Genealogy Trails Vermillion Parish

HISTORY

Vermilion Parish (French: Paroisse de Vermilion) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Abbeville. As of 2000, the population was 53,807.

Vermilion Parish is part of the Abbeville Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Lafayette–Acadiana Combined Statistical Area,'
The village, originally called "Mauriceville", derives its name from its founder Maurice Villien. Maurice Villien, a native of Savoy, France came to America in 1855 and sold goods in New Orleans, New Iberia and Milton. His wife had land holdings there and they established a home and grocery store. On May 29, 1889, the ten acre site, on which the church and rectory in Maurice were to be built, was donated by Villien.  The town was incorporated on December 27, 1911 and Joseph Villen, Maurice's son, became mayer until 1928. Today, Joseph Street leads to the old home.
The first St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in 1893


The community's first church was La Chapelle a Maurice and Sunday services were held in a small schoolhouse on the Villien property until the St. Alphonse Church was built in January 1893. The Broussard Cove School was the first school built on land donated by Joseph Clark in 1885 and moved to Maurice in July 1899 to land donated by Maurice Villien. It was located on Maurice Avenue and the Indian Bayou Road until 1914 when it burned down.
The town is often considered the birthplace of American turducken production. A Turducken is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The chestal cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird.

The result is a relatively solid, albeit layered, piece of poultry, suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing. The turducken is not suitable for deep frying Cajun style (to deep fry poultry, the body cavity must be hollow to cook evenly). SUBMITTED BY: JoAnn

                                                                                            Home