Alphonse Ardoin (1915 - 2007)

Born 16 Nov 1915 in Duralde, Evangeline, Louisiana, United States

Descendants

Died 16 May 2007 at age 91 in Eunice, Saint Landry, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Alphonse Ardoin is Notable.

Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin (November 16, 1915 – May 16, 2007) was a Creole accordionist who specialized in the Creole music called "la la music" or "la musique Creole" (closely related to Cajun music) and was influential in developing what became zydeco music. He is a cousin to Amede Ardoin.^[1]

Alphonse Ardoin, son of Marie Cesaire and Gustave Ardoine, was born in southwest Louisiana in 1915.^[2][3] He was raised by his parents, sharecroppers, in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana.^[4] Like them, he worked on farms all his life.^[5] He also played accordion.

Bois Sec and his musical partner, fiddler Canray Fontenot, worked together for five decades, "trading quick-fingered passages on some of the oldest known Creole tunes and infusing Cajun waltzes with the blues."^[5] In 1986 Bois Sec and Canray Fontenot received the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of Arts, the highest American award for traditional arts.

Bois Sec and Fontenot started working together regularly in the 1940's as the "Duralde Ramblers." They started playing at dances and parties; eventually their reputation garnered them an invitation to play at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966, after which they recorded their first album, Les Blues de Bayou.^[5]

He married about 1934. Bois Sec and his wife, Marceline Victorian, had fourteen children, whom they raised on the family farm in Duralde in Evangeline Parish.^[6][7] The couple were considered community leaders.^[1] Their oldest son Morris played accordion with the family band for many years but left to open and operate Club Morris, a popular dance hall and bar near his father's home. His son Lawrence "Black" Ardoin is also a musician who played in the family band, but he left in the early 1980s to start his own band; he cut a record (Lawrence "Black" Ardoin and his French Zydeco Band) that has been released on CD in 1999 by Arhoolie Records, titled Lawrence "Black" Ardoin: Tradition Creole. Three of Bois Sec's grandchildren (Dexter, Sean, and Chris) are also musicians with their own bands, playing Creole music and zydeco.^[5]

He died in 2007 at the age of 91 in a nursing home in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana,^[5][2][8] and is buried at the Ceaser Cemetery in Duralde, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Wikipedia Article: Alphonse "Bois Sec" Ardoin
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007" Ancestry Record 60901 #40048223 (accessed 9 January 2022)
   Name: Alphonse Ardoin; Gender: Male; Race: Black; Birth Date: 16 Nov 1915; Birth Place: Eunice, Louisiana; Death Date: 16 May 2007; Father: Gustave Ardoin; Mother: Marie Cisaire; SSN: 434283863; Notes: Nov 1940: Name listed as ALPHONSE ARDOIN.
3. ↑ "U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947"
   National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Louisiana, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2238 #14798294 (accessed 9 January 2022)
   Name: Alphonse Ardoin; Gender: Male; Race: Negro (Black); Age: 25; Birth Date: 16 Oct 1915; Birth Place: Evangeline, Louisiana; Residence Place: Eunice, Evangeline, Louisiana; Registration Date: 16 Oct 1940; Registration Place: Ville Platte, Evangeline, Louisiana; Employer: Mr. Alfred Veillon; Height: 5' 7"; Weight: 150; Complexion: Dark Brown; Hair Color: Black; Eye Color: Brown; Next of Kin: Mrs Marseline Ardoin Wife.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVQG-RSG : 1 February 2021), Alfonce Ardoin in entry for Gustave Ardoin, 1920. Louisiana > Evangeline > Police Jury Ward 2 > ED 65 > image 16 of 19; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4} Obituary for Alphone Ardoin, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mon, May 21, 2007 Free View of Clipping
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYT9-JS2 : 5 January 2021), Alphious Ardoin, Ward Two, Evangeline, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 20-12, sheet 15A, line 38, family 262, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1400.
7. ↑ 1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census"
   United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Evangeline, Louisiana; Roll: 789; Sheet Number: 2; Enumeration District: 20-24
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #75281338 (accessed 24 October 2022)
   Alfonce Ardoin (35), married, Farmer, head of household in Evangeline, Louisiana, USA. Born in Louisiana.
8. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JGL9-DNL : 12 January 2021), Alphonse Ardoin, 16 May 2007; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #19432563 page for Alphonse Ardoin (16 Nov 1915–16 May 2007), citing Ceaser Cemetery, Duralde, Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, USA; accessed 12 September 2021; Maintained by Find A Grave.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q330083