1
Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
Note from Glen PITRE: The official project was named “Memories of Terrebonne”. Glen PITRE was
project director. “We were funded by The Terrebonne Parish Council, the Louisiana Endowment
for the Humanities and Library of Congress”. This interview was conducted by Kathleen
KILGEN, an associate of Cote Blanche Productions, on January 14, 1983 at Montegut, LA.
Transcribed by Phillip CHAUVIN Jr.
Begins in middle of tape # 18.
[These tapes can be edited, so we just talk to people, you know. You have so much to talk about, that it
doesn’t matter after a while]
[Start out by giving some of your biographical data and we can go on from there.]
My name is Sherwin GUIDRY. I was born here in Montegut and I have lived here all my life. I worked
for the U. S. Post Office for 22 years and have been retired three years, this past January. This
January it will be three years, I have been on my own. Since I have retired, my wife and I have
been traveling, we do quite a bit of traveling. We have been in the 48 states, in continental
U.S.A. We have been to Canada and are planning a trip to Mexico next month. I do a column for
the Houma Courier, a bi-weekly, Sundays and Wednesdays, Exploring Acadians. I have been
doing this for 10 or 12 years now. I went from “Le Terrebonne”, which was a history of
Montegut, to “Xplorin” Terrebonne”, which is a history of the parish in general and now I am
doing “Xplorin’ Acadiana”. In a broader sense, I do all of the Acadian Parishes, from south of
Alexandria, the Acadian Triangle. Anything there is to write about. It is a short column and it is
mostly historical.
[When did you first get interested in the history of the area?]
I have always been interested in history, but I do something else, I do something on the Houmas Indians,
been interested in Indians ever since I was a boy. Used to play cowboys and Indians and about
maybe 10 years ago, we had our church fair. We hadn’t have one for quite a few years, and we
started up again, and w’re looking for something extra, something out of the ordinary, to have an
attraction. I thought about having some of the local Indians getting together and putting on a
show, a display. I got the “Couteau” family, who live down the road, we got together and did
some copies of artifacts, dugout and things of that nature, traps, what have you. We built a booth
and demonstrated. It caught on and ever since then, I have been interested, more so in the
Houmas Indians, and have been doing research on their culture and history. I have 75 to 80
copies of artifacts, I do a demonstration in the schools. I lay it out on tables and I have a tape that
I cut, and as the tape rolls, I demonstrate the particular article. The kids like and I like to do it. I
like to show to the 7th or 8th grade level, younger than that, they don’t grasp as much. And above
that they are not very attentive. I have been in quite a few schools in Terrebonne Parish.
Hopefully, next year, I will be able to expand it a little bit. Maybe even offer my services to the
school board. What I do now, the different teachers will call me. It is by word of mouth.
[Tell me a little bit about your own family history. Are you from a Terrebonne Parish family, all the way
back?]
Yes, we are. My father was John {GUIDRY}, his father was Alidor {GUIDRY}, his father was Edmond
{GUIDRY}, beyond that, I would have to look at my papers. Jean Baptiste {GUIDRY} was
Edmond’s father. He probably came from Lafourche and from St. James.
{Note: from the 1920 Terrebonne Parish Census.}
16736
16737
16738
16739
3648
GUIDRY, John
GUIDRY, Ledovia
GUIDRY, Wenzel
GUIDRY, Horace
H
W
S
S
W
W
W
W
M
F
M
M
45
38
18
15
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
clerk store
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
16740
16741
16742
16743
16744
16745
GUIDRY, Robley
GUIDRY, Velma
GUIDRY, Gilles
GUIDRY, Iris
GUIDRY, Louella
GUIDRY, Sherman
S
D
S
D
D
S
W
W
W
W
W
W
M
F
M
F
F
M
13
10
8
6
3
1
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
LA
[When?]
Back at the turn of the century. The first census of Terrebonne Parish, has his name on it.
[What century?]
In the early part of the 1800’s
[It was before the Civil War?]
Definitely. He was in the first census of Terrebonne Parish, in 1822 and again in 1830, or there about.
Again, I would have to look at my records. So was my maternal line. Edmond was his son and
he was a carpenter. Edmond WURZLOW, wrote a journal and mentions my grandfather as a
carpenter. From Houma, he came down here, to build the second church {St John the Baptist, at
Dugas Cemetery}, The first church was just a little building, it may have been part of a home.
He built St. John the Baptist Church and stayed here.
[Were they planters?]
Edmond was a carpenter. His son Alidor was a merchant. He had a general merchandise store about four
miles down from here. My father had his general merchandise store right here, where I am living
today. It burnt down in 1935. That was the last of the merchants. We all worked in the store, so
we come from a family of carpenters and merchants. Possibly Jean Baptiste GUIDRY was a
farmer, I don’t know.
[Was there some connection with the sugar cane growing that was going on here?]
My father used to do a good business, with some men that came from Brazil to work in the cane fields.
They also went to Mississippi and get black people to work in the cane fields and the mill too.
They would come here with old torn overalls and clothes. The first payday, they would come
there and get a whole suit or two of overalls, jackets --. My father used to handle N and W brand
of jeans and overalls and what have you. He would sell them whatever else they needed. They
would not buy too much food, as they ate in the boarding house over there.
[When are you talking about?]
It was in the 30’s
[Tell me about the area around here in the 30’s]
The sugarhouse, across the bayou, was built in 1893. This town here was built because of the sugarhouse.
The sugarhouse was on the other side and people bought property here, on this side, to be near the
mill. Unlike most towns down the bayou, it was built around the sugarhouse, and not scattered
down along the bayou. Bourg is concentrated, and Gibson, around the sawmill. Montegut was
that type of a town. The mill shut down about five years ago, it was bought out, and the property
is all for sale.
[During the time of the 30’s was there a lot of boat traffic, as far as transportation, or was the road built
up at that time?]
Oh yes, there was. The bayou is still navigable. In the 1930’s, automobiles, cars and trucks were
primitive. Sugar was being shipped by barge and by boat. There was a big oyster industry down
there at Sea Breeze. Prior to that, they would come up with the cordels {pulled by mules}, along
the bayou, all the way to Houma, they would pass right over here. After the gasoline motor, they
continued going to town, as Houma was the center for oysters and shrimp. You had a few people
in canning factories. There was a big one right over here, about a block down.
[When you were a young boy, how would you get there? Were the roads paved?]
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
The road was shelled or graveled.
[Until when?]
All the way down. Even Houma was shell or gravel. I don’t remember exactly when they paved them. It
was all oyster shells and gravel, back in the 30’s
[Did you go to Houma for entertainment or things like that?]
Yes, we would go to the movies. There was the Grand Theater, the Country Club, and the Shady Oaks.
Occasionally a circus or show would come in, but you had that down here too. You had tent
shows that would come down. Prior to the tent shows, you had a Showboat that would come and
dock here in the bayou.
[Was it vaudeville type stuff?]
Yes and after that, it was vaudeville and silent movies.
[Right on the boat?]
Yes.
[Was there sort of a community wharf they would dock on?]
No, not necessarily. They would park whereever there was a vacant lot. Mostly it was right over here,
right on the other side of that oak tree. It was an ideal place for them to dock.
[What kind of boat did they have for that?]
It was an old paddle wheeler. The whole bottom floor was a theater. Then they started showing silent
movies. It was accompanied by a piano or organ. I don’t remember which. I was very young. I
do remember the tent shows. I vaguely remember a paddle wheel show boat. From what I
understand there was an old man that used to do some tap dancing. He drowned in the storm of
1926, I think. He was buried at Chauvin, over there.
[When you were young and not going to school or working in the store, did you go hunting or spend any
time in the woods? What was your pass time?
It would have been the theater. My brother was in show business all his life. My brother {Robley Paul}
built the theater over here.
[They had a theater here in Montegut?]
Yes, it was right across the street, over there. It was the Oak Theater. There used to be an oak tree right
in front of it, before they cut it down. Then it was called the Gem. It shut down, just about when
all the other theaters shut down. I used to be projectionist up there. We used to have a theater
and there was one at Chauvin. I believe every bayou had one. I think Monday night was free.
Every night there was a show. Usually two night stays. Saturday night was cowboy night.
[Did they ever have any live entertainment here?]
Yes. We had a few acts, even once Gene AUTRY came down here.
[When was that?]
It was back in 1938 or there about. Yes, he and Smiley BURNETTE came down and two or three others.
My brother-in-law had the Fox Theater in Houma. He is still in show business, he owns Lakeside
in New Orleans. He has about five theaters. He is the one who got him to come down here. He
was friends with him, and he still is. He goes visit him, at his melody ranch. He ate dinner at my
mother’s table over there.
[He put on a live show?]
He had some singing with his guitar, and he had his band. It was really crowded, it was standing room
only. We had several others, which I can’t remember. I remember Lou CHILDRESS one time-.
End of tape # 18 – begin tape # 19.
[What about dancing and live bands and stuff like that?]
We had a dance hall down here, before the gym, it was the old Pavilion, just like every bayou had it’s
own pavilion, too. We had bands from Donaldsonville, the Black Devils, the Trish brothers,
Mechanicville Ramblers, they were black, Blaze PASQUALLE and The Como Band.
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
[Where was the pavilion?]
It was in back of the schoolhouse, to the side, not directly in the back. During Lent, we had a skating rink
there. Whenever there was a church fair, it was usually around the old pavilion.
[Was it just a wooden building?]
Yes. It was typical of old south Louisiana pavilions. They had a place where people could dance. You
had a good size floor and place for the band, a bandstand. When our Church burned down in
1955, it was used as a church.
[What ever happened to the pavilion?]
When they built the gym, it was torn down. If you could keep something like that it would be a little bit
of history, but you don’t know where to put it. You have upkeep and everything. It is out of the
question. It is best to tear it down. We had a ballpark here in Montegut, too, way back in the
1930’s. We had a grand stand and everything. It was built out of rough lumber, but it was a
sizable grandstand. I have three different books and I have a picture of the grandstand in one of
them. It was a league that they had, Houma, Golden Meadow, and others. It took in quite a bit of
territory, and they had a pretty good team. A real good team, they had some real good ball
players.
[People from here?]
Yes, they were not professionals, just looking for a good time. That was all it was.
[Tell me about in the woods.]
On Friday or Saturday nights, there were two cowboy movies. That weekend, we would go into the
woods, maybe 10 or 12 boys, and play out the same movie. We had the good boys and the bad
boys, each had a gang. It was pasturelands, maybe a acre wide, type somewhat like they had in
Arizona, with a border, and you had one gang that dominated one area, and the other, another
area. The gangs would not let anyone go in their area, or there would be a fight. We would make
our own guns out of wood. Some of them were really nice. They had a guy, who was an expert
with a knife, and he always had some nice guns. We had holsters made out of old inner tubes,
and an old belt to hang them on. We all had two six shooters, naturally. We also had some that
would shoot rubber bands. Even a cross bow or a rifle, that would shoot rubber bands. We had a
camp back there, in the woods. We would make bird traps and catch Robbins, red birds, red wing
black birds, and we would roast them out there, cook them without salt, and they were delicious.
I would not eat them now, but they were delicious then.
[What kind of trap would you use?]
They were square, about two feet, and would graduate up with sticks.
[You made them yourselves?]
Yes, you had a trigger in there, and use corn or rice or whatever for bait. They would start pecking on that
trigger, and the trap would come down. We had the “Coudno”. Wherever you had a ditch, you
had a hill, you would dig up in there, maybe a foot deep and foot wide and three feet long. You
would put a place at the far end for the smoke to escape, put a fire in there and you would roast
sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes in there, and birds too. In the ashes, you know, it was delicious.
[What was the school like?]
We had a good school, a very good school. In those days you had competition, like Bourg had a good
school, Dularge, Chauvin, Gibson, Chacahoula, it all depended on the principals. I hope it
doesn’t sound like criticism, but it is an opinion, but it seemed that the principals took more
interest in outside activities, community activities. Most of them lived in that particular
community, they did not live in Houma and came down here. They lived in the community and
took part in the activities. There was a lot of pride, community pride. We had good basketball
teams and track teams and we had tournaments every year, where every school would participate.
[When you were attending school, was it grade school and high school together?]
No, we had to go to Terrebonne High, for 9th , 10th and 11th grades. Our principal’s name, when I was
going to school, was a Mr. W. J. MOREAU, and he was way ahead of his time. He is now dead,
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
he came from somewhere near Morganza or Moreauville. We had the first public address system,
with communication in each of the rooms. The first one, in the parish, was right here. Houma
had the first band, there was Mr. FABREGAS, and two or three had organized bands, we had the
first school band. If it was not the first, it had been several years since the first had lapsed. It was
the first school band, he organized that school band, with a Mr. GRISMON, and I have a picture
of it too. He was way ahead of his time. We had tennis, we had boxing, he pushed all of this.
We had pageants around Christmas time, and different holidays, during the school year. He was
a go-getter, and an organizer, Mr. MOREAU. We had a very good school.
[How did you get to Terrebonne High, how did you get there?]
By bus. Before my time, there were little schools at intervals at different locations along the bayou, like
down Bayou Lafourche, it was common to have one room schools, up north Louisiana and out
west. That was the type of education, the kind we would get, with-in walking distance, boat
distance, or pirogue distance. Mr. Albert VIGUERIE, owned the plantation, Point Farm, and he
was the Superintendent of schools, at that time, back in the early 1900’s. He was Superintendent
of schools in Terrebonne Parish and he organized the consolidated schools. He built this one here
in 1912, built the one in Schriever in 1911, that is the oldest, this one is the second oldest. Bourg,
I think, might be about 1913, I am not sure.
[Are they still in operation?]
Yes, they are. They are good buildings, and they are sound. They have been added on, two or three
times, and renovated, ceilings have been lowered and things like that, air conditioners. They are
modern now, but they are still sound, as far as construction concerns.
[In the 1930 was Montegut a fishing village or plantation orientated?]
It was more plantation, there was fishing, but it was not the primary source of income, for the particular
village itself. Further down the bayou, there was more fishing. Even so, during the grinding
season, some of the fishermen would come up and make the grinding. Then in the 1930’s you
had oil, Texaco, the Texas Company came down here and built a boat ways and warehouses and a
yard for the pipes and everything. Montegut turned into an oil town. It has been oil every since.
[Did they happen in the 30’s?]
Yes, about in the 30’s. Oil was discovered here in 1914 at Lirette field, down there. In 1918 they brought
in the first successful well. Every since then, it has been more or less an oil town. When Texaco
came in, the town came into its own.
[Did the depression hit the Parish here bad?]
Definitely, but I don’t remember too much, my father had a general merchandise store. It didn’t affect
our family too much. I heard some people losing what little money they had, like in the People’s
Bank, in Houma. It went under. It is somewhat like the recession now, but a little bit worse. In
those days, people had a little patch of land, to farm, they could grow things, they could go out
and fish. You can still go fishing, if you want to, there are not as many fish and shrimp, as there
was then. In those days, it was no problem to eat, if you wanted to catch it or work the ground.
Today, you don’t have much ground, people have built on all the suitable ground there is. There
is still a lot of ground, because they opened up across the bayou over there. The fish are not there
as they used to be.
[Was that mainly because of the break up of the plantations?]
It had happened before, and it happened then too. Ever since the Civil War, there were different reasons
why the people went under. At the beginning of th 19th century, they had a lot of reasons for
people to lose their plantations. The recession was another. By then South Coast had bought it.
It was a sizable corporation. They bought the old Lower Terrebonne Manufacturing Company.
That was what that was. When the mill was torn down, it was shipped to Guadamala. That is
where it is operating now. The motors and the old turbines are still in good shape and are
operating now.
[In Guadamala?]
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
Yes. They are still turning out cane. They sent me a picture of the sugar mill, it is nothing like the one
here. I recognize one of the boilers that had a smoke stack coming out of it. Montegut has
always been a sugar town, an oil town and a fishing town. I think today there is more fishing
going on, than there has ever been, because oil is kind of letting go a little bit. Sugar is no more a
source of income, so people went back to fishing. I might continue with my paternal end of my
family. We had started with the Guidry’s. This is Lirette’s. My mother was a Lirette. My great
great-grandfather was also in the first census of Terrebonne Parish, Jean Baptiste LIRETTE.
There are a lot of Jean Baptistes in my family. His son was Alexander {LIRETTE}. He was
sheriff of Terrebonne Parish, just before the Civil war. He had a plantation up above Houma at
Bayou Cane. He had a plantation there, with slaves, like they had in those days. My
grandmother would often say, when she was little girl, she remembered him, he always dressed in
a ling frock coat and white pants, white suit and he would ride a white horse, and he would go
around his fields with a whip in his hand. The slaves had to listen. Alexander {LIRETTE} was
sheriff of Terrebonne Parish. You recall, I said my great-grandfather Edmond {GUIDRY} was a
carpenter and built, the first buildings in Houma, according to Mr. WURZLOW, who wrote that
report. He built that building and another on Main Street, that blew up {January 24. 1970}, a few
years ago, in a gas explosion. He worked on that one to, according to the records I could find, at
the same location. When he built that building, my great-grandfather was sheriff and when the
Federals came down here, during the Civil War, several of the prominent people of Terrebonne
were arrested and held in this particular building. So if my records are correct, my maternal
great-grandfather built the building, my paternal great-grandfather was held prisoner in. Isn’t that
a co-incidence.
[Where was it located?]
It was right on Main Street. Are you familiar with Houma?
[yes.]
You know the Court Square, then there is Church Street, right on the corner of Church and Main Streets,
there is a vacant lot, that was where the explosion was, and that was where the building was.
Across Belanger Street, on the corner, was where the first building was built, in Houma,
supposedly. It was where Haydel’s Drug Store is now.
[What was downtown Houma like in the 30’s?]
They used oyster shells to pave their streets. I remember at the corner of Dupont’s, across the street was a
restaurant and across from there was the bus station and across from that was an old drug store.
Right on the middle there was a coal lamp light there, so people could keep to the right of it,
around the light. That was the corner of Houma, the main corner.
[It was a pre-traffic light thing?]
That was what it was.
[It was oyster shells on the road then?]
Yes, oyster shells. Houma was an oyster town then. There were a lot of oyster houses there then. They
found that was a cheap and constructive supply of them, for their streets.
[What about the Courthouse, when was that established. Was that pre 1920?]
This Court House was built in about 1939. Before that and I’ll show you a picture, there was an old red
brick building, medieval in construction appearance. There was a clock tower. A beautiful old
building, that was started before the Civil War. Construction stopped during the Civil War and
then resumed. There was a jail to the back and they tore it down for one reason or another, and
built this modern one. Today they probably wish they still had the old courthouse, it was a
beautiful building.
[Did the main section of town get away from Dupont’s corner.?]
Yes, Houma was a sizable town at that time. Main Street was always the center of town. You had stores
on the other end, too.
[What kind of stores were there?]
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
Dupont’s is probably the oldest that is still in existence today, like it is. You had different stores, like the
Bargain Store and Lewald’s down on the other end You also had the Variety Store and the
Leader.
[How old were you in the 30’s. Was it during your grammar school days?]
Yes.
[Did you miss the war?]
I was in World War II.
[Tell me a little bit about that, what was the climate of Houma like around that time?]
In Houma, the main thing was that dirigible base, the Blimp Base. It was a big thing near Houma.
[It was a military --base?]
Yes. Navy. In fact, they sunk a German Submarine right here in the Gulf of Mexico. Did you know that?
[No. Tell me about that.]
It is still on the bottom, right her in the Gulf of Mexico. They had some seaplanes to go out and search.
These dirigibles were here because they were very slow running and were good for observation,
the main reason they had them. One day a seaplane saw this German Sub surface, probably
recharging his battery or something. The submarine saw the plane about the same time, and
started to go under, the guy said lets go at them, I have the report, in one of my books there. They
went down and dropped a charge there, came around again and saw an oil slick, so they figured
they got him. It is on the bottom of the gulf, there are three or four places where they think it is.
There are some guys in Houma, that are trying to get to it. They have been at for two or three
years, or four years, a guess it is a bigger job than what they thought. I don’t think they have
located it yet.
[What branch of the service were you in?]
I was in the army and in the air corps.
[Where did you go?]
I went to {Camp} Beauregard. I was the bugler. Boogy-Woogy bugle boy in Company A {line Andrews
Sisters song, in the 1940’s}. I was a bugler. I am a trumpet player, myself. We had a little band
in the Army, too. We would play in the officer’s quarters.
[Do you speak French?]
Yes. Do you?
[I try. I understand every thing, but I am a victim of the 50’s. When you went to school it was in English,
but did you grow up speaking French?]
Yes, I had to learn to speak English to be able to go to school, as most people down the bayou.
[Did you ever use French while in the Army?]
No, never did. There was one guy from Marksville, that was a pretty good buddy with me, he spoke
French, his family did.
[What was his name?]
Brulette, Buford BRULETTE (sic). I said I would go back and see him. I have been saying that for
years, yet, I never did. I hope he is still alive. I asked different people from there and they said
they knew a BRULETTE family. I went to his house one time.
[Did you play trumpet around here in a band?]
Yes, I had a band.
[What was the name?]
It was called the “Dixie Six”.
[When was this?[
It was in the 50’s, we broke up in about 1959 or 1961.
[Where did you play?]
We played all around. We played down Golden Meadows.
[For dances?]
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
For dances, we played in Thibodaux, Raceland, all over Houma. We played Dixieland. It was the music
of the time. We had six pieces and sometimes we would pick up an extra one. It was the Dixie
Six plus one or Dixie Six plus two. We were rather popular and had some great times. I have a
tape from my old band. We have gotten together a few times, but since our piano player died
about 1959 or 1960. He was great, he played New Orleans, played Burbon Street and played with
Al HURTZ. He knew all those guys. He was great and when he died, we just fell apart. We had
a couple of other piano players, but it was never the same. Before that we had a couple of bands,
the “Tune Finders” and the “Melody Makers”.
[You learned to play at school?]
Yes, right over here. Mr. MOREAU, he is the one that started me and I played at Terrebonne High
{School}.
[What year did you graduate from High school?]
1939.
[What was Terrebonne High School like in 1938?]
It used to be where the courthouse {Annex} is today, where the new addition is, that was where
Terrebonne High was then. It was built in the early 1900’s. It was three stories or two stories
with a basement. It was the only High School in Terrebonne Parish.
[Was there anything like football, extra curricular activities?]
There were all the extra curricular activities.
[What teams did Terrebonne play?]
They played Opelousas, that was the furthest away, Thibodaux, most of the schools of today. Some are
not in the same league as us now. They recycled the whole districts, you know.
[There was a marching Band?]
There sure was. We had a real good band. Red uniforms and white pants, red coat and white pants. You
want a cup of coffee?
[Definitely, lets take a little break.]
[Now Guidry is a French name, was that from Canada or from France?]
From France. A nephew of mine went back to Canada, possibly from France, we never did iron it out, it
goes back to the early 1700’s. There was a Guidry that came in one of the first expeditions at
Port Royal. We went visit there summer before last, Nova Scotia. There was a Guidry in there. I
don’t know, there was no first name. There was a tribe of Abbinitie (sic) Indians that lived near
by and they helped the colony. It was just men, that came down on the first colony. A Jesuit
Priest came over and converted the Indians. Several men of the colony married Indian women
and one was a Guidry. After that, I don’t know what happened, some of the women came to live
in the white man’s village and white men went and live in the Indian village. If he was a relation,
I do not know. If you go back far enough possibly he is. There were Guidry’s in the exodus.
Some landed in Maryland and came down.
[Of course LIRETTE is French.]
LIRETTE is French, possibly English too. It could be English. I never did get into that one either. We
joined the Genealogy Society, in Houma. One day we will probably get it all ironed out. It takes
time. You have to know where to go and how to do it. My wife is in the PELTIER line, so she is
looking. in that line too. It stops somewhere, but nobody seems to know where. One of these
days, maybe, we will get to the bottom of it. Maybe this new archives building the church is
building, might help too. All the records being centrally located, maybe that will help.
[What are the boundaries of Montegut?]
The township itself? I say around the church up here.
[What is the name of the Church?]
Sacred Heart, just below the post office, the old “Magenta Plantation”.
[What was the name again?]
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
“Magenta”. It was an old Sander’s plantation down there. There was another Sander’s plantation a little
further down, “Live Oak”, they were brothers. No father and son.
[You had mentioned Point ---?]
Point Farm, it was just above us about half a mile up the road, on the edge of Montegut, more or less.
[What was the name of some of the other plantations?]
You did not have too many down here.
End tape #19 – begin tape # 20
Let’s see, we had Magenta, Point Farm, Aragon, Rural Retreat, Hope Farm, Klondyke –
[These were all Sugarcane?]
Yes, sugarcane farmers. The main crop was sugar cane. Then down below you had Red Star plantation,
several small farmers in between, that was not named, mostly farmers that would grow sugar cane
and corn and staples.
[Was there any type of lumber industry around Montegut?]
You had sawmills, like the VIGUERIES had a sawmill. They cut their own lumber and probably sold
some too. At Grand Bois, they had a sawmill. “Fack” {Farquard} GUIDRY, in Bourg, had a
sawmill. The biggest mill was up around Gibson or Chacahoula, up in there. Houma had a
couple of big mills, too.
[Do you know when the Bourg – Larose highway was built? Was it a path at one time?]
I don’t know if it was. Probably not, you have some low ground in there too. I really don’t know, but I
have it in my books, when it was opened.
[Was there a lot of contact between the two parishes?]
Not too much, the only way you could get there was by water. Going around thru Lake Barre and up
Bayou Lafourche. That was the only way, unless you took the long way around, up there. Prior
to the automobile, horse and buggy was the way the only way. Lake Barre, down there, at one
time wasn’t open. Bayou Terrebonne went all the way into the lake and almost into the gulf, with
a natural levee on both sides. Mr. SANDERS, Magenta Plantation, was the one that cut a slip in
there, to let the steamboat through, to bring his sugar to Bayou Lafourche and in to New Orleans.
He is the one that opened lake Barre. Barre in French, means locked in. Before that, you had the
portage, from Bayou Terrebonne to the lake. They used horses and wagons and manpower, to
bring freight and whatever, across into the lake.
James M. SANDERS & Mary Jane MAY Family by Jess BERGERON
James M. SANDERS was born in Madison County, Mississippi. He and his wife Mary Jane had much
property at Montegut, LA. Not much is know about this family, as it seems they kept a low profile
in the community.
James M. SAMDERS m. 12 Feb 1855 (Hma. Ct. Hse. Lic.) to Mary Jane MAY, b. 6 Apr 1839 (St. Jos.
Ch., Thib., V.3, #1907) died ?, d/o Thomas MAY & Elizabeth CLARK. James M. SANDERS died
7 Mar 1889 age 57 yrs. (Hma. Epis. Ch.). Both are buried in Magnolia Cem. The children of
this couple are as followed.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Elizabeth Armogena= b. 10 Feb 1856 (Hma. Cath. Ch.) d. 1891 (Magnolia Cem.) m. 22 Dec
1890 (Theriot Ch) to John CONCANNON.
Marthe Alice= b. 10 Apr 1857 (Montegut Ch.) d. 1925 (Magnolia Cem.).
Marie Luicretia= b. 10 Apr 1859 (Hma. Cath. Ch.) Possible died before 1860 census.
John Yancy Lee= b. 15 Apr 1862 (Montegut. Cath. Ch.), d. 1902 in Acadia Parish, bur
(Magnolia Cem.) m. ??? to Valorie TROSTAUR f/o James Monroe SANDERS.
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
(5)
Adain Ashley= b. 17 Feb 1864 (Montegut Cath Ch.) bur (Magnolia Cem.) m. 18 Dec 1888
(Montegut. Cath. Ch.) to Joseph A. ROBICHAUX.
(6) Laura June= b. 2 Jan 1866 (Montegut Cath. Ch., d. 1901 (Magnolia Cem.).
(7) Andrew Allain= b. 6 Feb 1868 (Montegut Cath. Ch.) d. 24 Apr 1945 (Magnolia Cem), m. 3 Jan
1894 (Hma. Epis Ch.) to Ella TRAHAN.
(8) Robert Honly= b. 27 Mar 1870 (Montegut Cath. Ch.) d. 2 Feb 1920, m. 6 Feb 1901 (Montegut
Cath. Ch.) to Agnes LIRETTE.
(9) Charlotte J.= b. 1 Feb 1872 Montegut Cath. Ch., d. 26 Jan 1874, (Montegut Cath.Ch.) bur.
(MagnolIA Cem.).
(10) Hatty Altia= b. 8 Mar 1874 (Montegut Cath. Ch.), d. ??, bur (Magnolia Cem.). Hatty was the
principle of Sanders School at Montegut.
(11) James Warren Goode= b. 7 Oct 1880 (Montegut Cath. Ch.) bur. (Magnolia Cem.)
(12) Eleonore Benton= b. 12 Mar 1878 (Montegut Cath. Ch.) bur. (Magnolia Cem.), m. 15 Dec. 1896
(Hma. Ct. Hse. Lic.) to Luther WHITMORE.
(13) Mary Fanny Eudora= b. 16 Mar 1876 (Montegut Cath. Ch.) d. 1927, bur. (Magnolia Cem.) m.
1st 11 Oct 1893 (Hma. Ct. Hse. Lic.) John A. WALLIS, m. 2nd 30 Jun 1924 (Hma. City
Judge) to Charles DUPLANTIS.
[Was that a route to New Orleans through Bayou Lafourche?]
Yes, and at Lockport, the opened up that canal there, into Barataria, I think, and built that lock there. It
was Ruffin BARROW, from Houma, he was a big Plantation owner, just before the Civil War.
He was instrumental in building this lock and opening up this canal route.
[To get to New Orleans?]
To get to New Orleans.
[Have you been in any serious hurricanes?]
1926 was probably my first. Ever since then, every hurricane they had between then and now. I vaguely
remember 1926, I was six, I remember water being in the street. Down below, I remember we
went riding, they had this “floton”, it is the land and grass, that make up our marshland, it was all
over the roads and everything. I remember a friend of mine, his house had been under water,
water halfway up the wall, and it had 3 or 4 inches of mud in it. Once he opened a drawer and
there was a snake in it. There have been some severe hurricanes down here.
[Did you pass them in your house?]
All but the last few, we went up to Houma. My mother was very scared of them and bad weather. She
had been through several of them. One time she said she and her family had to climb to the roof,
to escape the high water. She knew what it can do. When you don’t know, you are afraid. When
you know what water can do with the tidal waves and wind, you respect that element a little bit
more.
[You mentioned you were involved with the Indians, can you go through the history of the local Indian
population here.]
There is quite a bit to it. I do a lot of it, most of it on this tape. It takes about 18 minutes to run the tape
through. That is the extent of my show. We’ll take them about they arrived around Baton Rouge,
the Florida Parishes, Angola, somewhere in that area, Angola and the river, that was where they
were settled. In 1706, the Tunica Indians came and lived amongst them. They came from further
up, the northeast, around the Tunica hills, in that area. The Houmas accepted them and one night
in 1706, for no apparent reason, the Tunica’s turned against the Houmas and massacred a whole
bunch of them. Those that escaped came down the river, probably on foot, some in canoes, no
doubt, the eastern side of the river, they came down the river and came to New Orleans, Bayou
St. John, and settled there for quite a few years. The white men kept coming, in ever increasing
numbers, they moved back up river to around Donaldsonville and Burnside. Houmas House, up
in there. There they established the little and great Houmas villages. They were there when the
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
Acadians arrived, in St. James and St. Charles Parishes, on the river. Ever since then, the
Houmas and the white people, the Acadians, have been working together, hunting together,
fishing together and marrying, too, ever since then. They came down Bayou Lafourche, looking
for new homes, hunting grounds. They came down Bayou Terrebonne. Bayou Terrebonne was
open into Bayou Lafourche, then. They came down that bayou and down here. Just about 1776
to 1800, somewhere up there. There are records that they tilled the ground, grew crops, and
harvested, within a three-year period. That was part of the agreement with the Spanish
Commandant, they had to settle, a piece of land, before they could get a grant. They were around
here about the same time. The Houmas settled further down the bayous. They established five
villages here, in Terrebonne Parish. They went down Bayou Lafourche. too, where they are
living today. Some went to Jefferson Parish later on and some to St. Bernard Parish, later on, too.
They came and established five villages, with the storms, they came back up the bayou, and
stayed around Pointe-aux-Barre, in that area. This is about three miles further down from here.
They have been there ever since. They have done just about everything the white has. Some of
them do work in the oil fields, not too many. Some are farmers, but most are fishermen. What
little ground they did have at the time, they did kill. Today there is very little ground to farm,
down there. It is mostly marsh and what is not marsh is under water at high tide, and too salty to
grow any kind of crops. They have been down here ever since. It is over two centuries now.
That is about the gist of it.
[Jumping from one subject to another, was Mardi-Gras celebrated in Terrebonne Parish in those days?]
We have been having parades here, since about when Houma started theirs. We have two parades. We
have one on the Sunday before Mardi Gras and on Mardi Gras day. We have a children’s parade,
strictly children, in the first, second and third grades. They are the ones that ride the floats. That
is on the Sunday before Mardi Gras. We build our own floats, we have our own barn, where we
build them and store them, the year round. On Tuesday it is the adults club.
[Does it have a name?]
The Montegut Carnival Club for the children and Our Bonne Terre, for the adults. Both of them work
together. The adult club sponsors the children’s club, for what money that might be needed, they
respond and contribute whatever might be needed.
[How long has this been going on?]
I think we might be having our thirty-eighth parade, this year. I am not too sure, it might be thirty-seven
or might be thirty-nine, I am not too sure. I have been M.C. {master of ceremonies} for this, for a
number of years. Last year was the first time that I wasn’t here, because we went to New Orleans
Mardi Gras. We went up there for eleven days. We got the real spirit of Mardi Gras in New
Orleans. I was not M.C. for that particular program.
[Did people parade before the war?]
There was masking, local, on a small scale. I remember when I was a kid, we used to mask, throw on
some old clothes and go walk up and down. That was the extent of the Mardi Gras. There was
usually a dance on Mardi Gras night, because the next day was lent. No dancing during lent.
There wasn’t too much, except for the dance.
[How was the church involved in community life at that time?]
Montegut has always been strong on social organizations. We always had some organization to fall back
on, to organize something to do. Naturally you have your church organizations. They always did
work closely together. Right now, we have a public relations committee, that organizes
everything, more or less. It consists of all the civic, social and religious organizations of ward 6,
which consists of Montegut and Pointe-aux-Chene. We have about twenty-two organizations,
which belong to the Montegut Public Relations Committee. The committee has two functions,
one, during the Lenten season, we select one member of the community, as top citizen, for the
year, and we honor him or her. At Christmas time, we have a “Songfest”, which is very nice. We
have singing and we have an organist, we get together and sing Christmas hymns, Christmas
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
carols. We ask the different business places, in Ward 6, to donate a gift. Last year we had 42
gifts. The people register as they go in, on a slip of paper, we draw their names and they win that
particular gift, when their name is pulled. It is very nice, and well received. We have all kinds of
organizations, the American Legion and Auxiliary, Lions, and a whole bunch of religious, too.
[Do you know what the population of Montegut is?]
About 12 to 15 hundred. I really know, I have been asking here and there, to get some kind of accurate
count, they always say, call somebody else. I say about 15 hundred. We have a sub-division
back of the post office, that was once part of “Majesta Plantation”, [sic Magenta?} which was
divided. It almost doubled the population of Montegut. It has been concentrated in this little area
for so many years, because it was surrounded by sugarcane fields. South Coast {Corporation}
was here. Now they sold out, and the land is being developed, more and more. Every year, you
will add a few families, to the population.
[Do you remember politics during the 30’s?]
The only politician I remember then was Huey P. LONG. I remember my dad was really for him. He was
a real politician. I remember the governors after him, like Earl LONG and Jimmy DAVIS, he
came down here with his band. Dudley LEBLANC, came here, down the street, when the theater
was still up. It was a cold rainy day. He came down with several people. He got on the mike and
said a few words, to the people, from up and down the bayou. It was cold and hardly anybody
showed up. I admired him on that occasion. Have you ever been to the Acadian Village in
Lafayette?
[No, I haven’t.]
His house, his birthplace is there. They moved a whole bunch of houses there from all around that area,
and one of them was his. He appeared at the Oak Theater, right there. Certain things, you
remember.
[What about radio, was radio a big thing?]
I remember the first radio that I have ever heard. It was right next door, right here, a Mr. LEBLANC was
living there. My dad built that house, for my brother when he first got married, then he left and
went to Texas. The first radio I ever heard was right in that house. It was a Jack Dempsey fight.
I don’t remember who Jack DEMPSEY was fighting, but Jack DEMPSEY was champion of the
world. It was a box, with a speaker on top, like a horn. That was the type of radio it was. A lot
of static, there was a whole bunch of people outside listening. It was a marvelous thing. I
remember when we got our first radio. It was a cabinet type deal, with a phonograph on top of
the radio. It was real nice.
[Would you gather in front of it, like a television?]
People would sit around and listen to programs, Amos and Andy, the original Amos and Andy.
[The people around here would speak in French, would they listen to the radio in English?]
Yes, I do a little thing, I play guitar too. I am a trumpet man, but I have been playing guitar for about a
year and a half. Sometimes I go to Houma, like the Lions Club or Aquanis Club and I do
something about the music of Louisiana. “Cajun music of Acadiana”. I go through the different
phase of it. Here is a cute joke, it is true and was originally told in French. There was a man
down the road here, that had a little general merchandise store, he spoke not a word of English,
just French, the salesman in question spoke only English. He did not understand French, so this
particular man had a special order this day, when the salesman come in, the merchant was glad to
see him, shook his hand and everything. They would make themselves understood, he would
point to certain things on the shelf and, say “douzaine” – dozen, “deux douzaine”, two dozen.
They would make themselves understood. This particular day, he wanted a “po chom”, do you
know what that is?
[Yes.]
He went get a small “po chom” and he showed it to the salesman and said “une gros”, meaning “one big”.
He wanted a large chamber pot. The salesman smiled and shook his head and wrote it down.
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
Two weeks later the paddle wheeler came to the back of his store, and brought 144 chamber pots,
one gross of chamber pots. That is the truth, a true story, (laughing) twelve dozen, one gross of
chamber pots. Mr. LAPEYROUSE down there, an interesting old gentleman.
{Note: In the 1920 Terrebonne Parish Census, this is the only LAPEYROUSE below Montegut, LA
listed as a storekeeper. He is also listed in the 1910 Terrebonne Parish Census.}
06 17368 3780 LAPEYROUSE,
Linus
06 17369
LAPEYROUSE,
Angelina
06 17370
LAPEYROUSE,
Junius
06 17371
LAPEYROUSE, Earl
06 17372
LAPEYROUSE,
Theodore
06 17373
LAPEYROUSE,
Lucille
06 17374
LAPEYROUSE,
Raney
06 17375
LAPEYROUSE,
Estelle
06 17376
LAPEYROUSE,
Amos
06 17377
LAPEYROUSE, Irene
H
W F
W W F
45 LA LA LA storekeeper
35 LA LA LA
S
W M 19 LA LA LA clerk store
S
S
W M 15 LA LA LA
W M 12 LA LA LA
D
W F
S
W M 8
LA LA LA
D
W F
7
LA LA LA
S
W M 6
LA LA LA
D
W F
LA LA LA
10 LA LA LA
4
I will tell you a little bit about his store, a young man came in there one day and said “eur la cuir”, Mr.
LAPEYROUSE knew the boy’s parents, and gave him oil for a harness, cuir – leather. He gave
him oil for the leather. He went back home and the young man came right back. He said “eur la
cuire” (sic) {cookong oil} (laughing) {French translation by Chester CHAMPAGNE}. Mr.
LAPEYROUSE has a store down there, you ought to go see it. It was built by his daddy, and Mr.
LAPEYROUSE is in his 70’s, built by his daddy and parts of the lumber, in that store, was taken
from a schooner. A sailing vessel, that had wrecked on a sand bar, in the gulf. It was brought up
by a man and he sold it to Mr. LAPEYROUSE, and he built his store with some of the wood. It
is just the way it was 50 to 70 years ago. He hasn’t changed too much in it. It is almost identical,
if he has changed anything. He had several old things in there, that was really interesting. He
liked to talk. He is proud of what he has. This week, Monday or Tuesday, I went down there and
bring him a check. It was dues for the Public Relation Committee, one of the organizations, we
tax, not tax, it is voluntary. I went bring him a check. He had an old motor, and old aircooled
motor, which he said he bought 45 years ago. It had been under water for several years, one man
took it to his house and repaired it. He brought it back and it was running. That thing was built,
boy. An old air-cooled motor, built out of steel, not tin, like they are today. He has different
things like that. He keeps an old radio and a number of things.
[Is there anything you would like to add, before we close it out?]
There is so much here, I could talk all night, the rest of the day, but can’t think of anything to say. I will
let you have these three books for Cote Blanche Productions. This is my first one, the History of
Montegut.
[What about the hermit of Montegut?]
This is when my mother was a small girl, she would tell me about the Hermit of Montegut. His name was
Jean Baptiste DUGAS. This article here was written by a journalist out of Houma, he came down
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER
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Sherwin GUIDRY Oral History Tape
here and wrote this story. The hermit was a young man that fell in love with a girl. She married
his best friend. So, he decided to live the life of a hermit. Right behind the graveyard, “Dugas
Cemetery”, which his family donated to the community, there used to be a Church down there.
That was where the church was. He lived his life back in the woods back there. He lived in a
palmetto shack, he had brought his bed in there, but never slept in it. He preferred sleeping on a
bed of moss on the ground. He ate muskrats, rabbits and rattlesnakes, anything he could catch
around his home. Now and then his family would bring him some cooked food, or friends would.
Sometimes they would bring him candy, but he wouldn’t eat it. He would squash it or cut it open,
because he was afraid somebody was trying to poison him. He wore a blanket, that was all he
wore. A “a cont with a picant broulet” (sic) a thorn, that held his clothes. He had a razor sharp
knife, which he did a lot of carving with. One time his grand nephew brought him to the church
that they had built, by the Dugas Cemetery. When he came up, they were playing the organ, he
started hacking on the church, with his knife, saying, I did not give this property, to be a dance
hall. He had never heard organ music in a church before. They arrested him, but let him go. He
returned to his home and never did come out again, as far as I know. He died back there of
malnutrition. His stomach began to swell and everything. He is buried in Dugas Cemetery.
[Why was there a Dugas Cemetery, was that a large plantation?]
No, they were a prominent family down here, in the Montegut area. In fact, the first mass was said here
in 1854. This is one of the oldest parishes, in Terrebonne Parish. Houma is older. One year
before, Houma had it’s first mass. The apostle of Bayou Lafourche, Father Menard, came down
and said mass, or there-about. The following year he came down here and went down Chauvin,
too. Upper Little Caillou over there. The first mass over here was said in the house of a “Madam
DUGAS”. That family donated the property for the church and graveyard. We are on our fourth
church over here. The first church was very small, down below the Dugas Cemetery. It was too
small for the congregation. They build St. John the Baptist Church, around where the cross is in
the Dugas Cemetery. It was torn down by a hurricane. Then they built a church further up,
where it is right now. In 1954 or 55, it caught fire and burned down, and they built this one here.
It was struck by lightning and burned down. So we are on our fourth church here. The book “Le
Terrebonne” tells about that. There is quite a bit of history down here.
End of Sherman Guidry recording.
{Noted: The John J. GUIDRY family listed in 1920 Terrebonne Parish Census.
John J. GUIDRY s/o Alidor GUIDRY & Onezile ROBICHAUS, b. 17 Jun. 1874 d. 12 Feb. 1956,
bur. Sacred Heart Cem. m. 3 April 1899 Ludovia LIRETTE d/o Volcar LIRETTE &
Angele PORCHE, b. 9 Apr. 1880, d. 12 Jul. 1969. bur. Sacred Heart Cem. They are the
parents of:
1. Wenzel A. (P.K.) GUIDRY b. ca. 1902, d. 9 Dec. 2000, bur. Sacred Heart Cem. h/o Garnet
LIRETTE, no children.
2. Horace (Jack) GUIDRY b. ca. 1905, d, before 1989,h/o Loretta Guidry d. 18 Mar. 1960.
3. Robley Paul GUIDRY, Sr. b. ca. 1907, d. 5 Feb 1981, bur S. F. #2. h/o Edith GUIDRY.
4. Velma GUIDRY b. 21 Aug. 1909, d. 2 Jun. 1966, bur. S. F. # 1 w/o Nolan GIROIR
5. Gillis John GUIDRY b. ca. 1912, d. 22 Jun 2000, m. 1st Wilma RHODES, 2nd Eugenie
CONSTANT, bur. Sacred Heart Cem.
6. Iris GUIDRY b. ca. 1914, m. William COBB.
7. Louella GUIDRY b. ca. 1917 w/o Eddie BRUNET, d. 9 Oct.1998
8. Sherwin GUIDRY b. ca. 1919, still living with daughter in Baton Rouge, LA.
9. Claudia GUIDRY d. 17 Sept. 1991, bur. S. H. Cem., Montegut m. David CROCHET}.
[ ] Interviewer Kathleen KILGEN - { } Transcriber Phil CHAUVIN Jr. - Proofreader Marcie CAVALIER