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V
THE ^ICAISK FAMILY lU AMI'liJliA
by Pl&cidr Donald Nicuibe
i : ?
? ?	* ?
On August 10, 1720 a French flhip, L'Elephant (The Elephant) left France for a voyage directly to Amcrira^. The captain of this vessel was M. LeBlanc and it probably landed in Mobile. -This ship carried passengers and oupplies for the email colony of Frenchmen that had been established on the Gulf Coast _
?	following Iberville's visit in 1699. The dhip's passenger list, included the ? follow!ng individuals as civilian worktra:	*
Jean Nicaioe ''The'Cat",'"His wife Ma ri e Ange lique Fievet and two children. Jacques "The Cat", hi.s wife Marie Darbr P.outantin and three children.
' This iu the only known record of men entering this country with the name.of ;
' .Nicaise. ' The relationship of these men and thoi r eventual fate is unknown.. However???. it is reasonable to assume that Jean Nicaiisc "The Cat" or one of the five children was Jean Baptist (1. ).	.	?_	.	,	.
Jean Baptist (1.) was almost certainly the direct ancestor of every Nicaise now
liv:;,^ on the Gulf Coast. He becamc a soldier in l.lie French Army stationed in
the Louisiana Terri-.ory and served until he was discharged on May 1, 1750 . He
married Marie Catherine' Miou of Mobile on May 11, 17-15. Marie was the daughter
. of And rc Miou, ? patron for the king. Aftc r the death of Andre in 1758, Jean becamc
the new patron"*. He was called "Va de bon-toeur" (good hearted or light hearted),
the last of the French boat captains." Jean?owned a plantation called "Bellefontaine"
six leagues.below Mobi le on' Towle s River^. This'.prope rty wa s sold, probably
after Jean's death, by his sons, Joseph and Martial in 178-1.	. ..-'-V.V
? - ? . . ' '	'
Joaeph and Martial left Mobile and moved into the area near the Bay of Saint .Louis while they were in. their late twenties. They were -among the very earliest white settlers in this area. Martial married Louisa Christian Ladner.and his descendants settled in and around Bay St. Louis. This family lived in Bay St.
Louis for several generations and gave their name to Necaise Avenue. However, the only known surviving male descendants of Martial arc believed to have died out completely in recent times.
Joseph and his family apprently moved to Bonfuca, LA on the north shore of LaKC Pont c h a r t r a in between Slidell ^.nd Lacombe. It is not clear how many, years they lived there or if they all ever returned. There is currently no one by the name of Nicaise living in that area. However, Joseph's oldest son John Baptist (1. 5. 1) is known to have returned and married Genevieve Ladner of Bay St.
Louie in 1810. John and Genevieve had thirteen children and most of their child ren continued to have large families. Every Nicaise on the Gulf Coast is a direct descendant of John and Genevieve except the Charles Nicaise line.
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