Henry Schuyler (Famous) THIBODAUX

January 1,1769 - Albany, New York
October 24, 1827 - Thibodaux, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

Burial: St. Bridget's Church Cemetery-Schriever, Louisiana
Occupation: Shoemaker after his career term
Note:
Henry was born in Albany,New York Jan 1,1769 son of Alexis Thibodaux & Anna or Anne Blanchard.
Henry lost his mother shortly after his birth.His father sent him to live with the General Philip Schuyler (famed Revolutionary War soldier) and his family in Scotland. They raised him as their own even though he is believed to not have been legally adopted by them(The wills did not show him receiving anything when they died). The Schuyler did pay for his schooling. Henry went to school at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
General Schuyler did have a brother named Cortlandt who married Barbara Gray on August 23,1767 in Ireland. As well as a sister residing in that area. It is possible that Henry resided with one of them, or lived on his own as he attended school there. Henry most likely was an Acadian refugee. Circumstantial evidence points to this as a logical conclusion.
Henry's birth probably occurred sometime during the 1760's,and was in New York or the
New York/Canadian border area. Henry came to Louisiana, sometime prior to 1793/1794.
Upon moving to Louisiana he sought out the area which received the very first Acadian refugees who arrived in the late-1760's looking for his father Alexis. Alexis's brother Olivier was found living in Lafayette Parish,Louisiana. It was unknown if Henry's father came to Louisiana,as Henry never found him. Henry, also seen as Henri, settled in St James Parish,Bayou Lafourche, Louisiana. He met & married Felicite Bonvillian daughter of Santiago Bonvellian & Carlota Eber of St Charles Parish. Of their three children, their son Louis Leandre Baron Thibodeaux married Adelaide Claire Bergeron daughter of Charles Bergeron & Victorie Marie Benoiy. Henry lived first in Acadia Parish.

Henry moved to Bayou Lafourche,near the present city of Thibodaux. A widower,He married Bridgette Belanger of Pointe Coupee Parish on May 22,1800. Bridgette was daughter of Nicolas Belanger & Marquerite LeJune
Henry probably didn't know then that he would be credited with starting the city of Thibodaux, Louisiana or of being the
Father of Terrebonne Parish. In 1801,he received a land grant from Spanish governor,Baron de Carondelet. After Felicite died he moved to the Louisiana province known then as La Valenzuela dans La Fourche.At this time in history Bayou Lafourche was called La Fourche des Chetamaches. Henry Thibodaux was commissioned a captain in the 7th regiment of the militia of the Territory of Orleans in 1805,serving as a one-term member of the Orleans Territorial Legislature.He became Justice of the Peace in 1806, being reappointed to that office in 1808. While Henry was serving in the territorial legislature in 1808 he had Thibodauxville (Thibodaux,La) designated as the county seat of Lafourche Interior. To the people of Terrebonne, he will always be called the Father of Terrebonne. It was largely due to his efforts as senator that Terrebonne was created from Lafourche Interior.One theory was that Terrebonne Parish was named by Henry S Thibodaux for a parish in Canada which
was the birthplace of his father-in-law. He came to Lafourche to claim his grant and in 1810 he moved from Bayou Lafourche to the banks of Bayou Terrebonne. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention in 1811 & was a delegate to the 1812 State Constitutional Convention. While acting as President of the Senate in 1812, he entered the war as a First Lieutenant,& finished out his service as Captain of the Lafourche Volunteers. He served as a member of the Louisiana State Senate
from 1812 to 1827.By 1816 he was the elected senator of the general assembly for the district of Lafourche,in which he served until 1827. He lived for 12 years on Bayou Terrebonne in the Parish of Lafourche Interior before it was divided & the new parish of Terrebonne was created on March 10,1822. Ca 1818/1820,Henry Schuyler Thibodaux donated a lot 140 feet square as a courthouse site & agreed to erect thereon a 3-room wooden courthouse measuring 25 x 40 feet.The rooms would be used for the grand jury,petit jury, & courtroom, and a market place to the Parish of Lafourche Interior. When the new parish of Terrebonne was created, Henry Schuylers home was within its boundries Lafourche Parish,with Thibodaux as its parish seat,is located in south central Louisiana. Early American settlers included Henry S. Thibodaux, for whom the present parish seat is named.

This land was the nucleus of the present city of Thibodaux, Louisiana.In exchange for this donation of site,two squares of land & building, he received from the parish the privilege of operating a billiard hall & hotel free of license & taxation. Henry Schuyler Thibodaux later sold to the parish for $140 a lot adjoining the courthouse as the site for the parish prison.The parish of Terrebonne was created in March 1822. Henry S Thibodaux was one of three assessors nominated. He
was elected to the five-member board of trustees of public schools in 1822 or 1827 (according to South Louisiana Records, Lafourche- Terrebonne,Vol. 1 (1794-1840),Rev Donald J Hebert). on November 15,1824,Governor Thomas B Robertson resigned
from office. Henry who was senate president at the time,assumed the duties of the governorship for a few weeks(approx 1 month),he was Louisiana's acting governor. He was to carry out the policies of the Robertson administration. Henry left office December 13,1824. At that time he was lieutenant-governor & president of the senate,He returned to his seat in the senate. After his career term was over he became a shoemaker.In the book, ‘General Schuyler's Guard' by T W Egly, Jr, it mentions the guard of about forty-six men surrounding the General in daily life. It lists tailors,carpenters & shoemakers,if Henry Schuyler grew up among shoemakers,it would account for his being skilled at shoemaking, & would give credence to the fact that he lived with the General. While campaigning again for governorship on October 24,1827 Henry died,of an abscessed liver,near Bayou Terrebonne, Terrebonne Parish,Louisiana. He was buried at Half Way Cemetery near Schriever &
reinterred at St Bridget's Church Cemetery in Schriever,Terrebonne Parish,Louisiana. The small cemetery located halfway between Houma & Thibodaux,on LA Hwy 24 may be the oldest cemetery in the area. Originally this cemetery was owned by Henry. It was used as a public cemetery as well as for his family & himself. Henry's remains lie as dust in the bottom of the only remaining large multi-vaulted tomb standing in the cemetery. It stands alone in the center of the cemetery on a small rise of ground. In the early 1900's rumors of jewels in the Thibodaux casket prompted robbers,to break into the tomb.They apparently entered the tomb by breaking a hole in the rear of the tomb.The hole remained open for years before being plastered over by Mrs W N Olive (Henry's granddaughter).

The remains, as well as the wooden casket of Henry had disintegrated into dust. The two metal caskets in the tomb, that of his son, Henry Claiborne Thibodaux & his wife Mathilde Toups Thibodaux were removed & buried in an unmarked area in the back of St.Bridget's cemetery. No marker was placed for fear that the graves would again be robbed.There has been much controversy over the ownership of the cemetery property through the years. Even though the family has insisted that the
cemetery was set aside as a public cemetery for the people of the area, proof was not found. In 1980 the Terrebonne Police Jury took over the cemetery. At the time it was over 150 years old & was a historical cemetery.Papers were drawn up & signed, & now the cemetery is legally public property. Henry Schuyler Thibodaux's tomb has been renovated & is a beautiful white marble tribute to him .His land holdings were large.Upon his death,he left an estate valued at over $105,751.00. Henry Thibodaux was one of the most "prominent pioneer planters in the Parish." In his will,he left instructions for each child to be given his share upon reaching the age of maturity.He left a vast estate,it consisted of landed property,a sugar mill,slaves, & notes due him. This did not include a small parcel of property in the Lafourche Interior assessed for $4900.

Contributed on 2/4/14 by camble121647
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