CAROLA LILLIE HARTLEY
Publisher and Contributing Writer
Yesterday St. Landry Now received this message from Bruce Muller in Michigan who is trying to get some information about his wife’s grandmother. He also sent a photo he is trying to identify. Can anyone reading this help?
Bruce Muller story
My name is Bruce Muller, and I live in Otsego, Michigan, near Kalamazoo. My wife Florence and I recently discovered that her mother was a descendant of the Motte family in Washington, LA.
We have copies of three photographs that were passed down to her from an uncle. Two we recognize as her grandmother, Celeste Zoe Declouet, and her grandfather, Theodore Pierre Motte. We cannot accurately attach a name to the third one, which I am sending here.
My wife’s grandmother Celeste performed for a circus based in Lake Charles, LA possibly from 1910 – 1940’s. We know that Celeste was involved with The Park Amusement Co. in Lake Charles, LA. and may have been one of the performers at one time. The owner may have been Mr. Cliff Lyles.
I am sending you a copy of the photograph that my wife, Florence, received from a cousin, Todd Greis, who lives in Shreveport, LA. This photo and the other two photos were passed to him by his grandfather, Aaron Motte, aka Aaron Rhynehart, who is Florence’s uncle. Since the person in the picture is holding a violin, we suspect that he may have also been a performer, either in the circus of with the amusement company.
We hope that one of your readers in Acadiana may recognize the unidentified gentlemen in the photo we have provided.
Thank you
Bruce Muller – Otsego, Michigan
If someone knows the identity of the man in this photo, please email me: carola@stlandrynow.com
