52 Ancestors #16: Silvestre Rachal, "contrat de mariage"

I got the idea for today's post while going through my research folders looking for something to write about.  I came across a photocopy of an original French document from the Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana court records, and decided to share a scan of that document.  I visited Natchitoches in 2002 to do research, so that must have been when I obtained the copy.  The document is dated 23 September 1813, and is a marriage contract between my 5x great grandparents, Silvestre Rachal and Marie Rose Michel.  Silvestre was a nephew of my previously featured Revolutionary War veteran ancestor, Julien Rachal.

The document names both parties to the marriage, and gives the names of Silvestre's parents as Antoine Rachal and Marie Louise Dumoine (a mistake in the record, her surname was actually Lemoine).  Marie Rose is named as the daughter of Pierre Michel and Cecile Dupre.  Both Silvestre and Marie Rose's signatures appear on the document.  Both sets of parents are present as well, but unlike their children they all signed with a mark, signifying that none were literate.

Silvestre and Marie Rose had at least six children, and three of these I have been able to trace into adulthood.  Interestingly one of the witness signatures on their marriage document is that of "P. Compere"; this is Pierre Sebastien Compere, a Bordeaux native whose daughter Anais would marry Silvestre and Marie Rose's son Cyriaque nearly 25 years later.  Further tangling the branches of the family tree, Pierre was also the previously mentioned Julien Rachal's son in law, having married Julien's daughter Lolette earlier that year (1813).

Silvestre was said to have been among the citizens killed during a rash of duels that broke out following the Bossier-Gaiennie duel that took place in 1839.  His succession was proved in 1844, so he certainly had died before then.

52 Ancestors #15: Hugh McCloud Bryan - A General's Namesake

Unusual names, particularly middle ones, can sometimes provide clues to past ancestors.  It's often worth taking note of these names, in case they're stumbled upon later as the surname of some distant relative.  In some cases, the name simply carried significance to the person who was doing the naming.  This particular ancestor's name is a case where I originally thought the first possibility was true but came across historical evidence that changed my mind.

Hugh McCloud "Mac" Bryan (1861 - 1940), my great-great grandfather, was the son of Anna Margaret Schnell, a German immigrant to Texas, and John Bryan, a New Yorker of Irish origin.  His father John arrived in Texas in 1836 at the age of 25 to join the Texas Revolution, and it was John's Republic pension file that provided the surprising clue to the origin of Hugh's name.  In 1841 John took part in a disastrous expedition to Santa Fe while serving in the Texan army.  The members of the expedition were all captured, and marched south to imprisonment in Veracruz.  The officer who led that expedition was a general named Hugh McLeod (which would be pronounced like "McCloud").  Like John Bryan, McLeod was also from New York.

In light of this discovery within the pension file, I think it possible and even very likely that John may have named his son after McLeod.