Parish Females Played Major Roles

Parish Females Played Major Roles

BOBBY ARDOIN

St. Landry Now.com Editor

Impactful lives of females who lived in St. Landry Parish since the early 18th century were revealed on Tuesday at the Opelousas Noon Rotary club by genealogist Etha Semien Amling.

Amling  discussed the successful business ventures and marriages of several parish women that owned rural spas, hat shops, medical practices and catering.

In October during the annual St. Landry Catholic Church cemetery tours, Amling plans to depict the life of Louise Baquie, the grandmother of Pope Leo XIV, whose Lemelle family has parish roots that date back five generations.

Some of the women that Amling has researched are relatives, since Amling has ancestral ties with the Lemelle, Semien and Guillory families.

Marianne Castillon Duchesne Donato, became a land owner of about 8,000 acres in the Mallet community west of Lawtell, said Amling.

Madame Donato was associated with a brick-making business, hat shops and a tavern, said Amling.

As part of her presentation, Smiling mentioned a relative, Antoine Semien, who died in 1811 and is buried at the St. Landry cemetery.

Marie Holcom Roy, mother of Martin Roy, Jr., became an Opelousas  widow in 1943. Mrs. Roy also inherited an automobile business, Roy Motors, that sold Oldsmobiles, said Amling.

During those years between the world wars, General Motors, which also owned Oldsmobile, was reluctant to let a female own an Opelousas vehicle franchise, explained Amling.

After much persistence and lobbying, Marie Roy was eventually allowed to operate the Opelousas franchise until her son, Martin Jr., now 96, graduated from college and took over the business, Amling said.

Rachel Ferguson Gradnigo was a free woman of color who married Joseph Gradnigo, a prolific parish landowner west of Opelousas.

Amling pointed out that Rachel Gradnigo was a thriving business women who owned at hat shop on Bellevue Street in Opelousas and owned a spa connected to a clear water spring in the Grand Prairie area, said Amling.

Emma Wakefield Paillet, was from New Iberia.

According to Amling, Emma Paillet became the state’s first Black woman doctor. Her husband, Joseph Paillet of New Orleans, has ancestors who lived in St. Landry, Amling pointed out.

After moving to California, Emma Paillet would return annually to the parish and perform overall medical services that included tooth care and delivering babies as Paillet traveled in either wagons or buggies, said Amling.