CHIEF Elwin WARHORSE Green Gillum is the daughter of Salina Green Thomas. Salina Green Thomas was born March 9, 1936 in Bonfouca, La. She was the fifth of eight children born to Virginia Ducre Green and Raymond Green.
*See obituary https://mobileobits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=selina-green-thomas&pid=181477307&referrer=0&preview=True
Virginia Ducre was born around 1906 in St.Tammany, Louisiana to parents Daville(Dovi) and Celina Ducre. *See 1910 federal census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPBC-34S
Virginia's husband Raymond Green was also from St Tammany. Raymond Green was born around 1906. He was the son of Foster Green and the Grandson of German/Germain Green. Germain Green was born in Louisiana in 1851.
*See attached records.
Chief Warhorse's lineage via her mater grandmother Virginia Ducre goes back to a white slave holder named Leon Leander Ducre and his formerly enslaved wife named Fanny whom he set free, married and had children with.
*See records attached.
Leon Leander Ducre was born in 1788. He was the son and is from a white slaveholding family of French origin but from Sardina. His grandfather Nicholas Ducre and other relatives can be found on slave deeds purchasing and selling enslaved Africans and the descendants of enslaved Africans. His grandfather Nicholas Ducre who was a slaver in New Orleans before moving to St Tammany. *See records attached. The children of the enslaved Africans were passed down generation after generation by the Ducre slaveholders until Leon Ducre freed his slaves and married Fanny. You can find Leon Leander Ducre and his newly emancipated wife Fanny on the 1850 and 1860 federal censuses. Leander is white, Fanny is black and their children are listed as Mulatto.
The slaveholding Ducre family's surname often varied. You can see the enumerated as Ducre, Ducree,Ducrae, Ducret and Ducros amongst other spellings.
The mixed race descendants of Leon Leander Ducre named many of their children Leon Leander after their ancestor who freed and married Fanny.
In 1935 a direct descendant of Leon and Fanny Ducre appeared in court for a divorce proceeding. Her white husband sought to annul the marriage based on the grounds that his wife had lied about having "Negro blood" via her ancestor Fanny Ducre. The wife denied having Negro blood claiming that Fanny was actually an Indian.
Chief Warhorse's great great grandfather Germain/German Green and chief Warhorse's great great great Aunt Rose Green appeared in court and testified that FANNY DUCRE WAS "NOT AN INDIAN"!
*See below court citation.
"It is admitted that Fanny Ducre was the great-great grandmother of the defendant. Plaintiff predicates his action for the annulment of his marriage with defendant on the claim that Fanny Ducre was a full-blooded negress. Defendant denies this and contends that Fanny Ducre was an Indian.
The record shows that Fanny Ducre was a slave and that with her three children she was duly emancipated by her owner, Leander Ducre, in the Parish of St. Tammany, on June 18, 1837. According to certain oral testimony in the record, Leander Ducre subsequently made his former slave, Fanny, his wife. Several children were born of the union between Leander Ducre and Fanny Ducre, four of whom were Drauzin Ducre, Toussaint Ducre, Margaret Ducre and Theresa Tucker.....
It is not disputed that Leander Ducre, the great-great grandfather, Anatole Cousin, *Page 213 the great grandfather, and Joaquin J. Cusachs, the grandfather, of Verna Cassagne were white men. Nor is it disputed that Steve Cassagne, the father of Verna Cassagne, is a white man.
Plaintiff relies on the testimony of Drauzin Ducre in the case of Drauzin Ducre v. P.M. Milner, No. 4540 of the docket of the Twenty-second Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Tammany, wherein on cross-examination Drauzin Ducre stated that his mother, Fanny Ducre, was a colored woman and that his father was a white man, and that of the marriage of his mother and his father there were born several children including Theresa and Margaret; on the certified copy of a death certificate from the State Board of Health setting forth that Drauzin Ducre was a colored man; and also on the testimony of Cora Ducre taken in her suit against P.M. Milner, No. 5677 of the Twenty-second Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Tammany, wherein she admitted that she had negro blood, was regarded as a mulatto, having an admixture of negro and French blood; that her grandmother was Fanny Ducre and that her father was Toussaint Ducre, a son born of the union between Fanny Ducre and Leander Ducre.......Plaintiff further relies on the testimony of certain witnesses to the effect that the defendant's mother, as well as her maternal ancestors, were regarded as members of the colored race in or about Lacombe, Louisiana, where they resided. On the testimony of an old negro woman named Rose Green *Page 216 that she was married to Toussaint Ducre; that she was a negro and that his mother, Fanny Ducre, was not an Indian, as contended by defendant, but was a negress. On the testimony of German Green, an old negro, and Mary Cazenave, an aged negress, that they knew Fanny Ducre and that she was a negress and NOT AN INDIAN. And on the testimony of one Edgar Ducre that he is a son of Drauzin Ducre and that his father was a negro.
Rose Green, who claims that she was married to Toussaint Ducre, the brother of Margaret Ducre, who testified that Toussaint Ducre was a negro, admitted that he looked like a white man. She testified, "He could pass anywhere for a white man and I can prove it because he worked for a white man and went to the St. Charles (Hotel) with him."
This opinion cites:
Ducre v. Milner, 146 So. 734 (La. Ct. App. 1933)
Sunseri v. Cassagne, 185 So. 1 (La. 1938)
Supreme Court of Louisiana
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3474960/sunseri-v-cassagne/.
Chief Elwin Warhorse Green Gillum's lineage going back to Fanny Hurry.
Mother=Salina Green 1936
Grandmother= Virginia Ducre 1906
Great grandfather = Daville (Dovi) Ducre 1886
Great Great grandfather =Leon Ducre 1866
Great great great grandfather =Pierre Ducre 1837
Great Great Great Great grandparents= Leon Leander Ducre abt 1788 and his former slave and emancipated wife Fanny abt 1814.
1903 incorrectly indexed marriage record for Daville Ducre and Celina Tillison. (Telethon should read Tillison)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4CP-8LH
1910 federal census showing Chief Warhorse's grandmother in the household of her Parents Daville Dovi Ducre and Celina Tillison Ducre in Slidell, St. Tammany, Louisiana. 3 homes down on the next census page we find Daville Ducre's father Leon Ducre.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPBC-34S
1918 WWI draft card for Daville Ducre which lists the name of his wife as Celina Ducre. Notice on this draft catd Daville Ducre is enumerated as a Negro with no Indian ancestry. This is interesting and important because we find other Ducre's who are enumerated on their WWI draft cards as Negro and Indian. The Ducre branch of St. Tammany that are Identified as Negro and Indian on their WW1 draft cards seem to be all descendants of Drosin Ducre who was a son of Leon Leander Ducre and his wife Fanny Hurry. Drosin's children seem to have been identified as Choctaw Indians through their mother Ordogne. Ordogne's relatives of St. Tammany were also identified as Negro and Indian on their WW1 draft cards as will be shown later in this blog post.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ8L-ZWB
1920 federal census shows Chief Warhorse's grandmother Virginia Ducre Living with her parents Daville Dovi Ducre and Celina Tillison Ducre. Bottom on the first page and top of the second page
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVWW-LDX
Top of next page in the same household we find Virginia Ducre and her siblings.
Death record for Virginia Ducre's mother. It lists her mother's parents and it lists Dovi Ducre, her father as her mother's husband. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLXZ-TL6J
Death record for Virginia Ducre's brother. This record also identifies both parents.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F3MP-H61
In 1930 we find Daville's wife Celina Ducre listed as the head of household. Living with her are her children Clarence, Salvador, Cora and youngest daughter Nancy.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMTQ-P34
As we see Celina Ducre listed as the head of household her husband Daville is not enumerated in the household.
Locating Daville has been tricky. To find more records on him I searched for his son Salvador Ducre born in 1916.
Here's a 1942 WWII draft card for Salvador Ducre. On this record he list his birthplace as St.Tammany, Louisiana but at the time of this draft he was living in New Orleans. On this record we find a nickname listed for his father. It is Dalphe/Dolphe Ducre. This nickname is similar to the the nick name Dovi given for Daville Ducre on the death certificate of Celina Tillison Ducre.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KC1R-NPL
Searching for Daville Ducre by the name Dalphe/Dolphe Ducre in New Orleans on the 1940 federal census we find him married to a woman named Mary.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYPG-SQ4
We also find him enumerated on a 1942 WWII draft card in New Orleans. He confirms his birth place as St Tammany, Louisiana.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XP1L-Y5M
.
Death Record for Dolphe Ducre
1900 federal census showing Virginia Ducre's father Daville Dovi Ducre in the household of his father Leon Ducre 1866. Notice living right next door is Clem Tillison the father of Dovi's future wife Celina Tillison Ducre. See the death record posted above for Virginia Ducre's mother Celina Tillison Ducre.
Now remember Virginia Ducre born 1906 is the daughter of Daville Dovi Ducre born around 1886 who was the son of the Leon Ducre born 1866 as shown in this 1900 federal census.https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSRZ-2LL
1910 federal census of Daville Dovi Ducre's father Leon Ducre. Notice his neighbors Rose(Green) Ducre and Clem Tillison .
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPBC-342
1880 federal census showing Daville Dovi Ducre's father Leon Ducre as a teenager in the household of his father Pierre Ducre born 1837.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDXJ-LRB
1870 federal census showing Daville Dovi Ducre's father Leon Ducre as a child in the household of his father Pierre Ducre born about 1837.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M872-N9G
Deaths record for Daville Dovi Ducre's father Leon Ducre.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F399-JJB
1860 federal census showing Pierre Ducre living with his parents Leon Leander Ducre and Fanny Hurry Ducre.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFPZ-52W
A
1860 slave schedule for Leon Leander Ducre showing that he is enumerated as only enslaved one 50 year old Male who had runaway.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WK2P-8VN2
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=AyY1361&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&indiv=1&dbid=7668&_80000002=L&_80000003=Ducray&new=1&rank=1&uidh=ap4&redir=false&msT=1&gss=angs-d&pcat=35&fh=0&h=3087177&recoff=&ml_rpos=1
1850 federal census showing Pierre Ducre living with his parents Leon Leander Ducre and Fanny Hurry Ducre.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJ6-DH1
Emancipation papers and newspaper articles announcing Leon Leander Ducre born about 1788 emancipating Fanny and their children including Piere Ducre born 1837.
https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/6986689/person/6964111640/media/1bdec0a6-9a6c-4f9e-b0cc-7dfa7d80e000?_phsrc=AyY1362&_phstart=successSource
1830 federal census for St.Tammany, Louisiana showing Leander Leon Ducre owning 13 enslaved people before he emancipated Fanny and their children.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPF-CQM
Source Citation
1830; Census Place: St Tammany, Louisiana; Series: M19; Roll: 43; Page: 68; Family History Library Film: 0009686
Source Information
Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Leon Leander Ducre 1788, His Father Nicholas Ducre II 1752, His mother Marie Francoise Durocher 1748 and other relatives purchased, sold, gifted, bequeathed and inherited enslaved Africans and the descendants of enslaved Africans as demonstrated in these Records found in the following database.
Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo, comp.
Louisiana, Slave Records, 1719-1820 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.
Original data: Hall, Gwendolyn Midlo, comp.
Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy, 1719-1820. Database downloaded from http://www.ibiblio.org/laslave/, 2003."
The relationship between these enslaved Africans, their European enslavers and their descendants is very intriguing. We see Leander Ducre emancipating his wife and children. Also on the 1850 federal census we find Leander's brother, Nicholas Ducre III living in the household of one of those emancipated Africans. We find Cele, a 100 year old women born in Africa as head of household.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCJ6-DH3
The naming patterns of the descendants are also very interesting. We find enslaved Africans by the name Francisca and Congo Pierre. Leon Leander's emancipated wife named one of her son's Pierre as noted previously. Many descendants of Fanny Hurry Ducre and her Husband Leon Leander Ducre Identify as Chata Indians. Many of these Chata Indians still carry Leon Leander's name.
Even though all published genealogies and genealogical records demonstrate that Nicholas Ducre Sr. was a Frenchmen from Sardinia who settled in New Orleans, some of his African American descendants clearly believe that he and his descendants were American Indians.
The court case of 1935 cited at the beginning of these blog is indicative of how today's descendants of Leon Leander and Fanny Ducre self identify. While one descendant stated Fanny was an Indian others who testified stated clearly that she "was not an Indian". Chief Warhorse is a direct descendant of those who testified under oath that Fanny Ducre was not an Indian and after reviewing the records the court found that Fanny was of African descent. What was not in contention by any witness in the court case was the European ancestry of Leon Leander Ducre.
The defendant in this court case was allowed to attend white schools, live in white society and marry a white man in a time when Jim Crow laws disallowed these "privileges" to those of "negro" descent. By asserting that she was of French and Indian descent the defendant in this case sought to protect herself against racist miscegenation laws.
https://books.google.com/books?id=x7IYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=miscegenation+Fanny+ducre+African+Ancestry&source=bl&ots=Caf63JXl2J&sig=ACfU3U0I14axL-tBuqqFXYs5QDsXnWca2Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwil5vr-54_nAhWpAZ0JHcaVAdQQ6AEwAXoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Interestingly the direct ancestor of Chief Warhorse of the Chata tribe in St.Tammany testified that he knew her other ancestor Fanny Ducre personally and that she was not Indian.
"On the testimony of German Green, an old negro, and Mary Cazenave, an aged negress, that they knew Fanny Ducre and that she was a negress and NOT AN INDIAN. And on the testimony of one Edgar Ducre that he is a son of Drauzin Ducre and that his father was a negro.
Rose Green, who claims that she was married to Toussaint Ducre, the brother of Margaret Ducre, who testified that Toussaint Ducre was a negro, admitted that he looked like a white man. She testified, "He could pass anywhere for a white man and I can prove it because he worked for a white man and went to the St. Charles (Hotel) with him."
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3474960/sunseri-v-cassagne/
Chief Warhorse's lineage going back to Germain/German Green 1851.
Earlier in this blog we identified the paternal grandparents of Chief Warhorse Green Gillum as Raymond Green and Virginia Ducre.
Selina Green, the daughter of Virginia Ducre was named after Virginia Ducre's mother, Celina Tillison Ducre.
"Selina Green Thomas, 80, was born March 9, 1936 in Bonfouca, La. She is the fifth of eight children born to Virginia Ducre Green and Raymond Green."
https://obits.nola.com/amp/obituaries/nola/181477307
Attached here is an image of Raymond Green and Virginia Ducre's marriage record.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1Y-DJ67
1910 federal census showing Raymond Green born 1907 living in the household of his father Foster Green along with his siblings.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPBC-W6B
1920 federal census showing Raymond Green in the household of his father Foster Green.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVW4-6P3
1930 federal census showing Raymond Green and His Wife Virginia Ducre Green living in the household of his father Foster Green.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMTQ-RJ6
1900 federal census showing Raymond Green's father Foster Green as a child living in the household of his father Germain/German Green.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MSRC-N2B
1880 federal census showing Raymond Green's father Foster Green as a child living in the household of his father Germain/German Green.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDXJ-GST
Death Record for Raymond Green's father Foster Green. Listed are Foster's parents.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLQJ-1RQX
Death Record for Raymond Green's grandfather German/Germain Green. Listed is German's father Andrew Green.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSY2-1ZY
Death Record for Rose Green the sister of Germain Green. Also lists parents names.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FSB9-DPP
Andrew Green 1870 federal census.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M872-Z1B
Record showing someone matching the name, age and description of Andrew Green being into Louisiana on a coastline Slave ship. Most likely shipped in to New Orleans where his daughter Rose is on record as being born.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4W69-4MT2
Andrew Green enumerated on the 1880 federal census.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDXJ-GSJ
