My Granddaddy's Granddaddy was a Confederate Deserter

Tweet

I was born in Louisiana and lived there until I was ten years old, then we moved to California. I've never had much contact with the family in Louisiana until recently when I reconnected with some of my cousins on Facebook. I also ran across a genealogy website with some information on my ancestors. I discovered some interesting things about the first member of my dad's family to come to America. It was my grandfather's grandfather. He came from France in 1855. He took up residence in Bayou Cocodrie in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. He started a sawmill, bought some land with a spring on it and built a resort there. Through his own efforts he was able to acquire 500 acres of land, build a home and a store. In 1862 he was conscripted into the Confederate army. The really interesting thing is, he deserted from the army and escaped back to France for the duration of the Civil war. In 1866 he returned to Louisiana and picked up where he had left off. He married and raised a family, and eventually died there. Most of my dad's family still lives in St. Landry Parish.