Notes for Otis Joseph LAMARTINERE

PIERRE LaBORDE FAMILY
OF
AVOYELLES PARISH LOUISIANA
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Notes for Otis Joseph LAMARTINERE

[LaMartinier.FTW.FTW]

Joseph LaMartiniere and Marguerite owned a trading post/general store at
Cassandra, Louisiana. This community was located on the Red River on the
Ruby/Effie side of the river. It was directly across from the Echo-Fifth
Ward side of Red River within the Avoyelles Parish boundary.

When the Union soldiers took over Alexandria, on Friday May 13, 1864,
they burned City Hall, the Rapids Court House, and set fire to all the
records in the courthouse, then destroyed the entire town. The only
building that remained standing was the St. Frances Xavier Cathedral that
still stands today. Incidentally, this cathedral was built the same year
that Joseph Knoll was born (1834).

In May, 1864, Joseph had to hide Marguerite and their son (Joseph) in the
cellar of the trading post to protect them from the Union Troops. They
survived the devastation but then Joseph died at Cassandra in October of
1864. He was buried at the Cassandra Community Cemetery along the Red
River. At that time, Red River was really no wider than a large ditch.
The Cassandra Cemetery cannot be found today, as the Red River has
widened through out the years, and the graves there have long since
washed away. It is believed that their young son Gregoire was buried
there as well as Joseph.

Today there is no longer a Cassandra community; however, there is a
country road named "Cassandra Road" near the Lafargue School site at
Effie, Louisiana on LA highway 454.

Marguerite was a tall thin woman with flaming red hair (that almost
touched the floor). She wore it pulled back and braided. She was very
well educated and could read and write French beautifully. She taught
all the local children their catechism and prayers in French, of course
it being the principal language spoken in that vicinity then. The local
people would cross the Red River by boat to go to mass at Echo, and send
their children to catechism and to school, whenever possible.

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This page is dedicated to the men and women who braved great danger to come from France and other countries and worked under extremely difficult conditions in the Louisiana Wilderness to produce a better way of life for their descendants. To all of them we are deeply indebted.