slide presentations

Here is a collection of some of the slide presentations that have been made in the past to the meetings of the Vermilion Historical Society. These presentations were created by Gary Theall and most of them are based to some extent on the research and writings of other researchers such as Kenneth A. Dupuy, Patricia Heard, Pearl Mary Segura, as well as on Gary's own research. Of course, in replaying these slide shows you will be deprived of the sparkling verbal narration offered by Theall and others at the live presentations; however, all of the history that you need to know is on the slides.

Be advised that each of these presentations takes time to get through. The number of slides in each presentation ranges from 35 to 154. Theall programmed the slide shows in such a way that as you are viewing one slide, the next slide is downloading, so unless your Internet connection is very slow the slides should progress smoothly if you view them in order. Click on the slide itself or on the "Next" button to advance the slide, or on the "Previous" button to go back to the previous slide. Click on the "Close Window" button to terminate the presentation.

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The Life of Adrien Nunez of Live Oak Plantation, by Gary E. Theall, based in part on the research of Pear Mary Segura. Adrien Nunez was a popular, influential, and highly respected figure in the early history of Vermilion Parish. He and his father, Joseph Nunez, acquired thousands of acres near the mouth of the Vermilion River. Adrien was the original owner of the twelve-thousand-acre Live Oak Plantation. He had fourteen children by two wives, and many of his descendants still live in Vermilion Parish. Shortly before the Civil War, when lawlessness and jury nullification were rampant in Vermilion and surrounding parishes, Nunez became the president of the "Comité de Vigilance de Pont Perry," or the Vigilante Committee of Perry's Bridge. Adrien also took an active part in politics, serving at various times as state representative and state senator. Following the Civil War, he was elected to the "dual legislature" in which many seats were taken away from Democrats by federal authorities and given to carpetbaggers, creating a controversy that eventually led to the permanent end of the period known as "Reconstruction." He personally paid the expenses of the 1877 legislative session. Much of the information for the presentation was taken from the research of Adrien's great-granddaughter, Pearl Mary Segura, who was a librarian and historian at U.S.L. (now U.L.L.) for many years. [60 slides]
Robert Perry of Perry's Bridge, by Gary E. Theall. Robert Perry was one of the earliest settlers of the lower Vermilion River area. He left Kentucky, where his mother ran a ferry across the Ohio River to Cincinnati, and came to Louisiana about 1806. In just a few years had established a tanyard and plantation in the area of present-day Perry. He took part in the War of 1812, serving in the Attakapas area. In 1817 he obtained a permit to build a bridge across the Vermilion River near his residence. The bridge continually needed repairs, and may have been the cause of the separation of Vermilion Parish from Lafayette Parish in 1844. With the assistance of his son-in-law, Daniel O'Bryan, Robert Perry engaged in a ten-year contest with Père Antoine Désiré Mégret, founder of Abbeville, as to the location of the parish seat of government. Find out more about Robert Perry, Perry's Bridge, a San Jacinto cannon, Alamo hero Isaac Ryan, the Perry-O'Bryan Historic Cemetery, and his 1840 home that still stands. [87 slides]
Mégret in France, by Gary E. Theall. Part 1 of the life of Père Antoine Désiré Mégret, founder of Abbeville, Louisiana. He was born in Abbeville, France. After becoming a priest there, he participated with a radical priest named Lamennais in publishing a newspaper called L'Avenir. Learn how his association with Lamennais drew the disfavor of Pope Gregory XVI, and the effect that this had on Mégret before he came to Louisiana. [56 slides]
Mégret in Louisiana, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Part 2 of the life of Père Antoine Désiré Mégret. Mégret arrived in Louisiana in 1842 in the midst of a revolt by the local parishioners at Vermilionville (now Lafayette) against the Bishop. Learn how Mégret dealt with this revolt and went on to found the town of Abbeville, after which he had to fight against Robert Perry of Perry's Bridge over which town would be the seat of justice of the parish. [96 slides]
Ambroise Lacour—Public Servant, by Gary E. Theall. Ambroise Lacour came to Vermilion Parish just after its creation in 1844. He became a teacher, a justice of the peace, served on the police jury, was elected sheriff, was elected mayor of Abbeville, served on the school board, and acted as clerk of the police jury for many years. Ambroise is interesting to us for two other reasons: (1) he left a scrapbook containing not only a record of his activities in the various offices that he held, but newspaper clippings from as far back as 1846 that are not available anywhere else; and (2) he claimed publicly that the first Bowie knife was made near Campbell’s Ferry in what later became Vermilion Parish. Find out more about Ambroise Lacour, his scrapbook, and Jim Bowie’s connection to Vermilion Parish in this slide presentation. [87 slides]
Vermilion Parish Courthouses, by Gary E. Theall. Beginning with the battle between Père Antoine Désiré Mégret and Robert Perry to decide whether Abbeville or Perry's Bridge would be the parish seat, up to the present time, Vermilion Parish has actually had twelve courthouse locations, whether due to change of location, fire, or demolition and reconstruction. Learn the history of these courthouses and see some of the Society's collection of pictures of these buildings and of the people involved. [90 slides]
Abbeville Meridional, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Abbeville is fortunate to have a newspaper that has been published almost continuously since 1856. It is the source of much of the information on this website. Learn the history of the Abbeville Meridional and the people who have edited and published it over the years. [92 slides]
Veranda Hotel, Part 1, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Read about the building that Père Mégret intended to be the first courthouse, but that was completed as a hotel. Meet the owners and managers of the hotel over the seventy years of its existence. Several beautiful photographs and a painting are included in the presentation. [51 slides]
Veranda Hotel, Part 2, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Continuing the history of the Veranda Hotel, learn about the people and events connected with the hotel, including patrons, entrepreneurs, close calls by fire, and even a duel and a murder. [55 slides]
Steamboats on Bayou Vermilion, by Gary E. Theall. The first steamboat came up Bayou Vermilion in 1839, but it was not until 1874 that regular steamboat service reached Abbeville. Thereafter many steamboats conducted business on Bayou Vermilion, picking up crops, products, and people to be transported to the railroad terminal at Brashear City (later renamed Morgan City), and delivering people, stocks of merchandise for the local merchants, and other freight to Abbeville and other points on the bayou. The presentation tells about the people involved in the steamboat business, and relates some of the interesting incidents connected with particular steamboats, such as fires, assaults, explosions, sinkings, and even a homicide. [90 slides]
Kate and Mary Area, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. W. F. Area owned a farm just south of the town of Abbeville. In 1877, he moved his two young daughters, Kate and Mary, to Abbeville. They became friends with Clarence J. Edwards, who had moved to Abbeville in 1876, and who was later to become a doctor and the editor of the Meridional newspaper. Clarence kept a diary at that time, and it is largely through the diary that we get a glimpse of the courtship of the two young girls. Kate Area married Gus Godchaux, and Mary Area married Edwin Marion Stebbins. Both of the couples became extremely successful. The presentation gives a good view of social life in Abbeville in the late 1870s. [57 slides]
The Life of Jean-Pierre Gueydan, by Gary E. Theall, Patricia Saltzman Heard, and Ken Dupuy. Jean-Pierre Gueydan of St. Bonnet, France, came to this country as a young man in 1848. Over the years he and his brother, François, engaged in a number of ventures involving New Orleans, Abbeville, New Iberia, Texas, the Civil War, and a successful claim against the United States. The two brothers then bought from the state of Louisiana about 35,700 acres in western Vermilion Parish at a very low price. After François sold out to Jean-Pierre and moved back to France, Jean-Pierre used the land to develop rice farms and settlements in western Vermilion Parish, including the town of Gueydan, making him an important historical figure in the history of the parish. [96 slides]
The Life of Judge Wakeman Wakeman Edwards, by Gary E. Theall. Scholar, teacher, lawyer, judge, surveyor, astronomer, violinist, banker, real estate developer, journalist, horticulturist, historian—Wakeman Wakeman Edwards was all of these things. For the first forty-nine years of his life he moved from place to place, from New York to Indiana to Mississippi to Arkansas to Louisiana, looking for the perfect setting in which to exercise his many talents. Then he found Abbeville, and he spent the last forty-five years of his long life here, using his great intelligence, ability, and competence for all the right purposes and for the good of all of our residents, old and young. [107 slides]
The Railroad, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Being off the main transportation routes, Abbeville had to struggle to bring the railroad to town. This slide presentation tells the story of the fourteen-year effort to bring rail transportation to Abbeville, culminating in success in 1892. Many old photographs are included in the presentation. [111 slides]
Bank of Abbeville, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Experience the history of Abbeville's first bank. This bank was established in 1894 by leading citizens of Abbeville such as Gus Godchaux, Lastie Broussard, L. O. Broussard, Eli Wise, and Ophelias Bourque. The first bank building burned in the Great Concord Street Fire of 1903, after which a larger bank was designed by George Honold and built on the corner of Concord and Jefferson Streets. That building is probably the most recognizable landmark in Abbeville, and the Bank of Abbeville is still in business today. [69 slides]
The Eli Wise Home, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Learn about the beautiful home on the Vermilion River in Abbeville that was built in 1894 and was given by Solomon Wise to his son Eli Wise as a wedding gift. The home was modeled after the home of the bride's father, Ferdinand Marks, on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans in which the bride grew up, and which later was incorporated into the Bultman Funeral Home (now a Borders bookstore). [98 slides]
The Great Concord Street Fire, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. The fire of 1903 in downtown Abbeville destroyed all of the buildings on the south side of Concord Street and some of those on State Street and Jefferson Street, making way for the brick buildings that are there now, almost all of which are more than 100 years old. Learn the history of these buildings and see photographs before and after the great fire. [97 slides]
George Honold, Abbeville's Stellar Architect, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Almost all of Abbeville's great buildings were designed by the same man—Christian George Honold. These include the rice mills, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, the Bank of Abbeville, the Masonic Temple, the Fenwick Sanitarium, the first High School, and others. See his story and his buildings in this slide presentation. [56 slides]
History of Abbeville, by John W. O'Bryan, Jr. When John W. O'Bryan, Jr., was a young man growing up in Abbeville, he put together a handwritten history booklet of Abbeville using vintage postcards as illustrations. During World War II, he became a fighter pilot. His plane was shot down over the North Sea on July, 1944. See the booklet presented in slideshow form. [35 slides]
Fenwick Sanitarium (Palms Hospital), by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Dr. Francis Fenwick Young started a sanitarium in Abbeville about 1900. This sanitarium changed locations a few times until one was built on a lot on St. Victor Street. When this building burned in 1906, Abbeville's stellar architect, George Honold, designed a new one to be built in its place. It was one of the most beautiful buildings ever to grace the town of Abbeville. This building stood until it was demolished in 1965. Learn the complete history of this magnificent building and the people who owned and operated it. [75 slides]
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 1, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Learn the history of the St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville from the purchase of land by Père Antoine Désiré Mégret in 1843 through the pastorates of Father Nicholas Français, Fathers Thirion and Mittelbronn, Father John Rogalle, Father Stephen J. Foltier, Father Jean Arthur Poyet, Father Théodore Lamy, and Father Alexandre M. Méhault. During this period from 1843 to 1899, five different churches stood successively on the property. [52 slides]
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 2, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Part 2 continues the history of the St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church from the pastorate of Father F. A. B. Laforest, the destruction by fire of Father Méhault's church, the construction of St. Anne's Hall as a temporary church, the completion of the exterior of the present church, and the death of Father Laforest in 1915. [50 slides]
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 3, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Part 3 continues the history of the St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church covering the pastorate of Father Julien Ravier Bollard beginning in 1915, the completion of the interior and of the stained glass windows of the church, the changing of the name from "St. Anne's" back to "St. Mary Magdalen," and the construction of the rectory. [63 slides]
Stained Glass Windows of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 1, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. The stories of the stained glass windows of St. Mary Magdalen are told in this spectacular two-part slide presentation. The historical and religious significance of the scene depicted in each window is discussed in detail. The symbolism represented in the quatrefoils above the windows is explained. The family that donated each window and their reasons for the donation are discussed. Part 1 deals with the windows on the west side of the church. [125 slides]
Stained Glass Windows of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Part 2, by Gary E. Theall and Ken Dupuy. Part 2 continues the discussion of the stained glass windows of St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, dealing with the windows on the east side and on the front of the church. [154 slides]
Abbeville in 1922, by Gary E. Theall. When Paula Broussard was a senior at Abbeville High School in 1922, she had a very fine camera. She used it to take many pictures of her family and friends at various locations in Abbeville—on the streets, at the railroad depot, on Magdalen Square, on the schoolgrounds, and so on. She put these pictures into a scrapbook that was recently lent to the Vermilion Historical Society by some of her descendants. The scrapbook serves as the basis for this slide presentation. [123 slides]
Frank A. Godchaux, Sr., by Gary E. Theall. Abbeville native Frank A. Godchaux, Sr., son of Gustave Godchaux, became involved in his father's rice milling business at an early age. He began to organize rice mills in southwest Louisiana, which led to ever-growing conglomerations. Finally, in 1911, he and other investors organized Louisiana State Rice Milling Company, Inc., a huge corporation based in New Orleans that eventually bought out thirty-three rice mills. In 1926, Frank moved the headquarters of this giant corporation back to Abbeville, where it remained until his death in 1965. This presentation focuses on Frank the man, and includes many old pictures, personal anecdotes, his education, his philanthropy, as well as his immense success in packaging and marketing rice. [116 slides]

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This page was last updated on 07/31/2010.