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- From the Dictionary of Lousiana Biography (citation details below):
PELLERIN, Louis Gérard, soldier, entrepreneur, Opelousas post commandant. [...] Educated in local schools. Married (1) Françoise Alexandre Vielle in 1756; and after her untimely death, married (2) Marie-Marthe Hubert de Bellaire, 1757. The latter union allied the young Pellerin with such influential families as the Chauvins, Delachaises, Darensbourgs, and Prévosts at New Orleans. Children: Marie Françoise (b. 1757), Louis Jacques Gérard (b. 1760), Bathélemy Louis (b. 1762), Nicolas Louis (b. 1764), Charlotte Louis (b. 1766), Françoise Marie Marthe Louise (b. 1769), Jean Baptiste Louis (b. 1772), and Louise Joseph (b. 1776). Career: commissioned enseigne en second in the Louisiana garrison on October 6, 1752. The subsequent years were uneventful for Pellerin, until his second marriage in 1757, when family connections caused a dramatic improvement of his fortunes. Served as an unsuccessful emissary for Governor Louis Billouart de Kerlérec to the French Minister of Marine and Colonies, 1761; detained at Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) by a British naval blockade of the French Antilles until the end of active duty in the Seven Years War in 1763. Returned to New Orleans, but retired from the French Army shortly thereafter. Received a royal land grant along the upper reaches of Bayou Teche (Prairie Basse), measuring three-fourths of a league frontage by one and one-half leagues in depth, 1764; also appointed first commandant of the Opelousas post. In 1765, conveyed his Teche concession to Jacques Courtableau, a prominent Opelousas pioneer, and subsequently acquired a 2700 acre royal land grant along Bayou Bellaire in the Gradenigo Island vicinity, near the Opelousas Indian villages. Established a trade monopoly with the aboriginal inhabitants; instituted despotic rule at the post; alienated the Acadians, other French settlers, and the Roman Catholic clergy; court-martialed in 1787 for malfeasance; retired to the lower Teche region; died ca. April 9, 1785, interred at Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, New Orleans, Louisiana.
From Acadian Settlement in Louisiana: Colonial Populations and Imperial Policy by Frances Bailey Kolb, senior honors thesis, Texas A&M University, April 2007:
Besides the loss of their “leader,” the Acadians were subjected to the negligent treatment of the Opelousas commandant. Colonial politics and familial political power had ramifications for these early Attakapas and Opelousas settlers. The first commandant of those posts, a Creole, Louis Pellerin, made an advantageous marriage that allied him with the attorney general of Louisiana, Nicolas Chauvin de Lafre?nie?re, whose influence raised Pellerin to the rank of commandant and also allowed Pellerin to feel free of legal constraints. Pellerin hoped to amass enough wealth to retire to France. As commandant, Pellerin entered into a feud with the post’s priest Fr. Valentin, which began with Valentin’s opposition to Pellerin’s cabaret. Pellerin also attempted to establish a monopoly at the trading post, where he inflated the prices of the goods, and he attempted to end the monopoly on the fur trade held by local military leader Courtableau. As part of his efforts to gain a trading monopoly, Pellerin forbade residents at the Opelousas post from trading with Native Americans. When the supplies and rations promised by the colonial government to the Acadians arrived, Pellerin seized them, and promptly left his post to accompany Spanish governor Ulloa through part of his tour of the lower Louisiana posts. Not only, then, did Pellerin confiscate aid promised the Acadians, but he also deserted them after depriving them of their much needed supplies. Pellerin clearly failed to live up to his duties as commandant, described by Ulloa as to “aid [the Acadians] them with what is given to them for their basic sustenance, and minister justice.” Pellerin behaved in quite the opposite manner.
The Acadians under his jurisdiction applied their custom of petitioning officials in attempting to resolve the troubles caused by the commandant at their new settlement. By the end of August 1767, the non-Acadian settlers of Opelousas persuaded the Acadians to petition Governor Ulloa with their grievances, a list which included the Acadians’ misappropriated supplies and Pellerin’s abandonment of the post. Nine Acadians living at La Pointe, La Manque, and Co?te Gele?e proclaimed their support for Fr. Valentin to Ulloa and even asked for a new commandant. Grevemberg and two of his sons acted as witnesses to the letter, demonstrating their support for the appeal of the Acadians. Such procedure followed traditional Acadian approach to dealings with colonial and governmental officials in Acadia and in the American colonies. Ulloa’s response indicated his desire to retain the colonists. When the colonists at Opelousas suggested that they might leave Louisiana for British West Florida because they would be able to live there less harassed, Ulloa immediately informed Aubry that he must find a way to appease the settlers. In the end, Pellerin was court-martialed and discharged from his position as commandant, and the settlers were granted the right to select two co-commandants. Nevertheless, his abuses as commandant serve as an example of the power and dangers of an unchecked colonial official, contributing to the dangers of instability which plagued the late French and early Spanish colonial governments.
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Nielsen Hayden genealogy
Abt 1729 - Abt 1785 (~ 56 years)
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