names: Narcisse, Galatas, Faciane, Pichon, and the list continues. Meeting these cousins also meant hearing the stories they had to tell. Bit by bit, Andrella was learning more about her heritage. If there’s one thing native Slidellians love, it’s their “her’s and his stories.” Many call it history, but we tend to say "his stories," meaning it doesn’t have to be a lofty tale, just one that tickles our fancy. And we love to tell them as much as we love to listen to the stories from others. I sat back as Andrella and Shelia told theirs.
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Andrella had yet to research the Scorza side of her family, her dad’s side. Andrella knew that she also had family in Madisonville, and had heard that her greatgreat-grandfather on her father’s side, Vincenzo Scorza, was the lighthouse keeper on the Tchefuncte River in Madisonville. He was born in 1797, and died in 1872. My eyes fell on the photo of that lighthouse in Madisonville, and I am afraid I may have skipped a piece of the conversation as I stared at the old photo. I grew up hearing tales about the local lighthouses; and I have photographed those that remain from my boat countless times, including this one. My imagination is always held by the widow’s walk underneath the curved cupola, wondering about those who walked up the long, spiraling staircases, watching for ships, or people, perhaps skirmishes between the French and Spanish, or approaching storms. Then came the big surprise. Andrella unexpectedly announced, “A few years back, one of my friends, Missy Penton, told me, ‘Your great-great-grandfather was the lighthouse keeper for the Bonfouca lighthouse.’ I drove a school bus, and she was the aid on my bus. She even showed me a drawing of the lighthouse by Millie Blanc Silversten. I wondered if Missy was correct, and had to find out.” Well, you can imagine my excitement now! I’ve heard so many stories about that location at the mouths of bayous Liberty, Bonfouca and Lake Pontchartrain. We have heard tales from explorations on Bayou Liberty during the Iberville and Bienville travels, the French and Spanish War, the Civil War, and of course tales emanating from hurricanes and the Storm of 1915. There are some old pilings left standing somewhat near the location where many say the lighthouse was. It is as if sheer defiance holds them up. Those old “bones” are a favorite roosting spot for pelicans. I can’t count the number of times we’ve stopped to talk about the lighthouse and photograph pelicans as they preen in the warm sunlight. I’ve been told by Phil Galatas that the pilings are from an old clubhouse. But I always wondered if the clubhouse might have been built upon sturdy pilings that survived the fire that destroyed our lighthouse. The opening to our bayous could easily be missed, which is part of the reason Bayou Liberty has remained pristine. I also interviewed someone who had
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