Linda Thompson

Cerritos High School

Class of 1986

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Linda Thompson - Class of 1986 - Cerritos High School

First Name	Linda
Last Name	Thompson
Graduation Year	Class of 1986
Gender	Female
Hometown	Cerritos, California
Relationship Status	Single
About Me	Family History We hope you enjoy learning about the Creole culture through our family's rich history from reading The Louisiana to Houston Connection by enise Labrie from http://www.deniselabrie.com/ posted below. The Louisiana to Houston Connection By Denise Labrie I could hardly wait as I packed my travel bag for the day. I made sure I had pen and paper on hand for today was the day I would learn how my ancestors migrated from Louisiana to Houston. In the back of the bus on the way from Houston to the Coushatta casino in Louisiana, Aunt Mable unraveled the mystery for me. As she leaned back with an intent look in her eyes, she took me back in time to Route 1, Box 13 in Scott, Louisiana during the early 1900's. "Mom (Agnes Sonnier) and Pop (Victorien Prejean) were farmers who grew cotton, corn, sugar cane and other vegatables. Their parents: Victorien and Aurelia Cormier Prejean, Frank and Alzina Breaux Sonnier lived nearby in Carencro," she began. Her gaze intensified as she continued, "They would sell what they could from the crop to help buy what they needed and also use what they grew to feed their family. To signal emergencies to the field, the family used a white cloth tied to the front porch." Sadly, she recalled the family using this signaling system on the day her baby brother, Little Nelson, who was very ill, passed away. "Several uncles and aunts: "B and Marcelite Sellers, Arthur and Elizabeth "Ti B" Broussard, Sidney and Lena Sonnier also lived on the property along with them," she continued and proceeded to share the following family history with me. "Pop was a slave mistress descendant and spoke fluent French (not Creole French). He was taught to read and write at Palm Row School in Lafayette because his father, Victorien, was not a slave. Dr. Prejean (a Caucasian) who often attended to the family's medical needs in Scott, Louisiana was Pop's first cousin. She glanced out the bus window for a second and then went on to explain, "Mom's grandmother, Mere Day-Day (Marcelite Breaux), was a free slave who lived in Jennings. The family would pick cotton for her by moonlight. Mom's father, Frank, who lived in Carencro, foretold that one day there would be no telegrams, but an instrument in the house to talk with others. We would see moving pictures in the house and future generations would see and hear what was never seen or heard of before. There would be no horse or buggy and airplanes would be seen in the sky." Aunt Mable recalled that in 1916 Grandpa Frank put her on his lap and asked, "What are you going to do when your father goes to war?" and she replied, "I don't know." Fortunately, neither Pop nor Mom's brothers Foster or Frank had to serve in World War I. "When I was a little girl, I remember carrying my lunch of cooked potatoes in a bucket to St. Paul's School in Lafayette. I also recall that Pop had a bumper crop in the spring of 1927 when the Mississippi levees broke and flooded our land," she told me. Later, I researched and found out this was the Great Mississippi River Flood that unleashed high water destroying more than five million acres of farmland and many lives. People were reported killed from Oklahoma to West Virginia when the Mississippi levees broke. In some areas the water covered regions up to 40 feet high. Approximately one million people were left devastated and homeless. Aunt Mable went on to share with me, "The Prejean family luckily evacuated before the flooding took over their land and went to stay with relatives on higher ground." Many families went to live in Red Cross refugee camps that contained as many as 15,000 people. Many were forced to relocate to other areas. The Prejean family was so devastated by this 'manmade worst disaster' ever in our country's history, that they relocated to Beaumont where Pop found work at a refinery. "He worked there for nine months when he heard of greater opportunities in Houston and decided to move the family to the Houston area," she said as the bus crossed the bridge over Lake Charles. She continued, "In 1928, going back to what they knew best, the family sharecropped (corn and cotton) on land in Brazoria County (near Rosharon Prison). The profits from selling the crops harvest were equally shared with the landowner. The first year yielded nine bales of cotton. The second year a category 1 hurricane producing winds of 90 miles per hour blew the roof off the house and destruction struck the family once again." With fear, to this day, deep in her eyes she remembered, "The family evacuated during the fury of the storm's high winds to the Caucasian property owner, Old Man Pickman's, underground storm shelter." It took both Mable and Sarah to pull Old Man Pickman into the shelter before the storm's high winds could carry him away. After this natrual disaster, Pop found work on Jensen Drive in Houston at the meatpacking house and started to save money to buy property and build a home for his family. Pop was later laid off from work during the Great Depression that took place during 1930 to 1939. He briefly worked at the Houston Ship Channel building ships during World War II. He was dismissed when his employer learned he was a Negro. Before we arrived at the Casino in Louisiana, Aunt Mable completed the family's migration to Houston with the following information, "In 1940, the family built a house framed out of boxcar lumber at 3311 Lelia Street in an area of Houston called "French Town". This same house built so long ago has survived the elements of time to this very day. Why then are we able to weather the storms with a never give up, can-do attitude that we encounter in our own lives today? Why did Pop always so lovingly remind us over and over again to save our money, marry people who share the same moral attitudes that we do and strive to be a success in life? Passed on from one generation to the next is this unique spirit of survival where hard work is the dominating theme. Are we doing all that we can to live up to this legacy? Our greatest tribute to the suffering and sacrifices that our predecessors endured to bring us to where we are today is to emblazon these attributes in our mind, heart and soul. Let us not miss out on the opportunities before us today to pass this great legacy of hard work and determination on to the next generation. Mable Prejean Guillory "In Loving Memory" July 21, 1914 - Nov. 4, 2003 This story is in loving memory of Mable Prejean Guillory who shared th...(read more)