A house in heaven or Hell

 

 

Thanks to the Vieux Carré Digital Survey, I was able to retrace a piece of the history of my great-grandparents in New Orleans. On Saturday, April 25, 1857, my great-great-grandfather Joseph Fassy of New Orleans inherited the property of his brother Vincent Fassy located at 940 Saint-Louis St in New Orleans.

 

Following the evaluation of the Vieux Carré Commission, the house was and still is a two-story brick commercial building in Creole style from 1830 built on land forming the corner of Saint-Louis and Burgundy St measuring F.M. 29' 10" frontage on Saint-Louis by 84' on Burgundy. It was a house with four apartments (rooms), a gallery and two wardrobes, built in half-timbering and a wood-fired kitchen."
Thirty-one years later, on Monday April 30, 1888, my great-grandfather Albert and my great-great-aunt Octavie Fassy, in turn ,inherited from their father Joseph. In 1896, 18 years later, on Monday July 27, Albert and Octavie sold the house to a certain Mr. Augustin Nicolas Tourné.

 

In 1857, Joseph also bequeathed to his son Albert and his daughter Octavie a property located at 430 Burgundy St. which he himself had inherited from his brother Vincent.

During my research, it appears that Vincent Fassy had bought this house in 1839 from a certain Mr. Antoine Roubet, a slave owner for the sum of $950.

 430 Burgundy St.

For those who know me, you can easily imagine what this kind of research can do to me. You will of course tell me that it was another era, other mentalities but still... If I manage to retrace, more or less, the history of my family I cannot help but wonder what what happened to these five slaves. I managed to find the trace of several slaves bought or sold by this Mr. Roubet, these were :

- Constance, aged 30, mother of two children, speaking French, purchased by Mr Antoine Roubet on April 6, 1815. Constance was sold in 1818 by Mr Roubet to Mr Debuys.
- Théodore, Constance's son, was bought by Monsieur Roubet in 1815 and sold to Monsieur Debuys in 1818.
- Désirée, Constance's daughter, was purchased by Monsieur Roubet in 1815. 

Thank God I did not find Fassy's name on the list of New Orleans slave owners on the Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy Database but the fact remains that this "testimony" should not make us forget what those troubled times were and what they led to a whole generation of Americans fighting against each other.

When we say "if the walls could talk", some would tell stories that we would prefer to forget but which must be remembered

José-Maria de Urresti Sota, a Story of Friendship

Today, one day after Father's Day, I wanted to pay tribute to my Godfather, who never had the chance to be a father but whom I considered as my second father. On June 19th, 1937, Bilbao fell to the troops of General Mola and, like many other properties, my godfather's family, the Sota and Urresti were subjected to acts of theft and looting. 

My godfather, José María Miguel Ramón Juan Bautista Valentín Máximo de Urresti Sota, was the son of José Agustín María de Urresti Campuzano, husband of María de los Ángeles de Sota Aburto, born in Bilbao in 1920. 

His father, José Agustín de Urresti had is part, alongside Antón de Irala e Irala, Manuel de la Sota y Aburto, Ramón de la Sota Mac Mahon, José Urresti, Juan Aramburu and Eustacio Arrítola, then Jesús de Galíndez, Jon Bilbao, Jon Oñatibia and Cipriano Larrañaga, of the Basque Government in exile whose offices were established at the New Weston Hotel and later at the Élysée Hotel, both in Manhattan.

My father and my godfather met in Biarritz in the 1950s and very quickly became inseparable. José-Maria becoming my father's witness and a few years later my godfather and much more than that, having always considered him my second father. Apart from being friends, they have worked together all their lives and I also had the chance to work with them for a few years. When I think of them, two memories immediately come to mind. The first, the ferocious rounds of golf at the Biarritz le Phare golf course and the annoyance of my father who remained several meters short at all the drives next to José. And the second, when we were boating together and these two were called the Captain (my father) and the Admiral (my godfather).

In September 1990 when I went to visit my Godfather to tell him that my father, his friend, had passed away, I knew it was going to be more than difficult. Indeed it was, I lost him 1 month after my Dad in October 1990.

My Virtual Shopping : Maison Martin Margiela

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Maison Martin Margiela

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Wafrica : African Kimono

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Wafrica : "Putting on a kimono is an immensely complex process. It is like a building, with layer after layer. But the complexity disappears when it is put together, and the end result is pure beauty and timelessness."

For Mouangue, his kimono project is neither a fashion statement nor a commercially motivated venture. In between sips of a mango smoothie in a cafe near the Aoyama store, he energetically draws diagrams of rivers and mountains and valleys to explain his conceptual motivations.

Since Mouangue has connections to Cameroon, Paris and Australia, and is now living in Japan, it was a natural progression for questions surrounding identity, home and cultural boundaries to have motivated the project.

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Oscar by Alpinestars

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Via : oscarapparel.blogspot.com

Photographed and selected by Adam Wright

Paying homage to roots in early motocross and motorcycle culture, Oscar by Alpinestars exists as a classic, rugged collection punctuated by modern materials, processes and features.
Drawing inspiration from the nearly 50 year old heritage of the Alpinestars brand and fusing it with the technology of today, Oscar is the embodiment of traditional motorcycle styl e from a contemporary perspectiive.

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A Bobber in Biarritz

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picture copyright Milan Guillot

A nice litlle Yamaha bobber in Biarritz today prepared by my friend Olivier from Pop Racing Garage

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Self portrait

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With my half-brother's mother at my sister Fauziatou's wedding wearing my brand new Bottega Veneta suit ... ouech, ouech ... :)

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Frank by PDO

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©Frank Sider by Paul D'Orleans

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Your host

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Your host, Frank, © MotArt-fc-2010

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Norton

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my bike picture by Paul D'Orleans

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