Iberia County Louisiana Archives Obituaries.....Duperier, Dr. Alfred March 23, 1904 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mary K. Creamer marykcreamer@yahoo.com August 9, 2016, 12:01 am New Iberia Enterprise and Independent Observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, March 26, 1904, Image 2 DR. ALFRED DUPERIER. Death the implacable has again invaded our community and taken hence one of the foremost of our citizens. On Wednesday morning at 8:30 o'clock the soul of Dr. Alfred Duperier took its flight to the great beyond. He had been attacked by Pneumonia which complicated with heart trouble and in a few days the end came suddenly and painlessly, while consulting with one of his physicians. Dr. Alfred Duperier was born in what is now Iberia Parish, then the portion of St. Martin Parish, afterward used in forming Iberia Parish. He was in his 79th year, having been born in 1826. His family were the founders of New Iberia whose holdings at that time constituted what is now the heart of the town. Dr. Duperier was educated in Ann Arbor Michigan where he was graduated as a Physician in early manhood. After considerable foreign travel, he took up the practice of his profession in the town of his birth, and for fifty years zealously followed it, becoming one of the most eminent in the whole district. During the terrible epidemics of 1853 and 1867 Dr. Duperier was entirely devoted to his people, dispensing food and medicine and treatment with a lavish hand virtually living in his buggy, especially in 1867, attending the urgent calls of his distressed people. His charities and personal work was beyond computation often assisting with his own hands in burying the dead, victims of the terrible Yellow Scourge. His donations to public institution were munificent, giving the large tract of ground lying on St. Peter street between Iberia and Julia street, as a site for a Catholic Church, on which stands St. Peter's and Convent, now worth many thousands of dollars. Dr. Duperier was also engaged in planting of sugar on his beautiful and extensive "Morbihan" Plantation and was the first to introduce modern sugar apparatus, being the pioneer in erecting Vacuum Pans and Centrifugals. The same property is to-day owned by the New Iberia Sugar Co., in which the Doctor holds an interest. Although a very busy man with his manifold pursuits, Dr. Duperier found time to take part in the politics of his country, before the war he was an earnest Whig and was prominent in the battles for that party being a forceful and keen debater. During the civil war he was an ardent supporter of the U. S. Government and stood by the flag unfaltering, was the trusted and honored friend of Lincoln, Chas. Sumner and Douglas, for whom he named a son. During the reconstruction period he was ever on the side of conservatism and right and denounced the outrages of that period in unmeasured terms. Was a Republican staunch and true, ever looking to the establishment of a party in the South based upon intelligence and white supremacy, and the party of to-day is much the creature of his brain, counsels and forceful character. Dr. Duperier was married twice his first wife bore him a daughter, Mrs. P. L. Renoudet now living. His second was Miss Emma Mille, with whom he underwent a most horrible experience in the great storm of 1859 at Last Island, at which resort they were staying during the hot days of August. The tidal wave swept completely over the island, wrecking all the buildings and destroying many lives and property. Dr. Duperier and Miss Mille were at the mercies of the storm tossed waves for nearly two days, floating upon an old armoir captured by the Doctor, and from which they were rescued more dead than alive. Miss Mille afterwards became his wife, now surviving him. By this union five children survive him. Dr. Douglas Duperier, Mr. Alfred Duperier, Attorney-at-law at Beaumont, Mrs. Dr. T. J. Woolf, and Misses Marie and Althee Duperier, who will forever cherish the memory of the kind father who lived to provide a home of elegance and refinement and who has left them an example of integrity and civic worth that sordid wealth cannot measure. The funeral occurred in St. Peters Church which was too small to accommodate the immense concourse that gathered to pay their last respects. The solemn service was conducted by Fathers Jonan and Frohn. The active pall bearers were all of the medical fraternity: Drs. J. W. Sanders, J. W. K. Shaw, I. T. Rand, Geo. J. Sabatier, H. A. King and Dr. Remy. The following were the honorary pall bearers being the friends of "Auld Lang Syne." Messrs. H. B. Bayard, Alfred Bayard, Benoit Bayard, Charles Mestayer, Martial Sorrels, Zenon Decuir, Felix Patout, Octave Darby, Caesar Darby, A. Lacour, Capt. T. L. Morse, Nat. Henderson, Phil. Faules, G. L. Hall, Jean Courrege, C. C. Young, Louis Suord, L. J. Millianers, Louis Delcambre, Jno. T. White, R. A. Pomeroy, I. H. Knight, Joe Russell, Geo. M. Robertson, Charles H. Lee, P. L. Renoudet, Ed. Dupre, Jules Blanchet, Norbert Blanchet, L. A. Pellerin, Wm. Southwell. No person of our time has left a more vivid impress, or whose memory will be cherished longer than this noble son of Iberia. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/iberia/obits/d/duperier6470gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/lafiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb