Lafargue Family Papers

Manuscripts Collection 923
1813-1917 (bulk, 1813-1870s)
.3 linear feet (1 manuscripts box and 1 oversize folder)

Correspondence, military records, marriage licenses, and other papers of a distinguished French Louisiana family noted for its contributions in a wide variety of fields, among them government, journalism, justice, law, medicine, and politics.

SCOPE

The papers primarily concern Arnaud, Pierre-Adolphe, Adolphe J., and Annie Lafargue. Included are military records for Arnaud Lafargue, correspondence from Arnaud to his son, Adolphe, in Louisiana, correspondence of Annie and Adolphe J. Lafargue, and other documents.

CITATION

Please cite as follows:

Lafargue family papers, Manuscripts Collection 923, Manuscripts Department, Special Collections, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118

Brief Family History

Arnaud Lafargue (1775-1850) was born in Orthez, Department of the Pyrénées, in the southwest corner of France. He served in the military for a quarter century and participated in campaigns in Italy, Germany, Russia, Prussia, Bohemia, and Belgium. He was a lieutenant in the twenty-sixth regiment, rose to captain in the seventeenth, and served as colonel of the twelfth. After retiring from active service he became adjutant-major of the National Guard of the department des Basses Pyrénées.

He suffered eleven wounds during his years of service and in 1813 endured serious wounds to his shoulder that left him incapacitated for some time. In 1816 the Minister of War granted Lafargue permission to marry, and on December 26, 1816, he married Anne Delle Marie Heuga (born in Orthez November 22, 1783).

Their son, Pierre-Adolphe Lafargue (1818-1869) was also born in Orthez (he apparently later dropped the hyphenated version of his first name and became known simply as Adolphe Lafargue). At the age of eighteen he participated in one of the last waves of direct French immigration to the Avoyelles and Natchitoches Parishes areas; many immigrants in this group were from the Pyrénées region. While a schoolteacher in Natchitoches Parish, he married Zepherine M. Zorich, a member of an influential family from Rachal. They had two sons and one daughter.

Adolphe Lafargue subsequently became a professor of French and mathematics at Jefferson College, St. James Parish, and then at the state university. He later settled in Marksville and became superintendent of public instruction of Avoyelles Parish. In 1856 he founded the Marksville High School, which became one of the state’s leading schools until it was permanently closed by the Civil War. In 1860 he became publisher and editor of the Pelican, which later became the Marksville Villager, which he published until 1868. He also served as mayor of Marksville. He died in 1869.

One of his two sons, Adolphe Jolna Lafargue (1855-1917), received his education at Jefferson College and then studied law at the University of Louisiana (later renamed Tulane University of Louisiana) in New Orleans. He returned to Marksville and published and edited the Marksville Bulletin. He married Annie Winn Irion (1860-1889) daughter of Marksville congressman Alfred Biggs Irion, in 1878. They had four sons: Alvan Henry, Walter, Edwin Louis, and Sidney Eustis.

In 1872, Adolphe Lafargue’s brother, Arnaud D. Lafargue, a state legislator, arranged for him to be named clerk of a legislative committee. In 1884 Governor McEnery, for whom he campaigned, appointed him parish assessor, an office he held for two years. He then received a gubernatorial appointment as clerk of court.

A noted orator, Adolphe Lafargue was elected to the state legislature in 1896, where he served as a floor manager. In 1899 Governor Foster appointed him to fill an unexpired term as judge of the tenth judicial district, and in 1912 he was elected judge of the fourteenth judicial district, a position he held until shortly before his death in 1917.

His son Alvan Henry Lafargue (1883-1962) became a noted physician, civic leader, and politician in Sulphur and Lake Charles, Louisiana. After receiving his education at Louisiana State University, Tulane Medical School, and the Memphis Hospital Medical School (later renamed the University of Tennessee Medical School), Alvan Lafargue practiced medicine in several Louisiana communities before settling in Sulphur in 1915. He served as a parish and city health official, was a director of Lake Charles Charity Hospital, and served as a Southern Pacific Railroad physician for forty-nine years. He married Florestine Richard and had four children: Alvan, Jr. (b. 1913), Myron (b. 1914), Irene (b. 1917), and Prudence (b. 1924).

Alvan Lafargue organized the Businessmen’s club, which later became the West Calcasieu Association of Commerce, and served as president of the Gulf Beach Highway Association, which promoted the building of Highway 27. He continued his father’s interest in politics, serving on the state Democratic Party executive committee and being elected mayor of Sulphur from 1926-1932. He also had a lifelong interest in county fairs and festivals. In 1925 he founded and served as first president of the Calcasieu-Cameron bi-parish fair. He later was elected president of the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals and the 1963 Louisiana Fair and Festival was held in his honor.

INVENTORY

 Folder 

1.          1813 Aug 2. Document naming A. M. Lafargue Captain of 17^th Regiment du Ligne.

2.          1815. Service record of Captain Arnaud Lafargue of 12^th Reg’t du Ligne Infantry. (in pieces; see photocopy).

3.          1815 Oct 1. Place d’Agen. Service record of Arnaud Lafargue, Capt., 12^th Reg’t, Line Infantry. Orthez, France.

4.          1817 Feb 17 Arnold (?) Lafargue Capt. to Gen’l Chauvigni-de Blat, Commandant of Dept. of Basses-Pyrenees.

5.          1817-1819. Account of Capt. Arnaud Lafargue’s military services and campaigns. Contemporary copy.

6.          1818-1869. Pierre Adolphe Lafargue family history. Photocopy. Original returned to family.

7.          1830 Aug 22. Village of Orthez, Commune of Orthez. Garde Nationale. Arnaud Lafargue elected Adjutant Major of the Battalion on 1830 June 7. Certified by the Department Prefect. Fragile.

8.          Garde Nationale certificate, Arnaud Lafargue,. 1832. Oversize.

9.          1838 March 26. Marionnine Lafargue (sister), Orthez, France, to Pierre Adolphe Lafargue, N.O.

10.      1838-1846. Marionnine and father, France, to Adolphe Lafargue, Natchitoches, N.O. and Plaisance. (7 items).

11.      1839 Jan 20. Father, Orthez, France to Pierre Adolphe Lafargue, N.O. (illegible).

12.      1839 Jan. ?. (unknown first name) Lafargue to “Cher Ami” Pierre Adolphe Lafargue, N.O. or Baton Rouge.

13.      1839 April 23. Father, Orthez, France to Pierre Adolphe Lafargue, Cloutierville, La. Damaged; missing part of last page.

14.      1840 June 22. French passport of Pierre Adolphe Lafargue of New Orleans. In pieces. Fragile

15.      1848 Sept. 12. Servants and subjects to Citizen Prince Louis Napoleon. Strasbourg. Petition.

16.      1840 May 7. Marriage contract of Pierre Adolphe Lafargue, son of Arnaud Lafargue and Marie Henga, and Marie Zepherine of Natchitoches Parish. 1849 copy and English translation.

17.      1857 Nov. 4. A. Lafargue, Marksville, to Mlle. Parla Bagretti and friends, N.O.

18.      1858 Aug. 22. B. Labat, St. Charles Parish, to Mr. Dartlys.

19.      Pen and ink drawing: “A fancy scene exhibited in Avoyelles in 1858. The dream of two months duration.” Fragile; use photocopy. Oversize

20.      1859 Jan. 9. F. S. Cara ____, Pointe a la Hache to Mr. Lafargue, director of High School, Marksville, Avoyelles Parish.

21.      1868 Dec. 31. Proposition made by A. Lafargue to C. O. Dugue’ about reopening of Marksville High School in 1869.

22.      1869 Aug. 27. Contemporary copy of the obituary of Adolphe Lafargue (d. 1869 Aug 27, age 51) by John N. Carrigan, of Marksville, which appeared in the New Orleans Picayune.

23.      1876 Feb. 2. Annie Pearce to father from Georgetown Seminary, (Kentucky). With note from Aunt Emma.

24.      1878 March 2. Marriage license of Adolphe Jalsneus Lafargue and Annie Winn Irion.

25.      1882 Feb. 26. Annie to Adolphe.

26.      1883 Oct. 22. Adolphe to Annie.

27.      1884 April 9. Annie to Adolphe.

28.      1884 May. Adolphe to Annie. (2 letters)

29.      1884 Dec. 16. Annie to Adolphe

30.      1885 July 31. U.K. Irion, Zurich, Switzerland to sister Annie Lafargue, Marksville

31.      1884 Feb. 6. Baptism of Henry Alvin Lafargue and typed application of Alvan Henry Lafargue to S.A.R. (1929)

32.      1889 May 10. Annie to Adolphe

33.      1902 Oct. 20. H. P. Andebut (?), Washington LA to Cousin Alfred B. Irion, Eola, LA

34.      1912, Dec. 6. Certificate of election for Adolphe J. Lafargue as judge for the fourteenth judicial district. Oversize

35.      1917 Jan. 25. Adolphe J. Lafargue death notice.

36.      1917 Jan. 26. Blanche Griffin Prudhomme to Emma. Letter of condolence about Adolphe’s death.

37.      1917 Jan. 29. Resolution of Avoyelles Bar on the death of Judge Adolphe J. Lafargue. (Typescript)

38.      n.d. Paper about Grand Jury charges (1 page, part of paper).

39.      n.d. Dedication of American Legion Home. Speech by Dr. A. H. Lafargue, Sulphur, La. (Typescript)

40.      n.d. Part of paper on the role of women. (incomplete) pp. 7-10.

41.      n.d. Poems (3 items). (French)

42.      n.d. Belle Bordelon to A. J. Lafargue re Annie’s illness.

43.      n.d. Letter of welcome to Rt. Rev. Bishop _____ from Adolphe J. Lafargue. (unsigned, unfinished draft)

44.      n.d. Note of Annie L. C.(?) to Adolphe about loss of child of Annie and Adolphe’s in childbirth.

45.      n.d. Annie to Adolphe.

46.      n.d. A. B. Irion to Adolphe, Marksville.

47.      Miscellaneous pieces, envelopes etc.

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