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that he wrote back to his family in France and convinced at least one “and possibly more” of his brothers and sister to come to this country. As discussed earlier, John Bourdages was in America before June 1848 because that is when he married here.
We have a copy and translation of a letter that was in the possession of the late Margaret Turcotte of Waveland, MS. The letter is dated April 17, 1850 in Pass Christian, MS. It is from John Bourdages to his younger brother, Joseph Bourdages in Aurignac, France, which is next to the village of Aulon. We suspect Aurignac was the location of the closest Post Office. In the letter, Joseph is given specific instructions as to what to do on his journey to America. He is to board the ship with “one tin plate, a fork, a spoon, a knife, two towels, one small sheet,” and that will “cost you five Francs at Bordeaux.”
You will also buy “one sugar loaf, one jar of preserves, and 20 loaves of bread.” As for clothing, “three nice shirts, three pair of summer trousers, and two pair of good shoes without hobnails.”
Following his brother’s instructions, Joseph Bourdages boarded the Norwegian Ship “Ocean” in Bordeaux, France and left for America. On November 9, 1850, he arrives at the Port of New Orleans, LA. He is listed on the ship register as “Mr.
Bourdage, age 17.” While this age is a little off, this is no doubt our Joseph Bourdages. We next find Joseph as Godfather on November 17, 1850 to his nephew “John Joseph Bordages,” (son of his brother John) at the Catholic Church in Pass Christian.
Joseph Bourdages married Rose Emma “Rosema” Bourgeois, (daughter of Maximilien Bourgeois and Marthe Ladner), who was a resident of Waveland, MS. They applied for a marriage license in Hancock County, MS on October 19, 1857, but the actual date of marriage was never filled in. We presume that they were married on the same day or shortly thereafter by a priest, (all of the old Bordageses were devout Catholics), in Bay St. Louis or Pass Christian. It would have been up to the priest to return to the courthouse and enter the exact date he married the couple. But for some reason the priest, or whoever married them, did not record this information. There is the possibility they may have eloped and went to some other city to be married.
The next record we find on Joseph is on December 8, 1857 (Hancock Co. Circ.
Ct. Min. Book Vol. 1.) where Joseph Bourdages was naturalized a citizen. This record stated that he was in this countiy at least 5 years prior to his date of naturalization.
Daisy Bordages told us that Joseph Bourdages lived and raised his family in Waveland, MS and had a grocery and general store there.
Grandma Rose Bordages Bourgeois, granddaughter of Joseph Bourdages, told us that he was buried in Cedar Rest Cemetery in Bay St. Louis, but he had no head marker. We know from church records and from information supplied by Grandma Rose that Joseph's wife, Rosema was buried in Cedar Rest Cemetery in Bay St. Louis. It stands to reason that Rosema was buried next to her husband.
According to Clem's Paper, Joseph Bourdages had three children, Laura, John J., and Louis Napoleon. The 1870 census of Hancock Co. lists "Rosama Bordage, age 30, female, born in MS; Adrienne (this is a misspelling for Lauratine), fem. age 11; John, age 6; and Louis, age 4." The following information about the descendants of Joseph Bordages and Rose Emma "Rosema” Bourgeois was told to us by Rose Bordages (Mrs. Tony Bourgeois) on May 13, 1974 at Waveland, MS, and Cecile Carrio (Mrs. Walter F. “Jimmy” Turcotte Sr.) on January 20, 1974 at Waveland.
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