Alex Genealogy

09/05/2025

To all the Black families or families of color out there! You descend from something whether your ancestors were rich, poor, enslaved or free people of color. Never believe there isn’t any history about your family just because you don’t know the history. Here is a story about a large family out of Ville Platte, Louisiana!!!

Joseph Leonce SERAILLE, also known as "Joe La Pomme" was born circa 1882 in Belair Cove, Louisiana to Joseph Desiree SERAILLE, a free man of color, and Melanie LAFLEUR, a formerly enslaved woman belonging to the wealthy BELAIR FONTENOT family. He was married on the 15 Jan 1903 to Cleophile LACHAPELLE in Opelousas, Louisiana. His wife Cleophile was born on 27 Dec 1887 in Opelousas, Louisiana to Leonard LACHAPELLE and Marie Theresa DONATO, both free people of color. Joseph died on 3 Apr 1957 in Ville Platte, Louisiana. Cleophile died in 1919 after giving birth to her son. They had 8 children: Joseph Leonce, called “Younce, Edna, called “B”, Virginia, called “Jane”, Clifton, called “Ro Coe”, Herbert, called “Bo-Yort” Charles, Mary, called “Ma Swain” and Gertie.

The progenitors of the SERAILLE family of Saint Landry Parish was Jean Jacques SERAILLE born circa 1775 in Murat Cantal, France and Jeanne L'everque. Jeanne was a Creole from the city of St. Thomas, Island of Martinique born 1798 to Thomas and Marie EUVEMON.

Jean Jacques came to Louisiana in the early 1800s as an engineer. He was once associated with some of the area's prominent free families of color such as the DONATO’S and LEMELLE’s having both been liberated since the 1700s. families. Although he was an engineer by trade, his sons took Blacksmithing as a trade, a trade that was carried throughout the family for generations. Andre and Jeanne’s son, Joseph owned a tin shop on Tin Shop on Main Street, a street that was one of the hottest locations with thriving businesses. The 1876 newspaper article of Joseph’s business advertising is attached to this post

Joseph left the hustle and bustling town of Opelousas to settle in Ville Platte, Louisiana, an area where you could find most of the SERAILLE's. Considering Ville Platte not having a large population of free people of color prior to the Civil War, statistically most of the families there didn’t progress socially and economically as much as the families in areas whereas they had thriving communities of gens de couleur libres (free people of color. they were once associated with early.

The SERAILLE family now has over 50 variations of the spelling which is why many claim that they're not the same family but there was only one SERAILLE who came to Louisiana making it his home.

09/05/2025

Siblings Henry and Mary Lou FUSELIER, Creoles. They were the children of Henry FUSELIER and Marie Louise AUZENNE, both Creoles from Leonville, Louisiana. I am in touch with Henry's descendants. They help me get in touch with several family members in their community. They are some of the best people I've met. They can cook to.

They can trace their earliest ties to Agricole FUSELIER, de La Claire, an early French settler.

09/04/2025

This is a beautiful photograph taken on June 13, 1920, in Houston, Texas, featuring Lee MARTELL, Lola MARTELL, Felix SIMON, and Mable DEMARIS, all Creole cousins from Opelousas, Louisiana. It serves as a poignant reminder of how closely connected the older generations of these families once were. Today, however, their descendants are linked only through my page. It's fascinating to reflect on how a generation that was once so intertwined has now become distant, with many unaware of their familial ties. This photo is just one example of several I have, showing families that were once close-knit but have since grown apart. In March, I’ll be organizing a gathering with all my maternal and paternal first cousins, giving our families the opportunity to reconnect and meet each other.

09/04/2025

One of the reasons I began to identify as a historian was my focus on learning the details about the people I discovered. Collecting names, births, and basic vital information is one thing, but delving into their social status and personal lives is when I truly embraced the historian's approach. For example, I have shared information about the lovely family of Edward LACHAPELLE, a native of Ville Platte, Louisiana, who was married to Lucy PENNE of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. Attached to this post is the newspaper announcement of their marriage.

Through years of extensive research, I found that when White newspapers featured Black individuals, it was often because they either owed taxes, committed a crime, or were part of the upper echelons of the Black community. But who were Edward and Lucy? Edward was the son of Joseph LACHAPELLE and Elizabeth ROBB, both free people of color. Elizabeth's sister moved to the area where Lucy's family lived, which may have facilitated their meeting. Lucy was the daughter of Joseph Fortune PENNE and Amelie Clothilde BAKER, both free people of color. Joseph was a grocer, and Amelie was the daughter of Monroe BAKER, the first known African American mayor of St. Martinville and the first African American mayor in the United States. Due to the social climate of Louisiana at the time, several of Monroe's descendants left the state and passed as White American citizens.

As I have demonstrated, I have been able to contextualize this information into stories worthy of display in a library or museum. This old photo, almost lost to time, has been preserved through my research and my family's love, allowing us to visualize the union of Edward and Lucy and to appreciate the rich history of their family.

09/04/2025

Y’all wish my big cuz Beyoncé a happy 44th!!! 😉

09/04/2025

09/04/2025

09/04/2025

This the photo that started my genealogy journey and it’s all because I had no idea what race he was!

A few years ago, I made a Facebook post using the term "Mulatto," a term that was once used to describe the phenotypes of a person. Moments after publishing that post, a relative of mine got fiercely mad at me for using that term. Little did she know, every one of her ancestors was classified as "Mulatto" in the U.S. census, except for the 1900 and 1930 censuses when they were listed as BLACK. She never explained why the term bothered her; instead, she deleted me from Facebook. She was not the only person who disliked the term, which has encouraged me to write about it.

As a genealogist/historian, I understand the importance of race classifications and how they can help narrow the search in tracing one's ancestry. For example, in a slave inventory, if a slave was listed as Negro/Black/Negre/Negresse, it meant they had no European connections. However, if they were listed as "Mulatto"/"Mulatre"/"Mulatresse," it indicated they had some non-African ancestry.

Looking back at the 1880 census of my ancestor Jacques LAFLEUR, he was listed as BLACK. From that, I inferred that my connection to the LAFLEUR family was probably through a slave rather than a direct blood descendant. This changed when I found a slave purchase record showing Cesaire LAFLEUR purchasing five "Mulatto" slaves from his father Jacques LAFLEUR on October 17, 1815. Based on the age of the slave Jacques, I suspected this had to be my ancestor being purchased along with what could be his siblings. I later found Jacques listed in a slave inventory along with his wife, Aimee, and their children, Felicia, Edmond, Lucia, Paulina, and Francois. This plantation was located in the Grand Prairie area, the same area where Jacques and his family were found in the 1870 census. In that inventory, Jacques and his family were all listed as "Mulatto," contrary to Jacques being listed as BLACK in the 1870 census.

Discovering that Jacques was a "Mulatto" suggested he might be a blood descendant of the LAFLEUR family, and further documentation confirmed this.

Although my cousin despises the term "Mulatto," it was crucial in establishing my connection to the LAFLEUR family. As you can see, the term "Mulatto" is beneficial in genealogy because it proved that my ancestor was more than just "Black."

09/04/2025

Would you all like for me to start doing lives again??? If so, let me know!!