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even had one, moved to the new location. We also inspected the cemetery by St. Pierre’s Church and found no Bourdages head markers. However, we did find one tomb that had the name “Amilhat Family” on it with no dates or first names. Maurice Bourdages told us that most of the church records were destroyed around 1793 during the French Revolution, but we have found good information in the civil records of Aurignac.
The Maurice Bourdages family was most helpful. They showed us the small, two-story building in Aulon that was once owned by Maurice’s grandfather, Leopold Bourdages. It was a combination hotel, cafe, and grocery that had been closed for many years. They also gave us a soup bowl from this old hotel that has “Leopold Bourdages Hotel” stamped on it, and it is in our possession today.
According to Clem's Paper, Bertrand Bourdages "died about October 26, 1849." It names his wife as "Bernade Amilhat." The paper says Bernade Amilhat died "after September 1872" and that the family was from “Aulon, Haute Garonne, France.” Clem's Paper also lists the following to be children of Bertrand and Bernade Bourdages: “Caded, Francois, John, Joseph, Andrezine, and Jeanne,” in that order.
All the early Bourdageses in this country were devout Catholics, thus we believe the Bourdageses in Aulon, France were also of the Catholic faith. We have since found many records in the local church that have verified the information in Clem’s Paper. The early Bourdageses in this country were apparently well-educated and ambitious people by the fact that they could all read and write and that John and Joseph owned and operated businesses in this country.
Based on his civil marriage record found in France, Bertrand Bourdages was born on April 2, 1793 in Aulon, France and was a “weaver” by profession. Apparently his full name was Jean Bertrand Bourdages. While he uses “Bertrand” mostly, we find him on the death record of his son, “Jean Bertrand Bourdages” in 1884, as “Jean Bourdages.”
This marriage record also names his parents as “Pierre Bourdages and Josephe Fabaron.” His civil marriage record in Aulon on February 9, 1820, also says he married “Bernarde Amillat” (name usually spelled as Amilhat) and that she was born on “Thermidor 18, year 6” in nearby Peyrouzet, France. This date was used by the French following their Revolution and translates to August 7, 1798. The record lists her parents as “Jean Francois Amillat and Vincente Barrau.”
The following is what information we have compiled on Jean “Bertrand” and Bernarde Amilhat Bourdages’ eight known children:
JEAN FRANCOIS “CADET” BOURDAGES
He was born on September 6, 1822 in Aulon, France as found on his Baptismal record. He died in Aulon on January 14, 1871 at age 48, as found on his death record. This death record refers to him as “Francois Cadet Bourdages.” Clem’s Paper makes reference to “Francois Bordages, died sometime after 1872.” Clem’s Paper also makes reference to a separate person called “Caded Bordages, died between 1867 and 1872.”
We suspect that this Jean Francois Bourdages, “Francois Bordages” and “Caded Bordages” are one and the same person, and he probably went by his middle name, Francois, or his nickname “Cadet.” Cadet is a French name for “younger,” but Clem’s Paper misspelled this word as “Caded.” With both he and his father having the same first
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