My paternal grandfather who fought in the Civil War (the War Between the States.)
I did not have the joy of knowing him; he died when my father was only 9 years old.
He was a cooper by trade and had his own cooper shop with many employees in Lions, Louisiana. His property stretched from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain with cypress swamps. From these swamps he harvested the wood to make the barrels. This was in the 1800's before there were steel or plastic drums. Sugar and molasses were shipped by steamboat to all parts of the United States and he furnished the barrels for the many sugar refineries lining the Mississippi River. He called his cooper shop "my gold mine". He owned four plantations at one time, one in Lions and three in Montz. He must have been a very industrious man. All accounts that I have of him show him to be a fine gentleman with a great devotion to his family and a very good provider.
He is the original owner of Perilloux Place.