My Genealogy Hound

Joseph Laude, furniture dealer and undertaker, Monticello, Ark. In these days of money making, when life is a constant struggle between right and wrong, it is a pleasure to lay before an intelligent reader the unsullied record of an honorable man. To the youthful it will be a useful lesson, an incentive to honest industry. Joseph Laude, of foreign birth, was born in Haute Saone, France, in June, 1835, and is a son of Henry and Francoise (Isabey) Laude, both of whom died in France. Joseph Laude was reared in his native country, and there received a fair education. In 1852 he sailed for America, taking passage at Havre on a sailing vessel, and landing at New York after a thirty-four days’ ocean voyage. He went direct to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he learned the cabinet maker’s and undertaker’s trade, and then, in 1858, came direct to Monticello, where, one year later, he opened up a shop, and carried it on until the breaking out of the war. He then closed up his shop, enlisted in Company I, Twenty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, and served until January, 1863, when he was captured at Arkansas Post. He was confined in Camp Douglas until March, when he succeeded in making his escape, and returned to Fort Wayne, where he remained until the surrender. In July, 1867, he returned to Monticello, and opened up business again, but found all his furniture and tools gone. However, he put in a new stock, and has done a successful business ever since. He is the patentee of a corn and cotton planter, and is the manufacturer of these implements. It is a very fine machine, and he finds a ready sale. He has recently sold out his furniture business to turn his whole attention to the manufacture of his machines. He was married, in 1865, to Miss Eugenie Shaloup, and he and wife are members of the Catholic Church.