Our Namesake

Enemund Meullion

Dr. Enemund Meullion, was a physician, born at Moirans in the province of Dauphiné, France, on 1737*, a son of Ennemond Meullion and Claudine Barral. After completing his medical education in France, he emigrated to Louisiana about 1769 where he settled first in the Pointe Coupée District, on the Mississippi River, probably about two hundred miles above New Orleans. He there married on 7 September 1773, Anne Stephan, a daughter of Jean Stephan and Anne Françoise Rolland and the widow of Jacques desAutels. However, Anne died in December, 1773, only a few months after her union with Dr. Meullion. There were no children of this marriage, but Anne left six children from her first marriage.

In June 1777, Dr. Meullion was listed as 2nd Lieutenant of the Pointe Coupée militia company. In this capacity, in September 1779 he participated in the expeditions of Governor Bernardo de Gálvez to capture the British forts and posts at Manchac, and Baton Rouge. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Meullion left Pointe Coupée and went to the Opelousas District, now the parish of St. Landry, where he engaged in the active practice of medicine. There, he met and married Jeannette Poiret, a daughter of André Claude Baptiste Poiret, the Chevalier de Brie, and his wife Françoise le Kintreck (the daughter of Joseph le Kintreck and Anna Marie Boffp). Jeannette, the widow of Colonel Jacques La Mothe, had moved from New Orleans to Opelousas a few years previously with her four small children. Their marriage at Opelousas was registered with a date of 26 July 1783, but may have taken place as early as February, 1780 – the records are unclear on this point. This was the second time Dr. Meullion had chosen a widow with children as his mate. However, thus far he had no children of his own; but fortune was kinder to him in his second venture and this wife not only bore him six children but would outlive him by fifteen years. [Children: Rosalie, Ursula, Jeannette, Lucie, Louis, and Benoist]

Sometime between January and July 1795, Dr. Meullion moved to the El Rapido District in the vicinity of the present city of Alexandria, in Rapides Parish; he was in residence at El Rapido at the time of the 1799 Census of Louisiana. His home was located on the right descending bank of the Red River, a few miles below Alexandria. At the time of his arrival, Estevan Maraffret Layssard was commandant of the Post of El Rapido (1770-1795). This same Layssard had been captain of the local militia that went with Governor Gálvez in his campaign in 1779, and it is not unreasonable to believe that Layssard and Dr. Meullion were acquainted from that common experience. Estevan Layssard was succeeded as commandant by his son Valentine Layssard (1795-1798), and he in turn by Caesar Archinard (1798-1800), a Frenchman who had emigrated from Geneva, Switzerland. During the period 1800-1803, Dr. Meullion served as Commandant of the El Rapido District, and was the last Spanish Commandant of that district.

In November, 1803, he was deputized to receive the El Rapido District for France in the transfer of the province from Spanish to French authority. Then, in May 1805, he was appointed by Governor Claiborne to be the first Treasurer of "the County of Rapide" within the Territory of Orleans, making him one of very few (if not the only) individuals to hold a position of public trust in all three colonial phases of Louisiana's history. At the time of the 1810 US Federal census, Dr. Meullion's residence remained in Rapides Parish where he died in 1820 at the age of 84. Dr. Meullion and his wife, Jeannette, are buried in the Rapides Cemetery in Pineville, Louisiana. In recognition of Dr. Meullion's service as Sub-Lieutenant of Militia in the Gálvez expeditions, in 1930 the Daughters of the American Revolution marked his grave as that of a Revolutionary Patriot Ancestor. Subsequently, he also has been recognized in this capacity by the Sons of the American Revolution.

Thanks to Compatriot Donald Moriarty for this biography.

Find A Grave Memorial# 22613945

* Tombstone in Rapides Cemetery reads "Born 1737," but a Baptism Record has been found online that states "The 18th February 1739 I have baptized Ennemond born yesterday son of Mr. Ennemond Meullion and Mrs. Claudine Barral married, the godfather was Mr. Louis Limard and the godmother Mrs. Marianne Meullion aunt of the child." Translated from French. An earlier baptism of another Ennemond Meullion, born 26 Nov 1735, and a recently found burial record led to the discovery of that Ennemond's passing about 22 Sep 1737 when he was buried. His parents subsequently named their next child Ennemond, born 17 Feb 1739. Source: FamilySearch.org, Departmental Archives of Isère, Grenoble, France. Thanks to David Conroyd and Brent Morock for this information.