Brides Have Dowries, Thanks To A Trust Fund Set Up 167 Years Ago

PORT ALLEN, La. - When Deirdre Day married Todd Carr at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in 1990, she had a long white gown, seven bridesmaids, 816 guests and a $126 dowry.

Carr was not surprised by his bride's dowry. His mother had a $110 dowry when she was wed and his grandmother's dowry was $98.

"If you grow up around here you know you'll have a dowry," said Day. "It's a part of getting married."

The dowries came from the Julien Poydras Fund, a trust used only to provide dowries.

This spring, 167 years after Julien Poydras died rich and unmarried, he still provides dowries for women in West Baton Rouge Parish. The 48 couples married in 1990 each received $126.58.

Legend has it that as a youth in France, Poydras was denied the woman he loved because she had no dowry.

"He's supposed to have said if he couldn't have the woman he loved, he'd have no other. Then he vowed that no other couple would be stopped from marrying because of a lack of a dowry," said Mary Anita Tullier, 62, who handed out the money for almost 20 years.

The dowry is administered by the parish government in this rural area just across the Mississippi from Baton Rouge.

"They have to come in and sign up each year on January 31st," said parish clerk Tom LeBlanc. "The ones married this year will get their money next year."

The requirements have varied over the years, but today they are few. Brides must have lived in the parish for five years and they get just one dowry.

"They have to come in and get their check in person, too," Tullier said. "You see, the check is made out to the boy, because it's a dowry. The girls hold out their hands for it, but I tell them, `No, no, that's for the husband.' "

"I thought it was a wonderful sentiment," said Veronica Altazan, who received a $115 dowry in 1984. "It seemed so romantic to be part of the dowry. Now we're a part of the legend, I guess."