Lemelles Trace Their Roots
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
With an ancestor who is now pope of the Roman Catholic Church and a Zydeco band featuring cousins and nephews, it was hard to eclipse the annual Lemelle reunion atmosphere hosted at the St. Landry Parish Clerk of Court Annex on Saturday.
Relatives from New York, California, Texas met with those living inside St. Landry, for the reunion that featured tales from the Lemelle history, as well as a familial roots presentation involving Pope Leo XIV, whose early history is embedded in the Washington, La. area.
“It’s all part of what we call genealogical tourism, which is a growing industry, as people seek out their histories. We also wanted to point out that research shows the Pope’s family came from St. Landry Parish and not New Orleans,” said Clerk of Court Charles Jagneaux.
Jagneaux estimated that there were just over 100 Lemelle family members who were eager on Saturday to learn more about their ancestry, after they were introduced to the second-floor records archives at the newly-opened Annex.
The St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission, Jagneaux said, played an important role in helping stage the reunion.
Jagneaux said he plans to host a more extensive Lemelle reunion that includes descendants of the Prevost and Bacquet families, who are intertwined with the Lemelle ancestors and Pope Leo.
As Morgan Lemelle and the Zydeco Playmakers began providing music downstairs, Clerk of Court archivist Larry Caillier III began providing details of the Pope’s family, which Jagneaux said spent its first of four generations in St. Landry.
According to research performed by Jagneaux and Caillier, the fifth great grandparents of Pope Leo were Francois de Bellegarde Lemelle and Marie Louise Mariette.
Many of the early generation Lemelles were designated as people of color, who were not only affluent, but who owned extensive properties in the Washington area.
One of the properties owned by the Lemelles, Jagneaux said, was Lemelle’s Landing in Washington, where steamboats became part of an active,navigable commerce on the Courtableau.
Tiffany and Brandy Lemelle traveled from the Los Angeles area for the reunion along with Stan Lemelle, whose relatives lived in the Leonville area on La. 31.
Stan Lemelle said he left St. Landry at an early age during the mid-1950’s, when his family moved to California.
“However I would come back to this area nearly every summer. We have a lot of relatives that are Stelly’s, Arceneaux’s and other names that are familiar around here,” said Stan Lemelle, who was wearing the official Lemelle Family reunion t-shirt and a New Orleans Saints baseball cap.
Tiffany Lemelle said having a Lemelle ancestor as a pope has lifted the Louisiana Creole culture to an international level.
“It was exciting to learn that we have a Pope who is in a recognized leadership role. Most Americans were unaware of the Creole culture or history. Now there is a lot more about that coming out because of him,” Tiffany Lemelle said.
