Soniat-DuFossat, Charles Theodore

Submitted by Mike Miller

Soniat-DuFossat, Charles Theodore, of New Orleans, lawyer and notary, was born in Jefferson parish, Louisiana, April 11, 1847, the son of Charles Theodore Soniat DuFossat, and Marie Amenaide LaBranche. The Soniat family is of ancient French nobility, whose records date back more than 800 years. The name was Saunhac, Saunac, Saugnac, and Soniat. The latter orthography is of American origin, after the Chevalier Gui Saunhac DuFossat had emigrated to Louisiana in 1751. But several members of the family obtained the authorization to return to the French appellation, while others kept the orthography which has since obtained in Louisiana. Several of the Saunhacs possessed large estates in France, occupied positions of trust and honor, and contracted alliances with the noblest families. A Saunhac was Grand Master of the Knights Templars in the 13th century; another was Commander of the Knights of Malta; and still another was a Knight of the Royal Order. Gentlemen in waiting of the King's household, officers in the army and navy, pages, bishops, were found in the Saunhac family. Gui Soniat DuFossat, before coming to Louisiana, was Gui de Saunhac Baron DuFossat, volunteer soldier in the regiment de Bearn in 1746; next was lieutenant in the Regiment de Monaco, and was wounded during the siege of Maestricht. He embarked for Louisiana in 1751 and became one of the most active and public- spirited among the colonists. The principal fortifications of the lower division of the Louisiana province were erected under his supervision; and to him the people owed many laws and several police regulations which were still in existence not many years ago. The baron married in 1753 Miss Francoise Claudine de Dreux, and was the father of 10 children. Gui Joseph de Saunhac, his seventh son married twice. By his first wife, Marie Anne Arnoult, he had 4 children; and by his second wife, Louise Duralde, 8 children. Charles Theodore, youngest child from the second marriage, was the father of the subject of this biography. He was born Dec. 8, 1818; married Jan. 25, 1845, Miss Marie Amenaide La Branche, daughter of Lucien and Mathilde (Fortier) La Branche. The family consisted of 5 children: Lucien, born Jan. 14, 1846, died March 5, 1809; Charles Theodore, Louise, now wife of Amedee Fortier, planter of St. Charles parish; Gustave Valerien, born July 20, 1856, died May 16, 1903; and Meloney Charles, born March 26, 1861. Gustave Valerien married Miss Louise Marie Sarpy, Oct. 6, 1887. They reared a family of 10 children. Meloney Charles married Feb. 11, 1890, Miss Exilee Fortier, daughter of Polycarpe and Louise (La Branche) Fortier. They have 8 children. The family of Amedee, and Louise (Soniat) consisted of 7 children. One of the daughters, Louise, is the wife of William J. Nelson, of Mobile, Ala.; one of the sons, Theodore, died Oct. 14, 1905 while he was studying law in the office of his uncle, Charles T. Soniat. Another Son, Eugene Louis, is a dentist, and Lucien is a physician. Charles Theodore Soniat DuFossat, subject of this review, was educated in private and public schools, and at Jefferson college, in the parish of St. James. While he was a student at the last-named institution, the Civil war of 1861-65 was in progress, and as the Federals were preparing to invest New Orleans, young Soniat was recalled to the city and was sent to Jefferson academy in that city. He next left for France and entered the "Ecole Supericure du Commerce" in Paris, graduating in 1867. On his return to New Orleans, Mr. Soniat matriculated in the law department of Tulane university, from which he graduated in 1870. Two years after, he received a commission as notary public for the parish of Orleans. When the struggle between the citizens and the republican administration of Louisiana occurred in 1874, Mr. Soniat joined the ranks of the "White league" and took part in the battle of Sept. 14, 1874, between the citizen soldiery and the metropolitan police. Mr. Soniat participated in those stirring events with the men of the second district of New Orleans, as a member of battery C., Louisiana field artillery. In 1888 the Young Men's democratic association entered the political field in opposition to the "regular" democrats, and Mr. Soniat was the candidate of the association for the position of state senator from the second senatorial district of New Orleans, and was elected, serving from 1888 to 1890. He was appointed by the mayor to be a member of the court house commission, charged with the supervision of the plans and of the construction of the "million dollar courthouse," in New Orleans. In 1912, Mr. Soniat was elected to the school board, and at the first meeting of the board for organization he was selected to be its president; but in Dec., 1812 he was compelled to resign on account of ill health. Going abroad for rest and recuperation, he was absent several months, and on his return was able to resume the practice of his profession. Mr. Soniat is a member of the Louisiana Historical society, the Athenee Lonisianais, the Alliance Pranco-Louisianaise; the French opera club, the Boston, St. John Rowing, and Young Men's Gymnastic clubs; the Commercial Law league of America. Mr. Soniat has in his possession a number of relics of the Saunhac family. One of the heirlooms is a helmet that was worn by his uncle, Gui Joseph Soniat DuFossat, who was a member of the body guard of King Louis XVIII from 1824 to 1830. That helmet was in Mr. Soniat 's keeping for many years before he could find out its history. It had been taken out of an old storeroom in the Chateau de Saunhac and given to him, and it was only after nearly 20 years that Mr. Soniat succeeded in tracing the ownership of the helmet to his uncle, who had left New Orleans in 1814 to take service in the King's army in France.

Louisiana: Comprising Sketches of Parishes, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form (volume 3), pp. 404-406. Edited by Alcée Fortier, Lit.D. Published in 1914, by Century Historical Association.