Marie-Victoire Thibodeaux Hebert – two of two

My Fifth Great-Grandmother

Bonne Année or Happy New Year. 

It is me, Julie Marie Hebert Delaune again. The last time we talked, it was last year but really, only a few weeks ago. I am Sindi’s fourth great-grandmother on her maternal side. I have returned to finish telling you the story of my mother, Marie-Victoire Thibodeaux Hebert. If you recall, she was an Acadian born in France in 1769 because the English exiled her parents and other Acadians from L’Acadie, what is now Nova Scotia. When she was fifteen, she sailed to Louisiana with her family. Mère married Joseph-Yves Hebert and they had at least twelve children. 

Between 1810 and 1840, my Mère’s family lived in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, along with Père’s brothers and their families and some of Mère’s cousins.^[1]1810 U.S. census, Assumption Parish, Louisiana, population schedule, Assumption, p. 28, Joseph Hebert household; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) microfilm publication M252 … Continue reading Their land was next to Uncle Maturin Hebert’s land. Mère and Père may have enslaved at least four different people between 1820 and 1840. The enslaved probably helped the large household with the cooking and sewing. 

It is possible that my brothers Cirille and Muturin participated as privates in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. They were old enough to participate. More than likely Père did not participate, but three Joseph Heberts did serve.^[2]Pierson, Marion John Bennett, comp. Louisiana Soldiers in the War of 1812 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana Genealogical and Historical Society, 1963) … Continue reading Mère, my sisters and I would have sewn clothes for the soldiers and prepared bandages for the wounded. 

Did you know that steamboats arrived in Louisiana in the early 1800s and were going up and down the Mississippi River in the 1830s and 1840s? It would have been exciting if Mère got to see a steamboat or even board one for a ride up the Mississippi. 

Père died around 1843.^[3]Steven A, Cormier, “Book Ten-2 The Louisiana Acadian ’Begats’,” Acadians in Gray (Acadiansingray.com : viewed 9 January 2022). He would have been over seventy years old. I am not sure when Mère died, but she too would have been in her seventies. What a life my parents had. They grew up poor in the Saint-Malo area of France. Then they boarded La Ville d’Archangel with other Acadian families to go to Louisiana where they started a new life. Soon after arriving in Louisiana under Spanish rule, Spain gave Louisiana back to France. Then the United States of America bought Louisiana from France a few years later. What a whirlwind of political goings on! Père would have had to make sure his property transferred to him each time the government changed. Surely my parents heard something about the Texas Revolution, the Alamo, and the Republic of Texas between 1835 and 1836. 

On the other hand, how happy Mère and Père must have been to be given the opportunity to develop the land as their ancestors had once done in Nova Scotia. They worked hard in the heat and humidity of Louisiana, suffering through hurricanes and crop failures. They had a large family with many children and grandchildren, and they had land to live and work on. What a wonderful way to respond to England’s course of action against Acadians. 

Next week, I will tell you of the amazing story of my mère’s mère, Magdelene Henry. She crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice in the 1700s, once by force and once by choice.