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Captain Robert L. Mouton Film

Collection 468

Mouton, Robert (Captain) L. (1892–1956). Film, 1940

1 DVD

Robert L. Mouton was born in Duchamp on October 20, 1892 in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. Mouton moved with his parents to Lafayette, where he attended public schools. He graduated from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). During WWI, Mouton enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving as an interpreter and intelligence officer attached to the first squadron of the first marine aviation outfit overseas from May 1918 to January 1919. After the war, he returned to Lafayette and engaged in horticultural pursuits. He served as mayor of Lafayette from 1919-1927 and 1931-1935. He was a postmaster from May 1929 until November 1930. He served as a member of the United States Marine Corp Reserve with rank of captain. He was a delegate to the 1936 Democratic National Convention, and was elected as a Democrat to the 75th and 76th Congresses, January 3, 1937 - January 3, 1941. He died in New Orleans on November 26, 1956. He was interred at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, Lafayette.

This collection consists of a 1940 film of Captain Mouton’s Les Jardins de Mouton in Lafayette, Louisiana with native cypress and oaks covered in moss. There was a grotto or shrine with Stations of the Cross and benches. There is a reference to a rock garden with statuary and a Shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. Plum trees were in bloom and there was a statue of Evangeline. Camellias were in this garden, which included the celebrated and rare Governor Mouton camellia, Pink Perfection, and the rare “Hermey” There were hundreds of flowering plants, which were rare and costly. The field ends with a solemn salute by Captain Mouton to the Evangeline Statue.

Donated by Richard C. Broussard, Lafayette, Louisiana.

Series:

A. Film Box 1

Inventory:

Box 1
Film: Les Jardins de Mouton, by Commerce Pictures of New Orleans. 1940