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Note: Lots of notes, keep scrolling for family information
Houma, Terrebonne Parish, LA
Courier
November 09. 2003 12:00AM
Pearl Lambert
Pearl Babin Trahan Lambert, 84, a native of Terrebonne Parish and resident of Houma, died at 4:35 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003.
Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday at Chauvin Funeral Home and from 8:30 a.m. to funeral time Tuesday at St. Bridget Catholic Church. Mass will be at 11 a.m. at the church with burial in St. Francis de Sales Cemetery No. 2.
She is survived by five daughters, Shirley Bourg and husband, Lloyd, and Catherine "Kitty" Babin and husband, Ed, all of Houma, Lolita Ellis and husband, Mike, and Elda McIntyre and husband, Tommy, all of Gray and Elaine Babin of Morgan City; one brother, Lloyd Babin of Houma; four sisters, Rhea Chaisson, June Bergeron, Joan Pellegrin, all of Houma, and Nell Voison of Dulac; 27 grandchildren, 51 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Rufus Trahan Sr. and Joseph Lambert; her parents, Glaise John Babin and Rosa Thibodeaux Babin; one son, Rufus Trahan Jr.; one daughter, Adeline Trahan; two brothers, Francis and Curtis Babin Sr., and one sister, Rose Babin Gauthreaux.
She was a retired bookkeeper, a member of the Terrebonne Fine Arts Guild and East Houma Ladies Auxiliary Lions Club and was a parishioner of St. Bridget Catholic Church.
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The Houma Courier Newspaper
Houma, Terrebonne Parish, LA
a series of articles appearing in Bill Ellzey's column, written or verbally given by Pearl.
June 28, 1995 Drying shrimp in the sun Bill Ellzey Column
Pearl Lambert remembers the 1920's when her father Glaise Babin, ran a shrimp platform for Claude Boudreaux. "Daddy was the manager. He had four to six men to work on the platform, besides the boatmen who stayed with the camp. There were sometimes four or five families, like a little village."
Beginning when she was 4, Pearl lived with the family on the platform located where Bayou Voisin entered Big Bayou Dularge. They stayed from mid August to December, the duration of the fall shrimping season. When she was 7, her parents had Pearl stay with relatives so she could attend school.
Makeshift pots: "They started with a tank on wheels, about the size of the little cars that haul ore out of a mine. They knocked the wheels off, cut the tank in two and set the two halves in a form surrounded by bricks, sand and such to make a hearth.
"They filled the hearth with wood hauled from Grand Caillou. Everything had to be hauled in. The shrimp were boiled in salty water in the big tanks, dipped out with nets and wheel-barrowed out onto the platforms, which were sloped to allow drainage.
Overload: "After draining overnight, they were raked thin to dry in the sun. Sometimes when the catch was good, the platform would be completely full by 10:30 or 11 at night. That meant the boats could not shrimp the next day. They might have to wait three of four days until there was space on the platform again.
"If a squall came up everyone ran to rake the shrimp up the slope and cover them with tarps . Mama sewed the tarps herself at home on a pedal sewing machine. She took it with her to the platform and sometimes sewed or made repairs there."
Cleaning: When the shrimp were dry enough, they were put into the shrimp beaters - rolling cylinders in which the shrimp turned over and over - knocking the scales off. The cleaned shrimp went into sacks for sale. The dust was used for fertilizer.
More later: Pearl's recollections of platform life will be continued, including secrets learned from the Chinese platform.
July 2, 2001 From LA to China Bill Ellzey Column
"The best okra gumbo I ever had was made with raw dired shrimp." says Pearl Lambert. Her late father, Glaise Babin, learned the technique for drying shrimp without boiling them from the nearby Chinese platform, more than 60 years ago.
That platform was located near Dog Lake, Pearl recalls, and it's Oriental workmen used special techniques for drying both fish and shrimp for packing to China. One tecnique did not involve cooking the shrimp. Instead, the larger shrimp were peeled and cut open like a fan, then treated in brine before drying.
While her father did not adopt their drying technique for shrimp intended for domestic markets, some of the 'raw dried shrimp' occasionally found its way into gumbo prepared by her mother.
In those days, Pearl's father ran a platform for Claude Boudreaux, near the mouth of Bayou Dularge. Her family lived at one end of the platform, the platform crew slept in quarters at the other end, but her mother cook for them all and the workers at with the family.
Many platforms: There were three other platforms nearby, a Mr. White ran the one immediately across the bayou. Pearl, who was just a girl at the time, remembers all the platforms as being "very big, but of course, things look bigger when you are young."
The family camp consisted of a living room/kitchen, sleeping quarters and a storage room where, in addition to supplies for his family and the platform, Pearl's father stocked extra quantities of staple items for sale to shrimpers who happened to run out.
Versatility: As platform manager, Glaise Babin had to be something of a 'Jack of all trades'. He had to know grading and pricing. He had to keep books. He had to keep the platform in good repair. Pearl's father was carpenter enough to build platforms and rebuild them after wind and wave damage.
Weather: The fall shrimp season began in the middle of August and platforms had no fans or electricity to run them. "It could get hot on the platform, with the sun beating down on the marshes. The bunks were built even with the windows, to take advantage of the slighest breeze. And there were misquito bars to keep the insects off."
There were occasional storms, of course. Her parents were caught in a hurricane once. They survived but "the old boat just split".
Changing seasons: December brought cold weather and the end of shrimping season. Her father would switch to buying furs, muskrats mostly, and carrying groceries to the trappers.
Pearl remembers riding with him on those trips, a big bunch of bananas hanging in the cabin. Lying on the furs, watching the bananas swing back and forth with the motion of the boat, she would drop off to sleep.
July 30, 1995 Account recalls '26 storm Bill Ellzey Column
Pearl Babin Lambert was just 7 when the deadly hurricane of 1926 struck the Terrebonne coast. That summer, she was living with ther parents and three brothers on the shrimp drying platform her father, Glaise Babin, operated for Claude Boudreaux on lower Bayou Dularge. Lloyd, the baby, was just six weeks old.
Recollections: For some time now, Pearl Lambert has been writing out for her family her childhood memories of life as a fisherman's daughter half a centry ago. Her account of the 1926 storm were taken from a manuscript dated Aug. 10, 1992.
"Remember, we had no radio or other means of communication to get weather news in 1926 and 27. People depended on the older ones, such as my uncles, to predict the weather. They'd watch the skies, the rising and setting sun, wind directions, leaves on trees and behavior of animals to predict the weather. They could tell if the summer would be extrememly hot, the winter cold, or, if the year would be extremely dry or wet."
Ominous signs: Life on the platform had settled into the hum-drum of everyday events, but there were signs of dangerous weather. "After several days of southwest winds the weather changed to gust of wind and light, but stinging rain."
Evacuation: "The boatmen readied their boats for the trip home, loading part of the platform gear on their boats and helping load the freight boat with the dried shrimp and shrimp dust. Everything had to be brought in, groceries from the store, tarpaulins and their own personal possessions."
Detour: "The Gulf was too rough to travel to Grand Caillou Bayou. The men knew of a bayou that was shallow, but as the tide was rising, they could make it through Sister Lake to Grand Caillou Bayou. The only deep water past this point was Dog Lake.
"Daddy, wearing a rain coat and hat, was at the wheel, guiding the boat to Boudreaux Community on Grand Caillou." Barring motor trouble, a boat that left the platform before noon might make it to port by 8 or 9 that night. The Babin family arrived late, but made the trip safely.
At Home: "We slept at home that night, but the next morning we got up to gust of wind that was steadily getting stronger. Moma packed some clothes and quilts to make pallets to sleep on and we moved to Boudreaux's store along with other families in the neighborhood.
"People who owned strongly built and fairly new boats took to their boats and anchored in a canal in lee of the wind." Pearl spent the storm sheltered with her family in Boudreaux's store.
What she recalls of that experience, in another column.
August 2, 1995 Saving indentity of 'Cane' Bill Ellzey column
(skipping unrelated first few paragraphs)
Old Storm: Terrebonne old-timers still speak of the death and destruction caused by the hurricane of 1926. Pearl Babin Lambert's family spent the storm in Boudreaux's store on Grand Caillou.
Young witness: Pearl was only 7. Her recollections are from a child's point of view. "Of course, being at the store was fun for the children. We could look at the candy and cookies in the show case and in candy jars. We were given a treat in the afternoon, a sugar cookie and a bottle of Pop Rouge. Daddy spread the quilts on the floor in the late afternoon, after a supper of potted meat and crackers, moma told daddy to fix milk bottles for my brothers.
"He was so worried, he fixed three bottles. (My mother nursed Lloyd so no bottle was needed for him). He handed one each to my two brothers and one to me and told us to sleep. Thus, I was 7 years old the last time I had a milk bottle. Every time the family spoke of the 1926 Hurricane, this incident was mentioned.
Rising Water: "The building we were in was solid and built on blocks, or pilings, about three feet high. By the next moring the water had risen to the top step, just a few inches more it would have covered the floor in the store.
"Another day of fun for us, and worry for our parents and the people in the shelter. Standing on the porch of the store and looking at the sea of water around us, sucking on a peppermint stick and drinking another Pop Rouge - five cents a bottle in returnable bottles. Peppermint about five cents a stick about 10 inches long. We had crackers with real butter (oleo was not yet invented) and red jelly that was in a scoop and weighed.
Finally: "By the third day, the wind and rain had all cleared up and the sun was peeping through the few clouds. Daddy loaded us and our belongings in the skiff, and paddled us to our house by way of the road.
"As soon as the water went down, the house was set on it's blocks and repaired. Daddy helped the neighbors make their house livable, then he left to repair the shrimp platform, it was time for the August shrimping season.
August 6, 1995 Memories of a 1950's hurricane Bill Ellzey column
"They had just reached open water when the motor stopped. They tried working on the motor, but had no parts for repairs. Meantime the boat was taking in water faster than the men could bail out. The two women prayed", Pearl Babin Lambert, who saw the 1926 storm as a 7 year old, tells how a 1950's hurricane very nearly claimed her parents, the Glaise Babins of Grand Caillou.
"The year was '55 or '56, the hurricane was named, I think, Audrey. They were managing a platform below Morgan City, at Pass Raquet for A. J. Authement. The freight boat had seen better times. To reach Grand Caillou Bayou one had to travel miles in the Gulf of Mexico. The only escape route was to Morgan City."
Little warning: With the Babin's were two platform workers, one had his wife with him. "This hurricane came with almost no warning. By the time they had the boat loaded, the waves in the Gulf were six or seven feet high.
Luckily, the disabled boat was spotted by an oil worker being evacuated by speed boat from a rig. "He told the driver he had seen a boat floundering in the high seas. The driver turned the boat around and headed to the direction of the sighting and soon spotted the boat."
Tricky transfer: "The job of transfering the five aboard the old boat was tedious. Moma weighted over 200 pounds. She was black and blue after the ordeal. But finally they were rescued. As the crew boat drove away they saw the old break in two parts as it crested as huge wave.
Daddy lost two guns, tools; they lost all their cloths and possessions. Mother saved her rosary!" The five people rescued from the boat were taken to Morgan City hospital for emergency treatment. "We took them home the next day, thankful we had our parents back with us."
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