My New Discovery

So there I was with only a half hour to spare before running off to dinner with a bunch of new found friends.  I knew there was one book maybe two at the FHL (Family History Library, Salt Lake City) that I just had to look at, and this would be my last chance.

So off I ran...

Literally ran....dragging my little roll along case behind me with my charts, notes and computer inside.  I must have looked quite the sight.  But then all decorum and personal dignity, not to mention professional image, fly right out the window when that one elusive fact is within grasp and time is limited.

Hoofed it up to the floor containing US/Canada books and dropped my case at the first seat I found.

Dashed into the stacks (knew where to go since I had scoped it out the day before) and found the two books.

Carried them back to my table and dived in.

The first book contained some pictures I had been hoping I would find, but that was not my big discovery.  I already had those pictures, just not very good copies.  But it turns out the photos in the book that my copies were from were not very good...hence the bad copy.

So on to the next book......drum roll please.

In the book Marriage Contracts of the Attakapas Post, 1760-1803 Colonial Louisiana Marriage Contracts: Volume V     I found the following entry:

12 July 1766               OA Book 10, No. 14A
Before Benoist, Notary:
FRANCOIS JACQUES OZENNE - major son of deceased Jacque Ozenne and Charlotte Julie Moro; native of New Orleans.
MARGUERITE DECUIR - minor daughter of Jean Francois Decuir and Genevieve Mahyeux
Witnesses for the groom: Bernard Auricoste; Jacques Deshotels.
Witnesses for the bride: her parents; Antoine Patin, her uncle who is married to Marguerite Mahyeux; Joseph Prevost, her uncle who married Magdeleine Mahyeux; Pierre Decuir, her brother; Joseph Decoux, her cousin.


WOW
I love this record.  Look at all I got from it...
It took me back a generation ( I knew the names Francois Jacques Ozenne and wife Marguerite Decuir) but now I have his parents names and her parents names.  It gave their marriage date.  It gave me her brother's name and several new family connections (uncles, aunts, and cousin).
It also tells me that Charlotte Julie Moro was a native of New Orleans.
WOW
All this before I've even looked to see what relation the groom's witnesses might be.

And look at that date ... 1766

I could have a Revolutionary Soldier!

There were many other entries in this book that looked promising.  But I did not have time to examine it any further.  Because this book and many others like it, dealing with Louisiana, list a lot of people from Acadia I am sure to find other ancestors in it.  (It seems like almost all Acadian descendants are cousins...the lines intermarried a lot.) So if you are of Acadian (Cajun) descent drop me a line...I'll bet we find a connection or two.  I will definitely be getting my hands on this book again.

So just like on Who Do You Think You Are (WDYTYA) I'm off to Louisiana.  (The trip was already planned...the research work in the FHL was in preperation). At the end of February I will be in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana....the search continues.