The Name and Parentage of
O. F., Favron Lemoine (1872-1924)
The father of Howard Henry Lemoine, Sr., (and grandfather of Henry, Jr.) died when Henry Sr. was only a child. Therefore, it is not surprising that many things about him may have been forgotten or confused. But it is surprising that even his name proved confusing. His first name was seldom used. He was called by his middle name, Favron, or he used his initials. But even the initials were a bit misleading. Sometimes they appear in today's records as O. F. and other times as A. F. This is apparently because the script capital “O” and capital “A” are quite similar, and when these were typed some times they were transcribed as “A” and other times as “O”.
In reading documents the most common name appeared to be “Augustus” or “Auguste.” However, the use of “O” was more common than “A,” and this would have rendered the given name as “Ogustus,” or “Oguste.” None of these are common English or French names.
While struggling with the name, we searched existing family trees, and found that another genealogist had connected O.F. or Favron Lemoine to Solomon Elijah Lemons or Lemoine who had two wives, Cloyce Britt and Jane Unknown. With his first wife, Solomon Elijah had five children and with Jane only one, listed as O. F. Lemons/Lemoine. For some time, Henry, Jr. and I accepted Solomon Elijah and Jane as his great grandparents, the parents of his grandfather of the many names.
However, the more I researched Solomon Elijah and his children, the less I was convinced of the relationship. Further, I became convinced that the one name we were certain of, “Favron” was a family name, probably the maiden name of a “mother.”. Then one day I discovered records for Oguste or Agustus or Auguste, called “Gus,” Thomas Lemoine who was born in 1852 and died in 1886. This Gus Lemoine was the son of Charles LEMOINE and his wife Marie Adelaide Favron Lemoine. Gus had three brothers, Mitchell Eustas, called “June” Lemoine, Theophile Lemoine, and Charles Leroy Lemoine. I researched all three and found that Charles Leroy Lemoine (a native of Natchitoches) had married Madeline Racine. Charles named his first son for his Uncle, “Ogustus” and gave him his mother’s maiden name “Favron” as a middle name. The name given this son, born in 1872 was “Ogustus Favron Lemoine.” His first name was often given in records as Augustus rather than Ogustus. He called himself O. F. or Favron.
The siblings of Ogustus Favron Lemoine were Ambrose Lemoine (who apparently never married and lived with his mother in Natchitoches Parish); Addie Madeline Lemoine (who married Joseph Alphonse Maricelli and lived in Campti in Natchitoches Parish), Charles Leroy “Charlie” Lemoine, Jr. (who married Evilenna Grillett and lived in Natchitoches, Winn and Rapides Parishes).
Based on Names, Records, and Geographical locations, we concluded that the Father of Henry Lemoine. Sr. was named Ogustus or Oguste Favron LEMOINE (although his first name was often written as Augustus or Aguste), and that his parents were Charles Leroy LEMOINE (1849-1879) and his wife, Madeline RACINE (1850-1941). O. F.’s grandparents were Charles LEMOINE (born 1804) and Marie Adelaide FAVORN (1810-1867); Oliver Racine (1820-1860) and Marguerite Treminque (born 1811). We found no evidence of a relationship between O.F. Favron Lemoine and the previously referenced Solomon Elijah Lemoine, decided that the previous genealogist had erred, and removed him from any relationship in the existing Lemoine Family Tree.
