Michel Prudhomme House History

---

 This photograph shows the traditional half-timbered houses of Strasbourg, Alsace, the region where Jean Michel Prudhomme was born.

The story begins with Jean Michel Prudhomme, born in Strasbourg, Alsace in 1739, who immigrated to Louisiana during the Spanish colonial period. By 1766 he was recorded living on Louisiana’s German Coast (Côte des Allemands) with his wife, Catherine Ritter, and their first child, Marie Louise. They lived on a small farm in the village of Karlstein, the modern-day community of Lucy, in St. John the Baptiste Parish.

Jean Michel and Catherine had three daughters: Marie Louise Prudhomme Nerault, Julienne Prudhomme Clark, and Marguerite Prudhomme Hargroder. By 1776, Jean Michel appears on the muster rolls of the Opelousas Poste Militia, marking his early role in the developing frontier community of southwest Louisiana. Catherine died in Opelousas around 1780.

After Catherine's death, Jean Michel married Marie Schnyder, reportedly born in Fredericktown, Maryland. They had a son, Michel André Prudhomme, whose descendants would later inherit the family holdings.

This survey from Spanish Surveyor General Pintado depicts the land holdings of Michel Prudhomme in the Opelousas region. The land surrounding the property is labeled tierra realenga, territory belonging to the Spanish Crown that had not yet been privately granted. 

 By the late 18th century, Jean Michel Prudhomme had become a significant landowner and community figure in Opelousas. In 1796, he made a major contribution to the region’s development by donating land and materials for the construction of St. Landry Catholic Church. His donation included land measured at “three arpents in front by forty arpents in depth,” as well as cypress timber for the church, priest’s house, cemetery fencing, and related structures.

The original church was built of cypress wood; the current brick structure dates to 1909. Jean Michel Prudhomme died in 1817 at approximately 78 years old and is believed to be interred beneath the church floor.

At the time of his arrival in Opelousas, he owned modest livestock holdings. By the time of his death, his estate had grown significantly, including thousands of acres of land, hundreds of cattle, and dozens of horses.

The illustration here shows the 1827 iteration of St. Landry church with Union troops camping on the church grounds during the Civil War.

Marie Schnyder Prudhomme died in 1823. Probate records describe the plantation as a working agricultural operation with cotton production, cattle ranching, and diversified subsistence farming, like corn, potatoes, and honey. Her son Michel André Prudhomme purchased the property at public auction, eventually passing to Louis Prudhomme.

Louis lived at the property with his wife Caroline Barton and their children, but the family experienced repeated loss in the mid-19th century. Two sons, Louis and Michael, served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Both died young. Michael died in Virginia in 1861 of an illness and was buried there. Louis also probably died of an illness a month after returning to Opelousas in 1862. Another son, Onezine, died as a child in 1846.

Caroline and surviving descendants continued at the property until the late 19th century, when ownership changed hands.

  In 1894, Irish immigrant Michael Ringrose purchased the property and moved there with his wife, Catherine Rafferty Ringrose. The farm continued as a working agricultural estate and became locally known as Ringrose.

(The Ringrose Family is shown in the photo:  L-R: Edward, Katie, father Michael, and mother Catherine.)

The couple raised five children, including Edward Hoch Ringrose, an orphan adopted in 1907 through Louisiana’s Orphan Train movement, which relocated children from New York institutions such as the New York Foundling Hospital to rural families across the country. 

Encouraged by Fr. John Engberink at St. Landry Catholic Church, the Ringroses adopted Edward when he was three years old. The family continued farming the property into the early 20th century. Michael Ringrose died in 1932, and Catherine in 1935.

Discover more about the Orphan Trian Museum here. 

This picture shows WPA workers laying sewer pipe in Opelousas in 1936. (Louisiana State Library Digital Archives)

During the 1930s, federal New Deal programs brought significant improvements to Opelousas. Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding expanded water and sewer services, paved streets, developed South City Park, and constructed the current courthouse.

To take advantage of these improvements, the City of Opelousas undertook a major expansion project in 1935, buying  245.8 acres from the widow Catherine Ringrose. 

The city incorporated the existing roads into its municipal plan. The plantation's main entrance road is now Prudhomme Lane. The roadway split into east and west forks around the plantation fields. A portion of the East Fork remains as  Prudhomme Circle, the cul de sac in front of the house. 

  In 1947, attorney L. Austin Fontenot and his wife Ruth Robertson Fontenot purchased the property. Ruth Fontenot became a leading local historian, archivist, and preservation advocate. A graduate of Newcomb College (1933), she worked extensively in documenting parish history and served as the first official archivist for St. Landry Catholic Church. She was also known as a very good cook. The Prudhomme House was the perfect house for the Fontenots to raise a family.

Her research collections, now housed in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette archives, include architectural surveys, parish histories, photographs, and genealogical materials.

In the 1950's, the previously annexed 245.8 acres were chosen as the building site for Opelousas General Hospital. The main parking lot and foundation of the hospital were built over the West Fork of the plantation road.

In 1974, the hospital expanded and now surrounds the house. The hospital planned to demolish the house to build a parking lot. Local preservationists formed Preservationists of St. Landry, Inc. The organization purchased the house and surrounding land, ensuring the survival of the historic structure along with its pigeonnier and corn crib.

Today, the organization continues to preserve and interpret the site as part of the cultural and architectural heritage of St. Landry Parish.

  Charles Jagneaux (Clerk of Court), Acadiana Practitioners, American Bank of Opelousas, Barbara Baronne, Zydeco Chop Chop LLC, Candace Papillion, Catalyst Bank, CBS Country Ridge, Craig Olivier Farms, Dale Prudhomme Properties, LLC, Rene Robinson, Eddie & Cheryl Villemarette, B&M Rental Properties, Michael & Kelly Howard, Manor Love, Kirk Richard, DCG Insurance Agency, Ogden Pitre, Jeff & Hallie Coreil, Jim Tatman's Mobile Homes, Inc., Gerald Cormier, Greg & Marguerite Bordelon, Harvey Wier, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Golden Rule Insurance, Jacob & Mary Ann Abdalla Family, LLC, Larry Sandoz, Mama's Friend Chicken, Junior Snyder, John Theriot Roofing, LLC, Going CPAs, Judge Gregory Doucet, Iggy Castille Insurance, Ken's Thrifty Way, Bellard's Poultry, Prompt Succor Nursing Home, Morgan Goudeau & Associates, Sherri McGovern (Assessor), Susan Higginbotham, Senic Batiste & Vanessa Harris, Bruce & Bernie Gaudin, Lorraine Reagan, Dr. Michael Doucet, Prairie Contractors, Roy Motors, Tommy Dejean, Billy's Boudin & Cracklins, Washington State Bank, Reggie & Marie Dupre, St. Landry Bank, Tom Mego & Charlette Adams, Southwest Louisiana Primary Health Care, Harold and Ammy Taylor, Jude & Lynn Moreau, Kenneth Olivier Farms, Williams Funeral Home, Robert Buller, Bruce Alsandor, Evangeline Bank, Opelousas General Health System Foundation, Delta One Storage, Guglielmo, Lopez, Tuttle Hunter & Jarrell, LLP.