Kershaw-Broussard History, Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana Submitted by Kathy LaCombe-Tell Source: NOLA MAE ROSS American Press Writer Publication Date: 11/18/1990 Page and Section: 3 4 Submitted April 2002 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************Music legacy of Kershaw-Broussard connection Research for the first test-tube baby took place in Oldham, England, at a hospital named for an early English doctor named Kershaw. But it was music, not medicine that bound together the descendants of the first Kershaw to emigrate from England to America. That English doctor, John Nedham Kershaw, was born in England in about 1779. He came to America and married a lady from New York, whose name is unknown. By 1805, John Nedham Kershaw and his wife had moved south to St. Martin Parish in Louisiana. The route of Kershaw's journey to Louisiana is not known. But there is a town in South Carolina, near Camden, which is named Kershaw and might have been one stop during the family's migration. John Nedham Kershaw was issued a cattle brand in 1817 in St. Martin Parish. He died in 1824, in St. Mary Parish, and was survived by four sons and two daughters. Civil War records show that a John Kershaw of Co. G, 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery, was listed as missing in action from the gunboat Governor Moore. There was also a Patrick Kershaw, who served in Co. E of the 1st Louisiana Infantry and was listed as a prisoner of war. Another son, Samuel Kershaw, was only eight years old when his father died. Samuel was thought to have been brought to the Bayou D'Inde or Choupique area, because Professor Thomas Rigmaiden wrote in his diary, ''Sam (Kershaw) hauled me some wood today.'' The date was 1839, and Samuel Kershaw would have been 23 years old. Samuel married Augustine Hargrave, daughter of William Hargrave, and they settled in what is now Acadia Parish, near Morse and Midland. Samuel and Augustine Kershaw had at least seven daughters and four sons. One son, Joseph Nedham Kershaw, became patriarch of the Kershaw families that live near Lake Arthur, Hayes, Grand Chenier, Creole, Cameron and Big Lake.Joseph Nedham Kershaw, the third generation of Kershaws in Louisiana, was listed as living at Cypress Island, between Grand Lake and Lake Arthur, when he married Marie Onesia Touchet. They had seven children, and one of the oldest sons, Alcee Kershaw, became well known in the Cameron area. ''My grandfather Alcee was born in Morse,'' recalls Wayne Kershaw, assistant principal of Cameron Elementary School, who has compiled a family history. ''Alcee married Helena Hanks, and they lived in Grand Chenier, where they raised their family. ''Three of their sons, Lazime, Thozeme and HenryHenry is my father live in Cameron, halfway between Creole and Cameron. Another brother, Severan, lives in Sulphur, and Newton Kershaw and Onezia Kershaw Savoid are deceased. ''Joseph Nedham Kershaw was married a second time, in 1898, to Olivia Pleasant, and they had 10 children, making him the father of 17. Three of the children from his second marriage are still living Ozite Babineaux of Sulphur and Amelia Labauve and Abel Kershaw, both of Hackberry. Abel Kershaw was later immortalized in a song that his nephew, the popular French fiddler, Doug Kershaw, wrote about him, which says in part: ''My Uncle Abel took an old oak tree, ''He made a little rocking chair for me, ''Back and forth rocking all day long, ''He'd see to it everybody left me alone.'' Another son of Joseph Nedham Kershaw was named Ulger (L.J.). His son, Murphy, lives in Lake Charles. Murphy recalls, ''I was born on a houseboat on Lacassine Bayou and lived there until I was seven. ''As a child, I helped my dad build cypress boats. He sold some and rented others for 50 cents a day. In the winter, after school, we'd stand by the bayou waiting for my dad to come home in his boat, which was loaded with nutria and otter. Then we'd help him skin them and stretch them over hangers to dry. Buyers would come around and make bids on them. ''In the summer, we'd fish and then take the fish we caught into Lake Arthur by boat, where Price Fish Market had a dock. They bought the fish from us.'' Jackson Kershaw was also a son of the old patriarch, Joseph. Following the family tradition of earning a living by trapping and fishing, Jackson took his family to live in a houseboat near a little island 12 miles southwest of Lake Arthur, which is called ''Lil-o- tige.'' When Jackson Kershaw married Rita Broussard, he brought together the best of two musical families. And Rita Broussard Kershaw came from a very musical family indeed. Rita's great-grandfather, Nicholas ''Cola'' Broussard, and his sister first came to Cameron Parish in about 1850. Nicholas later served in the Civil War in Co. B, 16th Battalion, of the Louisiana Infantry. Nicholas married Natalie Savoie of Creole, and they lived and reared their children in Creole. The whole family was described as being able to ''make a fiddle soar and an accordion dance.'' A son of Nicholas and Natali, who was also named Nicholas, married Ursula Miller and settled at Big Lake. Their children were Albert, Victoria, Mathilde Savoi and Savin, all deceased, and Charles H. Broussard, who married Edith Faulk of Grand Lake and lives in Sulphur today. Charles Broussard worked for Union Sulphur most of his life, but had his own weekend band for about 35 years. Of his sons, Carroll, of Lake Charles, played steel guitar with his father's band, C.J. played the drums, and Arnold, now deceased, played the piano and sang. A fourth son, Wayne, is not musical. Carroll has four children, Dale and Todd, who are musical, and Gina and Ricky. The Broussard children have several cousins who are also musical, among them Glenn and Rayburn Guidry, Gordon Broussard and all of the Kershaws. They had an uncle, Savin Broussard, who was blind but still played the guitar and fiddle. Another of Nicholas Broussard's sons, Albert, married Ophelia Benoit. They were the parents of Rita Broussard, who married Jackson Kershaw and lived on a houseboat on the Mermentau. According to Russell Gary of Lake Arthur, a longtime friend of the Kershaws, the ''Lile-o-tige'' on the Mermentau is used today only for pasturing cattle. ''At one time, there were many houseboats along the Mermentau and Lacassine,'' Gary said. ''Trappers and fishermen lived so they'd be close to their trapping areas.'' Jackson and Rita Broussard Kershaw had four sons Edward, who died 11 years ago, Nelson, Doug and Rusty. Edward's widow, Marie Kershaw, lives in Jennings today. ''My husband played the accordion for many years,'' she said. ''His mother, Rita, played the guitar and the accordion, and his father, Jackson, also played the accordion. ''Today, Rusty lives in New Orleans where he plays in bands, Nelson lives in Galveston and also plays some, and Doug Kershaw lives in Greeley, Colorado, with his wife, Pam, and their three sons, Zachary, Tyler and Eli. Doug also has two older sons by a previous marriage, Doug Jr.and Victor, who live in Nashville. Best know for the song, ''Louisiana Man,'' which ranked high on the charts, Doug Kershaw has entertained audiences in Nashville at the Grand Old Opry for many years and has recorded several hit records. He has also played in clubs throughout the U.S. and is now performing in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, in Oldham, England, another young vocalist and songwriter named Nik Kershaw is gaining attention. He might be a far-distant cousin of Doug's. It's obvious that as long as the Kershaw-Broussard heritage continues from one generation to another, music will be in the air. SIDEBAR: DOUG KERSHAW HD: From Lake Arthur to outer space: The musical journey of Doug Kershaw Doug Kershaw's musical story began when he was seven, after his father's death and after the family moved into Lake Arthur. ''My mother earned about 50 cents a day washing and ironing, so I decided to make some money shining shoes,'' Doug recalled. ''But no one would hire me, and I was too little to fight for space. So one day I took my fiddle with me and began playing on the street. ''A crowd gathered, and when I stopped playing they asked me to continue. I told them I'd play some more if they'd let me shine their shoes. So I wound up earning $10.20, which I took home, and we cried and ate beans and everything.'' When I was about eight, I played at dance halls around Lake Arthur. They were rough in those days. My mother always went with me and played the guitar. When the crowd got drunk, she made me lay down to play, so the flying bottles wouldn't hurt me. ''I started school in Lake Arthur and couldn't speak English. We next moved to Jennings, where I went to high school. ''Then my brother, Rusty, and I began playing music together all around the Acadiana circuit. J.D. Miller of Crowley put us on a record that he sold over the counter. I wound up with most of them. Then Miller recorded another one, and it wound up on the Acuff-Rose and Hickory Records in Nashville.'' In 1955, the Kershaw brothers went to the Louisiana Hayride, and then to the Grand Old Opry, where Doug became a regular. He and Rusty split up, and after serving his time in military service, Doug decided a change was in order. ''After a lot of thinking and soul-searching, I began to write songs. I wrote a lot of them. I decided I'd found out who I was Doug Kershaw. And I was a Cajun. And that's who I am. And that's who I am going to be.'' This was the real beginning of Doug Kershaw's climb to success. ''I wrote Louisiana Man, which was about my daddy, and I signed with Warner Bros. A gentleman by the name of Johnny Cash, would you believe, asked me if I would be on his premier show, and he didn't have to ask. All he had to do was say so. I was more than glad.'' Doug went on to perform and record with stars like Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, Marty Robbins, Jeannie C. Riley, Porter Wagner and Bill Monroe. Doug and Reba McIntyre entertained in the Cajun Dome a few months ago. At the last Super Bowl, Doug and Pete Fountain were part of an extravaganza seen around the world. Along with success, Doug found inner peace. ''It was years after I found my dad dead from a self-inflicted bullet, when I was seven, that I finally came to be at peace with my dad. I realized he had a reason,'' Doug said. Doug Kershaw immortalized his father in ''Louisiana Man,'' but he's also made famous many of the older French songs like ''Joli Blon'' and ''Jambalaya,'' singing in both French and English. Today, Doug is still recording, and many of his songs have become classics. How do you pick a special spot from such a varied career? Doug doesn't hesitate. It came during the flight of Apollo 12, when America's astronauts piped Doug's ''Louisiana Man'' down from space during a leisure period when the astronauts decided they would like to entertain the ground crew at the Houston space center.