I think my original post is lost in cyberspace. So, Monterey, this is for you……

My mother, Maggie Belvia DeVille, is the youngest child of Arestille DeVille, and granddaughter of Louis Paul DeVille III and Deneige Johnson Deville. Maggie is in her late 80’s, in wonderful health, and sharp as a tack. She remembers her grandfather as a man of integrity, well respected in the community, and after the war he became marshal of the northern part of Evangeline Parish (then, St. Landry). He did have faults, one being a short temper. As “Louie” told Maggie, when he caught a soldier in his unit feeding sugar to a horse, he knocked him out cold. A short biographical sketch of Louis DeVille is given by Maggie’s oldest brother in the book “Louis DeVille I, Called Filo, and His Wife Marie J. Johnson and Their Descendants”; Odell DeVille, © 1986. The only mention of Louis DeVille III in regards to the civil war follows:

“He served in the Civil War with Todd’s Prairie Rangers. He killed some horse thieves, jayhawkers, or others”….. “One of the horse thieves that Louis DeVille III killed was stealing horses from his sister. When he shot him, the thief ran and jumped a stake and rider, which is a tall brace in the corner of a rail fence, and he fell on his face with his hat under his right knee. He was from Texas, name unknown”. (pg. 95)

Maggie DeVille is not a descendant of Don Louis DeVille, but I am offering an excerpt from the above mentioned book, as it is oral history pertaining to the civil war.

“Don Louis DeVille was much of a man, and freed himself, his brother Louis Paul DeVille III, Neville Johnson, Dave “Tobe” Clark, Benoit Johnson, Flouncy Hebert, and several others from capture during the Civil War. They were being guarded on a platform of a depot one night. Don Louis DeVille, while pretending to be asleep with the others, passed the word to remain very still but to be ready to be on the run when he knocked the guard out. Don Louis DeVille then began to roll and groan. The guard asked him what was wrong, and Don Louis said that he was cramping and wanted to walk around. The guard gave him permission to walk around. Each time he walked around, he would get a little nearer to the guard, until he was in reach of him. When he passed in reach of the guard, he knocked him out cold with his fist. At daylight, they took cover and consolidated. The last man to join the group was Neville Johnson, who was heard mumbling and fanning the flies from his face. He had run into a tree and had broken his nose. The blood was over most of his face, and the flies were after the blood”. (pg. 266).

Monterey, I wish I had known my great grandmother, Deneige Johnson. When I leave flowers at her grave site, sometimes I discover flowers left by others, relatives I’m sure I have never known. I’ve been told there is a thin line separating the world we see, and that of the spirit world. If this is true, surely she is smiling down from her lofty place in heaven, seeing the rich heritage she provided, and the gratefulness of generations that follow her. I am truly blessed.

Baudin