Marie Elodie Pecot (1887-1967)

Marie Elodie Pecot

OVERVIEW

Marie Elodie Pecot, later known as Hilda Mary Cornett, was born in Charenton, Louisiana on September 9, 1887 and died in Washington, D.C. on September 7, 1967. She was the wife of James Henderson Cornett, with whom she had three children: James Henderson Cornett, Jr., Rogers Alexandre Cornett, and Phyllis Veronica Cornett.

Vita

	Entry	Source/Basis/Commentary
DOB:	9 Sep 1887
POB:	Charenton, St. Mary, Louisiana
DOD:	7 Sep 1967
POD:	Washington, D.C.
Burial:	11 Sep 1967
Spouse:	James Henderson Cornett
DOM:	9 May 1907
POM:	New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Father:	Alexandre Theodore Pecot
Mother:	Marie Francoise Rose Amelie Armelin

Ancestry

Marie Elodie Pecot (later known as Hilda Mary Pecot) is the daughter of Alexandre Theodore Pecot and Marie Francoise Rose Philomene Amelie Armelin. Both Elodie's paternal and maternal ancestry is of French origin.

ChildList

Name	DOB	POB	DOD	POD	Spouse	DOM	POM	Notes
James Henderson Cornett	13 Mar 1908	New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA	25 Sep 1990	Coatesville, Chester, Pennsylvania, USA	Never married.
Rogers Alexandre Cornett	22 Dec 1909	Charenton, St. Mary, Louisiana, USA	2 Jan 1967	Alexandria, Virginia, USA	Mabel Regina Etter	20 Sep 1930	Washington, D.C.
Phyllis Veronica Cornett	16 Mar 1913	Washington, D.C.	23 Mar 1996	Falls Church, Fairfax, Virginia, USA	Newton Boyd McDonald	3 Nov 1933	Washington, D.C.

<createbox> preload=Genealogy:People Research Template width=50 </createbox>

Family History

Marie Elodie Pecot was the seventh child of Alexandre Pecot and Marie Francoise Rose Philomene Amelie Armelin. Elodie, as she was known, was born in Charenton, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana on September 9, 1887. When Elodie was fourteen years old, her family moved to New Orleans, where her father worked first as a laborer and then for the Customs Exchange. On May 9, 1907, Elodie married James Henderson Cornett, a Kentucky native who had come to New Orleans presumably in search of work. A year later, James and Elodie's first child, James Henderson Cornett, Jr., called "Teddy," was born in New Orleans.

In December, 1909, James and Elodie's second son, christened Rogers Alexandre but called "Alex" throughout his life, was born in his mother's hometown of Charenton. It is unclear if Elodie and the family had permanently returned to Charenton or if they were just visiting. Three days before Alex was born, Elodie's sister closest to her in age, Rose Regina, committed suicide in New Orleans. Her body was transferred to St. Mary Parish, where she was buried in the Pecot section of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church cemetery. In 1911 or 1912, Elodie, James, their two sons and Elodie's parents relocated to Washington, D.C. Both James and her father, Alex Pecot, took positions working for the recently created Department of the Interior. In 1913, the final of James and Elodie's three children, Phyllis Veronica, was born.

Sometime after moving to Washington, D.C., Elodie anglicized her first name and began identifying herself as "Hilda Mary Cornett," the name she used for the rest of her life. James and Hilda lived with their three children at 269 N Street, NW, and the children were educated at private, Roman Catholic schools and raised in the Roman Catholic Church. Hilda's scrapbook and photographs document at least one trip from Washington, D.C. to Louisiana in 1924. The family also vacationed at the New York home of Ella Grafton, a close friend of Hilda's though it is unclear how or under what circumstances the two became acquainted.

In 1930, Hilda and James' son, Alex, married Mabel Regina Etter at the Church of the Assumption in Washington, D.C. Three years later, their daughter, Phyllis, married Category:... (surname)yd McDonald]] in Rockville, Maryland. The eldest of their children, "Teddy", was never married. When World War II began, Teddy joined the United States Army and was stationed in India. Alex was exempt because of his employment with the telephone company. It was sometime immediately before or in the early years of the war that James and Hilda separated. James moved to the property he owned in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Hilda remained in Washington, D.C., living briefly with Alex and Mabel, and then with Teddy when the war ended.

In the late 1940s, Hilda's mental condition began deteriorating, perhaps due to senility or Alzheimer's. Her granddaughter recalls Hilda being a kleptomaniac, taking anything lying around Mabel and Alex's home when she visited. She also recalls Hilda walking the streets of Washington, D.C. wearing a fur coat in the middle of the summer. Teddy moved to Coatesville to live with his father, and not long thereafter, Hilda entered St. Elizabeth's Hospital, the government-operated mental institution formerly called the Government Home for the Insane. Hilda's final years were spent at St. Elizabeth's, and little is known about the treatment or care she received. Her death certificate indicates she was treated at the hospital beginning in 1963. On September 7, 1967, two days before her eightieth birthday, Hilda Cornett suffered a gastro-intestinal hemorrhage and died. Her body was transported from Washington, D.C. to Pennsylvania, where she was buried in Philadelphia Memorial Park.

Contributors

Marie Elodie Pecot (Hilda Mary Cornett)