Eleventh Generation

1142. Jean Frédéric LEONARD was born in c1715 in Behême (Luxembourg Province), Belgium.^3085,1 He was likely the "Frederic Leonard" who appeared in the January 1732 census on Rue de Chartres in New Orleans. Living next door to him was "Leonard, gardener and Intendant". This was likely a reference to his father, Jean Baptiste, and step-mother, Anne Coudray. ³⁰⁸⁶ Marie Jeanne DRAPEAU and Jean Frédéric LEONARD entered into a marriage contract on 10 June 1740. ^3087,1 They were married on 3 September 1740 in New Orleans (Orleans Parish), Louisiana, USA. Apparently, Jean Frédéric Leonard and Marie Jeanne Drapeau were living separately by mid-1761 but were likely living apart as early as 1755 . On the 2 June 1761 marriage contract of his daughter, Marie Marguerite, and Simon Lacour which was signed on that date, it states that Marie Marguerite was the "dau of Frederic Leonard, bourgeois living in New Orleans". ^1502,1On the other hand, Marie Jeanne Drapeau gave birth to the child of Bertrand Guichanduc on 21 January 1756 (Anne Marguerite) which likely indicates that Leonard/Drapeau had already separated or her relationship with Guichanduc was the cause of her split with Leonard. The 1756 baptismal record of the child states that Drapeau and Guidhanduc were married but they did not marry until 31 December 1765. ^3088,3089,1 (NOTE: According to the record of Drapeau's 2nd marriage to Bertrand Guichanduc ("Archdiocese of New Orleans Sacramental Records, Volume II, 1751-1771", Page 97), she was the widow of "Frederique Leonard, dec. on the Island of St. Domingue...".) Therefore, Jean Frédéric was deceased by 31 December 1765 (St-Domingue, Island of Hispaniola (French Colony)).

1143. Marie Jeanne DRAPEAU - It has always been assumed that Marie Jeanne Drapeau was the 'Jean Drapeau' whose baptism was documented in the book entitled "Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Mobile, Volume 1, Section 1, 1704-1739" (page 97, #297) with a birth and baptismal date of 17 Oct 1720 at Mobile. This assumption was made because the translated synopsis of this record which appears in the book specifically indicates that the child was a "she". Based on this, the assumption has always been that this is the manner in which the child was identified on the baptismal record. After viewing the actual record, however, it is clear that the child's sex was not mentioned on the record at all. Also, the child's godfather was identified as Robert Talon who served as proxy at the baptism for Jean Tessier, and godmother was Catherine Christophe, wife of Mr. Parent, bourgeois of Fort Louis. Of course, as you know, children of this time period were often given the first name of a godparent (relative to the sex of the child). Therefore, it appears that the child born/baptized on 17 Oct 1720 was a male rather than a female and was named after his godfather, Jean Tessier. Therefore, this record was not the baptismal record for Marie Jeanne Drapeau, and her baptismal record has not been found... She died after 15 December 1780. On that date, she was involved in a slave sale. However, she was deceased by 21 January 1782; her estate was in succession by that date.^3082,1

The family surname is believed to have originally been LEONARD although the surname appears to have slowly migrated to 'Frédéric Leonard' which becomes obvious in the records of their daughter, Marie Marguerite, who married Simon Lacour and Antoine Bordelon.

[Note: Jean Frédéric entered into a marriage contract with Marie Françoise Aubert on 29 March 1740 in New Orleans. ^3090,1The religious ceremony did not take place, however, and the marriage contract was annulled on 9 June 1740. The annullment contract states that Jean Frédéric Leonard did not know how to sign his name.^3091,1 The following day, he entered into a marriage contract with Marie Jeanne Drapeau. ... Marie Jeanne signed a marriage contract with André Simon on 1 August 1738 in New Orleans. ^3092,1 This is very confusing because Vallo had signed a marriage contract on 5 May 1738 - several months earlier - with Marie Anne Vallo/Valleau with whom he had (at least) five children within the years following the contract. It is likely that Drapeau and Simon did not marry and that the contract was annulled. In 1765, Marie Jeanne married Bertrand Guichanduc. The couple signed a marriage contract and were married on the same day - 31 December 1765 in New Orleans.]

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