Francois Joseph Dumenil DuFouchard Verloin deGruy (1781-1840)*

Francois Joseph Dumenil DuFouchard Verloin deGruy was born 14 March 1781 to Francois Joseph DuFouchard Verloin deGruy (1752-1830) and Marianne Couturier (1753-1819) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. [1] His siblings [for now, see his parents’ pages/the deGruy Map for siblings – the dust hasn’t settled on this] [2]

On 6 October 1800, he married Marie Isabelle Heloise Saulet (1782-1849), widow of Luis Fortin and daughter of Etienne Thomas Saulet and Maria Therese Poree. They sought and received a dispensation to marry because of their consanguinity. [3]

Many sources say that Francois Joseph Verloin and Heloise Saulet were divorced, but I don’t think they were. I think this comes from some researchers mixing him up with his brother Dumini Joseph and trying to make Dumini Joseph and Charlotte Falgout’s children fit into Francois Joseph and Marie Saulet’s life (which they cannot – the dates don’t work. Francois Joseph cannot have been married to Charlotte Falgout even though half the family trees out there say he was). Heloise Saulet lived until 1849 (and her obit calls her a widow of Francois Joseph, if my translation is correct, and I believe they are buried with each other). [*] But keep an eye out for this in your research – it’s a common mistake (I made it myself for years – the dates are close, the names are similar, and the kids’ names are awfully close in spots too. I mean, assuming it’s a mistake. If I’m wrong, please, please help me out with what I’m missing!)

I am still working on sources for the children, which are a huge mess because of the sibling conflation problem just mentioned, but here is what I currently have as of June 12, 2019.

• 1. Charles St. Preux Verloin deGruy (1801-1861) [4] m. Marie Sophie Savary (1801-1864)
• 2. Aselia (Azelie) Verloin deGruy (1803-1804)
• 3. Marie Laure deGruy (1804-1890) [5] m. Etienne Arthur DuFouchard Verloin deGruy (1802-1855) [IV.C.1] [6]
• 4. Marie Virginie deGruy (1806?–1882?) [7] m. Paul Jules Fazende (1806-1882)
• 5. Francois Jacques Verloin deGruy (1806-1872) [*] m. Felicite Anais de Circe Verloin Foucher (1814–1866)
• 6. Joseph Theophile Verloin deGruy (1813-1886) [*] m. Josephine Felicite Anais deCirce Foucher (1816-1870)
• 7. Paul Emile Verloin deGruy (1816–1868) [*] m. Eloise Elise Elisabeth deCirce Foucher (1808?-1895)
• 8. Thomas Enthime (Antoine) Verloin deGruy (1818-1897) m. Josephine Marie Laure Harang (1827-1902)*
• 9. Corinne deGruy (1819–1901) m. Bruno Gustave Jaquet
• 10. Marie Felicite Estelle Verloin deGruy (1820*–1883) m. Sebastien Francois Angel Moriere Fazende (1795-1876)
• 11. Louis Camille Joseph Verloin deGruy (1822–1883) m. Ore Leonide St. Amand (1828-1882)
• 12. Marie Marguerite Clementine Verloin deGruy (1824–1849) m. Louis Alexander Harang, Jr. (1814-1880)
• 13. Della Marie Coralie Verloin deGruy (1825-1860) m. Pierre Denis de Circe Foucher (1823-1877)
• 14. Jules Verloin deGruy (1828-1870) m. Angela Hardy deBoisblanc (1830-1890)

• Jules deGruy m. Angela deBoisBlanc – mentioned in succession
• Thomas Enthime (Antoine) Verloin DeGruy (1819?-1897) – mentioned in succession
• Paul Émile Verloin deGruy (1816 – 1868) – parents confirmed [1b]  – filed petition re. succession
• Corinne DeGruy (1819 – 1901) m. Bruno Gustave Jaquet – mentioned in succession
• Marie Felicite Estelle Verloin deGruy (1820 – 1883) m. Sebastien Francois Angel Moriere Fazende – parents confirmed [2] – mentioned in succession
• Louis-Camille (Joseph) DeGruy (1822 – 1883) – mentioned in succession
• Marie Estelle Clémentine Verloin DeGruy (1825 – 1849) m. Louis Alexander Harang Jr. – mentioned in succession (deceased)

A transcription of records associated with Marie Heloise Saulet lists her heirs as of 1849 and reads:

Third District Court: 3 J.D.C.
Succession of the late Marie Heloise Saulet, dec'd wife of Jos. Verloin Degruy. Petetion [sic] of P Emil Verloin DeGruy for ? of Administration & for Inventory, Filed May 7th 1849.
To the honorable the District Court in and for the Third District of the State of Louisiana. The petition of Paul Emil Verloin DeGruy who resides in the parish of Jefferson, district aforesaid. Respectfully sheweth: That your Petitioner’s mother, the late Marie Heloise Saulet widow of Joseph Verloin DeGruy departed this life in said parish of Jefferson, on the first May 1849, having, besides your Petitioner, nine children of full age and two grand children who are still minors, as her only presumptive [can’t read] theirs, viz: Francois Verloin DeGruy; Theophile Verloin DeGruy; Anthyme Verloin DeGruy; Camil Verloin DeGruy; Jules Verloin DeGruy; Laure Verloin Degruy, wife of Etienne DeGruy; Virginie Verloin DeGruy, wife of Paul Jules Fazende; Corinne Verloin DeGruy, wife of Gustave Jacquet; Estelle Verloin DeGruy wife of Francois Fazende, and Clemence and Clementine Harang, heirs of the said deceased by representation of their mother the late Clementine Verloin Degruy, deceased wife of Louis Alexandre Harang......

He died on 19 August 1840.

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[1] I am working on sorting out some notes and relocating some sources as of June 2019, so the footnotes are gonna be messed up for a bit until I get done. This is a placeholder right now. *in the page title indicates page under construction/needs edits.

[2] I’m revising multiple pages at the same time – I’ll replace the sibling data once I get it verified and organized. In the meantime, you can see his father’s page for what I currently have or the deGruy Map, which is meant to be my Master Keeper-Tracker to finally get some generational messes sorted out for good, after which checked/corrected info on siblings and children will be moved in from there.

[3] Here’s the bottom line: Francois Joseph and Heloise Saulet were second cousins. This wasn’t a big deal civilly in Louisiana, from what I understand from research; second-cousin marriage were legally unremarkable. But the Catholic Church is different. Canon law considers consanguinity to extend to the fourth degree of kinship inclusive. We don’t even have to dig into canon law to figure out how that math works because the record tells us: they were related to the third degree. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what the process and requirements were for the church authority to grant the dispensation, but just from reading around family records, the possibility of scandal or dissension within the family seems to be a frequent consideration, hence the dispensation specifying that their parents consented and it had been announced publicly a year prior, so nobody was freaking out or doing anything in secret. If you want to dig into canon law, you’ll get a dense theology and history lesson and not much practical info about why your ancestors were granted a dispensation. My links to the sources I tried to read on canon law aren’t working anymore, but you can get the gist of consanguinity and dispensation at the Catholic Encyclopedia if you’re feeling studious – or masochistic.

Anyway, if you’re a deGruy descendant, deGruys seemed to do this kind of thing not infrequently, along with marriage between the same families repeatedly across generations, which makes records a snarl sometimes. But if you can track down the dispensation record, it can be a genealogical gold mine. I don’t know if I would have sorted this out without the dispensation record, honestly. So here’s how it worked in this case.

Antoine Francis Aufrere (1695-1775) and Mathurine Guillemet (Guilmot) dite laLande (1696-1755) had two daughters, Michel Marie Therese Dufresne Aufrere and Marie Therese Francoise Aufrere (1724-1763).

1. Michel Marie Therese Aufrere married Antoine Valentin deGruy. Their son Francois Joseph deGruy married Marianne Couturier. Francois Joseph and Marianne were the parents of our Joseph Verloin who married Marie Heloise Saulet.
2. The sister Marie Therese Francoise Aufrere (1724-1763) married Gerard Poree (Perry) (1722- ), and they had a daughter Marie Therese Genevieve Porée (1749-1823). Genevieve Poree married Etienne Thomas Saulet (1782-1849). Genevieve and Thomas Saulet had Marie Heloise Saulet who married our Francois Joseph deGruy here. I’m embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to sort this out.

The transcription from Marriage Contracts, Wills & Testaments of the Spanish Colonial Period in New Orleans, 1770-1804 concerning the dispensation reads:

“September 19, 1800 – Jose Degruis, age 19, of St. Charles of the First German Coast requests dispensation to marry Maria Luisa Sole to whom he is related in the third grade. He is the son of Maria Couturier and Jose Degruis, son of Pedro Degruis and Maria Ofre, daughter of Mr. Ofre of Paris and Degruis’ grandmother whose name he does not know. Maria Luisa is the daughter of Thomas Sole and Maria Teresa Pery, daughter of Mr. Pery and Teresa Ofre, daughter of Degruis’ grandparents. This marriage is with their parents consent and announced publically a year ago. Witnesses: Joseph Boneville, age 34, (signs Joseph Bonneville) and Alexandro Delhomme who also stated that Maria Luisa is a native of St. Louis Parish, New Orleans. Delhomme is 22 and signs Alexandre Delhomme. Granted.”

I have lost my notes on where I actually got this, though. Or swiped it, technically, since I haven’t credited it ’cause I lost my notes I mean, I don’t own the book so I snagged somebody’s translation, apparently, with no credit. Sorry!

[4] I’ve only ever seen Bonnie Bess Wood with this Charles St. Preux in her charts, nobody else, and I haven’t chased down sources yet. I have absolutely nothing on this child, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the St. Preux name before, and I’ve never had a Savary spouse or anybody else in any of my notes that I can recall.

[5] Marie Laure who married Etienne deGruy is mentioned in the succession, so she’s a confirmed daughter. Don’t confuse her with her cousin Marie Laure, daughter of Dumini Joseph deGruy and Charlotte Falgout, who married Leon Picou.

[6] Etienne Arthur’s birthdate was 1825 in one set of notes – huge discrepancy, no idea, still working. Etienne Arthur married Marie Laure, his first cousin.

[7] Marie Virginie’s DOB in my notes is 1809 half the time, and her death date is 1893 half the time. I need to get sources settled. She’s a confirmed daughter, mentioned in the succession.

[*] Francois Jacques is mentioned in the succession; he’s confirmed.

[*] Joseph Theophile is confirmed, mentioned in succession. See also Marriages and Family Relationships of New Orleans, L.F., Apr 15, 1837, MAR 4:284, 285: “1. Joseph Theophile Verloin de Gruy, 2. Josephine Anais Foucher. 1 is leg son of Josephe Verloin de Gruy and Marie Heloise Saulet. 2 is leg dau of Antoine Foucher and Marie Melicente Saulet.”

In case you didn’t have enough fun with the second-cousin dispensation for deGruy-Saulet above, here’s another way the family tree gets easy to mix up here. Marie Melicente Saulet

[*] Paul Emile is confirmed by succession record.

*Josephine Marie Laure Harang not to be confused with her cousin Marie Laure, daughter of Dumini Joseph and Charlotte Falgout, who married Leon Picou.  *some researchers give a Maria Estella b. 1811. I can’t find any record of this child. *some researchers list a Josephina b. 1824. I can’t find any record of this child. *Marie Felicite Estelle – I’ve seen her DOB given as 1800, which is a massive difference, not sure where this comes from, still working on sources.

 

[*b] Marriages and Family Relationships of New Orleans V.F. Dec 15, 1838
MAR 4:460, 461
1. Paul Emile Verloin DeGruy
2. Elizabeth Foucher
1 is leg son of Joseph Verloin DeGruy and Marie Heloise Saulet
2 is leg dau of Antone Foucher [dec] and Marie Melicente Saulet [dec]
mar authorized by Francois Saulet
3. Balthazard Saulet
4. Francois Saulet
to Antoine Blanc
mentions their mother
Thereze Perie who is wid of Thomas Saulet (dec)
mentions heirs to Melicente Foucher wife of Antoine Foucher, listing
these as [cont’d from P. 153] Felicite, Anais, Azelia, Elise, Joseph, and Denis [Foucher]; mentions Louis Foucher

[*c] Marriages and Family Relationships of New Orleans, V. F., Nov 19, 1838
DON 4:457- 458 records donation involving Marie Azelie Saulet and Marie Heloise Saulet.

[2*] From the ST. LOUIS BASILICA ARCHIVES BAPTISMAL REGISTER, Boox IX, Page 139b, Act #753

Felicite Verloin de Grouey et Saulet … On the 15th day of May in the year 1820, I, the undersigned Curate of St. Louis of New Orleans did baptize Felicite, born on the 9th of this month [May], in this year [1820, the legitimate daughter of JOSEPH VERLOIN DE GROUEY, and of MARIE ELOISE SAULET. Paternal grandparents: Verloin de Grouey, Marianne Couturier. Maternal grandparents: Thomas Saulet, Marie Therese Pery. Parrain: Antoine Foucher, Junio. Marraine: Mlle, Felicite Foucher.

This record from 1820 should make it clear that Joseph Verloin and Marie Heloise Saulet could not possibly have been divorced when they would have had to have been in order for Joseph Verloin to have been having children with Charlotte Falgout.

[3*] New Orleans Bee Newspaper, May 2, 1849, p1, c4

1849 – Decedee hier matin a cinq heures, a l’age de 65 ans, a la paroisse Jefferson, dame MARIE HELOISE SAULET, epouse de feu Joseph Verloin De Gruy. Les amis et connaissances des deux familles sont pries de vouloir bien assister a ses funerailles, qui auront lieu aujour-d’hui a quartre heures de demie P.M. Le convoi partira de chez A. Verloin De Gruy, rue Bourgogne, entre St. Louis et Conti.

[4*] Vol. 38 of De Armas, Felix, Notary Public, Index of Acts from Jan-Apr 1833 mentions Laure Verloin deGruy, wife of E. deGruy, transferring property to Joseph V. deGruy and Mrs. Marie Heloise Saulet, his wife, on April 10, 1833.  And vol. 24 mentions a sale of a slave from Mrs. Marie Heloise Saulet, wife of Joseph V. deGruy, in 1835. I think it almost impossible that they were divorced; the divorce was invented in order to explain how he could be married to Charlotte Falgout. But once we make a distinction between the two brothers, no divorce is necessary.  (In fact I have yet to see any record of one – just assumptions – but please correct me if I’m wrong.)