Birth: between 1731-1733 in New Orleans, French Louisiana
Death: after 1800 in French Louisiana
The following is a better biography than I could have written (being so new to learning about Louisiana state history and the Judice family) about Louis Judice. It was compiled and written by Gertrude C. Taylor.
"Louis Judice, Sr., son of Jacques Judice, a native of Thiancourt, France, and Marie Jeantry, a native of Theree Bishopric and La Rochelle, was born in New Orleans in 1733. He married Jeanne Marie Cantrelle (born 1733), daughter of Jacques Cantrelle,
who came from Picardie, France, in 1720. Judice settled on the upper side of Bayou Lafourche (where it enters the Mississippi), on a tract granted to him by Spanish Governor Luis de Unzaga, Nov. 5, 1775. Jacques Cantrelle settled on his grant fronting the river just below Bayou Lafourche, at a place known as Cabannocer. Judice and Cantrelle were leaders among the natives as well as among the early settlers along the Mississippi,
both serving as commandants and both establishing church parishes around which communities later sprang up.Louis Judice and Jeanne Cantrelle had two sons, Louis, born in 1754, and Michel, in 1758. It was the older of these brothers who came to the Attakapas, carrying with him his father's attributes of wisdom and leadership. It appears that with his wife, Marguerite Patin, daughter of Antoine Patin and Marguerite Mayeux of Pointe Coupee, he settled in the St. Martinville area as early as 1775, and that only one of his four sons, Godfrey, was born in the Attakapas. In 1800, after the death of his wife, Louis Judice married Magdaleine Chretien, daughter of Joseph Chretien and Magdaleine Saunier. They had five children.
After 1807, when he registered his land, Judice held title to eight tracts of land in the Attakapas. In 1808, he added another tract to his holdings when he purchased from his brother-in-law, Pierre Chretien, a plantation on Bayou Bourbeau. It appears that he later
transferred this plantation to his son, Maximilien, bringing his son north of what later became Lafayette Parish while his other two surviving sons, Louis III and Jacques, remained in the area of St. Martinville and Loreauville.The Judices were primarily farmers, who, throughout the years served their country and their fellows well. They carried from their forefathers the idea of receiving and helping others to receive the best from education. Among those who distinguished themselves in this field were Joseph Alcee Judice, who established a private school for boys in St. Martinville; Alcide Judice, founder of Scott, La., who sought to further the education of everyone around him; and his son, Louis Leo Judice, who gave outstanding service to the public schools of Lafayette Parish and to the development of Southwestern Louisiana Institute.”
Another article written about Louis Judice focuses on his military service and acquisition of land. It follows here, and is written by Carl A. Brasseaux, H. Dickson Hoese and Thomas C. Michot.
“Acadian and Spanish settlers started arriving in the 1760's. The Acadians were welcomed by the Spanish and were given land, supplies, etc. Acadians, the type of people needed for settlement by the Spanish government, were known as hard working farmers with strong family ties. Galvez the Spanish Governor saw the Acadian settlers, who had been persecuted by the English in Nova Scotia, as protection against expanded British interests in the area. This settlement proved beneficial to all concerned.
Ascension and St. James parishes became known as the Acadian Coast with the bayous and rivers that form Ascension's borders ceasing to be international boundaries at the time.
Louis Judice, Sr. was the first Spanish Commandant for Ascension as the settlements along the Mississippi began to thrive.
Louis Judice, captain of militia and first commandant at La Fourche des Chatimaches settled on the present site of Port Barrow, which is situated opposite Donaldsonville, Louisiana, on land granted to him by Governor Unzaga in 1775. He sold this property with house to Jocob Bobbs on 30 September 1800.
In response to orders by Governor Estaban Miro to investigate
reports of increasing French Antilles corsairs (pirates) along the
Louisiana coast, Louis Judice Sr. wrote and submitted an account
reporting the activity and death of a Prejean brother, who unlike his brothers who immigrated to Louisiana, went from Europe to Martinique and captained a pirate ship. His last battle involving two English frigates caused the loss of his life and fortune. This was related to Louis Judice by Basil Prejean, the last living of the four Louisiana brothers.An old map of Land Records of the Attakapas District indicates 6
tracts of land owned by Louis Judice outside the developing town of St. Martinville, Louisiana. The 7th tract appears more remotely located from the town.”
The following quote comes from an appendix written by Steven A. Cormier.
“Younger daughter Marie-Henriette married twice, first to French Creole Pierre Lecompte at Lafourche in July 1791. A few years later, she was a young widow and caught the eye of one of the most influential men in the colony. Louis Judice, born at New Orleans in October1731, had married Marie-Jeanne, daughter of Jacques Cantrelle, founder of the Cabanocé/St.-Jacques settlement. By 1765, Louis Judice and his family were living on a large holding at Cabanocé granted to him by the French authorities in New Orleans. After the Spanish took over the colony in March 1766, Louis became co-commandant of the Cabanocé district with his brother-in-law, Nicolas Verret. In 1769, Spanish General Alejandro O'Reilly appointed Louis as commandant of the Lafourche des Chitimachas District, which the Acadians called Ascension. Louis and Marie-Jeanne Cantrelle had a number of children, including Michel, born in c1759, who became a lieutenant of militia and another shaker and mover in the colony and also commanded at Ascension. By the 1790s, the aging Louis was a widower, but he was determined to take another wife. In June 1795, 64-year-old Louis Judice, captain of the German Coast militia and commandant of the Ascension District, married 25-year-old Marie-Henriette Rassicot, widow Lecompte, at Ascension. Marie-Henriette died a widow in Ascension Parish in February 1826; she was 56 years old…
Wall of Names, calls her Marie-Henriette RASICAUD; Robichaux, Acadian in St.-Malo, 687-88, Family No. 801; BRDR, 2:488, 616 (ASC-2, 40), the record of her first marriage, calls her Maria Henrietta RASSICOT, calls her husband Pedro LECOMPTE, does not give any parents' names, & says the witnesses to her marriage were François RACICOT [her brother] & Amant HÉBERT; BRDR, 2:395, 616 (ASC-2, 64), the record of her second marriage, calls her Maria Ennrica RASCICAUX (RASSICOT), ‘recent widow of Pierre LECOMPTE,’ calls her husband Luis JUDICE, ‘widower of Maria Juana CANTRELL & Captain of German Coast Militia, Commandant of this District,’ gives her but not his parents' names, & says the witnesses to their marriage were Pedro SABAT & Pedro LANDRY; BRDR, 4:468 (ASC-4, 183), her death/burial record, calls her Marie RASSICOT, ‘age 56 yrs., wid. of Louis JUDICE,’ but does not give her parents' names.
Her husband's parents' names can be found in daughter Marguerite JUDICE's baptismal record, dated 7 May 1799, in NOAR, 6:157 (SLC, B14, 88). Her husband was the Louis JUDICE, full name Louis-Jacques, who commanded the Ascension District from 1769 & was old enough to be Marie-Henriette's grandfather, having been born at New Orleans in Oct 1731--nearly 40 years her senior. See his baptismal record, dated 21 Oct 1731, in NOAR, 1:138 (SLC, B1, 13), which says that his father was "resident upstream of the river." Louis's father Jacques, a native of Thianeour, Diocese of Besançon, France, son of Barthélemy JUDIS & Jeanne LEMAIRE, had married his mother at New Orleans in Apr 1730. She was a native of Theree, Diocese of La Rochelle, France, & was the widow of Antoine GABINION, "surnamed FRAPPE," who had been killed in the Natchez massacre of 1729. She probably was one of the few survivors of the massacre, along with her son Louis's future father-in-law, Jacques CANTRELLE. Louis died at Ascension in Jun 1806, age 74.”
To learn more about the Judice Family visit the following links:
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