Paul Oliver Melanson

• General Notes
  • Wall of Names, 22, calls him Paul MELANSON; BRDR, 4:106 (SMI-2, 87), the record of his second marriage, calls him Paul Olivier MELANSON, widower Ozite Barbe LEBLAN, does not give his or his wife's parents' names but gives his wife's first husband's name, & says the witnesses to his marriage were Cenac LANDRIE, Étienne DUGAS, & Medard DELATTRE.
    
    The Acadian Memorial Wall of Names lists the first Acadians who were deported from Nova Scotia and came into Louisiana about 1765 and honors the 3,000 men, women and children that found refuge in Louisiana after British forces exiled the from ACADIE, their homeland on the Atlantic Coast of Canada, in the mid 18th century.
    
    *Located in downtown St. Martinville, LA, on the banks of the Bayou Teche, down the street from the famous Evangeline Oak, the Acadian Memorial is both a museum & a research center. The Robert Dafford Mural is the highlight of the museum on the first floor. Also important is the bronze Wall of Names at the opposite end of the main-floor museum that contains the name of nearly every Acadian who found refuge in LA from 1764-1813. Upstairs is the research center where visitors can trace their Acadian ancestry in the Memorial's extensive database. The Memorial's website is <acadianmemorial.org>. A new feature of the website is its Ensemble Encore, which includes two superb essays by Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux at <acadianmemorial.org/english/ensembleencoreset.html>
    
    Left [east] bank, age 7, with widowed mother & brothers
    Cabahanoce census, 1769,
    
    Left [east] bank, age 14, with mother, 3 brothers, & 2 engagers
    St.-Jacques census, 1777
    
    Original Marriage Certificate Found at St. James Court House - Dated April 18, 1785 - Paul Melanson and Ozitte Barbe LeBlanc’s marriage certificate state that it was recorded at "St. Jaques de Cabohannace Cote de Acadiannes". (St. James Acadian Coast). It is dated April 18, 1785 and states that Paul Melanson was the “legitimate son of Alexandre Melanson and Ozitte Hebert”.
    
    Probate and Conveyance succession of Paul Melanson was found in St. James Prish Court House.
    Book 24; File 0668; Page 207 : St. James Parish Court House
    
    Paul Oliver MELANCON, age 89 yrs. Bur 10 June 1847 (SMI-4, 190) - St. Michaels’ Catholic Church, Convent, LA
    Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records, vol-6 1840-1847, pg 468