Hi All, I'm very encouraged by the responses so far to our roll call..... Karma, I happen to have Alice Forsyth's "Louisiana Marriage Contracts, Vol. 1" checked out from the library ... and there are many listings for a Piguery; a couple for Pinau and Pigeot, and Picou; and one for Pincede and Pigue. Wonder if any of these could be your strange "Pingrows." I'm fascinated about the letter with the duel. Any chance you could share that with us? It's a real treasure any time we can get stories or letters or family books which help to make our ancestors "come alive"-- more than just BMD or census data. That is why we have such a treasure in the actual diary written by our progenitor... Antoine. Wish we could come up with more of this. David Perrin has a ton of stories to tell, but he is sans computer... so unless he attends our potential mini reunion in October... I'm not sure how we can access these stories..... I'd also like to welcome new list member, Gary Belsome, to the list. Let us know if we can help you with anything, Gary, and be sure to check out our Degruy web site. Gary said that his connection is through Marie Hortense Verloin DeGruy, daughter of Joseph and Marie Anne Couturier, born in 1778. I was wowed by Wally's generous offer to do research for us... what a genealogy angel we have in Wally! Good to hear from all of you. Renee

> > Karma, I happen to have Alice Forsyth's "Louisiana Marriage Contracts, > Vol. 1" checked out from the library ... and there are many listings > for a Piguery; a couple for Pinau and Pigeot, and Picou; and one for > Pincede and Pigue. Wonder if any of these could be your strange > "Pingrows." I'm fascinated about the letter with the duel. Any chance > you could share that with us? Fascinating. I'll have to play with that. I can't so far find any information on the line in France but I have some relatives I need to write. (I wish I could give them all computers and teach them to use email! :-) ) >I'm fascinated about the letter with the duel. Any chance you could share that with us? It's typed; I'll retype it. I've preseved spelling and punctuation as is. I don't know if I'm sharing a private letter between two people who are still living, though... *** transcript begins*** June 13, 1986 Dear Uncle Frank: I am sending you my chart so you can find your ancestors in the St Tammany Book. As you know the mother's family is on the bottom. David gave me most of it and we found the rest in Covington's Court House. When you are in Covington go to the Court House and see Mrs Neff in the basement, tell her who you are and she will show you her gems. She saved these records from being destroyed. I was surprised not to find the Perrins in the St Tammany book. I also am sending three pages I found from a book here in Houston, these names are on the chart. If it helps, David never answers my mail except to tell me I made a mistake, so if he does not answer feel good..you did not make a mistake according to David. I also have a story about a famous duel that envolved a Gaiennie if you are interested. Love to all the deGruys T.D. [handwritten initials] *** transcript ends*** Here is a transcript of the handwritten letter as best I can make out. ***transcript begins*** 4th of July 1986 Dear Uncle Frank: I'm sorry the chart is confusing. I am one generation removed - this may be the problem. So I am sending a chart with you as #1. Remember the father is always on top. I found my mother & father are 4th cousins - through Robert Lavigne line. I told Mama and she said nothing. I call about once a week - more or less depending on the health of ma. [deleted some personal information about Ma's health as reported by David to T.D. until I know who is being written about. Are these Perrins?] You don't have to return the chart I have one. Let me know if this chart helps if not I can talk your way through it. Love, Louise (T.D.) ***transcript ends*** I just discovered some copies of some handwritten letters about family history from Irene to Era Coney deGruy, Francois (PaPa's) wife who we called DeeDee (my Ggrandparents). I will transcribe these later if anyone is interested. They are not dated. Karma