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SALVADOR GALIANO February 18, 1998

Salvador was born about 1824 in Spain or a  province of Spain.   His parents are unknown as are his roots.  Salvador's origin is still sparking debate among descendants and rumors are many about how he came to the Lafourche region of south east  Louisiana.

After several years of research by local historians and genealogists, much of Salvador Galiano’s personal history remains a mystery. Based upon his application for United States citizenship we know that Salvador, a citizen of Spain, entered the country in 1842 at the age of 16. There are many conflicting theories as to his actual origin -- Cuba, Mexico or Spain. All of these are possible.

One family legend specifically places Salvador in a seminary in Spain. Threats of war in the Iberian peninsula forced his migration to the United States. He apparently entered the U.S. though Texas during the Mexican-American War. Repeated searches through passenger lists and ships manifests for the period fail to turn up any mention of Salvador, supporting an immigration over land.

Another version of the Galiano family comes from descendants of Andre (Andrew) Galliano, Salvador's fourth child.  According to legend in this branch of the family, Salvadore was of Italian descent.  Salvadore Galliano was married to Louise Antoine Duet; he settled in southern Lafourche shortly after The American Civil War.  He opened a grocery store, saved his money, bought up a lot of land at a location that now bears the family name, Galliano, Louisiana.

Salvadore when landing in the area claimed he was French and had the name Galliano because he was adopted by a ships Captain named Galliani after a shipwreck in which his parents were killed.  Apparently Italians were not accepted in this predominately French speaking community and it was his way of trying to be accepted.

The theory of Italian heritage is bolstered by an interview with the late Dr. Vernon F. Galliano who was then the President of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana.  The information was printed in a newspaper called Italian-American Digest in Fall, 1982.  He stated that Salvadore was the son of Col. Giuseppe Galliano who is credited with repulsing an army of 80,000 men with a force of only 2,347 men to hold Fort Enda Jesus in Ethiopia in 1896 during the Italian Colonial Period.    There is a Statue in a Public Park in Milan, Italy, erected in Honor of an Admiral Galliano, Giuseppe's father.

This version of the story offers certain departures from known sources.   Salvador's first child is born in 1851, long before the Civil War began.  Salvador and his children consistently point toward Spain or a Spanish possession as his point of origin.  I am attempting to locate a source for Vernon's assertion, any verification of the facts offered for this lineage.

No records of Salvador have been located prior to the baptismal record for his first child, Ernest Antoine on 21 February 1854. There are no marriage records for Salvador and Louise Duhe, daughter of Louis Duhe and Carmelite Forgeron. At least none have been located yet in the records of the New Orleans area.

Since the Duhe family was established in the Chenier Caminada of Jefferson Parish, they are believed to have married there. There were no parish officials in the remote area at the time and only occasional visiting priests, it is possible Salvador and Louise were never formally married. They may have jumped the broom, a not uncommon practice in the area. The young couple lived with Louise’s parents at Caminadaville. Louis Duhe was a fisherman and Salvador worked with him.

It is interesting that Ernest Antoine Galiano, their first child was born October 1, 1851 and was baptized at St. Charles Catholic Church on Chartres Street in New Orleans. Other recently discovered burial records suggest the Galiano family was frequently in the city.

In 1857 a hurricane devastated Last Island, a resort island a short distance west of Chenier Caminada. We believe the hurricane may have prompted Salvador, Louise and her parents to move to a more secure location inland. On 14 November 1861, Salvador purchased a tract of land from the State of Louisiana. The land was on the left descending bank of Bayou Lafourche in the area known as the Cote Cheramie. His father-in-law Louis Duhe owned the land north of Salvador’s and his brother-in-law owned the land to the south. Salvador is listed as a farmer in the 1870 U.S. Census.

Salvador (Jules) Jr. donated a portion of his property to the Lafourche Parish School Board on 12 March 1878. He conditioned the donation on the establishment of a school on the property within 20 years. If the school was not established, the property was to revert to his family.

Salvador (Jules) Jr. founded a grocery store on the property and was considered to be wealthy. Son Julien took over the store and operated it. They operated a school in the attic of the store. The first teacher was a Mr. Folse.  In 1915, Julien and Salvador (Jules) Jr. offered the same tract of land to the Lafourche Parish School Board with an identical stipulation requiring the establishment of a school. This time the school board did open the school in 1917.

Between 1878 and 1884, Salvador and Louise separated for unknown reasons. Salvador appears in local records with Onezille Marie Rochelot, the widow of Augustin Lombas. The couple had two children, Claiborne and Dominic. Salvador appears to have died before 1900. His sons Claiborne & Dominic appear in the United States Census with Charles Bourg and Elodie Estay. They raised the children.

According to historian Nares J. Rousse, the Galiano name began being used for the area about 1915 at the time of the second land donation. The town of Galliano was officially recognized by the United States Postal Service when it established an office on the Galiano homestead in the 1948. No one is certain how the name acquired the extra L.

One note of hope in the search for Salvador’s roots came with the publication of sacramental records from the Archdiocese of New Orleans by the magazine GENESIS. New records have turned up indicating at least one other Galiano family in New Orleans in the 1870s. The records also link the baptism of Salvador’s son Raphael to the same St. Augustine Church during the same period as other baptismal records for the other family.

Salvador and Louise had 14 children:  Ernest Antoine born 1 Oct 1853, Jules Salvador born 20 Jan 1855, Louis Leo born 5 Dec 1856, Andre (Andrew) born 28 May 1859, Julienne Victoria born 23 May 1861, Julien Joseph born 23 Oct 1862, Ernestine Marie Galliano born about 1866, Walles Joseph born 25 Jan 1867, Lea Vereline born 12 Dec 1868, twins Sylvain Salvador and Sylvestre born 3 Jun 1871, Eusebe born 12 Jan 1872, Raphael Jose born 11 Nov 1873 and Louise Salvina born 27 Oct 1878.   Salvador and Onezille, daughter of Theophile Rochelot and Julienne Farely Mire, had two children:  Claiborne Galliano 24 Feb 1884 and Domenic born about 1887.