Today is the 111th anniversary of the death of Fr. Ernest Forge. He served as the Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Ville Platte from 1868-1873, where he ministered to many in the Vidrine Family. These are some of the many: Baptisms: Louis Arsena Vidrine (1868), son of Leon Levi

Today is the 184th anniversary of the death of Fr. Michel Benard Barrière who died on this day in 1832. He was a Priest from France who fled the French Revolution and spent his exile serving in south LA – at the Attakapas Post (St. Martinville), then the Opelousas Post,

I enjoyed a tour of the St. Louis Cemeteries 1 & 2 today in New Orleans. It was really neat to see in these old cemeteries the names of those who served with Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Vedrines in the French Marines or their ancestors, like de Moncharvaux, de Villiers,

Last month, I posted about the Cajun musician Leo Soileau, who descends from Jean Bapstiste Lapaise de Vedrines and Marie de Mocharvaux’s oldest child, Marie Jeanne de Vedrines (1761-1812) and her husband Jean Baptiste Richaume Soileau 1752-1854) through their son, Godefroy Soileau Sr. I recently discovered that his partner and

  This post on Facebook today reminded me of the Vidrines who served in the War of 1812, just a few years after Jean Baptiste Lapaise de Vedrines died (1788)…and after his two sons claimed land at the Quartier dit Baton Rouge, which was Ville Platte (1806-1807)…and the same year that Louisiana

I had a great visit to the LA Orphan Train Museum in Opelousas yesterday. Many from the Vidrine Family opened their hearts and lives to children through the Orphan Train’s foster care and adoption program in the early 1900’s. The orphan children were born in New York City and came