La Famille Pt. II

Vergisson, France 

And now... part two of the riveting Reverchon chronicles.  Where we left off... Jacque Maximillen Reverchon has left most of his family behind in France for La Reunion, Texas.... a socialist commune inspired by Charles Fourier which is now modern day Dallas.  If you're interested in botanists and children born out of love affairs I suggest you... 

One of the family members Jacque brought with him to Texas was his son, Julien. From a young age, Julien was an avid plant specimen collector.  After moving with his father to Texas, he resumed his collecting. The last ten years of his life was spent as a professor of botany at Baylor.  His collection of more than 20,000 Texas plants is considered the best collection of the word, and is now housed at the Missouri Botanical Garden.  He died of Bright's disease on December 30, 1905 at the age of sixty-eight.  The city of Dallas named Reverchon park in his honor.  Oddly enough, this passion for botany did not escape my family.  Both my great-great aunts were Iris authorities and enthusiasts, especially Marie Caillet, who has several Iris named after her.  

Okay enough with the plants... this is where it gets interesting.  On the right is Eugenie Reverchon Caillet.  Her father left her back in Diémoz, France, only to find her later knocking at his door unmarried, barefoot and pregnant.  Okay maybe not barefoot... but after crossing the Atlantic ocean and then riding in a horse drawn buggy from Galveston to Dallas, you can imagine what kind of state she was in... and did I mention she was pregnant?

To the left of lovely Eugenie is George Caillet.  Family lore tells us that Caillet was some kind of sailor.  It is said that due to some criminal activities he stole a ship and sailed to America.  From that point, he either fought in the Union army and then made his way down to Texas, or stole another ship, skipped that whole Civil War and made it La Reunion.  Either way, Caillet agreed to marry Eugenie and raise the child, named Fleury, as his own.  They bought a tract of land on Lovers Lane and lived out the rest of their days there.  Where this becomes problematic is that this "love child" is my great-great-grandfather, who is not really a Caillet... which means I'm not really a Caillet, which puts a dead-stop in tracing my French lineage.  

Or so I thought.  

As it turns out, J.M. Reverchon was the mayor (and apparently some kind of painter) of Diémoz and was the owner of what seems to be quite a large house.  When he left for the States, the house was moved into other hands, and if my French reads correctly, was eventually turned into a convalescence home, or "maison de repos."  As of 2005, the house was completely closed... so I think it's time I go back as the rightful heir, no?   Stake my claim.  At least get the mayor to buy me a drink...

I originally thought the identity of my true great-great-great-grandfather (although, I am sure George was a lovely man) would be lost forever.  But surely someone wrote down the name of the guy who impregnated the mayor's daughter?  

At any rate, this story is to be continued.... in France! 

In case you missed it... La Famille Pt. I