“DNA doesn’t lie,” genealogist Charlotte Bocage explains her essay in The Searcher (Summer 2003, Vol 60, No 3, pp. 63-65, a publication of the Southern California Genealogical Society). “I am really a white Haydel and Marcian Belfort Haydel is truly my 3x great-grandfather and Germaine’s father.”
Charlotte spent more than 40 years trying to confirm that her 2x great-grandmother, Germaine Haydel Bocage, was fathered by her enslaver Marcian Belfort Haydel. Marcian (1804-1863) may have lived at the famed Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana. According to the book Bouki Fait Gombo by historian Ibrahim Seck, Marcian had “relations” with Charlotte’s enslaved 3x great-grandmother, Pamela. Germaine (1844 to 1899) was Pamela’s second daughter.
Germaine was manumitted in 1857 by Marcian Belfort Haydel, along with her sister Phelonise. Days after being freed from enslavement Germaine married Octave Bocage an apprentice boat builder in 1857. They lived in Algiers, Louisiana. Together they had 21 children, only 6 survived to adulthood. In 1899, at 59 years old, Germaine died from epethelioma uterine carcinoma.
Charlotte reminds us, “Black genealogy is difficult…. The story I am telling today is about patience, persistence, and finding out I was right, all because I refused to give up and start over.”
Charlotte’s journey began in October 1977 when she found her 2x great-grandparents, Octave and Germaine “Borkeye”, in the 1860 US census. They were all listed “M” for mulatto. She questioned, “How were they free in 1860 Louisiana, a Slave state?” But it wasn’t until 1995, that she was sent an article about her 2x great-grandfather Octave Bocage, his two sons and his award-winning boat building business. The article provided a vital clue when it explained that Octave was married to Germaine Haydel, the first time Charlotte had been able to find her 2x great-grandmother’s maiden name. (Charlotte told Octave’s story an earlier post on BitterSweet that you can read here.)
Follow Charlotte’s journey by reading her story here. For additional documents and images not included in the original published story, please see here.
Charlotte also expresses her gratitude to the many people who helped her at so many stages of this process of discovery.
Author: Charlotte Marie Bocage is a full-time professional genealogist with more than four decades of experience. She is the Bocage Family genealogist and historian tracing one line of her paternal family back to 17th century Europe. She has published three family history books. She has taught at Family Tree University, and the UCLA Osher Lifelong Learning Program. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Genealogical Society and Research Library, and as First Vice President of the Pasadena Area African American Genealogical Society. She was a Vice President and Program chair of the California African American Genealogical Society. Charlotte lectures at societies and conferences across the United States.
Charlotte graduated from UCLA with a BA in Communication Studies.
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Just fantastic. We have to work so hard just to verify who we are. Thanks for hanging in there.
Wonderful story, Charlotte! Congratulations on all your hard work and the hope your fine journey holds out for others.