Today marks the day that my grandfather William Victor "Vic" Ladner was born. It was a different era. One where times were less complicated. Horse and buggies were the main mode of transportation. The people still spoke the language of their parents; French. Women worked hard churning butter, hand washing clothes, making bread and soap, all while raising a large brood of children. Men were men, they hunted, fished, raised cattle, worked the land. They did what they could to eek out a living and support their families needs. Children were taught respect, they worked right along side their parents where they learned the values that made them the Greatest Generation.
My Grandfather often said he wanted to live to be one hundred years old. It was his greatest wish. He loved life. He loved his family. He loved his faith. He especially loved the little great grand children who sat upon his lap and giggled and laughed with him. He would often say, "I wish I could see them grown." He would be so proud of them all if he were still here. Although I know somehow he sees them still. He lived to be 91 years of age.
He was a prime example of what I wish my sons to be. I am often told by those who knew him that, he was a good man, and he was.
My mother often said that he felt he was doomed to die at a young age, since his grandfather and his father both did. He made every moment of his life count I think because if this. His grandmother had died after giving birth to her 12th child and three years later his grandfather followed her after striking his head in a fall. The eldest daughters raised the brood of children left behind. Then his own father was killed walking down the road, being struck by a car. He left his wife and 10 children, the eldest my grandfather at 19, the youngest only 3months old. My grandfather then raised his siblings and supported his mother for the rest of her life.
I miss him everyday, today most of all. His birthday always meant so much to him. I still have a picture that my eldest son made at age two. It was little pumpkins he drew with silly little faces. When he finished he gave it to his PaPaw L. for his birthday. My grandfather was so proud and this meant more to him than any store bought gift. After he passed my Aunt found it among his things. He had kept it all those years.
He instilled in me the love of family. Who we are and where we came from. He often said, "All we have in life is our good name."
In memory of his birthday today I would like to post a story told by him many years ago about another birthday he had in a time so long ago.....
"The Hurricane and Navigational Charts"
But anyway. So, Papa was hauling shells for
the county, or the city. He hauled these clam shells for the roads and
stuff. And he'd get them out of the Louisiana marshes. So, I'll never
forget that when they left, the weather was kinda squally; like this
see, and rough out there. But they left. There was five men on the boat
and they had the load of shells. They were coming home when the
hurricane hit. So, they stayed at St. Joe's lighthouse. Which is past
Lakeshore at the end of the road on the beach. You've been that way
haven't ya'll?
(Robyn, Mmm, probably many years ago) Never have huh?
So they, uh, it was Papa and Uncle Semore Necaise, his name was Simon,
but they called him Semore in french (He laughs). But anyway, uh, That
evening it got so bad Papa said, "We better make it to the lighthouse"
So they were coming, see to the lighthouse and the Kahler's, you know
the Kahler's that have the grocery store? His grandpa, Eddie Kahler's
grandpa, was a boat Captain, and they were going into New Orleans and
Papa and them was coming outta there and they passed one another. And
papa hollered at them, they passed real close to one another. He
hollered at them that they better come back, they weren't going to make
it. They said, "Oh, yeah we'll make it." But they didn't, they made the
first bridge, the Rigolets; the next bridge, see back then they didn't
have no traffic bridges, or nothing you see. And the second one, they
didn't make it. They hit the bridge and the boat went into pieces, and
drowned everyone of them, the men. So anyway, that day that the storm
hit I watched that water come over the beach road, and you see there's a
marsh on the side of our house. A wide marsh. And on the other side of
that marsh there was the Catholic church on the beach. Well that marsh;
you know the marsh grass is that high, so I watched that water come over
the road and into the marsh. And the marsh got pretty soon where you
couldn't see that grass. It looked like a bayou in there instead of a
marsh. See, and I kept saying, "Mama let's get out!". In the evening
when the water started coming in that marsh, I said, "Mama let's get
out!" She said,"We will later, we will." So it was getting dark, well it
wasn't no sun, it rained all day like it did here. Like it was this
morning, that's the way it rained all day, and I said, "Mama let's get
out it's getting late!" I was nine years old, that day, 29 of September
1913, on my birthday. So I begged mama all day. I was scared really, and
look when it got so nearly dusk, and our family cemetery was on my
great grandpa's property, joining ours right there. We had a barb wire
fence with these steps you go up over you know. And just then, she said,
"Well go on over to Tante Ledi's and get Robert then." Edward Necaise
and them's daddy. Uh, he must've been about twenty years old. She said,
"Go get him to come help us with the other two kids." And let me tell
you when I went down our back steps the water was up to my knees.
Already! Boy, when I got to that cemetery; and I was frightened, I was
only nine years old and that wind was blowing me! Ohh, and I know mama
must've been excited. I couldn't hardly stand up. It would take me. Just
when I got to those steps, Here comes Robert Necaise, with some coats
under his arms, to get us. Taunte Ledi said, "Go get mother at the
house." y'see. And good thing! Boy, we got to Taunte La Di's and all
them kin, Henrietta Dubuisson, her mama and them they all came, they
lived right close, half a block, and all the kinfolks, came to Tante
Ledi's. ( Robyn, was she higher up?) Oh, they were back from the beach
about two blocks. So, uh, we went. And honey, it blew that night! Taunte
La Di's house felt like it was about to come off the blocks a couple of
times! Everybody was scared, you know, And so the next morning, it blew
on out; the next morning bout toward daylight, like Camille did, it
started calming down the next morning. The sun came out and it was just
as smooth. So we went to see the damage. We went by the house first. My
grandpa's house; boy, it was (laugh) one of them old time houses. Look
you know it was old when it had one of those dirt chimneys on the
outside. They had, the roof was big homemade shingles, cypress shingles.
And uh, an old time house. The blocks were cypress blocks. The house
stood about that high off the ground. It was off the foundation, but it
didn't go to pieces. It was kinda like this (Robyn Laughs) And the
flooring was this wide cypress boards about 15 to 18 inch boards. Plain
straight boards, ya know. Well they was bowed up, clothes wrapped around
like, picture that. Clothes and furniture under the house. Everything,
the only thing we had left was the clothes on our backs. Let me tell you
all this, those old time houses had high ceilings and you know it was
about a foot from the ceiling, the water mark was around. We'd of
drowned like rats in that house, everyone of us. We'd of drowned in
there, y'see.
So my daddy and them were worried about us, my daddy
said. Papa said, "Oh, I hope they got out of that house!" And we were
worried about them. We didn't think we'd ever see 'em. But, I got a book
on hurricanes, Kenneth gave it to me, from the 1700's. I've got a book
on all of them. I read in it about Captain Kahler and them. So I was
telling Mr. Guice about this way back, and he wanted me to come to his
office. He wanted to get that on tape. I never did go tell him you see.
So in this book Kenneth gave me it's got all this about Captain Kahler,
and Mr. Guice and his wife when they were young. And I was telling him
one day about it and I said, "Doggone, if I'd of come and gave you that
my daddy would have been in a book." He said, "I would of gotten it in
there." You see. They had about Captain Kahler and they all drowned and
his son, Eddie Kahler's daddy, they went over there to Louisiana, and
found his daddy where they buried him, and they brought the body back .
Okay, so back to Papa now.
The next morning we're all out there after we left the
house you see, it was destroyed. We went to the beach, y'see and we
kept scanning the water. So after awhile I saw a speck and said, "Ohh, I
believe that's them! Look at that boat, it's a skiff coming." And boy,
when they got from here, I guess, about to the other end of the street
down there. One of them stood up and was shaking his shirt or something
in the air. I said "That's Them! That's Them!" and we all got excited.
Y' see. Sure enough it was them. But the boat,,, let me tell you what
happened. So, when they made it to the lighthouse they didn't get all
the way up to it. The schooner sank, it was loaded, it sank. It's still
there. And they swam. They had to swim, in all that rough, high waves,
the people all could swim. They swam to that light house, see. Okay,
that boat that sank in 1915, is on the Navigational Charts today. So I
was telling Mr. Ford, F. Ford, the lawyer. I went.., he had a yacht, he
had a nice one. He said, "Vic, if you get off a week." That's when I
worked for Joe Whittman. He said, "We're going to the rodeo in Grand
Isle." That was before we had them here. So I went to Joe and he said,
"Sure man, don't miss that opportunity. Go." So I went five days with
them on that yacht. I was telling them about Papa's schooner and he said,
"We're going to pass right by it." He got his chart out and put it..,
he had a big yacht, he put it on the table and I pointed it out. There
it is right there. So when we got there he said, "Right here is where
it's at."
Taken from my website:
A Lagniappe of Family Stories
Note: The Hurricane of September 29, 1915 was a category 4 Hurricane that hit Grand Isle, Louisiana. It devastated the Louisiana and the Mississippi Coast. Killing 275 people.
Happy 106th Birthday Poppy!
