Wednesday, August 31, 2011

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Arthur Hernandez family

Arthur and Estelle Catherine (Legere) Hernandez family.  Photocopy of original portrait, Hall family collection. Probably taken 1902-3 in Lafayette, Louisiana.  L to R: Back row: Marie Una, Leo AlcĂ©e, Antonia. Middle: Maria on father Arthur's lap, mother Estelle holding baby Raphael Sidney. Front row: Pierre, Hypolite. (Links go to their pages, if any, on the Find a Grave website.)

The Hernandez children were my dad's first cousins, though they were about a generation older.  I wrote about Arthur and Estelle in more detail hereNot pictured are Lucia, who died in 1900 at age 6, and younger brothers Samuel and David, born in 1903 and 1905, respectively.  Our mutual cousin Ashton Legere sent my family this photocopy and identified the children; if anyone has a better copy, please contact me.  

Copyright 2011 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Treasure Chest Thursday: Cotton mill chimney in Arizona, La.

Chimney remaining from the post-Civil War cotton mill in the Arizona community near Homer, Louisiana.  Photo courtesy of and copyright 2011 by reader Linda [last name withheld for privacy].

One cool thing about having a genealogy blog is that you occasionally hear from new-to-you relatives with whom you can collaborate.  An unexpected delight is when a reader like Linda connects with you and you end up with a piece of your family's history.

Linda saw my blog post about James McCoy, my great-great-grandfather who moved from Delaware to post-Civil War Louisiana to work in the first cotton mill west of the Mississippi.  Her family now owns the land where the mill once stood, and she was wondering about its history.  I gave her some suggestions about where to look up land records (the Claiborne Parish Courthouse, federal General Land Office records, and Arphax Publishing's "Family Maps" volumes) and sent her links with a bit of history about the Arizona community and its cotton mill.  And in return, Linda graciously sent me this photo.  She says the chimney once had a bronze plaque on it that apparently was stolen.

A photo of the entire building as it once existed is posted on the Louisiana GenWeb Archives site here.  There is an Arizona Museum in the area; a Google book search turned up a older guidebook entry that states it is open by appointment only.  On my genealogy to-do list (with a long list of others) is to contact them for info they might have on the mill or perhaps even about my great-great grandpa James McCoy, his wife Rebecca Jane Harrell, and their family.

Text copyright 2011 Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.