousin of Lille. We met on the internet. He was happy to help me with the research.

Pierre must have joined the French Navy, then was stationed in N.O. during the early years of French occupation. I found reference to him as being an officer in the French Navy, then later a carpenter. He married Marie Francoise Renard in 1740. They also had a second child named Rene, but that child apparently died at birth. After Pierre died Marie remarried a Swiss Soldier named Joly. When her son Jean Francois reached adulthood she gave him his inheritence, which was about 300 Pesos (Spain owned LA at the time).

At some point the King of Spain started handing out land grants, and Jean Francois stood in line for his. He wound up with over 4400 "arpents" - around 4000 acres - of land on the northshore. His northshore holdings were in three parcels: One along Bayou Liberty/Bonfouca/Paquet (today Western Slidell), another on Bayou Lacombe which stretched westward to Bayou Cane, and a third further to the northeast of land that was owned by Mandeville Marigny. I sent you a picture of the map that outlines his holdings. For what its worth, he also owned land in the French quarter - a block between Royal and Bourbon on Conti - and a warehouse on what is now the corner of Orleans and North Robertson. I have a copy of his will and a copy of the inventory of his property that was taken after his death. He had over 1100 head of cattle, close to 100 slaves and houses in Lacombe, Slidell (still standing and known as Cousin-Lowry), and New Orleans in the French Quarter.

Jean Francois Cousin was the single largest landholder in Louisiana. He owned brick and lumber operations on the northshore. A major fire in N.O. around 1800 prompted a law that required all future buildings in the French Quarter to be made of brick. Jean Francois became very rich as a result, selling his bricks for 1c each.

Jean Francois married twice. The first was to Catherine Peuche Carriere - widow of Jaques Carriere. Their first child was Francois Cousin (I will call him Junior), born in 1786. Their second was Louise Cousin. (Louise married Dominique Rouquette and had 7 children, one of whom was Father Adrien Rouquette (Chahta Ima)). Louise and her husband built their first home at 417 Royal Street (now occupied by Brennan's). If you visit Brennan's you can see the initials "DR" in the wrought iron surrounding the balcony). There was a third child named Celeste.

After Catherine died Jean Francois married Cesaire Ducre. They had 5 children (Terrance, Anatole, Cesaire Adolphe, Eliza and Myrthee. I found Cesaire Ducre's obituary in the archives of the N.O. Public Library, written in French. She died in 1840. Jean Francois died in 1819. I previously sent you a picture of a plaque that is hanging in the back of St. Louis Cathedral that commemorates the early parishoners of that church. Among the names are Cousin, Ducre, and Carriere.

Francois Cousin (Junior) lived like a wilderness man in Lacombe. His house is still standing - just across the street from Sacred Heart church. Its in shambles but it is there. Francois Cousin Junior never married. But he had 11 children, as follows:

a. With Rosaime Yaque half breed daughter of a choctaw and a white man - 5 children: John, Joseph, Delphine, Francois, Louis.

Nemours Cousin behind an unknown man with a shovel

b. With Eugenie Judice, one-fourth choctaw and 2/3rds white - 6 children: Peter, Felix, Octave, Anatole, Marie Rosa and Bazelied.

Louis (paragraph a above) married Mathilde Chastide Bruet and had two sons: Joinville and Nemours. Joinville was Peter Cousin's grandfather. Nemours was your great-grandfather. Peter's choctaw ancestry stems from having Rosaime Yaque as a great great grandmother.

Anatole (paragraph b above) married Margaret Ducre. They had 10 children: Lorante, Camille,

Eugenie Cousin

Amadar, Eugenie, Athenaise, Basilete, Seymour, Blair, Francis and James.



Nemours Cousin, son of Louis Cousin, and Eugenie Cousin, daughter of Anatole Cousin, were married in 1882.



For what its worth, marriages among relatives were quite common and quite acceptable at that time (and still are today in many parts of the world). Our family has a long and rich history in Louisiana - there is so much more to tell. There is a lot to be proud of. There is also a "dark" side from which I think my father and his parents tried to separate...

Many of my closer friends know that I have a great great great(?) grandmother who was black (It's my fiancé's favorite party trick). This is the dark complexioned side to which my uncle was referring. The "dark"side comes from Nemours marriage to Eugenie. Nemours looks more black/Indian than white. Eugenie's brother Peter's son is black. The "s" was added to Cousin (coo-zan) to make it Cousins by my great-grandfather to distance himself from the black side. Uncle Benard told my dad that my great-grandmother requested that he do it so her children who were white would stop getting black put on their birth certificates. 

To think, I never would have found out that I am part Choctaw had my uncle never done this research! I am quite a mix of peoples! I am quite proud of all of the lives listed here, and look forward to making plans to explore the lands outlined here.