********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** CHARLES BRUNSON SMITH (1832-1889) Veteran of the Civil War 1861-1865 by Belford E. Carver, EdD August 1, 2001 It has taken me several years to find more detailed information about my great-grandfather, Charles Brunson Smith. My grandmother, Emily Mary "Mom" Smith LaBorde, told me when I was a boy, that her father was Charlie Smith, a teacher, and the family was from Ireland. Neither of these have I been able to prove as of this writing. She also said that when she was a child they lived on a farm in Mansura (Avoyelles Parish, LA). My grandmother was born at Moreauville, LA, and was baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, according to her birth record, June 25, 1878, and baptized on August 18, 1878. (She is named Marie Emilie Smith on this copy.) Rev. P. E. Simon performed the rite of baptism with her sponsors Floreval (Floyd), her step-brother, and a Zeline Dubois, who may have lived with the family at that time. She also told me that Charlie had fought in the Civil War, and had been wounded. She mentioned a number of times that Charlie was "Baptist" and in order to marry her mother, Uranie Elmire "Nanan" Moreau Chatelain, he had to join the Catholic Church. I assume that he joined Sacred Heart prior to his marriage; the church records were destroyed by fire for the time period 1873-1897. They were married May 1, 1877. The family knew that this was Nanan's second marriage, but I just learned recently that Charlie had a first wife, Azama DuBois (born 1835) whom he married in 1853. (Also spelled Azima and Azema) No stories were told about this first wife. We do not know if the Zeline mentioned above was any relation to Azama. (Thanks to Grady McFarland and Iva Lea for their help!) According to Mom, Charlie's father and mother were Ralph and Matilda. She said Matilda was of German/Irish descent. Eventually, I discovered, through the help of Edna Rabalais of Alexandria, that they were buried at Liberty Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Williana. No doubt, Charlie was Methodist, not Baptist, prior to his marriage to Nanan. (My Catholic relatives often referred to folk who were not Catholic as Baptist. To them, I guess there were only two denominations!) My grandmother, Emily, also told me that Charlie had two sisters, Louisa and Emma. Later in my research I was to find additional information on them. My aunt, Elda LaBorde Whitecotton, told me before her death that Charlie was probably from Natchitoches as he often traveled there to visit friends and relatives. One of the stories passed down was that Charlie nearly froze to death on his horse while making one of the trips in the cold of a severe winter. Another relative heard that he had a lingering illness due to this trip, complicated by his war wounds, and this may have shortened his life, since he died at the age of 57. They said the trip would take two to three days by horseback. Another story that has been passed down by family members, is that Charlie was a teacher, but he didn't believe his girls needed to learn to read and write. Mom and her sister, Lorena ("Telo") spoke French and English, but could not read or write in either language. They did work a lot in the cotton fields. According to my cousin, Carol Ann Hall-Zoebel, the family did not even own the farm, but were share-croppers. One of the step-sons, Floyd, is said to have run away from home at one time because he did not like the way Charlie treated his step-sisters. I suspect, too, that Charlie was hard on Nanan's sons, Leonce and Floyd Chatelain. No doubt the times were tough on them all. It seems unlikely to me that Charles owned any slaves. However, Zoebel in her research found in the 1863 Baptisms of Slaves and Indians in Louisiana, a Zelina Dubras or Dubaris, five months old, mulatto, born to a slave owned by C. Smith. This may or may not be Charles B. This would be the period when he was serving in the CSA. Additionally, she found in the Winn Parish census of 1860 where Charlie's mother, Mary Matilda Smith, owned 10 slaves. She had become a widow the previous year. Records indicate she later lived with her daughter, Louisa Smith Deen (1843-1925). From Booth's book on Louisiana soldiers in the CSA, I found a Charles Smith, private, Company B, 19th Louisiana Infantry, who enlisted December 11, 1861 at Camp Moore, LA. He was present on several of the rolls as well as being wounded and spent some time in the hospital. Apparently he was involved with the Battle of Shiloh. Another entry indicated being wounded at Spanish Fort, March 29, 1865. Based on this information, I obtained his service record from the Archives in Washington DC, and subsequently obtained a CSA headstone for his unmarked grave at St. Paul's Catholic Church, Mansura. The St. Paul's records indicated that both he and Elmire/Nanan were buried in the cemetery, but the exact location was unknown. Ann Zoebel and I purchased a headstone for Nanan. On April 17, 2000, both headstones were placed near the graves of her son, Leonce Chatelain (son by Zenon Z. Chatelain) and his wife, Irma Prevot, and their daughter, Belle. {Zenon (1840?-1868) also served in the Civil War (9/1862 to sometime after 1864.), and is buried at St. Paul's, in a CSA marked above-ground double grave. It is possible that Elmire is buried next to him, but there is no marker for her there.} Charles B. Smith was born in Natchitoches terrritory Feb 1, 1832, perhaps around Williana in what is Grant Parish today. His first marriage was to Azama DuBois on December 27, 1853, when he was about 21 and she was about 18. There is an entry in the St. Paul's Book IV for an Azema DuBois, 21 Jan 1876, age ?8. Perhaps this is the same person (1876 minus 1835 would be age 41). The Liberty Chapel records lists a Laura Matilda Smith, born March 26, 1863, died June 7, 1863, that possibly could be a child of Azama and Charles. No other children have been found at this writing. Ann Zoebel found that Azema was the fifth child of Jean Baptist Valentine and Louisa DuBois, Cotile, Poste Du Rapides, LA. He married Uranie (Marie) Elmire "Nanan" Moreau Chatelain May 1, 1877, which would be the following year after Azema's death. (In LaCour's BRIDES BOOK, one of the witnesses to their marriage was Eugene Dubois.) Elmire was known to the family as "Nanan". She was born March 13, 1842 in Mansura and died October 23, 1937 at the age of 95. My mother, Doris, said she was a very short and tiny woman. My cousin, Earline LaBorde Wilkerson, Shreveport, told me that she recalled that Nanan had the smallest waistline she had ever seen on a woman. I have an old photo of her with her two sons and two daughters which was probably taken around 1935-37. Her parents were (Don) Louis Moreau, Sr., and Emelie (Emilie) Rabalais. Incidently, Nanan's older sister, Emilia Moreau, became the wife of Jerome Lemoine, my great-great-grandparents on the Isaac Jerome LaBorde side of my family. The two daughters born to them were Emily Mary (1878-1967) who married Isaac Jerome LaBorde; and Lorena (1882-1972) who married Edouard Paul Gremillion. Emily and I. J. LaBorde had six children: Belford Earl, Beatrice, Elda Marie, Doris Marie, Louise, and Maurice Robert. (This writer is the son of Doris Marie and Herbert Leon Carver.) Lorena and Edouard Gremillion had nine children: William Joseph, Forrest Paul, Louise, Percy, Martha, Aline Marie, Dorothy, Lorena May, and Ruth. (Ann Zoebel is the daughter of May and Andy Hall.) Siblings of Charles B. Smith were: (1) Edwin Ralph (1830-1858), School Master, (2) Francis Marion (1834-?), (3) Benjamin Franklin (1836-?) who married Nancy Collins, (4) Marion or Mary Emma (1839-?) who married Edward Arthur Edmund Neal; (5) Ann Marie (1841 -1863) second wife of Louis Boniol, and (6) Louisiana (Louisa) (1843-1925) who married Dr. Rufus M. Deen. He may have had two half-sisters as discussed below. Charlie's father, Ralph Smith, was born in MS Jan 25, 1796, and died May 25, 1859. His first wife was Sarah Shearer (1803-1826). They were married Nov 12, 1818, and they had the following children: William Plinny (1821-1825), Samuel Watkins (1823- ?), and Nancy (1825- ?). (Their first child was born and died March 15, 1820.) His second wife was Mary Matilda Carroll, born in MS Jan 4, 1804 and died May 19, 1887. They were married July 16, 1829 in Alexandria. Since Ralph's grave is unmarked, Ann Zoebel and I have purchased a headstone for him to be placed at Liberty Chapel this year. According to Iva Lea Elliott of Grant Parish, Mary Matilda Carroll Smith may have been married prior to her marriage to Ralph Smith. This is possible since she was born in 1804 and was age 25 at the time of their marriage. There are two other Carrolls listed in the Liberty Chapel records: (1) Elva Ann Carroll born August 16, 1820 and (2) Mary Emily Carroll born August 23, 1821. Zoebel's research found where Mary Emily Carroll (1821-1856) was the first wife of Louis Boniol (1818-1908). His second wife was Ann Marie Smith, half-sister to Mary Emily Carroll, if this information is correct. Louis and Mary Emily had five children between the years 1843-1854. Charles Brunson Smith had an older brother who was a teacher which may have influenced him to also follow that occupation, although we have not found hard evidence to support this. His father was apparently a farmer with slaves, so no doubt this also influenced him as well since teachers were usually employed for a rather short period of time in those years. The low pay would hardly support a family. It is unknown when he moved from the Natchitoches area to the Mansura/Moreauville area. Perhaps he heard of land available where he could try his hand at farming. In this time period, many Louisiana folk lived off the land hunting, fishing, raising cattle, and farming. When the Civil War began, he enlisted for the entire period and was wounded twice in battle. After the War, he continued to travel on horseback between the two areas maintaining contact with friends and family. One of those trips ruined his health. Apparently he had no living children from the first wife and after she died, he married a second time to Nanan, a widow with two sons. It would be interesting to learn how Charlie met Nanan since they apparently were not reared in the same parish. I don't recall any stories about how they met. Perhaps he was some type of itinerate teacher, and his travels brought him to the Marksville, Mansura, Moreauville area, or they were neighbors prior to Azama's death. There was a school in the Natchitoches area that had some Smiths involved, but at this point I have not found his name attached to the faculty or the school in any way. French was no doubt the family language as both of their daughters, Emily and Lorena, could speak French and English, though unable to read or write in either one. Both of them often lamented about their lack of formal education, yet they were very good mothers and wives, and brought lots of love, faith, joy and laughter to the many who knew them. Research is continuing on this family. Other interested parties are invited to contact Carver or Zoebel: Belford E. Carver, 1512 Pecan St., Hammond, LA 70401-1737 or bcarver@i-55.com Ann Zoebel, email: cahallzoe@vcn.com