He attended, along with all his nine elder siblings, a private Catholic “Colored” school (3) even though both parents worked at low paying jobs. With his parent’s vision and his determination, he was successful in business, his community and he was an active civil rights supporter during the 1960s Civil Rights movement. (4)
Andre Claude Boutte, II was the great grandson of Claude Boutte (1609-1677) and Francoise McQuennehen (1609). The family was from France. Upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Andre Claude Boutte, II brought his family to New Orleans. (6) He served as a French military officer in Mobile, AL where he married the commandant’s daughter, Marie-Anne Francoise Bodin. His mother-in-law, Francoise Paillet Bodin, traveled with them and it was from her that he purchased a domestic servant called Fanchon. She was born around 1732. (6A) One of the five children Andre Claude fathered with Fanchon was Eugene Pierre Barbe Boutte (1775-1832). (6B)
Eugene Pierre Boutte is the second child of Eugene Pierre Barbe Boutte and his wife Hyacinthe LaPorta and was born about 1796. He married Isabelle Adelaide Olivier in 1822. Eugene Pierre and Adelaide had five children. Eugene Pierre also had another child with an unknown mother named Hyacinthe Boutte. He was born in 1842. (6C) In the 1850 census, Hyacinthe Boutte is one of the family members of Eugene Pierre and Adelaide. (6D)
Hyacinthe Boutte married Nellie Weber in 1873 in Edgard, LA, St John the Baptist Parish near New Orleans. From that marriage, Arthur H. Boutte is born in 1886. Arthur married Adorea Darensbourg. Alvin J. Boutte is the tenth and youngest child born from this couple in 1929. (6D)
While his high school activities are not a guaranteed path to future successes, his high school participation probably contributed greatly to his lifetime achievements.
Alvin J. Boutte, a child of the Great Depression, graduated from Sacred Heart Catholic School in 1947. His senior year activities included President C.Y.O. (Catholic Youth Organization) ’45, Captain softball team, ’45, co-captain basketball team ’46; Corporal in R.O.T.C.; Treasurer of Senior Class; member of Patrol Squad. Hobby – gardening. (7)
He attended Xavier University in New Orleans on a basketball scholarship after completing high school. “While at Xavier, he met his future wife, Barbara Gonzaque, who was a music major.” While earning a Pharmacy degree in 1951, he also served the student body with a laundry pickup business and a payment collection business for male students. After a tour in the U.S. Army, he was discharged a Captain in 1955. (8)
Shortly after his Chicago move, he purchased his first drug store with a line of credit from Sealtest Dairy Corporation. He soon had s chain of drug stores. In 1964, Alvin J. Boutte and others established Independence Bank of Chicago. He was proud of developing some of his staff as they became presidents of other minority banks as well as other executive positions.
“During his lifetime, Boutte served on the boards of directors for several organizations including, most notably, twenty years on the board of The Chicago Metropolitan Insurance Company. He also served as advisor to the Small Business Administration, and was an elected member of the Chicago Board of Education. In 1971, Boutte was honored as man of the year by the Chicago Urban League. He was the recipient of several other honors and tributes in his later years.”
Alvin Boutte died at his home in Hazel Crest, Illinois on April 1, 2012. He was 82 years old. (10)
References/related information:
Chachere African-American Family
(1) Andre Claude Boutte. (n.d.). Retrieved March 23, 2019, from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Boutte-13. Louisiana Families Project WikiTree
(2) Donald J. Hebert, Southwest Louisiana Records (1750-1900). CD. (Hebert Publications: Rayne, LA 70578)
(3) Sacred Heart Yearbook. 1947. School History, pg. 8.
https://africanamericanhighschoolsinlouisianabefore1970.com/sacred-heart-high-school-lake-charles-louisiana/
(4) Watson, Elwood (2013, October 29). ALVIN J. BOUTTE SR. (1929-2012). Retrieved February 18, 2019, from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/boutte-alvin-j-sr-1929-2012/
(5) ibid.
(6) Wood, B. B. (n.d.). Bonnie Bess Wood's Family Tree. Retrieved March 4, 2019, from https://gw.geneanet.org/beebeewood?lang=en&n=boutte&oc=0&p=andre claude dit lalime&type=tree
(6A) WikiTree Genealogy. Fanchon NN (Slave) https://www.geni.com/people/Fanchon/6000000084431391035#/tab/overview
(6B) Ibid. Donald J. Hebert.
(6C) Ancestry.com. Jance Boutte. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/107516122/person/400059389181/facts
(6D) Ancestry.com 1880 Federal Census.
(7) ibid. Sacred Heart Yearbook.
(8) ibid. Watson, Elwood (2013, October 29)
(9) Associated Press. April 10, 2012. Boutte to be eulogized. https://chicagodefender.com/2012/04/10/boutte-to-be-eulogized-2130/
(10) ) ibed. Watson, Elwood (2013, October 29)
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