Individual Details
Octavia Leland McClelland
(5 Mar 1831 - 1898)
Daughter of Benjamin Joseph McClelland from Kentucky. Octavia apparently died prior to 1900, because Manassah was living with his son, Erass, when the census was taken.
From: "Archie R Hoffpauir"
To: HOFFPAUIR-L@@rootsweb.com
Charlie, I was curious about the "family burying grounds" Rosemary Wright Hoffpauir refers to in her book... decided to try to locate it. Several years ago while visiting family, I drove 5 miles south of Rayne on LA 35, looking for a cemetery. Came upon the present-day "Leger Community Cemetery," which did not seem to be what I was looking for because there were very few gravesites and not any old ones (although there was one old cement, above-ground vault at the back of the property. However, while I was walking about there, Dallas Thibodeaux, a member of the cemetery association who lives nearby, came to see what I was up to. Told him of my quest, and he reminisced that as a boy, there had been a number of Hoffpauir gravesites in the area behind the current cemetery, in what overgrown with large trees and lots of undergrowth. He then told me that several years before the cemetery association had attempted to "bushhog" the undergrowth, but had stopped when they came upon several by then displaced grave markers. Dallas and I thrashed about the weeds for an hour trying to locate the stones, to no avail. The same afternoon, I returned with my father, and, after several
hours of pacing about, I came upon a cement marker without a name plate. After a little more pacing, I discovered another cement marker bearing the imprint, "Octavia McClelland, wife of Manasseh Hoffpauir, 1898." I also found a broken white marble headstone, which someone had propped against a tree, which read, "Susan Blanch Hoffpauir, Born April 24, 1890, Died Sept 16, 1901, Budded on earth to bloom in heaven." I have not searched for other markers; Dallas told me that many of those he remembered from his childhood were made of wood, which would obviously have not survived; and, he said, some were made of iron (crosses, etc.), which were stolen, along with an ornamental iron fence which had guarded several graves, to be sold during iron/steel drives during World War II. I have been back to the site several times. The association has made no further attempt to clear out the underbrush, but they have provided a relatively clear access to the place where the displaced markers lie. The site is very attractive and restful: the tall, old trees make a beautiful canopy over the lush green undergrowth.
I have thought a number of times that a marker identifying this final resting place of probably several generations of our forebears should be placed...may pursue this someday.
Archie
From: "Archie R Hoffpauir"
To: HOFFPAUIR-L@@rootsweb.com
Charlie, I was curious about the "family burying grounds" Rosemary Wright Hoffpauir refers to in her book... decided to try to locate it. Several years ago while visiting family, I drove 5 miles south of Rayne on LA 35, looking for a cemetery. Came upon the present-day "Leger Community Cemetery," which did not seem to be what I was looking for because there were very few gravesites and not any old ones (although there was one old cement, above-ground vault at the back of the property. However, while I was walking about there, Dallas Thibodeaux, a member of the cemetery association who lives nearby, came to see what I was up to. Told him of my quest, and he reminisced that as a boy, there had been a number of Hoffpauir gravesites in the area behind the current cemetery, in what overgrown with large trees and lots of undergrowth. He then told me that several years before the cemetery association had attempted to "bushhog" the undergrowth, but had stopped when they came upon several by then displaced grave markers. Dallas and I thrashed about the weeds for an hour trying to locate the stones, to no avail. The same afternoon, I returned with my father, and, after several
hours of pacing about, I came upon a cement marker without a name plate. After a little more pacing, I discovered another cement marker bearing the imprint, "Octavia McClelland, wife of Manasseh Hoffpauir, 1898." I also found a broken white marble headstone, which someone had propped against a tree, which read, "Susan Blanch Hoffpauir, Born April 24, 1890, Died Sept 16, 1901, Budded on earth to bloom in heaven." I have not searched for other markers; Dallas told me that many of those he remembered from his childhood were made of wood, which would obviously have not survived; and, he said, some were made of iron (crosses, etc.), which were stolen, along with an ornamental iron fence which had guarded several graves, to be sold during iron/steel drives during World War II. I have been back to the site several times. The association has made no further attempt to clear out the underbrush, but they have provided a relatively clear access to the place where the displaced markers lie. The site is very attractive and restful: the tall, old trees make a beautiful canopy over the lush green undergrowth.
I have thought a number of times that a marker identifying this final resting place of probably several generations of our forebears should be placed...may pursue this someday.
Archie
Events
| Birth | 5 Mar 1831 |  | |||
| Marriage | 20 Jun 1850 | St. Landry Parish, LA - Manassah Hoffpauir | | ||
| Death | 1898 | ||||
| Burial | Hoffpauir Family Burial Grounds | |
Families
| Spouse | Manassah Hoffpauir (1825 - 1906) |
| Child | Elizabeth Isabell Hoffpauir (1851 - 1900) |
| Child | Archibald Hoffpauir (1853 - 1937) |
| Child | Alice Hoffpauir (1854 - 1885) |
| Child | Lydia Hoffpauir (1857 - ) |
| Child | Abner Hoffpauir (1859 - 1948) |
| Child | Erass Hoffpauir (1862 - 1951) |
| Child | Raymond Harvey Hoffpauir (1868 - 1938) |
| Child | Amos Hoffpauir (1869 - 1870) |
| Child | Dr. Manassah Leroy Hoffpauer (1871 - 1930) |
| Father | Benjamin Joseph McClelland ( - ) |
Endnotes
1. John A. Young, 1860 census of St. Landry Parish, LA, 22.
2. Donald J. Hébert, SWLR Vol 05, 284.
3. Archie R. Hoffpauir.