Marriage Record of Charles Jacques François Perrotin and Catherine O'Grady

26 January 1860

Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana

This week marks the 152nd anniversary of the marriage between Charles Jacques  François Perrotin and Catherine O'Grady (also known as Catherine Grady), on January 26, 1860, in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Here is a copy of their Certificate of Marriage.  A transcription follows, along with a short background of a legendary Catholic priest who united the couple in Holy Matrimony.

Transcription

State of Louisiana   }

Parish of Caddo      }

I hereby certify that on the 26^th day of Jany 1860, I being a minister of the Gospel and authorized to celebrate the bonds of matrimony have celebrated the marriage between François Perrotin and C. Grady in the presence of the undersigned witnesses.

Nancy Petters                                                                         François Perrotin

A Cook                                                                                                 

J P. Brinck                                                                                Catherine Grady

                                                                                                       X her Mark

                                                (illegible)

Recorded 9^th

(illegible) 1860

            Shreveport the 26th of January 1860, I the undersigned J. Pierre, Catholic parish of Shreveport have joined in holy and lawful wedlock after license of the Court has been obtained Mr. F. Perrotin and Wife Catherine Grady.  In testimony thereof its parties François Perrotin, Catherine O'Grady, N. (illegible)     A. G. Cook, Prof. Dr. Casiez Cte, Beaumont have hereunto affixed their names. 

                                                                                                J. Pierre

                                                                                                C. V.

Father John Pierre, French Missionary

"J. Pierre" was Father John Pierre, the founding pastor of Holy Family Church, the first Catholic church in Shreveport.  As a seminarian in France, Pierre had been recruited by Bishop Augustus Martin of the then-new Diocese of Natchitoches, to do missionary work.  He arrived there in 1854.  On his ordination date one year later, Bishop Martin appointed Father Pierre as pastor of the first parish of the diocese, Holy Apostles.  When he became aware that the Catholic families in the nearby city of Shreveport had no priests or places to worship,  Father Pierre persuaded the bishop to let him expand his missionary work. He bought land on the corner of Fannin and Marshall Streets in Shreveport, where he built a small wood frame church (the first in Shreveport) in 1856.  He replaced it with a larger brick church three years later.  This was Holy Family Church and most likely is where he married François and Catherine.

Father John Pierre, center

Thirteen years later (and long after  François and Catherine had departed Shreveport), the beloved Father Pierre died of yellow fever, one of five Catholic priests to be stricken during a tragic epidemic.  It was a sad day for the people of Shreveport, who had known Father Pierre as a tireless evangelizer for the Church and a devoted minister to the sick.  Another priest of the time, Father Joseph Gentille, wrote of Father Pierre, "His death was a public calamity.  He was loved and esteemed by all."

In a fateful coincidence, yellow fever would go on to claim the life of the Perrotin's only son, Francisco, some 26 years later in Orizaba, Mexico.


Copyright (C) 2012  Linda Huesca Tully

Are you a member of the Perrotin, O'Grady, or Pierre families?  If so, share your own thoughts and stories below.