Atchafalaya Basin People: Chapter 15

 

DATE:                        December 10, 1995

 INTERVIEWER:      Jim Delahoussaye

 LOCATION:              Edward Couvillier’s house on Oxford Loop, Oxford, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana.

 COOPERATORS:   Edward Couvillier, Lena Mae Couvillier

  Edward:       ….be alongside of him when it happens, Hoss.

 JD:      That’s right.

 Edward:        I don’t never stay by a 18-wheeler. 

 JD:      Especially, boy, you see those…every once in a while you can see those tires start to jump.  Underneath those things like that, you better get out from behind…

 Edward:        You know, we was workin on Carlin’s house [Lange] one day over there in Centerville, and he had his driveway….my car…three or four cars parked in his driveway?  And they had a 18-wheeler goin toward Morgan City right by his house, there.  Both of the back wheels fall off that thing.  And it come thru them cars some kind of way…one of the tires, and they had a woman had a garage right here [gestures] and it went thru that garage…in that garage.  And that Shell Station, it’s a good ways from where Carlin lives,  eight, nine hundred feet down there.  And they had a car parked and it went over…they had a, a highline across the road right by the station.  That tire come down that road and it hit something and it went up, went clean over that highline, come down went thru the trunk of that car.  And they was lookin for that other tire, found that un but they couldn’t find the one that was by the house…by Carlin’s over there.  We all got to lookin and come to find out it went thru that woman’s garage…in her garage.  Now that would hit somebody, that’s it you dead man.  Or hit a car, you know? 

 JD:      That’s right.

 Edward:        You just figure you’d be comin …he’d be comin.. .and both of them tires would fall off and just a bout the time they’d hit the front of your car, bof of em at one time, or either one of em…

 JD:      Just think of the damage that just happens when you hit a deer or something like that.  Or a hog, or something.  And that can’t be anywhere near as bad. 

 Edward:        I believe a tire would be, would be worse. 

 JD:      Worse.  Not only…not only would it, well it would be…well it would be…actually, it would be goin forward, you’d catch it.  It wouldn’t seem like it,’cause it’d happen so…you’d be goin so much faster…but the tire would be movin like this [forward] too.  It would seem like it would be comin at you, but it wouldn’t.

 Edward:        But if you’d be on a single road, and you’d be passin …then you’d be comin right on it, you see?

 JD:      Yeah, yeah.  …like that.

 Edward:        On a four lane, well it’s different.   Even, even a four lane…it cross that media.

 JD:      Well, if it cross the median, that’s different.  It could kill you. 

 Edward:        Yeah.  [pause]  You imagine a tire…well, I imagine a truck make forty, fifty mile and hour when it come off.  And they was both inflated, they just…they both come out or something, I dunno what…

 JD:      You talking about wheel and all? 

 Edward:        Yeah, both tires come off the back. 

 JD:      Wheel and all?

 Edward:        Yeah, everything!  They just…come off the truck. 

 JD:      Bet that would weigh 200 pounds, anyway. 

 Edward:        And I imagine bouncing, you know, with air in em them suckers would bounce.  I can’t see how it didn’t do more damage than it did…hit that car and went thru that trunk.  Course, that’s enough, you know?  But you see them daggone tires on the highway, trucks blowin up…wheels…blowouts on them big trucks. 

 JD:      Can I get a lil bit of information from you to finish…finish out some of this…what I’ve got right here.  Somehow in all those tapes I managed to…I have transcribed all the tapes I had of Myon and Agnes, and y”all, in this house and more…we were over there [Myon’s house] sittin around the table.  One thing I didn’t get was Myon’s mother and father.  Who were they?  Well, his mother was Ernestine Daigle? 

 Lena Mae:     Ernestine Daigle. 

 JD:      What was his father’s name?

 Edward:        Rudolf, eh?

 Lena Mae:     No, daddy’s daddy was Rudolf [no, he was Wilson Jean Ballay], but grandpa [?] was…

 Edward:        That’s what I’m sayin.  But he wants his daddy…Myon’s…

 JD:      Myon’s daddy. 

 Lena Mae:     Rudolf Bailey. 

 JD:      Did he have a middle name, do you know? 

 Lena Mae:     I don’t know. 

 Edward:        Agnes would know that. 

 JD:      Yeah, I, I’ll get that.  Now, you said you knew his father?  What his father’s name was?  Rudolf Bailey’s father?  Myon’s grandparents?  His grandmother or his grandfather?

 Lena Mae:     I knew his grandmother.

 JD:      What was her name?  You remember?  First name…

 Lena Mae:     …name was, let’s see now, if I can remember …cause I remember her.  Grandma Leah.

 JD:      L.. e.. a.. h? 

 Lena Mae:     I guess… that’s what they called…

 JD:      I thought that that was his mother’s mother…

 Lena Mae:     It was. 

 JD:      I’m lookin for his father’s mother.  Myon’s father’s mother?

 Lena Mae:     I don’t know.

 JD:      OK.  I’ll get that from Agnes.  I’m pretty sure she would know…

 Lena Mae:     Momma…I dunno…know if momma would know.

 JD:      No? 

 JD:      But his father, his father’s name was Rudolf.  Cause, cause, one of his brother’s name was Rudolf too. 

 Lena Mae:     …one of his brothers…

 JD:      Now, I understand that Myon’s…Myon…Myon’s, Myon had both half brothers and sisters and whole brothers and sisters. 

 Edward:        Oh yeah. 

 Lena Mae:     He had two…he had a whole brother and a whole sister.  There was three of em. 

 JD:      Who was that?  His whole brother and his whole sister.

 Lena Mae:     Was Aunt Angeline…

 JD:      Ok, that was whole?

 Lena Mae:     That was his sister. 

 JD:      And then Rudolph?

 Lena Mae:     And then Rudolph. 

 JD:      That was his whole brother? 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      And the rest of em…I have Marie, Odelia, Eula, Norman, Amizan [sp?], Ike and Elmira.  I have all those.  Do you know if I left any of em out? 

 Edward:        Amazon?  Who is that? 

 JD:      Amizan?  Her name was Tete.

 Lena Mae:     …was Alma…uh

 JD:      Her nickname was Tete. 

 Edward:        Tete.

 Lena Mae:     Petite. 

 Edward:        Petite?

 Lena Mae:     Azima, her name is. 

 JD:      Azima?

 Lena Mae:     Right.

 JD:      From the tape, sometimes, it’s hard to…it’s hard to understand what they were. 

 Edward:        You know how to spell it now, you all right.  [laughs]

 JD:      Well, I’m on take a guess at it – it’s A z i m a.  And she married Morris Fabre.  OK.  And is she…is she still alive? 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.

 JD:      Where does she live? 

 Lena Mae:     Right now she’s in Campti Louisiana. 

 JD:      Kempty? 

 Edward:        That’s in north Louisiana.

 JD:      Now that’s…the Tete we talking about is not the Tete that used to live here? 

 Lena Mae:     No, uh that Tete…

 Edward:        That’s my sister. 

 JD:      That’s your sister…

 Lena Mae:     But she’s originally from Morgan City. 

 Edward:        They call her Petite. 

 JD:      Petite?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Um, so I have Myon with seven half brothers and sisters, and one whole brother and one whole sister.  Does that sound right?  Now, I’ll check this out with Agnes, but the more people I ask about this the more sure I am…about what I have.  And, the reason that I want this is not all this is gonna be used, but when y”all mention somebody in the stories, and y”all tell me about this person did this, I can go back to this and I can see….Yall know who this is, but I have to sometimes go back and figure out how they connected. 

 Edward:        Well, you know getting back…way back in them olden days, they got some funny names Hoss.

 JD:      Yeah, they do.  They sure do, I know. 

 Lena Mae:     Azima, Uanine [?]

 JD:      Even, Agnes’…Agnes apparently had a brother … had an uncle named Gayon?  He’s dead, but apparently, she had a brother named… no, her,…Felix …was, was Agnes’ father…his nick name was Blaise, or his real name was Blaise?

 Lena Mae:     His real name was Blaise. 

 JD:      Was he also named Felix? 

 Lena Mae:     yeah, Blaise Felix…Felix Blaise, something like that.

 JD:      Is that the way it was?  But it was really…that was his real name, not his nickname, eh?

 Lena Mae:     No, no, uhuh. 

 JD:      Cause sometimes the tape refers to him as Felix and sometimes as Blaise. 

 Lena Mae:     …always used the name Blaise. 

 Edward:        Yeah, you see some of them…that’s some of my kinfolks…

 JD:      You have some of em there? 

 Edward:        A whole bunch of em. 

 JD:      Well, I want a whole thing on you too. 

 Edward:        …I don’t even know how they all kin to me, that’s something…Gloria Ann [Lange] made this up.  G G G Gaspard…something…

 JD:      ‘K, what was Agnes’ mother’s name?

 Lena Mae:     Rosalee.

 JD:      One word, do you know?  Have you seen it spelled?  I am going to spell it as one word…Rosalee.

 Lena Mae:     Well, that’s how it was pronounced. 

 JD:      Rosalee, Rosalee, and her last name was  wait a minute… last name was Mayon.  See, this thing begins to make sense once I get enough pieces in it. 

 Edward:        Look here…it’s my great, great, great grandpa. 

 Lena Mae:     Ain’t no use to hurry, we got plenty to do here.

 JD:      [to someone else] I didn’t mean to run you off with this.

 Verna Oh no, I gotta go get some wood and…

 JD:      You sure?

 Verna Oh, no sir!  I had my day cut out…

 Edward:        You see, that’s the way it goes, Jim, this is me, that’s the old man, and I guess that was his daddy, and his daddy’s daddy…grandpa…

 JD:      You want to sit down?  You leavin?  OK, you….

 Lena Mae:     Listen [to someone in the room], if you can help, Miss Verna and Mr. Palumbo, help em, you hear?

 JD:      I’m on show you this  book when you come back.  It’s got all pictures of frogging and how you did…how people did this…how they made nets and everything else, and anchors and all kind of…pictures of old people doin all this stuff.  I thought you might be interested in that. 

 Verna I’ll look at it when I get back. 

 Edward:        Let me see it Jim?

 JD:      All right.  I don’t want to get you sidetracked on this, I got something else to do with this [the Comeaux book]. 

 Verna We see y”all later.

 Lena Mae:     Ok, come back Verna [??]

 Verna:                        Nice meeting you.

 JD:      Ok, bye bye.  Ok, so Myon and Agnes…check this out just to make sure I have it right.  Lena Mae, you were the oldest?  The first born?  Was Milton next?  And then Dot? 

 Lena Mae:     Alberta.

 JD:      Alberta was next?  And, and,  was Dot after that?

 Lena Mae:     Dot. 

 JD:      And, and then…

 Lena Mae:     Albert. 

 JD:      Albert, and then Carol Ann.  Now that was the children, the six of y”all.  Right?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      Ok.  Alberta…Milton, Milton married…who?

 Lena Mae:     Hester.

 JD:      And then Hester married Pete [Johnson] after that [Milton was killed offshore].  And, what was Putt’s first name?

 Edward:        Albert.

 JD:      It was Albert, hunh?  Lena Mae and Edward, Milton and Hester, Dot and Putt, Carol Ann…what, what’s his first name? 

 Edward:        Elton.

 JD:      Elton, that’s what I thought.  Gertie’s first…Gertie’s last name was what? 

 Edward:        Who?

 JD:      Ah, uh…

 Lena Mae:     Persilver.  

 JD:      [garbled] Persilver?  She was probly from Charenton, eh?  Charenton area?  or Baldwin?

 Lena Mae:     I think so…Charenton…

 Edward:        …on the levee…

 JD:      And Alberta?  Married…?

Lena Mae:     Jerry.

JD:      Jerry…Marcotte. 

Edward:        My name be Jerry Marcotte, I’d change it [laughs]. 

JD:      I thought y”all were friends.  What you got there Lena Mae?  A game?   I say, I thought y”all were friends? 

Lena Mae:     They are, Jim.

Edward:        Yeah, we are.

JD:      Alright Lena Mae, I already have your people.  Ok Edward, …OK, Edward.  Edward, can you list em your…your brothers and sisters?  Please?

 Edward:        How you want em? 

 JD:      Any way they come, it doesn’t matter.

 Edward:        Oldest one first?

 JD:      That would be best, if you could.

 Edward:        Oldest one was Lester. 

 JD:      Lester.  Is he alive or dead?

 Lena Mae:     Half brother.

 JD:      That’s half brother?

 Edward:        Half brother.

 JD:      OK, and, and…

 Edward:        And oldest sister was Elvina [Alvina]. 

 JD:      Elvina?  Is she alive?

 Edward:        No.  Ain’t but two of us livin. 

 JD:      And who’s next?

 Edward:        I think it was Son…Joseph.

 JD:      Joseph?  They called him Son?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      OK, and he’s deceased also?

 Edward:        …Tete.  Viola.

 JD:      Viola.

 Edward:        Lange. 

 JD:      That’s Tete?  And she married…?

 Edward:        Dan Lange.

 JD:      Dan Lange?  [Tete, Viola] She was the one who didn’t like me?

 Edward:        Yeah.  There was Tootsie…her name was Nelly [Nellie]. 

 JD:      Nelly?  Tootsie.

 Edward:        Yeah.  She married to a Verrett...then a Loreauville. 

 JD:      Tell me, tell me if these people are still alive.

 Edward:        None of em’s livin.  Uhuh. 

 JD:      And who else after…after Tootsie? 

 Edward:        …was Abner.

 JD:      Abner?  And he married…?

 Edward:        Louisa…Louisa Domingue.  She was a Domingue.  Then, Margaret. 

 JD:      Margaret.

 Edward:        She’s livin. 

 JD:      Abner’s dead, OK.   Now, you said some of these were half and some of em whole?

 Edward:        Lester’s the only half.

 JD:      Only half.  OK.  Would it be useful to me to know who these people married?  I have the ones that…Dan Lange is connected to your…

 Edward:        Lester was married to Lula Meyers [sp?]

 JD:      OK. 

 Edward:        And Son was married to Arma [actually Felicia Louise] Ganaway.

 JD:      What’s her first name? 

 Edward:        Arma.

 JD:      Arma? 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Ganaway?

 Edward:        Ganaway. 

 JD:      OK.  Tootsie…Elvina, Elvina…OK, so…all right.  Well, that’s a good, that’s a good…that’s a good…

 Lena Mae:     Margaret was married to Floyd Mayon.

 Edward:        She married Floyd Mayon.

 Lena Mae:     He’s deceased.

 JD:      Floyd?  Mayon.  They brought Mayon blood back in…back. Edward, when were you born?

 Edward:        November the 12, 1928.

 JD:      OK.  And Lena Mae, I already have you…I already have all of your brothers and sisters down, so, we got that.   just for the sake of getting in down hre, [pause] let’s see if, let me just make sure I can…I list your,  your oldest, you’re oldest child was Larry? 

 Lena Mae:     Justin.

 JD:      Justin is your oldest?  OK, Justin…and then?

 Lena Mae:     Larry. 

 JD:      And then?

 Lena Mae:     Bonita. 

 JD:      Then?

 Lena Mae:     Gwen.

 JD:      Then Kevin?

 Lena Mae:     Kevin.

 JD:      Ok.  All right.  Now, if I could, I’d really like to get…if y”all can remember …I’m gonna start this off now.  I’d really like to start this off…this piece…by finding out what were the families that crossed the levee? Because what I’m tryin …what I’m tryin to focus on here is what I’m goin [proposing to] call the Myette Pt. community, and those that came and went, came and went, that’s not part of it – except if they were…if they…if there was a…if there’s something that involves them I’ll bring em in, but, mainly what I need to do is define the Myette Pt. community so I need to know what families crossed the levee.  I’d like to start with…the best of your recollection…when did the people start to cross the levee…from the houseboats…bring something over the levee and put it on the bank on the other side.  You said Myon was first?  No…?

 Edward:        No…

 JD:      No, Abner, was first. 

 Lena Mae:     That was…poo lord, that was before I got married..

 JD:      Now, by Abner, you talking about your brother? [Ec]

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      OK, OK, Abner first.  Then…that would help me to know [for dating, what she said] before you got married, alright, when did you get married?

 Lena Mae:     Hold it, hold it.  It wasn’t Abner first, it was the dagoes first.  John and Pete. [It was the  

 JD:      Daigle?

 Lena Mae:     No, Galdalf [Gondolfo].  Frank’s uncle and daddy.  They was the first, back of the levee [crossed over].

 JD:      OK.  Were they on…were they on the canal with a houseboat?  With y”all for a while?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, they was livin in Bayou Grue.

 JD:      That’s close, to Myon’s Canal, right?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.  That other canal above us.  They the first one moved over. 

 JD:      OK.  And that was who?  John…

 Lena Mae:     John, Pete…and what was…Sam, there was three of em.

 JD:      John, Pete and…?

 Lena Mae:     Sam.

 JD:      Sam? 

 Lena Mae:     They was three brothers. 

 JD:      Gondolfo [Gondolfo].  OK.  So, they were the first ones that moved…now you say they moved before you got married, now, ok. Let’s try to pin that down if we can. 

 Lena Mae:     That was when we first moved over here [from across the lake].

 JD:      OK, when did you get married? 

 Lena Mae:     I got married 1947.

 JD:      1947.  Alright, and they moved across the levee before…

 Lena Mae:     I guess maybe…two years before.

 JD:      About…but not ten.  Not ten years, not that long…

 Lena Mae:     NO!  No.

 JD:      But maybe two.

 Lena Mae:     Maybe two years before we moved. 

 JD:      And you were married in ’47?  So, they came across about in 1945. 

 Lena Mae:     I’d say that. 

 JD:      While the war was still goin on.  While the second world war was still goin on. 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, oh yeah. 

 JD:      Right at the end of the second world war, then, was when they moved.  Cause it was over in 1946.  Ok, so they moved over in 1945.  Alright, and then…did people start comin over pretty regular right after that, or…?

 Edward:        Oh yeah.

 Lena Mae:     Right after that, Abner.  And then us.

 JD:      Abner?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 Edward:        No, I believe Bootsie was over there before your momma and them, eh?

 Lena Mae:     No.  Bootsie and them had they house along the lake.

 Edward:        Yeah, but him and Yank, remember was married a long time before we got married…

 Lena Mae:     I know they was.  But they was livin in the campboat. 

 Edward:        I don’t know, ask em…

 JD:      Alright, so, so, if you can, if I can start then, if you would…y”all will…let’s name the families that were livin in the campboats that moved across the levee and became part of what you call Myette Pt.  People who lived at Myette Pt.  Alright, let’s start with y”all, we have, we have Edward Couvillier.  OK, who else?

 Lena Mae:     There was my grandma and them. 

 JD:      I put Myon Bailey down here.  And then…who’s your grandma?  What was her name?

 Lena Mae:     Rosalee. 

 JD:      Rosalee…and did she…she and her husband have a houseboat? 

 Lena Mae:     Her husband deceased for years before she…

 Edward:        Before they moved over here. 

 JD:      But she had…who was she livin with? 

 Lena Mae:     With her son, Monug… Preston. 

 Edward:        Lived with two of em [sons] there for a while, Neg and Monug. 

 JD:      Ok, Rosalee…or…I don’t have but three…I don’t have but three people here…that are Rosalee’s brothers and sisters.  Oh, oh, Rosalee’s son, then that would have been Neg then, you talking about.  Neg and…

 Lena Mae:     Preston, and Neg.

 JD:      How about Robert?  There’s a Robert also there, huhn?  And Preston?  Neg was Cleo. 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      OK, so,  but…but she…but she, …but she lived with, but she lived with somebody else. 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, I mean that was they family, they lived in the campboat.  Her and her two sons. 

 JD:      Ok, then, her sons would have been Cleo Sauce…he was married to Nine at the time?  Neg was married to Nine at the time?

 Lena Mae:     No…

 JD:      Cleo and Pres…Preston, you said?  Sauce?  Alright.  So, when Neg…when Neg came across [the levee], he wasn’t married to Nine.? 

 Lena Mae:     No. 

 JD:      He and his brother pulled the houseboat across, and were livin in it like that.  OK, lived with…Ok, so far we have…y”all were married, of course, by that time.  Lena Mae.  Myon and Agnes.  Ok, so far I have four, now where we going from there?  We already have Gandolfo, and Abner Couvillier.  Right?

 Lena Mae:     Umhm.

 JD:      Who else? 

 Edward:        Puttin…putting em in order gone be hard.  The old man I believe, Lena Mae [??].

 Lena Mae:     And then, his [Edward’s] momma and daddy moved they camp, over the levee before we did.

 JD:      Who’s that?

 Lena Mae:     His momma and daddy.

 Edward:        Albert.

 JD:      Albert?  That would be Albert senior? 

 Edward:        Well, Putt was named Albert but he wasn’t…that was Putt’s grandpa.  So, he wasn’t a senior, the old man, he didn’t have nobody named after him.

 JD:      He wasn’t a senior.  Ok, Albert Couvillier.  That’s, Edward, that’s your father.

 Lena Mae:     Putt, Albert and Ella, like that, that’s his momma.  Then, you know, you’ll know the difference between the two Alberts. 

 JD:      I don’t have…put what? 

 Lena Mae:     Ella.  Next to Albert.

 JD:      That’s who his wife was? 

 Lena Mae:     Is that… was his momma’s name, yeah.

 JD:      Nella?

 Lena Mae:     Ella.

 JD:      Ella?

 Lena Mae:     …speaking.

 JD:      Oh, speakin?  I thought you said  sleepin.  Your guests are still here?

 Edward:        Who?

 JD:      Your guests.

 Edward:        Yeah.  [his kids staying in his house for awhile].

 JD:      [laughs]   alright, who else came across? 

 Lena Mae:     Us.

 JD:      I have y”all.  I have y”all.

 Lena Mae:     Got momma and them?

 JD:      Uhun, Myon and Agnes. 

 Edward:        Bootsie Millet.

 JD:      Who’s that?  Who’s that?  What was Bootsy’s first name?  Roy?

 Edward:        Roy. 

 JD:      Roy…Bootsie.  Millet.  Is it his family [that] the Point is named after? 

 Edward:        Yeah.

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.  …[then] Jesse Daigle. 

 JD:      Who was he married to?  Bootsie?  Yank?  What was her…what was her real name?  Was that her real name? 

 Lena Mae:     Ophelia. 

 Edward:        Ophelia her real name. 

 Lena Mae:     …first.

 Edward:        Yeah, my sister moved back here too. 

 JD:      Ophelia, Yank, last name? 

 Lena Mae:     Sauce.

 JD:      Sauce. 

 Lena Mae:     Now let me get [?]…Jesse and them moved they house before Aunt Vina and them did. 

 Edward:        Yep, I remember here done did this Jim.  [looking at the Malcolm Comeaux book, moss picking, etc.]

 JD:      Where do i…Hunh?  I thought you did!

 Edward:        I guess so. 

 JD:      I thought you did. 

 Edward:        Stand up in that derrick, go in them trees…pickin…

 JD:      Where am I tryin to find Yank on here [the chart I made?].  Where am I tryin to find Ophelia Sauce?  Where was she…was she Agnes’ sister? 

 Lena Mae:     [yes] Momma’s sister. 

 JD:      Ok, ok, alright.  Ok, Bootsie Millet and Ophelia Sauce. 

 Lena Mae:     And then Joe Sauce. 

 JD:      Joe Sauce, now we talking about Joe Sauce, Neg’s son? 

 Lena Mae:     His [Edward’s] sister.

 Edward:        That was my sister’s husband.  Elvina Sauce.

 JD:      Joe Sauce.  That’s Neg’s brother, you sayin?

 Edward:        No, Neg’s uncle.  That was my sister’s husband.

 JD:      [laughs at the confusion]

 Lena Mae:     That’s Elvina’s husband. 

 Edward:        That was Agnes’ uncle. 

 JD:      Agnes’ uncle.  That’ll do it for me.  That’ll do it. 

 Edward:        Her daddy’s brother.  Wasn’t it? 

 JD:      Yeah, that’s what I have down here.  I have Joe as Blaise’s brother. 

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      Along with Milton and Bill, Guyon, …fourteen, there were fourteen people, apparently in that family.  I don’t have all their names…  Blaise’s brothers and sisters.

 Lena Mae:     Oh, I know them.

 JD:      You know them?  Well, I want to get them from you in a minute.  But I’d like to finish this list if I could.  So, so far I’ve got  y”all, Myon, Neg, who was livin with Preston and, and Rosalee Mayon.

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      And the Gondolfos.  Uh…

 Edward:        There was Jesse Daigle. 

 Lena Mae:     Jesse Daigle was the next one to move. 

 Edward:        And my brother Lester was moved, across there. 

 JD:      Is that [pronounced] “Dayg” or “Daygle”?

 Edward:        “Daygle”  used to be Dayg, used to call it Dayg, but they changed it …

 JD:      Jesse Daigle, and he was married to Ida, right? 

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      Ida Sauce.  No, Ida Mayon.

 Lena Mae:     Ida Sauce.

 Edward:        Ida Sauce.

 JD:      Ida Sauce, that’s right.  Sure, sure, sure.  OK.  Then, then who?  After Jesse? 

 Lena Mae:     Next one, they had a Miss Grace.   that was  Pete’s [Gondolfo] wife’s momma.  She moved right next door to Jesse and Ida’s house. 

 JD:      Did she have a houseboat of her own?

 Lena Mae:     She didn’t live on the water, she moved back of the levee.

 JD:      Oh, ok.  What was her name? 

 Lena Mae:     They call her Miss Grace.  That’s all I know.

 JD:      Whose mother was she? 

 Lena Mae:     That was Miss Clara’s momma. 

 JD:      Is that somebody I should know?

 Lena Mae:     Pete…Pete Gondolfo…his wife’s momma. 

 JD:      Ohh, ok.  Alright, what was her name? 

 Lena Mae:     They called her Grace.

 JD:      Grace. 

 Lena Mae:     I guess she was a Postillo [sp?] cause….

 JD:      Postillo ??

 Lena Mae:     Petey! [fussing at the parrot]

 JD:      And she moved from,  moved from another place on land. 

 Lena Mae:     Bayou Grue canal. 

 JD:      But she was on land anyway…

 Edward:        I believe they lived around Bayou Grue up there, eh?  You know where Bayou Grue’s at? 

 JD:      Just up the lake. 

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      OK.  Anybody else was livin on the levee?  If you take the first house when I met y”all, in 1972, the first house on the other end, far end, and come all the way this way.  Have we left anybody out? 

 Edward:        We left Lester, Arthur…

 Lena Mae:     You see, we started with Pete and them.

 JD:      Pete Gondolfo…

 Lena Mae:     Ok, there was them…

 Edward:        Goin the other way…

 Lena Mae:     There was…comin towards …our place.  Then there was,  …

 Edward:        Like from the blacktop goin…

 Lena Mae:     …Jesse,

 JD:      From the blacktop goin that way, from here goin back that way

 Lena Mae:     We up to where Yank and Bootsie and them was livin .

 JD:      Ok.

 Lena Mae:     Then they pulled grandma’s cabin right next to Yank and Bootsie.  Back of the levee. 

 Edward:        Then there was a Sam…

 JD:      Your grandmother? 

 Lena Mae:     My grandmother.  She was next door to Yank and them. 

 JD:      Let me see…your grandmother would have been…

 Lena Mae:     Rosalee.

 JD:      Rosalee.

 Edward:        When you go up the levee, when you get to the levee?  On the left hand side, that was Sam Gondolfo, Pete’s uncle.  Had a lil shack.  On the left hand side. 

 Lena Mae:     I forgot that.

 JD:      I have Sam Gondolfo as comin across.  I just need to get all the names, all the people who were head of the houseboat, or the family. 

 Edward:        Pete Gondolfo…

 Lena Mae:     We up to grandma’s house. 

 Edward:        And Dan Lange, Dan was next to…

 JD:      Lange, we don’t have Lange down here.

 Edward:        They was next to us. 

 JD:      OK, now, he moved across the levee? 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Dan Lange.  Do y”all know who he was married to?

 Edward:        That’s Tete.

 JD:      Your sister?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      OK, what was her real name? 

 Edward:        Viola. 

 Lena Mae:     Shut up Petey! [the parrot again]

 Edward:        And then next to, next to them, my uncle, Uncle Joe used to live in a lil shack.  Joe Sanders. 

 JD;      Joe Sanders? 

 Edward:        Yeah, that was momma’s brother.

 JD:      Your mother’s brother.

 Edward:        Umhm.  You ain’t had his name cause we hadn’t….[gotten to his family]

 JD:      I don’t have your mother, see I got…

 Edward:        Yeah you had, I just gave it…Ella. 

 JD:      Right here, I wanted to get right here…Ella? 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Ella what?

 Edward:        Octavie.

 JD:      That was her last name?

 Edward:        No, that was her middle name. 

 JD:      Octavie.

 Edward:        Umhm. 

 JD:      What was her last name?

 Edward:        Sanders.

 JD:      Sanders.  So that’s how you’re kin to the Sanders. 

 Edward:        First cousins, you know?

 JD:      Your father’s full name? 

 Edward:        Albert.

 JD:      Albert. 

 Edward:        I think that was the only name he had…Albert. 

 JD:      OK.  I do…I do want to get,  in a minute…I want to get…you have some records there …I would like to get your father’s brothers and sisters, if I can, and your mother’s brothers and sisters, if you have any memory of that.  Wait, let’s make sure I got this, I want to complete this if I can.  About all the people that came across and settled in at Myette Pt. 

 Edward:        Ok, Uncle Joe Sanders? 

 JD:      OK, I have Joe Sanders down here.  Who he married? 

 Edward:        Hunh?

 JD:      Married?

 Lena Mae:     TeeNug.

 Edward:        He was married…what was Aunt TeeNug, used to call her TeeNug,  Arthur’s momma.  TeeNug, that’s all…

 JD:      I’ll put that down.  What was her last name before she was married? 

 Edward:        Uhhhhh.  Blankenship., no wait a minute…wait a minute.  Jim, I might not even know.

 Lena Mae:     Ashley.  Uhh?  Was it Ashley?

 Edward:        No. 

 JD:      OK, well probably Agnes might know. 

 Edward:        No, Agnes…

 JD:      Agnes wouldn’t know that?  She wouldn’t…

 Edward:        Arthur [Sanders] would know. 

 JD:      Arthur Sanders would know?

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      Ok, well, if I need it I can go get that. 

 Edward:        Yeah.  But, uh…

 JD:      OK, Joe Sanders moved across…was he across on the canal with y”all?

 Edward:        Yeah, he used to live in a lil camp over there. 

 JD:      On the canal…in the canal?

 Edward:        Unhum.  And then next to him was Jesse and them, eh?

 Lena Mae:     Next to him was Jesse…

 JD:      Jesse Daigle.

 Edward:        Yeah, and then Russell…no, then Neg, huh?  Neg…

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, there was Old Man Naquin next to Ida…Neg and them next to Ida.

 Edward:        And Old Man Naquin.

 Lena Mae:     Then Old Man Naquin. 

 Edward:        Where was Russell [Daigle] at? 

 Lena Mae:     Russell wasn’t married.

 Edward:        Don’t tell me Russell…

 Lena Mae:     He was livin in Morgan City.

 Edward:        Russell had that trailer out there Momma, when we moved…

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, after, he married Gail. 

 Edward:        That’s what he [Jim D] talking about, he want to get who all was on the levee.

 JD:      Who all was on the levee…

 Lena Mae:     Oh, OK, it was Russell next door to, Neg I believe. 

 JD:      But Russell, Russell and EJ ..talkin about Russell and EJ…

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      Russell and EJ were,  was their father,  that was Jesse Daigle?

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      So Jesse Daigle, when he pulled his boat across the levee, it was him and his [.Russell and EJ? 

 Lena Mae:     It was,  him, Russell, EJ and,  Lil Nigger, the one that drownded.

 JD:      OK, but that takes care of him, see we got him down here as,  we got his family so I’ll trace…I’ll…I’ll…I’ll get Russell and EJ, because I got Jesse Daigle down here. 

 Lena Mae:     …the next one, Jesse, then there was Abner.  You got old man Naquin, he was…

 JD:      I don’t have him.  No, who is he?  What was his first name? 

 Lena Mae:     I don’t even know. 

 JD:      I know this is hard, but …

 Lena Mae:     All I know is Mr. Naquin. 

 JD:      Old man, and I put that…Naquin, huh? 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      And where was he,  did he have a wife that you know?

 Lena Mae:     No.. 

 JD:      Not married.  OK.  Do y”all know anything about, like, where he came from?  Was he across the levee? 

 Lena Mae:     You remember Jay Boudreaux, used to have that store at Western Auto? 

 Edward:        Used to work….

 JD:      ….but anyway, was he a houseboat person? 

 Edward:        No, no, uhuh…

 JD:      Mr. Naquin wasn’t?  He came from on land?  Moved there on land?

 Edward:        Yeah.  Must have been from Franklin, I don’t know. 

 JD:      It’s interesting that, some people moved out there who didn’t come across the levee. 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      So far you got, you got,  Miss Grace Postillo, I guess her name was? 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      And Old Man Naquin, who both came from some place on land, they didn’t come from the houseboats. 

 Lena Mae:     She came from a houseboat.

 JD:      She did? 

 Edward:        [from] Bayou Grue. 

 JD:      OK, on houseboat, then.  I keep sayin houseboat cause that’s what I’m used to, but y”all always call them campboats. 

 Edward:        Yeah, campboats. 

 JD:      OK, is that the whole list? 

 Edward:        You got Lester?

 Lena Mae:     You got up to Abner .

 JD:      No I don’t have a Lester on here.  Where should I have Lester?

 Lena Mae:     You got Abner? 

 JD:      I got Abner Couvillier.

 Edward:        …was Lester, you got Arthur Sanders?

 Lena Mae:     You see that…Abner was the next one after Old Man Naquin. 

 JD:      Abner Couvillier? 

 Edward:        No, wait a minute Momma, Abner lived next door to where Bootsie and them used to live, right there. 

 Lena Mae:     …Bootsie, and then, uh…

 Edward:        Old Man Naquin was further up toward Neg.

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.  It was Yank and them’s house, and then Abner’s house. 

 Edward:        And you got Joe Sauce?

 JD:      I got Joe Sauce.  That’s Agnes’ uncle. 

 Edward:        Right. 

 JD:      I got that. 

 Edward:        And they was next door…to Bootsie, Roy. 

 JD:      Roy Myette, I got him.  With Yank Sauce.

 Lena Mae:     And Grandma next door.  To Yank.

 Edward:        Then there was Myon.

 JD:      I got Myon.

 Lena Mae:     And then Abner. 

 JD:      Abner Couvillier. 

 Edward:        Then Putt [Couvillier] and them.

 Lena Mae:     After Abner, it was us, Momma. 

 Edward:        Your momma, but I’m talking about after your momma…was Putt.  Putt brought that lil house we had. 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, but we was there first Daddy…

 Edward:        We already moved up on the other end, over there [laughs], we can’t be in two places. 

 Lena Mae:     …tryin to get it in order. 

 Edward:        That’s what we tryin to do, that’s gon put it in order. 

 Jd;       When Putt was married to Dot, were they livin on a campboat?  In the canal?

 Edward:        No.

 Lena Mae:     No, no, uhuh. 

 JD:      So they got married after y”all moved across [the levee].

 Edward:        Yeah, uhunh. 

 JD:      So, most of the marriages, then, we could say that …if the movement started across in 1945..?

 Edward:        But what I’m talking about, put em in order,

 JD:      On land, you talking about?

 Edward:        Hencock [Putt Couvillier] was livin next door to Myon.

 JD:      OK, the reason that I thought…

 Edward:        And the old man was next door to Putt.

 JD:      The reason that I thought to put em in order, I don’t mean that I have to get em like they were on land.  What I thought was that would be the easiest way to remember every one of em.

 Edward:        Yeah.  There was Arthur Louviere, had a house.

 JD:      Alright, now there’s another name.  Was he across the levee?  Was he in the water?

 Edward:        No, they never did live in the water.

 JD:      Arthur Louviere…

 Lena Mae:     Tootsie did….

 Edward:        Tootsie did, but she didn’t move a camp across the levee. 

 JD:      Arthur Louviere.  Is that Bernie Louviere’s family?

 Edward:        That was Bernie’s brother… my sister [Tootsie]. 

 JD:      OK, now, who did Arthur Louviere marry?

 Edward:        My sister, Nellie.

 JD:      Nellie? 

 Edward:        Tootsie.

 JD:      Tootsie. 

Lena Mae:     No, there was Duttie and Bernie, after they got married.  They was between rthur and the church. 

Edward:        When?

 Lena Mae:     When they first got married.

 JD:      Where did Arthur Louviere come from…?

 Lena Mae:     Down the levee, by the …?

 JD:      OK, so he came from the land too?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      ….so he came from the land too.

 Edward:        …don’t have a recollection…Bernie lived…Bernie was livin…

 Lena Mae:     When they first got married, they lived between Tootsie and the church…

 Edward:        Bernie built that house up there where Joe Sauce used to live…

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, after.

 Edward:        That house he got there now.

 Lena Mae:     After.  Duttie was livin next door to Tootsie when her and Bernie first got married. 

 Edward:        What they was livin in? 

 Lena Mae:     Some lil shack they had between there. 

 JD:      Ok, see if…see if I can make some sense out of this now.

 Edward:        We can’t Jim, how you gone do it?

 JD:      [laughs]  See if, …y”all gon fight…see if  let me see if I can name these family names and if y”all can be thinking about who was in the canal.  Who was in campboats in the canal. 

 Edward Couvillier, Myon Bailey, Cleo Sauce, the Gondolfos, Abner Couvillier, and then Albert Couvillier, Bootsie Millet, Joe Sauce…

 Edward:        Bootsie wasn’t livin in a camp, there.

 Lena Mae:     Yeah, they lived in that flat yellow campboat. 

 JD:      Bootsie and Yank?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.

 JD:      [continuing]  Joe Sauce (Agnes’s uncle),  Jesse Daigle, Miss Grace Postillo, but y”all didn’t …she was up at Bayou Grue…

 Lena Mae:     No, she wasn’t around us, she was …

 JD:      But, she was on a campboat?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.

 JD:      [continuing]  Dan Lange, Joe Sanders, …old man Naquin came from land, and so did Arthur Louviere. 

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      But then, that’s the families we can think of that were in the canal?

 Edward:        You got Lester?  Lester and them was livin out there too.

 JD:      Lester who?

 Edward:        Couviller…Putt’s daddy. 

 JD:      He was in a campboat?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      What was his married…?  He married who?

 Edward:        Lula. 

 JD:      Lula Meyers?

 Edward:        Umhm. 

 JD:      Do I have her anywhere on this list?

 Edward:        Umhm.  Sposed to have. 

 JD:      Who was she?

 Edward:        Putt’s momma. 

 JD:      I don’t have her on this list.  Oh…no.

 Edward:        You got her somewhere…I give it to you just now. 

 JD:      ….ooohh…

 Edward:        Where’s Lester?  Find Lester. 

 JD:      Lester….Lester was half!   That’s what it was…Lula Meyers was his…ok, ok, that was his wife.  Ok, but he was half.

 Edward:        Right. 

 JD:      Ok, alright.  Well, that’s it then.   That’s the…that’s the Myette Pt. community…

 Edward:        Umhm.  You got Arthur Sanders?  Arthur Sanders?

 Lena Mae:     They got one more family livin there that you don’t have…in a campboat.

 JD:      Wait a minute, Arthur Sanders?  And he was married to? 

 Edward:        He wasn’t married, he shacked up with …uh…

 JD:      Well, was it, common law …you would say?

 Lena Mae:     Yeah. 

 JD:      What was her name? 

 Edward:        Avia Comeaux. 

 JD:      Avia, that was her first name? 

 Edward:        Avia.  She was a Comeaux. 

 JD:      Avia Comeaux.  Arthur Sanders…that’s our Arthur Sanders, right here [at Myette Pt. now] you talking about?

 Edward:        Yeah.  The one used to live here [Oxford Loop]

 JD:      OK.

 Lena Mae:     There was a Gene Smith lived in the canal too.

 Edward:        Yeah, but Gene Smith didn’t pull over the levee. 

 Lena Mae:     No. 

 JD:      So he didn’t become part of the canal…part of the community..

 Edward:        Yeah, he didn’t pull over the levee. 

 JD:      You named somebody else just now while we were talking about Arthur Sanders.  Who was that? 

 Edward:        Hm.  Me?

 JD:      I got you. 

 Edward:        I…I…I named somebody else? 

 JD:      Yeah, you or Lena Mae, One of y”all named somebody else while we were talking about Arthur Sanders.

 Lena Mae:     Talkin about Gene Smith, livin in a campboat …

 JD:      No, got that and it’s not…

 Lena Mae:     Then you see, Al Smith and them lived on the levee, but they moved to Venice over there.  They weren’t on a campboat. 

 JD:      Were they fishermen?

 Edward:        Oh, there’s a bunch of people.

 JD:      Were they fishermen?  Al Smith?

 Lena Mae:     I don’t know what …

 Edward:        He might a did a lil fishin, but not that much. 

 JD:      He’s the one who just died, you talking about?

 Edward:        Yeah.  And all the kids, like …

 JD:      OK, what Gandolfo’s were livin in that,  when they came across?  We talking about John, Pete and Sam were all livin in the same houseboat? 

 Edward:        Naw, uh there were different…

 Lena Mae:     No, there was three different boats.

 JD:      OK, three boats.  Which one is kin to Frank [Gondolfo]? 

 Lena Mae:     John, John was his daddy.

 JD:      John was his father? 

 Edward:        They both was…the rest of em was Frank’s uncles.  Pete and John, I mean Pete and Sam. 

 JD:      So, John was Franks father. 

 Edward:        Umhm. 

 JD:      And Pete is his brother?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Boy, how you can create two things that are not alike, eh?  Pete and Frank?

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 Lena Mae:     Yeah.

 JD:      Alright.  Well, that’s…there were…must have been …well, let’s try to figure this out, then.  From this let’s try to figure out how many campboats were in the canal.  Let’s try to figure that out from here. Couvillier.   Edward had one.  Myon Bailey had one.  Rosalee Mayon lived with Neg and and Preston Sauce, all of em together in one.

 Edward:        Umhm.

 JD:      Gandolfo had three.  Right?  Abner Couvillier had one.  Albert Couvillier had one.  Bootsie Millet had one.  Joe Sauce had one.  Jesse Daigle had one.  Miss Grace Postillo, she moved from Bayou Grue, she didn’t have one in the canal.

 Lena Mae:     No. 

 JD:      Dan Lange had one.  Joe Sanders had one.

 Edward:        Yeah. 

 JD:      Old Man Naquin didn’t.

 Edward:        No.

 JD:      Arthur Louviere didn’t.

 Edward:        No. 

 JD:      Lester Couviller.

 Edward:        Lester had one. 

 JD:      He had one.  And Arthur Sanders had one.  That’s it?  That’s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

 Lena Mae:     Nick Verrett had one.

 JD:      Oops.  Who? 

 Lena Mae:     Nick Verrett, Tootsie’s husband.

 Edward:        But he didn’t move it over the levee.

 Lena Mae:     No.  He want to know who was in the canal. 

 JD:      Ok, let’s do that.  Nick Verrett. 

 Edward:        If we keep goin back you can go to Laurie Mayon and all them.  Laurie live there for a while.  Alvin Mayon lived there for a while. 

 Lena Mae:     Not on this side…

 Edward:        Alvin used to live in that canal years ago. 

 JD:      I’m interested in who was livin the canal when y”all started movin over.  In 1945…

 Edward:        Laurie and them wasn’t there at that time. 

 JD:      And Nick Verrett was in a houseboat ,  in a campboat, but did not move it over.

 Edward:        Uhuh. 

 JD:      OK.  So he was in a campboat but didn’t move it over.  So he had one.  Anybody else that y”all can think of that was in the canal that didn’t move over?  Left?  One, two, thee, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…sixteen campboats in that canal?  That was a good-sized bunch.  Sixteen campboats!  That’s a good-sized bunch!

 Lena Mae:     You see they didn’t maybe all was there at one time, but they’d move in and move out.  Some of em.

 JD:      But all of em…but uh…

 Lena Mae:     Most of em moved over the levee. 

 JD:      What I was gonna say, right at the end though, there was at least,  fifteen of em.  That had to be there pretty close together because they all moved over the levee. 

 Edward:        Well Jim, I got some diet coke there, you want some? 

 JD:      I want some.  I’d take some diet coke.  [laughs]

 Edward:        Knew you was comin.  So I went and got a bottle. 

 JD:      And y”all welcome to share any amount.  I know y”all don’t drink it but.

 [noise in the kitchen with ice]

 Edward:        I ought to, don’t get me wrong.

 JD:      You what?  You ought to?  Oh well.   Well, that’s good stuff!  You see I didn’t have any of that [the people in the canal and crossing the levee].  That’s good stuff.  That’s good stuff.  And started move over in 1945.  OK, Edward, OK, Edward, your daddy’s name, Edward, again.

 Edward:        Albert. 

 JD:      Albert.  Not senior, or anything else. 

 Edward:        Uhuh. 

 JD:      Your mothers name?

 Edward:        Ella. 

 JD:      Ella Octavie, eh?

 Edward:        Yeah, Octavie. 

 JD:      Sanders.  Ok, Edward,  …

 Edward:        Here, you want some ice?  Want some ice?

 JD:      Thank you Edward, I appreciate you doin that.  Edward, your brothers and sisters? Can you list em for me?

 Edward:        I give em to ya [already].

 JD:      Well…there they are right there. 

 Edward:        Yeah.

 JD:      I got that.  How about your…what I need is your…is your…is your uncles and aunts, if you remember them.  How about your daddy’s brothers and sisters, you have any…This doesn’t have to be all of em…just what you can remember. 

 Edward:        My old man had one sister.

 JD:      One sister.

 Edward:        Full sister.