OJ - Tell me about your dad, Edward Edmond Burguières, and your mother, Mary Ellen Bell. Your dad was the son of Denis P. J. Burguières, Sr. and Alice Broussard.

Bill - My father was working on Weeks Island. I was born on Weeks Island in 1931. My mother's father, Charles Bell, was superintendent and head man of the salt company on Weeks Island; he ran the island. He was my grandfather on my mother's side. My mother's name was Mary Ellen Bell. After my mother and father were married and, I suppose, because of the connection, my father got a job with the salt company and worked on Weeks Island. I don't remember what it was. I was three or four years old at the time.

I also remember Dad played baseball in college. He played for Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. Later, when I was about 12 years old, I would travel around with him a little bit. I remember he said to me, "Bill, we're going to go see an old friend of mine." It turned out he was a school buddy of my dad's and he was a judge, to boot. So, we had lunch with the Judge. During lunch, the Judge looked at me and asked if I knew that my dad had struck out Babe Ruth? The Judge went on to say that back in their college days he had played ball with my father, and at one of the games at Spring Hill College, the Yankees came through on their way out of New Orleans after spring training. Babe Ruth was a Catholic boy and he wanted to come by and see the Spring Hill campus. In the middle of a practice game, up walks Babe Ruth. He was in street clothes. Dad was pitching at that time and someone asked "the Babe" if he wanted to swing at a few pitches. Dad threw three pitches at Ruth and he missed every one of them. Well, the spectators went crazy. They were whooping and yelling. It was a sight to see.

OJ - You think "the Babe" was focused and swinging hard?

Bill - I don't know, but my dad sure was focused and was throwing hard. That's the first real memory I had of my dad. Anyhow, he got a job at the Adams Grader Co. In those days, most of the parishes around there had gravel roads, not asphalt. I was seven years old and he was 32 at the time. That job first introduced him to heavy equipment.

OJ - Did your family move somtime during that time?

Bill - We moved to Crowley, La. Dad traveled around south Louisiana and called on city halls and court houses. He was trying to sell road graders as well as the blades that were attached to the graders. We also moved a second time to Lafayette and moved in with my grandfather, Charles Bell. He had also moved to Lafayette. About that time my grandfather bought a little farm of about 25 acres. As time went by, my father continued to sell his graders and meet politicians all over south Louisiana because those were the people who bought the road equipment. My grandfather decided to put a share-cropper on his 25 acre farm. The share-cropper farmed the land. We had cotton, corn, but not sugarcane. To get to school, I had to ride a bus to the Catholic school and the interesting thing about that time was that my family was the only family that could speak English in that part of Lafayette. Old Acadian French families lived there and didn't speak English. I guess I was in the 7th grade, somewhere in the l 940's, when my father opened up a company in Lafayette called Central Equipment Co. He sold road machines and represented some of the bigger manufacturers. At that time tractors and graders had evolved into one machine. At one point, he bid a contract to the state of Louisiana and sold 56 motor graders in one day. He really celebrated. I think everybody knew that my dad loved his whiskey and that was a big part of his life. After that big sale and after a few drinks, I remember him saying that he sold those motor graders at cost. He even bragged about it. He knew that he was going to sell repair parts for every one of those machines, and that was where he would make his money.

OJ - Tell me about his political aspirations.

Bill - My dad at that time was well plugged into all of the local politicians. He knew everybody because of his business and a group of those people decided that he should run for the Senate. They approached him and suggested that he should do it and they would back him. The guy who had the seat was Pat Juneau, a Senator from Lafayette. I'll never forget it! The "good old boys" didn't like Juneau. At that time the district included Lafayette, Iberia and St. Martin parishes. My dad knew everybody who was anybody in those three parishes because he had done business with them. In those days the people who controlled the elections were the "good old boys." It was a network. It was just the in's and the out's!

Needless to say, my dad got elected to the Louisiana State Senate in 1944. That also happened to be the first term of Jimmy Davis, the singing governor, the "You Are My Sunshine" man! I remember during the summer session of the Senate my dad asked me if I wanted to make some money. He told me to get a tray with a pitcher of ice-cold water and put a few quarters on the tray. Then walk around offering the water to the Senators. There was no air-conditioning in those days, so I did pretty well. I was about 12 years old at the time.

OJ - You haven't talked about your mother or the relationship between your mother and dad. Tell me what you remember.

Bill - When I was 13 years old, my mother and father separated. They had been married about 14 years. I really didn't see it coming until the very end. It was a great lifestyle we lived. We had people all around us and at school I was the hot shot. I was the Senator's son. It was a Christian Brothers school. We moved to town when Dad got elected. Shortly after we moved to town, they got a divorce. We, of course, went to live with my mother and it was tough living. But we went with the flow. I can say we felt the love of both parents after the divorce. There were three of us. I was the oldest, Duts (Albert) was the youngest and Bob was in-between. I was born in 1931, Bob was born in 1939 or 1937 and Duts in 1942.

OJ - Where did Albert get the name "Duts"?

Bill - From my mother when she rocked him to sleep. It was sort of a rhythm thing. As she rocked him, she would say, "Baduts, Baduts, Baduts, Baduts." It was a name of affection that she gave him and it stuck. Everybody in the south had nick-names. It's a southern thing.

OJ - So, how would you end this sentence? "My dad was a..."

Bill - My dad was an excellent father. He was always on my side and I could always count on him.

OJ - Did he have a favorite son?

Bill - I think it was Duts. When Duts visited his Uncle Albert, who was the Hubig Pie man, Duts would come back home with two-toned shoes and great clothes. Uncle Albert and Aunt Stella treated us all well. Albert was Denis P .J.'s second son. He and Stella had no children. He sponsored us and financed the four years that I went to camp St. Stanislaus.

OJ - Tell me about how you and your two brothers got along.

Bill - After the divorce, we lived with my mother for six months. It was tough on her so she decided that we would have to go live with our dad. She then moved to New Orleans and a friend helped her get a job at Hotel Dieu. We went to live with my dad in Lafayette, who by that time had remarried a gal named Carolyn Wolf. She had two daughters, younger than I was. Five of us. Housing was really tight in those days and the three of us and Dwain and Sofia all lived above the theater downtown on Main St. in Lafayette. Imagine that; you got a Senator living on the top of a movie theater. My biggest embarrassment happened when I was a Boy Scout and there was a parade that passed down Main St. We marched past the theater and my family was on top yelling at me. That was embarrassment.

OJ - Tell me about about the respect that a Senator enjoyed in those years. Did he have an entourage?

Bill - No, by then he was just one of the crowd. We moved to New Iberia about that time. Interestingly, Carolyn turned out to have a good amount of money. She was from the Wolf family in New Orleans. In New Iberia we bought a big, beautiful home on Main St. It was her money that did it. His business had changed during the war and it collapsed. He couldn't get equipment to sell. As a Senator, he had a small salary and it wasn't much.

OJ - Were you dating anyone at the time?

Bill - I transferred to the Christian Brother's school in New Iberia and between my 2nd and 3rd year, my friend next door, a guy by the name of Voorhies, asked me to double-date with him. He said that was the only way that he was going to get a date with this good looking girl he had his eyes on. She had refused to date him unless someone asked her friend to double-date. Well I did it, and that's how I met my wife, Margaret. We were together for two years before I joined the Navy.

OJ - What was your dad up to?

Bill - About that time Carolyn and Dad decided to move to New Orleans. They had been married three years and the marriage was crumbling. I had moved to New Orleans with them but my girl friend was in New Iberia. So, I'm driving back and forth all the time. Then Carolyn, wife #2, moves out. Then, believe it or not, my real mother, Mary Ellen Bell, wife #1, moves back in with my dad. Mary Ellen is back with my dad. It's unbelievable! We're all together again. Carolyn's daughters flew the coop. I don't know where they went and never heard from them again.

OJ - So the family is back in New Orleans. Where did you live and why did your mother come back?

Bill - We lived on the comer of Esplanade and Broad. I guess my father just asked my mother to come back and she did. At this time, Duts was four or five years old. We all lived in an apartment and it was packed. That's when I decided to join the Navy. I went down to the Custom House right here in the city and signed up. I got on a train and went to boot camp in San Diego and was gone five years. Believe it or not, while I was in boot camp, I got a letter from my mother telling me that she had left my dad for the second time and was living in Lake Charles with her brother. That's the history. You couldn't write a book with more interesting characters.

OJ - We really didn't get into specifics about your mother. Tell me about her.

Bill - She was originally from Michigan. That's where her people were from. All I can tell you is that she was a lady, a real lady. She was a great entertainer and she could make a room light up. The tragedy was that she and my dad just couldn't get along. They would have made a great pair if the marriage had worked.

OJ - How long were they together the second time?

Bill - One month. Then it was over and out!

OJ - What happened to your dad at that point?

Bill - He went back to the bottle. Uncle Albert rescued him and brought him back to a hospital outside of Covington, La. It straightened him out and he went back to Baton Rouge where he still had connections in the road machine building business. He had been turned out of the Senate after four years in 1948, and he wasn't re-elected. However, he was a real close buddy of Earl Long and that helped. He went to work for the people who owned the Caterpillar Tractor Company and Elsie was working for Ethel Corp. at the time.

I don't know how Dad and Elsie met, but they did. They got married and bought a little place outside of Baton Rouge. They had very little money at the time. You've got to understand that my dad always had an entrepreneurial streak in his body. He went to his brother Albert, who owned the Hubig Pie Company, for assistance. Uncle Albert had a few bucks; he was wealthy. He had a huge house at the Pass in Mississippi, right on the water front and he financed my dad in the farm equipment business in New Iberia. Dad got to renew all his old acquaintances and one of those guys was Earl Long. He wasn't governor yet. I was out of the Navy and Dad took me along to a meeting with Long. At the time I was working for Dad in the farm equipment business. I had been single two years in the Navy and three years married. We had a pretty good business together when I worked for him.

OJ - We are close to the time when JMB came into Ed's life. How did that happen?

Bill - The JMB Company started buying tractors from us and Dad started going out to see his Uncle Jules who was involved in the buying decision for the tractors. And remember, they both had the same last name.

OJ - Who else was involved in the purchasing decisions for JMB?

Bill - Uncle Jules had two lieutenants who did various things. One of them ran the company store that included a gas station. The other guy was Kerne. He ran the sugar mill. Neither of the guys was related to the Burguières. Ernest, Sr. occasionally came out to the plantation and helped Uncle Jules to some extent. I don't remember anybody else coming out.

OJ - As your dad and Uncle Jules got closer, what happened next?

Bill - Uncle Jules indicated to my dad that he wanted to get involved in some kind of political activity. Something similar to what he was involved with in Florida. He wanted to do in Louisiana what he had accomplished in Florida. So, my dad got Uncle Jules to contribute to Earl Long's political campaign. Long was running for governor at the time. I don't know how much money was involved but Earl Long won the race for governor. And I'm not saying that Uncle Jules's contribution had anything to do with Long's victory. I just know that the JMB Co. helped in some fashion. In those days, there was no television. The candidates talked on the stump. There would be a certain time that Long would be in a certain place and he would arrive and talk from the back of a pick-up truck. When it was over, Long and my dad would get in the back of the car and go to the next stop. I drove the car and my dad discussed with Long what was to be said at the next stop.

One time we were driving along, and Earl said, "Billy, pull down this road. I got a guy who owes me a goose who lives down here." Sure enough, we pull up to a house and Earl jumps out and gets the goose that the guy owes him. He throws the goose in the back of the car and we take off! It was unbelievable. Ed Burguières and Earl K. Long doing their thing. That was political stumping.

OJ - How about Elsie? Tell me about her.

Bill - When I first met Elsie, she was wonderful to us. Just like a mother. I was out of the service and I worked for Dad and Elsie. They were running a company called E. B. Equipment. My wife and I lived on one side of town in New Iberia and they lived on another. We got along great. Another thing about my dad was that he always communicated with the rest of the family. He was great at that.

OJ - So Bill, somewhere about that time your dad must have worked for JMB. What do you remember about those details?

Bill - Well, my dad starting commuting. I ran the tractor business and he worked for the JMB Company. It was about the mid 1950's and he got to know the inner workings of the whole operation. Then suddenly, Uncle Jules up and dies in 1960! It's a shocker! At that point, my dad and Elsie had already moved out to the house at Cypremort. It's the house that has recently been remodeled and is up on pillars. It was next to the "Big" house that Uncle Jules lived in for years. After Uncle Jules died, my dad was left to manage the Company with occasional help from Ernest, Jr.

OJ - Considering the time, do you think your dad was paid a lot of money by Uncle Jules?

Bill - No, I don't think anybody made a lot of money in those days and to make matters worse, the tractor business that Dad owned had closed, and I ended up getting a job with a tool company here in New Orleans on Camp St. I traveled southeast Louisiana and sold tools and hardware. The only reason the company hired me was because I was a Burguières. They thought I would have an easy connection to all the sugar mills in the area and that worked to some extent. This was before Uncle Jules had died. Mr. Kerne gave me a little business. He was still running the Burguières sugar mill. One time Ernest, Sr. had to catch the train to New Orleans. He would ride it back and forth from Franklin to New Orleans when he came to the country for meetings with Uncle Jules. It was the Southern Pacific. I had to go to New Orleans myself, and asked him if I could join him. He talked the whole time. I wish I had a recorder on that trip. He talked about everything. Ernest was sort of my hero because he had caught the big fish that was stuffed and mounted over the dining room table in Uncle Jules's house. A big tarpon! Back in his younger days he was kind of a playboy of sorts. I wouldn't say that to Isabella, but he was. He was kind of my hero.

OJ - I remember the first time I ever saw an air-conditioning unit was at Uncle Jules' office. I dont know what I was doing in the office, but I remember it. It was a big deal to go into that office. Anyhow, let's pickup where we left off. Jules had died and Ed, your dad, is now running the Company.

Bill - We were living in New Iberia where we knew just about everybody. All of our friends were having children except us, Billy and Margaret. There was a gal in town who ran the jewelry store and she knew everything about everybody. She invited herself over for dinner one evening and we got to talking. This gal also liked her toddies! Margaret and I knew that sooner or later she was going to ask us why we weren't having children. Well, she finally looked at Margaret and me and asked, "Billy, are you and Margaret preventing?" Can you imagine? She actually used the word preventing. Margaret and I tried to convince her otherwise, but she would not be convinced. We told her we had been to the doctor and were told we just couldn't have any children. She said, "I don't care what you say, I still know you're preventing and you better stop it." Margaret did get pregnant soon after and things moved on. I interviewed with the Noxzema Company and they hired me to go to Jacksonville, Fl. as a sales representative. Meanwhile, Dad's running the JMB Company and for the first time a dividend is paid. When Uncle Jules was alive, he never paid a dividend. Not a penny. This was somewhere about 1962. Dad started kicking out dividends and I guess the stockholders decided he was the man to run the Company. He had worked in the country with Jules for four or five years.

OJ - Was the remainder of your career with Noxzema?

Bill - No. I went to work for Noxzema in 1959. Prior to that I was selling pumps for a company out of Iowa. I sold to hardware stores and plumbing supply houses and I travelled four states. The reason I could do that was that we had no children. My wife traveled with me. It was great! We went all over the place. Then Margaret got pregnant and I couldn't do that anymore. That's when I went to work for Noxzema. I applied for the job in New Orleans and they asked if l would like to go to work in Jacksonville instead. I stayed with them from 1959 to 1971. After that I went into the manufacturer rep business. I picked up a few lines. The business got big and I acquired a partner and then retired in 1996.

OJ - So your dad is running the Company and they have moved into what we call the Cypremort House at Louisa. When Uncle Jules dies, Ed has responsibility for the "Big" house that Jules lived in. Why didn't your dad and Elsie move into that house?

Bill - Quite honestly, it wasn't livable. They were happy living where they were. The "Big" house was a firetrap. Dad contacted all the family members and told them to come out and take what they wanted. The roof on the house was bad; there were leaks everywhere, and maintenance issues were overwhelming. He finally had the house taken down. Some of the lumber was purchased by a family who built a camp with it and that camp still stands today.

OJ - Wasn't there a little block house next to the "Big" house?

Bill - Yes, Jules kept his books and papers in that little house and I understand that later on, many of Jules's books were donated to the Cabildo in New Orleans.

OJ - I know that someone bought them and donated the books to the agriculture department of LSU. I visited with the curator of that department and I know the books are there. Another question—Prior to Uncle Jules' death, where were the Board meetings held?

Bill - There were no Board meetings.

OJ - What do you remember about how Sam T. Burguières got involved on the Board with your dad?

Bill - There was a point where Dad knew a Board had to be formed with representatives of all the families to run the Company like a business. Dad's first Board was Samuel T. Burguières, Sr. as Treasurer, Abner Hughes as Chairman, Ed Burguières as President, C. Patout Burguières as Vice-President, and Louise B. Syme as Secretary. A year later, in 1963, Ernest A. Burguières, Jr. and Marion Clerc were added on the Board.

OJ - And then there were years of confusion and animosity.

Bill - That was primarily from Uncle Pat from what I understand. It was based on the number of shares of stock that various people had. Apparently, Uncle Pat had sold some shares of stock to the brothers and sisters and his children felt that everyone should have an equal number.

OJ - Let's move to the 1970's when your dad decides that the Company should be sold.

Bill - There were lawsuits flying back and forth and nothing could get done either before meetings or during. It was a mess! There was complete disagreement. My dad was accused of stealing property and nobody knew where property lines were. Finally, the Board suggested that we have the property surveyed so at least everybody would know what they were talking about. So Dad did a big survey to establish boundaries and some people accused him of hiding land and putting it in his name. I think that was when my dad threw in the towel. But he wanted to keep it close to the family and that's where the idea of selling it to the M.A. Patouts came about. My dad always said that he had more Patout in him than Burguières. He became very close with Billy Patout and Elsie became very close friends with Billy's wife. It seemed like a natural fit to sell the Company to the Patouts.

That's when Ron Cambre came into the picture. Ron called Philip Burguières and Philip did not know who Ron was. Ron explained that he was a cousin and that there was a move afoot to sell the Company for far less than it's worth. Philip and Ron persisted with their interest in saving the company and Dad told them they were crazy and that they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Thankfully they did, and Dad told them that if that's how they felt, then they could have it. I will say this: I don't know what would have happened to the Company if Dad had not been there after Uncle Jules died. There was no one to take it over that I know of. At that time, Ernest came out occasionally but the only Burguières who was out there was Henry Jr. who ran the plantations.

OJ - Henry was my uncle. Also, my Uncle Chapman Burguières, who everyone called "Bunny" was out at the plantations. Tell me what you know about any animosity or controversy that may have existed between your dad and Sam T.

Bill - I don't know of anything. I always thought they were very close. I do know that when Dad had the dairy farm near Franklinton, La., T's children went up there a couple of times.

OJ - Tell me about your dad's dairy farm.

Bill - About 1965, Dad and Elsie left Cypremort and bought about eight acres of land where he milked 60 cows. He picked cows that had never been in Washington Parish before. They lived in the northern part of Washington Parish, about 10 miles from the Mississippi line. Not Jersey cows or Guernsey cows, he picked Ayrshire cows. After about 10 years, he sold the farm and moved into the town of Franklinton. They built a house and that's where he died. That house was our summer retreat. The children have fond memories of those years. I think my dad would like to be remembered as the man who helped keep the family together when the Company went through the tough times. He was also a wonderful family man. Not just to the immediate family, but to the extended family, too. He knew that the secret to a successful company was the ability to keep a good relationship with all members of the family who were also stockholders.