You may have never heard of Etienne Girard but he lived in Paducah a number of years. Born in Louisiana and of
French descent, he was a close friend of
Alexander Colinet, who lived in Old
Smithland, Livingston County, a few
years until his death. Girard was an accomplished
man - a statesman as well as an inventor and he also traveled to Europe a
number of times.
Etienne, who
was also known as Stephen, was one of
the numerous French-descent families who settled in Paducah or in the
surrounding counties, including Livingston. I do not know what drew these families to
the area, but several arrived before 1850 and more families came during the next decade.
After Alexander
Colinet's death on 13 August 1854, Etienne Girard was appointed administrator
of Alexander's estate. Just one month
later, on 26 September 1854, Etienne married Alexander's daughter, Louise, at
Madame Colinet's home in Livingston County.
The couple settled in Paducah and their household included Clotilde, widow of Alexander
Colinet.
In 1859,
Etienne Girard applied for a U.S. passport to travel to foreign countries. He
was to be accompanied by his wife and two children.
Whether
or not the Girard family traveled abroad at that time is unclear as they appear
on the 1860 McCracken County, Kentucky census with Etienne Girard (listed as Stephen) and his occupation was a
tobacco speculator. His wife, Louisa, was age 27 and born in France. Her mother,
Clotilde Colinet, was 47 years old and born in Belgium, was also in the
household. There are three children in
the family with the oldest being Hortense, age 5 born Belgium; Clotilde, age 4
born Kentucky and Louisa, age 2 born Kentucky. If Hortense was a daughter of Etienne and
Louise (Colinet) Girard, the family was living in Belgium about 1855 and was
back in Kentucky the next year when daughter Clotilde was born in August 1856.
Etienne
Girard appears on a passenger list from LeHavre, France and Southampton,
England and arrived in New York City on
the ship Aragon 3 September 1861. The
Girard family remains on the McCracken County census in 1870, then disappears
after that until the 1900 census when they are enumerated on the Jefferson
County, Kentucky census as living at 1022 Second Street in Louisville.
One might
think this would be the last we heard of Etienne Girard and his family, but it
was not. He became the Belgian Consul in Louisville. As Consul, Etienne was
the official representative of the government
of Belgium in Kentucky and his duties consisted of assisting and protecting
Belgian citizens and facilitating trade
and friendship between the people of the United States and Belgium.
Known
children of Etienne and Louise Girard were as follows :
1. Clotilde [same as Hortense?] - born 1856 McCracken County; died unmarried
of consumption 23 November 1890 Louisville. Her funeral was at the Cathedral and burial at St. John's
Cemetery, Louisville.
2. Louisa - born ca 1858 Kentucky. Listed on
1860 McCracken County census only.
3. Etiennette - born ca 1868 Europe; married
1889 Sir Alexander Drake Kleinwort of England.
4. Etienne William - born 8 July 1870 Kentucky.
Listed as an artist on his passport application to travel to Europe in 1889.
5. Charlotte - born 1874 Belgium; died 12 August
1901 Louisville and buried St. John's Cemetery.
In addition
to being Belgian Consul, Etienne Girard was the inventor of a cigarette or
cigar holder in 1897.
The
holder consisted of a loop placed on the index finger with a short arm that
extended upward and held the cigarette
or cigar. There is no indication how successful this invention was.
Most of the
Girard family apparently lived in Europe after 1900. In the obituary of
Charlotte Girard, it states that most of her relatives, including her mother, were in Europe.
No record of the Girard family returning to Louisville has been found.
While only
Louisa (Colinet) Girard lived in Livingston County, the rest of the family did
live in Paducah and several of the children were born in that city. A number of
former Livingston County residents have been touched by prominence or fame, but this is one
of the most interesting families I have encountered.
