According to a census record from Avoyelles Parish in 1880 Michael Gauthier was born about 1858 (actually it was 1856), and his wife Sarah Anne Bettevy was born about 1864.  There was only one other record, the marriage certificate of 1880 (add link for it) shown here.

The marriage record appears in Brides Book of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana 1856-1880, by Jeraldine DuFour LaCour, but gave no details as to Michael's family.  It was hoped that the original marriage license/certificate would be more complete.  So, another trip to Marksville, the parish seat of Avoyelles, began.  With the considerable help and influence of Randy DeCuir, we were allowed access to an old store in downtown Marksville that housed many old records of Avoyelles including original marriage licenses/certificates.  Randy had managed the key and we roamed the aisles privately and quickly found the shelves with the licenses/certificates.  This was obviously not Randy's first trip. 

The certificate was found, copied and returned to its place on the shelf in a building with a very leaky roof.  No additional useful information was found.  Jeraldine LaCour had transcribed all there was.  Her books were obviously a labor of love and quite complete.  We had corresponded and she wished us well in our search.

Some years later, still no additional written record had been located after many visits to churches for baptism records, to cemeteries and libraries across Avoyelles, to the New Orleans Public library and to the Baton Rouge Blue Bonnet Road library.  Many interesting documents were located, but nothing on Michael.

During these years, correspondence began with Paul Gauthier Shreve as a result of his own family search and finding our data on Avoyelles Parish Louisiana Genealogy.  A number of letters exchanging information brought the missing document from him.  It was a record from the census of Rapides Parish for 1860.  The record for Joseph Gochia which listed Michael at age 4 at the time of the census (born about 1856), with a number of siblings, father and mother.  Two of the siblings, Joseph and Lewis, were expected, as was his father's name, Joseph and mother's name Elizabeth.  The other siblings were new information and Michael's parents were finally confirmed.  The revealing 1860 census is here.

I am very thankful to Paul Gauthier Shreve for providing the census document that revealed all.  My interest had evaporated in mid 1995 after the death of my father, then son and then brother.  I forced myself to publish our extensive data in 1997 on Avoyelles Parish Louisiana Genealogy without any enthusiasm and to be done with it.  It included 1551 names from 476 Gauthier related families,

So finally in 2004, I offer again my heartfelt gratitude to Paul Gauthier Shreve for his many letters and the solution to our family mystery. 

Footnote:  In June 2004, Jerry Bordelon published on Ancestery.Com and other places  Michael's connection to parents Joseph Gauthier and Elizabeth Deville.  He got this information from me (see info exchange about 4/23/04 on http://genforum.genealogy.com/gauthier/ ) but then mysteriously connected Michael's brother Joseph to the wrong wife.  He also made an assumption that Lewis is Valcour, which may not be correct.  Neither issue is of critical importance to our family genealogy. 

Find Michael Gauthier's family here.