Adele Ordonot Carrow 

My Third Great-Grandmother 

Daughter of Etienne Ordonot (Ordonnaux) and Marie Emmee Blanchard 

Wife of John Carrow (Caro)

Mother of Cyprien, Joseph, Henri Desire (died at 8 months), Olivia, Elfrida Adele, Octavie Aimee, John Mirebel, Emelie Flavie, Etienne Arthur, Louise Emma, Ferdinand Lee, J. Eugene, and Anna Eugenie

My maternal grandmother, Velma Mary Carrow Provost, was the great-granddaughter of Adele Ordonot on her paternal side. This post and those following will now focus on the maternal line of Adele Ordonot.

The name Adele means noble. Indeed, Adele Ordonot Carrow was a noble woman having given birth to at least thirteen children. Amazingly, she did this between 1852 and 1874, at a time when women frequently died during childbirth. Who assisted Adele during each labor and delivery? Was it her mother, Marie Emmee Blanchard who had at least nine children herself? Or maybe her sisters or cousins gave her support during those days the children came forth into the world. Was there any chance that chloroform was available to her during her labor to relieve the pain as it was available after 1847 for women in labor.^[1]Kat Eschner, “It Didn’t Take Very Long for Anesthesia to Change Childbirth,” Smithsonian Magazine, 27 December 2017; digital image … Continue reading 

Adele Ordonot was the fifth child of Etienne Ordonot (Ordonnaux) and Marie Emmee Blanchard. Her mother was born in France to deported Acadians. Her father was also from France though he was not Acadian. Adele was born 6 May 1834 in Thibodaux, Louisiana.^[2]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes, 1:417 (Cecilia, Louisiana, 1978). Her name is recorded as Adeline Ordeneaux in the sacramental records, probably those of St. Joseph parish. In comparison to Velma’s other great-grandmothers, Adele was about twelve years younger than Adelaide Delaune and about three years younger than Melanie Toups.  

Mr. Verret, the enumerator of Terrebonne, Louisiana for the 1850 United States census observed the following when he visited Adele’s family.  (Please note, spelling of names was not always consistent prior to the 1900s. Many people did not know how to spell their own name, especially if they did not read or write. It was the recorder’s discretion how a name was spelled; thus names will not be spelled consistently in the different census records or in this post.)

“I visited the home of Etienne Ordonneau (that is how I chose to spell his surname) on 10 November 1850. The person I talked to told me that Etienne was fifty-one at the time and was born in France. He was a farmer who could read and write. The value of his real estate property was $2700. There was a woman in the house named Marie who was forty-two and born in Louisiana. There were five children in the house, all born in Louisiana; and I recorded their names as follows: Jean (12), Etienne (19), Adile (17), Marie (11) Eugene (14) and Alfred (10).^[3]1850 U.S. census, Terrebonne, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 675, dwelling 413, family 413, Etienne Ordonneau household; National Archives and Records … Continue reading  An older daughter of Etienne and Marie’s lived next to them, Marie Aimee and her husband Rosemand Forest with their two toddlers.^[4]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes, 2:287. There were some Blanchards also living nearby, but I don’t think they were Marie Ordonneau’s brothers. 

The neighborhood was a mixture of Acadians and non-Acadians. Many of the farmers were planting sugar cane, cotton, and vegetables. Some of the farms were rather large, valued as much as $40,000 or more; others were small and valued at $800 or less.” 

Two years later, Adele, at age seventeen, married John Carrow of Plounesse, France, 26 January 1852 in Houma, Louisiana.^[5]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes, 3:124. He was twenty-three and the son of Joseph Carrow and L’Anna Le Ridere.^[6]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, South Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes, 3:124. They went to the Houma Courthouse for their marriage license. John B. Harris, a neighbor of the Ordonot family served as a witness.^[7]1850 U.S. census, Terrebonne, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 675, dwelling 416, family 416, John B. Harris household; National Archives and Records … Continue reading 

On 4 June 1860, E.B. Guidry, enumerator for Terrebonne, Louisiana, visited Adele’s home in the 12^th Ward near Houma. This is what Mr. Guidry had to say about his visit to the home.  

“Mr. Carraux was born in France, as were three or four other farmers in the area. I Americanized the spelling of his first name Jean to John. He could not read or write in French or English. He was thirty-two. His real estate and personal estate were each valued at $300. The value of the farm they lived on was lower compared to other nearby farms  

There was a woman in the house, I presume his wife, named Adele who was twenty-six. She couldn’t read or write either. There were four children in the house. Their son Cyprien was seven years old and was attending school. The other children were Joseph (6), Alvina (4), and Adela (1).^[8]1860 U.S. census, Terrebonne, Louisiana, population schedule, Ward 12, p. 2, dwelling 9, family 9, John Carraux household; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm … Continue reading I did not ask which school Cyprien attended but there was a public school nearby as well as the Catholic school ran by the parish of St. Joseph.”^[9]Historical Records Survey (Louisiana), “Inventory of the Municipal Archives of Louisiana, Town of Thibodaux,” Louisiana State University Department of Archives, 1942, pgs. 15-16; digital … Continue reading

During the War Between the States, Thibodaux was occupied by the Union Army in 1862.^[10]Historical Records Survey (Louisiana), “Inventory of the Municipal Archives of Louisiana, Town of Thibodaux,” Louisiana State University Department of Archives, 1942, pgs. 6-7; digital … Continue reading Did Adele’s family fall victim to Jayhawkers^[11]“In Louisiana, the term was used to describe anti-Confederate guerrillas.”   Jayhawker, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayhawker : viewed 3 February 2022). who robbed and pillaged citizens of Opelousas, Houma, and other towns? When the Texas Confederate army headed toward Thibodaux and the Union Army burned bridges and farmland during their escape, was Adele’s family farm burned? No family stories have been passed down through the generations to tell. 

Adele’s mother Marie Emmee Blanchard died 5 June 1866 at age 62 years in Houma.^[12]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records: Church and Civil Records, (1875-1876), 47 vols, (Cecilia, Louisiana: Rev. Donald J. Hebert, 1978) 19:84. When Adele’s father Etienne married Hortense Boudreau, the widow of John Gardner, 6 July 1869 in Thibodaux, Adele’s husband served as a witness.^[13]Kenneth B. Toups, “Marriage Records and Bonds LaFourche Parish 15 November 1866 – 12 February 1870,” Terrebonne Life Lines, Vol. 8, No. 4, … Continue reading  

Between 1871 and 1880, Adele’s family may have lived in Montegut, Louisiana, which is about fifteen miles southeast of Houma as several of the children were born in Montegut.^[14]June Porche Ruble, “Our Caro Ancestors in France,” Terrebonne Life Lines, Vol. 21, No.3, p. 225-226. However, the family has not been found in the 1870 census records.^[15]No results were found when using the following search parameters Ancestry.com for the 1870 U.S. census: Jean Carrow, born 1828 in France, living in Louisiana; J* Car*; Jean C*; Adele C*, A* Car*, … Continue reading During The Reconstruction Era, many people had left their homes and were not enumerated in 1870. Four of the children were named after Adele’s brothers and sisters. Cyprien, Adele’s oldest son, at age eighteen, moved to St. Mary, Louisiana, and was employed as a domestic servant and living in the household of Kate Berwick.^[16]1870 U.S. census, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Fourth Ward, p. 13, dwelling 143, family 133, Kate Berwick household; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm … Continue reading While Adele was raising the last of her children, her older children began marrying. Cyprien married Louise Boudreaux, Joseph married Mathilde Zulma Callahan and Olivia married Julien Theodore Porche. 

When the 1880 U.S. census was taken, Charles Tennent was the enumerator for the 3rd Ward of Terrebone. He visited Adele’s home 29 June 1880 and he reported the following: 

“The large Carreau family had eleven children, ages one to twenty-seven. I used the spelling C-a-r-r-e-a-u. Mr. Carreau was a farmer, and Mrs. Carreau was keeping house. Two of the older daughters (Olivia (24) and Aime (20) were “at school” along with four of the younger children, Marie (15), Ema (10), Lee (7), Louise (6), Eugene (4) and Jeanne (1). Sons Joseph (27) and John (18) were laborers. The Carreaus lived near or with two other families: Edwin C. Belanger who was married with five children: and a young widower, Taylor Porche, with two young children.”^[17]1880 U.S. census, Terrebonne, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 187, 3rd Ward, p. 43, dwelling number 387, no family number John Carreau household; National Archives … Continue reading

Jean Carrow died before 1900. A Jean Carrow was recorded as having died in a drowning accident 14 July 1888; but there is no evidence that this Jean Carrow is ours.^[18]Hebert, South Louisiana Records, 8:118. Citation reads “Carreau, Jean d. 14 July 1888 in a drowning accident at the canal in Lockport.” Jean Carrow’s death is also recorded … Continue reading How did Adele keep the family solvent when she had at least four children ranging in ages 9-15 still living at home?  

At the turn of the century, the census enumerator, Sam Blum, visited Adele Carrow’s farm on 14 June 1900 in the second ward of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. Sam said this about this visit. 

“Adele was a widow and I recorded her name as Mrs. Jean Caro and she was the head of the household. She was sixty-eight years old having been born May of 1834. It was reported that she was the mother of fourteen children but only eleven were living at the time. It was also reported that Adele could not read, write, and did not speak English. She owned the farm where she lived. Her son Lee lived with her, and his occupation was farmer. There was a boarder by the name of Emma Hebert who was fifty years old and a widow. Son-in-law Theophile Savoie, widower of Aimee Octavie also lived nearby. Aimee had had eleven children, with ten living.”^[19]1900 U.S. census, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 25, Second Ward, p.15, dwelling 277, family 292, Theophile Savoie household; National Archives … Continue reading

Adele’s children gave her an abundance of grandchildren. She had as many as sixty-nine. That would be one big Christmas party if they all gathered in one place. 

Adele’s children and their spouses	Number of Grandchildren
Cyprien and Louise Boudreaux	9
Joseph and Mathilde Zulma Callahan	1
Henri Desire	0
Olivia and Julien Theodore Porche	11
Elfrida Adele and Washington Levron	4
Octavie Aime and Theophile Savoie	10
John Mirebel and Justine Pitre	8
Emelie Flavie Marie and Valery Pontiff	10
Etienne Arthur and Nathalie Crochet	3
Louise Emma and George Savoie	8
Marie Louise and Frank Smith	No information
Lee Ferdinand and Evelida Marie Lecompte	1
Anna Eugenie	0
Eugene Edgar and Inezida Hotard	4

One last time, the U.S. census enumerator, Clay J. Thibodaux, visited the home of Adele Caro. Clay found her at 64 Bayou Blue on 29 April 1910. Adele was living alone on a farm which she owned without a mortgage. Her daughter Elfrida, who was married to Washington Levon, lived nearby. Son-in-law Theophile Savoie was also living nearby. They lived in Ward 2 of Lafourche. At that time Adele was seventy-seven years old and spoke French as did almost everyone living nearby. She was attributed to bearing thirteen children with ten living.^[20]1910 U.S. census, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, enumeration district (ED) 37, Second Ward, p.14A, dwelling 208, family 211, Jean Caro household; National Archives and Records … Continue reading  C’est la vie! 

Though Adele lived until 18 November 1920, she has not been found in the 1920 U.S. census.^[21]No results were found in Ancestry.com looking in Louisiana or nearby states using the following search terms: Birthplace Louisiana, Year of Birth 1834, Adele Carrow, A* Car*, Adele C*, Jean Caro, J* … Continue reading

Adele’s great-granddaughter, my grandmother, Velma Mary Carrow, was born in 1903. Did the two ever meet? Though Velma’s family lived in Jeanerette, Louisiana, and Adele in Lafourche, which was about seventy miles distant, Velma may have met her great-grandmother since she was alive until Velma was seventeen. 

A gravestone for Adele Ordonneau Caro records her birth in the year 1836 and death in 1920. She is buried next to her husband Jean Caro. They are buried in Saint Francis de Sales Cemetery in Houma.^[22]Find A Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100307577/odele-adelina-caro : viewed 5 February 2022, memorial 100307577, Odel Adelina ”Adele” … Continue reading

Next week, Adele’s mother, Marie Emmee Blanchard Ordonot will be presented.