Dominique GAUDEL, father of the "Pieds-Noirs" GAUDEL

Dominique was born in 1808 in Azoudange. This village is located approximately 10 kilometers from Moussey, and belonged at the time to the Meurthe department in Lorraine. It became German in 1831, and came back to France in 1918. A village with a population of about 100, it is now part of the "Meurthe et Moselle" department.

Dominique belonged to a modest family with 8 children, and his father was a manual laborer, like practically all of the Gaudel men at the time.

However, Dominique sets himself apart, becoming a tailor, a trade he practices from 1831 to 1848.

In 1831, he weds Marie Rose Chardin in Maisière les Vic, a village located between Moussey and Azoudange.

The marriage has just been celebrated when Jean François GAUDEL, Dominique's father, decides to leave for America with all his family. The decision was probably taken together with Dominique, since the young couple will also be part of the big trip. Thus in November 1831 Jean François GAUDEL arrived in New York with all his children.

The American adventure of these GAUDEL begins and will continue until today for all, with the exception of the couple of Dominique, who will return to France, in Lorraine, a few years later. Their only American property will be their son Emile, born in 1835 in New York !

And then, their American experience took away any fear of traveling to seek better fortune elsewhere. This is how the family moved from Lorraine to Paris.

Times are hard when they come back to the capital, as work is scarce, unemployment common, and workers angry, leading to the riots of June 1948. One remembers well the 4 days of repression that followed, when the atrocities committed by the army left thousands of dead, leaving the survivors very resentful.

At the same time, on the other side of the Mediterranian, Algeria having become a French possession in 1830 was still in the hands of the military, and in need of colonization by civilians.

By offering to the poor unemployed Parisian workers to settle in Algeria, the government finds a solution to both the colonization and the labor unrest problems, sending away a number of potential revolutionaries.

A public notice is posted in Paris on September 18 to recruit 12000 volunteer colons that must leave for Algeria with their families before December 31, 1848. After a required time under certain work conditions, they would become full owners of their concessions.

The operation is a big success, there are 36000 applicants. Only 15000 will leave, forming the famous 17 convoys of 1858 that today's "Pied Noirs" still dream so much about.

And that is how Dominique Gaudel, his spouse Marie and their five children aged 3 to 17 board the "chalants cabanés"( river boats) that will take them to Chalons sur Saone. They will change means of transportation several time before embarking on the steam boat "Albatros" in the 9th convoy of colons.

On November 25, they leave for Tenès in Algeria. Dominique and Marie are 40 years old, and Marie is more than 7 months pregnant. They are part of the 831 passengers sent to settle the agricultural colonies of Montenote, la Ferme and Monteba(6 kilometers East of Orleansville).

The seas are so rough that the Albatros must first go take cover in Algiers, before sailing on to on Tenes on December 1, 1848 when the weather finally improves.

The colons split up, some settling in Montenotte, others in La Ferme under torrential rains. After a last journey on foot on very bad roads, the Gaudels reach Pontéba at last on December 6.

It is far from the dreams of an exotic paradise: three big 60' long and 20' wide sheds built in a hurry by the military, a bad road, a muddy river(the Chelif), an arid landscape, only a scant few fields planted by the military, that is all Pontéba.

The next day, everyone gets to work, directed by the military under Captain Michel Bess.

A few days later, on January 1, 1849, Marie Chardin gives birth to Marie-Louise Gaudel, the first colon born in Ponteba.

Life goes on for the Gaudel family, children grow, get married, and that is all the adventure of French Algeria that takes place, with its lot of joys and sorrows.

Some Gaudels will remain in the Orleansville region ( Pontéba, Oued Fodda, Ammari) as farmers, while others take part in the construction of the P.L.M. Railroad (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée) in the Blidda area, or serve in the army.

In 1962, this adventure comes to its tragic end with the return of the colons, among them these Gaudels that had forgotten for 114 years that their deep roots were in Lorraine !

I traced back several descendants of Dominique the tailor become colon farmer. I dedicate this research to them.

* "Pieds Noirs" (Black Feet) is the nickname given to French settlers who lived in Algeria from 1832 to 1962.

	Birth certificate of Dominique dated September 20, 1808 in Azoudange. His father came from Maizières les Vic, his mother from Azoudange. These villages are located near Moussey, now in Moselle.
	Public Notice (Avis au Public) posted on the walls of Paris on September 24, 1848, outlining the details of the procedure to follow for admission to Algeria. Follows a Notice to labourers (Avis aux Ouvriers) dated September 20, informing them of the motion passed the National Assembly to establish agricultural colonies in Algeria.
	List of the admissions to convoy number 9. At the bottom of the last column on the right , are listed 7 Gaudel, the count is correct !
	Orleansville, 200 kilometers West of Algiers, and 53 kilometers South of Tenès. The town was called El Asnam from 1962 to 1981, and then Chleff. Notice. Ténnes, Ponteba, Montenotte, Oued Fodda, and the river Chéliff.
	Dominique Gaudel is hard working and well liked, as attest this letter sent to to the Prefect by the Orleansville police Department. Having proven his valor since December 1848, Dominique is granted his first concession title on June 29, 1853, more than 28 acres of cultivable land he will farm with his four sons. He will eventually get two more concessions to be planted with grapevine, fruit trees and bordered with olive trees, one in 1858, the other in 1861. His oldest son Emile will draw a good number and be exempted from military service. He will be given his own 47 acres concession in Ponteba as soon as 1857. Alfred will also farm the family land a few years, then will leave to work on the railroad built between Algiers and Blida. Louis, the youngest , served 7 years in the army in the 38th and 31st, after which he married Blanche Bonnemort in 1873 and farmed his 22.5 acres granted in 1870.
	Memorial wars of Ponteba. Ponteba after the earthquake of 1954. Ponteba is called Oum Drou since 2006.

The GAUDEL family followed the same epic as the Naudin family in the convoy number 9 and in Ponteba. Their adventures are recounted in great detail on the web site Pieds Noirs d'aujourd'hui.