by Murphy Miller, March 8, 2020

​​Charles Darwin and his wife Emma were first cousins. A cousin marriage is a marriage where the partners are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies today, though in some jurisdictions such marriages are prohibited. Worldwide, more than 10% of marriages are between first or second cousins. (1) 
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Accordingly, it is not uncommon to find cousin marriages in Southwest Louisiana.  Moreover, the lack of mobility until the mid-20th century facilitated intermarriages as people lived in the same geographic area from birth to death when the U.S. was predominately an agrarian society.  Parents frequently made room for a child by gifting property to farm.  First cousins lived in close proximity to each other.

Many people in southwest Louisiana are familiar with the Pierrottie families that began with Constantino Pierotti (1832-1892), also known as August Constant Pierotti.  He was from Italy and emigrated to America in hopes of earning enough money to return to Italy, perhaps to bring back loved ones so they too could escape the poor economy in Northern Italy.  His plan to settle in the ante-bellum South fell apart upon his 1855 arrival and later when he was drafted into the Civil War.

​Thirteen months following the end of the American Civil War between the states, in May 1866, Constantino married Stephanie “Fanny” Martel (1848-1936).  Stephanie is the daughter of Etienne Eugene Martel and Louise Mathilde Boutte.  She is one of eleven children born to this couple.  Her younger brother, Stephane Martel (1852-1934), married Ann Elizabeth Moore in 1877.  Stephane and Ann had six children, Etienne (1885-1970) and Theogene Martel (1885-1962), twins, were the third and fourth born to the couple.

​Theogene Martel married his first cousin Rosenia Pierotti, the daughter of Constantino Pierotti and Stephanie Martel, in 1910. This marriage had three children; Blanche (1911-1991), Louis Thomas Martel (1916-1989) and Aubry Theo Martel (1924-1988).  Their common ancestry is their grandparents, Etienne Eugene Martel and Louise Mathilde Boutte.

​Theogene and Rosenia are also 3rd cousins via the Chachere/Vauchere family lines.  Their common ancestry is their great great-grandparents Louis Dominique Chachere (1760-1827) and Catherine Vauchere (1764-1825).  The charts below better illustrate this marital union relationship.

The third union of the Pierotti family line and the Martel family line marrying are Gervis Paul Martel (1912-1994) and Mary Lillian Naquin (1923-1992).  Gervis is the son of Etienne (1885-1970), twin of Theogene, and his wife Clementine Savoy (1889-1935).  My mother, Mary L. Naquin (1923-1992), is the daughter of Olan Naquin (1904-1940) and Bernice Pierrottie (1904-1977), she the granddaughter of Constantino and Stephanie Martel.

​Gervis first married Ellenor Fontenot in 1931.  She died in 1937.  Gervis married Mary L. Naquin in 1948.  Gervis “Slim” Martel was a master carpenter.  He was employed as a Installation Superintendent and travel to the job to install store fixtures in stores like Macy’s.  In 1959, when he was 47 years old, he allowed me to live in his home with him, my mother and half-siblings.  Both he, my mother and the entire Brandon, FL community made a man out of a confused teenager.  He was not perfect, but he gave me the break I needed at the right time in my life. For that kindness, I am grateful.

​

Other Pierrottie blogs
Ulysse Gabriel Pierrottie, A 33 year battle for his family's rights
Mary Pierrottie Soileau
Jane Bertrand Ortego
​Sister Cesira Pierotti
​Louis David "L.D" Verrette Obituary
Betty Lou Deshotel Hollier Obituary
Donald Joseph Pierotti Obituary

​Books
​Pierotti - Pierrottie - Pierrotti Family & Photos
​Dominique Martel Southwest Louisiana Family

Constantino Pierotti Video
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CHACHERE  (Story from Sittig Family Tree, Ancestry.com)
Pronunciation: SASH-uh-ree    Purchase Chachere book; details
Origin: French Creole
Arrived in Louisiana: by late 1780s
Pioneer Ancestor(s) in Louisiana: Louis-Dominique CHACHERE
Settled: Pointe Coupee; Atakapas District; Opelousas District, now St. Landry Parish
Acadian connection: BERNARD, DAVID, PITRE
Comments: Family legend says that Louis-Dominique CHACHERE, son of Louis CHACHERE and Marie DUMOND of Paris, "was a French immigrant, arriving [in Louisiana] in the late 1700s," that "there is also some question as to whether his original ... name was CHACHERE or some combination of his original name and his wife's name, to avoid detection by French authorities who may have been hunting him." Louis-Dominique married Catherine, daughter of Jean-Baptiste VAUCHERE, probably in the middle or late 1780s. Their son Louis III was born in January 1788 and baptized at Pointe Coupée the following June. The Pointe Coupée priest who recorded the boy's baptism noted that his parents were "of Post at Natchez," which was upriver from Pointe Coupée near the present-day city bearing the name. The couple soon moved across the Atchafalaya Basin to the Atakapas District, where daughters Louise-Émilie, born in February 1790, Louise or Lise, sometimes called Pouponne, in January 1792, and Marie-Mathilde, called Mathilde, in May 1792[sic], were baptized in July and August 1794 at the church in present-day St. Martinville.

In May 1796, a Spanish census taker counted Louis-Dominique and his family not in the Atakapas District but in the Church sub-district of the Opelousas District, north of Atakapas. According to the census report, Louis-Dominique and Catherine had one son, three daughters, and a female slave. That November, second son Julien-Lile, called Lile, was baptized at the Opelousas church.

Louis-Dominique and Catherine had more children in the early 1800s, all born in the Opelousas District, now St. Landry Parish: Félix-Veillon or Veillon-Félix, in 1801, Beaurepaire-Prosper, called Prosper, in 1803, Laure in March 1808, and Marguerite Hermance, called Hermance, in April 1811. They also had a son named Constant and daughters Hyacinthe and Irma, birth dates and baptisms unrecorded, though Irma could have been Laure.

Most of Louis-Dominique CHACHERE many children survived childhood, married, and created families of their own. Daughter Lise married fellow French Creole Jean Louis or Leon, called Leon, son of Antoine BOUTTE of Atakapas, at the Opelousas church in June 1809. Marie-Louise [sic, probably Louise-Émilie] married Barthélemy, son of Baltazar MARTEL of St.-Domingue, today's Haiti, at the Opelousas church in September 1809. Louis-Dominique's daughter Irma, age unrecorded, died at Opelousas in March 1810. Mathilde married Antoine, fils, another son of Antoine BOUTTE, at the Opelousas church in February 1818. Hyacinthe married cousin Jacques BACON, fils of Natchez at the Opelousas church in January 1821; Jacques, fils's mother was Marguerite VAUCHERE.
In December 1822, Louis Dominique's third son Veillon married Marie Eloise, sometimes called Eloise, daughter of French Creole Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church, St. Landry Parish. Veillon's son Louis Félix Veillon was born near Grand Coteau in March 1824, Félix near Opelousas in February 1832, Théogene in December 1835, Octave in February 1845, Henri in August 1847, and Joseph in April 1855. They also had another son named Joseph, born probably in January 1834. Louis Dominique's second son Lile married Emerante, daughter of Acadians Jean-Baptiste DAVID and Scholastique SAVOIE, at the Opelousas church in January 1825; the priest who recorded the marriage noted that Lile's mother, Chaterine WOCHERES[sic], was deceased at the time of the wedding. Lile's son Julien had been born in St. Landry Parish in December 1824, twins Adolphe and Rodolphe were born in November 1825, Prosper le jeune in January 1836, and another son named Julien in January 1844. Louis Dominique's daughter Hermance married Dominique Contini SITTIG, fils from the Hague, Netherlands, at the Opelousas church in November 1827. Louis Dominique's third son, Prosper, who had settled at Prairie Bellevue, married Eugenie, sometimes called Alexandrine, another daughter of Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church in December 1827. Their son Théodore was born in St. Landry Parish in July 1830, Prosper, fils in April 1835, Homer in July 1837, Alexandre in March 1842, Louis Amédée in September 1844, and Félix le jeune in May 1850. Louis Dominique's son Constant married Célestine, yet another daughter of Célestin LAVERGNE, at the Grand Coteau church in September 1831. Their son Théodose was born near Grand Coteau in September 1832, Valery near Opelousas in July 1834, Anatole in August 1846, and Louis was baptized at the Grand Coteau church in July 1856. Veillon's son Louis Veillon married Emma, daughter of Adelard BOUTTE, at the Opelousas church in April 1845; Emma's mother was a RICHARD. Prosper's son Théodore married Clementine or Ernestine, daughter of George BENGUEREL, at the Opelousas church in January 1855. Their son Robert was baptized at the Opelousas church at age 5 months in May 1856, Homer was born near Opelousas in May 1859, Gustave in October 1861, and Eugene in June 1864. Veillon's son Félix married Amelie, daughter of Pierre PITRE, at the Opelousas church in June 1855. Their son Pierre Numa was born near Opelousas in December 1855, and Félix Welly in June 1860. Constant's son Théodose married Pérrinse or Petrina, daughter of Jean Baptiste YOUNG, at the Opelousas church in August 1856. Their son Raymond was born near Opelousas in July 1857, Jackson Théodose in June 1859, and Théodore le jeune in July 1861. Lile's son Rodolphe married 20-year-old first cousin Louise Josephine Baptiste, daughter of his uncle Prosper CHACHERE, at the Opelousas church in May 1859. Their son Albert Lile was born near New Iberia, then part of St. Martin Parish, in May 1860, Adolphe Bennett near Opelousas in March 1862, and Théodore Mozart in September 1865. Lile died near New Iberia in February 1860; the New Iberia priest who recorded his burial said he was 70 years old, but he was in 60s. When the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted chattel property in the summer of 1860, Prosper's widow Eugenie and his son Théodore were holding slaves, so Prosper must have died by then. Veillon's son Joseph married Elodie, another daughter of Pierre PITRE, at the Opelousas church in September 1861. Veillon's son Félix died in St. Landry Parish in August 1862; he was only 30 years old. Prosper's son Anatole died at his home on Prairie Bellevue, St. Landry Parish, in January 1865; he was only 18 years old and never married. Joseph Chenier, son of Louis CHACHERE, a free man of color, died at age 5 months in December 1864. Prosper's son Ernest by Céleste CHENIER married Marie, daughter of Hippolyte CHENIER, at the Opelousas church in October 1865; the parish clerk who recorded the union in the civil record the day before the church wedding described both Ernest and Marie as free persons of color.
Meanwhile, the priest who recorded Hermance CHACHERE's marriage in November 1827 noted that not only the bride's mother but also her father, whom he called Louis Dominique, was deceased at the time of the marriage. So Louis Dominique, the progenitor of the CHACHERE's in Louisiana, died probably in 1827, age unrecorded. His succession record was filed in the courthouse at Opelousas in November 1827. Another succession record for Louis CHACHERE was filed at the Franklin courthouse, St. Mary Parish, in April 1830, so Louis-Dominique owned property in that parish as well. (It could not have been the succession record of Louis III, because he was recorded by the Opelousas priest in July 1831 as standing as godfather to brother Julien's daughter, Scholastique. Louis III probably never married.) Yet another estate record for Louis CHACHERE was filed at the Opelousas courthouse in December 1836.

Some of Louis Dominique CHACHERE's descendants were part of the "peculiar institution" of the antebellum South. In September 1850, the federal census taker in the Western District of Lafayette Parish counted a single slave--a 35-year-old black male--on Rodolphe CHACHERE's farm in that parish. In October 1850, the federal census taker in St. Landry Parish counted 13 slaves--6 males, 7 females, 11 blacks, 2 mulattoes, ranging in age from 65 to 1--on Lile CHACHERE's farm in the parish. That November, the same census taker counted 12 slaves--5 males, 7 females, all blacks, ages 70 to 1--on Veillon CHACHERE's farm, and 2 slaves--a 45-year-old black female, & a 20-year-old black female--on Constant CHACHERE's farm. A decade later, in 1860, CHACHEREs still held slaves. The federal census taker counted 13 slaves--8 males, 5 females, 9 blacks, 4 mulattoes, ages 50 to 2--on Veillon CHACHERE's farm. Next door, Celina CHACHERE held 2 slaves--a 40-year-old black male, and a 30-year-old black female. Constant CHACHERE held 3 slaves--2 54-year-old black males, and a 30-year-old black female--on his farm. Prosper CHACHERE's widow Eugenie held 4 slaves--a male and 3 females, all black, ages 50 to 8--on her farm. Next door, Prosper's son Théodore held 3 more slaves--a 50-year-old black female, and 2 black males, ages 9 and 4--on his farm. Telia CHACHERE owned a single slave--a 14-year-old black male.

A number of Louis Dominique CHACHERE's grandsons served Louisiana and the Southern Confederacy during the War Between the States. Veillon's sons Joseph and Théogene, and Prosper's son Alexandre served in Company F of the 8th Regiment Louisiana Infantry, a front-line unit raised in St. Landry Parish that fought with General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Alexandre, only 19 years old and single, enlisted in the company as a private when it was formed in June 1861 and was elected ordnance sergeant in April 1862. He was wounded in action at Sharpsburg, Maryland, on 17 September 1862 and fell into the hands of the enemy, recuperated from his wounds at federal hospitals in Maryland, stayed for a short time in the federal prisoner-of-war camps at Fort McHenry, Maryland, and Fort Monroe, Virginia, was exchanged at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, in November 1862, and went home on a 30-day sick furlough, and did not return to his unit. Cousin Théogene, age 26 and single, also enlisted in the company as a private in June 1861. Later that month, he was assigned as a hospital steward. The following October, the Confederate Secretary of War assigned him to the medical corps as an assistant surgeon, so he must have had medical training. Brother Joseph enlisted in the company as a private in March 1862; he was 28 years old and still single. His time in the company was cut short when he was accidentally run over by an ambulance at Malvern Hill, Virginia, on 1 July 1862, the day of the great battle there. After he recuperated from his injuries, he returned to Louisiana on a 30-day sick furlough and also remained at home. Their wounds and injuries did not end the military service of Alexandre and Joseph, however. They both enlisted in Company I of the 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, a front-line unit from St. Mary Parish that saw service in Louisiana and Mississippi and in which cousins Rodolphe, son of Lile, and Théodose, son of Contant, also served. J. L. CHACHERE, whose relationship to the other members of the family cannot be determined by the area's church records, also served in Company I, 3rd (Harrison's) Regiment Cavalry. Prosper's son Théodore, Alexandre's older brother, served in Company I of the 26th Louisiana Regiment Infantry, a front-line unit raised in Lafourche Parish that fought gallantly at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1862-63. Another unit that held a number of CHACHEREs was the 7th Regiment Louisiana Cavalry, created late in the War, in March 1864, not only to increase the number of cavalry units serving in Louisiana but also to roundup deserters and suppress Jayhawker bands on the South Louisiana prairies. Three CHACHEREs served in this regiment, all sons of Veillon: Louis Veillon as a sergeant in Company H, and Octave and Henri as privates in Company D. Although CHACHEREs were wounded in Confederate service, no descendant of Louis CHACHERE, fils died in the War.

Tony CHACHERE, a pharmaceutical salesman-turned insurance agent and direct descendant of Louis Dominique CHACHERE, published Cajun Country Cookbook in 1972. His company, Tony CHACHERE's Creole Foods, started that year in Opelousas to produce and distribute food products based on his style of cooking. The company is now run by CHACHERE's descendants, and its success has made this Cajun family a household name.

The family's name also is spelled Chache, Chacherez, Chassere, and Schasseret.

Sources: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lafayette & St. Landry parishes; 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedules, St. Landry Parish; BRDR, 2:181; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Chachere's; Hébert, D., Southwest LA Records, 1-A:174, 1-B:168-69, 2-A:213; 2-B:206-07, 2-C:168-70, 831, 3:137-38, 4:95, 5:114, 6:114-16, 7:86-87; Voorhies, J., Some Late Eighteenth Century Louisianians, 361; Hank Smith, descendant, source of family legend.

[See December 2013 blog for related article]

Louis Elton Chachere, Sr. (1912-1966) holding Brenda L. Chachere and his wife Artie L. Cole (1921-2009) holding Louis E. Chachere, Jr. (1947)

Louis E Chachere, Sr. is the son of Oscar Chachere (1889-1972) & Susie M. Berry (1892-1920), the grandson of Felix Chachere (1850-1913) & Sarah Hicks (1850-1910) & the great grandson of Beaurepaire Prosper Chachere (1803-1853) & Celeste Chenier (1814-1893). 

My great great-grandmother Stephanie "Fannie" Martel (1848-1936) married Constantino "Auguste Constant" Pierotti. Stephanie's grandmother Marie Mathilda Manette Chachere's (1792-1865) younger brother is Beaurepaire Prosper Chachere (1803-1853). Marie Mathilda and Beaurepaire are the children of Louis Dominique Chachere and Catherine Vauchere. Beaurepaire married Eugenie A. Lavergne in 1827.

Beaurepaire and Eugenie's first of eight children, Catherine E. Chachere was born in 1828. The rest of the 7 children were born about two plus years apart, the last, Louis Amedee born in 1844. During this time Beaurepaire P. Chachere was fathering children with Celeste Chenier, a woman described in Rev. Hebert's church and civil records as "f.g.o.c." At the time she married Pierre Rossillon, "f.m.o.c." in 1858, it was more than twenty years after the birth of her children fathered by Beaurepaire.

Rev. Hebert, the author of Southwest Louisiana Records provides abbreviations in his books. In those abbreviations he states that f.d.c.l. is femme de couleur libre; free woman of color (French) and h.d.c.l. stands for homme de couleur libre; free man of color (French). In FrenchQuarter.com, the term  homme de couleur libre is defined as "free person of color", thus male or female.

References to f.m.o.c. or f.w.o.c. could not be found but believed to be the acronym for "free men of color" and "free woman of color", respectfully. Rev. Hebert stated that "...free women of color" was used in the antebellum, pre-American Civil War, baptismal record when a child's father was White. In his section on abbreviations, f.d.c.l. is free woman of color and g.d.c.l. is free people of color. He also stated that there was a lack of consistency in the use of terms to classify persons in the church records.

Some believe that Celeste Chenier was Beaurepaire Prosper Chachere's slave. Since her marriage record to Pierre Rossillon included "f.w.o.c." and if you follow the descriptions in Rev. Hebert's books, her mother was Colored, perhaps a slave, and her father Caucasian. Thus Celeste Chenier would have been classified Mulatto. This question may never be answered as weather her or her mother was the first offspring from parents of different races.

A White man could not during the antebellum period marry a woman of color even though he could acknowledge a child he fathered with a slave, according to Rev. Hebert.

Beaurepaire apparently complied with these standards when Felix Chachere was baptized in 1850. The parents listed are "Baupain & Celeste Chesnier". It appears that both names have spelling errors and the record should read Beaurepaire and Celeste Chenier. The church marriage records for both Louis and Ernest report Beaurepaire Chachere and Celeste Chenier as their parents. Birth records were not located.

Second African American Chachere Family Line

Beaurepaire Chachere and Eugenie Lavergne's first child Catherine Eleonore Chachere married Barthelemy Amdee Martel, her 1st cousin, in 1850. This was his second marriage. They had two children; Emma and Eugenie born in 1854 and 1858 respectively. About 1838 Theophile Martel is born. His death record states his parents are B.A. Martel and Alice Lewelle. This record too includes errors and should read that Theophile's mother's was Clarisse Lemelle. The death record also reports his race as "COLORED", thus his mother is "COLORED". The 1870 Census makes clear that B.A. Martel is WHITE.

B.A. Martel was well known at the time. In June 1855, he founded the "Calcasieu Press" newspaper. He was a 15th Judicial District Judge of St. Landry Parish from 1857-64 and according to his obituary he was also a Louisiana State Senator. Judge Martel was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War and supported the Jayhawkers' activities. The Jayhawkers were bands of outlaws and deserters roaming the countryside. They skirmished with the Confederate Army and robbed the citizens of the area.

According to the 1870 Census, Theophile Martel, age 27, his wife Alexandrine Estorage, age 21, and their child are Mulatto race and both are living with B.A. Martel and his third wife Emma Boutte. Both Theophile and Alexandrine's occupation are "Domestic S". The 1870 Census Instructions stated that " the organization of domestic service has not proceeded so far in this country as to render it worthwhile to make distinctions in the character of work. Report all as "domestic servants."

In the 1880 Census Theophile listed his occupation as "retail grocer". In the 1870 Census, his neighbor was a White "grocer". Did Theophile work for his neighbor grocer?  In this 1880 census, Theophile's family includes his wife and Mary and Albert, ages 10 and 9, respectively.

In 1897 Azelie Angeline Martel, the third child of Theophile and Alexandrine, married Albert Chachere, her second cousin once removed. Albert was the grandson of Beaurepaire P. Chachere and Celeste Chenier. Albert's father, Ernest Chenere, Sr. married Marie Chenier. The relationship between Marie Chenier and Celeste Chenier is not known. Both Albert and his wife "Alize" are Mulatto race in the Census record.

African American Chachere Descendants

Where are the descendants of Beaurepaire P. Chachere and Celeste Chenier and of B.A. Martel and Clarisse Lemelle? Some stayed around the Opelousas area and some moved to DeQuincy and Lake Charles area. Still others moved to California. Oscar Chachere, the son of Felix mentioned earlier, married Susie Milly Berry in Lake Charles in 1911. Their son, Louis Elton Chachere, Sr. and wife Artie Lenora Cole, who married in 1942, moved to California. Brenda Lucille Chachere, Louis and Artie's daughter born in 1945, is this author's fourth cousin twice removed.

Another Chachere article.
More information on the Chachere family may be found at www.FamilyAtLouisiana.com and may be purchased at lulu.com.