Notes |
- I don't see any evidence of a birth date. As "Ysavel Kingt" in her marriage record to Antonio Dubroqua (in St. Louis Cathedral records). As "Elisa Naiter" on her daughter Elise's birth record. That she is the mother of Marie Elizabeth "Elise" is clear in multiple records.
Records of her (as Eliza Reels) and the settlement of her St. Mary Parish estate appear in various newspapers in Dec. 1850 and later. François M. Dumartrait was the administrator of the estate.
Ganier (33-34) says that she was married to François Marcel Dumartrait, inferred from the probate records of her mother Eliza Reels (d. Nov. 1850): "At her death, François Marcel Dumartrait of St. Martin Parish petitions that his grandmother Elizabeth Knight, widow of Patrick Reels, died 21 November 1850. He said that he was entitled to one-half her property, and the other half should go to Marie Elizabeth Dubroque [sic], widow of Narcisse Rigon (Rigau), 'now residing in the Republic of France.'"
But: It is not clear to me how, or even whether, François M. Dumartrait is the grandson of Eliza Knight.
Newspaper notices say that François M. Dumartrait became the administrator of Eliza Reels' estate in 1850, and in August 1853 filed a final account of his administration. But what's a relation? François Marcel was b. 1828 & m. Felice Delahoussaye. François Marcel was a son of Adrien Dumartrait and Françoise Celeste Collins. Adrien was married to Louise Grevemberg and Françoise Celeste Collins. Françoise Celeste was the son of Theophilus Collis and Elizabeth Leonard. The public record, at least, does not show a clear link to the Knight family.
Why was François M. Dumartrait the administrator of Eliza Reels' estate? F. M. Dumartrait appears in newspapers as a Clerk of the Police Jury in the Avoyelles Parish in 1879. His relative A. F. Dumartrait was a judge in St. Mary Parish (his name is everywhere in newspapers).
Genealogist Karen Theriot Reader, citing Hébert, says that Elizabeth J. Knight had two children with Jean Theophile (or Theophilus) Collins (1752-ca 1810):
F Sarah COLLINS 1792-1793
F Elizabeth Celeste COLLINS 1794-1843
Reader says that Collins and Knight had a "relationship," not a marriage. Theophilus Collins, born 1752 in Virginia, was married twice: First to Anne Eve Joy, and then to and Elizabeth/Isabel Leonard. Collins and Leonards were the parents of (at least) five children born in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, between 1792 and 1806 (Sara, Constance, Helen, Marie Celeste, and John Gilbert). (e.g. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HSR3-RGW2 ). One possibility is that these records are conflated with the Knight family.
Reader cites Hébert here. This note is Hébert's note about Adrien Dumartrait:
—LAMBERT, Adrien Michel Dumartrait - inhabitant of this parish; native of the city of Paris (major son of Francois LAMBERT de Chaumes & Jeanne Eleonore PEPIN) m. 21 Jan. 1819 Celeste COLLINS - of this parish; native of Opeloussas Parish (major daughter of dec. Theophile & Bethsy KNIGT [KNIGHT]) Wits: Joseph DUBUCLET, Jean DARBY, Michel HALPHEN, Philippe MARTIN, Denis HALPHEN. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #123)
—COLLINS, Celeste - of this parish; native of Opeloussas parish (major daughter of dec. Theophile & Bethsy KNIGT [KNIGHT]) m. 21 Jan. 1819 Adrien Michel LAMBERT Dumartrait - inhabitant of this parish; native of the city of Paris (major son of Francois LAMBERT de Chaumes & Jeanne Eleonore PEPIN) Wits: Joseph DUBUCLET, Jean DARBY, Michel HALPHEN, Philippe MARTIN, Denis HALPHEN. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.6, #123)
So Celeste Collins might be a daughter of Theophilus Collins and Elizabeth Knight. But what are these records that say Theopile (Collins) and Bethsy Knight had children? What is "SM Ch.: v.6, #123," and how can I see what it might say? It and Ganier's note about the Elizabeth Knight sucession seem to be the two bits of evidence of this connection, but they are not readily available. [3]
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