News and Happenings

August, 1999

During the last year or more a great many additions have been made to the Daspit Family Coteau de France Web Site.  Many of these have been made possible by contributions made by various members of the extended Daspit de St. Amand Family.  As a result, the project has become very much a collaborative effort on the part of many.  Please take a few minutes to view the Credits Page for a listing of contributors.  If I have omitted anyone, my apologies, and please let me know in order that the omission can be corrected.  A listing of Site Updates has been added to help keep track of what is new and what is updated.

Over the last few months there have been several significant events.  Ray Olivier, 3rd great grand son of Judge Pierre's daughter Edisise, has contacted me and provided some very significant additions by way of the genealogy of the de la Broue, de Marsan and de Mesmes families.  This has now been added on the D'Aspit Connections pages.  Ray has also provided extensive information on the Merovingian Kings of Navarre, who are ancestors through the de Mesmes and de Marsan connections.

As some of you may know, Pierre Daspit's burial site is unknown.  Ray has purchased and placed a memorial tablet to Pierre Daspit, Marie Mayeux, Marie Leroux, Claire Adele Coursier, Odessia Daspit Cantrelle and Philogene Cantrelle in the St. Joseph Cemetery in Thibodeaux.  The monument is a block of granite 36 inches by 17 inches by 26 inches on a concrete step base.  On the face of the monument is a piece of black granite with the Daspit de St. Amand title and coat of arms.  The names are done in 19th century style letters outline in white.  The coat of arms is engraved and colored into the stone.  The monument has been set in such a way that it can be moved should Pierre's final resting place someday come to light.  Many thanks to Ray for this fine gesture and we hope everyone has the opportunity to visit the memorial some time.

There is also have exciting news concerning a previously unknown branch of the family in Brazil.  I have recently established contact with Delasnieve Dáspet who lives in Brazil and traces her ancestry to Jean Baptist D’Aspet, a doctor from Toulouse, France who emigrated to Paraguay.  It appears this may be a branch of the D’Aspet family not previously documented but which remained in France until the mid to late 19th century.  Unfortunately, Delasnieve does not speak English and I do not speak Portuguese so we have had to communicate through translators, which can be slow going.  However, we are hopeful we can document the connection once we have obtained translations of documents she will be sending.

There remains fair degree of uncertainty concerning the ancestry of Anne de St Amand, wife of Bernard.  If anyone can supply any additional information beyond what is on the Web Pages which may halp to clarify this part of the genealogy, please contact me.
 

Patrick Daspit
Whitefish Bay, WI
August, 1999
 

November 16, 1997

As many of you may know, Mary Daspit Grady passed away on October 9, 1997.  Aunt Mary was a remarkable woman as anyone who know her can attest.  For a long time she has been THE person from her part of the family who maintained contact with everyone, as well as having been the "keeper" of many of the family records.  As a result of her illness she was never really aware of this WEB site, however it is certain that these pages would mean a great deal to her, as a result the Coteau de France WEB site is being dedicated to her memory.

Also among the new additions with this updates is the addition of the "Three Generations" photo to the gallery.  The "Three Generations are Noah J., Vane N. and John I. Daspit.   Vane Daspit was responsible for a significant amount of the earlier research into the Daspit Family History and much of the information at this site can be attributed to his efforts, either directly or indirectly.

Among the additions planned for the near future is a "Missing Links" Page which would list those parts of the family which we have been unable to definitively connect to the rest of the family tree.  Such a page may generate some interest that would result in information leading to the missing connections.

As always, if you have any additional informaton on a part of the Daspit family, ancestors or descendants, we would appreciate hearing from you.  As always questions, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Patrick Daspit
.
 
 

July 24, 1997

The Coteau de France WEB Pages has moved to it's new homeon "Bourbon Street" (at Geocities)!  Along with the move there will be some significant updates, including the complete St Amand Chapter from Michael Bergeron's book, additional 14 generation's of history of the d'Aspet line, and considerable information on other important connections, including the Beauchamps, the Despencers and The Plantagenets to name a few.

I will try and send an E-Mail to everyone who has contacted me before about the Coteau de France Pages,  however if you would like to be sure you get a notice, drop me a note to make sure I have your current E-Mail address.  There will also continue to be a link from the old site to the new one.

Patrick Daspit

The Daspit Gallery

The Daspit Gallery has been updated with a picture of Hugh Daspit as well as with a photo of a stained glass window from France labeled St. Amant.  The stained glass window image was supplied by Randy DeCuir.

As always, please contact me if you have questions, information to share or if you just want to chat. Please bear with me though as I may not be able to get back to you as quickly as I would like during the next few months.
Patrick Daspit