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John and Genevieve may have lived in Day St. Louis for a while. According to legend they sold some property on the Bay of St. Louis, known as the "Old Pirate House" tp the famous pi rate, Jean Laffite. It is claimed that he lived out the remainder of his life there in secret, after getting in trouble again following his pardon during the War.of 1812. In any case,; John and Genevieve settled a large section of land on Jordan River around 1812. They officially received title from the American government in 1820. . (The Americans had acquired this territory Irorn Spain in 1810,). This land,.known as the J. B. Nicaise estate, included most of Kiln and is still indicated on some land maps. Although John died around 1840, the distribution of the land was not made until 1912. This deed is filed under Case #1663 of the, Chanccry Court in the Hancock County Courthouse. " This document ties together most of the,present day Nicaise family lines. .
The Charles Nicaisc line is still somewhat of a mystery. Joseph and Martial ?! each had a son named Charles. However, there is no known record which ties cither of these to the Charles Nicaises named .in the census records, or to Charles (Misma) that lived west of Kiln. Misma served in the Civil War and is remembered by so me of the older people still living around Kiln. It is said that he was an awesome figure with cold blue eyes. He generally rode a large black horse. According to legend, he once got into a gun battle with some jayhawkers near his house. One of the gang was shot off his horse and the others ran away. Misma is claimcd to have captured the wounded bandit and hanged him from a tree just outside his yard. 'The truth of this story will probably never be known but many of the local residents still avoid his old placc after dark.
The.Civil War undoubtedly had a greatleffcct on all the families along the Gulf ?' Coast. The census records seem to indicate many households which had split up with people living in the households of their nea r-rclati ve s after the war.
The only men, other than Miima, that have been identified as serving in the Civil War were Edmond, grandson of Martial; and Joseph (1. 5.1.1) son of John and Genevieve. John and Genevieve probably also had other sons which served in the war for which no record has been found.
There is something of a controversy about whether "Nicaise" or "Necaise? is the correct spelling. The original French spelling was "Nicaisc" and it still is spelled this way in France. (The French pronunciation of this word is Nc-caz."). The name was also spelled "Nicaise" on the early records in this country. During Spanish and British rule there was no consistent spelling becausc the people were illiterate and the locr|l authorities chose a phonctic spelling based on their own language. The major change to an anglicized spelling of "Necaise" didn't occur until relatively recent times.