Fernand Dupuis (1872 - 1945)

Born 10 May 1872 in Breaux Bridge, St. Martin, Louisiana, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Louise Webre — married 12 Sep 1893 in Cecilia, St. Martin, Louisiana, United States

Descendants

Died 24 May 1945 at age 73 in Breaux Bridge, St. Martin, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Fernand Dupuis is a descendant of an Acadian

Fernand Dupuis was born on May 10, 1872 in Breaux Bridge, St. Martin, Louisiana, United States, son of Leon Dupuis (1839–1913) and Celestine Guidry (1843–1903).^[1] His father was a produce broker in New Orleans in 1880.^[2]

Fernand (21) married Louise Webre (18) (born on August 21, 1875 in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana; daughter of Pierre Ludger Webre and Marie Azema Trahan) on September 12, 1893 in Cecilia, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana.^[3]

Their known children were:

• Louis Ferdinand Dupuis (1892–1968)^[4]
• Marie Birdie Dupuis (1896–1984)^[5]
• Rose Dupuis (1898–1980)
• Rodolph Dupuis (1901–1977)

In 1900 they were counted on the census in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, with their first three children,^[6] and they'd had their fourth by the time of the 1910 census in St. Martin.^[7] He remained in St. Martin Parish through 1920,^[8] 1930 (by which time the kids were all grown and gone),^[9] and 1940, when he was counted as a widower living with his oldest son and his family.^[10]

His wife died in 1935.^[11]

Fernand died on May 24, 1945 in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, at age 73;^[12] he was buried at St. Bernard Cemetery and Mausoleum #01 in Breaux Bridge.^[13]

From the Attakapas Historical Association:

In 1908, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company built a railway across the Atchafalaya Basin, connecting Lafayette, via Breaux Bridge, with Baton Rouge. The rails made it possible to bring in ice for storage and provided an economical way to ship fish in great quantities to northern and eastern markets. As soon as the railroad was completed, Fernand Dupuis was among the fish buyers who formed companies for buying fish at the tiny community of Atchafalaya.

In the 1920s the Dupuis Fish Company built its own ice plant, producing enough to furnish the other companies with all the ice they needed. Atchafalaya also boasted its own company stores, a dock and fish-cleaning facilities, a post office, a railroad station, and even a one-room school between 1917 and 1938. The company owned boats that traveled up and down the Atchafalaya River for distances up to a hundred miles to pick up the fish from the fishermen, who followed the unwritten law of the Atchafalaya Basin of fishing only in the areas recognized as their own. These boats, some of them having capacities of ten tons of fish, served as vital links between the fishermen and the outside world. The boats brought them news, delivered the mail, groceries and other household items, and took orders for goods to be delivered on the next run.

The Great Flood of 1927 so weakened the railroad bridge crossing the Atchafalaya River that it was condemned, dismantled and moved away. For a few years, Southern Pacific continued to run trains to Atchafalaya, one from Lafayette and another from Baton Rouge. At Atchafalaya, passengers, freight and fish were ferried across the river to be loaded onto the train at the opposite shore. This cumbersome situation continued for a few years, but by 1932 the heavy silting of the river at Atchafalaya forced Southern Pacific to pick up its rails.^[14]

Sources

1. ↑ "Louisiana Births and Christenings, 1811-1830, 1854-1934", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSRF-35PZ : 14 January 2020), Fernand Dupuis, 1872.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDXS-NZX : 14 January 2022), Fernand Dupuis in household of L. Dupuis, New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm.
3. ↑ Donald J. Hébert, Southwest Louisiana Records, 1750-1900, compact disk #101 ("SWLR CD"), (Rayne, LA: Hébert Publications, 2001; reprints by Claitor's Publications);

   “DUPUIS, Fernand (Leon & Celestine GUIDRY) m. 12 Sept. 1893 Louise WEBRE (Cecilia Ch.: v. 1, p. 5)“

4. ↑ "Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1T-VP6W : 4 April 2020), Fernand Dupuis in entry for Ferdie Dupuis and Beulah Angelle, 28 Dec 1916; citing St. Martin, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 1,310,806.
5. ↑ "Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1Y-JZ97 : 4 April 2020), Fernand Dupries in entry for Jean P Patin and Marie Birdie Dupries, 3 Sep 1913; citing St. Martin, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 1,310,806.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSR4-3LT : accessed 18 May 2023), Fisward Dupuis, Police Jury Ward 5, St. Martin, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 77, sheet 32A, family 536, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,582.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPB4-MPZ : accessed 18 May 2023), Fernand Dupuis, Police Jury Ward 5, St Martin, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 132, sheet 5B, family 71, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 530; FHL microfilm 1,374,543.
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVWQ-NMN : 1 February 2021), Fernand Dupuis, 1920.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:XMTQ-LX8 : Tue Apr 04 05:48:31 UTC 2023), Fernard Dupuis and Louise Dupuis, 1930.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:VY5J-HGY : Mon Apr 03 19:07:17 UTC 2023), Fernand Dupuis, 1940.
11. ↑ "Louisiana Deaths, 1850-1875, 1894-1960," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FS1D-ZVT : 4 March 2021), Fernand Dupius in entry for Louise Webre Dupius, 21 Nov 1935; citing Breaux Bridge, St. Martin, Louisiana, certificate number 13902, State Archives, Baton Rouge; FHL microfilm 2,203,525.
12. ↑ "Louisiana Deaths, 1850-1875, 1894-1960," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSB8-B77 : 4 March 2021), Fernand Dupius, 24 May 1945; citing Breaux Bridge, St. Martin, Louisiana, certificate number 5201262, State Archives, Baton Rouge; FHL microfilm 1,220,971.
13. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/142509079/fernand-dupuis: accessed 18 May 2023), memorial page for Fernand Dupuis (10 May 1872–24 May 1945), Find A Grave: Memorial #142509079, citing St. Bernard Cemetery and Mausoleum #01, Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, USA; Maintained by Debbie G Morrogh (contributor 47912404). Includes photos, clipping, and family links.
14. ↑ Grover J. Rees, A Narrative History of Breaux Bridge, Once Called "La Pointe," (St. Martinville LA: Attakapas Historical Association, 1976).