Tombstone Tuesday: Legere/McBride (paternal great-grandparents)

Constant Legere and Marie Octavie McBride, my paternal great-grandparents, are buried in St. Peter Cemetery in Carencro, Louisiana.  Carencro is in Lafayette Parish (county) in the southern part of the state.

Headstone of Constant Legere and daughter Odette, St. Peter Cemetery, Carencro, La., Nov. 2007.  Digital photo by Liz Hall Morgan.

Constant was the son of Hypolite Paul Legere and Marcellite Lebert.  He was born 26 Oct. 1837 in Opelousas, St. Landry, La. and died 19 May 1923 in Rayne, Acadia, La.  He was a farmer who was married four times and had 17 children, though not all lived to adulthood.  Octavie, or "Tavie," as she was known, was his fourth wife, and they lived in the small community of Ossun in Lafayette Parish.  (Constant's first three wives, in order, were Estelle Babineaux, Idalie or Udalie (Eudalie?) Landry and Marie Irma Guidry.)

Headstone of Mrs. Constant [Marie Octavie McBride] Legere, St. Peter Cemetery, Carencro, La., Nov. 2007.  Digital photo by Liz Hall Morgan.

Tavie was the daughter of William McBride and Melasie Hollier.  She was born 31 Jan 1859 in St. Landry Parish, La. and died 29 Mar. 1946 in Lafayette, Lafayette Parish, La.  Her first husband was Cyprien Stemmann or Stemann, with whom she had four children. (The spelling has changed in usage over the years to Stemmans and Stemmons.)  Cyprien died in 1887, and on 23 Feb 1889, Constant and Tavie were married at St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Carencro.  They had five children, including my grandmother Elia Legere Hall.  Both Constant and Tavie spoke Cajun French, and little, if any, English.

Constant and Tavie Legere, c. 1920?, Ossun, La., unknown photographer, scanned photo privately held by Liz Hall Morgan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Tombstone Trekking Tips Edition

(Yes, it's Wednesday now. Better late than never!)

Tip #1: If a cousin offers to take you to a cemetery, go! Don't worry that you don't have "enough" time to spend there or don't have all your genealogy info with you, just GO.

I was in Scott, LA, in February, visiting recently-discovered second cousins after a mutual cousin's funeral. One of them offered to show me where her grandfather (my great-uncle) and grandmother were buried. It was late in the day, and I didn't have all my info with me, but I went anyway and took my camera. Here are my great-uncle and great-aunt's graves.


Mrs. Euclide (Eugenie Légère) Légère, Nov. 6, 1863 - Feb. 13, 1939
Euclide Légère, Sept. 22, 1863 - Jan. 16, 1949
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.
[Note: Hebert's Southwest Louisiana Records gives Eugenie's birth as 15 Nov. 1862 and Euclide's as Sept. 22, 1862. These years are probably correct; it's possible that Eugenie was baptized on Nov. 15. I need to follow up on this.]

(Tip #1a: Tombstones aren't always correct.)

Serendipity then rewarded me--or perhaps it was our dearly departed cousin smiling down on us. As I looked up from the Légères' gravesite, I spotted another familiar name: McBride. I walked over and found the grave of my great-great grandmother, Melasie Hollier McBride! I didn't even know she was buried in Scott! (See Tip #1.)



Mrs. Wm. McBride, née Melasie Hollier, Dec. 11, 1825 - Aug. 19, 1925
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.
[Note: Southwest Louisiana Records gives her birth as Dec. 11, 1830. See Tip #1a.]

Tip #2: Look on both sides of the headstone.

I made time for another brief visit to Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery before I left Louisiana. This time, I happened to approach my great-great grandmother's grave from the opposite side, and found two great-uncles who were buried with Melasie. She was their grandmother, and their names were listed on the reverse of her headstone, which I neglected to investigate on my first visit. And no, I didn't know they were buried in Scott, either! [It was a last-minute trip, and I hadn't expected to have any genealogy time.]



Fabian [or Fabien] Légère, Dec. 1, 1896 - Dec. 5, 1916
Henry [Joseph Henri, a.k.a. "Pete"] Stemmans [or Stemmann], Oct. 4, 1877 - Oct. 17, 1942
Reverse of headstone for Melasie Hollier McBride, their grandmother.
Sts. Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Scott, LA, Feb. 2009.

Both were sons of Marie Octavie "Tavie" McBride, who married Cyprien Stemmann, and then Constant Légère. Euclide Légère of the top photo in this post became Tavie's stepson.
[Note: Southwest Louisiana Records gives Fabian's birth as Dec. 1, 1895.]

More Tombstone Tips to come -- learning the hard way so you don't have to!