Search | Advanced Search | Search Families | Search the Site

First Name:   Last Name:   ID:  

Exploring Mimi's Ancestors near the Pyrénées of Southwest France

Unlike Jeff's dad's side, where we knew very little of his lineage, Jeff's mom had a fair amount of knowledge about her ancestors, who came from the Pyrénées region of extreme southwest France. around Uzan (pronounced "u-ZHANG" in the local patois) and Anères. After all, she and her grandmother, mom, aunt, and siblings visited southwest France when she was 13 1/2 years old in 1934, shortly after her great grandmother passed away. And various family members made more trips to southwest France in the 1980s, 1990s, and most recently in 2022.

With that information as a base, we were able to greatly expand our genealogy horizons of Mimi's lineage through the same kind of letters we sent to Jeff's dad's paternal Vitter ancestors in the prior history Avant et après l'« Aha! moment ». In this history, we show more inside genealogy baseball about how connections are discovered, and we share some photos of our several trips to Mimi's ancestral home.

New Information on Jeff's Mom's Side

Jeff Vitter sent several emails in Summer 2000 to relatives in Europe on his mom's side of the family. Here's an interesting reply from Mulhouse, France CAD engineer Vincent Péré, originally from the Anères/Tuzaguet area of the Hautes-Pyrénées region of southwest France where Jeff's maternal great grandmother (Marie) Léocadie (née Péré) Ferran's family came from. He mentions a story about the family of his great grandfather Jean-Marie Dominique Péré (1886–1954). Jean-Marie had several sisters, one of whom emigrated to America and came back to France in the 1930s to visit her homeland, accompanied by her two daughters and her grandkids. The visitors in the 1930s were almost surely Jeff's great grandmother Léocadie (née Péré) Ferran, her two daughters Marthe "Mémère" (née Ferran) St. Raymond (Jeff's maternal grandmother) and Rose "Tawo" Ferran, and her grandkids, consisting of Jeff's mom Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter (1920–2005) and her four siblings. (We show below, with the help of genealogist Michel Sauvée, that Léocadie was Jean-Marie's 1st cousin, not sister.) Léocadie and her family were on a long vacation trip in 1934 to France and New York, likely facilitated by the need to settle some family inheritances from the recent death of Léocadie's mom (and Jeff's great great grandmother) Rose (née Ricaud) Péré (1847–1933).

Photo 1: Visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France, 1934. Left to right: Marie (née St. Raymond) "Dede" Zimmermann, Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter, John Pierre "Buddie" St. Raymond, Albert Henry St. Raymond Jr., and Bernard Henry "Buster" St. Raymond (click for Google maps). Photo 2: At the top of the world's tallest skyscraper, the Empire State Building, 1934. Left to right: John Pierre "Buddie" St. Raymond, Rose "Tawo" Ferran, Albert Henry St. Raymond Jr., Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter, Marie (née St. Raymond) "Dede" Zimmermann, Bernard Henry "Buster" St. Raymond, and Marthe (née Ferran) St. Raymond (click for Google maps).

From: Vincent <select.vp@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter <jsv@cs.duke.edu>"
Subject: Re: Famille Péré
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:55:15 +0200

Bonjour Jeff,

Mon arrière grand-père Jean-Marie Péré , né à Anères et enterré à TUZAGUET (département des Hautes Pyrénées) dans le caveau famillial, était l'ainé de 5 soeurs et un frère.

Une des soeurs, mariée à un Monsieur CASTERAN, a émigré à MONTEVIDEO (URUGUAY), une autre a émigré à la Nouvelle-Orléans. Celle-ci est venu avec ses 2 filles et ses petits-enfants en l'année 1937 ou 1938 et on rendu visite à mon grand-père à TUZAGUET . Voici spontanemment les quelques renseignements que je connais.

Je vais rechercher de plus amples renseignements pour te les faire parvenir. A+

Vincent Péré

CAD system manager
Tel. +33 3 89 54 91 80
Fax +33 3 89 54 33 17
4, rue Elisabeth
68100 Mulhouse
France

Jeff had been encouraging his mom to start using email — the principal challenge being to get his dad off the computer long enough to free up time for her to use it! Here is one of Jeff's mom's early attempts, providing genealogical information and responding to the email of Vincent Péré. She pointed out that her grandmother Léocadie (née Péré) Ferran was an only child, so therefore couldn't be Jean-Marie Péré's sister. Information from Michel Sauveée (see further below) and investigation by Jeff of birth records showed that Léocadie was actually Jean-Marie's 1st cousin, born in the same town of Anères, France. (The germ of family stories is usually true, just not necessarily all the details. That's one reason we're anxious to find out the details of the Galápagos Vitters and Charles-Quint!)

From: Alvitter@cs.com
To: jsv@cs.duke.edu
Subject: : Notes re: Family History
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:52:30 EDT

      Congratulations on the wonderful job you're doing in researching the family history. The Hofeline-Vittertomb is in Greenwood Cemetery — on City Park Ave. at end of Canal St.

      Aunt Phine (Josephine Artigues) never married Uncle Pete (Peter Lavedan). He was married to Jeanne St. Raymond (sister of my father Albert St. Raymond known as Pépère). We know little of Pépère's family. He was one of three children born to Malvina Cougot & Pierre St. Raymond. His sister, Jeanne married Peter Lavedan. They had no children. Uncle Pete worked four children: Hilda St. R. Gilmore (wife of Commander Howard Walter Gilmore, a WWII hero), Charles, Lorraine, & Dorothy — my only first cousins.

      Père moved from Baronne St. to 3800 Napoleon in 1923. His parents, Berthe & Albert Vitter, built 3600 Napoleon & moved there around 1925 or 1926.

      My grandmother, Léocadie Péré, was called Mimi by her 5 grandchildren. Mimi's mother, Rose Péré (my great-grandmother) was the feisty one, always on the go & ready to break out singing La Marseillaise at the slightest whim.

      Jean Ferran & Léocadie Péré had 3 children: Martha Ferran St. R, John Blaise Ferran, & Rose Marie Ferran. Jean Ferran had a sister, Marie, born 3/20/1864. Re: the info. from Vincent Pere: I don't think the sister of Jean M. Pere could be our Mimi (Léocadie) since she was an only child, and this Jean Marie Pere had 5 sisters & 1 brother.

      When I was born we lived at 926 N. Broad St. in the half of a double that I think my grandfather Jean built next to his home at 930 N. Broad. We moved in 1938 to 3539 Napoleon Ave. & Grandmother Mimi & Aunt Rose called Tawo moved next door at 3515 Napoleon.

      In the summer of 1934 our Grandmother Mimi took the 5 of us — my sister Dede, brothers Albert, John, & Bernard — with our Mother & Aunt Rose to France. We sailed from N.Y. on the Champlain (French Line) after spending a few days in New York city, when Uncle John showed us all the special sights — Broadway, Statue of Liberty, Fifth Ave., Bronx Zoo, etc. We landed at Le Havre & went to the area of France where Mimi's family home had been. I think she had to settle some financial matters. We also visited Lourdes & Paris. In that city one of our favorite spots was an eatery called Pam Pam that served American food such as hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. We returned on the Ile de France.

      Sad news : On Aug. 19 Kim's husband, Bob Swig, died from complications from cancer. It was a shock to everyone. Wendy went for a week to Calif. to be with Kim. Luckily David was in N.O. since Congress is in recess until Oct. Sophie is in school, but the twins' nursery school doesn't begin until after Labor Day. So David was really BUSY.

      Happy News: a few days ago Arnold Lupin pulled out of the race (no one seems to know why) so David breathes a bit easier. And on that happy note I'll close with Love to All,

      Mimi

Jeff had several fruitful correspondences with genealogists in France who helped him trace ancestors on his mom's side of the family. Here is the correspondence from Michel Sauvée mentioned above that found the connection to Vincent Péré and his great grandfather Jean-Marie Péré. It turns out that Léocadie's father was Jean Péré dit Cabaillé (1841-1914), and he had a younger brother Augustin Péré dit Cabaillé (1843–1921), who was the father of Jean-Marie Péré and patriarch of the Péré family in adjacent Tuzaguet, France:

From: Michel_Sauvée" <masauvee@wanadoo.fr>
To: <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject:
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 21:01:03 +0100

Bonsoir Jeff, J'ai mis du temps à vous livrer mes informations, mais j'ai pensé que ce serait bien pour Noël. Vous avez bien fait de transmettre cela à votre correspondant de Mulhouse. Je suis quasiment persuadé que vous cousinez, mais ce monsieur ne donne aucune date... Jean Péré, le père de Léocadie avait un frère cadet, Augustin, né le 09.04.1843 à Anères, industriel, qui épousa le 06.07.1870 à Tuzaguet, Marie Mélanie Pène. Il vécut à Tuzaguet où il est décédé le 16.07.1921. De ce couple, il y a au moins un fils, cousin germain de votre Léocadie, né le 07.03.1886 à Tuzaguet. Je sais qu'il a été instituteur et s'est marié en 1913 avec une Joséphine Cambours. Lorsqu' Augustin est décédé en 1921, un de ses fils, Jean Marie, également, receveur buraliste, fait la déclaration à la mairie. S'agit-il du même ? Ce qui est sûr , les Péré de Tuzaguet, s'ils proviennent de la même souche que vous, proviennent d'Augustin. Vous pouvez faire relais, demander des précisions de dates à votre correspondant. Il peut aussi correspondre avec moi. Vous lui en direz peut-être plus qu'il n'en savait.

_____________________________________________________________________
Cordialement
Michel SAUVEE
CGSB n° 913, Racines et Rameaux français d'Acadie.
Racines familiales dans les dpts 15, 19, 29, 35, 44, 49, 53, 56.
Correspondant Généanet et afg pour le 65.
17, rue de La Passade - 65310 ODOS

François Coyne, a genealogist from nearby Pau, France, helped explain the practice of secondary names, in which people assumed another name (preceded by "dit," which means "said" or "called") that designated the house or location where they lived. The reason for this custom was very practical: Many people at the time shared the same primary name, and thus this secondary designation was a convenient way to distinguish them from one another.

For example, the father of Jeff's mom's maternal grandmother Léocadie (née Péré) Ferran was named Jean Péré dit Cabaillé to tell him apart from all the other people named Jean Péré. Jeff's mom's maternal grandfather was named Jean Ferran dit Larneilh after the Ferran family home/farm, which was named "Larneilh" (click on the name for a satellite view). The farm Larneilh was situated on the outskirts of Uzan (pronounced "u-ZHANG" in the local patois), a small town about 17 miles NNW of Pau, France in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Aquitaine region of southwest France.

In 1905 after having been in New Orleans for a dozen years, Jean Ferran dit Larneilh sold the farm Larneilh to Pierre Marquehosse for 22,500 francs; Jean's father-in-law Jean Péré represented him at the sale. (Jean Ferran's mother-in-law Rose (née Ricaud) Péré was living with Jean Ferran and his wife Léocadie in New Orleans.) As shown in photos 1–6 below, several members of the Vitter family made visits to Larneilh in the 1980s, 1990s, and most recently in October 2022.

Larneilh continues to be owned and operated by the Marquehosse family. Since 2005, the Larneilh farm operation has been incorporated under the name EARL Larneilh. (The term EARL in France stands for "Exploitation Agricole à Responsabilité Limitée," which is a limited liability company in the agricultural sector.) EARL Larneilh is owned and managed by Christian Marquehosse, son of Amédée Marquehosse, both pictured below (see photos 2, 5, 12, and 13). Amédée was the son of Pierre Marquehosse, who bought Larneilh from Jean Ferran in 1905. Amédée had three sons — Christian (wife Maryse), Jacques, and Michel (wife Marie Paule) — and three daughters — two of which are Maïthée and Monique. Christian and wife Maryse have two sons Eric and Franck and one daughter Christelle. Eric and his wife Véronique have a son Jean-Baptiste and a daughter Mathilde. When Jeff, Sharon, and family visited in 1998 (photos 5–9 below), Christian was retiring from Rhône-Poulenc and was starting a renovation of the main Larneilh house into two apartments — one to serve as the residence of his son Franck, who was nearly finished college at the time. Maryse was retired from her career as schoolteacher in Pau. Christelle held her former position, and Véronique was also a teacher. In January 2000 they sent Jeff and Sharon several family pictures taken at the 31 July 1999 wedding of Anne (oldest daughter of Christian's brother Michel) and Stéphane in Bordeaux and at the recent christening of son Eric and Véronique's son Jean-Baptiste. Christian went on to serve as mayor of his town of Cescau from 2008–2014.

Photo 1: Jeff Vitter's parents A. L. & Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter during a 1981 visit with Jeff's sister Donna (the photographer) to "Larneilh," the Uzan, France farm formerly owned by Audrey's maternal grandfather Jean Ferran dit Larneilh (1862–1930) (click photo for Google maps). Photo 2: An August 1986 visit to Larneilh by Jeff, Sharon, and Donna Vitter. Donna and Sharon Vitter are pictured with 78-year-old Amédée Marquehosse, whose father Pierre purchased the farm from Jean Ferran dit Larneilh in 1905. Our 12-month-old is walking on the far right behind Amédée (click photo for Google maps). Photo 3: Donna and Sharon walking around the vineyard outside the farmhouse of Larneilh with owner Amédée Marquehosse, August 1986 (click photo for Google maps). Photo 4: Our 12-month-old sitting in front of the farmhouse fireplace during August 1986 visit to Larneilh (click photo for Google maps). Photo 5: In this December 1998 visit to Larneilh 12 years later, proprietor Christian Marquehosse (son of Amédée) gives a tour to Jeff, Sharon (the photographer), and the kids. His father Amédée, who was pictured above in photo 2, had passed away 10 years earlier (click photo for Google maps). Photo 6: Larneilh was undergoing renovation 24 years later during this 1 October 2022 visit. Jeff Vitter and his sister Donna visit tour the grounds. Christian Marquehosse's son Franck was doing the renovation for his wife and family (click photo for Google maps). Photo 7: Jeff, Sharon, & Donna Vitter and Don & Felicia Weaver enjoy a spectacular lunch with local specialties at the home of double 4th cousin and Uzan mayor Christine Morlanne with her extended family. Christine lives in her family homestead in the Bourdiou quarter a mile south of the Uzan city hall (click photo for Google maps).

Photo 8: A December 1998 photo of Jeff Vitter and the kids in front of the Uzan monument dedicated 103 years ago to the 13 townspeople of Uzan who died in World War I. (See photo 10 for their inscribed names.) Jeff has his hand on the second of the two donor markers, which say (translated from French) that the monument was erected by funding from the residents of Uzan with the generous support of the Ferran, Baricos, St. Raymond, and Cougot families of New Orleans in the year 1921. (See photo 11 for the inscription.) Ferran, St. Raymond, and Cougot are family names of Jeff's mom Audrey (née St. Raymond) Vitter's parents and grandparents. Her ancestors emigrated from Uzan to New Orleans in the 1800s, and the families sent funds back to Uzan shortly after WW I to help build the monument. The Uzan mairie (city hall) is in the background (click photo for Google maps). Photo 9: 24 years later, Jeff, Sharon, & Donna Vitter and Don & Felicia Weaver visit the Uzan monument again, hosted by Jeff & Donna's double fourth cousin and Uzan mayor Christine Morlanne (shown between Sharon and Donna). Others in the photo include Christine's sister-in-law, sister Annie Biraben, daughter, and niece (click photo for Google maps). Photo 10: The names of the 13 young men from Uzan killed defending their country during World War I are inscribed on the two sides of the monument, as shown in the photo. At least one is related to Jeff Vitter: Corporal Jean-Marie Feugas (1892–1914) of the French 24th Infantry Regiment, who died in the aftermath of the bloody Battle of the Marne. (Click photo for more information about the 13 young Uzan men killed in World War I.) Photo 11: The carved lettering on the right dedication marker near Jeff's hand in Photo 8 wasn't visible from afar when the photo was taken in December 1998. In January 2021, Uzan mayor Christine Morlanne was kind enough to send this newer photo of the two dedication markers, as well as the previous dual photo of the inscriptions of the 13 killed. In the intervening 22 years, the donor markers were repositioned a little closer to the monument and flanked by pretty flowers. The carved lettering is now nicely highlighted in black so that it is easy to read the names of Jeff's ancestor donors. (Click photo for Google maps of monument site at the Uzan city hall.) Photo 12: After the December 1998 Larneilh farm tour, Christian and Maryse Marquehosse host Jeff, Sharon, and the kids to a relaxing and fun visit at their home in Cescau, France, just a few miles south of Uzan, where they served refreshments and told about their family (click photo for Google maps). Photo 13: 24 years later, Christian and Maryse Marquehosse host Jeff, Sharon, & Donna Vitter and Don & Felicia Weaver at their home in Cescau, France. Franck, who was in the process of renovating the Larneilh farmhouse for his family (see Photo 6), is shown in the middle behind his mother Maryse (click photo for Google maps).

Another favorite spot to visit (see photos 8–11) was the monument in front of the Uzan city hall dedicated to those who died in World War I. The monument was funded by Jeff's mom's ancestors (the Ferran, St. Raymond, and Cougot families) shortly after the end of World War I, several decades after they moved to New Orleans. The names of the deceased are inscribed on the sides of the monument. One of the deceased was Corporal Jean-Marie Feugas (1892–1914) of the French 24th Infantry Regiment, who died 23 September 1914 in Loivre, Marne, France in the aftermath of the bloody Battle of the Marne, which prevented a German invasion of Paris and led to a general stalemate. He was Jeff's 1st cousin 2x removed as well as his 2nd cousin 2x removed: His parents Jean "Barthélémy" Feugas (born 1862) and Marie (née Ferran) Feugas (born 1864) were 1st cousins to one another. Others of the 13 deceased may also be related to Jeff, although we do not yet know of the connections. For example, Jean "Justin" Pinoges, who also died on 23 September 1914 but in Oulches-la-Vallée-Foulon, Aisne, France, may be a descendant of Jeff's 6th great grandfather Jean de Pinoges dit de Perri (1679–1744), who is buried in the Uzan Catholic Church cemetery.

It turns out that the current mayor of Uzan, Christine Morlanne, first elected in 2014, who kindly sent the monument photos 10 and 11 shown above and hosted Jeff and visitors on 1 October 2022 (see photos 7 and 9), is related to Jeff in multiple ways:

• Jeff's 4th great grandparents and Christine's 3rd great grandparents were Jean Morlanne (1775–1836) and Jeanne (née Cau) Morlanne, making Jeff and Christine 4th cousins 1x removed. That makes Christine the 2nd cousin 2x removed of New Orleans immigrant Jean Ferran dit Larneilh.
• And they have an even closer connection: Christine's 2nd great grandmother Marie Magdalaine (née Feugas dite Manescau) Morlanne (1816–1892) was the older sister of Jeff's 2nd great grandmother Marthe (née Feugas dite Manescau) Ferran (born 1825), making Jeff and Christine 4th cousins as well. That makes Christine the 1st cousin 3x removed of New Orleans immigrant Jean Ferran dit Larneilh.

So far Jeff and Christine can trace their ancestors back to Jeff's 6th great grandparents

• Jean Morlanne (circa 1700s),
• Catherine (née Salles) Morlanne (died 1773),
• Jacques Aurianne (circa 1700s),
• Jeanne (née Bordenave) Aurianne (circa 1700s),
• Jacques de Soulé (early 1700s),
• Catherine (née Vigneau) de Soulé (early 1700s),
• Jean de Pinoges dit de Perri (1679–1744),
• Isabeau (née Lacassaigne) de Pinoges dite de Perri (1688–1743),
• Pierre Feugas (early 1700s),
• Marie (née Claverie) Feugas (early 1700s),
• Pierre Larrieu dit Carrère (early 1700s),
• Sara (née Duffourcq) Larrieu (early 1700s),
• Pierre Lamarque dit Manescau (early 1700s), and
• David de Hourest dit Baringou (early 1700s).

Some Correspondence with Genealogists

Here is some of Jeff's correspondence with genealogist François Coyne. There was some confusion as to the name of the Ferran family home "Larneilh":

From: "francois.coyne" <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
To: <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 16:08:23 +0200

Bonjour,
Dans votre message, seul le village d'Uzan est susceptible d'intéresser notre Centre, car il est le seul situé dans les Pyrénées Atlantiques qui constituent notre domaine de recherches. Que recherchez-vous à Uzan ou autour d'Uzan ?
Cordialement.
François Coyne   Président du Centre Généalogique des Pyrénées Atlantiques à Pau

From: Jeff Vitter <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
To: <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2000 6:40 PM
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest

Ce qui concerne Uzan est la famille FERRAN, et peut-être les familles COUGOT et ST. RAYMOND. Je cherche particulièrement l'acte de naissance de Jean Ferran. Il est mort le 9 août 1842, j'suppose à Uzan. Si l'on peut trouver l'acte de décès, on peut lire la date de naissance et puis trouver l'acte de naissance, qui indiquera les noms de parents.

J'ai inclu ci-dessous une lettre corrigée avec plus de détails.

Amitiés,
  -- Jeff

From: "francois.coyne" <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter" <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Cc: André_Poueyto <andre.poueyto@wanadoo.fr>
; Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 22:15:05 +0200

Bonjour,

Voici quelques résultats :

1°) Le 09/02/1821 à Uzan, mariage de FERRAN dit LARREUILH Jean, laboureur, 20 ans, fils de feu FERRAN Jean et de JUNCA dit LARREUILH Marie, tous deux d'Uzan, avec MORLANNE Paschale, 20 ans, fille de MORLANNE Jean, adjoint (au Maire) et de CAU Jeanne, d'Uzan. Parmi les témoins : Jean FERRAN dit PEYROT, 60 ans, laboureur à Lahore.

2°) Un fils : Le 09/11/1821 à Uzan, naissance de FERRAN dit LARREUILH Henri, fils de FERRAN dit LARREUILH Jean, laboureur et de MORLANNE Pascale.

3°) Un autre fils : le 05/01/1830 à Uzan, naissance de FERRAN dit LARREUILH Bernard, fils des mêmes.

4°) Décès de Paschale MORLANNE le 07/10/1830 à Uzan.

5°) Le 09/08/1842 à Uzan, décès de FERRAN dit LARREUILH Jean, 42 ans, veuf de Paschale MORLANNE.

Cordialement.
François Coyne   CGPA

From: Jeff Vitter <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
To: <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 5:42 AM
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest

Merci, beaucoup!

J'ai des questions à cause de mon ignorance de la culture. Je n'ai pas l'habitude d'appeler quelqu'un par la désignation "dit" et par conséquence je ne comprends pas tout qu'il signifie. Par exemple, je connais Henri Rousseau "dit le douanier". Mais sur le sujet de mes ancêtres ci-dessous, qu'est-ce qu'il veut dire? Il y avait apparemment beaucoup de Jean Ferran. Par exemple, si l'un des amis de Jean Ferran dit Larreuilh le voyait dans la ville, est-ce qu'il dirait "Salut, Jean" ou "Salut, Larreuilh"?

Est-il possible que Larreuilh fût le nom de la résidence de Jean Ferran? (Selon les actes, la ferme s'appelle Larneilh. Est-il possible que ce soit Larneilh (le nom de la ferme), pas Larreuilh?) Si oui, pourquoi est-ce que la mère de Jean Ferran s'appelait Marie Junca dit Larreuilh?

Merci encore pour les infos intéressants!
Amitiés,
  -- Jeff

From: "francois.coyne" <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter" <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 14:42:22 +0200

Bonjour,

En Béarn et au Pays Basque, le droit coutumier, antérieur à l'incorporation de la Navarre française à la France (Henri IV, roi de Navarre devenu roi de France, Louis XIII) a prévalu sur le droit français, en particulier en matière de succession du patrimoine familial. L'ainé des enfants, au 19e siècle encore, héritait des biens des parents. Il devait aide et assistance à ses frères et soeurs, sans plus. Ce droit d'aînesse s'appliquait également aux femmes. La femme "héritière" devenait la maitresse de la maison familiale. En Béarn, elle gardait son nom qui était le nom de sa maison.

Ainsi Marie JUNCA dit LARREUIHL était-elle certainement la fille aînée d'un couple JUNCA (père)-LARREUILH (épouse héritière), couple qui demeurait dans la maison Larreuilh et qui portait, comme patronyme courant, LARREUILH JUNCA dit LAREUILH pour l'état-civil). Marie épouse un certain FERRAN. La famille va alors porter tout naturellement le nom de la maison qu'il habite, c'est à dire Larreuilh. Et le patronyme va devenir FERRAN dit LARREUILH.

Dans le cas présent de votre famille, le nom patronymique d'origine a été conservé, et les enfants se sont appelés FERRAN dit LARREUILH. Mais très souvent le nom de l'épouse fait disparaitre le nom du père et il aurait été tout à fait possible que la famille devienne simplement LARREUILH. Il arrive fréquemment en Béarn qu'une famille change ainsi deux fois de nom au cours d' un siècle. Parfois un enfant du couple conserve le nom patronymique entier, un autre adopte le nom du père, un autre enfin le nom de la mère (maison). Cela complique quelque peu la recherche généalogique. J'espère que mon explication est assez claire.

Cordialement.
François Coyne   CGPA

From: Jeff Vitter <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
To: francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest
Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 11:34:16 -0400 (EDT)

Merci bien! C'est très claire and intéressante.

J'ai des petites questions pour vous : Je suis curieux du nom exact de la maison. J'ai des copies des actes plus récents que ceux que vous avez trouvé. Dans ces actes, le patronyme s'épelle LARNEILH. Par exemple, dans l'acte de mariage d'Henri Ferran, son feu père Jean Ferran est appelé Jean Ferran dit Larneilh, pas Larreuilh. C'est vrai que la copie n'est pas très claire, mais il y a des places où c'est certain que c'est "Larn..." et pas "Larr...". Malheureusement, il y a une seul place ou il apparaît "Larr..." (!), mais il peut être faux pas. Est-ce qu'il est possible que le nom dans les documents que vous avez regardés s'épelle "Larneilh"? Ou est-il possible que l'épellation se soit changés?

Aussi, dans l'acte de mariage d'Henri Ferran, le nom de son feue mère Pascale Morlanne n'a pas de "h" dans "Pascale". Est-ce qu'il était "Paschale" dans l'acte de mariage Ferran-Morlanne? Est-il possible que "Morlanne" soit "Morlaume" ou "Morlaune"?

Merci encore et amitiés,
  -- Jeff

From: "francois.coyne" <francois.coyne@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter" <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject: Re: infos sur ma famille du sud-ouest
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 15:19:18 +0200

1°) Je parie pour LARREUILH.
2°) Paschale = Pascale

It turns out that the correct name of the farm is Larneilh, which in some of the older records was spelled Larneil. For some reason, François Coyne thought the records said Larreuilh. (Penmanship was iffy in the very old records.) The farm Larneilh was inherited from the Junca family when Marie Junca dite Larneilh (1768–1831) married Jean de Ferran (1757–1814) on 1 October 1790. By the time of their grandson Henri Ferran dit Larneilh (born 1821), who married Marthe Feugas dite Manescau (1824–1892) on 30 Jan 1861, the "h" was clearly in the name Larneilh, as it remains today.

Here's another set of exchanges, in which Jeff got some good information from Michel Feuermann about Vitters in the Ardennes region and also about Jeff's Ferran and St. Raymond ancestors on his mom's side, and in turn Jeff helped Michel Feuermann with some information about his family:

From: "michel.feuermann" <michel.feuermann@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter" <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject:
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 23:47:44 +0200

    Cher Monsieur,

    C'est avec beaucoup d'intérêt que j'ai lu votre lettre et soyez déjà assuré que je ferais mon possible pour vous aider.

    Tout d'abord, je vais à mon tour me présenter : Michel Feuermann né en 1939 à Paris où j'ai passé la majeure partie de ma vie. Je suis installé depuis 5 ans à La Rochelle, retraité d'une grande entreprise française. Je pratique la généalogie et la recherche historique depuis 20 ans et je connais bien les techniques de recherches et les dépôts d'archives. Je crois que l'entraide est un élément essentiel de la recherche généalogique et cette entraide est d'autant plus nécessaire lorsque l'on se trouve, comme vous des centres et des dépôts d'archives.

    Il se trouve que je me rends fréquemment à Paris où j'ai des attaches familiales et je pars ce lundi pour une quinzaine de jours. Je dois me rendre aux Archives Nationales et dès mardi, je vais consulté les inventaires où j'ai quelques chances de découvrir votre patronyme (demande de passeports pour les départements alsaciens au 19 siècle et options des Alsaciens Lorrains en 1870 par exemple). Je vais déjà travailler sur votre nom avec une petite interrogation : VITTER ne s'est-il pas transformé lors de l'arrivée aux Etats Unis de votre ancêtre Auguste ? Ceci est une première réflexion car les nombreux documents de généalogie alsacienne que je possède chez moi font état de VETTER.

    A titre d'exemple, le document faisant état de l'immigration d'habitants du Haut Rhin (département du sud de l'Alsace) en 1817 donne 2 VETTER, un Baptiste Vetter tisserand né à Ottenheim qui pars au USA avec sa femme et trois enfants et un Jean Henry Vetter né à Pfaffenheim qui lui pars avec sa femme. Cette interrogation me fait vous demander si vous possédez l'acte ou pour la première fois apparaît le nom de votre ancêtre soit dans l'état civil ou mieux dans les listes d'émigrants et d'en vérifier l'orthographe.

    Je vais donc penser à vous dès cette semaine et je vais d'ailleurs vous envoyer depuis Paris la page sur les VETTER, mon ami possède un scanner, matériel dont je ne suis pas encore équipé. Je vous donne son adresse si vous pensez pouvoir m'envoyer des informations complémentaires, j'y serai jusqu'au mercredi 6 septembre. Je vous écrirais peut-être de là bas si je découvrais des choses intéressantes. L'adresse jcoquart@club-internet.fr

    La suite des recherches pour l'Alsace, j'ai beaucoup d'idées et j'ai bonne confiance. Pour ce qui concerne les départements du Sud ouest ce sera encore plus facile, j'ai des amis dans cette région qui se feront un plaisir de nous aider.

    Et puis nous verrons, si j'obtiens des résultats, ce sera peut-être mon tour de vous demander de l'aide, mais ceci est pour plus tard.

    Acceptez mes meilleures salutations

        Michel Feuermann

After much correspondence (not included here) and searching through archives during the next couple of months, Michel Feuermann found some very useful information and official records about Jeff's mom's southwest France ancestors, now included in the family tree, but unfortunately the research on the Vitter line in Alsace-Lorraine didn't pan out, although he did find a curious record in 1795 about a merchant named Vitter from Voncq in the Ardennes who was arrested during the revolutionary period, but fortunately there was no record that he was guillotined! Jeff was able to reciprocate with some info that Michel was seeking about relatives who emigrated to the USA:

From: "michel.feuermann" <michel.feuermann@wanadoo.fr>
To: "Jeff Vitter" <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Subject:
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 17:52:17 +0100     Bonjour,

    Je ne vous ai pas oublié et j'attends toujours des informations en ce qui concerne les Ardennes, cela je l'espère viendra en son heure.
    Par contre j'ai une bonne progression sur la branche Ferran avec quelques photocopies d'actes. Je compte vous envoyer cela par courrier, plus facile pour moi. Votre adresse postale est bien :
Département of computer Science
Duke University, Box 90129
Durham, N.C.27708-0129
USA

    Merci de me confirmer, avec mes meilleures salutations

        Michel FEUERMANN

From: Jeff Vitter <jsv@cs.duke.edu>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 00:14:13 -0500 (EST)
To: michel.feuermann@wanadoo.fr
Subject: Formidable!

Je voyageais, et je viens de revenir. Votre courrier m'a donné un cadeau de Noël superbe! J'ai lis votre message avec *beaucoup* d'intérêt. Merci beaucoup pour vos recherches! Ce sont superbes!

Vous avez trouvé Charles St. Raymond (1808-1870), qui est probablement père de Pierre St. Raymond (1844-1918), le père de mon grand-père Albert St. Raymond (née à la Nouvelle-Orléans en 1979). Pierre avait un autre fils appelé Charles et une fille Jeanne. Vous avez dit que Charles avait un frère Jean (né en 1807), et c'est possible qu'il soit père de Pierre. Si vous avez jamais l'occasion de visité Uzan, il sera très intéressant de trouver le nom du père de Pierre St. Raymond d'Uzan.

Voici ci-dessous des informations que j'ai trouvé sur FEUERMAN dans les actes de "Social Security" pour les décédés. Il n'y a pas des FEUERMANN, qui me suggère qu'Emile a changé l'épellation de son nom à son arrivée aux Etats-Unis. Notez qu'il y a des FEUERMAN qui ont habité en Californie et qui sont nés dans les années 00 (comme Alex, Anna, Eva, Harriet).

Merci encore!
Amitiés,   -- Jeff

Social Security Death Index Search Results

The 77 name(s) below were found.

Name / SS# / Issue State / Birth / Death / Death State / Last Known Residence / Last Payment Location

FEUERMAN, ABE 106-26-2441 NY 15 Apr 1895 Jan 1973 NY Flushing, New York 11367
FEUERMAN, ABRAHAM 374-18-2082 MI 15 Mar 1888 Jun 1963 MI
FEUERMAN, ALEX 058-07-5609 NY 18 Aug 1908 Apr 1987 CA Los Angeles, California 90046
FEUERMAN, ALEXANDER 082-10-1464 NY 3 Aug 1902 Feb 1970 FL Miami, Florida 33162
    ...

Going Forward …

Many of these correspondences continue to this day. What's planned for the future? Well, … more travel of course — especially since southwest France is home to Jeff's favorite meal, the hearty bean dish called cassoulet (best served at Chez Emile in Toulouse)!

We'll keep this history updated the more we explore and learn. We welcome your input. Stay tuned!

More Vitter Histories