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