The subject of this sketch, the Hon. B. A. Martel, whose death was announced on the 5th inst., [abbreviation for instante mense meaning date of the current month] was born in the parish of St. Martin in this state on the 8th of March, 1819. His father Balthazar Martel, was a Creole of St. Domingo, and was one of the few gallant and brave men who escaped from that unhappy island during the revolution provoked by Toussant L'Ouverture (1), Desaline, Ringo and others. Balthazar Martel was then a young man and settled in the Attakapas, where he married Miss Emilie [Catherine Eleonor Chachere], daughter of Louis Chachere [Beaurepaire Prosper Chachere & Eugenie Alexandrine Lavergne] of St. Landry. Of this marriage there were six children. B. A. Martel being the fourth. In 1831 the family moved from St. Martinville to St. Landry, where the father of young Martel died of yellow fever in 1850. [Death year was difficult to read. Murphy Miller research supports death on January 12, 1838. Moreover, B. A. Martel was the fifth of nine children].
 
Young Amedee, although not the oldest son, took upon himself the care of his mother and three sisters; and in doing this the noble youth toiled with a perseverance and determination that outlined his future career. By various kinds of labor and skill he soon succeeded in placing his mother and sisters in a condition of comparative ease and he applied himself to the study of the civil law. For some time he was the pupil and protégé of the celebrated Gustave Schmidt of the New Orleans bar. Martel was admitted to practice in New Orleans and such was his desire to perfect himself in the knowledge of his profession that he sailed for France where he prosecuted his studies in the University of Toulouse until 1849. He then returned to his native home.
 
Being in France during the revolution of 1848, he learned much from the scenes enacted in his presence and he soon became familiar with the national character of the French people. This knowledge served him usefully on many trying occasions in after life. Having established himself at Opelousas soon after his return, he began the practice of his profession in earnest and was very successful, although he often met with unexpected opposition from some of the older members of that bar. But when these gentlemen thoroughly understood the ardor and warmth of his generous nature they regretted their former conduct toward him and even afterward became his personal friends. His industry and close application to business soon grained for him very many friends, and in 1854 he was elected to the state senate where he served with distinction until 1856. He was then elected judge of the Fifteenth judicial district, which comprised the territory of St. Landry, Lafayette, Vermillion, Calcasieu, Cameron and Acadia. Nowhere in the history of the profession is found a judge more determined to enforce the duties of his office.
 
The following proclamation will exemplify this assertion:
"The Laws of the Country must be sustained. Law-abiding Citizens of Calcasieu: I am in possession of reliable information that threats have been made and are in circulation, that the approaching term of your district court on next Monday is to be arrested by violence against your district judge on his way to Lake Charles."
 
"Now, therefore, this is to call on you to revindicate your rights and to stand by the laws and the officers whose duty it is to administer them. Let it be proclaimed at once by all the good people of your parish from your domestic roots to the sanctuary of your courthouse, that the law shall and must prevail from this time forward though the heavens fall."
 
"As to me, I know that I shall do my duty at all hazards."
"B. A. Martel,"
"Judge Fifteenth Judicial District"
"July 5 1859" [difficult to read date]
 
In the discharge of his duties he feared no man. The terror of Calcasieu and the outlaws of that epoch felt his power and were by him made to succumb and to respect the laws of Louisiana like other men. It is proverbial and it is a matter of fact, that his decisions as judge have never been disturbed by the supreme court except in two or three instances, and then only by modification. He held the judicial helm until the outbreak of the war.
 
In the strife for succession, Judge Martel took no part, except to prove by demonstrative argument the folly and danger of such a step and the terrible vicissitudes that would necessarily follow such political imprudence. Although a strong unionist he loved his native south, and especially his own Louisiana. He loved it too well to stand idly by and see the helpless wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of the brave fellows who were far, far away battling for their homes, insulted and plundered by the rabble jayhawkers of the Attakapas. He at once placed himself at the head of his company of sturdy reserves and in a very short while the country was rid of the last Jawhawker, and the homes of the helpless were no longer terrorized. Having taken up the sword he laid it aside only when the trumpet of peace declared that the struggle was over.
 
He now resumed his practice with wonderful success and won very many cases, both civil and criminal, which the entire bar considered absolutely hopeless. Remembering his earlier days and the kindness received at the hands of the New Orleans bar, especially his protector, Hon. Gustave Schmidt, Martel took under his care Pecora, who was in due time admitted to practice law. Pecora soon laid by his "cat skin" and is now famous among the detectives of New Orleans. He next took into his office a youth name Linny Hardy, who became one of the brightest lights of the profession. Hardy was, while a law partner of Judge Martel, elected secretary of state. The late judge of the Thirteenth district, Geo. W. Hudspeth, was another youth cared for by him. When Hudspeth took the bench about eight years ago, Judge Martel's last case, a few months ago, was an indictment for murder made against two brothers. They were acquitted.
 
Whilst the family resided at St. Martins young Martel had among his dearest playmates Alcibiades De Blanc (2), Edward Simon, Desaline and Mozart Bryant and Valisin Fournette, all of whom he loved tenderly all his life. Whilst very ill and up to the day of his death, he spoke in the kindest terms, with great emotion and often with tears of the many virtues of his old and tried friend, General Alcibiades De Blanc. During his last illness Judge Martel was kindly visited by Ex-Governor Nicholls. Generals Robert Perry (3), Allen Thomas (4) and all the members of the Opelousas bar, all of whom he was most happy to see. Having afterwards learned that Governor Nicholls spoke of him in connection with General Alcibiades De Blanc, he raised his hand to his brow to cover the emotion and said, "It makes me very happy to know that Governor Nicholis has been so kind as to associate m name with that of such a great and good man."
 
During the whole of Judge Martel's life he was noted for his firm adhesion to the principles of the Democratic party. Whenever he led his party he was sure of success.
 
Being a noted leader he despised anything like double-faced Democracy. Brave and fearless in politics as in manhood, he loved plain sailing, honesty of purpose being his unerring compass. His political coat was never turned, but in the hour of need was always pulled off for the honest fray. The Democracy of St. Landry can well mourn the loss of a Martel.
 
Being poor in his youth his heart warmed to those whose days began as his days did and his office, his home and his purse were ever open to them. Indeed, he lived to see many rich fruits of his generosity. To the widow and the orphan Judge Martel was ever known to render relief and fatherly protection. In all matters of charity, he was exemplary.
 
He was singularly remarkable for his love of children. His great delight was in pleasing them whenever he could. He was known to spend many dollars in taking them to all kinds of places of amusement. On Mardi Gras and at Christmas he was the idol of the little ones. This, as well as his other virtues, gained love, affection and esteem, all of which was clearly shown at his burial. His last breath bid love and devotion to all his friends and acquaintances.
 
Purchase Martel Family of Louisiana. See Lulu.com also.
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Murphy Miller Comment.
Judge B. A. Martel was a Unionist, i.e. not a Confederate sympathizer, yet the people mentioned as his close friends were Jean Maximilien Alcibiades Derneville DeBlanc, Allen Thomas and Judge Robert Samuel Perry, Jr. all who served in the Confederate Army.
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The following from Wikipedia.com and FindAGrave.com
(1) Toussaint L'Ouverture, Toussaint-Louverture, Toussaint Bréda, and nicknamed the "Napoléon Noir" (Black Napoleon), was the leader of the Haitian Revolution. His military genius and political acumen transformed an entire society of slaves into the independent state of Haiti.  The success of the Haitian Revolution shook the institution of slavery throughout the New World.
 
Toussaint Louverture began his military career as a leader of the 1791 slave rebellion in the French colony of Saint-Domingue; he was by then a free black man. Initially allied with the Spaniards of neighboring Santo Domingo, Toussaint switched allegiance to the French when they abolished slavery. He gradually established control over the whole island and used political and military tactics to gain dominance over his rivals. Throughout his years in power, he worked to improve the economy and security of Saint-Domingue. He restored the plantation system using paid labour, negotiated trade treaties with Britain and the United States, and maintained a large and well-disciplined army.
 
In 1801 he promulgated an autonomist constitution for the colony, with himself as governor for life. In 1802 he was forced to resign by forces sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to restore French authority in the former colony. He was deported to France, where he died in 1803. The Haitian Revolution continued under his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who declared independence in early 1804. The French had lost two-thirds of forces sent to the island in an attempt to suppress the revolution; most died of yellow fever.
 
 (2) Jean Maximilien Alcibiades Derneville DeBlanc (September 16, 1821- November 8, 1883) was a lawyer and state legislator in Louisiana. He served as a colonel for the Confederate army during the American Civil War. Afterward, he founded the Knights of the White Camellia, a white insurgent militia that operated from 1867-69 to suppress freedmen's voting, disrupt Republican Party political organizing and try to regain political control of the state government in the 1868 election. A Congressional investigation overturned 1868 election results in Louisiana.
 
But DeBlanc continued to oppose the Reconstruction effort; he was influential in commanding 600 men to oppose the disputed election of Governor William Pitt Kellogg in 1874 and try to seat the Democrats. He was briefly arrested and held by U.S. Marshals. In 1876 he was appointed by Democratic governor
 
(3) Robert Samuel Perry (Jr.) was the son of Robert Samuel Perry and Ezemily Booth. In 1870 (in St. Martinsville, LA) he married Marie Antionette "Bertha" Gary (1848 -1878). She was the daughter of Pierre Gary and Helene Briant. Her family lived in St. Martinsville, LA, so it's likely she was buried there. Robert and Bertha were the parents of three children: Bertha, Lelia (who married Eugene Martinez) and Joseph Robert.
 
Robert received the best education the schools of Louisiana afforded, and subsequently graduated from Kentucky Military Institute, at the age of 19 years. After completing his literary education, he entered the law school at the University of Louisville, where he took a course of lectures, and afterward entered a law office in Anderson, TX, where he pursued the study of law for about a year. He never practiced there, however, and returned shortly afterward to Vermilion Parish, where he remained until the Civil War broke out.
 
Robert enlisted as a private in Company C, of the Eighth Louisiana Regiment, and in August of that year was made first lieutenant. He served during the whole war in the Army of Northern Virginia. Nov. 7, 1863, he was captured at Rappahannock, and held prisoner at Johnson Island for nineteen months, where he was at the close of the war.
 
In 1866, he moved to St. Martin Parish and then to Iberia in 1871. In 1879 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and served until 1884. He introduced the first bill providing for the regulation of railroads in Louisiana. In 1888 he was elected by the Legislature Judge of the court of Appeals of the Third Circuit of Louisiana.
 
After his wife Bertha died, he remarried Camille Vedrines of New Iberia on Jan. 1, 1883. Camille died the following October. The Confederate Museum at Lee Circle in New Orleans has a daguerreotype portrait of Robert in uniform.
 
Judge Perry entered the Confederate army in 1861 as adjutant of the 8th La. Regt., and served with marked distinction throughout the war, in which the Louisiana brigade took a most active part in Virginia where they formed a part of Stonewall Jackson's "foot cavalry" under the immortal Lee, in the famous Valley campaign.
 
(4) Allen Thomas (December 14, 1830 - December 3, 1907) was a Confederate States Army brigadier general during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was born in Howard County, Maryland and became a lawyer but he moved to Louisiana in the later 1850s and became a planter and colonel in the Louisiana militia. After the war, he was a planter, Presidential elector in 1872 and 1880, professor of agriculture at Louisiana State University and coiner at the United States Mint at New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to Florida in 1889. Between 1894 and 1897, he was United States Minister to Venezuela. He moved to Mississippi in 1907 and died there in that year. He was buried at Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

Another Martel blog.
See additional information on B.A. Martel and his children from his slave and
mixed race offspring in Chachere family.

Purchase Martel Family of Louisiana.
​Purchase Chachere Family book.

Valentin Savoy
Son of Pierre Valcour Savoy & Eugenie Ritter
 
Generation No. 11.VALENTIN4 SAVOY  (PIERRE VALCOUR3, PIERRE PLACIDE2, PIERRE1)1,2 was born May 5, 1836 in Opel. Ch.: v. 4, p. 243, and died 1896 in Opel. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #5387.  He married DENISE FRUGE4 1855 in Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #1374.  She was born April 25, 18385.
 
Notes for VALENTIN SAVOY:
SAVOIE, Valentin (Pierre Valcour & Eugenie RITTER) b. 5 May 1836 (Opel. Ch.: v. 4, p. 24)
SAVOIE, Valentin m. Denise FRUGE Succ.: 11 Feb. 1896 (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Succ. #5387)
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Valentin Savoie 1836-1896
(author Marc Savoy. Obtained from Richard "Dick" LeDoux, son of Francis LeDoux and Pearl Theresa (Therese) LeDoux)
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Born in Faiquitaique, the son of an Acadian father and Irish mother, Valentin began his business career at a very young age. Examining his business accounts ledger, which has survived intact, we quickly see as the information reveals itself from page to page that he was fluent in both French and English, knew how to keep accounting records and had a basic knowledge of math. This education in itself was a remarkable feat, since the nearest school was 20 miles away in Opelousas. How could these early settlers living in isolated regions 20 miles away from the nearest town possibly educate their children? Fortunately for Valentin his Irish mother had received a formal education and was probably the driving force behind her son's many successful business pursuits.

Valentin married Denise Fruge of St. Landry Parish. She was the daughter of a full blooded Cherokee mother [Eleonore Lasage who was married to Augustine Pierre Fruge] and was known to be a very moody person. Valentin and his wife built a home on a rise in Faiquitaique. My father (born 1904) [possibly referring to Joel Savoy] described the house as facing south with a large open porch on the front entering into a large sitting room with bedrooms on each side leading into a kitchen with a hexagon shaped ceiling. A large fireplace that was open on both sides served to heat both the sitting room and the kitchen. The entrance to the yard had two cypress trees which bent into each other. Their tops had been tied together as young trees, so they grew bent toward each other forming a sort of arched entrance.

In 1911 the house was dismantled by my grandfather [Louis Savoy] and reassembled about 150 feet west south west into the home in which we now live. Two of the buildings that Valentin built have survived. One of his carriage houses where he kept his buggy, and the other was the "bovette" (drinkery), which has been moved closer to our house and now serves as a guest house and office for Ann's [Ann Allen, Marc Savoy's wife] book publishing. It was always know as the "bouvette" because besides being Valentin's office and store, where he sold supplies, it also served whiskey. The area planters would conduct thier business and also meet together to have a few drinks. The original location of the "bouvette" was under the big live oak. It was later moved (1920) about 200 feet north and served as a rice storage building. The moving was accomplished by rolling it on logs with the help of all the mules on the farm. In 1992 it was moved to its present site and connected to the main house with a walkway.

All of the stories of Valentin had one thing in common; he was a very handsome, brusk, strong-willed man. One of his daughters, Catherine, fell in love with her first cousin Francois. The parents on both sides tried to break up the romance, but the young lovers eloped and were married without the consent of their parents. When the newly married couple returned for Valentin's blessings, he did not allow them to enter his home and told Catherine that she must never set foot in his house again. Catherine took this very hard and remained very troubled about it until a scheme dawned upon her about how she could mend her relationship with her father. Knowing it would be useless to confront him, she decided on another plan. Valentin had a spinning wheel factory on the farm that employed several laborers. The building housed the equipment and long work tables. Valentin was known to inspect the work daily and would walk in the aisles with his hand resting along the tables as he walked. Catherine placed herself on her knees with her head lowered in a narrow space between two adjoining tables, and as Valentin walked with his hands on the table, suddenly his hands touched a head of soft hair. Looking down, he saw his daughter, who quickly siad, "Father I have come for your forgiveness. Please"! The element of surprise for Valentin was so great that his love for his daughter got the best of him, and he blurted out very gruffly, "Get up. You're forgiven. Talk no more about this". Catherine knew her father well.

Valentin's main enterprise was a cotton gin, and his ledger of 1872 shows that he did the ginning for a lot of cotton customers. During the Civil War there was no market for cotton in the south, so he would buy up as much cotton as he could, gin it and stash it in a secret cache in the deep woods along Bayou Des Cannes. He had armed men guarding it day and night because the jay hawkers roaming the area would have burned it had they been able to find it. After the Civil War there was an insatiable demand in the north for cotton, and Valentin sold his product as a tremendous profit. He would take a steamer from
Washington, Louisiana and connect to another in the Mississippi River and eventually get to New Orleans, where he made the necessary arrangements for the sale of his cotton. His favorite hotel was the Montelone.

While aboard the steamship during one of his return voyages, he happened to meet up with an acquaintance of his who was from the same area. They had not seen each other for many years, so Valentin inquired about the man's past years. The man replied that he had just been released from the penitentiary and was returning to Faiquitaique to retrieve his gold bullion that he had stoled from a Union mule supply train. Supposedly he had ambushed and killed all the guards leading the mule train of gold bullion to supply the Union Army. He said that he had buried the gold along the "Coulee du bois blanc" and was on his way to retrieve it, but was first going to kill a "Mr. So and So", who had turned him in to the law. This "Mr. So and So" was also on board the same steamship within hearing distance of their discourse, and hearing this conversation, he pulled out his pistol and shot and killed his enemy, who fell dead at Valentin's feet.

On one of his voyages to New Orleans Valentin met Louis Ditirieu, a French soldier of fortune, who at one time had worked in North Africa as a hunter to supply meat to the railroad being built there by the French. He would tell stories about how in the late evening when the workers were at rest just before supper time, prides of lions would pass nearby the campsite dragging their prey back to their dens. There were so many lions in each pride that the workers were warned not to shoot at them or antagonize them in any way to draw attention to the men because the lions could have easily killed all the workers. Some of the
workers were in fact dragged out of thier tents at night, killed and eaten by the lions.

Louis Ditirieu made the "buvette" his home and on Sundays would always prepare an elegant dinner. He would set his table outside under the oak tree with a linen table cloth, line napkins, nice plates and always a carafe of wine that he brewed himself. He would dress in his best clothes and would always invite the yard man, an ex-slave, to have dinner with him. The yard man would accept because of the wine that was served but would refuse to heat because one of Louis Ditirieu's favorite meats was that of cat, and the yard man never knew for certain just what was being served on Sunday.

Louis Ditirieu eventually married a local woman and raised one daughter. His wife died soon after the birth of his daughter, and the girl was raised by Artemise, a sister of Valentin. When she became old enough, she began attending local house dances in the only nice dress she possessed, a long striped one. A man named Demar Courville would often attend the same dances and would dance with her and sing a song he had made up about the long stripe dress. The song eventually became known as "La Robe Barre'e", a song which today is found in the popular Cajun repertoire.

Valentin had inherited an enormous track of land that had supposedly been passed down from an inheritance that initially came from a land grant to his grandfather for his grandfather's active role in the American Revolution. The tract began near the present site of the St. Landry-Evangeline Parish line north of the Valentin homestead and south to the present site of the Baptist Academy. Valentin had two herds of cattle that roamed this open prairie. Each heard had a certain corral that he used to brand, feed and care for his stock.

One of the corrals was located near the present site of the Baptist Academy and the other was near the present site of the home of Alvin Rougeau. Since the prairie had very few inhabitants at the time and since each herd didn't need daily attendance, rustlers had free access to his cattle. They would kill, butcher and smoke the meat to cure it. So much of this was going on that the area where Greg's 6-10 is located smelled of the smoking process to cure the meat. The smoke was carried on the southwesterly breezes to this area so often that this region became known as TASSO.

The following profiles on Valentin and his brother, Francois are from a book by William Henry Perrin (Southwest Louisiana Biographical and Historical, 1891, The Gulf Publishing Company, New Orleans, Louisiana).

Valentin Savoy, Chataignier. Mr. Savoy is a native of St. Landry parish, born in 1836. He is the son of Valcour and Rugenia (Reyder) [Eugenie Ritter] Savoy, the former a native of St. Landry, and latter of Rapides parish. [Pierre] Valcour Savoy is a son of [Pierre] Placide Savoy, also a native of St. Landry.

The subject of our sketch received his education in the common schools of St. Landry parish. He began life at the age of twenty years, and was first engaged in the manufacture of spinning wheels, which he followed until 1868, when he began a mercantile business in Chataignier, at the same time operating  plantation. This dual business he conducted successfully until 1879, since which time he has given his attention chiefly to his plantation. He is also operating in connection with this a large gin, and for a portion of the time a saw- mill. Mr. Savoy has a fine plantation of about six hundred acres, and cultivates rice and cotton principally.

He was married, in 1885, to Denise Fruge, a native of St. Landry parish, born in 1838, and of one of the oldest families of the parish. To them have been born eight children, six of whom are now living, viz: Agelas, Catherine, wife of Francois Savoy; Valentine, wife of Alexander Agelar [Aguillard]; Clara, wife of Numa Agelar [Aguillard]; Arras and Louis. Mr. Savoy has filled different positions of trust with efficiency. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

Francois Savoy, Church Point, was born December, 1839, in Acadia parish, Louisiana. He is the son of [Pierre] Valcour and Eugenie (Rider) [Ritter] Savoy, who were also natives of Louisiana. Valcour Savoy reared a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters. Valcour Savoy died in 1842 and Mrs. Savoy afterward married Thomas H. McGee. To them one child was born.

The subject of this sketch received a common school education in St. Landry, now Acadia, parish. He began life as a planter, and this, in connection with a mercantile business is flourishing. Mr. Savoy has on his plantation a gin which he operates. He also buys and sells cotton and rice in a considerable amount. Mr. Savoy has served as member of the police jury from his ward when Acadia was a portion of St. Landry parish. In politics he is a democrat, though he takes no active part in political affairs. He and his wife are catholics.
 
Notes for DENISE FRUGE:
FRUGE, Denise  m. 10 Nov. 1855 Valantin Valcour SAVOIE (Opel. Ct. Hse.: Mar. #1374)

Children of VALENTIN SAVOY and DENISE FRUGE are:
i.    VALENTIN5 SAVOY, JR.6, b. March 29, 1857, Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 417.
 Notes for VALENTIN SAVOY, JR.:
SAVOIE, Valentin (Valentin & Denise FRUGE) b. 29 March 1857; bt. 3 April 1857 (Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 41)
ii.   ANGELAS SAVOY, b. June 22, 1859, Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 91; d. December 18, 1936, Hardin Ct., TX.
 iii.  CLEOPHAS SAVOY8, b. October 28, 1861, Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 1489.
Notes for CLEOPHAS SAVOY:
SAVOIE, Cleopha (Valantin & Denise FRUGE) b. 28 Oct. 1861 at Faquetaigue (Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 148)
iv.   CATHERINE SAVOY, b. March 23, 1864, Opel. Ch.: v. 6, p. 200.
v.    VALENTINE SAVOIE, b. May 17, 1867, CP Ch.: v. 1, p. 103.
vi.   CLARA SAVOIE, b. October 10, 1869, Eunice Ch.: v. 1, p. 4-A.
vii.  ERASTE MAXIME SAVOY, b. February 1, 1872, Eunice Ch.: v. 1, p. 56.
viii. LOUIS SAVOY, b. October 20, 1881, Eunice Ch.: v. 1, p. 159-x.