On 29 Jul 1932 Leona Perilloux Goldate and five of her children,
ranging in age from 4 months to 13 years, died in a fire. Leona was 37 and
had married Albert L. Goldate in St. Tammany Parish in 1918.
The Washington Parish Era Leader had the following article in its 4 Aug 1932
edition:
Mother and five children burned to death in Madisonville on Friday morning,
when their house burned. Mrs. Albert Goldate and 5 children, Leo, age 13;
Joseph Vernard, age 5; Verna, age 3; twins, Allen and Peter Goldate, age
4, burned to death. Mr. Goldate and 2 children, Andrew, age 10; and Ernestine
Goldate, age 12, got out of the house.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune of 30 July 1932 had a much more graphic account
of this tragedy.
Actually, the twins were Vernon and Verna, age 3. Allen was 4 months. The
"Peter" referred to by the Era Leader is probably Vernon, whose middle initial
was P.
Leona and these five children were buried in a single casket in the Stanga
Family Cemetery in Bedico, Tangipahoa Parish, LA. This is about one mile
west of the St. Tammany Parish line and 0.4 mile north of LA 22.
Albert Goldate later married Laura Fussell Clifton and is also buried in
this cemetery.
Ernestine married Woodrow W. Chatellier and, second, Theodore Myers. Ernestine
died in Madisonville in 1996.
Andrew married Aura Mae Hano and he and Aura Mae lived in Madisonville until his death on 4 Apr 2015. Aura Mae died on 10 Oct 2021.