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Archiver > ACADIAN-CAJUN > 2005-12 > 1135037999


From: "Stanley LeBlanc" <>
Subject: RE: [ACADIAN-CAJUN] early LA question...
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 18:20:15 -0600
In-Reply-To: <43A74B46.1060704@fltg.net>


Gordon,

I recently used Tanguay to trace my French-Canadian lines. In doing, I
noticed that Morvant was a French-Canadian line.

Baptiste was a French surname so was Saucier.

There were probably only soldiers in the very early days of the Arkansas
Post and some probably did have Indian wives. By the 1730s, there were
French women and families at the Arkansas Post. The big wave of women,
families came between 1718-1721.

Stanley
http://www.thecajuns.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Bonnet [mailto:]
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 6:08 PM
To:
Subject: [ACADIAN-CAJUN] early LA question...

This question is really outside of the purview of the Acadian list --
hope no one minds.

My recent posts about the alleged Native ancestry of the Morvant family
of Louisiana spurred an email out of the blue to me from a distant
cousin, who made the statement, "did you know that another line in our
ancestry has Native blood." He further stated that Magdelaine Baptiste,
wife of (1) Francois Sancie or Sensie (or Saucier or any number of other
spellings) and (2) Jean-Baptiste Montpierre, was Native.

I asked him what his proof was. He didn't have proof, but stated as
evidence that (1) Magdelaine and Francois' children were all born in the
Arkansas Post, in what was at that time wilderness occupied by a few
French and a lot of Natives, and that (2) she doesn't have a "real
French surname" -- that Baptiste was a name adopted by Natives and
(following the Civil War) freed slaves.

First, and primarily so I don't get blasted for posting this :-) let me
say that I don't consider this proof of any sort. However, he did have
an interesting point, and it was something I hadn't considered.
Francois Sancie (or however his name is spelled) came over single; and I
would expect that there _were_ very few single women in that area of
Louisiana at that point (the early 1730s) except for the Natives. And I
will admit that Baptiste is an unusual surname.

So, OK, considering his hypothesis on its merits, let me ask wiser heads
than my own: is Baptiste a "real" French surname, or is it (as my
cousin suggests) an adopted name only? Are there records which might
help prove (or more likely, disprove) this theory?

I can't help but think that my Morvant posts have opened up a can of
worms -- I guess a lot of people would like to have Native ancestry.
Me, I just want the truth...

Any advice?

cheers,

Gordon Bonnet
Trumansburg NY


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