LANDRY
Among the surnames of French origin in Louisiana, that of LANDRY is second only to Hebert in its' frequency. Like many other French names in the state, most of today's Landrys can trace their ancestory to the Acadian refugees who came at various times during the last half of the eighteenth century.
The actual progenitor of the Landry family in Acadia is somewhat ambigous between two settlers bearing identical names, Rene Landry. Rene Landry (l'aine or the elder) of LaChausee, France, arrived in Acadia around 1639. He married Perrine Bourg that same year. Another Rene Landry (l'jeune or the younger) was born in France during 1634, parents unknown (some research indicates his mother was a Marie Sale'). Rene l'jeune married around 1659 in France to Marie Bernard, the daughter of Andre' Bernard and Andree Guion. Rene and Marie arrived in Acadia in 1659. According to a 1678 census of Acadia, Marie Sale' had made her way to North America and was living with her son Rene.
Rene and Marie had fifteen children. Several generations of Landry's spread throughout Acadia; at the time of the 1755 Expulsion , the Landry's formed a large group living in various parts, mainly Grand Pre' and Pisiquit. Rene I died in 1692 at Port Royal.
Having first been exiled to various parts of the British colonies along the Atlantic seaboard, a sizeable number of Landrys reached Louisiana during the 1760's. During the antebellum times, a number of Landrys in Ascension Parish became well known sugar planters with many slaves on large plantations along the Mississippi River.
Less affluent lines of Landrys settled in other areas of Louisiana. The first Landry to migrate into the Teche country of the Attakapas District was Firmin Landry , son of Alexandre Landry and Marguerite Blanchard. A Maryland exile and widower (married 1752 to Elizabeth Thibodeau), Firmin had taken up land on the upper Bayou Vermillion with his two grown sons, Joseph and Saturin , by 1770. In 1776 Firmin married Theotiste Thibodeaux. Later, Firmin obtained a small tract of land on the Teche at Fausse Point near present Loreauville.
Firmin's son Saturin apparently remained single, but Joseph settling on Bayou Vermillion married in 1775 to Marie- Ann Melancon, daughter of Paul Melancon and Marie Theriot. It is from Joseph and Marie-Ann that this line of Landrys continues.