Joseph Cheramy (Cheramie) of France and Louisiana Compiled by John B. Windham, Metairie, Louisiana 07 Feb 2004 Joseph Cheramy was born in the town of Mauron, in present-day Department Morbihan, France. In France he was a cobbler. A cobbler is one who makes or mends boots and shoes. Cheramy is not an Acadian name. After living in Mauron, France, Joseph Cheramy moved to the City of Nantes, France, about 1783 and there he became associated with some of the Acadians who had been forced into exile when England required them to abandon their homes in Acadia, North America. Joseph married in Nantes, France, on April 27, 1784, to Anne Aucoin, an Acadian. Anne Aucoin, daughter of Pierre Aucoin and Marguerite Dupuy, was the first wife of Joseph Cheramy but not the mother of our Louisiana Cheramie ancestors. Our Cheramie's descend from Joseph Cheramy and his second wife, Gertrude Olive Michel, daughter of Pierre Michel and Marguerite Pitre. Joseph Cheramy has not been found listed on any ship passenger list, but this writer is convinced that he came to Spanish controlled Louisiana with the French Acadians aboard one of the seven ships in 1785. "Passenger List" for these seven ships that brought Acadians from France to Louisiana in 1785 are available for research, but these "Passenger List" are not completely accurate. These "Passenger List" are a list of people who volunteered and were authorized to leave France for Louisiana. Some of these people who signed-up for the trip, later, changed their minds and did not leave France. Other people who had not signed-up for the trip, took the place of those who had changed their minds and decided to stay in France. Joseph Cheramy is believed to be one of the people who did not originally enlist to make the trip, but later (after the original passenger list had been prepared) married an Acadian whose family had already volunteered to make the trip. When it was time for the ships to leave in 1785, Joseph Cheramy boarded one of the ships with his new Acadian bride and made the trip to Louisiana. A more accurate list of actual ship passengers was probably compiled, but it has not been found by this writer. When Joseph Cheramy come to Spanish Louisiana in 1785, he and his family settled in a place called "La Fourche". At that time period, "La Fourche" is believed to have been composed essentially of the areas of today's civil parishes of Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption and that part of Ascension on the "west" side of the Mississippi River. The actual community where Joseph Cheramy is believed to have first settled was a few miles down stream from present-day Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in the community on Bayou Lafourche called Valenzuela. This Valenzuela Community still exist, today. It is located near the present-day Belle Alliance Community and this area is between present-day Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and present-day Plattenville, Louisiana, on Bayou Lafourche. This area where Joseph Cheramy first settled is about six miles below present-day Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and is in present-day Assumption Parish about two miles downstream from the dividing line between present-day Assumption Parish and present-day Ascension Parish. When Joseph Cheramy first come to Louisiana in 1785, the present-day civil Parishes of Assumption and Ascension had not yet been established. Bayou Lafourche was a large waterway when Joseph Cheramy settled in that area. The water from the mighty Mississippi River split-off at what is, today, Donaldsonville, Louisiana, and formed Bayou Lafourche. Today, the volume of water from the Mississippi River is controlled by the "locks" at Donaldsonville. This makes Bayou Lafourche, today, a fairly small and tame stream of water. During the years before the controlling "locks" at Donaldsonville, huge amounts of water splitting-off from the Mississippi River made Bayou Lafourche a deep and wide waterway that accommodated large ships. During those early years the uncontrolled water from the Mississippi River often spilled-over the banks of Bayou Lafourche. This flooding of the surrounding lands which continuously deposited new rich soil, made very fertile and desirable farm land. In the book, "South Louisiana Records--Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes" vol. 1 (1794-1840) by Rev. Donald J. Hebert, the foreword is written by Albert J. Robichaux, Jr. and he states: (begin quote) Before the arrival of the French, the Chetimachas Indians had established a village along Bayou Lafourche at its junction with the Mississippi River. The village, located in the region of present-day Donaldsonville, was known as Lafourche des Chetimachas and the term came to apply to the area along the entire length of the Bayou. French retaliation of the murder of a missionary almost exterminated the Chetimachas and the Spanish later established a post at the site of this village. To the Spanish "Distrito de La Fourche" came refugees from Acadia; volunteer recruits from the Canary Islands, the Isle of Mallorca and the mainland of Spain; immigrants from Canada, Italy, Ireland and the American Colonies; and emigrants from the neighboring districts of Iberville, First and Second German Coasts, New Orleans, Pointe Coupee and Attakapas. In the late eighteenth century, population had spread south of Valenzuela and gave rise to a trading post which was originally called Thibodauxville and later shortened to Thibodaux. In 1807, Thibodaux became the seat of the Civil Parish of Lafourche Interior, from which Terrebonne Parish was carved in 1822. (end quote) Also in the book, "South Louisiana Records--Church and Civil Records of Lafourche-Terrebonne Parishes" vol. 1 (1794-1840) by Rev. Donald J. Hebert, a historical sketch of Lafourche Parish originally prepared by the Work Projects Administration, is given: (begin quote) Lafourche is French for "the fork". The name originally was applied to Bayou Lafourche, probably because of the fork formed where it flows out of the Mississippi River at the present site of Donaldsonville in Assumption Parish. Lafourche Parish today represents only a part of the old parish of that name. It was created originally as the county of La Fourche, one of the 12 counties into which the Territory of Orleans was divided in 1805. When the parish organization was established in 1807 it was provided that: "The settlement of LaFourche shall be divided into two parishes, the nearest of which to the river, shall form the eighth parish, under the name of the parish of the Assumption, and shall include one half of the population; "The ninth parish shall consist of the other settlements in the lower part of La Fourche, and shall be called the Interior Parish; In 1822 Terrebonne Parish was created from Lafourche Interior Parish, although the permanent boundary between these two parishes was not established until the passage of a statute in 1850. The designation "Interior" was dropped from the name in 1853, making it "Lafourche, under which title it shall henceforth be known and designated." (end quote) The earliest Louisiana record that this writer has found, shows that Joseph Cheramy had a child baptized in Ascension of Donaldsonville Catholic Church Parish on May 7, 1786. This "Ascension" Parish refers to the Catholic Church Parish, not the present-day civil Ascension Parish. The present-day Ascension Parish did not come into existence until March 31, 1807, and the present-day civil Ascension Parish took its name from the Catholic Church Parish at Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Joseph Cheramy and his first wife, Anne Aucoin, probably traveled the short distance to the Donaldsonville Catholic Church from their home in the Valenzuela Community near present-day Belle Alliance, Louisiana, to have their child baptized. Joseph Cheramy's first wife, Anne Aucoin, died about this time, probably from complications of childbirth of their only child who was born April 7, 1786. This only child from Anne Aucoin was named Joseph Cherami. He lived for only a few months and he died an infant. In the book, "Assumption Parish, Original Cahier Records, Book 1, 1786-1793", Joseph Cher Amy/Cheramy/Cherami is listed in land records as living on the banks of Bayou Lafourche on November 20, 1790; May 24, 1794; October 22, 1796; October 31, 1796; October 22, 1798; October 29, 1798; January 14,1806; February 5, 1806; February 22, 1806; May 19, 1806; July 19, 1806 and August 26, 1806. Some of these records show Joseph Cheramy buying and selling land. Some of these records show Joseph Cheramy as living on land bounded by other persons buying and selling land. The records indicate that he owned land on both sides of Bayou Lafourche. The two sides of Bayou Lafourche were known as the "left bank" and the "right bank". "Left" and "right" was determined with the assumption that one was headed downstream. In the October 22, 1796, record it is stated that the land where Joseph Cherami was living at that time was "located in lower Lafourche". In the October 29, 1798, record it is stated that the land was "situated in lower Lafourche". This "lower Lafourche" designation does not mean that Joseph Cheramy was in 1796-1798 living in what is present-day "south Lafourche". The present-day area of "south Lafourche" is the area around present-day Larose and Galliano, Louisiana. In the late 1790s, "lower Lafourche" meant the area just below the more heavily populated area of present-day Donaldsonville, Louisiana. In the late 1790s, "lower Lafourche" included the area of Valenzuela above Plattenville, Louisiana, where Joseph Cheramy was living. This area is in present-day Assumption Parish, Louisiana. Joseph Cheramy probably moved sometime about 1797-1798 from the Valenzuela Community near present-day Belle Alliance, Louisiana, to the area near what is known, today, as Larose, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. Catholic Church records at St. Louis Church (Cathedral) and St. Marie Church on Chartres Street in New Orleans seem to imply that Joseph Cheramy/Cherami and his wife, Gertrude Michel were residing in the City of New Orleans from about 1797 to about 1811. This writer believes that Joseph Cheramy and his wife, Gertrude Olive Michel, never lived in the City of New Orleans. This confusion may be caused by Catholic Church records being transferred from the Bayou Lafourche area to the New Orleans Church records repository. Land records seem to reliably indicate that Joseph Cheramy and his wife, Gertrude Olive Michel, were living near Larose, Lafouche Parish, during the 1798 to 1810 time period. After 31 March 1807 the area near Larose, Louisiana, was included in the newly established La Fourche Interior Parish, Louisiana. It was on 22 March 1822 that an Act was passed that established what is known, today as Lafourche Parish, Louisiana In a January 14, 1806, land sale record for Joseph Cherami it is stated that the land was "located on the right bank of Bayou Lafourche; about 20 leagues below the Mississippi River". A "league" is about three miles. This proves that the land that this Joseph Cherami sold in 1806 was sixty(60) miles down Bayou Lafourche from the Mississippi River at present-day Donaldsonville. The February 15, 1806, land sale record shows that Joseph Cherami sold land "located on the right bank of Bayou Lafourche, about 23 leagues below the Mississippi River". Twenty-three(23) leagues would place this land sixty-nine(69) miles from present-day Donaldsonville, Louisiana. We know by these records that Joseph Cherami was living in the area of present-day Larose, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, in 1806. Joseph Cheramy/Cherami who was born 05 May 1759 in France to parents, Joseph Cheramy and Anne Pinsart, had a total of nine(9) known children. He had one(1) child by his first wife, Anne Aucoin, and eight(8) children by his second wife, Gertrude Olive Michel, daughter of Pierre Michel and Marguerite Pitre. Joseph Cheramy's child by his first wife, Anne Aucoin: 1- Joseph Cherami born 07 Apr 1786, died an infant Joseph Cheramy's children by his second wife, Gertrude Olive Michel: 2- Joseph Batiste Cherami born 18 Oct 1787 3- Marguerite Suzanne Cherami born Oct 1792 4- Juan Baptiste Cherami born 05 Nov 1794 5- Zeon Cherami born 12 Feb 1897 6- Maria Sinforosa Cherami born 07 Jan 1799, died about 22 Sep 1824 7- Juan Raphael born 10 Apr 1801, died about 03 Nov 1811 8- Rosalia Cherami born 15 Sep 1802, died 14 Jul 1805 9- Louis Jacques Cherami born 13 Dec 1808 Joseph Cheramy was born 05 May 1759 died sometime after August 1806 when he is recorded as selling land and he died before 1810 when the 1810 census of Lafourche Parish was taken and did not include him. He probably died near what is today, Larose, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. Joseph's wife, Gertrude Olive Michel, died sometime after 1810 when she was included in the 1810 census and she died before 01 July 1815 when she is recorded as being already deceased in a marriage record of her oldest son, Joseph Batiste Cheramy/Cherami. Gertrude probably died in what was then known as La Fourche Interior, Louisiana, near Larose, Louisiana Many of Joseph Cherami's descendants continued to live at, or near, Larose, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, for over two hundred years. Many others of Joseph Cherami's descendants are now scattered throughout the United States and even throughout the entire world. The Cheramie surname has been spelled and pronounced in several different ways. Variations of the spelling of the surname are Cher Amy, Cheramy, Cherami, and Cheramie. It seems that Cher Amy and Cheramy was used as the French version and the American version before about 1800. Starting about 1830 (or a few years before) and continuing to about 1880 to 1900, the Cherami spelling was generally used. Then, gradually starting about 1880 to 1900, the present-day American version of Cheramie was most commonly used. The conversion to the modern-day spelling of Cheramie was a gradual process. Of course, there was no clear-cut day when the name was spelled one way and then starting the next day, it was being spelled another way. Some family members spelled their surname as several different versions during their own lifetime. Different family members sometimes spelled their Cheramie surname differently during the same time period. There are recorded instances where the Cheramie surname has been misspelled. This usually occurred when someone other than a family member was entering a written record.. Some recorded misspellings variations of the Cheramie surname are: "Jeremias", "Geremias", "Jeremie", and "Chervais". Most knowledgeable Cheramie family researchers seem to agree that these are simply mistakes by the person recording the name and not legitimate spelling variations of the Cheramie