Francois Joseph Vautrot homestead

Photograph of the Francois Joseph Vautrot 1871 second homestead: Eunice, LA.
Photo taken July 2010.






Photo taken July 2011.





Photo taken July 2011.




My great-great grandfather was Francois Joseph Vautrot. His original homestead is still erect and located in Eunice, Louisiana.

The original Vautrot, Francois Vautrot, arrived in America aboard the ship Libertas in 1834 from France. They were French Huguenots (Protestants) that had been persecuted by the Catholics in France since the time of Louis the 14th (17th century French king). Well, Francois and his children left New York and settled in Pennsylvania. Francois Vautrot became a naturalized US citizen in 1846; he died in Pennsylvania in 1863. Some of his children moved to different states in the 1840's--Ohio, Alabama, and Louisiana. One of those sons is Francois Joseph Vautrot (1813-1881), who settled in St. Landry Parish and erected a home along Bayou Teche--he purchased 250 acres from Sarah Lee in 1853. More about him...

Francois J. Vautrot (FJV) emigrated to America in 1839, after military service probably in his native France. He was a French citizen, spoke European French and little English; he was not a U.S. citizen. His family, including five younger siblings, had made the trip from Lorraine, France, to New York and then to Crawford County, PA, five years previously in 1834...as already mentioned above. His brother, Jules, became a naturalized citizen in Lafayette, LA and Francois settled in St. Landry parish in 1840--around the city of Opelousas. There, he married a landed widow, Amelia Burleigh, in Opelousas in 1848 and became a planter. They had one son, Francois Louis Vautrot, born in 1849, who became the progenitor of the Vautrot family in Southwest Louisiana; he died in Church Point, LA in 1898.

FJV saw his produce and livestock, including cotton, confiscated by General Banks' troops during the Civil War (1861-1865). This large property was occupied by the invading Union Army under General Nathaniel Banks in October of 1863, and Francois Joseph Vautrot's herd of cattle (6), horses (5), and mules (5) was confiscated, 80 bales of cotton stolen, as well as several thousand pounds of corn and rice. My great-great grandfather's original home was burned down by the Yankees. He was a planter and slave owner (9 males, 10 females and several children per records in National Archives in Washington,D.C), but he was NOT a Confederate soldier nor did he support secession. Per government records and testimony, most of his slaves left with the Union Army, but some remained with FJV. The Yankess left them "maybe 40 or 50 barrels of corn, of which Francois divided with the slaves."

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Francois Joseph Vautrot emigrated again, to Brazil with some Confederados (the name bestowed on Confederate sympathizers who left the South after the Civil War seeking a more compatible political atmosphere), but returned to Acadia Parish circa 1871. He built a new home, which still stands today, not too far from his original one.

The date of his death is not documented (circa 1881), but his former slave testified that he was buried "under a tree" on his farm.

Address: 1172 Brigman Highway; Eunice, LA 70535


My 2010 Toyota Tundra parked in the beautiful Pecan Orchard--a favorite gathering spot for Fox and Gray Squirrels...it is located just a stone's throw away from the Vautrot homestead.