The Antoine Lavigne Family, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, May 2007
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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THE ANTOINE LAVIGNE FAMILY

BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian

Among the earliest settlers of rural east side Ponchatoula was the family of 
Antoine Lavigne who through his two wives left numerous descendents in this area.  
Antoine was born between 1770 and 1775 in the area of the Spanish colony of 
Louisiana known as the German Coast, and was the son of Robert Lavigne (1740-1794) 
and Susanne LeRoux (ca. 1742-1817).  The area upstream from New Orleans in present 
day St. John and St Charles parishes was called the German Coast because of the 
large number of German immigrants who settled in that area. 

Antoine married to Marie Rousseau 16 April 1800 in the St. John the Baptist Church 
in St. John Parish.  Marie was the daughter of Nicholas and Marianne Rousseau.  
Antoine and Marie farmed on the Coast and began their family.  Antoine served in 
the Louisiana militia during the War of 1812.  Sometime after the end of the war in 
1815, Antoine and his family moved from the German Coast and settled in what was 
then St. Tammany Parish, but after 1869 would be in Tangipahoa Parish. 

Marie Rousseau Lavigne did not long survive the move to the piney woods of St. 
Tammany Parish as she seems to have died about 1817.  Antoine and Marie had 
children: a first born son who died at age five days and was buried 7 March 1801; 
Carmelite Marie Lavigne, born 1802, married Augustus Badeaux; Antoine Lavigne, Jr., 
born 1804, married Virginia Burne; Delphine Lavigne, born 1807, married Henry 
Hoover; Euladie Lavigne, born 1811, married August Hoover; and Marie Natalie 
Lavigne, born 1814, married Etienne Cambre.  From these children there are hundreds 
of descendents in this area who bear the name of Lavigne, Badeaux, Poche, Perrin, 
Hoover, Wells, Robertson, Colkmire, Hano, and many other familiar names of East 
Side Ponchatoula.

Antoine married for a second time 11 Sept. 1819 in St. Tammany Parish, to the 
widow Mary Elizabeth Hoover DeNelle.  Mary was the widow of Jean Baptiste Denelle, 
who had died in 1817, and left five children.  Antoine and Mary lived on a section 
of land on the east bank of the Tangipahoa River south of present day Highway 22, 
that had been settled earlier by Mr. Denelle. 

Antoine and Mary had two sons during their marriage: John Edward Lavigne, born 
about 1822, who married Mary Felicite Keller; and Peter Henry Lavigne, born 1825, 
who married Mary Elizabeth Mitchell.  These two Lavigne men and their wives left 
many descendents not only in the Ponchatoula area, but also in present day 
Livingston Parish.

When the census taker came to the Antoine Lavigne home in 1830, he recorded Antoine 
and his wife, and seven children, whose names are not listed on this early census 
schedule.  Living nearby was Antoine's son Antoine, Jr., and a number of 
neighboring families whose lives intertwined with the Lavignes including Augustus 
Hoover, Francis Kellare, Henry Hoover, Thomas Raiford, Sarah E. Raiford, Drosen 
Burne, and Antoine Rousseaux.

Antoine Lavigne, Sr., died 13 Nov. 1839 in St. Tammany Parish.  In his succession 
his property was divided between his wife, the five surviving children from his 
first marriage and his two sons from his last marriage.  Following Antoine's death 
Simon Gosselin and William Robertson "repaired to the plantation upon which the 
deceased last resided" to conduct an inventory.  The inventory consisted of a slave 
named Kitty, age 30, and her six young children; three cattle, farming utensils, 
three guns, a horse, a pirogue, and two beds.  The land on which Antoine and 
Elizabeth lived was not included in this inventory, probably because it was 
Elizabeth's separate property coming to her from her marriage to John Batiste 
Denelle.  The inventory was witnessed by her son John B. Denelle, her step-son 
Antoine Lavigne, Jr., and her son-in-laws Henry and August Hoover.  The property 
belonging to Antoine Lavigne was partitioned in 1843 with his wife Elizabeth 
receiving a half interest as the widow in community, and each of the seven Lavigne 
children receiving $143.14. 

Elizabeth Lavigne continued to live on the old home place near the Tangipahoa River 
until her death 15 Feb. 1855.  She was buried next to her two husbands in the 
family cemetery on her land which was later called the Collins Cemetery.  Her 
succession was opened in 1858 and her property was divided among her Denelle and 
Lavigne children.

Antoine Lavigne and his family brought their French heritage to this area around 
1817 and their legacy continues today through their numerous descendents of "Our 
Ponchatoula."

Anyone with questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, may contact 
Jim Perrin at 386-4476.