Magdalen Square, Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, LA
Written by Ken Dupuy

                                    



**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************
 
 



    Here's an excerpt from another of my articles--this one was about 
Magdalen Square, in Abbeville.

    A grand Fourth of July celebration was held on a rain-soaked "Place 
Madeleine" in 1896.  Despite the rains, a large crowd came for the program.   
Following a parade by our band and fire company over several muddy blocks,  
speeches were delivered by J.R. Kitchell, who would be elected Abbeville's mayor 
a few years later, and by L.L. Bourges, a transplanted lawyer from Lafayette.
    After the speeches, numerous contests were held; the bicycle and foot 
races garnered the most attention. Since there was no cement of the square 
like there is today, these must have been sloppy races indeed. That night 
French Hall became the site of the festivities. Following a musical contest, 
a "grand Ball" topped off the day like a cherry on a sundae.
    Here are the contests and their winners; these results give us a sense of 
what some of our ancestors participated in and what others witnessed. Miss 
Georgie Labit won first prize and a gold medal in the musical contest. The 
silver medal was won by Miss Onegin Broussard.  Sosthene Harpin had the 
pleasure of winning the fat man's race.  The gold medal for the bicycle race 
went to Frank Godchaux (Sr.).  Hugh Summers won the foot race's silver medal; 
there was no gold medal in this contest. A watch and chain went to Walter 
Elmer for being victorious in the candle race. I'm guessing that Walter was 
the first to reach the finish line with his candle still lit.
    The twine-eating contest's winner was Leo Saporito who received a pocket 
knife for his efforts. Perhaps Leo used his prize whenever his stomach became 
tied up in knots!  Perry LeBlanc received a ball and bat for his hopping his 
way to victory in the sack race.  The boxing match ended in a draw; I don't 
who the contestants were.
    Perhaps the rains prevented other contests, that were advertised earlier 
in the newspaper, from being held. There was to have been a blind barrel 
rolling contest, a high jumping event, and a distance jumping contest. At any 
rate, it appears that this day's events were entertaining for participants 
and audiences alike.

Ken Dupuy