'Henry Schuyler Thibodaux' (1769-1827) was Governor of
Louisiana briefly. Born in
Albany, New York the son of Alexis Thibodeaux of Canada, he was orphaned and adopted by General
Philip Schuyler -
American Revolutionary War hero and father-in-law of
Alexander Hamilton. Thibodaux spent his childhood in Scotland.
He arrived in Louisiana in
1794, while it was under the control of the Spanish, and settled on the
Acadian coast in
St. James Parish. He was married twice, first to Felicité Bonvillian who bore him three children before she died a few years later. Then he married Bridgette Belanger with whom who had five children; one of whom was
Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux, a
Democrat Member of Congress in the 1840s.
Thibodaux moved to
Lafourche Parish when he received a land grant from Spanish Governor
Baron de Carondelet and later was elected
Justice of the Peace and to the Territorial Legislature. From 1812-1824, Thibodaux was a State Senator representing Lafourche Parish and was President of the State Senate in
1824 when Governor
Thomas B. Robertson resigned to become a
federal judge. Thibodaux became Acting Governor until
Henry Johnson was elected.
Governor Thibodaux was running again for Governor in 1827 when he died on
October 24 while campaigning near Bayou Terrebonne. He was interred at St. Bridget's Church in
Schriever, Louisiana. The city of
Thibodaux, Louisiana is named after Henry S. Thibodaux.
External links
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Louisiana Secretary of State's official biography
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Cemetery Memorial by La-Cemeteries
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