Eyes of an Eagle: Jean-Pierre Cenac, Patriarch: An Illustrated History of Early Houma-Terrebonne

Acknowledgements, Dedication, Jean-Pierre Cenac

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank the following for their valuable assistance with this project: Clifton Theriot of the Nicholls State University Archives for finding obscure resources, verification of innumerable dates and sources of images, and helping to establish the Cenac Collection; Jackie Jackson for her editing expertise; Emilie Pitre of the NSU Archives staff; Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit for their advice and counsel; author Shane K. Bernard, Ph.D., historian and curator for the McIlhenny Company for sharing his knowledge and resources; Scott Carroll for his masterful graphic design and for his advice; Hope King for her design support; Michel Goitia-Nicolas for an introduction to Basque influence; Chris Pena for permission to use his Civil War book so extensively; Dr. Carl Brasseaux for his advice and permission to use his published material so extensively; Dr. Don Davis and Dr. Brasseaux for sharing their enormous store of knowledge and photo collections; Rosalie Authement Tipton for her French translations; the Cenac medical office staff—Faye Parker, Peggy Darsey, Mona Griffin, and the late Rosie Comeaux for their extraordinary work on this project over several years; French cousin Jean LaPorte, his wife Adrienne, and daughter Christine for their hospitality and help; Madeleine Cenac and Robert Smith for sharing their knowledge of French architecture and landscape design; the late Tommy Cobb for his encouragement; Terrebonne Clerk of Court Bobby Boudreaux and his staff, for allowing generous access to public records; the Terrebonne Parish Public Library staff, particularly Judy Soniat and Darryl Eschete of the reference department; the Historic New Orleans Collection’s Mary Lou Eichhorn and Daniel Hammer; Charlette Poché of the Terrebonne Parish Council Clerk’s Office; Kevin Allemand, Mary Duet, and Cecilia Richard at the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Archives; the Terrebonne Genealogical Society, particularly Jess Bergeron; Gary J. Whipple and the late Harry F. Hellier, Jr. for information on currencies; Warren A. Perrin of the Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation; Whitney Broussard, Ph.D., of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Institute for Coastal Ecology and Engineering; attorneys Matthew H. Hagen and Roy S. Bonner for research assistance; Charles M. Cook; Bobby Vice; Douglas J. Authement; Brian W. Larose; Mike Voisin; Thomas Becnel, Ph.D; R. Luke Bordelon, M.D.; Veranese E. Douglas, Dan Davis, Gerald Voisin and C.J. Christ; Arlen B. Cenac, Sr.; Arlen B. Cenac, Jr.; Enola A. Trahan and the late Maurice E. Trahan; Jessie P. Thibodaux and the late Oliver J. Thibodaux; Henry A. Adams, Alvin J. Benoit, and Carroll J. Cenac, all deceased; Bayou Writers members; Emil W. Joller; Louis Lewald Blum, Jr.; “Ted” L. Jones; Melvin Henry, James Brunet Sr. and Jr., Dan Comeaux, and Michael Hebert for restoring artifacts; Tim Hebert and Dale Robertson for assistance on church history and photographs; Vincent and Ying Kraemer for photographic reproduction and restoration; Donald J. Cenac for his many contributions to this book; Louise Violet Cenac Bourg for preserving official documents of Pierre for so many years; Tom Roddy, James R. Carrere and Arthur R. Cenac, Jr., the A.P. Cenac, Sr. family, Dorothy C. Oubre, Gail Wurzlow Ehrensing, M.D. and many other Cenac relatives who shared their family genealogical information, artifacts, photographs, and personal memories; others who had even a small part in our work on this book, whom we may inadvertently not have mentioned by name; the authors’ immediate families who lived with stories of Pierre for these past years; and especially Cindy Trahan Cenac for her patience with the time and energies that her husband had to devote to realize completion of this book. Dr. Philip Louis Cenac, Sr. Dorothy Lee Stodghill Cenac January 27, 1946 For my father, Dr. Philip Louis Cenac, Sr., and my mother, Dorothy Lee Stodghill, whose maternal influence her children will forever feel. My father loved his family and appreciated his ancestors, their lives and their labors. He would have been proud to have their story told. C.E.C., Sr. Jean-Pierre Cenac Born June 12, 1838 Barbazan-Debat Canton of Tarbes District of Lower Barbazan Departement of Haute-Pyrénées France Died April 29, 1914 Terrebonne Parish Houma, Louisiana United States of America Below, a copy of Pierre’s original handwritten French birth certificate. Left, an official representation of the certificate’s wording, c. 1977 Houma Fish & Oyster Co., Ltd., present-day 8061 Main Street,Houma, c. 1930 ...