The origin of the life of your humble writer: Part LII

Preston Aucoin

Photo by: File Photo

By: Preston Aucoin

After the two hot, sweating, fatigued, French speaking ladies consulted with each other and came to the decision they would not take one step further in the sweltering summer heat and I was a suitable lawyer who spoke their language, they would put the matter in my hands. I invited them to be seated in each one of the second-hand chairs I had purchased from Cheapstore.

After complaining about the hot weather for several minutes, I sympathized with them and put them at ease, although my office was not air conditioned, the oscillating fan I had borrowed from Mamma offered them a degree of comfort. Obviously their homes were not air conditioned either. So, I inquired from them what I could do to help them.

I found out the heavier of the two (the one who perspired the most) was the other lady’s friend and had accompanied her to lend moral support, and being the most loquacious of the two, her spokeswoman at times, to help her explain her plight. The other lady, who was to become my client, was a thin, frail looking woman.

Slowly, her story began to unfold, with the help of her companion. When she got stuck, her friend would come to her aid. She, a widow, had married this man, a widower, who I will refer to as the descendent. He had a small (inexpensive) house on Thompson Street in Ville Platte at the time of the marriage and she had moved in with him and they lived there for some time before he died.

There was no question the house, its contents and lot were not community property. Further, he had left no heirs and had not made a will. There were debts to be paid, e.g., the last illness expenses, the funeral home, a burial plot, some miscellaneous expenses, etc. There was no one to see about settling his estate. Albeit, a small one, and there were bills coming in and she didn’t know what to do about this.

Further, she had been told although it was not community property, she was entitled to something. After all, she had taken care of him during his final sickness. Therefore, she wanted legal advice, and if it was true she was entitled to some kind of share, she wanted it.

I questioned her and found out she was a poor, destitute widow without means, and yes, she was entitled to what was known as the widow’s portion of $1,000. Of course, this was subject to the other expenses being paid. As in many of these cases, I would later learn the question was “will there be enough money to go around.”

I explained all of this in great detail (as though it was a million dollar estate) to the two ladies and answered their questions. I determined the only way this estate could be disposed of and the debts paid was through a public auction. Public auctions were very popular then, and each lawyer in Ville Platte was a licensed auctioneer, including myself.

I told my client she must bring me all of the bills. Then I filed a petition on the probate side of the court alleging a public sale of this estate was appropriate and the judge agreed, there being no contest. My very first succession and auction! Little did I know many others would follow, most of them eclipsing this one in size and sometimes in complexity. But I was very happy with my little first estate.

My client and her companion came by often to see how things were progressing and I told them fine. We were getting close. The advertisement came out in The Gazette announcing the date of the auction and I had found a bedroom set, a sofa, couple chairs, several quilts, gas space heaters, kitchen utensils, pots, pans, dishes, etc.

At last, the big day came, the day of the auction. The auctions were always on a Saturday morning, beginning at 10 a.m. The auctioneers were always lawyers and dressed in suits for the occasions. Nowadays, not only do the lawyers not wear suits (unless they have to go to court), there are no lawyer auctioneers. Yes, times are changing.

In keeping with the unwritten dress code, I put on my summer suit (by this time I had scraped up enough money to buy a cheap one) and my secretary and I went to the scene of the auction about 30 minutes early. We carried a cigar box with $25 change in it, a legal pad, a couple of ball points so she could list the purchasers and the amounts they paid for the various articles. We were greeted by several elder French-speaking friends and relatives of my client and they all offered to help. I accepted help from a couple of the younger, most able fellows, as well as a couple of the ladies to help with the smaller articles (dishes, pots, pans, quilts, sheets, etc.) They were all very friendly and cooperative.

We decided I would cry the auction from the small front porch and the two men brought out the little dining table from the kitchen and put it on the porch with a chair for my secretary to set up shop. I explained to them I would auction off the house and lot first, and then the household furniture and appliances. The hour of 10 a.m. was approaching and a crowd began to dribble in, mostly people on foot, but four or five in pickup trucks, and began to congregate in the small front yard, greeting each other, and I didn’t hear one of them speaking English, only French.

At 10 a.m., I stood on the front porch, somewhat uncertain of myself, and asked for their attention in French. Some were in the house, viewing the contents although meager, which were to be sold, so they were told to come out in the front yard because the auction was fixing to start. I suspect the crowd numbered between 50 and 75.

When everyone was outside and settled down, I greeted them with a “Bonjour,” introduced myself and told them I was going to conduct the auction. I read aloud the court order authorizing me to do so, then reverted to French and told them the terms of the auction, cash. I also told them each bid was going to be called three times, and if no one topped the bid by then, the item was sold and for them to come up and give their names and money to my secretary. I also told them the house and lot would be sold first.

Accordingly and a little bit nervous, in French I asked for a bid. I received one and waited a bit, asked if anyone else had a higher bid, received one and as it went on, I began to feel more certain of myself. Finally, I called the top bid three times, no one else topped it, and I announced vendu. I told the gentleman to step up and I had the foresight to prepare the sale in advance, got him to sign, took his check and said merci.

Then I began with the household articles, first the bed, dresser, quilts, sheets, then moved on to other rooms. The appointed helpers brought the articles and I sold them. I began to feel comfortable and began to joke with the crowd between sales.

It went pretty fast. Actually, there were not too many things. The cigar box was filling with bills and changed. I sold the kitchen items last, including even a few jars of preserves (mostly fig preserves) and the dinette table my secretary used and its four chairs. The most popular items were the black pots. I noticed those who came in the pickup trucks bought the most and began to fill their trucks. They bought these items for re-sale.

Finally, someone bought the yard and garden tools, i.e. hoes, rake, shovel, a manuel lawn mower, etc. from a little shed. After those were sold, there was nothing left. I thanked the crowd for coming. Pretty soon, everyone was gone except my client and her supporters.

In my next column, I will tell you about the distribution of the proceeds and the problem I encountered. I think you will smile.

I invite the readers of this column to listen to my radio program on KVPI 92.5 FM or 10.50 AM at 12:30 p.m. every other Wednesday.