Family Tree

Before I go on and talk about any other family members I thought I would show a modified Bordeaux Family Tree. That way when I blog about someone you can refer back to this and see where they belong in the family.

Our first Bordeaux ancestors arrived in America between 1670 and 1687.
As far as I can tell they arrived at the port in Charleston, South Carolina.  
They were:

Jacques De Bourdeaux 

Madelaine Garillion Bordeaux. 

Their son and his wife:     ~~~~~

Antoine De Bourdeaux 

Marianna 

Their son and wife:    ~~~~~


Anthony Bourdeaux  
Priscilla Lamb - 

and so on...    ~~~~~

Peter Bourdeaux
Susannah Elizabeth Larkins 


                      ~~~~~

William L. Bourdeaux

Elizabeth Ann Herring 

                    ~~~~~

James N. Bourdeaux

Mary Jane Harvill 
  
                     ~~~~~

  

John Washington Bordeaux  - My Great Grandfather

Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams - My Great Grandmother

John and Louisa had nine children:       ~~~~~

 Charles William Bordeaux

Sarah Virginia (Betty) Bordeaux

Mary Emma Bordeaux  

Lula Mae Bordeaux

James Eldridge Bordeaux

Ida Delana Bordeaux

Ellene Juanita Bordeaux

Drucilla Lela Bordeaux  -  My Grandmother

Nathan Harvel Bordeaux 

 

John Washington Bordeaux Family ~~~ Names and Nick-Names ~~~

                                    

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 What's in a Name.....

Back when our ancestors lived, naming children took on a very different meaning that today. Very few children were named something just because his/her parents liked the name. Most kids were named after a family member and in some cases close family friends or famous people. So you can imagine that in any given family group there would be a lot of people with the same name running around. Using nick-names was a very common way to distinguish one person from another.

I realize, it might be confusing to some who read my blog with all the Bordeaux names/nicknames flying around. So I thought it would be a good idea to go over them.
Keep in mind that below is a mixture of information that I received from my grandmother with a little family history thrown in.  Some of my readers may be able to add to, or correct their personal ancestors information.

Let's start with John and his wife:

Louisa Bordeaux

Louisa Virgina Elvira Princess Swain Williams Bordeaux

Nick-name - Lou

She has the longest name in the family.

Her marriage license says Miss "Virginia Elvira Louiza Swain Williams"

The Princess name came from my Uncle Elmer who said she always called

 herself "Princess." 

 I wonder if "Swain" was her Mother's maiden name and "Williams" her

Father's last name?  Unfortunately, no one knows anything about Louisa's past, her parents or siblings. We only know that she was at least part Cherokee Indian. Everything else is a mystery.  So I am left wondering, "Was any of her children named after her side of the family?"

John Washington Bordeaux

John W. Bordeaux

His name is pretty straight forward.

No nick-names

He was named after his father's older brother who was also a  "John W. Bordeaux"

The name "John" was commonly used in the Bordeaux family There were many of them.

Their Nine Living Children:

Charles William Bordeaux

Always known as Charles

No nick-names

 He could be named after his mother Louisa's last name, "Williams" Or maybe his great grandfather William L. Bordeaux.

But where does "Charles" come from?

There are no other Charles in the Bordeaux family..... so I'm thinking maybe from Louisa's side?  Maybe that was her father's name??????

Sarah Virgina Bordeaux

Always called Betty

No other nick-names

She decided herself to have others call her Betty. I'm not sure why. (Do any of you out there reading this know?)

Her middle name of "Virginia" was obviously taken from her mother.

I'm not sure where her first name "Sarah" came from. Possibly John's aunt who was named Sarah L. Underwood.

Mary Emma Bordeaux

Always known as Mary

No nick-names

She was named after John's mother "Mary Jane" and grandmother "Mary Ann."  Her middle name came from his younger sister "Emeline"who was always called "Emma"

Lula Mae Bordeaux

Went by Lula all her life.

Nick-name - Luler      This just sounds like an effortless southern spin put on the pronunciation of her formal name by her family. The same happens below with Delana.

I'm not sure who she is named after, but I bet you, someone somewhere before her, also had the name Lula.
  
James Eldridge Bordeaux

Always called Jim.

No nick-names

Jim was named after John's natural father, "James N. Bordeaux." And John's sister's husband was named Eldridge N. Coplen. So maybe Jim's middle name came from him.

James was also a very common name among the Bordeaux family.

My grandmother named two of her sons after her favorite brother Jim. My dad was "James."  and my uncle was named "Nathan Eldridge"

Ida Delana Bordeaux

Always called by her middle name, Delana

Nick-name - Delaner

Again, I'm not sure who she is named after.

Ellene Juanita Bordeaux 

 Her formal name of Ellene is pronounced with a long "e" sound.

Nick-name - Bill

I don't know who she is named after.

And I sure would like to know where the nick name "Bill" came from.

Drucilla Lela Bordeaux

Dewey L. Bordeaux

Nick-name - Dewey

She changed her 1st and 2nd names around when she was an adult, so she

became Lela Drucilla Bordeaux

But to her parents and siblings she was always Dewey.

I don't know who she was named after.

Nathan Harvel Bordeaux

Always called by his middle name, Harvel

Nick-names - Brother, Uncle Fuller ( nieces and nephews)

He was named after Johns cousin Nathan M. Bordeaux and John's mother's maiden name of Harvill. John also had an uncle named Nathaniel F Bordeaux.

Nathan was another name that was very common throughtout the Bordeaux family.

The first time I met him I was eight yrs.old. He smiled as he told me in a kind voice his name was " Uncle Harvel" but if I couldn't remember it, I could just call him "Uncle Fuller" because it was a lot easier and other kids called him that. This made a real impression on me as a kid.  He seemed like a really nice guy.

                             

                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memories of John and Louisa Bordeaux

John and Louisa are still remembered today by their grand-
children, who are themselves now in their golden years. I have spoken with a few of them and some other folks too, who had memories to share.


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I spoke with Ruth one of their granddaughters a few years back, who shared some of her memories with me. She remembers her grandparents coming to her house many times and bringing gifts for all of the children. Grandpa John told them stories while they sat eagerly listening around him. She said her grandpa was a kind man who always was happy  and Louisa, her grandmother was sweet and good natured.  Her father would go once a year to New Mexico and help with the harvest of John's crops. Sometimes the whole family would go. It was always a fun trip.


One thing she remembered well about her grandpa is that he never wanted Louisa to tell anyone that she was part Indian. As far as he was concerned that was strictly a family secret.  Sometimes they would get into a squabble over it.  Louisa wanted to collect her Indian money given by the US government to all Indians born in the USA. Doing that meant she would have to come out of the closet about her Indian heritage. But John wouldn't stand for it.  Needless to say, Louisa never claimed any money.  

I guess back in those days if you were white, marrying any person of Indian blood was looked down upon and strictly a taboo.

 Ruth also told me of a tale about John when he was young. It went like this: 

John and his step father John Blalock never got along from the beginning. John Blalock would beat John for very small infractions and John nearly hated him for it. Many times when John Blalock was looking for his step son to punish him for something, the slaves on the farm would hide him, sometimes for several days, so he was kept safe from the beating. 

John Blalock married John's mom in 1860 and The civil war was from 1861 -1865.   So given these dates, John would have been between the ages of 7-12 years old during the time of this unfortunate story.

                                       <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>




From another descendant I heard a story about Louisa that goes like this: 

The night before Louisa died, she told everyone in the house goodbye and dressed in Indian burial clothes she had picked out. Then she went to bed. The next morning she was found dead. Louisa had died in her sleep.  Afterward, John took out a box filled with Louisa's Indian papers and personal items. He offered it to his youngest son, Nathan whom they had been living with, but Nathan wasn't interested in keeping any of it. So John burned it all, guaranteeing that Louisa's Indian heritage would be forever a mystery. Too bad for us!




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Betty, a descendant of John's 1/2 brother told me that her father used to speak of Uncle John and Aunt Louisa coming for Christmas.  Her father said John always seemed happy and carefree on those holidays, ready to celebrate with a bottle of good wine which he would bring to the dinner table as a present to all the adults there.  




                                       <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>



From one granddaughter I heard  that Louisa would get very sad and sentimental at times. She would dress in all black, mourning the loss of her Cherokee ancestors who came along the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. 

Now when I hear this it makes me wonder who she lost and when she lost them.  Louisa was born in Tennessee in 1860, well after the Trail of Tears took place in 1838.  But John Bordeaux met her in Oklahoma at 16 years old; so she must have traveled across America too at some point in her young life. Did she lose her grandparents on the original Trail of Tears or maybe her mother or father  as she made the trip many years later herself. I would love to know.

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John Washington Bordeaux - pt. 3

August 1877

JUST THE FACTS

Birth :          Feb 3, 1853              Jackson Perish, Louisiana 

Death :        June 29, 1936          Coolidge, Pinal, Arizona

Burial:         Hot Springs Cem., Truth or Consequences, Sierra, NM

Parents :     James N Bordeaux and Mary Jane Harvill
Siblings:      Ann, Emma, George, Robert, William, I.T.

Wife :          Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams

Marriage:    Aug 29, 1877       Eastland Co. Texas 

Children:     Charles, Betty, Mary, Lula, Jim, Delana, 

                   Ellene, Dewey, Harvel



AND NOW FOR THE STORY    (Part 3)


April 1910
Walker Co. Texas 
Huntsville State Prison


Spending time in the work camp caused John's health to turn bad. All that hard physical labor just about did him in and it didn't help that the conditions at Huntsville were atrocious. Reform in the prison system was badly needed. But it didn't come soon enough to help John. When he came out of prison in 1912 he was left with a bad leg and a severe limp which caused him to use a crutch or cane for the rest of his life.

While John was in prison Louisa and the 5 younger kids were at home in Eastland running the farm which was a difficult task without him. When he was finally released things didn't get much easier. It seems the good life was over for John and Louisa, at least for awhile. 

John needed a fresh start after prison and there was only one way to get it.  He packed up his family and moved west to New Mexico. Leaving his Eastland home was a difficult but necessary decision.  Now he and Louisa could began again and to this end; John  bought a small farm in Lea Co. From this time on,  every year some of his older kids and their families would come from Texas at harvest time to help pick the crops.

June 1920
Lea Co.  New Mexico

But trouble still brewed.  In 1925 Louisa filed divorce papers and went to live with her daughter Lula in Lamesa Texas. A separation agreement was in the works to divide the land they owned. However, after several months the divorce was dropped and Louisa came back home to John. They reconciled and tried to get past the tragedy of the last few years.

John  eventually sold his farm in Eastland. But he still had his land and mineral rights in Lea Co. including his oil wells. Even so, he and his son Jim continued to buy and sell land.  All of this generated enough money to live on for the rest of his and Louisa's life.  


April 1930Hot Springs, 
Sierra, New Mexico

The Golden Years


As John and Louisa got older and all the kids were gone, it became clear that the farm life was too much for them. They moved to a small town in New Mexico called Hot Springs, later known as Truth or Consequences.  There they lived with their youngest son Nathan, his wife Pearl and their two grandchildren.  Life was easy.... Life was good again. The weather was good too and of course there was the warm spring water to soak in. That's what drew most people to Hot Springs in the first place. Maybe it would be good for John's leg.   

And as always, time marches on......and so....
It was  on a Sunday evening when John's beloved wife Louisa went to bed and passed away in her sleep. She died on May 13, 1935. The next morning when John found her; he was beside himself with sadness. Over the next few months his own health began to decline. It wasn't long before his son Nathan had to take him to a specialized care facility in Coolidge, Arizona. He was there for only six months before he passed away too, in June 1936. It was just barely over a year after Louisa's death.

 

John Washington Bordeaux - pt. 2

August 1877

JUST THE FACTS

Birth :          Feb 3, 1853              Jackson Perish, Louisiana 

Death :        June 29, 1936          Coolidge, Pinal, Arizona

Burial:         Hot Springs Cem., Truth or Consequences, Sierra, NM

Parents :     James N Bordeaux and Mary Jane Harvill 
Siblings:      Ann, Emma, George, Robert, William, I.T.

Wife :          Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams

Marriage:    Aug 29, 1877       Eastland Co. Texas 

Children:     Charles, Betty, Mary, Lula, Jim, Delana, 

                   Ellene, Dewey, Harvel



AND NOW FOR THE STORY    (Part 2)



 July 1878
Denton Co. Texas


Although married near his family home in Eastland County; John and his new bride Louisa didn't stay in Eastland for long. The young couple being eager to strike out on their own, traveled to Denton County where John found a job as a farm laborer.  It wasn't too long before Louisa gave birth to their first child, a son. They named him Charles William.


June 1881
Eastland Co. Texas

By summer of 1881 John, Louisa and little Charles had moved back to Eastland as they welcomed a new member into their family, a baby girl they named Sarah Virgina. As young Sarah grew she became known as "Betty" and forever after; our family has known her as such.
 It had been many years since John had lived  around his mother and step father. But now he chose to move near them again. He and Louisa bought a farm of their own in Eastland Co. John's sisters Ann and Emma, as well as his 1/2 brother Robert  also lived close by. I'm sure it was nice to live around family again.

Around 1882 John's step dad, John Blalock unexpectantly passed away during a trip to east Texas. Shortly after in 1884 John lost his mother too. It was good that John moved his family back home when he did so that they had a few years with his parents before they died.

 With their family planted firmly in Eastland, for the next several years John worked in his fields becoming very prosperous and Louisa began to have more children. After Charles and Betty, came Mary, Lula, and Jim. Then Delana, Ellene and Dewey were born and at the last another son, Nathan. John and Louisa had a very large and happy family.

June 1900
Eastland Co. Texas

John was a man who believed in education. He made sure that all of his children finished school, even his girls. The oldest kids were all grown up by the beginning of 1900,  soon to move out and begin families of their own. His oldest two sons, Charles and Jim were able to help out on the farm. As Jim got older he and his dad bought more land. Each acquiring a great deal and soon they had mineral rights to some oil wells. Everyone was doing well. Life was good.

                        
                          
About this Photo:        

Taken:         My Best Guess is about 1902 -1903 
                     During the properous years
Occasion:   ??

This was my grandmother's photograph. She is the one who wrote the words naming the people. Although I have cropped the photo here, the original is a photo postcard. On the back of the postcard as seen below, she wrote: "J W Bordeaux your Great father, James Bordeaux your uncle, Porter Daniels. 

 
  
Note:
 Is the Porter Daniels in this picture really Peter Daniels? I am not 100% sure but consider this -  I'm not aware of any Porter Daniels in our Daniels Family connection, John Bordeaux was good friends with Peter Daniels and this photo does resemble other photos of Peter.  So given these facts I can assume it is Peter in this picture. Porter could be a nickname.


 Dec 4, 1907
Eastland


Sometimes life can be going great and then all of a sudden out of nowhere a catastrophe  hits you right in the face. That's what happened to John on Dec 4, 1907. When the day was done a man lay on the ground mortally wounded and John was standing over him. The story as I heard it  goes like this:

Hiram McCleskey and John Bordeaux were neighbors. They both had  wives and children. On that fateful day in December John was driving his wagon back from town after buying supplies when he saw Hiram abusing his wife. John decided to try and stop him. John had his gun, but didn't intend to use it.  However that's not how it played out. Hiram came up and hit John. Of course John couldn't stand for that and a fight pursued. It escalated and the next thing John knew, Hiram lay dying on the ground from a gunshot wound. Naturally  John was horrified even though it was self defense.  He went into town right away, told the sheriff what had happened and surrendered. In June 1909, after a long trial John was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in a convict work camp in Walker Co. Texas, home of Huntsville State Prison.
Naturally this was newsworthy and the incident  got written up in the Ft Worth Star Telegram and the Dallas Morning News. You can find these two short newspaper articles at the subscription website www.genealogybank.com.

 

John Washington Bordeaux - pt.1

August 1877

JUST THE FACTS

Birth :          Feb 3, 1853              Jackson Perish, Louisiana 

Death :        June 29, 1936          Coolidge, Pinal, Arizona

Burial:         Hot Springs Cem., Truth or Consequences, Sierra, NM

Parents :     James N Bordeaux and Mary Jane Harvill
Siblings:      Ann, Emma, George, Robert, William, I.T.

Wife :          Louisa Virginia Elvira Princess Swain Williams

Marriage:    Aug 29, 1877       Eastland Co. Texas 

Children:     Charles, Betty, Mary, Lula, Jim, Delana, 

                   Ellene, Dewey, Harvel



AND NOW FOR THE STORY    (Part 1)


Feb. 2 1853
Jackson Parish Louisiana

 
It was a cool winter's day in Louisiana when John Washington Bordeaux was born. Although he was the second living child of James and Mary Jane Bordeaux, he was their first son. His older sister Ann born in Copiah Co. Mississippi, was only four years old at the time. He was named after his father's brother, John W. Bordeaux.

 

 Just a few months before John was born,  his parents had made the long difficult trip from Mississippi to Jackson Parish. Mary Jane's two brothers, George Harvill and John Underwood were already there to greet them and help them get settled.  All the rest of Mary's family, her parents and siblings eventually made the trek too. Everyone settled in either Jackson or neighboring Winn Parish. So it was that John was surrounded with his extended family during his early years.

 For now,  James and Mary Jane had two beautiful children in their new Louisiana home.  In time they would have two more; Emma and George, before tragedy struck their small family.








 April 1860
Jackson Parish


John was only seven years old when his father, James Bordeaux died of Typhoid and  Pneumonia.  He was left fatherless along with his baby brother and two sisters. But not for long. By June, Mary Jane had married again to John Allen Blalock. 
Fortunately, during this time Mary Jane's 1/2 brother, John Underwood was living with the family. No doubt to help out while James Bordeaux was sick. 



April 12, 1861
Jackson Parish

 When the Civil War began, John's step father went off to fight along side his Southern neighbors. So did several of his uncles including George Harvill and John Underwood. Mary Jane and the children were left at home by themselves.  I can't even begin to image what horrors the war brought to them. It must have been a very frightful time. Many men never saw home again.  John's uncle, George Harvill was one of them. But, when the whole thing was over, John Blalock did come home and the decision was made to move the family on west to Texas. 



June 1870
Titus Co. Texas

I'm not quite sure that John Bordeaux ever felt completely comfortable with his new step father. There were so many changes in his life in just 10 short years.  By June of 1870 not only had he lost his natural father and immediately gained a step father, but his family had moved to Titus Co. Texas, Mary Jane had three more children; ( a 1/2 sister who died around nine, we only know as I.T. and 1/2 brothers Robert and William McWright,) and John's younger brother George had died. 

John was 17, and it was around this time that he left home and took a job moving cattle along the Chisholm Trail. Some say he did it to get away from his stepfather. But we will never know for sure. 

After John left home, his parents; Mary Jane and John Blalock uprooted the family one last time and moved southwest to Eastland Co. Texas.












While he was riding the trail, he met his future bride in Oklahoma. She was a beautiful young girl, part Cherokee. Her name was Louisa Williams. They fell in love and John brought her home to Eastland Co. Texas and married her on August 29, 1877.  He was 24 and she was just 16.

                             Wedding Photo - August 1877

                                                  

                             

   

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Easter Sunday 1963

                                

Dewey L. Bordeaux

I am the granddaughter of Dewey L Bordeaux. Her family knew her as Dewey. But to me; she was my beloved "Granny" who lived with my family for most of my childhood. She always tried to spoil me whenever she got the chance.  I stayed with her a lot in those days when my mother and father both worked. We had fun together, she and I. She was one of nine brothers and sisters. My Granny is my link to the Bordeaux Family. Her blood runs through my veins and in me, as in all her descendants, she lives on. To her; I dedicate this blog. 

About The Photo:

I remember vividly that Easter Sunday in 1963. We lived in Garden Grove Ca. on  Monica Lane, just off of Fairview and Trask. I was 4 1/2 years old. My mom dressed me up in my new Easter Outfit; complete with hat, gloves and purse. But before I could go out in the back yard to hunt Easter Eggs, we had to pose for a picture. I was so excited, it was hard for me to be still long enough for the camera to click.
My dad took the picture with my mom standing behind him encouraging us to smile. My brothers, Nathan,15 yrs. and Jim 13 yrs. are standing on either side of my grandmother and of course, I'm in the front. Although I have no memory of it, we must have gone to church that morning, since we were all wearing our best clothes.
We were standing in our small den which was divided from our kitchen by a bar and bar-stools. Notice the lovely checkerboard tile flooring, so 1960ish and the cool black and white TV built right into the wall. Wow!  I loved that TV.  I remember lying on the couch  (which was just to the right; outside the picture) while sick and watching Romper Room. There was Edgar Bergan & Charlie McCarthy, Captain Kangaroo and  Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop too.
Incredibly, that was the same room, the same TV where my family saw John F Kennedy get assassinated later that year. Even at 4 1/2; I knew that was a sad time for America!


Amazing!
What a flood of memories one picture can bring!!