James Coco
James Coco, Mortician and manager of the First National Funeral Home at Natchitoches, La. He wed Clara Belle Stringer of Midland, Texas. Their children are: James Gary, Lucy Dolores, Charles Anthony and Elizabeth Anne.
Mr. Coco is a son of Albert F. Coco and Rhoda Escude.
Albert F. Coco is a descendant of Dominic Baldonide who came to America with Lafayette to fight with the American Revolutionary Army. After the Revolution he migrated to Pointe Coupee, La. and from there to the Alexandria area near Marksville, La.
There are several versions of how the name Baldonide changed to Coco. This is not unusual in this section of Louisiana. For example: LeBrun, nickname for Jean Bossier; Duprez, nickname for Francois Dion Derbonne; and Dauphine, nickname for Charles Bertrand.
These above three nicknames are now family names in the central Louisiana area.
Fred Litton Cooper
Mrs. Dottie Dee Cooper
Fred Litton Cooper, owner of Cooper’s Pharmacy at Robeline, Louisiana, wed Miss Dottie Dee Scarborough. There are two children: Norman Otto who married Doris Jordan of Robeline, and Margaret Sue who wed Aubry Ralph Barnette of Robeline. Mr. Cooper is by far the leading historian of the Robeline area. He and Mrs. Cooper have kept alive the value of Robeline historywise. Cooper’s Pharmacy is a must-stop for all tourists who travel into Robeline.
Mrs. Dottie Dee Cooper is a member of the N W P H N (Association of Natchitoches Women for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches). She has taken upon herself to be the Official Greeter for tourists who visit this section.
In relating the history of the Robeline vicinity Mrs. Cooper has the statements of these historians to refer to: John Belisle’s History of Sabine Parish as well as earlier authorities.
Cabeza De Vaca in his book written in 1540, declares that he was among the Adais Indians in 1530. De Vaca, a survivor of the Panfillio Narvez expedition into Florida in 1528. De Vaca spelled the name Adais. (Atyas) exactly as later Spaniards spelled the name.
B. F. French in his interpretations of early Spanish documents, placed the Hernando De Soto expedition among the Adais Indians. French translated the writings of Gonzado Quadrado Charmillio who was the Chronnicalor for the De Soto expedition. Charmillio wrote: “This Wednesday, March 21, 1540 we came to a place called Toalli.”