Bondurant Family Association"The Cries in the Desert"
Les Cris du Desert
An Exhibition at the Génolhac Temple
August 18-September, 2024
Génolhac , Gard, France
Europe a slave if the Cevennes are not supported - Marquis de Miremont
Painting created by the Genolhacois painter Andre Chaptal for the local historian, Marcel Pin. Picture of Camisard chef Nicolas Joiny and Jean Cavlier
The Bondurant Family Association has the honor of participating in the annual historical exhibition at the Génolhac Temple this summer. Founded in 2001 by LOVIV (the Lozère and Valley Villages association), the Conference de Jean-Paul Chabrol, a historian of the Camisard resistance under French King Louis XIV, seeks to share the history of the Cevennes Mountain area through exhibits, archival research, and public events.
Temple protestant de l'église unie de Génolhac [Génolhac Temple on La Grand Rue]
For this exhibit, the researchers and graphics artists in the BFA have created 19 illustrated panels showing the travels of our immigrant ancestor, Jean Pierre Bondurant (1677-1734), from Génolhac through the mountains to Switzerland, then down the Rhine River to London, England, where he was fortunate enough to be included in the second ship-load of Huguenot refugees aboard the Peter and Anthony, to travel to the English colony of Virginia in the fall of 1700. Another part of the exhibit examines the life of the Camisard leader, Jean Nicolas dit Joany, who was killed on the bridge of Pont-de-Montvert in 1704, after serving with Roland and Cavalier against the oppression by the king.
Thanks to the efforts of the BFA exhibition committee (David Bondurant, Cynthia Louise Moore (AKA Jules Larimore, author of two historical novels about Jean Pierre Bondurant), Marcelle Hoffman, Julie Mastroianni, Shirley Seaborn, Eve B. Mayes, and our French cousins, Serge Bondurand, Bruno Meline, Philippe Bondurand, and Loïc Breton), each panel has a narrative in both English and French to explain the illustration in that panel.
Introductory Poster Provided Overview
First Panel of Exhibition
Second Panel of Exhibition
Third Panel of Exhibition
Fourth Panel of Exhibition
The Opening of the Genolhac Celebration, August 18
Opening of the Genolhac Celebration, August 18
Opening of the Genolhac Celebration, August 18
Buffalo Hill Billy Band Plays at Celebration
Picnic in Town Park
For those who cannot travel to France, David will give a presentation of the entire exhibit about Jean Pierre Bondurant dit Cougousset* at the annual meeting in Saint Charles, MO, October 4-5, 2024. If you have not made your reservations and sent your registration, please do so before September 6th, so that we can be prepared for everyone who is planning to attend. Marsha and John Miller are our hosts this year.
* Our immigrant ancestor Jean Pierre Bondurant inherited the title “Sieur de Cougoussac” when his father died in 1694, but because his father also had the same name, young JPB was sometimes referred to as “Cougousset” to avoid confusion and to indicate that he was the son and heir of the Sieur de Cougoussac.