Eleventh Generation

2044. Gabriel Laurens BORDELON was born on 25 October 1696 in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) (Normandie Region), France.^1,1590 He was baptized on 26 October 1696 in Le Havre (Notre Dame) (Seine-Maritime) (Normandie Region), France as "Gabriel Laurens Bordelon".(Baptismal Record)^1,1590 Gabriel was a member of the La Compagnie des Indes (Company of the Indies). However, it is not known how or when he arrived in the new world. The first indication that he was in Louisiane was his marriage in 1730 to Anne Francoise Roland. On 16 May 1730 in New Orleans, Castelnan petitioned the court for the recovery of a note from Bordelon in the amount of 104 livres. Castelnan was a pilot of the "La Baleine". The court ruled against Bordelon on 20 May 1730. ^3110,1Shortly thereafter, on 13 June 1730, Pierre de la Hogue filed a petition of recovery against Laurent Bordelon in the amount of 61 livres and 15 sols. The ruling by the Superior Court is dated 17 June 1730 but is not fully readable. Interestingly, de la Hogue had been a witness to the marriage of Gabriel and Anne only four months earlier.^3111,1

Regarding the death of Gabriel ... Although it is possible that Gabriel died before 1732, it's possible that he was living in Natchez in 1732 and could have died there (even in late 1731). The January 1732 New Orleans census shows 'Madame Bordelon' with four children but there is no man listed in the home. However, there is a burial record for a male child dated 18 December 1732 found in the records of New Orleans which seem to indicate that Gabriel could have been alive as late as December 1732. The note on the side of the burial record states that it's for 'a child of the Sr. Bordelon ondoye' (ondoye means that the child was baptized due to danger of death). Most interestingly, however, is the fact that the hard-to-read document appears to say 'belonging to Sr. Bordelon garde major at Natchez' which seems to provide a possible reason as to why Gabriel was not living with the family in the 1732 census. As we already know, he was an employee of the Company of the Indies so the fact that he was at Natchez would not be unusual. The mention of the word 'ondoye' in the burial record would seem to indicate that the child was baptized and died within a short period of time. If the child was born in December 1732, Gabriel would have been alive as late as February or March of 1732 assuming he fathered the child. On the other hand, the possibility that Gabriel fathered a child with Anne Françoise by February or March of 1732 causes some confusion about the birth of their child, Antoine. As mentioned above, the January 1732 census shows Anne Françoise with her four children. I believe, based on approximate death dates of her children, that these four children were her in that census were her three children with Nicolas Sarrazin as well as Nicolas Bordelon. Therefore, Antoine Bordelon could not have been born before the January 1732 census. Based on that, I find it hard to believe that she became pregnant with another child in February or March of 1732 - almost immediately after the birth of Antoine (assuming he was born right after the census was taken). However, it is always possible that the child born in December 1732 was not full term indicating that Anne Françoise did not become pregnant until as late as May 1732. If so, the question that remains is whether or not Gabriel was actually the one who fathered the male child born in December 1732. Keep in mind that Anne gave birth to a child in mid-January 1730 - only about a month before she married Bordelon - but the father was listed as 'unknown' in the baptismal record. Could she have given birth in December 1732 to a child out-of-wedlock but identified the child as belonging to Gabriel in order to protect her honor? Could Gabriel have been deceased at Natchez before this child was conceived and Anne Françoise was aware of that fact? Unfortunately, we'll likely never know the answers to some of these questions.

Gabriel's Signature? Could this be the only known signature of Gabriel Laurent Bordelon? It definitely appears so and would prove that Gabriel was still alive by this date. Also, the quality of his signature would indicate that he had some education. The New Orleans baptismal record is dated 1 November 1731 and is for Elizabeth La Vergne. Her parents are named in the document as Louis La Vergne and Elizabeth Tommelin. Her godfather is listed as Antoine Sarasin and her godmother as Elizabeth Deslettre. Sarasin signed the document and Deslettre made her mark. The priest, of course, signed it also. However, there is no mention in the doc of anyone else. The fact that Bordelon was married to Anne Françoise Roland at this time and the fact that Anne's first marriage was to Nicolas Sarrazin/Sarasin shows a relationship which would lend credence to the possibility that this is, indeed, Gabriel's signature. Although Anne Françoise had a son named Antoine Sarrazin/Sarazin, he would have been too young to be a godparent in 1731 since he would have been no more than 10 years of age. The Antoine Sarasin in this record was likely a former brother-in-law of Anne Françoise. Here is the baptismal record:

Anne Françoise ROLAND and Gabriel Laurens BORDELON were married on 20 February 1730 in New Orleans (Orleans Parish), Louisiana, USA.^1592,1

2045. Anne Françoise ROLAND was born about 1699 in Paris (Paris) (Ile-de-France Region), France and was baptized at St. Germain l'Auxerrois Parish. The year of her birth is based on her age in the 1745 census. However, the February 1719 complaint filed against her by her father indicated that she was about 22 years of age at the time. This would put her year of birth as about 1696 or 1697. Anne's decision to leave her home in Paris at such a young age and move to Louisiane was apparently not her own. It appears that her mother died young and her father was unable to control her behavior during her teenage years. Supposedly, he was very strict and many believe that a jealous step-mother played a roll in Anne's rebellion. In frustration, her father had placed Anne in a convent for two and one half years and then placed her with a dressmaker to learn the trade. However, according to him, nothing had stopped her destructive behavior. She had been arrested several times and was jailed in the infamous La Salpêtrière prison in France. (Note: La Salpêtrière is still in existence as a hospital and it is the hospital in which Princess Diana died.) Her father claimed that she stayed out all night and went to cabarets. She was charged with debaucheries and public prostitution although nothing has been found to prove the prostitution charge. Of course, the definition of such crimes in the early eighteenth century would be comical today. However, by 1719, her father felt he could no longer handle her. He petitioned the chief of police in Paris and, as a result, she was ordered to be transferred to the New World by order of the King. (See her father's page for a transcription of the complaint filed by her father.) She likely never saw her family again but little did they know what an exemplary life she would lead and what a huge impact she would have in the settlement of french Louisiana.¹⁵⁹³ She came to the New World via/on "La Mutine". The ship appears to have left Le Havre around 12 December 1719 where it traveled to Port Louis on the western side of France. It left Port Louis around the 19th of the same month, traveled to Saint-Domingue, and arrived at Dauphin Island on 28 February 1720. ^3114,1 Although a marriage record has not been found, it appears that she likely married her first husband, Nicolas Sarrazin shortly after her arrival. Sr. Sarrazin was enumerated in the Mobile census on 28 June 1721 along with his wife; they had no children. It is believed that this was a reference to Anne Françoise. A short time later, on 10 August 1721, Anne Françoise was named as the godmother of a child baptized that day in Mobile. On this record, she is confirmed as the wife of Sarrazin. She appeared in the census in 1726 at Rue de Chartres in New Orleans (Orleans Parish), Louisiana, USA with her husband, Nicolas Sarazin, and three children. The family had two negro slaves. She then appeared in the July 1727 census at Rue de Chartres in New Orleans with her husband, Nicolas Sarazin, and their three children. The family still had two negro slaves.

As I just stated, our g...grandmother, Anne Françoise Roland, married Nicolas Sarazin/Sarrazin likely within a year of her 1720 arrival in the Louisiana colony. The couple appears to have had, at least, three children: François, Antoine and Michel. It is possible that there were other children but they have not been confirmed such as a 3-year old named Pierre Sarasin who was buried on 27 October 1731 in La Nouvelle-Orléans (parents not named). There is another child, however, who is of particular interest when researching the life of Anne Françoise. The child was named Nicolas Roland and he was baptized in La Nouvelle-Orléans on 15 January 1730. Nicolas' mother was Anne Françoise Roland and the father of the child was listed as 'unknown' ("le père est inconu") on his baptismal record. The child died on 4 February 1730 and was buried the following day.

My first thought was that he was likely the child of Nicolas Sarazin/Sarrazin and was probably born after Sarazin's death. This seemed plausible - especially since a burial record for Nicolas Sarazin/Sarrazin has not been located - but it was confusing as to why Nicolas Sarazin was not listed simply as the deceased father of the child as was the usual custom. However, I've was able to narrow down the date of Sarazin's death via a 1728 map of La Nouvelle-Orléans which shows that Anne Françoise was a widow by May 1728. In that month, a map of La Nouvelle-Orléans was made by Gonichon and it included a legend. Each house/building on the map was numbered and the legend listed the person/family living at each numbered location. On this map, the Widow Sarazin was living in dwelling #62 - a dwelling on Rue de Chartres in between Rue Saint Louis and Rue Toulouse. This dwelling was located approximately one and a half blocks west of Saint Louis Church. Based on this information, it would have not been possible for Sarazin to be the father of the child baptized in January 1730 as Nicolas Roland. (The first photo below is a portion of the legend from the May 1728 map. The widow Sarazin is listed at the top of the 2nd column. The next photo is a portion of the actual 1728 map. I've added a red star to dwelling #62.)

Could the father of Nicolas Roland have been Gabriel Bordelon? Possibly. Anne Françoise did marry Bordelon on 20 February 1730 - about 2 weeks after the death of Nicolas. However, it would seem that, if this was the case, she would have named the father during the baptism of the child - especially if she intended to marry him a short time later. Therefore, it seems likely that Anne Françoise had a child out-of-wedlock.

Neither Anne, her husband or children appeared in the census taken in 1731 (exact date of census unknown) in New Orleans because the census only enumerated those immediately adjacent to the Mississippi River - even only those adjacent to the river in the city of New Orleans. Therefore, it's impossible to use this census to determine if the Bordelon family was still living there at that time. However, I was able to obtain a copy of the December 1731 Gonichon map of New Orleans which shows that the "Widow Sarazin" was still identified as a resident and/or owner of the same house on Rue de Chartres that she had lived in at the time that the 1728 Gonichon map was made. Interestingly, she was still identified by the surname of her first husband in the 1731 map although she was married to Bordelon at the time. (It is possible that her name was placed on the 1731 as it appeared on the 1728 map without verification from Anne Françoise regarding her current marital status.) In addition, two petitions had been filed against Gabriel Bordelon in May and June 1730 in New Orleans. Although parts of these documents are hard to decipher, neither appear to suggest that Gabriel or his wife were absent from the city. This would lead one to believe that Anne Françoise and/or Gabriel was living in New Orleans as late as June 1730 and was living there in December 1731. Although they (or Gabriel) could have left for a short time in between these two dates and even into 1732, it is apparent that they did not sell their house. Only a month later, however, she appeared in the census in January 1732 in New Orleans (Orleans Parish), Louisiana, USA as 'Madame Bordelon' with four children (from her first two marriages). There is no man listed in the home (see info on Gabriel Bordelon regarding his death for more info). She had two slaves at the time of the census. The four children with her were likely three living Sarazin children as well as Nicolas Bordelon, her son with Gabriel. If that is accurate, she must have been pregnant with Antoine at the time of the 1732 census.

After being a widow for more than six years, Anne Francoise prepared to marry her third husband, Jean Stephan (Stefant) dit Roquancourt in early 1737. The couple signed a marriage contract prior to their marriage and made provisions for six children. Three of the children were the children of Anne and her first husband, Nicolas Sarrazin, while two of the children belonged to Anne and her second husband, Gabriel Laurens[t] Bordelon (Nicolas). However, the sixth child, Francoise, is unidentified. It is unknown if she was Anne's child or the child of Jean Stephan. In the contract, it stated that Jean was a resident of Pointe Coupée at the time and identified as a "native of the Parish of Casnor, Bishopric of Cornouaille". ^3113,1 On 28 April 1740, Anne Françoise, with the permission of her husband (Stephan dit Roquancourt), went to New Orleans and expressed her intention before the Superior Court to stay there in order to sue Sr. Hebert. She also stated that she expected her traveling expenses to be paid both ways.^3112,1 Anne appeared in the census in 1745 in (Pointe Coupée Parish), Louisiana, USA with her third husband, Jean Stephan. Living with them were Anne's two sons from her marriage to Bordelon - Nicolas and Antoine - as well as the two known children from the marriage of Anne and Jean Stephan - Anne and Perrine (Petronille). In addition, the family had 8 slaves. Also, they had, 2 horses, 11 cattle, 4 muskets, 4 powder, 8 lead & balls, 60 corn, 4 beans, 4 tobacco, and 28 arpents cultivated. She was buried on 28 January 1758 in (Pointe Coupée Parish), Louisiana, USA.^1595,1

[Note: Anne was married three times. Her first marriage was to Nicolas Sarrazin in about early 1721. Her 2nd marriage was to Gabriel Laurens Bordelon as outlined on this page. Her third marriage was to Jean Stephan dit Roquancourt with whom she signed a marriage contract on 22 February 1737. Of course, based on the info listed above, she likely had a child out-of-wedlock by an unknown father.]

Children were: