Adelaide Delaune Boudreaux

My Great-Great-Great-Grandmother

Daughter of Alexandre Delaune and Julie Marie Hebert

Wife of Jerome Boudreaux

Mother of Joseph Tulles Boudreaux, Adam Adelard,  Joseph,  Julie Marguerite, Odilia, Jean Baptiste, Marie Angelique, Nemie Victoria, Louise, and Alexandre Aurelien

Sindi: Good day to you. May I call you Adelaide?

Adelaide: Bon jour Sindi. Oui, you may call me Adelaide since addressing me as great-great-great grand-mère seems a bit awkward.

Sindi: Thank you for agreeing to this interview.  It is a pleasure to sit with you and get know you better. Would you mind if I asked you some questions so that my family, your descendants, may get to know you better?

Adelaide: Oui. That means yes in English. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in a conversation with anyone. I would love to answer your questions; but remember, it’s been a long, long time and my memory may not be as good as you would like it to be.  Then there’s the fact that I speak French and you speak English and we don’t speak the other’s language, so some things may be lost in translation.

Sindi: I think we will get along fine.  So here’s my first question, where did you grow up?

Adelaide: Oh, that’s an easy question.  I grew up in Louisiana, near Lafourche. I was the eldest. My mère died when I was about nine years old. She died the day after my sister Seraphine was born.^[1]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, South Louisiana Records Church and Civil Records of Lafourche – Terrebonne Parishes,12 vols. (Cecilia, Louisiana: Rev. Donald J. Hebert, 1978-1985), 1:274.

Sindi: I’m so sorry for you.  That must have been awful. How many brothers and sisters did you have?

Adelaide: My mère was Julie Marie Hebert and she had five children: me and three other girls: Marie Celestine, Rosalie Clemence and Seraphine Eve.^[2]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:178.  Rosalie was named after Père’s sister. Mère also had a little boy, but he died soon after birth.^[3]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:177.  Mon Dieu. We were hoping for a boy, but it was not to be. My mére was beautiful. I loved her so much. 

My père, Alexandre Delaune married Rosalie Olivier about seven years after Mère passed.^[4]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:178. They had a little boy also, but Rosalie (I couldn’t call her Mère; it just didn’t seem right) died and then my little brother died too.  He was named Jean Augustin, after grand-père Delaune.^[5]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:178.

Sindi: Tell me about growing up near Lafourche in the 1800’s.

Adelaide: I was born around 1822. We lived near Thibodeaux. Our family property was near my husband’s family land. After my mère died, I helped Père with the girls. We also lived near my Uncle Cirille Hebert.^[6]1840 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Assumption, p. 19, Veuve Cyril Hebert household; National Archives and Records … Continue reading

Sindi: When did you meet your husband Jerome Boudreaux?

Adelaide: That’s a hard question.  It seems that Jerome was always in my life.  He was married to my cousin Rosalie Hebert, but she died leaving Jerome with two little ones, Josephine and little Rosalie.^[7]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:85. Citation reads “BOUDREAUX, Gerome wid. of Anriette DIEGLE (Joseph & Anne DUGAS) m. 26 Jan. 1835 Rose HEBERT  (Thib. Ch. : v. 1, #482),” and … Continue reading They were married from 1835 until 1839. Since I lived nearby, I would visit with Rosalie and I got along well with Josephine and little Rosalie.  So it was natural for Jerome to ask me to marry him. 

I just realized we had quite a number of Rosalies in the family: Rosalie Delaune, my père’s sister; Rosalie Delaune, my sister; and Rosalie Olivier who Père married after Mère died. Oh, and my cousin, Jerome’s second wife Rosalie Hebert and their daughter Rosalie. Though little Rosalie died in 1841.^[8]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:67. Citation reads: “BOUDREAUX, ROSALIE (Jerome & Rosalie HEBERT) d. 23 Jan. 1841 at age 21 mths. (Thib. Ch.: v.1, #952).”

Sindi: That is a lot of Rosalies. How old were you when you married Jerome?

Adelaide: Hmm. I was about seventeen when he filed the license in October 1839 and we married in a civil service.^[9]”Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957,” database with images, FamilySearch, Acts of Marriage (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-YX9Q-XK?cc=1807364 : 12 December 2021), Vol. … Continue reading We married later in the church.^[10]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 2:123. Citation reads: “DELAUNE, Adelaide (Alexandre & d. Julie HEBERT) m. 28 Dec. 1841 Gerome GOUDREAUX (Thib. Ch.: v. 2, #771).” Our first child, Joseph was born in November 1840 but he died when he was four.^[11]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:63 & 69. Then we had Adam Adelard and then another son who we also named Joseph.^[12]Hebert, South Louisiana Records 1:56 & 62. Citations read: “BOUDREAUX, Adam Adelard (Jerome & Adelaide DELAUNE) b. 23 Oct. 1842 (Thib. Ch. v. 4, #55)” and “BOUDREAUX, Joseph … Continue reading

Sindi: Did Jerome take you to New Orleans to hear Jenny Lind sing in February 1851?

Adelaide: I do recall all the excitement about her visit to New Orleans. You probably wouldn’t know this, but she gave thirteen concerts during her visit to New Orleans and seats were auctioned off at the St. Charles.^[13]Keith S. Hambrick. “The Swedish Nightingale in New Orleans: Jenny Lind’s Visit of 1851.” Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 22, no. 4 (1981): … Continue reading

Sindi: How many children did you have?

Adelaide: Like a good Catholic and Acadian woman, I had a child almost every two years. I had ten children, five boys and five girls. All of the children were baptized in the Catholic church.  We went to church when the priest was in the area. But I taught the children their prayers and we said the Rosary together. 

My second eldest son, Adam Adelard fought in the Civil War. We called it the War of the Rebellion. He got sick in Vicksburg and died there.^[14]Compiled service record, Adelard Boudreau, Pvt., Co. B, 1 Louisiana H. Art’y.; Civil War; Record Group 109: Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate … Continue reading I was so sad in those days.  Jerome also died around that time. It was quite a struggle there for a while, mais oui! My mind gets fuzzy here, so I’m not sure if Joseph or Jean Baptiste served in the war.  Jean Baptiste would have been too young but I do remember him wanting to fight. All young boys want to fight in a war until it actually happens.

What an awful war that was. Sons and husbands leaving families behind and the womenfolk taking care of the farms. It was hard. Then when the men returned, if they returned, they were so damaged. They were missing arms and legs. Those that weren’t injured had their minds scarred just as if they had been wounded.

Sindi: That was a sad time. What did you do after Jerome died?

Adelaide: For a while, I tried to stay in Thibodeaux, but it was just too hard.  Several of my neighbors who were also Boudreaux kin, moved to St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.  So I went along with them.  I took the four younger girls and my youngest son Alexander.^[15]1870 U.S. census, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Centreville, p. 33, dwelling 336, family 326, Adelaide Boudreaux household; National Archives and … Continue reading Julie was married to Alexander Crawford and was living in Franklin. I don’t know how we did it; but we did. That was a hard decision.

Jerome had land, but I cannot recall what I did with the land after he died.^[16]Bureau of Land Management, “Land Patent Search,” images, General Land Office Records (https://glorecords.blm.gov/search/default.aspx#: accessed 11 December 2021), Paul Boudreau and Gerome … Continue reading With the war going on and all the children to worry about, I was anxious all the time. I put all the hard times in the back of my mind. It was best to not dwell on that period.

Sindi: Can we go back to the time before the Civil War for a bit?  I wanted to ask you where you lived at that time.

Adelaide: Of course. Around 1860 we lived near the Attakapas Canal.^[17]1860 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Attakapas Canal, p. 163, dwelling 391, family 384, Gerome … Continue reading I was named after my aunt Adelaide Delaune. She was married to one of the Clement men, and they lived nearby. 

Jerome was a farmer, as were many of our neighbors. Our home was modest and just big enough for our family. 

We lived near the Pughs and the Beasleys who enslaved a lot of people. They each had ten houses for the slaves. Mr. Edouard Blanchard lived very near us and he had enslaved ten people and Mr. Louis Clement who lived close to us also had enslaved five people. Their plantation homes were beautiful.^[18]1860 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, slave schedule, pages 25-27, Walter J. Pugh and J.W. Beasley households; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M653 … Continue reading

I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Jerome paid some of the enslaved to work on our farm when it was harvest time. Even though we had three boys to help, we needed more hands than we had during harvest time.

Père lived with us for a while.^[19]1860 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Attakapas Canal, p. 163, dwelling 391, family 384, Gerome … Continue reading But he stayed in Assumption Parish and lived with Serephine’s family near Napoleonville.^[20]1870 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Napoleonville, p. 18, dwelling 139, family 168, Carville … Continue reading In 1878, yellow fever struck the area. People knew to stay away from town when they saw jars or pitchers of colored water in the pharmacy windows to indicate what diseases were present. Unfortunately, Père, Serephine and her husband and two of her children all died.^[21]Décès au Brûle Labadie,” Pioneer of Assumption (Napoleonville, Louisiana), 30 November 1878, p. 1, col. 3, Chronicling America Historic American … Continue reading That was another sad time. Serephine was only forty-eight years old.

Sindi: Where were you living in 1880?

Adelaide: Let’s see.  At that time, I Iived with Alexander, my youngest son, and my daughter Odelia in St. Mary Parish.^[22]1880 U.S. census, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 168, Fourth Ward, p. 2, dwelling 18, family 19, Alx. … Continue reading  I don’t think she ever married.  If she did, it was after I died. Louise and her family lived nearby.^[23]1880 U.S. census, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 169, Fourth Ward, p. 16, dwelling 159, … Continue reading She had two little boys at that time. Julie lived in St. Mary Parish also.^[24]1880 U.S. census, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 166, p. 9, dwelling 101, family 115, Alex Crawford household; National … Continue reading  She had two boys and two little girls.

Sindi: Tell me about your grandchildren, did you have many? 

Adelaide: Well, I did have plenty of grandchildren while I was alive. Julie had at least five children; Marie Angelique married a Boudreaux and had at least six children; Nemie had seven children and she named her eldest daughter after me. Then there was Louise, I think she had nine. She married Cyprien Carrow. If Alexander married and had children, I can’t recall.  

Now, mon chéri, it is time for me to leave.  I have told you as much as I can remember. What a time I have had with you. Merci. Listen, the other mothers are all anxiously awaiting their turn to tell their stories. You will be here for them, won’t you?

Sindi: Oh, grand-mère, it I who should thank you.  If it were not for you, I wouldn’t be here.  Or I would be some Englishman’s child instead of Acadian descent. 

Yes (or should I say oui), the other mothers will get their turn. Next week I will be sharing your mother’s story, Julie Marie Hebert.

Adelaide: Oh, she will like that. You will like her.

Sindi: I am sure that I will like her. But I do have one more question, grand-mère. I can’t find when you died. Can you tell me when that happened?

Adelaide: Oh, mon chéri, that is not important. What is important is that you remember I lived. Au revoir.

Sindi: Merci, merci.