Scholastique Hebert Guidry

My Fifth Great-Grandmother

Daughter of Jean Charles Hebert & Magdelene Robichaud 

Wife of Joseph Guidry 

Mother of Julienne (1794), Marie Aspasie (1795–1864), Joseph (1797–1828), Alexandre (1800), Marie Arsene (1801), Marguerite (1804), Child (1806–1808), Marie (1807), Clemence, (1808), Antoine (1811), Onesime (1812), Elisa (1815), Eusebe (1818), Scholastique Azelie (1819) 

Now here is a name you do not see today, Scholastique, which is the name of a Roman Catholic Saint. Believe it or not, it was a common name among Acadians. There may be approximately 300 people in the world who have that name today. Scholastique was probably named after her aunt, Scholastique Borda.^[1]Rev. Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records Church and Civil Records of Settlers (Eunice, Louisiana: Rev. Donald J. Hebert. 1974), 1:60. “BORDA, Scholastique (Antoine, a surgeon & … Continue reading This Scholastique then named one of her daughters Scholastique.^[2]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 2:401. “GUIDRY, Scholastique Azelie (Joseph & Scholastique HEBERT) b. 8 Sept. 1819 (SM Ch.: v.7, #1089).” Velma Mary Carrow Provost is the third great-granddaughter of Scholastique through her maternal line. 

Scholastique’s parents may have arrived in Louisiana as early as 1765 with the Broussards when a group of Acadians left Nova Scotia. Most of this group had been imprisoned by the English in Halifax, Nova Scotia. When the Seven Years War ended, they were not wanted in Nova Scotia and allowed to leave. The Broussard contingent first went to Santa Domingo (Haiti) but decided it was not a healthy place to live. They were then planning to go to Illinois but decided to stay in Louisiana when they stopped in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Spanish government offered them land and supplies to populate Louisiana. Scholastique’s father, Jean Charles Hebert, may have traveled with an aunt and uncle. Her mother, Magdelene Robichaud, was with her parents.  

Scholastique’s birthdate is unknown, but she was baptized 5 May 1776 in St. Martinville, Louisiana, just before the Americans declared independence from England. Her generation was the first of her family to be born in Louisiana. Her godparents were Claude Broussard and Geneviève Robichaud.^[3]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1A:417. Geneviève was probably her aunt. 

When the Acadians arrived in Louisiana, they had to adjust to a new way of life, new climate, and new surroundings. There was much development that had to be done. Land for farming had to be cleared, levees built, and houses had to be constructed. Keeping the tradition of their Acadian lifestyle, family groups lived near each other, intermarried, and helped each other with the more difficult tasks. In 1781, Scholastique’s family lived in Attakapas near her grandmother, Marguerite Martin Robichaud Borda. Her father had 10 arpents of land (an arpent is just under an acre) and thirty animals.^[4]General Census and Tax List for the Church at Attakapas, 1781” Attakapas Gazette, vol. 20, Spring 1985, No. 1: … Continue reading Scholastique may have been the second born of a family with ten children.^[5]Sindi Broussard Terrien, “Carrow-Walker Family Tree,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/76901568/person/46353451849/facts : viewed 24 April 2022), … Continue reading Did she have time to play along the banks of Bayou Teche or was she kept busy helping with her younger brothers and sisters?  

Joseph Guidry, a fellow Acadian, married Scholastique 3 September 1793 in St. Martinville. Witnesses were David Guidry, Joseph Hebert, Agricole Hebert, and Bernard Dauterive. Father George Murphy presided.^[6]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1A:417. While three of the witnesses were most likely family, Bernard Dauterive was probably the son of Antoine Dauterive who signed a contract with Joseph “Beausoleil” Broussard and other Acadians when they first arrived in Louisiana. Based on Scholastique’s date of baptism, she may have been as young as seventeen when she married. Keeping with the tradition of marrying into nearby families, Joseph’s older brother had married Scholastique’s aunt, her mother’s half-sister several years earlier.^[7]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1:60. Citation reads “BORDA, Marie Modeste (Antoine & Marguerite MARTIN) m. 25 Sept. 1787 Louis David GUIDRY (Opel. Ch. v.1, p. 10).” Scholastique’s sister, Solange married Joseph’s brother Jean Baptiste four years later.^[8]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1:285. Citation reads “HEBERT, Solanges (Jean Charles & Magdeleine ROBICHOT) m. Jean Baptiste GUIDRY (SM Ch.).”

Scholastique’s first child was Julienne born around 1794. Marie Aspasie, her second child, was born the same year that Scholastique’s brother Valmont Hebert was born in 1795. She and her mother were pregnant together again when her son Joseph was born and her sister Marguerite Hebert was born in 1797. Scholastique gave birth to at least thirteen children between 1795 and 1819.^[9]Sindi Broussard Terrien, “Carrow-Walker Family Tree,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/76901568/person/46353451836/facts : viewed 24 April 2022), Scholastique … Continue reading

In 1809, Scholastique’s family was living in Attakapas. Her husband was recorded with four enslaved people and thirteen arpents of land with an estimated value of $1,800.^[10]Mary Elizabeth Sanders, “Census of the Attakapas, 1809,” Attakapas Gazette, vol. 10 Winter 1975 No 4: 192-195. The Guidry land was one of the more valuable properties in the area. Pierre Lapoint and Jean Leger’s properties were valued at $1,000.^[11]Sanders, “Census of the Attakapas, 1809,” Attakapas Gazette, vol. 10, No 4:193. Her parent’s family lived nearby. They lived in the western area of “Vermillon.”  

Age	Males	Females
under 10	1 – Alexandre	3 – Marie Arsene, Marguerite, Marie
10-15	1 – Joseph	2 – Marie Aspasie, unknown
26-44	1 – Joseph	1 – Scholastique
Enslaved People			6

A year later, Scholastique’s family was again recorded very near her parents. The number of enslaved people increased by two.^[12]Only the head of household was identified in the 1810 census. A best guess was made as to who enumerated persons were based on age, sex and baptism records. 1810 U.S. census, Territory of Orleans, … Continue reading Agricole Hebert was also living in the same area. He had been a witness to her marriage in 1793.^[13]1810 U.S. census, Territory of Orleans, Louisiana, population schedule, Parish not stated p. 63, Agricole Hebert household; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm … Continue reading

Early in her married life, Louisiana changed hands three times, from Spain, back to France in 1800 and then to the newly formed United States of America in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. When Louisiana became a state in 1812, the landowners and Acadians had to file a claim for their land which was then confirmed or rejected. 

It is very likely that her husband and possibly her son Joseph participated in the Battle of New Orleans.^[14]Though there is a Joseph Guidry identified as having participated in the Battle of New Orleans, there is no other identifying information to determine which Joseph Guidry participated. There may have … Continue reading Whether or not her husband or son participated, there must have been a lot of anxiety awaiting the news of the war. More than likely, the family supported the effort to defeat the British either with front line efforts, physical labor, or food supplies.  

Daughter Aspasie married Ursin Patin in 1816. Several of Scholastique’s children married into the same families: three sons married into Broussard families and two of her daughters married Duhons.^[15]Steven A. Cormier, “Appendices: Acadians Who Found Refuge in Louisiana, February 1764-early 1800s: … Continue reading As stated above, sister Solange married Aspasie’s brother-in-law. 

In 1820, Scholastique and her parents were still living near each other. Parish boundaries changed and their land became part of the Parish of Saint Martin, Louisiana. With eleven white people and sixteen enslaved people, the household was quite large. Son Joseph Guidry, Jr. and daughter Aspasie Guidry Patin lived nearby.^[16]Only the head of household was identified in the 1820 census. A best guess was made as to who enumerated persons were based on age, sex and baptism records. 1820 U.S. census, St. Martin Parish, … Continue reading

Age	Males	Females
under 10	2 – Onesime and Eusebe	2 – Elisa, Scholastique Azelie
10-15	1 – Antoine	2 – Marie & Clemence
16-25		1 – Marie Arsene or Marguerite
26-44	1 – Alexandre
45 and over	1 – Joseph	1 – Scholastique
Enslaved People	2 under 14  3 between 14-25  3 between 25-44	3 under 14  3 between 14-25  2 26-44

As the wife of a landowner in the Lafayette area of Louisiana, Scholastique would have managed the household and oversaw the enslaved people who worked within the house. At least three of her sons could sign their names.^[17]Alexandre Guidry, Eusèbe Guidry and Antoine Guidry each signed their names in the Ursin Patin’s succession documents. Succession of Ursin Patin deceased, Succession Volume A … Continue reading Were they taught by a tutor, or did they go to a private school? As a landowner who appears to have had some wealth, one must wonder if Scholastique ever got to go to New Orleans. If so, did she and Joseph go via pirogues and barges or possibly a steamboat? Did she buy her goods from traveling merchants who sold their items from barges? Did she sing? Did she plant flowers and garden? 

Scholastique died 26 July 1828 at 11:30 p.m. at fifty-two years of age. She was buried the next day in the church cemetery.^[18]Find A Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141340747/marie-scholastique-guidry  : viewed 24 April  2022, memorial 141340747, Marie … Continue reading Her son Joseph, about thirty years old, had drowned a few months earlier.^[19]Find A Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180294717/joseph-guidry  : viewed 25 April  2022, memorial 180294717, Joseph Guidry Jr., Saint John … Continue reading Scholastique’s parents outlived her. When the 1830 census was taken, there was a man in Jean Charles’s household between 90 and 100 years old and a female between the ages of eighty and ninety years old.^[20]1830 U. S. census, Lafayette, Louisiana, population schedule, p. 149, Jean Charles Hebert household, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M19, roll … Continue reading Jean Charles died in October of 1830.^[21]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 2: 438. “HEBERT, Jean Charles m. Madeleine ROBICHAUD d. 24 Oct. 1830 at age 93 yrs. – died Oct. 23rd in morning. (Laf.Ch.: v.2, p. 103).” Her mother Magdelene Robichaud, died nine months later at the age of 83.^[22]Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 3:559. “ROBICHAUD, Magdelaine m. d. Jean Charles HEBERT d. 24 July 1831 at age 83 yrs. (Laf. Ch.: v. 2, p. 110)”

The next posting will focus on Magdelene Robichaud and her life from L’Acadie to Louisiana.