ORY, Lezin, St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana Submitted for the LA GenWeb Archives by Mike Miller, Nov 1998 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ Ory, Lezin, well-known citizen and large sugar planter, residing at Lions, was born in St. John the Baptist parish, and is a son of Lezin and Melanie (Cambre) Ory, both of whom also were born in that vicinity, as were the paternal grandparents, John Louis and Mattias (Cambre) Ory. The maternal grandparents, John Louis and Marie Louise (Streck) Chauff, were natives of Germany. The ancestors of the Ory family in Louisiana came originally from Lorraine, France. Lezin was the first of 8 children born to his parents, as follow: Emydge, the second child, is a sugar planter and lives near Lions; Felicien, resides at Convent; John L. has a beautiful plantation home at Laplace; Nicola died in youth; Placide has a commodious country home near Lions; Odele is now the wife of Ozeme Labiche, of Garyville; Anna was married to Ernest Madere, of St. John parish, now deceased. All of the brothers are largely interested in sugar planting and all own beautiful country homes. Each of the brothers is more particularly referred to elsewhere in this work. Lezin Ory received his education at the family home, under the direction of a private tutor. About the age of 15 years he began work as a farm laborer and so continued through 4 years, when, in association with his brothers, Idaho plantation was purchased and the growing of sugar cane was begun on their own account. The business prospered and after 7 years Ingleside plantation, in Assumption parish, was added and the cane production largely increased. Some years afterward Woodlawn plantation was bought, and again, after about 10 years, San Francisco plantation was added to the holdings and at about the same time Union plantation also was annexed. Three years later Mr. Ory became the owner of the Ricker plantation. In 1904 Ingleside plantation was disposed of. These plantation holdings now embrace about 5,000 acres, upon which cane and corn are grown as principal crops. The sugar mill on San Francisco plantation was erected at a cost of about $300,000, and has capacity for handling about 500 tons of cane daily. Lezin Ory was married to Clementine Levet, daughter of Xavier Levet of St. John parish, and 7 children have been born to their union, as follow: Bertha and Emily, were educated at St. Joseph's academy, Baton Rouge, and later attended Picard institute, New Orleans; Corinne and Sidonie attended Sacred Heart convent, New Orleans, and the former is now the wife of Dr. L. A. Caboche, a physician of Lions. Sidonie died at the age of 23 years. Joseph M. attended Jefferson college, St. James parish; Holy Cross college, the Jesuit Brothers' college, and Soule' college, New Orleans. Charles D. was educated at the Jesuit Brothers' college, and Junius E. also attended that institution, afterward taking the commercial course at Soule' college. He is now engaged in mercantile business at Lions. Lezin Ory's residence near Lions is one of the finest plantation homes in Louisiana, and presents a most inviting appearance. Mr. Ory has fairly won a conspicuous place for himself in the foremost rank of Louisiana's eminently honorable self-made men. He has accumulated wealth and placed at the disposal of his family a bountiful supply of the substantially good things of this life, and while doing so has drawn to himself the comradeship and approval of those who have been his co-laborers in the making of Louisiana. Lezin Ory served in the Confederate army from beginning to end of the Civil war. His command was attached to the army of the Tennessee. Source: Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form, volume 3, pp. 692-693. Edited by Alc e Fortier, Lit. D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association. # # #