Étienne Alexis Grasset Latour

Other Events:

• Residence: 1850, St Landry, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1850, St Landry, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1850, St Landry, Louisiana, USA
• Residence: 1860, Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA

Notes:

Birth:
Aujourd'hui septième avril mille huit cent huit, devant nous soussigné Jean VALETON BOISSIERE, officier public, maire de Bergerac, chef lieu de sous préfecture du 4 ème arrondissement du département de la Dordogne, dans la salle de la mairie, est comparu Jean GRASSET LATOUR, capitaine pensionné, habitant en cette commune, qui nous a présenté un enfant dont le sexe est masculin, auquel a été donné les prénoms de Étienne Alexis.

A déclaré ledit GRASSET LATOUR que cet enfant naquit le jour d'hier à 9 heures du matin, qu'il est son fils légitime et de Marie BERTRAND, son épouse.

Cette déclaration a été faite en présence de sieur Jean LESPINASSE, propriétaire agriculteur et de Gabriel CAILLOUX, employé à l'octroi de Bergerac, lesquels ont signé avec le père et nous, après en avoir entendu lecture du présent acte.

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Today April 7, one thousand eight hundred and eight, before us the undersigned Jean Valeton BOISSIERE, public officer, from the town hall of Bergerac, the administrative center of the prefecture of the 4th district of the department of Dordogne, in the room of the town hall, appeared Jean GRASSET LATOUR, captain pensioner, living in this town, who has presented us a child whose sex is male, and to whom has been given the first names of Étienne Alexis.

Said Grasset Latour has declared that this child was born yesterday at 9 in the morning, that he is the legitimate son of himself and Mary Bertrand, his wife.

This statement was made in the presence of Mr. Jean LESPINASSE, farm owner and of Gabriel CAILLOUX, employee under grant of Bergerac, who signed with the father and ourselves, after having heard read this act.
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Today April 7, one thousand eight hundred and eight, before us the undersigned Jean Valeton BOISSIERE, public officer, from the town hall of Bergerac, the administrative center of the prefecture of the 4th district of the department of Dordogne, in the room of the town hall, appeared Jean GRASSET LATOUR, captain pensioner, living in this town, who has presented us a child whose sex is male, and to whom has been given the first names of Étienne Alexis.

Said Grasset Latour has declared that this child was born yesterday at 9 in the morning, that he is the legitimate son of himself and Mary Bertrand, his wife.

This statement was made in the presence of Mr. Jean LESPINASSE, farm owner and of Gabriel CAILLOUX, employee under grant of Bergerac, who signed with the father and ourselves, after having heard read this act.

This statement was made in the presence of Mr. Jean LESPINASSE, farm owner and of Gabriel CAILLOUX, employee under grant of Bergerac, who signed with the father and ourselves, after having heard read this fact.

Died:
gravestone: "d.c.d. 15 mai 1870 age de 63 ans"

Étienne married Catherine Doucet on 24 Oct 1833 in Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA. Catherine (daughter of Augustin Doucet and Marie Louise Vige) was born on 13 Dec 1813 in Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 24 Mar 1865 in Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Old Ville Platte Cemetery, Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
St. Landry Catholic Church

1. Marie Cora Latour was born on 24 Sep 1834 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
2. Alexis Adolphe Latour was born on 31 Aug 1836 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
3. Celestine Clara Latour was born on 8 Oct 1838 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
4. Lize Laure Latour was born on 7 Feb 1841 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 8 Aug 1906 in Louisiana, USA; was buried in St Landry Cemetery, Opelousas, Louisiana, USA.
5. Emile Latour was born on 14 May 1843 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 26 Feb 1924 in Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana, USA; was buried in 1924 in Old Ville Platte Cemetery, Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana, USA.
6. Mary Aurore Latour was born on 30 Apr 1847 in Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana, USA; died on 6 Jul 1922 in Opelousas, St Landry, Louisiana, USA; was buried in Gardner Hinckley Cemetery, Washington, St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
7. Homere Latour was born on 8 Oct 1849 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA; died on 12 Jun 1886 in St Landry, Louisiana, USA.
8. Marie Ophelia Latour was born in 1852 in Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana, USA; died on 8 Aug 1906.

Notes:

Étude généalogique : la famille Grasset-Latour, Researcher: Duhamel, Martine, (Duhamel, 15 rue port de graule, 24000 Périgueux, France, 1998), A.D. 24 : registres d'état-civil.

Les enfants de Jean GRASSET LATOUR et de Marie BERTRAND

- Marie Généreuse née le 12 Ventose an 5 à La Rochelle, mariée le 2 avril 1835 à Bergerac avec Élie GIRON et décédée le 18 février 1836 à Bergerac. (cf. actes)
- Magdeleine Cora, née le 6 Germinal an X à Bergerac et mariée à Bergerac le 19 janvier 1831 (cf. actes)
- Jean Homehara né le 26 Fructidor an XII à Bergerac (cf. acte)
- Étienne Alexis né le 6 avril 1808 à Bergerac (cf. acte)
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Children of Jean Grasset Latour and Marie Bertrand

- Marie Généreuse born 12 Ventose year 5 [2 March 1797] at La Rochelle, married 2 April 1835 at Bergerac with Élie Giron and died 18 February 1836 at Bergerac. (cf. Acts)
- Magdeleine Cora born 6 Germinal Year X [27 March 1802] at Bergerac and married at Bergerac 19 January 1831 (cf. Acts)
- Jean Homehara born on 26 Fructidor Year XII [13 September 1804] at Bergerac (cf. Acts)
- Étienne Alexis was born 6 April 1808 at Bergerac (cf. Acts)

[These children were young when their father Jean Grasset Latour died at Perpignan in 1811: Marie Généreuse,14; Magdeleine Cora, 8; Jean Homehara, 6; Étienne Alexis 4. Note that each child was given two first names.

Bergerac is key to the roots of the Latour family traced on this website. St. Landry Parish records document the marriages of two brothers from Bergerac, sons of the late Jean Grasset Latour and Marie Bertrand. There, the older brother, Pierre Grasset Latour, weds in 1826 and the younger brother, Alexis Grasset Latour, in 1833.

Researching the children of Jean Grasset Latour and Marie Bertrand in 1998, French genealogist Martine Duhamel found only two sons, both born in Bergerac: Jean Homehara Grasset Latour and Étienne Alexis Grasset Latour.

Étienne Alexis and his Louisiana counterpart Alexis are clearly one and the same. Louisiana records are consistently within a year or two of his actual age; only the first name "Étienne" seems to have been lost in the passage across the Altlantic. The older brother Pierre Grasset proves more difficult to pin down.

With the exception of marriage records and the birth records of two of his seven children, Pierre is known as simply "Grasset" Latour, even in his own death record. On at least one occasion, in 1846, he signs his name as "Grasset Latour" on a legal document. In the Federal censuses for 1830-1860 he can be found as Grasset Latour (under various spellings). In the 1830 census his age is given as from 20 to 30 years. Later censuses, place him slightly older, age 51 in 1850. The Church record of the death of "Grosset" Latour in 1860 at age 62, places his birth around 1798.

Duhamel found no birth record in Bergerac of a Pierre Grasset Latour or other any child of Jean Grasset Latour and Marie Bertrand before 1802.

Assume that there was a third brother Pierre born in Bergerac around 1798. Earlier records of the Grasset Latour’s in Begerac are patchy because they were Protestants under a system of state-mandated Catholicism in which the Church recorded vital records. But in 1798, Pierre would have been born under the French Republic when civil records were maintained, regardless of faith. So, there is no reason a birth record in the late 1790s would not have turned up during Duhamel’s research. At best, a third brother Pierre might have born someplace else other than Bergerac as his father moved about during his military career.

As separate individuals, Jean Homeraha and Pierre Grasset Latour would have been born 5-6 years apart. However, there appears to be good reason for a young man born on 26 Fructidor year XII of the French Republic not to know his birth date. First, the arcane French Republican calendar system was abandoned the year after his birth. Perhaps more importantly, setting out for a new life in the Louisiana as a slightly older person would have had its advantages, not the least of which was appearing older to future in-laws when marrying their 15-year old daughter.

It is likely that Jean Homeraha Grasset Latour and Pierre Grasset Latour/Grasset Latour are one and the same.]

Birth:
Le registre de Bergerac a été dépouillé de 1754 à 1771, mais il n'a pas permis de retrouver l'acte de baptême de Jean GRASSET LATOUR (votre ancêtre) né en 1761, ni celui de Pierre GRASSET LATOUR, né vers 1758, dont l'acte de mariage et le contrat de mariage ont été retrouvés ... et dont il est spécifié qu'il était "fils aîné".

Ils ont pu naître au Désert, sous la religion protestante, étant les deux aînés.
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The civil registry of Bergerac was searched from 1754 to 1771, but did not uncover the baptismal record for Jean Grasset Latour (your ancestor) born in 1761, nor that of Pierre Grasset LATOUR, born about 1758, whose marriage certificate and marriage contract were found ... and in which he was "the eldest son."

They could have been born "in the Wilderness," in the Protestant faith, being the two eldest children.

Died:
Record also provides approximate birth and place of birth. Note that the mother's name is Marie Bontemps and not Dontemne (a possible transcription error). Record acquired from the Mairie des Pyrénées Orientales by genealogist Martine Duhamel in 1998.

Acte de décès de Jean GRASSET LATOUR, le 13 juillet 1811 à PERPIGNAN

N.B : Cet acte est important car il nous indique que Jean GRASSET LATOUR étant âgé de 50 ans, est né en 1761.

D'autre part, il est natif de Bergerac.

Les noms de ses parents nous sont également révélés : Pierre GRASSET et Marie BONTEMPS (et non DONTEMNE*)

* n'ayant pas copie de l'acte, cette erreur d'orthographe vient peut-être de la mauvaise lecture de la secrétaire de mairie.
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Death Record for Jean Grasset Latour, 11 July 1811, at Perpignan

N.B.: This act is important because it tells us that Jean Grasset Latour, being aged 50, was born in 1761.

Additionally, he is a native of Bergerac.

The names of the parents are also brought to light for us: Marie and Pierre Grasset BONTEMPS (not DONTEMNE *)

* Having no copy of the death record, this spelling error is perhaps a wrong reading by the town clerk.

Jean married Marie Bertrand. Marie (daughter of Living and Living) was born on 30 Nov 1774 in Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France; died on 7 Feb 1855 in Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 4 Dec 1774, Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France

Notes:

Baptism:
Acte de baptême de Marie BERTRAND le 4 décembre 1774 à BERGERAC

Le 4ème décembre 1774 a été baptisée Marie BERTRAN, née le dernier novembre de ladite année, fille légitime de Pierre BERTRAN faure [sic], et de Marie GROSSATAU, habitant à Rieudelaisse.

Parrain : Jean COUNOR, marraine : Marie FALGUIER.

Présents Isaac et Pierre LAGUIONIE, du bourg, qui ont dit ne savoir signer.
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Baptismal record of Mary BERTRAND, 4 December 1774, at BERGERAC

On the 4th December 1774 was baptized Marie BERTRAN, born the last of November of that year, legitimate daughter of Pierre BERTRAN faure [sic], and of Marie GROSSATAU, living in Rieudelaisse.

Godfather: Jean COUNOR, godmother: Marie FALGUIER.

Present from the town, Isaac and Pierre LAGOUIONIE who said they did not know how to write their names.

Died:
Acte de décès de Marie BERTRAND, le 8 février 1855 à BERGERAC

Du huit du mois de février 1855, à 3 heures du soir,

Acte de décès de Marie BERTRAND, veuve de Jean GRASSET LATOUR, âgée de 79 ans, native de la commune de Lamonzie-Saint Martin, arrondissement de Bergerac, décédée le jour d'hier à 7 heures du soir rue Clérac à Bergerac...
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Death certificate of Mary BERTRAND, February 8, 1855 in BERGERAC

The eighth of February 1855, 3 o'clock at night,

Death certificate of Marie BERTRAND, widow of Jean Grasset Latour, aged 79, native of the commune of Lamonzie-Saint Martin, arrondisement of Bergerac, died yesterday at 7 in the evening, rue Clérac, Bergerac.

Notes:

Married:
Recherche de l'acte de mariage de Jean GRASSET LATOUR et de Marie BERTRAND

Aucun acte de mariage les concernant n'a été retrouvé en DORDOGNE de 1793 à 1797 (Marie Généreuse naît en l'an 5 = 1797) ni dans le canton de BERGERAC, ni dans le canton de LA FORCE, ni dans celui de SIGOULES.

Des recherches menées par la mairie de La Rochelle n'ont pas révélé d'union GRASSET LATOUR / BERTRAND en l'an 4 à LA ROCHELLE.

L'union a pu avoir lieu avant l'an 4 à LA ROCHELLE ou dans une autre ville, étant donné que Jean GRASSET LATOUR était militaire
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Search for the marriage of Jean Grasset Latour and Marie Bertrand

No marriage certificate concerning them was found in the Dordogne archives from 1793 to 1797 (Marie Généreuse was born in year 5 = 1797) nor in the township of Bergerac, nor in the township of La Force nor in that of Sigoules.

Research conducted by the city of La Rochelle revealed no marriage of Grasset Latour/Bertrand in year 4 [of the Repubican Calender] in La Rochelle.

The marriage could take place before the year 4 in La Rochelle or in another city, because Jean Grasset Latour was a soldier.

Notes:

M. Duhamel research shows that Pierre Grasset LaTour was a maitre cordier(master ropemaker). The birth record of his son Jacques (1760) listes :le pretendu mariage a ete fait au Desert" indication that he was a protestant. (LaTour Genealogical Collection, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kingharry&id=I00076&style=TABLE).

The birth record of son Jacques (1760) lists 'le prétendu mariage a été fait au Désert' indication that he was protestant. Birth record of daughter Marie (1764) states 'fille de Pierre Grasset et de Marie Bontemps dont le mariage n'a pas été fait en presence de l'église.'

Pierre married Marie Bontemps on 21 Sep 1756 in Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France. Marie (daughter of Jacques Bontemps and Marie Grandet) was born about 1730 in France; died after 1793 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Contract de marriage de Pierre GRASSET et de Marie BONTEMPS, passé le 21 septembre 1756 devant Me BIOU

Le 21 september 1756, dans la paroisse de St Christophe, juridiction de MONBAZILLAC, sont présents dans la maison des héritiers du feu Jacques BONTEMPS :

Pierre GRASSET, marchand cordier, fils de Pierre GRASSET, aussi marchand cordier et de Isabeau CAUDOU, conjoints, habitants de Bergerac.

Le futur est aussi assisté de ses trois soeurs, toutes prénomées Marie, de son oncle Jean HEBRARD maître tailleur et de son cousin, Jean HEBRARD.

et Marie BONTEMPS, fille seconde de feu Jacques BONTEMPS et de défunte Marie GRANDET, est assistée de ses deux soeurs, Marie, de son beau-frère, Jean EYMERIC, médecin à boeufs, époux de Marie BONTEMPS, sa soeur aînée, de Pierre GRANDET, laboureur, son oncle maternel, de Pierre BONTEMPS, jeune bourgeois de Bergerac, son cousin et de Marguerite BONTEMPS, sa cousine, fille du sieur Pierre.

Les jeunes époux vivront chez les GRASSET, parents de Pierre. Ils seront nourris et logés, ainsi que leurs enfants.
En échange, les jeunes mariés rapporteront "leurs revenus, travaux et industrie".

Apport du futur : ses parents lui consitituent une somme de 300 livres en avancement d'hoirie (= de succession), plus un ameublement.

Ils délaissent aussi à leur fils la jouissance d'une maison située à Bergerac "joignant le moulin des Révérends Pères Cordeliers".
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Summary of Marriage Contract between Pierre GRASSET and Marie BONTEMPS, agreed to on September 21, 1756 before Maître Biou [public notary]

On September 21, 1756, in the parish of St. Christopher, jurisdiction of MONBAZILLAC, are present in the house of the heirs of the late Jacques BONTEMP:

Pierre Grasset, ropemaker merchant, son of Pierre Grasset, also a ropemaker merchant, and his spouse Isabeau CAUDOU, habitants of Bergerac.

The future husband is also accompanied by his three sisters, all first-named Marie, his uncle Jean HEBRARD master tailor and his cousin, Jean HEBRARD.

and Marie BONTEMPS, second daughter of the late Jacques BONTEMPS and the late Marie GRANDET, is accompanied by her two sisters, Marie; her brother-in-law, John EYMERIC, oxen veterinarian, husband of Marie BONTEMPS, her older sister; Pierre GRANDET, laborer; her maternal uncle; Pierre BONTEMPS, young bourgeois from Bergerac, her cousin; and Marguerite BONTEMPS, her cousin, daughter of squire Pierre.

The young couple will live with the Grassets, Pierre's parents. They will be housed and fed, as well as will be their children.

In return, the newlyweds will provide "their income, work and industry".

Contribution the the groom-to-be: his parents provide him a sum of 300 livres (pounds) in anticipated inheritance, plus furnishings.

They also provide their son the enjoyment of a house in Bergerac "joining the mill of the Reverend Fathers Cordeliers."

Living married Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Residence: 1752, Bergerac, Dordogne, Aquitaine, France

Notes:

The information about Pierre Grasset/Isabeau Cordeau family comes from the marriage contract between their son Pierre Grasset Latour and Marie Bontemps agreed upon at Bergerac in 1756.

In 1998, Professional genealogist Martine Duhamel found no further birth or marriage information for the Pierre Grasset/Isabeau Caudou family. This supports the likely supposition that they were Protestants for whom there would be no documentation in the Catholic Church records of the period.

The Edict of Nantes, issued by Henri IV in 1598 had granted religious freedom in France. However, in 1685 his grandson Louis XIV repealed this freedom with the Edict of Fontainebleau. This revocation of the Edict of Nantes outlawed what Louis called the "Religion Prétendument Réformée" (the Allegedly Reformed Religion) and ordered the destruction of Protestant places of worship. A subsequent series of royal declarations issued between 1698 and 1715 created a web of particularly repressive statutes against Protestants. These laws were affirmed by Louis IV in a declaration given at Versailles on 14 May 1724, in which the king forbade all his subjets:

"[D]e faire aucun exercice de religion autre que de ladite Religion catholique et de s'assembler pour cet effet en aucun lieu et sous quelque prétexte que ce puisse être, à peine contre les hommes des galères perpétuelles ; et contre les femmes d'être rasées et enfermées pour toujours dans les lieux que nos juges estimeront à propos, avec confiscation des biens des uns et des autres, même à peine de mort contre ceux qui se seront assemblez en armes. [to exercise any religion other than the Catholic religion and to not assemble for this purpose in any place and under whatever pretext, the penalty being for men to the galleys for life, and for women to be shorn and locked forever in places that judges deem fit, with confiscation of their property, even the death penalty against those who assemble in arms.]"

Article 2 punished preachers with the death penalty, forbade anyone from giving them sanctuary; it was obligatory to denounce them.

Article 3 required the parents to have their children baptized within 24 hours of birth by the local priest, and articles 4 to 7 mandated raising the children as Catholics.

Articles 15 to 17 reaffirmed the formalities prescribed by the Catholic Church for marriage and marriage banns and the obligation to be married by the parish priest.

In this milieu, Protestants did not have the opportunity to worship freely, have marital status (leading to their children being potentially labeled as "bâtards"), or even hold certain occupations such as physician, printer or bookseller where licensing depended on a certificate of Catholicity.

In parts of the Aquitaine region, Catholics accounted for only about one-thirtieth of population in 1685. Even after 85 years of conversion efforts, Catholics would number no more than half the population. Despite their numbers, Protestants generally abandoned themselves to a fatalistic passivity toward Catholicism; there was no armed revolt as happened elsewhere in France. However, in 1742 a first assembly of the Protestant faithful “au desert” took place in the Bergerac area.

The notion of "le culte au desert," worship in the wilderness, had Biblical underpinnings in Hosea 2:16-17, "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her". Protestant assemblies in the countryside of up to 6,000 participants show an organized community and a renewal of faith. Even so, baptisms and marriages performed by itinerant preachers remained unrecognized by the State and patently illegal.

Thus, as Protestants in 18th century France, the Grasset Latour family likely faced many troubles for the practice of their faith.

Residence:
Requête de noble Pierre de Chièze contre les dégradations faites chez lui par Pierre Grasset dit Latour, maître cordier de la ville de Bergerac, en 1752. [Civil claim by the noble Pierre de Chièze against damage done on his property by Pierre Grasset dit Latour, master ropemaker of the town of Bergerac in 1752].

Noble Pierre de CHIEZE, Seigneur de la forge du Pont Saint Mamet dit qu'à son insu et durant son absence Pierre GRASSET dit LATOUR, maître cordier de la présente ville de Bergerac "aurait fait plusieurs entreprises, dégradations et usurpations préjudiciables au suppliant sur une maison et batiments à lui appartenant situés dans la présente ville, faubourg Malburguet".

Le suppliant a déjà demandé au maître cordier le 5ème courant "en sommation de rétablir et de remettre toutes choses en même état qu'elles étaient avant", mais rien n'ayant été fait, il supplie le Sénéchal du Périgord ou son lieutenant général de venir sur les lieux, avec un greffier pour constater les dégâts et dresser un procès-verbal.

N.B : Pierre GRASSET dit LATOUR, maître cordier à Bergerac en 1752, semble bien être votre ancêtre.
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Noble Pierre de Chièze, Lord of the forge of Pont Saint-Mamet says that without his knowledge and during his absence Pierre Grasset dit Latour, master ropemaker of this town of Bergerac "had done many enterprises, damage and usurpation detrimental to the supplicant on a house and buildings belonging to him situated in this city, in the faubourg of Malburguet".

The supplicant has already asked the master ropemaker on the 5th "in summation to restore and put back in place all things in the same state they were before", but nothing has been done. He begs the Seneschal of Perigord or his lieutenant general come to these places, with a clerk to see the damage and prepare a report.

N.B.: Pierre Grasset dit Latour, master ropemaker in Bergerac in 1752, seems to be your ancestor.

Pierre married Isabeau Caudou. Isabeau died after 12 Sep 1756 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Name:
The original text states Isabeau, not Isabelle.

Some sources incorrectly cite the wife of Pierre Grasset as being "Isabelle dit Deslauriers Cordeau" and injudiciously include her among the children of the early Québeçoise family of Jacques Cordeau and Maguerite Toupin.

Credible documenation indicates that Cordeau-Toupin family had 5 children: Jacques, Marguerite, Marie dite Marie-Madeleine, Jean-François, and Antoine. (See Jetté: Dictionnaire généalogique des familles du Québec, p. 270)

"Isabeau Caudou" was name of the wife of Pierre Grasset of Bergerac.

Died:
Isabeau was present at the signing of the marriage contract between her son Pierre and Maire Bontemps on 21 Sep 1756.

Notes:

Died:
Jacques died before the signing of the marriage contract between his daughter Maire and Pierre Grasset on 21 Sep 1756.

Jacques married Marie Grandet. Marie died before 21 Sep 1756 in France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Marie died before the signing of the marriage contract between her daughter Maire and Pierre Grasset on 21 Sep 1756.