JOSEPH 'FERDINAND' MAYEUX

MY ILLUSIVE GREAT-GRANDFATHER

Can You Help??

  My great-grandfather, Joseph Ferdinand Mayeux, was born in 1857 and baptized the same
  year at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Mansura, Louisiana (Record: 1857, Number 147, 
  Page 163).  He was the son of Zenon Vincent Mayeux and Armide Moreau.  In addition
  to my great-grandfather, Zenon Mayeux and Armide Moreau also had four other children:  

            1.  Lovencia born 1853 (married Alida Bordelon in 1879)
            2.  Lovinia born 1854 
                (There is some confusion as to the existence of Lovinia.  Lovinia,
                a female, is listed in the baptismal records of St. Paul the Apostle 
                Catholic Church as the child of Zenon Mayeux and Armide Moreau.
                However, this child does not appear with the family in the 1860
                Avoyelles Census.  However, there is an Avoyelles marriage record for
                a "Lovinia Mayeux" and Francois Mayeux dated 2-11-1880.)
            3.  Martin born 1859, died accidentally c1868
            4.  Edgar Alphonse born c1862 (married to Norma Gremillion in 1883)  
         
  Zenon Vincent Mayeux enlisted in the Civil War in October 1862 and died several months
  later during a measles epidemic.  He was buried at Camp Pratt just outside of New Iberia,
  Louisiana.  Armide Moreau, mother of Joseph Ferdinand, remarried on June 14, 1864 to
  Marcellin M. Dufour II (a Civil War veteran and s/o Marcellin I and Avelina Eulalie Juneau).
  There were two children of this union:  Albert Sidney Dufour and Robert Numa Dufour.  
  Marcellin II and Armide Moreau remained married until their deaths in 1908.  They are
  buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Moreauville, Louisiana.

  My great-grandfather, Joseph Ferdinand Mayeux, married Josephine Coco (daughter
  of Joseph Coco and Pauline Mayeux) on September 29, 1882 in Avoyelles.  They eventually
  had as many as 10 children (4 of which were deceased before the 1900 Avoyelles Census
  indicating that they probably died in infancy or early childhood):  Willie, Eugenia, Louise,
  Foster, Paul Moore and Edgar.

  In about 1905, Joseph Ferdinand Mayeux abandoned his wife and children and, supposedly,
  went to live "near the river" (Red River??) with a "black" woman.  This was very scandalous 
  at the time.  He was neither seen nor heard from again until his son, my grandfather, was
  contacted in the mid 1920's and informed that Joseph Ferdinand had died.  The body was 
  returned to my grandfather for burial and, according to my grandfather, was buried in an 
  unmarked grave at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Moreauville.

  Before his death in 1984, my grandfather hinted that his father had produced children with
  this other woman but did not provide any additional information.  

  Based on what little information I have, it is estimated that Joseph Ferdinand Mayeux, died
  between 1923 and 1927.  He would have been approximately 65 years old.  Sacred Heart in 
  Moreauville has indicated they have no record of such person or burial.  However, it is
  possible that Joseph Ferdinand's name was altered in some way.

  It has also been suggested that the "black" woman that he began living with could have 
  been an Indian (related to one of the Indian tribes in the Marksville area??). 

 
  I am looking for any information on Joseph Ferdinand Mayeux that you might have.  Does
  anyone know anything about his "other" family?  Where did he live for the last 20 years
  of his life?  What date did he die and where is he actually buried?  

  Thanks...Cathy
                                            
  

If you have an answer to any of these questions, please e-mail me!
meanbeen@att.net