Yes it has been quiet. As I mentioned, I'm in the middle of my "other" work and it will last for at least 5-6 more weeks.... I wanted to mention that in the long conversation I had with David Perrin last Sunday, he mentioned a Degruy Plantation in the area in/around Mandeville where the Beau Chene [spelling] subdivision is right now. I think Isabel knows about this. In any case, that was the first I had heard about the Degruys across the lake. I knew their plantations had been on both sides of the Mississippi. Was that information on the Audubon Park DeGruy plantation in the History of the Bouligny family? I seem to remember an email floating around with that statement... but I could be wrong... Renee Shelley Dedman wrote: >Hello to all - > >It's been a quiet week for this bunch. I just finished reading a great >little history of St.Tammany parish - "St. Tammany Parish - L'Autre Cote Du >Lac" by Frederick Ellis. (I must learn a way to include the French, Spanish >accent marks in emails) For those of you who do not live in New Orleans, or >the area anymore, and have forgotten, and those who have never lived in the >area - St.Tammany Parish is across Lake Pontchartrain (the north side of the >lake) from New Orleans. It includes places like Covington, Mandeville, etc. > >So, here is a brief but interesting "story" to add to one's notes about our >wonderfully interesting family. > >My grandmother, Irene Francois Verloin de Gruy, was born in 1895, on her >father's (Francois Verloin de Gruy) plantation in Covington, St. Tammany >Parish, LA. (Her birth date and those of her siblings are incorrect on the >Woods - de Gruy family website) Anyway, Ellis writes of the devastation of >St. Tammany Parish as a whole, as a result of the Civil War. In Chapter 17, >page 156, he writes: > > "The most telling statistic on the economic condition of the parish is the >wealth of its more affluent citizens. In 1860, there were 27 men in the >parish who reported owning property valued at $10,000 or more, including two >who were worth $100,000. In 1870, the wealthiest citizen in St. Tammany >Parish was F.V. De Gruy, who owned a sawmill, and who was worth only >$8,000." > >Francois Verloin de Gruy was in his 50s when my grandmother and her sister >and brother were born. So I have to believe that F.V. De Gruy was indeed >the same person. > > There were several references to familiar family names, including one about >the Foucher family, noting on page 63, the names of some of the settlers who >came into the area during the Spanish regime. Among them was Antoine >Foucher in 1787. One of the earliest settlers of the area was a member of >the Aufere family. > >I think these are the kinds of "history" that add so much to the richness of >our family, the entire, expanded family that includes all of us. > >Now, Renee, I can focus on finding that info about the New Orleans >plantation which included parts of Audubon Park. > >Shelley (Michele) > > > > > >