You mention "while this land is not a mile below Houma, “about a mile above Houma” might be an accurate description for at least part of his original land grant"
My reaction is that "below" and "above" can be perhaps construed differently. For example in the same way that "up" and "down" are terms used to describe the direction of a train on a railway, with "up" usually referring to the direction towards the major location in a state, not anything to do with altitude. Looking at the wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_directions that seems to be more a British thing rather than US ...
In concludion perhaps in the 19th century the US used "below" differently than we might today.
My understanding is that "above" meant upriver but I can definitely look into it! There's a lot of use of the terms "left descending" and "right descending" to indicate which side of the bayou something is on as you head towards the gulf so it seems like lower should mean downstream but I had the same thought that maybe they meant the opposite!
Wow bravo! An amazing bit of research and a fabulous discussion/explanation of the situations and people, plus the historical context - all of which are fascinating. Having just gone through nearly 3,000 pages of probate documents for the Call Me a Bastards project, I definitely appreciate the intricacies - I ended up making an org chart to keep track of who got what when and from whom!
I know a lot of folks skip over probate records in their research because they have a bad rep as being too difficult and convoluted and just not worth the effort, but as you’ve shown in this piece, a bit of digging and a dose of patience can pay huge benefits.
Thank you!! I totally agree. I understand why people shy away from them, it can be really tedious when they are handwritten. But they can have so much unique info in them you can't find anywhere else!
The move between 1870 and 1880 could be explained by natural disaster and disease. Tough decade for Louisiana. The 1874 flood was likely the worst flood to have ravaged Louisiana ever. By May, an overwhelming number of parishes were completely inundated. Yellow fever came in 1870 and 1873 as well as bouts of cholera throughout the decade. It's always a good idea to match major weather and disease with your family timeline.
I will have to look into that! Although my family moved somewhere that was actually much worse situated for flooding than before. But if their homes were destroyed I suppose that wouldn't have really mattered all that much, they would have just needed somewhere to go. I have done a lot of research on the 1856 Last Island hurricane and the 1893 Cheniere Caminada one but haven't looked into the 1874 flood much. Thanks for the idea!
The Yellow Fever epidemic in 1878 was notable to us here in Illinois. Although it doesn't show up much in history books, the 1878 epidemic ravaged Louisiana, then spread up the Mississippi River valley as far as St. Louis killing hundreds in St. Louis City but also devastating many small river towns. My research area is Randolph County in SW Illinois and borders the Mississippi River on its western perimeter. Constructing a timeline of national and local importance will help you interpret genealogical information helping to explain motives.
I Googled a bit about this and found a Houma newspaper article that said this: “in Terrebonne, the Tigerville, Chacahoula, Buford, Barrow and Miltenberger districts were the principal sufferers." So... I think there's a really good chance you are right because that's where they were before the move! Barrow was their neighbor.
I have noticed that the exact area hit by epidemics is rarely reported accurately in "big picture" history like what you find on Wikipedia. Often the exact area disease hit would jump around a bit as people move and weather changes. And even the local newspapers would sometimes hide the full extent of the disease lest it drive business away from town. Kudos for finding local intel.
You mention "while this land is not a mile below Houma, “about a mile above Houma” might be an accurate description for at least part of his original land grant"
My reaction is that "below" and "above" can be perhaps construed differently. For example in the same way that "up" and "down" are terms used to describe the direction of a train on a railway, with "up" usually referring to the direction towards the major location in a state, not anything to do with altitude. Looking at the wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_directions that seems to be more a British thing rather than US ...
In concludion perhaps in the 19th century the US used "below" differently than we might today.
My understanding is that "above" meant upriver but I can definitely look into it! There's a lot of use of the terms "left descending" and "right descending" to indicate which side of the bayou something is on as you head towards the gulf so it seems like lower should mean downstream but I had the same thought that maybe they meant the opposite!
Wow, you've taken a hugely deep dive into the records! Kudos!
Wow bravo! An amazing bit of research and a fabulous discussion/explanation of the situations and people, plus the historical context - all of which are fascinating. Having just gone through nearly 3,000 pages of probate documents for the Call Me a Bastards project, I definitely appreciate the intricacies - I ended up making an org chart to keep track of who got what when and from whom!
I know a lot of folks skip over probate records in their research because they have a bad rep as being too difficult and convoluted and just not worth the effort, but as you’ve shown in this piece, a bit of digging and a dose of patience can pay huge benefits.
Again, great work - thanks!
Thank you!! I totally agree. I understand why people shy away from them, it can be really tedious when they are handwritten. But they can have so much unique info in them you can't find anywhere else!
The move between 1870 and 1880 could be explained by natural disaster and disease. Tough decade for Louisiana. The 1874 flood was likely the worst flood to have ravaged Louisiana ever. By May, an overwhelming number of parishes were completely inundated. Yellow fever came in 1870 and 1873 as well as bouts of cholera throughout the decade. It's always a good idea to match major weather and disease with your family timeline.
I will have to look into that! Although my family moved somewhere that was actually much worse situated for flooding than before. But if their homes were destroyed I suppose that wouldn't have really mattered all that much, they would have just needed somewhere to go. I have done a lot of research on the 1856 Last Island hurricane and the 1893 Cheniere Caminada one but haven't looked into the 1874 flood much. Thanks for the idea!
The Yellow Fever epidemic in 1878 was notable to us here in Illinois. Although it doesn't show up much in history books, the 1878 epidemic ravaged Louisiana, then spread up the Mississippi River valley as far as St. Louis killing hundreds in St. Louis City but also devastating many small river towns. My research area is Randolph County in SW Illinois and borders the Mississippi River on its western perimeter. Constructing a timeline of national and local importance will help you interpret genealogical information helping to explain motives.
I Googled a bit about this and found a Houma newspaper article that said this: “in Terrebonne, the Tigerville, Chacahoula, Buford, Barrow and Miltenberger districts were the principal sufferers." So... I think there's a really good chance you are right because that's where they were before the move! Barrow was their neighbor.
I have noticed that the exact area hit by epidemics is rarely reported accurately in "big picture" history like what you find on Wikipedia. Often the exact area disease hit would jump around a bit as people move and weather changes. And even the local newspapers would sometimes hide the full extent of the disease lest it drive business away from town. Kudos for finding local intel.