John Phillip ORY was my Great-great-Grandfather. He was born on February 22, 1832 and died on August 02, 1886, the legitimate son of Peter ORY and Elmire THOMAS (according to their marriage certificate). He was married to the former Catherine BOULLION, who was born on July 31, 1833 and died on February 22, 1908, the legitimate daughter of John Michael BOULLION and Mary Rose KLEINPETER. All lived in the Parish of East Baton Rouge and according to their marriage certificate. They were married April 27, 1854 in East Baton Rouge Parish and together they had four children that lived to adulthood (with links)and four children that did not live to adulthood (without links)as follows:
3. John Joseph Ory (b. September 30, 1858 - d. October 8, 1858);
4. John Phillip Ory, Jr. (b. October 18, 1859, baptised on April 21 1862 [ASC-12/291;
sponsors: John Joseph Bouillon and Rebecca Thomas] d. September 16, 1862);
5. Francis Ory (b. 6 Aug 1862 - d. September 7, 1862);
6. John R. Ory (b. October 4, 1863 - d. October 5, 1863);
John Phillip was a farmer by trade and somehow made it through a very rough and harrowing time, the Civil War. If you look carefully at the dates of the deceased children they were born right near the beginning of and through the end of the Civil War. This was a particularly trying time for the people in Louisiana. Everything was in short supply and times were tough on all. All the while he continued to provide for his family, probably moving from place to place throughout Ascension Parish. From Hope Villa to Donaldsonville and then to Gonzales and then back to Donaldsonville sometime before the 1880 Census. After the Civil War, Louisiana was occupied for nearly the next twenty years. Carpetbaggers ran the State and locals had little or no recourse but to leave the State. But where would they go? Most of the old South was under occupation and you had to go a far piece to get away from the North's occupation. Out West maybe? Both John Phillip and Catherine stayed and raised their children and both outlived the Reconstruction Period, with John dying on August 02, 1886. Catherine remained in Donaldsonville and eventually became ill for two weeks and she died in 1908 accordig to the Donaldsonville Chief. Both are buried in the Prairieville Cemetery just behind St. John the Evangelist Church on Highway 73. Isabelle Lillia Ory Babin is also buried just a short distance to the east in the same cemetery with most of her married family close by. I would be willing to believe that neither one forgot the horrors of the War or Reconstruction. My great-grandfather Aurelius grew up during the Reconstruction period and died at his home on Coontrap Road on February 22, 1958 according to the Baton Rouge Advocate.
