Blue Eyes and Bluebonnets » Bill Benoit

Travel Tuesday – The Benoits Visit the Alamo

Blue Eyes and Bluebonnets — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:39:08 +0000

My grandparents, Willie “Bill” and Lucy Benoit, loved to travel. These photos were taken in San Antonio. I wish I knew what year the photos were taken. If anyone has any guesses, please add them! If I knew more about cars, I could probably figure it out myself. However, I’m a girly girl and know nothing about cars, so I will rely on those of you more familiar with models and years!!!

The Alamo

About Travel Tuesday

Do you have images, quotes or stories about trips your ancestors or family took during their lives? Or have to ventured out on travels to your ancestral homeland as part of your genealogy research? Travel Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Susan Donaldson of Family History Fun.

Military Monday: Willie Benoit’s WWI Photo Album

Blue Eyes and Bluebonnets — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:18:41 +0000

My grandfather, Willie Benoit (1894-1985), was stationed at a POW camp in Dijon, France during WWI. He never talked about the war itself, but often spoke fondly of the French people and the towns he visited. As a Cajun from Louisiana, he spoke French and was able to communicate with the people he met. When he came home from the war, he brought with him a photograph album, chronicling what he saw and the places he visited, including Paris, Monte Carlo and Le Mans. The album is interesting in that it appears to have been something that was officially issued.

The Photo Album Cover

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

The cover of the album is embossed as follows:

Photographs
R.U. 309 M.T.C.
On Foreign Service
With A.E.F. France (A.E.F. means American Expeditionary Forces)
Sept. 1918.
Aug. 1919.

R.U. could stand for release unit or rescue unit. I have searched but cannot find what M.T.C. means. Please leave a comment if you know.

Inside the Album

For each set of pages, the left page has a photo with a printed caption, and the right page has photos that were taken by my grandfather.

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

My grandfather captioned many of the photos in his album, leaving a wealth of information about his service in France.

Willie Benoit's WWI Photo Album

My grandfather made notes on some of the official photos, as he did on this one captioned “A village in Chatau Chierry that was wrecked by the Germans in their big drive towards Paris in July 1918.” He wrote, “As it looked when I saw it!”

About Military Monday

We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

Bill and Lucy Courrege Benoit, New Car, 1926

Blue Eyes and Bluebonnets — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:53:25 +0000

Bill and Lucy Benoit (c. 1926)

This photo is of my grandparents in front of their new car. My grandfather is holding my mother, who was born in 1926, so this photo was probably taken in 1926 or 1927. They must have been going someplace special because they are all dressed up.

Willie “Bill” Benoit (1894-1985) was born in Vinton, Louisiana, to Michel Maran and Marie Domathile Duhon. Domathile was the second of three wives of Michel. As a soldier in WWI, he served in France as a guard at a German prison camp.

Lucy Pauline Courrege (1899-1990) was born in New Iberia, Louisiana, to Jean Courrege and Emerantia Rodrigue.

My grandmother was working in a mercantile store in Vinton and staying with her cousin Gus Courrege’s family when she met my grandfather. They married on 30 Apr 1923 and were married for over 50 years. They owned Benoit’s Variety in Vinton for 22 years.