My 1 Week Visit to My Father's Homestate Louisiana and his father's hometown Thibodaux followed by 1 Week Visit to my Paternal Halfbrother McLain in Tennessee

I went to my father Lawrence Nolan Scott's home state Louisiana for the first time. I stayed at the Bayou L Motel in my paternal grandfather Nolan Scott's hometown Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish. Grandpa Nolan was born there, and so were both his parents Ivory Scott and Carrie Johnson. The main reason that I went to Thibodaux is finding information about Grandpa Nolan's ancestors. My paternal grandmother Mary Alice Gaines had roots in Lafourche Parish on the side of her maternal grandfather James Cross who was born in slavery there. His paternal grandfather/my 4th Great Grandfather Benjamin Cross owned the Orange Grove plantation there and his children with his 3/4 Acadian wife/my 4th Great Grandmother Anastasia Bourgeois were all born there. 2nd Great Grandpa James' paternal aunt Priscilla (my great grandmother's namesake) was married to Charles M. Gillis who owned a sugar plantation there.

I went to the Morning Star Baptist Church Cemetery which was small, but I couldn't find my 2nd Great Grandmother Maria Lilly Scott nor her son/my Great Granduncle Matthew Scott. I didn't find any of the Lilly relatives. There were some tombstones that were hard to identify. I found some Daggs buried there. I am very sure that all of the Daggs living in Thibodaux were my relatives. My 2nd Great Grandfather William Scott was really William Henry Daggs Jr who was born in mid-1860s. He, his parents( William Henry Daggs Sr and Mary Ann Smith), and his siblings were living in Assumption Parish at the time of the 1870 Census and were living in Thibodaux/or nearby at the time of the 1880 Census. One of the Daggs buried in the Morning Star Baptist Church cemetery is 2nd Great Grandpa William's brother John Daggs who died on April 1925 in New Orleans. I have his death certificate that says his parents were William Daggs and Mary Smith.

I went to the Moses, Allen Chapel Calvary cemetery. It is one of the earliest African American cemeteries in Thibodaux. It serves three church congregations: Moses Baptist Church, Allen Chapel AME Church, Calvary Methodist Church. It was created in 1880. Thibodaux had a population of only 1,515 people in 1880. According to 1880 Census, My 2nd Great Grandfather Harvey Johnson (born 1857 in Louisiana) was living with his father Henry Johnson (born 1835 in Missouri) in Thibodaux at the time. The cemetery is actually behind St. Charles Street which was the street that my Great Grandfather Ivory Scott, his wife Dicey, and their children lived on. I didn't find the graves of 2nd Great Grandma Rosanna nor Great Grandma Carrie. I found a memorial stone of Grandpa Nolan. I also found the burial of Great Grandma Carrie's older brother Major Johnson with a memorial stone of their sister MarriaJ(Johnson) Williams next to it. Both Uncle Major and Great Grandpa Ivory were World War 1 army veterans. I also found a memorial stone of Marria's husband Hudson Williams. I also found memorial stones of Grandpa Nolan's paternal great granduncle Judson Daggs and other Daggs relatives.

I met my Cajun paternal distant cousin Jaime that I met on facebook a few years ago and her husband that I am also distantly related to. The three of us are distantly related to each other. They took me around restaurants and treated me to some good food. They even greeted me with a roast beef Poboy sandwich, a rootbeer, and a peanut butter treat before we went to restaurants. We finished off the day with dessert at restaurant. I treated them to dessert out of gratitude for their kindness and generosity. I had Banana Foster for the first time. I had a really enjoyed my time with them. I had very nice conversations with them. They were quite nice, friendly people. It was the best day of my visit in Thibodaux.

My shared Acadian ancestral families with Jaime are Aucoin, Babin, Bernard, Blanchard, Boudrot/Boudreau, Bourg, Bourgeois, d'Entremont, Doucet, Dugas, Gautrot/Gautreau, Landry, LeBlanc, Richard, and Trahan.

I went to the Lafourche Parish Library and then to County Clerk's Office. I got copies of marriage certificates. Great Grandpa Ivory married his first wife Victoria Rhodes in 1910 in Thibodaux. Great Grandpa Ivory married Clara Williams in 1915 in Thibodaux, and so his longtime wife Dicey Wilson was his third wife and not his second wife. In the same year, William Scott Jr married Louisa Cokelin in Thibodaux. According to a 1920 Census, William Scott Jr was born in 1882. He was young enough to be the son of 2nd Great Grandpa William who was born in the mid 1860s. In 1907, My Great Granduncle Nazareth Johnson (Great Grandma Carrie's older brother) married my Great Grand Aunt Pinkey (Great Grandpa Ivory's older sister) whose last name was Harris at the time.

Dad's maternal 2nd Cousin Linda lives just an hour drive away from Thibodaux, but I didn't get to meet her in person. Her maternal grandmother Laura and my paternal grandmother's mother Priscilla were sisters with both of them being the daughters of James Cross and Mary Johnson. Laura was named after 2nd Great Grandpa James' mother.

She greatly pleased me by texting me a photo of Dad when he was a teenager. The only photo that I ever saw of my father was when he and my mother was sitting on a couch at my mother's family's home. My mother was holding me and my father was looking down at me. It was my first Christmas. I never a saw a photo of his actual face.

After a week in Thibodaux, I took a flight to Nashville to meet my 5 year younger paternal halfbrother Mclain in person for the first time after 2 years of first connecting through 23andme. I stayed with him for a week and got to know him and his family. He and his wife Lisa have a barbershop and catering business. I got treated to some delicious food and a nice haircut. I have a Mason's Hotdogs t-shirt now.

I had a wonderful visit, and it is just the first of many visits. Meeting my brother is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I actually have ancestors that were born in Tennessee.

On the side of my maternal grandmother's father Harold George Walker whose ancestry is colonial European American:

His paternal grandfather's maternal grandfather/my 5th Great Grandfather William Gwin was born in Tennessee. His parents Elias Gwin (son of William Gwin and Nanney Childres) and Tabitha Weatherford (daughter of John Money Weatherford and Frances Spraggins) met and married in Tennessee. My 6th Great Grandfather Elias was born in North Carolina, and my 6th Great Grandmother Tabitha was born in Kentucky.

His maternal grandfather's mother/my 4th Great Grandmother Lucinda Romines was born in Hardin County, Tennessee. Both her parents John Romines (son of Samuel George Romines born in Tennessee and Alabama Sively born in Virginia) and Sarah (parents unknown) were born in Tennessee.

His maternal grandmother's mother/my 4th Great Grandmother Leana Caroline Harp was born in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. Her parents Nathaniel Gilliam Harp (son of Gilliam Harrup and Temperance Loftin ) and Mariah Murphy (daughter of an unknown Murphy and Moraig Macintosh) met and married in Davidson County. Both my 5th Great Grandparents Nathaniel and Mariah were born in Virginia.

On Great Grandpa Ivory's side:

His maternal grandmother's mother/my 4th Great Grandmother Sarah Lewis was a slave born in Tennessee. Her father is unknown. Her mother was Nelly (last name unknown) who was born in North Carolina.

Welcome to Thibodaux sign

Morning Star Baptist Church Cemetery

Daggs relatives at Morning Star Baptist Church Cemetery

Moses Allen Baptist Church

Memorial stone of my paternal grandfather Nolan Scott

Grave of my Great Grand Uncle Major Johnson and memorial stone of his sister/my Great Grand Aunt Marria (Johnson) Williams.

Memorial stone of Hudson Williams who was Great Grand Aunt Marria's husband

I checked out the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center to learn a little about my Acadian paternal ancestors.

Louisiana Creole food restaurant

I ate at Griffin's Louisiana Grille

I had the blackened pork chop strips and Marsh fries (they have cheddar cheese and gravy on them).

I had hot bread pudding for dessert. It was big, and I didn't eat half of it. I took it home

I ordered and ate some food from Jabby's Pizza on Super Bowl Sunday

pizza - Jabby's original dough, red sauce, mozzarella cheese, canadian bacon, chicken, andouille sausage, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, spinach, roasted zucchini, olives

Nutella pizza that had strawberries and bananas

I went to a Cajun fastfood restaurant Off The Hook for Crawfish Etoufee (it comes with rice), red beans/rice, and T-Toast (it's fried bread pudding bites topped with pecans and rum sauce)

I found a food stand, and I got I ate a sausage poboy and jambalaya.

Spahr's

I had the seafood gumbo (shrimp, crab, sausage) and potato salad.

I ate an appetizer crawfish queso (Louisiana crawfish tails sauteed tomatoes and jalapenos, simmered in a queso sauce. served with tortilla chips.

For dessert, I had a waffle sundae (toasted, brown sugar waffle, smoked bourbon and maple ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream

I had Bourbon Benedict (toasted biscuit with grilled ham, 2 eggs (I chose over medium), and topped with crawfish cream sauce. Served with breakfast potatoes).

I really enjoyed it. I recommend this one.