I think the point of having this blog is not only to continue to be challenged for the 52 Ancestors writing prompts, but to be able to share what I have found during research to family who may be interested. So here goes…
My great-great grandfather, Sarazin Trahan was born 1 October 1831 in Lafayette, Louisiana area. I am slowly putting together some other pieces of his life outside of what I have found in Census records, but the one point I’m trying to make in this is from an actual census record – 1900.
Let’s go back a few steps first. So he was married twice – first to a lady named Azemie Pelagie Trahan, the marriage was 20 Feb 1854. They had 11 children. I did not have much info on the death dates of each of his children, so that was my goal today (on Easter) to work on getting whatever info I could. The second marriage was to my great-great grandmother, Marguerite Breaux (May 1862 – ? ).
Their children – Hubal (wonder how that is pronounced?) lived from 1855-1920, Alexandre (1856-1946). Dolzee (1858-1934), Ignace (1861-1920), Azamie (1869-1930) and Onezippe (1870-1906) all lived to adulthood but there were five other children I had no definitive info on how long they lived. Louisiana State Death records were very non-specific and mostly just gave years that they died with nothing additional provided. So in the Louisiana State Death index, I was able to find these:
Eliza – 1872 – 1873
William 1873 – 1874
Joseph 1874 – 1875
Suzanne 1874 – 1875 (Suzanne was approximately 7 months after Joseph, which is possible but not surprising that she didn’t survive).
However, I still needed info on Jean. I had found a reference to Jean, of the same parents, who was born 30 Apr 1866 like “my” Jean and it said he died a year later. But, something lead me to the 1900 Federal census where I was trying to confirm who was in the household with my great-grandmother Marie (Lourdes) after my great-great-grandfather Sarazin remarried Marguerite Breaux after his first wife, Azemie, died in 1899.
1900 census Trahan, Sarazin & Marguerite Breaux Guess who was still alive and listed? That’s right – Jean. He was listed as a “traveler” and unemployed, but his birth date matched. He also appeared below while I was searching newspapers – in a Sheriff’s sale of land vs. his father Sarazin a few years earlier. I haven’t determined whether the sale was a conflict between the two or a sale from one to the other.
So, back to the census. This 1900 Census revealed that Marguerite gave birth to 4 children, but only one was still living in 1900 – my great-grandmother, Marie Lourde. So, my next wall is to discover who these children were.
Side note: I did happen to accidentally come across an amazing newspaper source, provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities: US Newspaper search.
Until next time!
R
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