Cajun or Cerole? What's the Difference?

One of the granddaughters of Armita Marie Alleman, my grand uncle Henry Muir's second wife, always heard her grandmother was a full-blooded Native American. As she digs into her family history, she's finding out that may not be true. Her grandmother's race was always listed as "W" for white on the census forms, but she was from Acadia Parish. So was she Creole or Cajun and what's the difference anyway?

"Creole in a Red Turban" by Jacques Aman, circa 1840; image courtesy
Wikipedia

I learned it's pretty easy to determine the difference between Creole and Cajun food; Creole cuisine uses tomatoes, Cajun doesn't. People, well, that's not as easy.

When the French settlers moved to Louisiana, the placage system was set up due to a shortage of accessible white women. The French wanted to expand its population in the new world, however men were not expected to marry until their early thirties and premarital sex was inconceivable. African woman soon became the concubines of white male colonists, which in some cases they happened to be sons of noblemen, military men, plantation owners, etc. Soon, wealthy white men would marry and, in some cases, they would possess two families. One with the white woman to which they were legally married, and one with their mistress of color. The offspring from their mistresses were then grouped into a new class of creoles known as gens de couleur, or free people of color. This class of people would soon expand when refugees from Haiti and other French speaking colonies would migrate to New Orleans, effectively creating a new middle class between the white French Creoles and slaves.

Courtesy of Google

This class of colored people was unique to the South as they were not in the same category as African slaves. They were elite members of society who were often leaders in business, agriculture, politics, and the arts. At one time the center of their residential community was the French Quarter. Many were educated, owned their own property and businesses. Additionally, some were even slave-owners. They formed a third class in the slave society. This meant that in the pre-civil war era, race was mainly divided into four categories. These were white, black, creoles, and free people of color. French Creoles objected to the fact that the term Creole was used to describe Free People of Color but their culture and ideals were often mirrored by them. French Creoles spoke French while Black Creoles spoke Louisiana Creole which was a mixture of English, French, African or Spanish. The end of the civil war was a threat to the Louisiana Creoles of Color because this brought about the two-tiered class system that existed in the rest of the country that was divided predominately by race: black and white.

Cajuns, on the other hand, are any descendant of Acadian exiles (French-speaking Canadians from the Maritime provinces) who lived in the southern bayou region of Louisiana. They can be any race.

Courtesy of Google

Cajuns began arriving in Louisiana during the French and Indian War. Their forced expulsion by the British was part of the its military campaign again New France, the French territories in Canada. It is thought that over 11,000 people out of 14,000 were deported during what became known as the Great Expulsion.

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I learned when researching the cultural history of Russians in Alaska, they also used the term "creole" to define people with mixed Russian and Native Alaskan blood.

A version of this post first appeared on the Robert Muir Family blog on 7 April 2016, which is the publishing platform for the multi-volume book, Descendants of Robert Muir (c1800-1869). The original version of this post will be published in an electronic book, Volume VII: James Muir (1848-1926) Descendants in June 2016.

The Islenos from the Canary Islands

My grand uncle, Henry "Jack" Muir, married four times during his lifetime. His second wife was Armita Alleman. He and Armita had four children. I discovered a few of Henry's grandchildren on Ancestry.com's message boards. They were looking for more information about their grandparents. One had always been told she had Native American heritage from her grandmother, Armita. At the time I knew very little about Henry and only Armita's first name.

After several months of digging and help from my research collaborator cousin in New Zealand, we found the record of Henry and Armita's marriage license and learned her last name. Once I had that name I began tracing the Alleman family. I have yet to find Native American ancestors, but what I have discovered so far is fascinating.

Armita's parents were Arrestide Alleman and Alice Istre. Arrestide's grandmother, Maria Xaviera Carmelite Domingue (1814-1876) was descended from Islenos. As a child growing up in Virginia, my education was loaded with Colonial history, but I discovered it was sadly lacking in the early history of the United States beyond the thirteen original colonies. I knew nothing about Islenos. Learning about their history and culture has been the fascinating part of this research effort.

Prior to 1778, Spanish settlements in Louisiana could only trade with ships owned by Spanish subjects, which sailed from Seville, Alicante, Malaga, Carthagena, Barcelona, or Corunna. Don Carlos III eased those restrictions and, at his own expense, sent a large number of farmers and soldiers to Louisiana. He offered each colonist a home, tools and subsistence on which to live for up to four years. As a result of the inducements offered by the Spanish king, several families from the Canary Islands immigrated to Louisiana. They became known as Islenos. 

When the ships landed, the colonists were classified. Soldiers were sent to several Spanish regiments for training and farmers and their families were sent to settlements to claim their land and homes.

The ships that brought Islenos to present day St Bernard Parish;
Photo courtesy of NOAdventure.com

Thanks to the transcription work of Sidney Louis Villere in 1973, we know quite a bit about when and how the Islenos arrived in Louisiana. The villages allocated to the Islenos were:

• San Bernardo de Galvez, located on the shores of the Terre-Aux-Boeuf in Saint Bernard Parish
• Galveztown, located on the shores of the Amite river near Manchoc, in Iberville Parish
• Valenzuela, located on the shores of the Bayou Lafourche, in Assumption Parish
• Nueva Iberia, located on the shores of Bayou Teche in Iberville Parish

They were settlements strategically placed to guard the approaches to New Orleans.

Four original Isleno settlements; base map courtesy of Google Maps

Armita Alleman's 4 times great grandparents were Islenos. Juan Gonzales Carbo and his wife, Andrea Ruiz, along with their nine children arrived in Louisiana on 26 July 1778 aboard the Scaramento. Carbo became a member of the Infantry Regiment of Louisiana. His daughter Lorenza Gonzales Carbo married Augustin Dominguez in 1782 at Assumption Parish. Augustin's parents arrived in Louisiana on 9 October 1778 aboard a frigate named San Ignacio de Loyola. His father also became a member of the Infantry Regiment of Louisiana.

During the American Revolutionary War, Spain declared war on England and coordinated their efforts with France. Isleno soldiers fought against the English at Natchez, Manchoc, Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola.

To learn more, visit the Los Islenos Heritage and Culture Society website.

Sometimes It Takes a Village

Robert Muir (1875-1956) was my father's maternal grandfather. He immigrated to the U.S. with his mother, Margaret (Semple) Muir, half-sister and younger siblings in 1887 when he was 12 years old and followed his father into the coal mines. His daughter, Alice (Muir) Jennings, my grandmother, always said he was union agitator. According to her, he got run out of coal patches (company-owned towns), blackballed from employment rolls in several states, and shot at.

Remains of Robert Muir's birth record, author's personal collection

Our family never knew much about Robert Muir's life other than he was born in Scotland and his parents were James and Margaret (Semple) Muir. My father had his birth registration (1875), naturalization record (1896), his first wife's obituary (1909), and knew he had later married someone named "Liz," his social security card (1936), his West Virginia miner's certificate (1942) and death date (1956). Robert Muir died intestate in Van Buren County, Tennessee, and Dad had the notices of the public auctions held to sell his personal and real property as well as the final distribution of his estate to his heirs (1957). Dad also knew from his mother the approximate birth dates and places of Robert's children.

Robert Muir and his children

After entering all the known information into my family tree on Ancesty.com, I got the green leaf hint symbol! Some of those hints were obviously records for my Robert Muir and included the 1881 Scotland census, 1900 and 1910 U.S. federal census records and then nothing, which was crazy because he should have been enumerated in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 census. On the Illinois Secretary of State and State Archivist website, I was able to find a reference to Robert and Ida Mae (Riggin) Muir's marriage license. Ida Mae was his first wife and my great grandmother.

I was able to find his second wife, Elizabeth "Liz" (Fausz) Muir in the 1900, 1910, 1930 and 1940 census as well has her 1940 death record. She indicated she was divorced in the 1940 census, but her death record, also dated 1940, listed her husband as Robert Muir. I've not found either of them in the 1920 census. The only members of the family I have been able to find in the 1920 census are my grandmother who was living with her paternal grandmother at Nineveh, Missouri.

Robert Muir with his daughter, Henrietta Muir, taken when visiting my grandmother in Arlington, Virginia, from the author's personal collection

I knew his oldest son, Henry "Jack" Muir's, second wife's name was Armita. I found them in the 1930 census, which indicated Armita was born in Louisiana. A newly discovered Semple cousin found her maiden name and date of their marriage license on the Louisiana GenWeb archives. I started hanging out on Ancestry.com's Alleman and Muir message boards and connected with some of Henry Muir's grandchildren. They didn't know too much, but they knew different things than I did which gave my research efforts for Robert Muir some direction.

I joined the McDowell County, West Virginia, genealogy Facebook group because Robert's Social Security card and miner's certificate indicated he worked there in the late 1930s and early 40s. Not two days later I received a Facebook message from an ex-work colleague, who is also a member of the McDowell County group -- what a small world! My friend claimed to "dabble" in genealogy.  I sent him a timeline spreadsheet I created for Robert Muir, which included all known information and what was missing.

A few days later, my friend found Robert and his second wife in the East St Louis, Illinois, city directories for 1924, 1926, 1928, and 1930. They were living at the same house on 436 N 80th, which is now a vacant lot. When the 1930 census was enumerated, second wife Liz was listed as head of house, living at the same address with her three youngest children and her mother. In 1940 she was a lodger, living across the street and said she was divorced. She died later that year. Once I attached the city directories to Robert and Elizabeth (Fausz) Muir, I got another green leaf, which was his World War I registration card. It included an address just a few blocks from the address listed in the city directories.

Robert Muir's East St Louis places of residence, 1918-1930

I still don't have the 1920, 1930, or 1940 census records for Robert; and Tennessee is giving me the run around about his death certificate. But I am getting closer and have new research avenues to pursue, one of which will be to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Robert's Social Security application. He received his social security card on December 27, 1936. Typed on the card was this information, "Pocahontas Red Bird Mining Co, Iaeger, W Va." I also plan to write to the United Mine Workers' of America and ask about his pension information.

Robert Muir's Social Security Card, author's personal collection

So with the help of a newly discovered cousin, grandchildren of Robert's son Henry, and an ex-work colleague, I have learned more about my great grandfather. Sometimes it take a village! What other research avenues do you suggest?

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Robert Muir was born 16 Mar 1875 at Dalserf, Lanarkshire, Scotland to James and Margaret (Semple) Muir. He arrived in the United States on 30 September 1887 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aboard the steamship Manitoban and was naturalized on 10 October 1896 at Livingston County, Illinois. He married Ida Mae Riggin on 12 October 1902 at Collinsville, Madison, Illinois; he married Elizabeth "Liz" Fausz about 1912. They were living in East St Louis, St Clair, Illinois in 1918. From 1924, 1926, to 1928 the family lived in a home Robert owned at 436 N 80th Street, East St Louis. Liz and the three youngest children were living in at the same address 1930. Robert was not listed as living with the family but was included in the city directory for 1930. All of their children, except their third daughter were born at Illinois; she was born in 1920 at Virginia. Robert and Liz divorced or separated sometime before 1935. One of Robert and Liz's daughters and her family were living at Robert's house on 436 N 80th Street in 1940. Robert died on 27 June 1956 at Van Buren County, Tennessee.

The Elusive Henry "Jack" Muir

Henry Muir is my grandmother's older brother.  I knew next to nothing about him except from my grandmother's stories and what Dad had in his family tree computer program, which included:

• The names of Henry's parents, his father's birth year, and his mother's death year
• Henry's birth date
• The first names of Henry's four wives
• The names of his children and birth year estimates

Dad wasn't as fussed about sources and citations as I am.  So I really didn't know how much of the information was correct. My grandmother's stories included two that are proving relevant:

1. Henry didn't get along with his step-mother, they got into a fight, and he hit her so hard he thought he'd killed her. So he fled.  My grandmother didn't hear from him again for years and thought he started going by "Jack."
2. Her father was an agitator for the union and moved a lot.  Mining companies would ban him and sometimes even chase him out of town with guns.

They sounded a bit fantastical to me when I was younger, but now I'm starting to believe.

Several months ago, I started searching and found Henry in the 1910 census. He was living with his father, Robert, and younger sister, Alice, on Third North Street in O'Fallon, Illinois. His mother died the year before. I learned from that census he was born in Missouri and his father was a coal miner, which I already knew.  I also discovered Henry's paternal grandmother and her youngest daughter, Henry's Aunt Janie, were living next door. His father and grandmother rented their homes.

A coal mine in O'Fallon, Illinois, circa 1910

That was where the trail ended. I couldn't find Henry or his father in the 1920, 1930 or 1940 census and didn't even know in which states to look. I was able to find my grandmother in the 1920 census.  She was living with her paternal grandmother, who now owned a home in Nineveh, Missouri. 

Through Ancestry.com I connected with a relative who was related to Henry's paternal grandmother, Margaret Semple Muir.  She discovered a reference on USGenWeb Archive site to a marriage license for Henry Jack Muir and Armitar Marie Alleman on 24 Sep 1930 in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. "Armitar" was enough like Armita, which is the name I had for his second wife.  And "Henry Jack" confirmed that he had added Jack to his name somewhere along the way.

With Louisiana as a place to start and "Jack" as a different first name possibility, I started looking through the census records again. I found "Jack and Armedi Muir" in the 1930 census in Millerville, Louisiana, an unicorporated place in East Baton Rouge Parish. They rented their home for $30 a month and Jack said he was an electrician. He fudged the fact that this wasn't his first marriage. I wonder if Armita ever knew he'd been married before and had a daughter.

Rayne, Louisiana, in Acadia Parish. Armita was born in Rayne in 1907. Photo courtesy "Images of America: Rayne"

I started hanging out on the Alleman and Muir surname message boards on Ancestry.com. There were at least three grandchildren looking for information about Henry or Armita. They didn't know too much but knew different things than I did so I was able to learn a little more about Henry's six children by Armita and who some of them married.

Then Pete and I went to visit my parents. I came home with all of my Dad's genealogical files and papers. It turns out he had his grandfather, Robert Muir's important papers -- his birth certificate from Scotland, his Social Security card, his West Virginia Coal Miner's Certificate, and a typed page from a probate administrator that included the final distribution of Robert Muir's estate. Henry was listed so I assumed by 1956 he was back in touch with his family. From those papers I also learned that Robert Muir worked in McDowell County, West Virginia. This wasn't immediately helpful but proved to be so later on.

Robert Muir's Coal Miner's Certificate

I put a project up for bid on GenealogyFreelancers.com to hire a professional genealogist to fill in the gaps about Henry. We got off to a rocky start but we're on the right track now. Just after posting the details about my project another Ancestry.com member left two comments on my Henry Muir page:

1. He found Henry and Armita in the 1940 census They were listed as "Jack and Armita Meier" and had four children.  The names of those children matched the middle four children I had. In 1940 they were living in Rayne, Louisiana, where Armita was born, renting a home. Jack said he was making $550 a month as a truck driver. The 1940 census also asked where a family lived in 1935. Henry and Armita were in Los Angeles at that time. It also asked the ages of the children and in what state they were born. A daughter was four years old and had been born in Louisiana so I surmise they returned to that state in 1936.
2. He found his obituary in the Times-Picayune. So now I knew that Jack died on 24 May 1986. His wife, the former Eppie Sevan had predeceased him. Eppie was the name I had for the third wife.  I still don't know if Sevan is a maiden name or if she had been married before.

Henry "Jack" Muir Obituary

Now that I had a death date for Henry and better birth year estimates for his children from the 1940 census, I started getting hints from Ancestry.com and learned:

• Richard Marvin Muir died on 13 Sep 1939 at nine years of age in Acadia Parish. I also now have the death certificate number, which is why he wasn't listed on the 1940 census.
• Alexander "Sandy" Muir died on 21 Aug 1998 in Port Barre, Louisiana
• Henry James Muir, Jr. died on 24 Aug 2000 in Pearl River, Louisiana
• Barbara Jean Muir was living at 2204 Kenilworth Drive in Saint Bernard, Louisiana in 1993

Stuck again. Nothing for the third wife, Eppie Sevan, and still no last names for his first or fourth wives.  Last night, however, I searching for Muirs in McDowell County, West Virginia, where Henry's father lived from at least 1936 through 1942. I found a possibility for his oldest daughter, Inez, by his first wife Mary on FamilySearch.org, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' genealogy website. It was from the West Virginia Marriages, 1853-1970 record set. They also included a link to WVCulture.org, the West Virginia Division of Culture's website. On that site was an image of the marriage record. It provided the names, birth dates, places of birth, residences, names of the bride and groom's parents, and marriage date and location. I learned Inez was born in 1923, five years before my father thought. She was 15 when she married. And her parents' names were "Henry and Mary Muir."

Once I had Inez's birth date, Ancestry.com went into action and started providing new hints, including an Ohio death record.  She died on 22 Aug 2002 in Columbus, Ohio. She was married and her last name was now Moore so she married at least twice. If Inez was born in Buchanan County, Virginia, perhaps Henry and Mary, her parents were married there.  No luck. So I went back to McDowell County and found a record of that marriage. 

Marriage record for Henry Muir and Mary Canterbury

Henry married Mary Canterbury in 1921 when he was 19 years old. Since McDowell County was being so good to me, I combed the birth, marriage and death records for more Muirs. I discovered a record of Henry's daughter by Armita, Barbara Jean Muir. She married Isaac Junior Conrad in Sutton, West Virginia on 15 Jan 1953 when she was 17 years old. Dad believes she died in Lousiana in 1999, but I've yet to find a record of it.

I also learned Henry's half-brother, Robert, died in McDowell County on 22 Feb 1959 of liver failure due to cirrhosis.  He is buried in McDowell County, West Virginia.

Iaeger Memorial Cemetery, Roderfield, West Virginia

So many from this branch of the family were coal miners, including Henry's father and grandfather, James Muir, who immigrated from Scotland, Pete and I are now planning a long weekend trip to West Virginia. We'll follow the Coal Heritage Trail and visit local historical societies. Not to be missed is the McDowell County Coal Miner Memorial in Bradshaw, West Virginia, and the Coal Miner's Memorial, in Bartley, which commemorates a tragic mine accident in 1940 when 91 men lost their lives. I've also ordered a used book, "McDowell County, West Virginia, The Nations Coal Bin," from Amazon.com.

 McDowell County Coal Miners Memoria. Photo courtesy of "Legendary Locals of McDowell County," by William R. Archer

This was a long post, but I wanted you to get a flavor for what goes into finding information about your ancestors. It's not always easy and there's not always and interesting story at the end of the project. It's just the satisfaction you get from knowing you're making progress.