My family has been on a search for the ancestors of my g.g.grandfather, Augustus, for almost fifty years. My cousin, Betty, began the search in his suspected place of birth, Luxembourg, Belgium, in the early 1970s. Although, some accounts say he was born in Paris, France. Her digging in both countries led only to a dead end. The church that might’ve contained evidence of his birth records, parents, etc., burned to the ground. All records were lost. (Too bad they hadn’t uploaded to the Cloud)
An account given to my cousin by Augustus’s granddaughter, Blanche Bulleit Christley, indicated he left home around the age of twenty because his parents refused him permission to marry a girl outside his faith. He was Catholic and she was Jewish. However, other accounts say he left to escape service in the army. Most of her memories came from her father, John Joseph Bulleit, the oldest son of Augustus and Marie Julia Dulieu.
Are you getting a glimpse of my frustration? After more than 150 years, we’re still not sure about our family name.
After going over the marriage certificate between Augustus and Marie Julia, I suspect the clerk filled in the groom’s name, phonetically. Pronounced Bool-yay in French, the spelling, Beoyoolat starts to make sense.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, I had my DNA analyzed by Ancestry. Right now I’m pouring over hundreds of, mostly, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cousins hoping to find any connection to Augustus and his homeland. It’s a daunting task. While other parts of my family tree can be traced back to the 1300s, 1838 is the only paper documentation we have on the Bulleit, Boilliat, Beoyoolat side.
My only real hope is to become a celebrity and get on “Who Do You Think You Are”, or “Finding Your Roots”. Well, either that or turn over 50k to a genealogist. I’d have a better chance being picked for one of the TV shows.
If anyone out there has a suggestion, or similar frustration, please comment! We amateurs are all in this together.
(Next time, my great aunt, Blanche’s account of the foul play that led to my g.g.grandfather’s death)
Mary Cunningham, Author 
be,”B”,
o,””o”,
yoo,”u”
lat (in french) ,”lat”
=Boulay,France
jewish families didnt use surnames,only first, like Augustus.
Mary,
Hi! So glad to see this. My great grandmother was Laura Mae Bulleit, a daughter of Edward Sherman Bulleit. Edward was a son of J.J. Bulleit and Harriet Kistler and a grandson of Augustus. I have been fascinated by this family for a long time and I too have been very confused when searching for the homeland of the Bulleit family. Supposedly the Dulieu family were from Belgium, but I don’t really find that that matches up very well either. Maybe someday we will figure out what these mysteries of our ancestors. Please feel free to message any time.
So nice hearing from you, Courtney! My grandfather was Guy Augustus. He was the youngest of J.J.’s and Harriet’s children.
Marie (Mary) Julia Dulieu is buried in Dogwood Cemetery In Dogwood, IN, along with 2 or 3 of her children. Her mother, father and sisters are buried in St.Mary’s Cemetery in Lanesville, IN. Email me at marycunningham24@comcast.net and I’ll send some pictures.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have wondered if searching for ships’ manifest records would be helpful. I thought he came over about 1840 through New Orleans, from the research I did in the 90’s.
Augustus was my 4th great-grandfather and I descend through his daughter Mary Josephine, who married Antoine/Anthony Kanappel. As the Bulleit branch is a recent discovery for me, I’ve been trying to find information as well. Very glad to have found your blog here.
Greg