Welcome, Michelle! Delighted to have you aboard. Are you researching anyone in particular? Do you already have some family tree history accumulated - either as the result of your own research or a "tree" that might have been given you by your parents or grandparents? Any information, however slight, is always of value. Right now Degruy-L has about 15-20 participants, either active or "lurking." As I mentioned, the list has been quite silent lately.... partially due to my own involvement with non genealogy work and partly because some of the other members are on extended trips out of the country. What we were doing with the roll call of names was just listing the various names in our heritages and letting people know should they share similar surnames. I was personally quite excited to hear that your GGrandfather was Pierre Huxelle DeGruy..... as Pierre Huxelle is also my Great Grandfather... [although I'm still trying to prove it] ... so meeting you online is a major breakthrough for me.... Here's the big question... who was your Pierre Huxelle married to? In my records he was married first to Julie Eveline [or Julia Evelina] Boutte. Together, according to my records... but this could easily be incorrect, they had Oscar Verloin, James Joseph, Amanda Louise, and Joseph Adolf. When Julie died 28 Feb 1862, Pierre remarried Marie Cecilia Cunningham, my GGrandmother, about whom I know next to nothing..... except that before she married Pierre, she had been married to a Paul A. Brandon and had some children with him. In fact of the children listed in thc census of Pierre and Mary, I suspect that only one was their mutual child: Albert Joseph, my Grandfather who married Marie Ruth [still know nothing about her parents, though I think she was related to an Adam Ruth: desperate for info on this line] ....At this point I think I'll stop and copy below a little essay I wrote the last time I was in New Orleans. I do this periodically when I have a great stumbling block. It helps to focus me..... So I hope you'll bear with me... If any of this makes any sense, please let me know. I've been struggling with it for so long, I'm fairly worn out! By the way, I'm now living in St. Louis, Where are you? Looking forward to hearing from you, either on list or off. Renee ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- I discovered today the marriage date of Pedro Degruy and Marie Cecilia Cunningham Brandon which was 11 May 1867. This is significant because it means that of the children listed to Peter and Mary in the 1870 census, only one was their child together.... my Grandfather, Albert Joseph. The other children: Ida, Malvina, and Louise were probably Brandons. [But where were Pierre Huxelle's children with Julie Evelina Boutte DeGruy at this point in time? All grown and out of the house?] If not, why don't they show up in the census? I also discovered the death date for Mary's former husband, Paul A. Brandon, which was: Now have his obit [10-13-04 andiits from the D P 9-10-1865 p. 4 c. 2.... It reads: On the 29 April 1865, ? the Confederate [La] Hospital in Richmond Va, Paul Brandon. native of Louisiana, aged ? years. He died of disease contracted while serving in the Southern Army, 5th Louisiana Regiment. So all the children other than Albert Joseph were Mary Cunningham Brandon and Paul A Brandon's. Only Albert Joseph belonged to Peter and Mary together. Again, Peter probably had other children from his previous marriage. I need to get this straightened out. So.... Brandon dies in 1865. Peter and Mary get married in 1867. They have Albert Joseph in 1870. And Peter dies in 1883. [By the way, Mary is quite a bit younger [20+ years] than Pierre when they marry The question still remains.... when did Mary Cunningham Brandon DeGruy die? Was there a succession? Did she remarry? And who is the Pierre Huxelle who some websites have dying in Mobile? [Eric Oden's web site says this about Pierre Huxelle: My death certificate for him has him dying in New Orleans. According to OGDEN'S website Pierre Huxelle Pierre Huxelle DeGruy, born 23 February 1885 in Point Clear, Baldwin Co., AL; died 14 December 1950 in Mobile, Mobile Co., AL; married Marguerite Young; died Unknown.] Big question? Who is this Pierre Huxelle in relation to the Pierre Huxelle I have a death certificate for as dying in New Orleans? Who is the mother of the Pierre Huxelle who died in Mobile????? If these are two separate Pierre Huxelles, then this will be only the second time I've seen that Huxelle name. So.... Peter and Julia Eveline Boutté had Oscar Verloin, James Joseph, Amanda Louise and Joseph Adolf. Mary and Paul Brandon had: Ida, Malvina and Louise Mary and Peter had Albert Joseph.....and if anyone else, I don't know. When Peter and Mary were married these were the ages of Pierre's children with Julia: Oscar Verloin was 27, James Joseph was 23, Amanda Louise was 21 and Joseph Adolf was 17. When Peter and Mary were married: Ida was 8, Malvina was 6 and Louise was 5. So living in the house might have been 4 children....probably the two older were married... or could have been living in grandparents home. Clearly in the 1870 census [and only 2 years into the marriage] only 4 kids were living at home.... By this time Joseph Adolf would have been 19. Now here's something interesting... while looking through marriage applications, I found one in which P H DeGruy and Adam Ruth say theat they are well acquainted with L. Stephens and Catherine Finnegan who are applying for a marriage license and that no legal impediments exist.... so Ruth and Degruy signatures appear together on this May 1867 document. This may be a clue as to my GGrandmother's identity....So, now I have to figure out if this is how Degruy linked up to Ruth so that Mary Ruth married Albert Degruy... Let's try to figure this out. Albert DeGruy married Mary Ruth. Albert Degruy's Father was P H Degruy. Mary Ruth's father was ???? who.... Could it have been Adam Ruth? [I had had John Ruth but am told that is incorrect].... How can I get this straightened out? What are Adam Ruth's dates..... And here is a BIG question.... when Pierre Huxelle dies he is listed on the death certificate as Pierre Huxelle. And yet when Pierre is born, the name Huxelle does not appear on his baptismal certificate [I don't have his birth record, just his baptismal certificate]..... So where does that Huxelle come from? I don't see it in any other DeGruy genealogy anywhere. FYI, I have Pedro Degruys Verloin et St. Amand [how he's listed on the baptismal certificate... In another place he's listed as Pedro Verloin DeGruy]. Here's how his baptismal certificate reads: This is to certify that Pedro Degruys Verloin y St. Amand, Child of Pedro Degruys Verloin and Aselia St. Amand, both natives and residents of this parish, Born on the 12 of March 1817 at [not stated] Baptized on the 26th of January 1818 at St. Louis Cathedral. According to the Rite of the Roman Catholic Church by the Rev. Antonio de Sedella, the Sponsors being Joseph Verloin "el joven"; Cesaria St. Amand. A true and exact extract from the Baptismal Registers of St. Louis Cathedral which are now in the Archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Vol Marriage Bk3 Page 169 B Act No 562 1803-1821 certified by Jack Belsom Date 19 July 2004 Regarding the Huxelle question, David Perrin got this from a book, but can't remember which book, so I don't know quite what to do with it: David Perrin has Huxelle = Nicolas du Blé, Maréchal D' ... est apple au conseil sous le ministere du Cardinal de Fleur. David says maybe it has something to do with his being a "constable". Pierre is listed as a constable in the census and also in the 1861 Gardiner City Directory, which has him living at 419 Franklin. One other thing.... the succession for the widow of Pierre H. Degruy... who must be Julie Eveline.... has gone missing. I'm told by Irene at NOPL that there is no hope of finding it. Rita Curry Pittman says that sometimes one succession is tucked inside another and that I should track down the succession of each of the children of Pierre and Julie and that maybe it will be found there. This is my note about the succession and it gives the record locator: "10-13-04 Tried to find the succession of Pierre H, wife of 30, 105 which is found in the General Index of All Successions 1846-1888 but the card was missing and the librarian said that she didn't think it exists anywhere. This is devastating. "