Vermilion Parish Biographies

Welcome to the "Biographies" section of the VHS website.  We hope that the number of biographies presented here will grow as time goes on.

• Martin Bagley, by Michael Bradford.  Read about one of the most colorful people ever to live in Vermilion Parish, written by one of his descendants.  This Irishman owned two large sugar plantations, Ramsey and Lyons, but misfortune followed him everywhere. 
• Ellis Hubin Bergeron, by C. Paul Bergeron.  A brief history of the life of the progenitor of most of the Bergerons in Vermilion Parish, and of many other residents.
• C. Paul Bergeron: A Cajun Boyhood, by C. Paul Bergeron.  Autobiographical stories from the boyhood of C. Paul Bergeron, who grew up on the banks of Coulee Kinney outside Abbeville.
• Lastie Broussard, by Kenneth A. Dupuy.  Review the life of this public servant / attorney / farmer / businessman.  He was one of the Cajuns of Vermilion Parish who took an active part in government.
• Eugene Isidore Guégnon, by Kenneth A. Dupuy.  Founder of the Meridional, enemy and then friend of Père Antoine Désiré Mégret, Eugene Isidore Guégnon was an important figure in the history of Abbeville.
• Jean-Pierre Gueydan, by Patricia Saltzman Heard.  Read about the man whose force and energy were responsible for the development of the western part of Vermilion Parish, written by a Gueydan native who has access to both public and private sources.
• Dr. Clarence J. Edwards, by Kenneth A. Dupuy.  Medical doctor, newspaper man, horticulturist, Dr. Clarence J. Edwards was one of the most talented and interesting residents of Abbeville.  Read about his diary, his trips, his family, and his accomplishments, illustrated with photographs from the Clarence J. Edwards collection generously provided by his great-grandson, Wakeman Edwards Linscomb.
• Reverend James A. Herod, by Ravin St. Julien-Brown.  This is the story of the preacher/educator who has been called the "Father of African-American education in Vermilion Parish" and for whom several schools were named.  He was the primary force in bringing quality local education to the African-American community in the days before integration.
• Christian George Honold, by Kenneth A. Dupuy.  Read what is known about the life of the architect who designed some of Abbeville's most beautiful and distinctive buildings, including the Bank of Abbeville, the first high school (now the school board office), the Fenwick Sanitarium (Palms Hospital), the Abbeville Masonic Temple, the Peoples Bank, the Abbeville Rice Mill, the Planter's Rice Mill, and St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church.  The article includes images of his buildings.
• Judge William Kibbe, by Gary E. Theall.  Veteran of the War of Texas Independence, first parish judge of Vermilion Parish, notary on the deed from Joseph LeBlanc to Pere Megret—read about the life of this founding father.
• Dr. Francis Fenwick Young, by Kenneth A. Dupuy.  This is the life story of Abbeville physician and entrepreneur Dr. F. F. Young, who built the magnificent Fenwick Sanitarium that later became the Palms Hospital, where so many Vermilion Parish residents were born.