Searching for the parents of Marie Songy Languedoc Jardelat


Will of Marie Languedoc, 1809: "In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit, let it be known to all those who see the present that I, Marie Languedoc daughter of Languedoc and Mary Soignez, I believe in one God my Creator and my master, in Jesus Christ my Redeemer and in the Holy Spirit, I also believe in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman church, I trust in the promises God has made to all those who live in Him; keeping a whole and perfect judgment, I write here my last wishes which shall prevail at all times and places, either verbal or written that I could give, wishing to have unity among my children whom I recognize as my sole and exclusive heirs and wanting to prevent all dissensions, trials and challenges that happened too easily in successions, I dictate here what I believe to be the most suitable in the handling of my estate."


Marie

Marie Songy/Languedoc, whose parents I am trying to find, married Pierre Jardelat in 1761 in New Orleans. At the time of her marriage the names of her parents were recorded and later transcribed as Pierre Songy and Jeanne Genton. Just before she died, in 1809, Marie wrote her will, naming herself as "Marie Languedoc, daughter of Languedoc and Mary Soignez (Saunier, Songy, Soigny)."1

In a list of French military troops in the Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast in 1745, "Alain Jardelas called Tempete" - Pierre Jardelat's father - and "Pierre Saunier called Languedoc" are both fusiliers - soldiers who carried muskets.2 Because Marie often used the name Languedoc instead of Songy, this Pierre could possibly have been her father.

The only Pierre Songy (Saunier, or Soigny or Soignez) that uses the name Languedoc is Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc, mentioned above as a soldier in 1745. In 1746 he is married to Louise Dormoy (Dornoy, Dormois).3 We don’t know what year Pierre Saunier and Louise Dornoy married, just that they were married in 1746. Louise was born about 1727, so they could have been married earlier in the 1740s. They have two children, Louise, who is married to Claude Cyprien Boby by 1762-63 when their father's estate is settled, and Victor. Louise and Victor are still minors in 1762-63, the legal age being 25, so they were probably born in the 1740s.

Some time before 1752 Pierre Saunier died, and his widow remarried that year to Jacques Menou.4 She later remarried again, to Nicolas Logis, in 1758.5




Summary of Superior Court case between Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc and Nicolas Ducret, June 1746, summarized in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly, vol. 16, no.1, January 1933, pp.144-147

11 Feb 1758, copy of Marriage Contract between Sieur Nicolas Logis and Dame Marie Louise Lormoy, widow by first marriage of Pierre Saunier and by second of Jacques Menou

In 1762-63 when his estate was being settled, Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc owned a lot on Royal and Ursuline Streets in New Orleans. He had a minor son named Victor; and a minor daughter, Louise Saunier, married to Claude Cyprien Boby.

Only two children are part of the settlement, Louise and Victor. There is no mention of a Marie who has married Pierre Jardelat.6

















Page from one of the documents regarding the succession of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc, 1762

Marie and Pierre Jardelat had at least eleven children that we know of, the last one, Judith, born in 1789.7 We don’t know how old Marie was when she married, but she was probably in her mid-40s by the time Judith was born. So we can guess that she was born some time in the 1740s, probably the mid 1740s. If she was the child of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc, above, then one would expect to find her mentioned in the estate documents.



There is another Songy family in Louisiana at the time, Francois Songy and his wife, Marie Paline (or Patine). Francois Songy is mentioned as an adult in older documents, one going back to 1736, in which he is dit La France or LaFrance. He is a goldsmith who left Lorient, France, 11 August 1720 aboard the Chambeau with his wife.They have three sons, Pierre, Francois and Joseph. Pierre is the oldest. They do not go by the name Languedoc at any time. When Marie Songy and Pierre Jardelat had a daughter, Charlotte, born in 1766, the sponsors at her christening are Songy, first name indecipherable, and Charlotte Rillieux. He is later mentioned as Pierre. But Charlotte Rillieux married Sieur Joseph Valentin Songy in 1764, not Pierre. The three brothers have a sister named Marguerite, married to Sieur Chantalou. Pierre and Marie Jardelat name one of their daughters Marguerite. Pierre Songy, the older son of Francois and Marie Songy, was married to Marianne Cantrelle, thus not to my Marie Songy. The families are probably all connected in some way, but how they are connected is unknown.8







A page from one of the succession documents of Francois Songy and Anne Marie Paline showing the names of their three sons, Francois, Joseph and Pierre, November 1758

And so the mystery of who Marie Songy dit Languedoc’s parents are remains unsolved.



1727 Louise Dormoy is born, dau of Claude Olivier Dormoy and Marie Louise Cateaux (Cateau, Catto)
1745 Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc is a soldier in Colonial Louisiana
1746 Pierre Saunier dit Laguedoc is recorded as the husband of Louise Dormoy; their marriage date is unknown
174? - 1752 Louise and Victor are born, children of Pierre Saunier and Louise Dormoy
1752 Feb Marie Louise Dormoy, widow of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc, signs a marriage contract with Jacques Menou.
1758 Feb Louise Dormoy, widow of Jacques Menou, signes a marriage contract with Nicolas Logis, a sergeant
1761 May Marie Songy/Languedoc marries Pierre Jardelat
1762-1763 Estate of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc is being settled and a lot on Royal and Ursuline Streets is being sold as part of the estate. He has a minor son, Victor and a minor daughter, Louise Saunier who is married to Claude Cyprien Boby. The property was eventually sold to Mr. Boby for 7,300 pounds cash.
1764 Jan Pierre Jardelat is born at Arkansas Post. He is supposedly the 3d child of Marie Songy and Pierre Jardelat
1789 Feb Marie Songy Jardelat’s last child, Judith, is born


Related Links:
The Jardelat family of Arkansas Post
Pierre Jardelat and Marie Songy


Will of Marie Languedoc, a copy of the original handwritten will with English translation from French accessed at the University of Arkansas, University Libraries, Digital Collections website: http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/CAPA/id/325/rec/1. The will is from the series: The Colonial Arkansas Post Ancestry Digitized Collection.


  1. Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, vol. 2, 1751-1771, Woods, Rev. Msgr. Earl C., and Dr. Charles E. Nolan, New Orleans, Archdiocese of New Orleans, 1988, pp.136 & 257. Jardelat is spelled Gerdela. Marie's surname is Songy.

  2. De Ville, Winston, French Troops in the Mississippi Valley and on the Gulf Coast: 1745. Ville Platte, Louisiana, 1986.

  3. Summary of Superior Court case between Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc and Nicolas Ducret, June 1746, summarized in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly, vol. 16, no.1, January 1933, pp.144-147.

  4. http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/8396
    26 Feb 1752, copy of Marriage Contract between Sieur Jacques Menou and Dame Louise Lormoy (Dormoy), widow of the late Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc. Louisiana Historical Center's Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project, #1752-02-26-01. French Superior Council, New Orleans, Province of Louisiana.

  5. http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/9072
    11 Feb 1758, copy of Marriage Contract between Sieur Nicolas Logis and Dame Marie Louise Lormoy (Dormoy), widow by first marriage of Pierre Saunier and by second of Jacques Menou.

    https://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/museum/blackbook/Black_Book_77_1758_Jan-May.pdf
    11 Feb 1758, copy of Marriage Contract between Sieur Nicolas Logis and Dame Marie Louise Lormoy (Dormoy), widow by first marriage of Pierre Saunier and by second of Jacques Menou. Louisiana Historical Center Library Collection, Black Books, translations of the original documents completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s.

  6. http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/9843
    15 June 1763, documents regarding the succession of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc. Louisiana Historical Center's Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project, #1763-06-15-01, French Superior Council, New Orleans, Province of Louisiana.

    https://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/museum/blackbook/Black_Book_82_1762_Jul-Dec.pdf
    12 Sept 1762, succession (estate) of Deceased Sieur Saunier Dit Languedoc; deals with the sale of his property on the corner of Royal and Ursuline Streets in New Orleans and also the choosing of a tutor for his minor son Victor. Louisiana Historical Center Library Collection, Black Books, translations of the original documents completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s.

    http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/9616
    14 Sept 1762, documents regarding the succession of Pierre Saunier dit Languedoc. Louisiana Historical Center's Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project, #1762-09-14-04, French Superior Council, New Orleans, Province of Louisiana.

  7. Children of Pierre Jardelat and Marie Songy, www.annefield.net/jardelatchildren2.htm

  8. http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/9226
    20 Nov 1758, One of the succession documents of Francois Songy and Anne Marie Paline showing the names of their three sons, Francois, Joseph and Pierre, November 1758. Louisiana Historical Center's Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project, #1758-11-20-01, November 20, 1758, French Superior Council, New Orleans, Province of Louisiana.

    http://www.lacolonialdocs.org/document/9332
    10 Apr 1759, Succession of Sr. Francois Songy and Dame Marie Paline (or Patine), his wife; mentions the three sons, Pierre, Francois and Joseph (who later marries Charlotte Rillieux); also mentions Marguerite Songy, who is said, in various online family trees, to be their sister. Louisiana Historical Center Library Collection, Black Books, translations of the original documents completed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the 1930s.

    https://www.crt.state.la.us/dataprojects/museum/blackbook/Black_Book_88_1764_Apr-Jun_18.pdf
    27 Apr 1764, Marriage contract between Valentin Joseph Songy, son of Sr. Francois Songy and Dame Marie Paline, and Demoiselle Charlote Rillieux, dau. of Sr. Francois Rillieux and Dame Marie Chenet.



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