The following excerpts are taken from Ambroise Lacour's scrapbook. Lacour was one of Vermilion Parish's sheriffs (1851 to April 1853) and was also one of Abbeville's mayors, in 1857. The previous year he had been a town councilman. His scrapbook is actually that: a scrapbook which is composed of ledgers of when he was a teacher, and of when he was sheriff. As sheriff, he entered the cases in which he took official action: served subpoenas, travel time, etc. The nature of the cases was usually not explained, just the names of the defendants and the plaintiffs. Also included in Lacour's scrapbook were actual newspaper clippings of meetings of the Police Jury, a letter about voter fraud, etc., in the 1840s and 1850s. Some were in English, while others were in French. The scrapbook is also decorated by either his children or grandchildren who used the book as drawing paper, even on official portions of the book. Juvenile drawings of women is fancy dresses, of a steamboat, and even a few poems, mar or decorate the pages. John B. Theall was served a subpoena in a civil suit on May 7, 1852. He and Eliza A. Dougan (I think that's how it is spelled) were sued in District Court by Mechanics and Traders Bank. Theall was sued in N. O. District Court by Citizens Bank, in 1853. In 1853, George Petry was sued by John Steffel in District Court. Also in 1853, he was sued by Ezemily Booth wife of deceased Robert Perry, in District Court. Sometime in the late 1840s, Lacour listed the parents and their children whom he was teaching. At that time, George Petry's children who were Lacour's students were Mary and Lewis. In July 1849, George Petry's children listed were Washington and Lewis. In August 1849, Petry's children were Mary and Euphemie. In one suit, in 1851, Robert Perry sued Edward Merriman for "maintaining Nelson & Sarah Ann, slaves," for 104 days "at 25 cents each per day" and for some shoes, and "pantaloons and a shirt" for Nelson for a total of $55.25. The amount was due by Manuel (?) Merriman. I hope that this information helps someone in their search for clues about their ancestors. Ken Dupuy