The early life of the Cantrelle family in Louisiana is truly one of public service. Although they acquired vast tracts of land along the Mississippi River and enjoyed wealth, they devoted their lives to the people of Louisiana. The father of the family Jacques Cantrelle was influential in the affairs of New Orleans – being a warden of St. Louis Catholic Church and an employee of the Superior Council in New Orleans. Two of his sons-in-law Louis Judice and Nicolas Verret were commanders and commandants of the Acadians in today’s St. James and Ascension Parishes. One son Michel Cantrelle was a commandant of the Acadian Coast and the Parish Judge of old Acadia Parish and of St. James Parish. Their story forms a significant part of the early history of this unique region of Louisiana.

Several members of the Guédry family who arrived in Louisiana between 1765 and 1785 settled in the St. James and Ascension Parish area. Among these was the very first Guédry to reach Louisiana soil – Joseph Guédry. After spending a brief period in the Attakapas region, Joseph Guédry relocated to Ascension Parish in September 1765.
 

Beginning in 1764 as the first Acadians were arriving in Louisiana, the French authorities appointed commanders to assist the Acadians in settling their assigned lands. Additionally, these commanders, invested with limited civil and judicial authority, preserved the peace in their territory and with limited authority were judges. In 1769 the Spanish assumed full control of Louisiana and apportioned Louisiana into districts. The superior officer of each district was the commandant with significant military, civil and judicial powers. The commandants had a broader role in the district than did the earlier French commanders. The commandants not only preserved the peace, but also examined traveler’s passports, aided new settlers in obtaining land grants, prevented smuggling, registered the sale of lands and slaves, served as a judge in minor cases, acted as a notary public and represented the Spanish governor in their districts. Additionally, the commandant awarded building contracts for public works and for furnishing provisions, issued land grants to settlers, employed many persons and could make ‘cadets’ of settlers’ children. Cadets received a salary and could become officers in the army. In addition to his small salary, the commandant received fees that he collected and was given the title ‘Don’ and a commission as a lieutenant in the Spanish Army.

In early 1764 twenty Acadian exiles from New York arrived in Louisiana and in April of that year Governor d’Abbadie settled them on the right (west) bank of the Mississippi River near present-day Lagan, LA (St. James Parish). In February 1765 a second group of 193 Acadians from Halifax via St-Domingue reached New Orleans and in April 1765 they were sent to the Attakapas District (St. Martin Parish). In September 1765, to escape the raging malarial or yellow fever epidemic in the Attakapas District, 82 Acadians left their homes and resettled near Lagan, LA with the first group of Acadian immigrants. During May through November 1765 at least three other groups of approximately 300 Acadians from St-Domingue arrived at New Orleans and were settled on the west bank of the Mississippi River near present-day Welcome, LA (St. James Parish). Shortly thereafter, several of the Acadian families in this latter group moved downstream to a site near present-day Front Vacherie, LA (St. James Parish, LA).

Several groups of Acadians from Maryland arrived in New Orleans between 1766 and 1769. In September 1766 a chartered English ship delivered 224 Maryland Acadians to Louisiana. They soon were joined by an undetermined number of Acadians who arrived in December 1766. Governor Ulloa settled these groups along the Mississippi River in St. James and Ascension Parishes. Then in July 1767 another 211 Maryland Acadians arrived and in August 1767 were settled on the east side of the Mississippi River at Fort St. Gabriel located on the south side of Bayou Manchac near present-day St. Gabriel, LA (Iberville Parish). During February 1768 a group of 149 Maryland Acadians reached New Orleans. Governor Ulloa forced them to settle on the west side of the Mississippi River at San Luis de Natchez near present-day Vidalia, LA – a swampy, insect-infested land far from the other Acadian settlements and vulnerable to Indian raids. In December 1769 the Spanish permitted these Acadians to resettle downstream on the west side of the Mississippi River in present-day Ascension and northern Assumption Parishes just north of earlier Acadian settlements. In January 1769 the “La Bretana” (Brittania) left Port Tobacco, Maryland bound for New Orleans with 30 Acadians and approximately 70 Englishmen and Germans. As they neared the mouth of the Mississippi River, strong winds and fog caused them to miss the entrance and they landed near present-day Matagorda Bay, TX. After imprisonment by the Spanish as smugglers, they eventually reached Natchitoches, LA in October 1769 and in November 1769 settled on the east bank of the Mississippi River near present-day Galvez, LA (Iberville Parish).

No other groups of Acadians are known to have reached Louisiana until the seven Acadian expeditions of 1785 brought from France approximately 1500 new Acadian immigrants to Louisiana. The only other group of Acadians known to have arrived in Louisiana was an extended family of 19 Acadians who landed at New Orleans in December 1788 aboard the “Brigite” - having sailed from St. Pierre Island (St. Pierre and Miquelon). They settled in present-day Ascension Parish.^1,2

Other children of Jacques Cantrelle and Marie Marguerite Larmusiau were Jacques Cantrelle (baptized 25 October 1731)^20,21, Marie Josephe Cantrelle (born 11 January 1731)^20,22, Jean Baptiste Cantrelle (baptized 26 April 1744)^20.23, Jacque Cantrelle (baptized 27 March 1746)^20,24 and Marie Marguerite Cantrelle (baptized 11 September 1747)^25,26.

Not until approximately 1766 did Jacques Cantrelle move to his grant at Cabahanoce where he appeared on the census records of 1766^27,28, 1769^29,30 and 1777^31,32. Extending from just below the present St. James Catholic Church downriver to almost the current St. James Co-Op Sugar Mill, Jacques Cantrelle’s land grant was twenty-eight arpents. On 21 October 1777 Jacques Cantrelle was buried from St. James Catholic Church near Cabahanoce^30,33,34,35. His wife Marie Marguerite Larmusiau lived to be 80 years old, dying in July 1785. Her funeral was held at the St. Louis Cathedral on 10 July 1785^36,37.

Michel Cantrelle, the second to youngest child of Jacques Cantrelle and Marie Marguerite Larmusiau, certainly had a life filled with adventure as he lived in bustling New Orleans during his childhood and youth and then, as a young man, moved with his parents and brother Jacques Jr. to the largely unsettled region of Cabahanoce on the west bank of the Mississippi River above New Orleans. Here he experienced deep tragedy and setbacks as he rose to become commandant of the Acadians settled in that region. On 24 March 1750 at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans Jacques Cantrelle and his wife Marie Marguerite Larmusiau watched silently as Father Dagobert baptized their infant son Michel Cantrelle. His godfather Michel Meilleur from whom he received his name was a master cobbler in New Orleans and his godmother Marie Jeanne Cantrelle was his older sister who soon would marry Louis Judice.^9,10. After the ceremony he and his parents returned to their home on Gentilly ridge along the southeastern shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
 

In 1758 on the third of April Michel’s sister and godmother Marie Jeanne Cantrelle and her husband Louis Judice had their fourth child, a son, and they named him Michel after his young uncle Michel Cantrelle. With 8-year old Michel Cantrelle as his godfather the infant boy Michel Judice was baptized on 5 April 1758 at St. Louis Cathedral. His aunt Marguerite LeHoux was his godmother^15,38. Two years later at the age of ten Michel Cantrelle was the godfather of his niece Marie Verret baptized on 12 August 1760 at St. Louis Cathedral. She was the daughter of Nicolas Verret and Marie Marguerite Cantrelle, Michel’s sister^39,40. Interestingly, by the age of ten Michel Cantrelle was the godfather of a child of each of the first co-commanders of the Acadians.

In September 1763 Michel was living with his parents and younger brother Jacques at their home in New Orleans within Captain Guinault’s military district^11,12. By 1766 Acadians were beginning to arrive in Louisiana and were being settled by the Spanish along the Mississippi River north of New Orleans. About 1765 Jacques Cantrelle, approaching his 69th birthday, established an indigo plantation on his 1762 land grant located near present-day St. James, LA in an area called Cabahanoce. His property on the west bank of the Mississippi River extended from just below the present St. James Catholic Church down river to about the current St. James Co-Op Sugar Mill. His two sons-in-law Louis Judice and Nicolas Verret along with their wives (Jacques Cantrelle’s daughters) and young families had already established homes in this area. Jacque’s grant lay between their properties. Did he move here to be near his daughters and grandchildren? Initially his wife Marie Marguerite Larmusiau and their two sons Michel and Jacques Cantrelle did not accompany Jacques to Cabahanoce. Perhaps he traveled between New Orleans and Cabahanoce for a time to be with his family and to oversee the operations of his farm.

In 1766 Jacques Cantrelle was at Cabahanoce with his five slaves. He now had 28 arpents of land, 20 hogs and one gun. His wife and two sons were not with him^{27, 28}. Between 1766 and 1769 Jacques Cantrelle brought his wife Marie Marguerite and his two sons Michel and Jacques to his Cabahanoce plantation. On the 14th of September 1769 Louis Judice censused the settlers at and near Cabahanoce. Jacques Cantrelle, his wife Marie Marguerite and his two sons Michel and Jacques are with him at Cabahanoce. By this time he had divided his property and livestock with his sons. He had retained eight arpents of land for himself and had given ten arpents each to his sons Michel, age 20, and Jacques, age 19. Michel Cantrelle had ten head of cattle, four pigs, six sheep and one gun^31,32.

As a young man and a son of a prominent plantation owner, Michel Cantrelle quickly gained status in the Cabahanoce area. In January 1770 at the age of 20 he was a lieutentant under his brother-in-law Captain Nicolas Verret in the Militia of the First Acadian Coast^41,42.

With death of his brother-in-law Nicolas Verret on 5 November 1775 Michel Cantrelle became the commandant of the Acadians in Verret’s district extending from Front Vacherie to the Ascension Parish line.⁴¹. On 1 January 1777 Michel Cantrelle, 27 years of age and a Lieutenant Commandant, was still living on the Cabahanoce plantaion with his father, his mother, his brother Jacques and his widowed sister Marie Marguerite Cantrelle Verret and her seven children^31,32.

Even with his heavy responsibilities as Commandant of the First Acadian Coast and an unending workload managing the Cabahanoce indigo plantation, Michel Cantrelle still found time to court and fall in love. In 1777, shortly after the death of his father, Michel married Magdelaine Croiset of Pointe Coupee, the daughter of Francois Croiset and Marie Anne Trepagnier, in St. James Catholic Church at Cabahanoce. Witnesses at the wedding included Joseph Bourgois and Michel’s brother Jacques Cantrelle^46,47. Magdelaine Croiset was born on 10 February 1762 and baptized on 25 February 1762 at St. Francis Catholic Church in Pointe Coupee Parish, LA^44,45. Unfortunately tragedy shortly stuck as Magdelaine died in September 1778 and was buried on 23 September 1778 in the cemetery near St. James Catholic Church^48,49. It appears that she may have died in childbirth as a daughter of Michel Cantrelle and Magdelaine Croiset was baptized in St. James Catholic Church on 13 January 1779. Her mother Magdelaine Croiset is listed as deceased on the baptismal certificate^48,50. Marie Magdelaine Cantrelle, the first and only child of Michel Cantrelle and Magdelaine Croiset, married Patrick Uriell, son of Jacques Uriell and Mary Mulvany of Ireland, at St. James Catholic Church on 29 September 1800^51,52.

Torn by the death of his young wife and with a new baby to raise, Michel Cantrelle met Madeleine Celeste Andry, daughter of Louis Antoine Andry and Marie Jeanne Lapierre, and again fell in love. Her father Louis Antoine Andry was adjutant major of the plaza of Louisiana and an infantry captain. Born on the thirteenth of April in 1760, Madeleine Celeste was ten years younger than Michel^53,54.

 On 20 November 1779 Michel married Madeleine Celeste at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. Witnesses at their wedding included Gilbert Antoine Maxent, the militia commandant, Joseph Ducros, city councilman of New Orleans, Jean Baptiste Poeyfarre, soon-to-be brother-in-law of Michel Cantrelle and Bernardo de Galvez, the governor of Louisiana^55,56. The young couple and Michel’s daughter Marie Magdelaine Cantrelle returned to the indigo plantation at Cabahanoce where they began their lives together. Soon Michel Cantrelle acquired the property of his deceased brother-in-law Nicolas Verret that was just downriver of his father’s plantation. It included the present villages and plantations of Moonshine, Lagan, Pikes Peak, Home Place and Bessie K. to St. Joe, Felicity, Oak Alley and Baytree.

As Michel Cantrelle grew more prosperous and gained political stature in Louisiana, he and Madeleine Celeste watched their family grow. On 22 January 1781 they celebrated the baptism of their first child, Marie Josephe, at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. She was born in late 1780 and had been conditionally baptized earlier at their Cabahanoce plantation – perhaps because she was ill at birth, but more likely because their home was a great distance from New Orleans and required a hazardous 60-mile trip by boat to reach the St. Louis Cathedral^57,58. A second daughter Rose Carmelite was born 19 April 1782 and baptized at St. Louis Cathedral on 18 October 1784 after being conditionally baptized at the Cabahanoce plantation^59,60. Madeleleine Celeste gave birth to Jean- Baptiste, their first son, on 19 June 1784. Initially, he was conditionally baptized at Cabahanoce and then brought to St. Louis Cathedral for the baptismal ceremonies on 13 October 1784^59,60. Four years later on the third of January 1788 Michel and Madeleine Celeste had a son whom they named after his father. Little Michel Cantrelle was baptized at St. James Catholic Church in Cabahanoce on 23 March 1788^61,62.

On 4 February 1790 young Celeste Cantrelle was born to the couple. Conditionally baptized at St. James of Cabahanoce, she had the baptismal ceremonies supplied at St. Louis Cathedral on 8 February 1791^63,64. On the 12th of May 1794 little Joseph Xavier Cantrelle entered the world and joined the now large family of Michel and Madeleine Celeste Cantrelle. After being conditionally baptized at Cabahanoce shortly after his birth, he received the baptismal ceremonies on 27 November 1794 at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans^63,65. On 28 July 1798 Madeleine Celeste had her fourth son Louis Terence at Cabahanoce. He was baptized at St. James Catholic Church near the family plantation on 27 November 1798^48,66. The last child born to Michel and Madeleine Celeste was a daughter Rose Aglae. She was born on 26 December 1805 and baptized at St. James Catholic Church on 4 January 1806^67,68. Michel Cantrelle’s importance in the government and politics of the day was reflected in the godparents of his children - especially their godfathers. These men often were military officers in the Spanish army or high-ranking government officials.

Michel Cantrelle began his government service as a young lieutenant in the Militia of the First Acadian Coast. In January 1770 he was serving under his brother-in-law Captain Nicolas Verret. With Nicolas Verret’s death in November 1775 Michel Cantrelle was appointed commandant of Verret’s district extending from Front Vacherie to the Ascension Parish line. He remained a commandant throughout the period of Spanish rule in Louisiana. When the Louisiana territory was transferred to the United States in 1803, his position as commandant was terminated; however, shortly thereafter in 1804 Governor Claiborne through his emissary Dr. Watkins reappointed Michel Cantrelle as Commandant of the Acadian Coast. In 1805 with the reorganization of parish government in Louisiana, the position of commandant was abolished. This did not end Michel Cantrelle’s government service, however, as he was commissioned in 1805 as Parish Judge of the new parish of Acadia – the highest level parish official. When Acadia Parish was divided into St. James Parish and Ascension Parish in 1807, Michel Cantrelle became the Parish Judge of St. James Parish – a position he held until 1812. He also was a member of the Louisiana legislative council of the first territorial government. As the residents of St. James Parish prospered during the American period, the growing Acadian population on the east bank of the Mississippi River needed a Catholic church of their own. In 1807 commissioners were selected and they began the construction of a church located on land at present-day Convent, LA. In honor of the long and dedicated service of Michel Cantrelle to St. James Parish, the commissioners named the new church St. Michel de Cantrelle^69,70. In late October 1814 at 64 years of age Michel Cantrelle died. He was buried from St. James Catholic Church on 25 October 1814^71,72. Thus ended one of the most important periods in the history of St. James Parish and the Acadian Coast.

1. Oubre, Elton J.; Vacherie, St. James Parish, Louisiana – History and Genealogy (Oubre’s Books, Thibodaux, LA, 2002, pp. 53-81.

2. Brasseaux, Carl A.; The Founding of New Acadia: The Beginnings of Acadian Life in Louisiana, 1765-1803 (Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA, 1987), pp. 73-115.

3. Oubre, Op. cit., pp. 58-64.

4. Woods, Reverend Monsignor Earl C. and Nolan, Dr. Charles E.; Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (Archives of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 1987-2004), v. 1 pp. 39, 152, 163.

5. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, New Orleans, LA, Marriage Register 1720-1730, pp. 81, 193.

6. Oubre, Op. cit., p. 64.

7. Voorhies, Jacqueline K.; Some Late Eighteenth-Century Louisianians – Census Records of the Colony, 1758-1796 (University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, LA, 1973), p. 15.

8. Archivo General de Indias, “Audiencia de Santa Domingo ” (A.D.S.), (Seville, Spain), Legajo 2595.

9. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 1 p. 40.

10. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 180.

11. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 40.

12. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 252.

13. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 1 p. 255.

14. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 165.

15. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 156.

16. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 257.

17. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1753-1759, p. 60.

18. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 3 p. 244.

19. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Marriage Register 1777-1784, p. 78.

20. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 1 p. 39.

21. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1731-1733, p. 13.

22. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1731-1733, p. 1.

23. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 9.

24. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 64.

25. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 1 pp. 39-40.

26. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1744-1753, p. 108.

27. Voorhies, Op. Cit.; p. 201.

28. Archivo General de Indias, “Papeles Procedentes de Cuba” (P.P.C.), (Seville, Spain), Legajo 187-A-1.

29. Voorhies, Op. Cit.; p. 441.

30. Archivo General de Indias, “Papeles Procedentes de Cuba” (P.P.C.), (Seville, Spain), Legajo 187-A-2.

31. Bourgeois, Lillian C.; Cabanocey – The History, Customs and Folklore of St. James Parish (Pelican Publishing Company, Gretna, LA, 1976), p. 183.

32. Archivo General de Indias, “Papeles Procedentes de Cuba” (P.P.C.), (Seville, Spain), Legajo 190.

33. Oubre, Op. cit., pp. 64-65.

34. Pollard, Nora Lee Clouatre; Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records (Diocese of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge, LA, 1978-2007), v. 2 p. 173.

35. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 1 p. 56a.

36. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 4 p. 48.

37. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Funeral Register 1784-1793, p. 4.

38. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1753-1759, p. 94.

39. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 273.

40. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1759-1762, p. 37.

41. Bourgeois, Op. Cit.; p. 180.

42. Archivo General de Indias, “Papeles Procedentes de Cuba” (P.P.C.), (Seville, Spain), Legajo 161.

43. Oubre, Op. cit., pp. 64. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 2 pp. 173, 209.

44. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 1 p. 46.

45. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 1 p. 154, v. 1b p. 39.

46. St. Francis Catholic Church, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Book PCP-3 p. 108.

47. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 173.

48. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 1 p. 63.

49. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 1 p. 59.

50. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 2 pp. 173, 711.

51. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 2 p. 51.

52. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 5.

53. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1759-1762, p. 29.

54. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 3 pp. 6, 45.

55. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Marriage Register 1777-1784, p. 60.

56. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 3 p. 45.

57. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1777-1786, p. 116.

58. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 4 pp. 48-49.

59. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1777-1786, p. 341.

60. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 2 p. 174.

61. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 3 p. 14.

62. Woods and Nolan, Op. Cit.; v. 5 p. 61.

63. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1786-1796, p. 123.

64. St. Louis Catholic Cathedral, Op. Cit.; Baptismal Register 1786-1796, p. 337.

65. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 3 p. 175.

66. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 3 p. 193.

67. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 3 p. 296.

68. Oubre, Op. cit., pp. 63-64.

69. Bourgeois, Op. Cit.; pp. 41, 59, 88-92.

70. Pollard, Op. Cit.; v. 3 p. 192.

71. St. James Catholic Church, St. James, LA, v. 4 p. 39.