Marie Angelle Jeanlouis (Simon) was born 1854 in Lafayette Parish, La and died 1919 in Lafayette, La..
She married Jacque Shay (Chaix) May 21, 1878 in Grand Coteau, La., son of Ernestine Shay (daddy's great-grandmother)
He was born January 31, 1854 in Lafayette Parish and died January 21, 1933 in Lafayette, La..
Photo - Jacque and Angelle Shay
Marriage Notes for Marie (Simon) and Jacque (Chaix):
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, Grand Coteau, La. vol.4 p310 SWLR13
p455. Also Opelousas Parish Marriage #10476 May 13, 1878.
Children of Marie Angelle and Jacque Shay (daddy's grandparents) are:
1. Angello Simon Shay b. Unknown; d. Unknown; m. Lillian Leblanc, Lafayette Parish, LA Crt Hs #19834; b. Unknown; d. Unknown.
2. Aristill Nello Shay (Uncle Nello - daddy's uncle in Lafayette)
3. Arthur Shay b. Unknown; d. Unknown.
4. Jean Louise Shay ( Aunt Louise - daddy's aunt in Lafayette) b. Unknown, Grand Coteau, LA; d. 1976, Lafayette Parish, LA.
5. Marie Eugenie Shay b. Unknown, Lafayette Parish, LA; d. Unknown; m. George Lemelle, January 20,1920, Lafayette; b. 1891, Lafayette, La.; d. January 6, 1934, Lafayette, La..
Marriage Notes for Marie Shay and George Lemelle:
Lafayette Marriage #13133
6. Utah Michael Shay b. Unknown; d. Bef. 1933.
7. Zoa Shay (daddy's aunt in Baton Rouge) b. Unknown, Lafayette Parish, LA; d. Unknown; m. C.H. Pickett; b. Unknown; d. Unknown.
8. Oscar Joseph Shay b. September 15, 1880, Grand Coteau, La.; d. Unknown.
9. Marie Ernestine Shay (Grandma Martel - daddy's momma) b. June 9, 1889, Grand Coteau, La.; d. January 26, 1930, Lafayette Parish, La..
Comments from Paul C. Martel Jr.: Daddy's people were very close to his family in Opelousas. Whenever anyone in the family would have a wake and a funeral, his people would be there. I remember that the families of Uncle Nello and Aunt Louise from Lafayette would visit us and we would visit them not just on sad occasions but on happy ones as well and during the holidays. Aunt Zoa (Zoe -pronounced zoay), who was married to Charles Pickett lived in Baton Rouge and she would visit also. My daddy had stayed with them for awhile when he was young and had stomach trouble. I believe her husband was a doctor. They had a piano and daddy had taken some lessons.
I remember riding in the back of my daddy's green 1953 GMC at night under the stars going to Lafayette on the new two lane highway. We had a "tarpoleon" back there to cover up if it would rain. It was heavy and stiff, covered with paint and dirt which stung our eyes, and it had a particular damp earth smell.
When we first went on the new highway to visit Aunt Louise and Uncle "Bat" I remember a discussion about some large oak trees. There were two of them, and we had to turn by the second one. I remember somebody saying to make sure that you turn by the second oak tree (could have been the first). Those oak trees are still there. The first one is when you reach North Gate Mall and the second one is when you reach the intersection. Anyway, their house was located right where the escalator for J.C. Penny was located in North Gate Mall. When I lived and worked in Lafayette in the early 1970's, we used to visit where they had moved the house across the street on the north side of the mall, and Elouise (Babin) Castile, daughter of Batiste Babin ( Uncle Bat) and Aunt Louise (Shay) had told me about the original location of their house.
In the past the house was out in the country and they had a barn and farm animals (chicken, hogs, cows, and a bull). I remember the bull because we got chased by him. Somebody had on red. We had fun walking out in the open fields and playing in the hay loft of the barn.
There is one thing that I remember vividly, uncle Bat chasing a hog and then jumping on the animal while it was squealing and cutting it's throat with a large butcher knife. Then someone ran out toward him carrying a large white pan. The pan was put under the dead hog to catch the blood which was pouring from it's neck. After the jugular vein was cut death had come swiftly to the hog. The blood was carried inside to cool and used to make "blood pudding" and "blood boudin." After the hog was butchered and parts of it used to make cracklin, boudin, hog head cheese etc. we gathered in the house to eat. I remember that we were offered some fresh cow's milk to eat with our homemade cornbread. The cow's milk was put in a pan on the stove and heated and skimmed. When we got to taste it, it was still warm and sweet, not like the cold Clover Farm milk I was used to drinking.
I remember one night when we were coming back from visiting daddy's people in Lafayette, the car ahead of us, Uncle Clayton's car, ran into a big hog. There were some other people in the car, and everybody was excited but no one was hurt (except for the hog). Cars were made of iron and steel back in those days. They decided to throw the hog in the trunk before we left. The highway was really dark and when it was cloudy, and all you could see was what was in your headlights.
In the early 1970's I got a job working for the welfare department on Jefferson Street in Lafayette. For a while I stayed with Uncle Nello Shay, my daddy's uncle. His son Nello Jr. was working at the employment office at the time. Nello Sr. lived on Washington Street near Congress and Nello Jr. lived further down.
Uncle Nello was really good to me and patient with me. He had wisdom that comes to some people with age. He would listen to me talk and give me good advice.
I remember him working in his back yard doing different things, and I took a picture of him there (need to scan). He had a large worm bed at the back corner of his property. I was impressed by this and later tried to make one of my own, but I was never quite that successful.
Uncle Nello was a good cook, and I really enjoyed the meals he would prepare and share with me. I only wish that I could remember our conversations and that I would have asked him about the family.
One thing I do remember with some regret is that I almost set the house on fire. It was a very cold winter night, and I had an electric heater on all night. The next day he showed me where some of the wiring in the house had burned. I don't recall him getting really mad and fussing at me a lot, but he was angry and hurt about it, and I felt shame and guilt. After that passed it never came up again. He was that way. Eventually, I moved to a place of my own, but I will never forget Uncle Nello and the time I spent with him.