I Once Was Lost, But Now Am Found

In July 2009, I shared my saga of trying to find the graves of my great-great grandparents and their son in a post titled Where the Sidewalk Ends. In short, I read they were in St. Joseph's Cemetery #2, but was told they were in St. Joseph's #1, though the church staff wasn't sure where in #1 they were. I was shown records that they were buried in #1, so I was convinced they were out there somewhere. I left Louisiana without success.

This past week, I returned to the scene in an attempt to locate the graves that have eluded me in the past. I went back to St. Joseph's Cemetery #1 and scoured the entire grounds. This wasn't easy, as the graves aren't laid out in neat, tidy rows. Sometimes I had to tread lightly on the bases of certain monuments to read the stones on the rows behind them. It's a delicate balance of respect, determination and trying not to sprain an ankle.

In the months between visits, someone had emailed me to say that the cemetery sidewalks were put in before the death dates of my ancestors, so it was unlikely they were under there. That made me feel better, but where were they? There were a few family plots where the information had simply worn away. Perhaps one of those held the Bourgaux name. I tried to channel my ancestors, beg them to point me in the right direction, bribe them with the promise of glowing tributes on my blog, but nothing worked.

I searched for about two hours and didn't find my Bourgaux names. My unwilling partner in crime was getting a little antsy, so I called it quits.

My son wanted to hunt for trains, so I told him we'd take a quick trip to St. Joseph's Cemetery #2 to re-take some photos of a few ancestors' graves. I promised him it wouldn't take long because I knew where everyone was located. So we roll into St. Joseph #2:

We get out of the car and head over to the familiar monuments of my great-great aunt and her family. For some reason, my eye wanders up and to the left and what do I see?

George P. Bourgaux

1907-1931

Emelie M. Bourgaux

1876-1944

Emile J. Bourgaux

1866-1948

It's my great-great grandparents and their son! They were in St. Joseph's #2 all along! But why did I have the paperwork that said they were in #1? They were originally buried there, but must have been moved at some point, perhaps by one or more of their adult children.

What matters most is that I found them! Or maybe they found me....

Emelie Menou Bourgaux

Emile Joseph Bourgaux